Chapter 68: Filch's Predicament
On the night of returning to Hogwarts, Ethan met with the Weasley twins after dinner and gave them the one hundred Galleons agreed upon earlier but couldn't be brought due to Edward's limited load capacity.
Not only that, Ethan also showed them a backpack full of Galleons he brought. "The initial two hundred Galleons are for you to develop products. Use them freely. As long as you make the products, if the money runs out, ask me for more."
"This is the subsequent eight hundred Galleons. I'll give it to you after you graduate to open a shop in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade."
This statement really excited the two of them. Since enrolling, they had spent a lot of effort on various prank products.
For this, they had been constantly studying advanced Alchemy since their first year, thinking of opening their own joke shop one day.
Now, someone really gave them investment and hope. How could they not be excited?
Holding the remaining one hundred Galleons Ethan gave, and looking at the eight hundred Galleons he showed them, the twins' hearts were burning.
The brothers looked at each other, and Fred said, "Thank you, our dear boss. From now on, we'll work our lives out for you."
Ethan waved his hand. "Not that serious. I just think you're quite talented at alchemy. No need to get so worked up about it."
"Besides, if you really want to thank someone, thank Hagrid. He told me you often take some homemade props to the Forbidden Forest to cause trouble."
"Hehe." George grinned sheepishly. Many of their new products were very immature and couldn't be tested in the castle, so they thought of the uninhabited Forbidden Forest.
"We will definitely thank Hagrid properly." Fred grinned a bit wickedly, not knowing what idea he had come up with.
Ethan zipped up his backpack. "You decide for yourselves. I'll go first."
Fred stopped Ethan, who turned to leave. "Wait a moment. We have some products that haven't finished development, but we can give them to the boss for trial first, and you can give us feedback for optimization."
"Don't call me boss. Just call me Ethan.
As for these products, I'll give them to Ron, Harry, and the guys in my dorm to try first. I'll get their feedback on the effect." Ethan corrected them.
"Okay, Ethan. Wait for us a moment. George and I will go get them now." The two said the password and hurried into the Gryffindor Common Room. Soon they came out holding a huge pile of things.
"So many!" Ethan felt the two were exaggerating a bit.
"Heh, you can distribute them to more people. We still have some in the dorm we didn't bring out." Fred was very proud.
Ethan sighed. "It seems I really have to find a way to get a storage product with an Undetectable Extension Charm."
He had looked for this spell in the library before. Perhaps because this spell was a Ministry of Magic-restricted spell, it wasn't in the general collection.
And he wanted to ask Hagrid to buy it, but Hogsmeade didn't have suitable products either.
Even when he went to Diagon Alley this time, the Undetectable Extension Charm products he found were mostly various camping tents. The handbags and backpacks he wanted simply weren't for sale at all.
Magic couldn't be cast in the corridor, so he could only pick up a pile of fireworks, candies, etc., with the twins' help, carefully watching the ground beneath his feet, and walked towards the dungeons.
Holding a large pile of items, he finally brought these things to the dungeons. Just as he put them down in the dormitory, he suddenly slapped his head in annoyance:
"Damn! I said I would distribute them to Harry and Ron. Couldn't I just give them to them at the Gryffindor entrance?
I brought them back with such effort, and I have to bring them to them again. My mistake, my mistake. Blame the twins too; they piled things onto me, and I forgot about this completely."
He sighed helplessly, stuffing these into his backpack the next day and passing them to the two through Hermione.
He didn't love pranks, but he couldn't stop most boys from liking them!
Although he only gave the things to the three in his dorm and Harry and Ron, these items quietly spread to all first years.
Along with them, Dungbombs and other prank products bought from Zonko's Joke Shop through older students also flourished.
So for a period of time afterward, Filch was kept busy.
The brothers' various immature joke products and Dungbombs from Zonko exploded in various corridors of the castle, leaving stains all over the ground.
Even Mrs. Norris didn't like patrolling with Filch anymore. It disliked the stains on the ground getting on it.
"Did you throw Dungbombs in the corridor! Was it you!" Filch grabbed a passing Hufflepuff boy somewhat neurotically.
"No, it wasn't me. I was just passing by!" The grabbed boy said in horror.
"If not you, who else! You're the only one here!" Having been tormented for days, Filch wanted to punish anyone he caught.
"Mr. Filch, I really don't think it was him. His shoes are stained, and the footprints extend all the way from the corridor entrance. He must have just been passing by." Ethan squatted down and petted Mrs. Norris.
"It's you!" Seeing the young wizard get so friendly with his cat, Filch immediately released the Hufflepuff's robe and marched toward him.
The Hufflepuff shot Ethan a grateful look and quickly fled the trouble spot.
Filch roughly scooped up Mrs. Norris and held her close, keeping Ethan from approaching.
The scrawny cat meowed, trying to break free from Filch's embrace.
Filch's hands clamped down tightly, not letting it escape.
Filch's bloodshot eyes went wide. "You said it wasn't him. Did you do it!"
Ethan was annoyed. "Don't accuse people casually, Mr. Filch. You saw me just entering the corridor."
"Pah!" Filch glared at him, spat on the ground, turned around, and left holding Mrs. Norris.
Looking at the direction he left, he was probably going to get a mop or something, planning to clean the corridor.
Although Ethan also disliked Filch, he felt somewhat guilty about the current situation. If he hadn't distributed the joke products, maybe Filch wouldn't be so difficult.
He looked around and confirmed no one was there before taking out his wand. "Tergeo!"
The stains in the corridor disappeared completely. Ethan was very satisfied with this effect.
He didn't want to be caught casting spells by Filch because whether he would get gratitude or detention was uncertain.
He walked away quickly without looking back.
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