[Professor of Alchemy, Kasenhis, is recruiting assistants for his holiday adventure. Sincerely inviting all Hogwarts students of third year and above to sign up enthusiastically.
——Dumbledore]
"What's this about?" Ron asked, sipping his milk tea as he stared at the notice on the wall.
"Isn't it written clearly enough? Professor Kasen is going on an adventure at the end of the term and needs a pair of assistants," the Weasley twins said casually.
"Hmm!" Harry's head suddenly perked up, and Neville, next to him, had already started moving.
"Don't go!" Hermione quickly reminded them. "The notice says it's for third years and up."
Neville, already halfway across the room, stopped awkwardly in his tracks.
"Huh?"
"Yeah," Ron nodded. "Didn't you see none of us are moving either?"
"That's right, you lot better stay put," said the twins, before flashing mischievous grins. "By the way, our dearest little brother, and Harry, Neville, Hermione—we happen to have a small favor to ask of you. It won't take much effort at all."
"...Yeah?" Ron blurted out instinctively.
George, without missing a beat, pulled Ron's wand out of his sleeve, placed it in Ron's hand, and then guided Ron's hand to point straight at Lee Jordan, who was in the middle of putting on his robes.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
A flash of light shot out and struck Jordan squarely, freezing him on the spot. At the same time, Fred—moving almost in perfect sync with George—placed Hermione's wand into her hand and, holding her wrist, fired off a Levitation Charm at Angelina.
Angelina suddenly shot straight into the air like a rocket, propelled with astonishing force.
"George! Fred! You're dead when I get down from here!" Angelina roared from midair.
"Terribly sorry, but we really need you both to hold the line for just a moment—just a moment, we promise. Don't worry," the Weasley twins said, one patting the utterly bewildered Ron, the other reassuring the equally baffled Hermione, before sprinting out of the Gryffindor common room at full speed.
"...What just happened?" Hermione looked at Ron, still in a daze.
"Professor Kasen, we're here... what's this? Professor, is this that campus ice hockey match you were talking about?"
"But I thought it was supposed to be polo?"
"...Ice polo?"
The Weasley twins stepped into the Alchemy office, their eyes lighting up at the sight of the enormous circular ice track in front of them. It stretched from the entrance of the office all the way to Kasen's desk at the far end, looped around it, and then curved back to form a closed circuit leading to the exit.
"Did we forget to bring ice skates?" George asked, his voice brimming with excitement.
"No need. Look at this," Fred replied, pointing at a stone-like launcher beside the track. Next to it was a lever, and beneath the launcher sat a small sign:
[Pull the lever to receive your ice boat. Come to me.]
Without hesitation, Fred pulled the lever—twice.
Clunk clunk!
With two mechanical sounds, the launcher spat out two wooden boats.
"Wicked!"
The two climbed into their little boats, which Kasen had clearly modified. There were no paddles, only small ice wheels on each side of the boat, plus a gas pedal, brake, and steering wheel—all the essentials.
"It's just like Dad's car! Let's give it a go!"
Fred sat down in the boat and slammed the gas pedal. At first, the boat moved slowly as the ice wheels began to turn, but it quickly picked up speed—as if it were accelerating endlessly, without any limit at all.
"W-w-whoa!"
Seated on the nearby sofa, casually pouring himself a cup of tea, Kasen glanced at the two tiny black dots zipping at terrifying speed across the ice toward him. He just shrugged helplessly.
Hopefully, the Weasley twins—being Quidditch players—would have at least decent boating skills... right?
As Kasen was muttering this to himself, the twins, right before his eyes, drew a perfect arc through the air before crashing directly into the wool pit Kasen had thoughtfully prepared in advance.
Thud!
"Aow!... Professor, why didn't the brakes work?" George asked as he struggled to climb out of the wool pit.
"Hm? Oh, well, the brakes on these boats... let's not say they're purely decorative, but they're not far from it either. After all, you are on ice," Kasen replied, tactically sipping his tea.
"Alright, lucky we didn't end up with our brains—"
"—splattered everywhere!" Fred finished the sentence as he clambered out right after.
"Don't worry. I've enchanted the office with protective charms. You'll definitely survive long enough for Madam Pomfrey to arrive, hehe~" Kasen reassured them.
"Professor, that's not exactly reassuring," Fred said awkwardly, face twitching.
"Haha~ Just messing with you! That wool pit is specially placed for disembarking. Everywhere else, the boats and track edges have protective enchantments. When you want to stop, just crash into the side," Kasen explained, casually pointing toward Sirius, who was currently drifting his boat smoothly along the icy track.
"See? Look how well Bruce is steering," Kasen said.
"Woof! Woof!"
"...This dog's driving…"
"...is better than little Ronnikins," Fred finished.
"Little Ronny? You mean Ron?" Kasen frowned.
"Oh? Professor, you didn't know that's his nickname?" George said with a sly sideways grin.
"Didn't know. Homework?" Kasen replied, smoothly changing the subject as he poured two cups of tea for the Weasley twins.
The twins, looking a bit awkward, pulled out the amulet casings they had crafted. "Uh, Professor, we studied this quite thoroughly beforehand, so we just wanted to, um, boldly ask… what's the purpose of using gold for the shell of the Wither Amulet?"
"Like, the other materials—obsidian, mithril—we've pretty much figured out their functions. But gold…"
"Oh, you're asking about the gold?" Kasen nodded.
"Yeah, yeah!"
"...Honestly, it's pretty much useless. Purely decorative."
"…Huh?" The Weasley twins were a bit confused.
"The gold in the casing of the Wither Amulet is really just there to hold the obsidian and mithril in place. So technically…" Kasen explained, "if you use some other metal to secure them, that's perfectly fine too. I gave you gold simply because it's malleable and easy to work with."
"Oh… in that case, does that mean we could…"
Kasen glanced at the twins' black robes, so washed-out they were starting to fade to gray.
"You can. Just make sure to use another gold-colored metal instead, or slap on a coat of paint. That works too."
The twins exchanged a look and shook their heads in unison. "That's not what we meant."
"We're not trying to skim your gold, Professor."
"Then why are you asking? Don't tell me you're seriously just here to ask a simple question?" Kasen asked, a little suspicious.
"Uh… hehe, well, Professor," the twins said, rubbing their hands together like plotting flies, "we heard you're planning an adventure this holiday to the Amazon and Africa, right?"
"…I am. How do you know about that?"
_________
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