𝗗𝗜𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 ☼ 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘆

↘︎ chapter sixty-five

65 | Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

When Marley Macmillan entered the joke shop it was packed with customers; she couldn't get near the shelves. She stared around, looking up at the boxes piled to the ceiling: here were the Skiving Snackboxes that the twins had perfected during their last, unfinished year at Hogwarts; Marley noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf. There were bins full of trick wands and boxes of quills, which came in Self-Inking, Spell-Checking, and Smart-Answer varieties.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" she said, looking around to see the others. Harry, Ron and Noen were staring at everything at the shop, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were looking at the goods; Hermione and Ginny had noticed the Patended Daydream Charms.

"One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average school lesson and virtually undetectable (side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling). Not for sale to under-sixteens'. You know," said Hermione, looking up at Harry and Marley, "that really is extraordinary magic!"

"For that, Hermione," said a voice behind them, "you can have one for free."

A beaming Fred stood before them, grinning widely. He wore a striped suit that for some reason matched his fiery red hair.

"How are you, Harry?" they shook hands. "What happened to your eye, Hermione?"

"Your punching telescope," she said ruefully.

"Oh blimey, I forgot about those," said Fred. "Here..."

He pulled a tub out of his pocket and handed it to her; she unscrewed it gingerly to reveal a thick yellow paste. After he explained the girl what to do, he wanted to give Harry a tour.

"I'm never cooking for you again!" shouted Marley and then turned around, looking innocently at a tiny little wooden man slowly ascending the steps to a real set of gallows, both perched on a box that read: Reusable hangman--spell it or he'll swing!

"What did you just say?" Fred had suddenly forgotten about his tour and approached Marley, who was grinning. "No, you need to cook. George's really bad at it. He can't even make a toast."

"Oh, don't be silly, Fred." Marley said disparaging. "He told me he can make eggs for breakfast. And when you say hello to your cook best friend, I'll consider if you deserve to be fed."

"Jesus Christ, you're driving me mad!" exclaimed Fred. "I don't know how George deals with you. I'll talk with him about you. Now follow me."

Marley smirked and she and her sibling Harry followed Fred through the crowd toward the back of the shop, where she saw the familiar stand of card and rope tricks.

"Muggle magic tricks!" said Fred happily, pointing them out. "For freaks like Dad, you know, who love Muggle stuff. It's not a big earner, but we do fairly steady business, they're great novelties... Oh, here's George... She blackmailed me, this little freak!"

Marley giggled as she hugged George, who placed a kiss on her lips quickly, also grinning. Harry was quietly laughing. "Well, Marley is a bad girl. But I'm sure you just ignored her."

"He did." confirmed Marley. "No cooking for you."

"Oh, come on!" Fred exclaimed in despair. "You can't leave me without food! You don't want me to die, do you?"

Marley didn't reply but just smiled at him. Fred's jaw dropped, reaching the floor from shock and the the other three just burst out laughing.

Fred's twin shook Harry's hand energetically.