The Fear of Dungbombs

George and Fred had been very happy lately.

They had finally found something as fun as pranks.

Making money.

They bought parchment for a few Knuts and sold it for eight silver Sickles. With just one resale, the price multiplied by several hundred times.

Shining silver Sickles flowed into their pockets like water.

Honestly, they had never seen so much money since the day they were born.

For the past two days, they had practically been wandering around the school nonstop. Busy selling maps, they had even pulled far fewer pranks than usual.

Ron had thought his two brothers had finally grown a conscience and stopped picking on him.

That let him enjoy several peaceful days at school.

As the money in their pockets piled up, George and Fred's enthusiasm for sales soared right along with it.

After breakfast, they continued roaming the castle. Whenever they saw a young wizard struggling with the ever-changing main staircase, they would go over and pitch their maps.

This time, they found a new target: a first-year Hufflepuff student.

"Hey, friend, want a Hufflepuff map?"

"With it, you won't be late for class. With it, you'll never get lost. Get one!"

The two worked perfectly together, taking turns coaxing him along.

But the young wizard shook his head and pulled out a sheet of parchment from his robes.

"I already bought one."

George and Fred exchanged a glance, both feeling puzzled.

As far as they remembered, they had never sold a map to this young wizard.

Where had he gotten one?

Had Silan sold it to him?

That did not make sense either. Silan was only responsible for Slytherin maps.

Rather than keep guessing, Fred asked directly, "Could we take a look at the map you bought?"

"Sure."

Holding the map in their hands, George and Fred pressed their heads together, eyes wide as they carefully examined the map they had received from the young wizard.

To their surprise, they discovered that the routes on it were exactly the same as on their own map.

Even some of the markings matched perfectly.

The only difference was that the handwriting and lines on this map were slightly messier.

Probably because whoever copied it had shaky hands and drew the lines crooked.

The two quickly realized that the map was a counterfeit.

"This is a fake!" George said angrily.

The young wizard shrugged indifferently. "But it's cheaper. It only costs three Sickles. Your maps are way too expensive."

"And this map isn't a copy, so it won't disappear. I can use it forever." The young wizard snatched his map back from them. "It's much better than what you're selling."

His words were merciless, but they were also true.

The lower price alone was enough to attract young wizards. Add to that the fact that it could last permanently, and many of them could accept slightly messier lines.

George and Fred watched his retreating back, both feeling a faint sense of dread.

They made several more rounds through the castle, but only managed to sell one map.

That made them realize just how serious the situation was.

After discussing it, they decided to find Silan and tell him what had happened.

But before they had gone more than a few steps, they ran into Noah and Oliver, who were selling maps.

The two knew that the Weasley twins were Silan's accomplices.

When they saw the unsold maps in George and Fred's hands, triumphant smiles appeared on both their faces.

"Well, look who this is." Noah swaggered over. "Aren't these the esteemed Weasley upperclassmen? Want to buy one of our maps?"

As he spoke, his eyes kept darting toward the maps in the Weasley twins' hands.

"Our maps are on sale now. Very cheap."

"Forget it, Noah." Oliver moved closer too.

"Did you forget? Everyone in the Weasley family is poor. Even on sale, they can't afford a map."

"Oh, what was I thinking!"

Noah tapped his forehead with the map in his hand, then put on a look of sudden realization.

"But I heard the Weasley upperclassmen have made quite a bit of money selling maps recently. How could they not afford ours?"

"Our maps only cost three Sickles, much cheaper than theirs."

"Then it must be because ours are cheaper, so they can't sell theirs!"

"Hahahahahaha..."

The two traded lines and burst into arrogant laughter.

They did not take the older Weasley twins seriously in the slightest.

The Weasley twins might be in higher years, but that was Gryffindor business. Slytherin did not acknowledge it.

Perhaps because they found a little satisfaction in getting revenge on Silan through George and Fred.

The two laughed more and more wildly, as if they wanted to squeeze every bit of their previous humiliation out of their stomachs.

George and Fred exchanged a look and turned away in perfect sync.

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave, upperclassmen!"

"Yeah, yeah. How about we give you a map? Consider it charity for beggars."

The two thought the Weasleys were afraid of them and became even more brazen.

But after taking two steps, George and Fred turned around at the same time.

Each of them hurled a Dungbomb straight at their faces.

Smack! Smack!

The Dungbombs hit Noah and Oliver square in the face.

The juice and chunks gave them what could only be called a perfect facial mask.

George and Fred were incredibly skilled at using Dungbombs. Whatever they aimed at, they hit.

After exchanging a high five, George and Fred took off running.

"Ugh..."

"Damn it... Dungbombs again!"

Ever since Silan had smeared Dungbombs all over their faces and then locked them in their dormitory, the two had developed a psychological trauma toward Dungbombs.

Getting their faces covered by Dungbombs again today made their bodies react instantly.

They nearly vomited up the acid in their stomachs.

That day, Noah and Oliver once again remembered the fear of being ruled by Dungbombs...

George and Fred made a full circuit of the school before finally finding Silan near the library.

Hermione had not seen him for several days, so she had been rather clingy lately.

Whenever the weekend came, she dragged Silan off to do homework with her.

The two of them had practically been living in the library.

Only after finishing all their homework did Silan finally have time to come out and catch his breath.

"Silan... this is bad..."

"Something terrible happened! Listen to us..."

"That Bulstrode kid..."

The two talked over each other, buzzing like little bees, and Silan could not understand a word they were saying.

"Calm the mind and soothe the spirit."

Silan had no choice but to take out his wand and cast a simple healing spell on them, making them calm down first.

"Don't panic. Tell me slowly."