Diagon Alley

After careful consideration, Kyle finally decided to keep the truth about Fluffy from his dad, just this once.

He liked Fantastic Beasts too, but he wasn't Newt and didn't have that rare, natural talent. Fantastic Beasts like a Three-headed Dog were extraordinarily rare, even in Greece. If he missed this chance, he might never see one again.

Weighing the two options, he decided it was better to keep quiet.

Still, to make up for it and ease his conscience, Kyle immediately wriggled free of the twins' arms and went over to Chris, giving him an apologetic look.

Chris was left completely bewildered.

And so were the twins.

They'd just been about to resume the prank they'd put on hold before handing over the gift: dumping Jumping Powder on Kyle's head. But at the last second, Kyle ducked and darted away. Their Jumping Powder had already left their hands!

If only he'd moved a second earlier or later. Why did it have to be at that exact moment?

The twins were stunned. All they could do was watch as the Jumping Powder they'd thrown traced a beautiful crisscross through the air before flying straight at each other's heads.

"Gasp... gasp..."

"Scritch... scritch... scritch..."

Two sets of frantic gasps and the sound of hair being rubbed came from behind them, immediately drawing everyone's attention. Each person instinctively looked toward the noise.

When they turned around, they saw Fred and George scratching their heads furiously, like a pair of grown baboons.

Their hair had never been particularly smooth, and now their hands had turned it into an even worse mess than a bird's nest. Honestly, even the Sorting Hat looked better than they did right then.

"Oh, Fred, George! What are you up to now?"

As more and more people turned to stare, Mrs. Weasley's face flushed. She marched over to the twins, grabbed one ear in each hand, and dragged them into a nearby alley.

At least there were fewer people there, so she'd have less to be embarrassed in front of.

Unlike here, on Diagon Alley's main thoroughfare, where her sons were imitating baboons in public.

Merlin's beard! If she let them carry on, the Weasley family's centuries-old reputation would be ruined. Ruined!

Mrs. Weasley acted decisively, though the twins paid for it. Their gasps grew noticeably louder, and—though Kyle wasn't sure if he was seeing things—he thought he spotted tears in both their eyes.

If they really were crying... well, the twins certainly lived up to their name. Even their tears were in the same place.

Meanwhile, Mr. Weasley watched Mrs. Weasley march the twins away and visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Fighting his embarrassment, he repeatedly urged everyone to go on ahead and do their shopping without waiting for them.

At the back of the group, Kyle hid beside Ron, struggling to hold in his laughter.

But the next second, he looked up and caught Diana's eye. His whole body tensed. He forced out an awkward but polite smile.

His mum was wonderful in every way, except for her ridiculous sixth sense. There had never been anything he could hide from her, not since he was little.

He'd just been lucky when he crossed over and waited five or six months before she gave birth to him. Otherwise, Kyle was sure she would have discovered who he was long ago.

"Honestly..."

Kyle scratched his head and thought, Having a mum like this means having no privacy at all.

Diana didn't say anything. She simply gave Kyle a warning look and then turned away.

It wasn't really that serious. Molly had only overreacted out of concern.

The twins were notorious troublemakers at Hogwarts, and their exploits had spread throughout the Wizarding World by word of mouth. Even Diana had heard a few stories.

Among the more bizarre things she'd heard were blowing up toilet seats, putting Mrs. Norris in a sack during a nighttime outing, and tossing Dungbombs beneath the seats of Slytherin first-years, then accusing them of having crapped their pants in class. And those were probably just the stories she knew about.

Compared to all that, imitating baboons in public was hardly worth mentioning.

At most, people who saw them would have a laugh. No one would ever hold it against the Weasley family. (Except for one pure-blood family member with platinum-blond hair, who preferred to remain anonymous.)

Mrs. Weasley had only reacted so strongly because she hadn't gotten used to them yet.

Bill, Charlie, and Percy were all exceptionally good children, and Mrs. Weasley subconsciously expected the twins to be the same. Even though their behavior was the complete opposite of their older brothers', that impression wasn't something she could shake overnight.

After all, Bill and Charlie hadn't been especially well-behaved at home or when they'd first started school either. But no one could deny that they were still among Hogwarts's best students.

Put it this way: just imagine Percy, so prim and proper, imitating a baboon in the middle of the street. That should help explain Mrs. Weasley's reaction.

But that wouldn't last. Once she heard more stories from Hogwarts over the next year or two, Mrs. Weasley would gradually get used to it.

At least the next time something like this happened, she'd be able to keep her cool.

Not long after the little incident, the group split up.

Ron and Ginny weren't old enough to start school yet, so the only things the Weasley family needed to buy on this trip to Diagon Alley were new textbooks for the twins and Percy.

But Kyle was a first-year, and he had a lot of things to buy. The most important thing to get first was, of course, a wand.

He didn't need anyone to show him the way. Kyle made his way through Diagon Alley with practiced ease and soon reached his destination.

The little shop, shabby and cramped.

Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.

Standing at the door, Kyle couldn't help feeling exasperated every time he came here.

The place was unbelievably run-down. There was enough dust on the window to build a statue out of if you scraped it off. Did wizards just love things with a sense of history?

But Gringotts and the Broomstick shop were both lovely—clean and attractive.

Or was this what came of having a monopoly? No matter what the place looked like, you had to come here anyway.

But Gringotts had a monopoly too...

Kyle had been wondering about this for ages. He'd even asked Chris and Mr. Weasley, but he still hadn't gotten an answer. Standing here now, he could only shrug and put it down to artisans being eccentric.

As for asking Ollivander himself, that was out of the question. He didn't want to offend the man. After all, he was the most famous wandmaker in the British Wizarding World, and keeping a good relationship with him was important.

Besides, Ron would start school next year. Kyle could discuss it with the twins and persuade... ahem, ask their youngest brother to ask for him.

Don't say he was throwing his friends under the bus.

He was throwing Ron Weasley under the bus. What did that have to do with his dear friend and the twins' little brother, Ronald Weasley?