Here's to a successful partnership

Late that night, the little badgers of Hufflepuff had climbed into bed early. On a bitter winter night, nowhere was more comfortable than under the covers.

But one young wizard had to crawl out from beneath his thick duvet.

Ah, yes. Our protagonist, of course.

"What possessed me to arrange a meeting in the kitchens in subzero weather?" Su Er shuddered violently as he slipped out of the dormitory.

The fireplace in the Hufflepuff Common Room had long since gone out.

Whoosh. A blue glow lit up a corner of the common room. Feeling the warmth coming through the glass bottle, Su Er gritted his teeth and headed out.

"Clack... heh heh... clack... heh heh..."

Footsteps. Was someone there?

George and Fred? No, their voices didn't sound that old.

Curiosity prompted Su Er to lift the barrel lid a fraction and peer through the gap.

Professor Kettleburn staggered past the barrel toward the stairs leading up from the basement, a satisfied smile on his face. An iron bucket hung from his prosthetic limb, and judging by the way his body tilted, it was quite heavy.

Why didn't he use a Floating Charm? Su Er wondered.

He had asked some older Hufflepuff students who took Magizoology about Professor Kettleburn. The professor was a kindly, knowledgeable old man. His teaching methods might have been old-fashioned, but he always found a fresh angle to broaden his students' horizons. He was highly respected at Hogwarts.

Yet what Su Er saw now was an old wizard with a decidedly sleazy grin who wasn't in the habit of using magic.

Only after Professor Kettleburn disappeared around the corner did Su Er climb out of the barrel.

Still puzzled, he tiptoed to the Hogwarts Kitchens.

"What food would you like, sir? We still have some pudding and chicken pie left today," a house-elf asked with humble deference.

"Do you have any pumpkin juice?" Su Er couldn't manage even a single helping of pudding. During their daily game of wizard's chess earlier, Justin had lost, as expected. His penalty had been to fetch a late-night snack from the kitchens, so Su Er had already eaten his fill.

"Yes, sir. I'll fetch some for you at once." The house-elf bowed.

Soon, a steaming glass of pumpkin juice was served.

"Oh, thank you." Su Er set aside the glass bottle of Bluebell Flames he had been using as a hand warmer and took the pumpkin juice.

"Have any professors been here just now?"

"Yes, sir." The house-elf gave the blue flames in the glass bottle a curious look. "Um... Professor Sinistra, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Kettleburn have all been here."

"Was Professor McGonagall here for cat food?" Su Er couldn't resist asking.

"Cat food?" the house-elf repeated in confusion.

"Ahem... sorry, I meant Professor Kettleburn. Did he take anything from the kitchens? I mean, I saw him just now."

"Oh, yes, sir. Professor Kettleburn just took some meat. Fresh meat," the house-elf answered promptly.

"Meat?" Su Er nodded. "Was it..."

Just as Su Er was about to ask for more details, the kitchen door swung wide open, and a gust of cold air swept inside.

"Get us a glass of hot pumpkin juice."

"I'll have one too."

The two voices came one after the other. It was Fred and George, carrying broomsticks, their clothes speckled with frost and their faces red from the cold.

"Wood's completely lost his mind."

"He's definitely got something wrong with him."

Still grumbling, the brothers looked up and spotted Su Er.

"Hi, little Hufflepuff."

"Good evening," Su Er greeted them.

The house-elf worked quickly. George and Fred took their pumpkin juice and immediately drank a mouthful, then let out deep sighs with identical expressions.

"Could you get us some chicken pie too, please? We're exhausted."

"Of course, sir." The house-elf nodded meekly.

A little while later, George and Fred patted their stomachs contentedly and slumped in unison into the chairs the house-elf had provided.

"Oh, almost forgot." Fred turned to Su Er.

Su Er handed Fred the bottle of blue flames from the table. "This is it."

"This thing can make money?" George leaned closer, studying the flames dancing inside the bottle.

"What is it?" Fred took the bottle, but no matter how closely he examined it, he couldn't see what was special about it.

"It's a magical creation," Su Er said. "It lasts a long time, it's harmless, and it's useful for lighting."

"Of course, its most important feature is that it keeps people warm."

"Warm?" George wrapped his hand around the bottle doubtfully, then nodded. "It is pretty warm."

"So what?" Fred tried it too. "Plenty of spells can do that."

"But how many flames won't hurt young wizards?" Smiling, Su Er took back the bottle. Under Fred and George's watchful eyes, he removed the stopper and poured out the flames.

The blue flames danced in midair.

"Besides, it can keep burning for a long time. More importantly, nobody wants to brave freezing winds on their way through the corridors to class, right? Especially you Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws. I remember your common rooms are both at the tops of towers." As he spoke, Su Er stuck his fingers into the flames.

The blue flames instantly broke apart.

George and Fred started and immediately looked at Su Er's fingers.

Su Er obligingly turned his fingers back and forth. The result was obvious-he was completely unharmed.

"Amazing." Fred and George had never heard of a spell with absolutely no capacity to hurt anyone. Even household magic could injure someone if used properly.

Lumos, for instance, could easily serve as a flashbang if enough magic was poured into it.

To let George and Fred try it for themselves, Su Er took out his wand and conjured another flame.

The result was the same. Fred worked up his courage and put his hand into it, and the flames quickly scattered.

"What spell is this?" George asked.

"It's called Bluebell Flames. When Hermione and I found it in the Library, the book was practically falling apart." Su Er conjured another flame inside the bottle and replaced the stopper.

"Bluebell Flames?" Fred asked doubtfully.

"That's the literal translation from the runes," Su Er said. "Besides, I've borrowed the book, so nobody else can find it in the Library."

"Of course, someone might have discovered the spell before Hermione and I did, but that book hadn't been touched in at least a dozen years."

"Would it work?" Fred sounded uncertain.

"So what are you planning to do?" George asked.

Su Er immediately laid out the plan he had prepared. He and Hermione would make them, while George and Fred would supply the bottles, advertise them, and sell them. They would split the proceeds sixty-forty, with Hermione and Su Er taking sixty percent.

"I've thought of a few advertising slogans for different audiences."

For example: "Still worried about freezing hands and feet? With this, you'll never fear the cold."

Or: "If you love her, give her a Warmth Bottle."

"There are five or six hundred students across all the houses. If just a hundred of them buy our Warmth Bottles..." Su Er looked utterly confident. "We'll make at least a few hundred Galleons!"

George and Fred exchanged a glance. They had still been hesitating, but the prospect of a few hundred Galleons had thoroughly won them over.

"We're in!" they said. "Here's to a successful partnership."