Starstruck

14. Ton-Tongue Toffee

Rose was absolutely ecstatic to see Albus again! Every time she saw him, she felt this sort of warm excitement shivering through her like a spell, and they had always had the best time with each other. She seemed to bring Albus out of his shell, laughing and joking on family holidays as they played countless games of Gobstones and exploding snap.  As she pulled him gently forwards, eager to explore, she ran down aisles and aisles of the most incredible things until she stopped dead. 

In front of her was most mouth-wattering, attractive display of sweets she had ever seen in her life. A multi-coloured array of heaven, from deep red cherry delights to edible dark marks, exploding bonbons and caramel and marshmallow delights. Her mouth almost dropped open, and she had to remind herself 'I'm not a child now, I'm going to secondary school' but she couldn't resist the urge to keep staring.

 A whole column of them were jinxed with spells and pranks, labelled 'Canary Creams' and 'Warewolf Watermellon' and all sorts of other intriguing names. There was even a column labelled 'Caution' (which she knew must be serious if named so by Uncle George) including 'Acid Pops' 'Blood popsicles' and 'cockroach cluster'. Hmm, maybe she would pass on that one.

Rose picked up a piece of light, bubble-gum pink taffy and brought it up to her lip when suddenly she felt George grab her arm. “You don’t want to eat that”, said her Uncle warningly, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Her heart raced. “Why not?” Rose asked curiously. “Watch” said George. He broke off a small piece of the taffy and handed it to a small boy standing nearby. The boy couldn't believe his luck and his bright eyes widened in glee. He took it eagerly, then narrowed his eyes and popped it into his mouth.

Rose opened her mouth to gasp "No" weakly, not knowing what the consequences may be, but it was to late.  Nothing happened for a moment. Albus and Rose waited curiously, and then to their amusement, the boy’s tongue began to stretch and grow. It rolled out of his tongue like an angry serpent turning a deep rich purple colour. The boy’s eyes almost popped out of his head, until he found the funny side of it and began to giggle. 

Rose and Albus looked at each other then burst out laughing at the twisting, protruding tongue. They laughed until their sides hurt and George began chuckling with them. “It’s a classic!” he beamed and turned around to the small crowd who had gathered eagerly to watch. Ton-tongue taffy” he announced, “5 knuts a piece!” The tongue had now begun to shrink back, gradually returning to it's natural colour as the boy hurried off to beg his mother to buy a bag full. She had turned rather white at the thought.

George’s eyes suddenly misted over and he turned to Rose and Albus. “Fred and I invented these before the store even opened... I remember Mum- I mean Grandma Molly- used to destroy every last one she found. Went bezerk when we used one on your Uncle Dudley!” He looked as close to upset as Rose had ever seen him, but a spluttering sound made them whip around. The boy was now being dragged down by a slimy tongue about 5 feet long!

“Um... Uncle George, how do you make it stop!?” asked Rose urgently, eyes glued onto the boy. George took out his wand, gave it a quick flick and the boy’s tongue suddenly started to shrink back to its normal size, gradually returning to it's natural colour as it retreated. The boy ran away laughing, and began tugging at his mother's arm to "buy a whole bag full for cousin Jack. I want his tongue to turn yellow this time Mummy." She had been rather white a moment ago, but agreed to buy him three small pieces. “See Rosie, it’s a laugh!” George said to Rose. Rose turned away, grinning. She could see why the business was thriving.