Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

The day Allen had arranged to meet the Weasleys was dim and overcast, but Diagon Alley was bustling. All kinds of goods filled the colorful display windows, and shopkeepers did everything they could to lure young wizards inside. Unlike in other countries, Voldemort and his Death Eaters' influence on the British wizarding world—aside from the panic they had caused at the very beginning—could at least be ignored on the surface for now.

Even amid all that prosperity, one shop still stood out. Its window drew the eye like a fireworks display, and many passing wizards stopped in their tracks, unable to keep themselves from turning to stare at it in fascination. The display blazed with color, packed with all manner of products that spun, twitched, flashed, leaped, and screamed.

That shop was Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. A huge gentlemanly statue stood above the shop sign marked with the Umbrella logo. Integrated with the front entrance, the statue was several stories tall. It grinned with its mouth open, its eyes occasionally rolling. A rabbit stood on the statue's head, waving and wagging its tail. The statue's hand lowered a hat onto its head, covering the rabbit; when it lifted the hat again, the rabbit inside had vanished, and brilliant fireworks erupted through the room, lighting up the window.

"Allen, you didn't drive here today, did you?" Arthur Weasley's red-haired forehead was beaded with sweat, whether from the heat or excitement.

"Of course not. Parking in Diagon Alley is a problem." Allen pointed at the crowds thronging the narrow street. "Neither Diagon Alley nor Hogsmeade is really suited for cars."

"Business looks good. They do have some talent for it after all." Molly Weasley's attention was clearly still on her sons' business. Seeing the shop packed with customers, she lifted her chin.

"That's