George hurried out.
Because the Kael family wasn't connected to the Floo Network, he had to go back to the Shabby Residence first, and then use the fireplace at home to get to Diagon Alley.
Fred had originally wanted to go with him, but when he passed by a mirror on the way, he changed his mind and turned back up to the attic.
Though Fred usually acted pretty carelessly, he did care about his appearance—he really didn't want to show up in the crowded Diagon Alley looking like he did right now.
Otherwise, when term started, he'd probably be the very first joke of the new school year.
In the attic, Kael was studying the twins' recent results.
—A big box, packed full with more than a dozen candies of different types, all of them the hottest sellers on the market.
Fizzing Whizzbees, Creamy Caramels, Toffees, and Chocolates—everything was there.
Kael picked up a Creamy Caramel, and as soon as he brought it close, he smelled a faint bitterness that didn't match the candy's sweetness at all.
"Mmm mmm mmm..."
It seemed like Fred wanted to say something, but Kael didn't understand.
He took out a notebook and wrote in it:
"This one's a failure. We found that only Toffee can cover up the taste of the Swelling Potion."
Kael nodded, picked up another Toffee, and sniffed—it really was much less bitter; if you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't even notice.
But their method was pretty rough—they'd just hollowed out the candy and stuffed the Swelling Potion inside.
If they did it with a little more finesse, maybe they could cover up the taste of the Swelling Potion completely.
Of course, maybe they were just too lazy to bother.
After all, until they figured out the right dosage for the Swelling Potion, this thing wasn't even a real prototype.
Then, Fred handed Kael a notebook filled with all their previous experiment records, clearly listing the reasons for every failure and all the bad side effects.
It was probably a dozen pages or so—pretty thorough, actually.
As Kael flipped through the notebook, George came back, holding a paper bag stuffed with Shrunken Figs.
"No need to buy so many, George." Kael reached out and said, "Shrunken Figs are just for backup—a couple should be enough."
"Better safe than sorry." George naturally handed over the bag, then smiled and asked, "What, you joining us now?"
Kael shrugged. "After a week of homework, I need some fun, don't I?"
"Speaking of which…" George suddenly sighed. "I still can't believe you actually waste your precious holiday doing homework.
Percy's the same. When I got back just now, he even complained that I was disturbing him.
Merlin, all I did was open the door! It's not like he was doing homework in the living room anyway!"
"I have to admit, in this respect, you're way better than he is. At least you never blame us for not being able to finish your homework."
Kael didn't mind the Weasley family's daily roasting. He just took out two Shrunken Figs, peeled them, and squeezed out the juice.
Meanwhile, George grabbed a half-bottle of Engorgement Potion from the nearby box. After some thought, he found an empty bottle and poured half of the potion into it.
Fred and George were only so-so at Magic Potion brewing, and Mrs. Weasley never allowed cauldrons at home either. To save time, they'd bought all their Swelling Potion straight from Diagon Alley—five Galleons a pint!
Better use it sparingly, then.
Once the Shrunken Fig juice was added, the Swelling Potion started fading in color, shifting from sky blue to a lighter blue.
Kael nodded.
As long as it didn't change into any other color, that meant the potion hadn't been altered in any unexpected way.
He picked up the bottle, ready to test a drop on his hand.
But George stopped him.
"No, no, Kael, not like that."
George looked serious. "We want to make the tongue bigger, not the hand."
He took a new candy from his pocket, dripped some potion onto it, then popped it straight into his mouth.
"I really shouldn't eat these straight." George mumbled thickly, "The taste is too weird, it's like… mmm… mmm…"
George's cheeks started puffing up, and his voice turned into muffled whimpers.
That was his tongue.
Fred danced around excitedly, "mmm"-ing away—seemed he was celebrating.
George's tongue began to inflate rapidly. Before long, it stuck out so far that it looked like a giant slippery python.
"Looks like it worked."
Kael studied George carefully.
The Shrunken Figs had really mellowed out the Swelling Potion, making its effect much slower. The magic was only happening on the tongue—where it touched the potion most.
All that was left was to get rid of the potion's special taste, so young wizards wouldn't notice it, and this "Skiving Snackbox" would finally be complete.
Fred and George were over the moon.
"Genius, Kael… haha, Shrunken Figs for the win."
When the effects of the Swelling Potion wore off, George said excitedly, "You have no idea, we were about ready to give up."
"The Swelling Potion's just too expensive," Fred shrugged. "We already wasted a whole bottle before this."
"Five Galleons!" George winced. "We really should have waited for you."
The thought of wasting five Galleons for nothing was enough to break his heart.
If they'd spent that on Dungbombs instead, they could have fought a small war with Slytherin by now.
"Don't you guys have money?" Kael asked. "A hundred Galleons each—you haven't spent it all, right?"
"Having money and wasting it are two different things." Fred sighed. "And now we only have thirty Galleons left—all together, just thirty."
On the first day of holiday, when Mrs. Weasley caught Fred and George, she accidentally knocked their wallets out of hiding.
Golden Galleons scattered everywhere—Mrs. Weasley nearly fainted, thinking the twins had robbed a Slytherin student at school.
Though Fred and George quickly explained where the money came from, Mrs. Weasley didn't believe them.
It wasn't until Chris came over afterward that the whole thing got cleared up.
But Mrs. Weasley confiscated the Galleons anyway—said it was to keep them out of trouble.
Now, all Fred and George had left was whatever coins they'd hidden in a box.
Like they said—thirty Galleons, not too much, not too little, just enough to get by.