Fred, George and Lee Jordan were sitting together beside the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, resting and warming themselves, chatting about trivial matters.
George leaned back in the armchair, flipping through the recent issue of the Daily Prophet. After finding the report on Rita Skeeter and reading it carefully, he said to Fred and Lee Jordan who were playing cards next to him, "I've suddenly started to like that woman, Rita Skeeter."
"Don't really fall in love with her." Fred said with a smile, "That woman is almost old enough to be your mother."
"I mean the article."
George continued to look down at the newspaper, reading the latest front-page news. He felt that the amount of information in it seemed a bit overwhelming. Although Sirius had already released a lot of heavy news a while ago, the latest issue of the Defense Guide had not yet been released. He could only wait and see what heavy news the Daily Prophet would report, as well as the news about Ludo Bagman's misfortune.
Ludo Bagman had taken nearly all the Galleons in their pockets, and without Albert their dream would have ended before it had even begun.
Fred and George never forgot this grudge.
"That woman's articles are still so sharp. Anyone who gets targeted by her will be in big trouble."
Lee Jordan had also read Rita Skeeter's articles in the Daily Prophet in recent days and had to admit that there was some truth to the popularity of her reports, even though most of them were nonsense.
But everyone likes these gossips.
"Sirius is really brave. He must have been in big trouble the last time he did that." George continued to flip through the newspaper, looking for more news about Bagman.
Ever since Rita Skeeter exposed Ludo Bagman's scandal with amazing efficiency, the reputation of the former Director of the Department of Sports and Games of the Ministry of Magic has been ruined.
There was no way around it. Many wizards came to Bagman to bet on the World Cup, and both those who lost and those who won were scolding him.
Amid the curses of countless people, Bagman left the Ministry of Magic in disgrace and lived a life of hiding from his debts.
Harry, who was playing wizard chess with Ron nearby, heard the three people talking about Sirius, so he looked over and asked, "What kind of trouble will Sirius have?"
"I don't know, but Fudge is not a generous person," said George.
"Last time, I met Fudge at the Leaky Cauldron, and I thought he was a nice guy." Harry had not had much contact with Fudge, and the impression he had of him was not too bad.
"If I were you, I would not trust politicians. They only care about their own status and power. They are the dirtiest people in the world. Even toilets are cleaner than them." George closed the newspaper and said to Harry, "These are Albert's original words. Don't trust the integrity of politicians, because they have no integrity."
"I think smelly socks might be more appropriate." Fred threw away the wizard card in his hand and complained, "The toilets in some places are still very clean."
Harry and Ron both frowned, they had never expected Albert to dislike Fudge so much. Even Fred, George and Lee Jordan had no respect for the Minister of Magic.
"I dare say that the Minister would not like certain truths to be known. This would damage his reputation and would be detrimental to the next election for the Minister of Magic." Lee Jordan smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Especially when people know that Fudge accidentally caused Peter Pettigrew to escape from Azkaban, his situation will become even worse. He may even be thinking of killing Sirius now."
Harry opened his mouth in surprise, not knowing what to say.
He also knew that Fred, George and Lee Jordan always liked to talk about Albert and admired him very much, but he had to admit that Albert was right most of the time, and it felt like people were willing to believe Dumbledore.
When such thoughts came to Harry Potter's mind, he felt it was ridiculous. When did Albert reach the same level as Dumbledore
Well, even though Harry was reluctant to admit it, it seemed that... Albert was indeed very powerful. If he were as old as Dumbledore, he might become the next Dumbledore. Even Harry had to admit it.
"What should we do with the Triwizard Tournament now? All the officials sent by the Ministry of Magic to organize and manage the Triwizard Tournament are dead. Should the tournament continue?" Ron changed the subject. He always felt that Fred and the others were quite enthusiastic when discussing Albert. It sounded a bit like what Percy said during the summer vacation:
Mr. Crouch thinks... I told Mr. Crouch this... Mr. Crouch thinks this... Mr. Crouch told me...
Oh my god, it's crazy.
It was hard enough for him to have Percy in the family, and Ron didn't want to see Fred and George become like this.
"It should continue. Albert said that the warriors have signed a contract with the Goblet of Fire and cannot give up no matter what. Otherwise, they cannot afford the cost of breach of contract." Fred said without hesitation, "I dare say Albert had guessed this would happen, so he didn't care too much about the outcome of this game."
"What a disastrous competition. Maybe this is the last one." Lee Jordan began to collect the wizard cards on the table.
"By the way, when do you plan to officially sell wizard cards?" Ron reached out and picked up an exquisite wizard card. After several years of accumulation, wizard cards have become more and more sophisticated.
"Next semester."
"When the time comes, we will place advertisements, start an owl mail-order service, and sell products to Hogwarts students. This will be the final preparation for opening a store after graduation."
"Is Anderson really going to help you open a store like Zonko's Joke Shop?" Ron's face was full of envy. He also wanted such a good friend. "But, in addition to Canary Cookies, how many new products have you prepared?"
"You will never be disappointed. There are many interesting things."
