Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Arrow in the Knee
"Um... Albert, I suddenly have a great idea."
In the evening, in the Gryffindor common room, Fred, who was buried in his homework, suddenly looked up and said.
"What's the good idea?" Albert asked without lifting his head.
"I got an inspiration from the Fat Lips seasoning."
"Fat Lips seasoning?" Albert was somewhat surprised by the name and furrowed his brows slightly. "Aren't you working on the Freezing Charm essay?"
"Oh, well... I mean Fat Tongue Candy," Fred corrected himself as he popped a Bean-Bobble into his mouth, his eyes shining.
"Not very original," commented Lee Jordan.
"Shut up and let me finish," Fred couldn't help but glare at Lee Jordan, then continued explaining, "Since we can add a swelling agent, why not use an inflating agent or an inflation spell?"
"Inflation spell?"
Albert looked up at Fred. The simplest way would be to add a swelling agent to the candy, which would have a similar effect to an inflation spell. However, he wasn't sure if such a potion existed. As for the inflation spell? He thought that, given Fred and George's current level, it might be a bit difficult to achieve. Even for himself, he didn't have a clear solution for now.
"So, you want me to help you with this?" Albert raised an eyebrow and asked.
Both of them looked a bit embarrassed at once. Clearly, that was their intention.
"You're not thinking of opening a joke shop, are you? If that's the case, figure it out on your own. Turn your ideas into reality, or you'll never have your own joke shop," Albert reminded them. "After all, the fun items in a joke shop need you to create them, don't they?"
"Oh, okay," Fred sounded a bit discouraged and mumbled in response.
"Tell me about your idea," George was quite interested.
A few minutes later, Albert said in an annoyed tone, "Why not have the person's whole body inflate into a balloon after eating the candy?"
"I think the tongue is more interesting," Fred opened his mouth wide and demonstrated sticking out his tongue and panting, "It would be even better if the tongue keeps getting bigger."
"Are you a devil?"
"Stop spitting everywhere," Lee Jordan complained irritably. "I think turning into a balloon would be more interesting."
"Directly casting a spell would be simpler, but to turn it into candy, you'd probably have to rely on potions or other methods," Albert said. "Also, have you considered the potential danger of these joke items?"
"Danger? Would they be dangerous?" George clearly didn't think so. "Most adult wizards can easily undo an inflation spell."
"Right, this is just a fun joke item. As long as it doesn't end up in the Muggle world, there shouldn't be any other problems," Fred agreed.
Magic is undoubtedly dangerous for ordinary people. Even a simple prank could bring them disaster. For example, the Engorgement Charm – once someone is inflated, without magical help, they would likely be in trouble for the rest of their lives. But for wizards who know magic, it might just be a fun joke.
At this moment, Albert suddenly understood why the Ministry of Magic forbids underage wizards from using magic outside of school.
Once something goes wrong, officials from the Ministry have to come and clean up the mess. If things get too out of hand, it becomes even more troublesome. In wizarding families, parents naturally take care of such problems themselves.
"Are you guys the ones who came up with that thing?" Angelina looked suspiciously at the group in front of her. Given their recent discussion, there was a chance.
Angelina scrutinized Albert with skeptical eyes while he continued to read the book in his hands.
"Oh, by the way, do you guys know? The price of swelling antidotes on the black market has gone up again." Suddenly, Shanna changed the topic.
"The black market, damn it, why didn't I think of that!" Fred, upon hearing Shanna talk about the swelling antidotes, felt irritated that he hadn't thought of this money-making opportunity.
"Forget it, I doubt anyone would dare to drink the swelling antidote you brewed," Shanna couldn't help but roll her eyes at Fred, "If it were Albert, it might be different, but no one would buy yours. What if they get poisoned?"
"My potion is still pretty good," Fred immediately argued.
"Didn't you get a failing grade on your last potion assignment and get detention from Professor Snape?" Angelina, who was playing wizard cards with Shanna, bluntly exposed Fred's lie.
"Would anyone really get poisoned from using a swelling antidote?" Angelina was curious about what level of skill it would take to turn a swelling antidote into poison.
"If the potion's ingredients are mixed incorrectly, it could indeed turn into a pot of poison, and the swelling antidote is no exception. Otherwise, the swelling antidotes in the Hogwarts black market wouldn't be so popular," Albert wasn't surprised. "Who knows, some unlucky person might drink their self-made potion and get poisoned!"
"Enough, don't talk nonsense!" George said.
"Ah, it's too late now." Lee Jordan covered his face with his hand, looking like everything had gone wrong.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Elia looked at the three of them in confusion.
"Don't you know? What Albert says is even more accurate than his predictions. Especially for those terrible things, he's always right," Fred explained. "The things he says always come true."
As it turns out, Albert's words are truly potent.
The next day, a third-year Hufflepuff student ended up with minor poisoning symptoms from using a self-brewed swelling antidote and had to be sent to the infirmary.
Snape was infuriated when he heard about it. Seeing his student had been poisoned from drinking his own potion, he threatened to put the student in a month of detention after they recovered.
That idiot had truly embarrassed him.
"I told you so!" Fred, upon hearing this news, helplessly said to a dumbfounded Angelina. Then, he prepared to continue researching the formula for the swelling antidote. He hadn't given up on the idea of selling them for profit.
"I think you should chant 'Gryffindor will win' every day now," Angelina told Albert seriously.
"I think you guys won't win!" Angelina said.
"Shut up, you jerk, don't say that!" George covered Albert's mouth with his hand, trying to stop him from saying more.
"If we really lose, it's definitely Albert's fault," Fred said with a sorrowful expression.
"Alright, stop messing around," Albert interrupted the others who wanted to say something else. "Give up, the black market is already flooded with swelling antidotes. And even if you do succeed, you won't make much money. Stop messing around."
"How much does a bottle of swelling antidote cost?" Lee Jordan curiously asked.
"Three Sickles per bottle," Elia answered as she took out a glass bottle containing the swelling antidote from her pocket. "This stuff was popular on the black market recently."
Since Mrs. Pomfrey revealed the secret to having lips like sausages, many students carried a bottle of swelling antidote with them to prevent themselves from becoming the subject of ridicule.
"Why does this mark look familiar!" Lee Jordan examined the A.A. mark on the bottle.
"A.A.?"
Everyone turned to look at Albert.
"Well, I brewed a large batch last time, kept a bottle for myself, and sold the rest to others," Albert admitted. In fact, he didn't originally intend to sell swelling antidotes. But one time he got swollen and took out a potion to alleviate it, someone asked him where he got it from. So... Albert casually set a price and sold them the swelling antidote.
Of course, the glass bottles used for the potion were sourced from Transfiguration and the Replication Charm.
"Wow, wait, why didn't you tell us about the black market stuff?"
Hogwarts did have a black market, where some students occasionally traded contraband items, like certain things from Zonko's, or some forbidden potions, and mischievous toys.
Of course, there were also Dark Magic books, and sometimes people asked for help in brewing Intelligence Potions.
However, during exams, it was easy for these potions to be discovered, and Hogwarts would have a few unfortunate students every year as a result.
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