On the fifth floor, after dealing with his emotionally charged mother and siblings, Warren returned to his room and stared at the system panel before him, lost in thought.
This was the first time he had seen a "mission" since awakening the system.
Moreover, the mission seemed unconcerned about success or failure, with no punishment, only a reward for success.
But it was precisely that reward that caught his eye.
"Talent points..."
Ever since the "Newbie Gift Pack" maxed out his "Potions" talent, and he experienced how easy and magical it was to learn and brew potions with ten talent points, Warren had been eagerly anticipating new ways to improve his talents.
Especially the Mana Level.
As the name suggests, the Mana Level refers to the total amount and intensity of magical power within a wizard's body. The higher the Mana Level, the more powerful the spells cast, and the more spells one can cast.
However, the Mana Level cannot be simply understood as a mana bar or spell power, because casting spells also requires emotional energy, and the power of a spell is related to the proficiency in casting it.
Two months remained until the mission was complete.
Warren stopped paying attention and closed the system panel.
He glanced again at the Hogwarts letter he had opened. The first page, written in elegant handwriting, read:
[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (President of the International Confederation of Wizards, First Class Wizard of the Order of Merlin, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot)
Dear Mr. Weasley:
We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of the required books and items.
The term begins on September 1st. We await your reply by owl no later than July 31st.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress]
He finished writing his reply at the table and sent it to Hogwarts via the Weasley family's new owl. Poor old Errol was too old. A few years ago, while delivering potions brewed by Warren, he nearly fell into the pond.
So, after Warren made his money, he retired the old owl to enjoy his remaining years in the garden.
That was also the first time Arthur and Molly accepted Warren's money.
Errol's advanced age left them powerless. They couldn't even think of a reason to refuse.
The money was used for renovations to the entire house, while daily life relied entirely on Arthur's salary. They didn't want their children to have conflicts over money.
Thinking of money, Warren flipped to the second page of the letter, looking at the densely packed list of books and equipment, and couldn't help but shake his head.
"Looks like Ron will be picking up Bill and Charlie's leftovers again. Hopefully, that guy won't cry about it."
In fact, Ron was much "stronger" than Warren imagined.
When Warren finished delivering the letter and came out of his room, Ron was in his room on the fourth floor, clutching the crumpled Hogwarts acceptance letter, pacing back and forth with his head held high.
Percy patted him on the shoulder, encouraging him loudly. "Ron, I knew you'd get into Hogwarts."
Ron held his head even higher.
Warren rolled his eyes upstairs. Yesterday, he had overheard Percy whispering to his mother in the kitchen, discussing whether to forge a letter for Ron if he hadn't received one.
"To celebrate you getting into Hogwarts, how about I give you Scabbers?"
This sudden "gift" left Ron bewildered.
He stared blankly as Percy pulled a rat from his pocket, shoved it into his arms, and quickly walked away.
Leaning on the railing, watching this amusing scene, Warren heard two footsteps tiptoeing closer.
Needless to say, the only people in the house who moved so sneakily were Fred and George.
Sure enough, the twins sidled up to him the next moment, mimicking his posture, leaning over the railing and whispering loudly, "I bet Percy's been wanting to get rid of Scabbers for ages."
"Right you are, George. Scabbers is old and ugly. He could kick the bucket any day now."
"Poor Ron. He must think Percy is making a noble sacrifice."
"Yeah, George. Why is our brother so daft?"
"I can't figure it out either, Fred. Maybe Ron got all the brains meant for both of them, and they all went to our other brother."
The twins giggled and joked, their back and forth driving Ron crazy downstairs. He pulled the rat from his pocket, wanting to throw it away but unable to bring himself to do it.
In the end, he just stormed back to his room in a huff.
Having enjoyed the show, Warren smiled at the twins, who were clearly trying to butter him up. "Alright, what do you two want?"
The twins exchanged a glance, looking a bit embarrassed.
"You tell him, George."