"Including the wizard cards?" Harry asked curiously. "How much are you going to sell this for?"
"Two Sickles in a pack, there will be five wizard cards in it." Lee Jordan introduced, "A wizard card deck is one Galleon."
"It's so expensive, they are simply profiteers." Ron looked at the three people in front of him with a strange look.
"Is it expensive? No, you only need to spend one Galleon to buy a deck and you can play." Lee Jordan looked at Ron as if he was a poor guy and said, "You don't have to buy additional card packs. And as long as you join the Wizard Card Club and are willing to participate in the competition, we will give away some free card packs every year. To be honest, the cheapest wizard chess piece costs more than one Galleon."
Ron opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but then he heard Lee Jordan continue, "If you think this is too expensive, then you can't afford the things invented by Fred, George and Albert. Any of their candies costs two Sickles."
"Are you crazy about money?" Ron looked at the Weasley twins in disbelief. "Two Sickles for a piece of candy?"
"There's a reason why we dare to sell it so expensively." Fred and George looked at each other, put their hands on Ron's shoulders, and said with a smile, "If you want to get sick, our skipping class candy can make you sick immediately."
"Only a sick person would want to be sick." Ron broke away from the twins angrily.
"No, there are always people who want to get sick." Fred shrugged and said, "After taking the skipping candy, we can guarantee that even experienced professors will think that you urgently need to go to the school hospital. As long as you leave the classroom, you can take the other half of the antidote and quickly return to normal. Then, you can use your time as you like."
Looking at the stunned Ron, Fred and George patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction and said, "We have tested it ourselves. It is safe, fast and harmless."
"That sounds like good stuff," Harry muttered. "Give me a portion of all the candies for skipping classes."
If there had been such a good thing back then, Harry would definitely have been sick and hospitalized every time he attended Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"We are not ready to sell it to the public yet. You may have to wait until next semester." Fred explained helplessly, "Of course, if you want to book in advance, you can pay first. As the first customer to book in advance, we can give you a 20% discount. Others cannot enjoy such a discount."
"What inventions have you made? Why don't you give me a copy of each one?" Harry was very interested in the twins' inventions.
"Wow, are you sure Harry?"
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan all showed exaggerated expressions and reminded, "This will cost several hundred Galleons."
"How can a few hundred Galleons be so expensive? Are you robbing me?"
Harry and Ron were also shocked by the high price.
"Of course it's expensive. A few hundred Galleons is still considered cheap. If you want it customized, it will be more expensive." George got a weekly magazine from somewhere and handed it to Harry.
"What's this?" Harry asked, taking the magazine.
"Our catalogue," George explained proudly.
"All of them in there?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other, thinking that this number was too much.
"All of them, but some things need to be customized by Albert and are expensive." Fred turned the magazine to the protective equipment column.
"There are several kinds of fireworks in this magazine. The cheapest one costs two Sickles, and the most expensive one costs twenty Galleons for a deluxe explosion. There are also special customized ones. The price is negotiable." Lee Jordan said to Ron, "So, wizard cards are really not expensive. You can even say they are quite cheap."
"You also sell invisibility cloaks?" Harry asked in surprise when he found that they sold invisibility cloaks there.
"Well, sort of." Fred explained, "It's actually a traveling cloak with a Disillusionment Charm or a Blur Charm. It can make you invisible at first, but it will gradually lose its invisibility effect over time. It's not very useful, but it's definitely more than enough to fool Filch."
"But why is there such a big difference in price?" Ron found that the cheapest invisibility cloak cost fifteen Galleons, while the most expensive one cost three hundred Galleons, which is twenty times the price."
"The quality is different. The one that costs three hundred is a very exquisite cloak even if it loses its magic. It is made of silk and is a special custom-made one. You need to make an appointment with Albert to make it." Fred shrugged and said, "Of course, the invisibility effect lasts longer."
"I found out that Anderson is the profiteer!"
Ron read the entire catalogue and found that the most expensive items were custom-made items, which required a temporary reservation and a deposit of 100 Galleons. The cheapest item cost 100 Galleons, while the most expensive cost 5,000 Galleons. It was said that the protective equipment was made of dragon skin, which could completely resist ordinary curses and greatly weaken the power of black magic.
"How can you say that?"
The three looked at each other and said in unison, "Albert is a profiteer."
Just then, Hermione came into the common room, panting.
"What's going on, Hermione?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"Do you know where Albert is?" Hermione asked urgently.
"I don't know. Maybe he went to see Hagrid." Fred asked doubtfully, "What do you want to see him for?"
"Something bad has happened." Hermione grabbed Harry's arm, pulled him up from his seat, and said quickly: "Harry, come with me."
"What happened?" Harry asked confused.
"Please, come with me first. I'll tell you on the way." Hermione pulled Harry out into the corridor. Ron got up and followed, leaving the three of them looking at each other in bewilderment.
"What's going on, Hermione?"
After Harry followed Hermione out of the common room, he looked at Hermione, who was a little nervous and impatient, in confusion.
"Winky has collapsed," said Hermione tremblingly.