Let's Study Fireworks

Let's Study Fireworks

Love Potion was, after all, not as potent as Love Potion or Aphrodisiac Powder, so Hogwarts turned a blind eye to it. Mrs. Weasley had even brewed it when she was a student.

After Charles and Eleanor realized something was wrong, they did not cross that line. Charles was still young and able to control himself, so at most, the two of them had only kissed.

Once they left the laboratory, everyone pretended nothing had happened.

"You know, a lot of people envy you."

"If you weren't a first-year student, you would've received a duel invitation by now."

Fred and George complained about Charles while studying the requirements he had proposed.

Charles knew they were talking about how close he and Eleanor had become recently. He merely curled his lips and said casually, "I only saved her cousin this spring. She just sees me as a younger brother."

"Look, Hermione and her cousin were classmates in primary school too, but doesn't her cousin look after Hermione just as much?"

At that moment, Eleanor and Hermione were sitting at the other end of the long table, discussing Potions.

Snape had always been cold and hostile toward anyone who wasn't from Slytherin, but Eleanor was the exception. Dumbledore had told him that if anything he did caused Hogwarts to lose its annual donation of fifty thousand Galleons, he would have to make up the money himself.

Charles stopped dwelling on the subject and asked Fred and George, "Well? Can fireworks like this be made?"

The twins began discussing it seriously. A range of at least one hundred yards and at most three hundred yards could be achieved by piling on more gunpowder. The key was the fuse's impact-triggering function, safety mechanism, and timed self-destruct function. Those three features would require careful research.

After hearing them out, Charles agreed to provide ten Galleons in start-up research funds. Each of the three functions would earn them ten Galleons in progress payments once solved, and they would receive another ten Galleons after final assembly and a successful test launch, not counting future purchases.

He added with a smile, "That should be enough for you to buy your sister a whole new set of robes."

Fred said, "And a new wand."

George added, "She'll need new textbooks too."

Charles left the matter to them to research and said that if they couldn't make something like the outer casing, it wouldn't be a problem. He could find a solution himself.

However, these "fireworks" had to be developed before next spring. The Acromantulas wouldn't lay eggs in the cold weather, but once it warmed up, they would work overtime laying eggs. They would have to start working then.

After they finished discussing the fireworks, the twins once again draped an arm over each of Charles's shoulders and asked him in low voices, "We heard you have your own flying broomstick?"

"And it's the best one in Hogwarts?"

"Supposedly, it's from France."

"Can you let us see it?"

Charles glanced around and replied quietly, "This isn't the place to take it out. Come to my dormitory."

Showing a broomstick to his friends was one thing. Taking it out in public and causing a commotion was another. He didn't want to make too much news.

The three of them arrived at the dormitory, where the twins saw Seamus and Neville playing a game, while Harry and Ron watched from the side.

There was a two-meter-long table in the dormitory. Its surface was divided into many squares of different colors, while several balls in two colors sat at the other end. The two of them used the Accio Charm to control the balls and roll them toward themselves, competing to see who could score higher.

At that moment, Seamus was hopping angrily because one of his balls had been knocked off the table by Neville's ball, while the two spectators laughed loudly.

Seamus then tried to knock one of Neville's balls off with his own. He missed and instead rolled off the table himself, making the spectators laugh even louder.

Before long, everyone was captivated by Charles's flying broomstick.

The broom floated above the long table and rotated automatically, as if it were being displayed in a showroom.

"Wow!"

"It's a work of art!"

The twins knew their stuff and couldn't help praising it.

The other friends also marveled at it. Harry couldn't help comparing it with his own Nimbus 2000.

"Only what suits you best is truly the best," Harry told himself.

Fred suddenly asked Charles, "Are you planning to install the fireworks on your flying broomstick?"

George suddenly understood and said, "That makes sense now."

A range of hundreds of yards was a rather strange requirement for fireworks.

Charles didn't hide it. He nodded and replied, "That's right. The Forbidden Forest is dangerous, and I want to help my Centaur friends eliminate some enemies."

Harry and the others still didn't know about Charles's connection with the Centaurs, so Charles repeated the excuse to them.

"Oh, right!" Harry suddenly remembered something. "I heard Hagrid say there's a 'Spider Reaper' in the Forbidden Forest. Quite a few of Hagrid's friends have been killed. Especially last summer—twenty-six spiders were killed in a single month. Do you have any leads?"

Charles merely shrugged. He did have a lead, but he couldn't exactly say it was because Harry had made the Old Man so happy last year that the Old Man had fattened him up by several pounds. Charles had been running around the kitchen like crazy at the time.

"No leads." The second-generation Spider Reaper shook his head. "I always fly over from above, so I never paid attention to what was happening on the ground."

Nearby, Sixth Brother of the Weasley family glared fiercely at Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother, clearly remembering some unpleasant memories.

Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother ignored Sixth Brother and began discussing the client's new requirements.

They discovered that there were some techniques they couldn't master themselves, so they went to find Third Brother. On the way, they also went to look for Wood from the Quidditch team.

Percy said angrily to his twin younger brothers, "I don't have time to fool around with you. I have exams next June."

Fred told him, "Charles promised to pay us fifty Galleons."

George continued, "Ginny is coming to Hogwarts next year."

Percy asked his two younger brothers, "What do you want to ask?"

Meanwhile, after Wood learned that Charles had a top-quality flying broomstick, he immediately came over to recruit him for the Quidditch team.

Harry grew excited when he saw this and chimed in from the side. Fortunately, he didn't mention that he had already joined the team.

"Not interested." Charles shook his head. "Let Ron go. He has a talent for being a goalkeeper."

Ron had originally only been envious from the side, but when he saw that Charles was actually recommending him, he immediately puffed out his chest and looked at Wood expectantly.

"Really?" Wood clearly didn't believe it.

Charles nodded. "Really. As long as he builds up his confidence and focuses during the match, his performance will definitely surprise you."

"Take him along for a trial at your next practice. It won't cost you anything, anyway."

Ron puffed out his chest even further.

Wood thought for a moment, then said to Ron, "All right. Come and take a look at the next practice."

Ron immediately agreed. After Wood left, he was just about to thank Charles when he saw the strange smile on his face.

"Don't celebrate too soon." Charles said to Ron and Harry, "Harry, help Ron with Reaction Training and Dynamic Vision Training during this period. He can't neglect Physical Training either."

Ron subconsciously shuddered, suddenly feeling that his days ahead were not going to be easy.