"No, you tell him. You're the older brother."
"Oh, so now you remember who's the older brother."
After a few moments of their usual antics, they realized Warren was just smiling at them, waiting. Knowing they couldn't fool him, the twins positioned themselves on either side of him, one massaging his shoulders, the other patting his leg.
"Well, dear Warren, you're off to Hogwarts soon. You'll have to go to Diagon Alley to get your school things, right?"
"Mum says you can buy your own things. We always knew you had money."
"But we didn't know you had this much money. So if it's not too much trouble, maybe you could invest a little more in our materials?"
"Just a tiny bit. Our great Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes enterprise is just a bit short."
Seeing the usually mischievous, trouble making twins groveling for Galleons, Warren had to laugh inwardly.
But he also knew that Molly had always forbidden them from experimenting, genuinely worried they would get into trouble.
So even though the twins had secretly borrowed small amounts from him over the years, he had never let them borrow much. The twins always thought he just made a few Sickles here and there. Until today.
The books, equipment, and pets on the school list would cost at least a hundred Galleons to buy new.
To the twins, that was a fortune.
Warren enjoyed their massage for a moment before humming thoughtfully. "Last time you two borrowed ten Sickles from me, you said the exact same thing."
"That was last time. Our first joke product is almost ready, right, Fred?"
"That's right, George."
Seeing they were genuinely serious and having had his fun, Warren rubbed his chin. "Well, the garden needs cleaning tomorrow."
Before he could finish, the twins jumped in eagerly.
"Cleaning the garden? Such hard work shouldn't trouble you."
"That's right. We'll handle it."
"I was going to say we should leave it for Ron, Fred."
"Consider it a token of our sincerity, George."
"Makes sense."
They both blinked at him expectantly. Warren waved them off. "Alright, alright. We'll see how you do tomorrow."
He watched them cheer and race downstairs, then shook his head. After a moment's thought, he walked over to Ron's door and knocked.
The door yanked open a moment later.
Still fuming, Ron scowled, looking both angry and timid. "Wh...what do you want?"
"Ron, come with me to Diagon Alley tomorrow."
Ron's mouth opened and closed a few times. He looked like he wanted to argue, but he had always felt inferior around Warren and couldn't find the courage. Finally, he muttered defiantly, "Why me? I already have hand me downs."
"Oh." Warren shrugged, sounding a bit disappointed. "I was going to give you your Christmas present early this year. Maybe get you a new wand. But if you don't want it..."
Before he could finish, Ron shouted, "I'll go."
Warren raised an eyebrow.
Ron's freckles stood out against his flushed face. He stammered, "I... I'll go. I need to get some rat food for Scabbers anyway."
Warren's gaze traveled past him into the messy room. The rat was on the desk, calmly nibbling a biscuit.
Completely absorbed.
Looking deliberately interested, Warren said, "Speaking of Scabbers, I've been trying to get him from Percy for a while. Since he's old and ugly anyway, why don't you give him to me for my potion experiments? What do you say, Ron? Want to think about it?"
In the room, Scabbers froze mid nibble.
Ron's eyes widened. His lips trembled. For a moment, he couldn't speak.
If Warren had made this ridiculous request a minute ago, Ron would have shouted and screamed, somehow finding the courage to drive away his mean older brother.
But now...
A new wand... This...
Luckily, Warren didn't let him agonize for long. Seeing Scabbers start to edge toward the table leg, and not actually wanting to scare the rat off, Warren clapped Ron on the shoulder with a laugh. "Just kidding. A rat that size would be dead from one sip of potion." Scabbers shuddered violently. "Don't sleep in tomorrow. That's all."
Ron let out a long breath. He watched Warren head upstairs before rushing back into his room and scooping up Scabbers.
"Oh, Scabbers, don't be scared. Don't be scared. He was just messing with us."
Outside the door, on the landing, Warren stared at Ron's door with a faint, cold smile.
He would let that rat live. For now.
//==============//