Richi immediately called Detective Potter. Since they had already spoken the previous evening and worked out the details together, the answer came almost at once: the two wizards and Scott were already waiting in Hogsmeade. After ending the call, Grosvenor handed the twins several labeled packets containing hair samples.
"George, Fred, they'll be waiting for you by the back entrance of Honeydukes."
"Aye, aye, Boss!" Fred replied, snapping off an exaggerated salute.
"Yes, sir!" George echoed, mimicking his brother's theatrical display.
"Hang on!" Ron exclaimed. "How exactly are Harry and I supposed to distract Percy?"
Richard shrugged.
"I don't know, Ron. Think of something."
Harry fixed his red-haired friend with a pointed look.
"Ron, this time we're not using an owl."
"Yes, Ron," Richard added, giving the youngest Weasley a similarly meaningful look. "No owls. You haven't got one hidden in your bag, have you?"
Ron's face immediately flushed scarlet. He exploded in indignation.
"How could you even think that?! Do you honestly believe I carry an owl around with me everywhere?"
Fred and George exchanged glances. A familiar mischievous sparkle lit their eyes. Then, in perfect unison, they turned toward their younger brother.
In a syrupy voice, Fred asked,
"Ronnie... what owl?"
Ron shot an indignant look at the perfectly composed Grosvenor before turning to the thoroughly bewildered Potter. Anyone who knew the sixth Weasley well could have read the message in his eyes:
You two were the ones who brought up the owl. You can explain it to the twins without me.
Richard took responsibility.
"Lads, it's just an old joke. We decided to play a prank on Malfoy. Last year, Ron stole his owl. The bird turned out to be unbelievably ill-tempered and ate something it wasn't supposed to. The lads came running to you for a laxative. We gave the owl some of your potion, but then Draco suddenly burst in. The result was that the owl covered him from head to toe with icy glittery droppings..."
A deathly silence settled over the room for several moments. Then George and Fred slowly turned their delighted faces toward Ronald.
"Well done, little brother!" Fred exclaimed happily. "At last you've made the right choice and started taking after your older brothers!"
"Brother Dred..." George brushed away an imaginary tear. "Our Ronnie's got real talent! At this rate, he'll soon outdo us."
"No doubt about it, Brother Forge," Fred agreed.
Richard had noticed that the Weasley twins had recently started calling each other by nicknames Dred and Forge, playful twists on their own names.
Ron flushed even darker beneath his brothers' playful teasing. Another few moments, and he might well have exploded. Richard wisely intervened.
"Fred, George, it's time. They're already waiting for you."
The Weasley twins set off after the trespassers through a secret passage. Harry and Ron were about to follow them out of the room when the sixth Weasley suddenly stopped in the doorway, turned back, and asked,
"Richi, if the twins and I are doing all the work, what exactly are you going to be doing?"
"Leading, Ron." Richard raised a meaningful index finger. "Leading, assisting, standing lookout, and covering your arses! In short, if anything unexpected happens, someone has to warn you over the wizardphone. So don't put your communication artifacts away. That's extremely important. Otherwise, the whole operation will collapse like a house of cards."
Ron wore the unmistakable expression of someone engaged in intense mental effort. Eventually, he reached a reluctant conclusion.
"Hmm... All right, then..."
***
A skinny gray rat lay curled up on a soft pillow in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory for the older students. Percy Weasley sat in a chair by the window, absorbed in a book.
Suddenly, there was a knock, and the door flew open. Harry and Ron burst into the room like a pair of whirlwinds.
Percy looked up from his book expectantly.
"What is it?" he asked curtly.
"Percy," Ron began, "we need you."
"For what?"
"Er..." Ron faltered for a moment before recovering. "Percy, could you please have a look at my broom?! I think something's wrong with it!"
"Ron, I'm studying for my N.E.W.T.s," Percy replied with obvious annoyance.
"Oh, come on, Percy..." Ron pleaded. "You know how important Quidditch is to me. We've got a match coming up, and Wood's been driving us through endless practices. Please help me. Who else am I supposed to ask if not my big brother?"
Percy let out a heavy sigh. He slipped a bookmark between the pages, set the book aside, and rose to his feet.
"All right, Ron. Let's go have a look at your broom. I only hope it isn't something trivial. As you know, I'm planning to earn Outstanding in all twelve N.E.W.T.s and secure a respectable position at the Ministry of Magic."
The three boys left the dormitory together, while the rat lowered its head onto the pillow and attempted to go back to sleep.
No such luck!
A short while later, the door swung open once more, and the red-haired twins stepped inside.
(End of Chapter)
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