Back at the castle, it was just in time for lunch.
The Great Hall was already bustling with students. All four house tables were lined with sumptuous food.
Charlie made his way to the Hufflepuff table and sat down in an empty seat.
"Charlie! Where've you been?" Ernie spotted him and immediately came over.
"We've been looking all over for you!"
"Just taking a stroll. Getting familiar with the place."
Charlie answered offhandedly as he picked up a roasted chicken leg and sank his teeth into it.
Justin was struggling with a chess piece, and the moment he saw Charlie, his eyes lit up.
"Charlie, want to play a tense and thrilling game of Wizard's Chess?"
"No thanks, I'm allergic to it."
Charlie mumbled through a mouthful of chicken, he was honestly starving, having skipped breakfast entirely.
"Ah? Alright then, I'll ask someone else."
Justin immediately deflated, slinking off to the corner with his Wizard's Chess set and eating his food in disappointment.
Ernie chuckled.
"I just taught him how to play. He's really into it now."
Charlie nodded.
Yeah, he was allergic to chess too.
Ever since he got wrecked in the park by an old man who lured his knight with a pawn and a cannon before wiping him out with a silk veil, he'd been allergic to all board games.
Just then, the system's voice echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations, Your Majesty! Filch has triggered the bomb. Tyrant Points +20!]
Charlie nearly choked on his chicken.
This was the first time he'd earned that many Tyrant Points in one go!
Before, it had always been a slow trickle, one or two at a time. But this? This was the big one.
He was so thrilled he almost jumped out of his seat, but kept his composure on the surface and continued gnawing on the drumstick.
"You okay?" Ernie noticed something was off.
"Yeah, just... this chicken is amazing."
Charlie made up a random excuse.
Right then, the doors to the Great Hall were flung open with a bang, and a rainbow-colored figure came barreling in.
All eyes turned to look,
And then the hall erupted into roaring laughter.
Filch stood there, covered head to toe in paint, an explosion of colors, red, yellow, blue, green, all swirling together. He looked like a walking palette.
Even his hair had turned into a technicolor mess, dripping with paint in every direction.
To top it off, he was holding a broken toilet seat in one hand, also drenched in paint.
"Hahahaha! Filch turned into a rainbow!"
"What the hell happened? Did he fall into a paint bucket?"
"This is killing me! I can't breathe!"
The laughter of students filled the hall like thunder.
And honestly, no one blamed them. Filch had always been thoroughly detestable.
He'd once proposed that detention be brought back to medieval standards, with chains and corporal punishment. The Weasley twins had even found torture implements in his quarters.
No student could really say they liked him.
Filch trembled with fury, storming straight over to the Gryffindor table and zeroing in on Fred and George.
"It was you! You did this!"
He roared, slamming the busted toilet seat down on the table.
Fred and George exchanged a look, wearing matching innocent expressions.
"Mr. Filch, whatever are you talking about?" Fred blinked.
"We've been here eating lunch the whole time. Haven't touched a thing," George added with a wounded look.
"Still denying it?!" Filch's face turned green with rage,
Or rather, it was already green. Literally.
"You tampered with my toilet seat!"
Just then, Professor McGonagall arrived briskly, having heard the commotion.
She took one look at Filch's paint-splattered appearance and pressed her lips into a thin line. Her face darkened.
She had a bad feeling about this.
Chances were high that the Weasley twins were behind it again.
"What's going on?" McGonagall asked sternly.
"Professor! It was them! They did something to my toilet seat!"
Filch pointed an accusatory finger at Fred and George, his voice practically cracking.
"I sat down and it exploded! I ended up like this!"
McGonagall raised her wand, and a stream of crystal-clear water flowed from its tip, washing the paint off Filch from head to toe.
Finally, his skin tone returned to normal.
Fred, watching this, let out a quiet sigh of disappointment.
He'd been hoping to enjoy the sight of rainbow-Filch all week.
Didn't expect McGonagall to clean him up so fast.
"Gentlemen Weasleys. Was this your doing?"
McGonagall turned to the twins, her tone sharper than ice.
"Of course not!" Fred denied instantly.
"Professor, we've been framed!"
"Exactly, we've been eating here the whole time. How could we possibly have touched Filch's toilet?"
George chimed in quickly.
Filch sneered, flipping the toilet seat over.
"You're still going to lie? Take a look for yourselves!"
Etched in shimmering golden letters on the underside was:
"A Weasley Original: The Most Creative Magical Prank You'll Ever Sit On."
Fred and George saw the message and winced.
"Bloody hell, we forgot to scrub the label..." Fred muttered under his breath.
"Yeah, we're toast." George looked defeated.
McGonagall's face grew even darker.
With such solid evidence, she couldn't and wouldn't defend them.
"Do you two have anything else to say?"
Her voice was cold enough to freeze fire.
Fred and George exchanged another look. They knew there was no wriggling out of it now.
"Alright, it was us." Fred admitted.
"Filch kept giving us trouble last term, and we just wanted to get a bit of payback." George added.
"That is not an excuse for such behavior!"
McGonagall snapped.
"Gryffindor, minus fifty points!"
"Fred and George Weasley, one month of detention, each!"
The entire Great Hall fell silent.
Gryffindor students stared in disbelief.
It was only the first day of term, and their house was already at negative fifty points.
"Fifty points?!" a student blurted.
"That's insane!"
"Welp, say goodbye to the House Cup."
"A whole month of detention? Sweet Circe's slippers, McGonagall is pissed."
Fred and George lowered their heads, looking remorseful,
At least on the surface.
But Fred peeked sideways, locking eyes with Charlie.
Both of them were smiling.
That label? That wasn't a mistake. It had been left on on purpose.
This was a perfect marketing stunt.
In front of the whole school, they'd just launched the Weasley Twins' brand of prank products with a literal bang.
Now everyone knew just how good their work was.
Customers would be lining up in no time.
As for house points?
What did Gryffindor's score have to do with them?
Charlie nearly burst out laughing. These two were evil geniuses.
It looked like they got caught red-handed, but in reality, it was all part of their advertising campaign.
"That's enough! Everyone quiet down!"
McGonagall's voice thundered across the room like an enraged lioness.
"Mr. Fred Weasley, Mr. George Weasley.
My office. Eight o'clock tonight.
We need to have a serious conversation."
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters