At this moment, Fred and George had also opened their respective gift packages.
The joy on their faces quickly faded, replaced by a look of confusion.
"Wait a minute..."
"Dad, did you just say Ministry of Magic?"
"But you know, we're opening a joke shop, we've even found a location for it."
...
"Huh?"
Mr. Weasley was stunned for a moment, then took out two pieces of parchment.
"But you've already signed the job application for the Ministry of Magic."
Fred and George immediately stepped forward for a look.
[Ministry of Magic Job Application (Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Charms and Protective Equipment)]
...
The whole parchment was filled, they didn't even look closely, they just turned their gaze to the end.
Upon seeing those familiar names, Fred and George were both stunned. It did seem to be their signatures, but the problem was, they could be sure they had never signed anything like this, and they wouldn't.
"This must be a fake!" Fred blurted out.
"Wait..." George seemed to have thought of something, stiffly said, "Fred, do you remember after the exams when Cedric said he wanted to comfort Kael, so he made two fake job applications?"
With this reminder, Fred remembered too.
There really was such a thing.
At that time, Cedric thought they could play a prank on Kael, pretending to go to the Ministry of Magic to work with him. They thought it was funny, so they agreed.
"But wasn't that application form fake?" Fred said, glancing at the form on the table again.
"Yes, that's it, the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Charms and Protective Equipment... I've never heard of such an office in the Ministry of Magic."
"Ahem..." Kingsley suddenly coughed twice, trying hard to suppress his laughter, and said, "Actually, it's a newly formed department.
"Due to You-Know-Who's return, people have been panicking, and everywhere there's someone selling counterfeit products claiming to defend against Death Eaters. To prevent these counterfeits from harming people, Kael assistant proposed setting up a new office... and the minister has agreed."
With a bang, Fred's hand loosened, and the box he was holding fell to the ground.
He suddenly realized something.
"You're not wrong." Kingsley slightly turned his head, "It's true, you're the first batch of employees, the office is right next to Arthur."
Fred and George were utterly dismayed.
They never expected things to turn out this way.
If it was Kael coming with the form that day, they definitely wouldn't have signed it, even if it was fake... because they knew Kael too well, no matter what he said, it was always right to refuse.
But Cedric was different. In their and in everyone's impression, Cedric was a standard Hufflepuff, honest, loyal... precisely because of this, when the parchment appeared before them, they signed their names without thinking.
Who would have thought that Cedric, that thick-eyebrowed guy, would be a traitor too!
"Sure enough, anyone who teams up with Kael is up to no good." George couldn't help but mutter.
But he didn't notice how strange everyone's expressions were at the moment.
Most of the people present had been Defense Against the Dark Arts professors at Hogwarts, so they knew how close the Weasley brothers and Kael were.
Now that's brutal, even cursing their own.
"Can we not go?" Fred said, "We didn't know the truth when we signed, so it shouldn't count, right?"
"That's right." George nodded repeatedly.
"Of course... you can." Kingsley said, "Although you were hired, attending or not is up to you."
"But..."
Just as Fred and George were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they heard Kingsley continue.
"Kael assistant once said... well, I think his words then were directed at you, so I'll just say it straight.
Kael said if you don't comply with the application and work at the Ministry of Magic for at least two months, he would take Beaters to Diagon Alley to inspect the anti-dark magic measures at your shop, and until they pass inspection you can't open the store."
Fred and George were struck like lightning, standing there dumbfounded.
Professor McGonagall felt like laughing, she didn't expect she had just come for dinner and witnessed such an interesting scene.
It's rare to see the infamous pranksters of Hogwarts with such expressions.
"I've never heard of needing an anti-dark magic inspection to open a store..." Fred said, gritting his teeth.
"He must be trying to trick us into going to the Ministry of Magic!"
"I have to say..." Kingsley looked at them calmly, "As the Senior Ministerial Assistant, Kael has that authority, and he's not just any assistant, his authority is even greater than a typical minister or deputy minister. I advise you not to go against him."
Ron couldn't hold back, bursting into laughter, but when he saw his brothers' fierce gaze, he held back again.
"But Dad." Fred looked at Mr. Weasley, "We've already paid the rent for Diagon Alley, and that's a lot of money."
"No problem." Mrs. Weasley waved her hand, "Kael has already taken care of it, Kreacher will go to help, and he's invited two house-elves from Hogwarts with store clerk experience to help, they will take care of the shop."
"But the anti-dark magic inspection..."
"If they're house-elves, then there's no need for it." Kingsley said with a smile.