The next morning, sunlight streamed through the tall windows of the Hogwarts Entrance Hall, where a large crowd of students in various school uniforms had already gathered.
The Goblet of Fire stood on a raised platform, surrounded by a golden Age Line that shimmered in the sunlight, silently warning those eager to test it.
Hermione stood not far away, staring at the golden line with a slight frown.
Ron and Harry craned their necks eagerly as several tall Durmstrang boys stepped forward first and successfully dropped their slips of parchment into the Goblet.
Next came the older Hogwarts students. A seventeen-year-old Ravenclaw girl took a deep breath and carefully stepped across the golden line. The light accepted her without resistance.
She dropped the parchment bearing her name into the blue-white flames. The fire suddenly flared upward, flickering brightly for a moment before settling again.
She let out a breath of relief, her face flushed, and hurried back to her friends amid their congratulations.
Eligible students came forward one after another.
Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor and Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff both completed the ritual amid the encouragement of their classmates and received enthusiastic applause.
"I can't believe he's willing to risk that handsome face of his..." Seamus muttered sourly from the crowd.
Harry turned to him in confusion. "What did you say?"
"I said that pretty boy Diggory," Seamus replied disdainfully. "Always trying to attract girls' attention."
Several nearby Hufflepuffs immediately glared at him.
A number of older Ilvermorny students also successfully submitted their names.
Each flare of the Goblet's flames drew quiet gasps and murmurs from the surrounding crowd.
However, not everyone had such an easy time.
A slightly younger Beauxbatons girl attempted to sneak across, but the moment her foot touched the golden line, an invisible force gently but firmly pushed her back.
The sight drew a burst of good-natured laughter, and the girl hurried away with her face burning red.
Ron watched her go and muttered, "Maybe... the Ageing Potion really could work."
"Ron!" Hermione immediately shot him a warning glare.
Just then, a small commotion arose in the crowd.
Fred and George Weasley, accompanied by Lee Jordan, were making their way towards the Goblet of Fire with Sagres. The twins wore excited grins and each clutched a small bottle tightly in one hand.
"Professor," Lee Jordan asked in a low voice, unable to contain himself, "do you think... Ageing Potion could fool it?"
He pointed towards the faintly glowing Age Line surrounding the Goblet.
Sagres glanced at the golden line and replied evenly, "Based on what I know of Headmaster Dumbledore's abilities, probably not."
George immediately perked up and said, unconvinced, "Maybe the Headmaster only drew one Age Line because he underestimated us!"
"Perhaps..."
Sagres's gaze briefly swept towards the high ceiling of the Castle before he added casually, "But perhaps you are the ones underestimating Dumbledore."
"Only one way to find out!" George said excitedly.
"You're really not going to stop us, Professor?" Fred asked one final time.
He was not the only one who found this strange.
The surrounding students were equally curious. None of them understood why Sagres was allowing such an obviously foolish attempt, but Sagres immediately gave them the answer.
"Why should I stop you?"
He asked calmly, a rare faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Practice is the most direct way to test the truth. Sometimes, a lesson learned firsthand leaves a deeper impression than any warning."
"Professor, you're truly open-minded!"
The twins and Lee Jordan immediately huddled together to make their plans, clearly not taking Sagres's words too seriously.
"Agreed, then. If one of us actually succeeds, we split the one thousand Galleons three ways!" Lee Jordan emphasised.
"No problem," George said, his eyes lighting up. "Add in the sponsorship Fred and I get as Bronze Feather 'Golden Emblem' holders, and that should be enough for us to buy a corner of Zonko's Joke Shop!"
"Or use it to keep developing our own new products!" Fred added.
"Just one drop. We're only a few months away from turning seventeen anyway," George reminded him.
"Better make it two drops, just to be safe," Fred said with a grin. "We need to make absolutely sure we're properly 'eligible.'"
Having made up their minds, the twins exchanged grins, uncorked their bottles at the same time, and tipped back their heads to swallow two drops of Ageing Potion each.
Almost the instant the Potion went down, a change came over them.
Their bodies seemed to stretch, and their features sharpened, making them look unmistakably like seventeen- or eighteen-year-olds.
"The Potion works brilliantly!"
Even Fred's voice had become slightly deeper.
"So next..."
"Can I have the rest of the Ageing Potion?"
A voice came from the crowd.
Everyone turned and saw that the speaker was Ron.
With all eyes suddenly fixed on him, the tips of Ron's ears turned red. Even so, under Sagres's gaze and those of the surrounding students, he gathered his courage and repeated himself.
"You've still got quite a lot of Ageing Potion left," Ron stammered, trying to justify himself. "I mean, even Professor Greengrass thinks it's worth a try..."
"Oh, does our ickle Ronniekins want to be a hero too?" George teased.
At having his childhood nickname called out in public, Ron's face immediately turned scarlet.
"If you lot can do it, why can't I?"
"Quite right," Fred said solemnly. "Ickle Ronniekins has finally grown up. We must write to Mum and tell her."
"So, my dear brother," George finally asked with a grin, "how much are you willing to pay for the remaining Ageing Potion?"
"Friendly reminder," Lee Jordan added, leaning over. He had also taken the Potion. "The three of us spent two Galleons and four Sickles on it altogether."
"Let's make it two Galleons for you," Fred said with a smile, shaking the small bottle in his hand.
"Are you joking?"
Ron stared at him in disbelief.
"This is just what's left over, and the three of you didn't even spend three Galleons in total!"
"Relax, dear brother." George put an arm around Ron's shoulders and said matter-of-factly, "The role you're playing here is what people call a 'sucker', so naturally the price is higher."
Fred draped an arm over Ron's other shoulder.
"Besides, we've already knocked four Sickles off the price for you. You should be grateful."
"But I'm your brother!" Ron exclaimed incredulously.
"Oh, right. Nearly forgot."
Fred and George slapped their foreheads at the same time and said in unison,
"Then three Galleons!"
Harry and Hermione could no longer hold back their laughter.
In the end, after some fierce bargaining, Ron successfully struck a deal by promising to give the twins a Christmas present worth three Galleons.
Ron took the two bottles of Ageing Potion and immediately shoved one into Harry's hand. He carefully tucked the other into his pocket, then turned to Harry and Hermione.
"There's quite a lot left. I could even share some with you, Hermione..."
Hermione immediately frowned and fixed the two boys with a stern glare.
"Leave me out of it. I have absolutely no interest in cheating with you."
At that moment, under the curious and expectant gazes of the surrounding students, Fred and George strode confidently towards the Age Line.
"All right, allow us to demonstrate."
They stopped in front of the golden line, placed their feet together, crouched as though preparing for a long jump, and then, under everyone's watchful eyes, leapt.
They actually made it across.
For a moment, the Entrance Hall was completely silent.
Then,
"Ha!"
The twins laughed triumphantly, turned around, and waved vigorously at Sagres before each pulling a crumpled slip of parchment from his pocket.
George theatrically unfolded his parchment and read aloud in an exaggerated voice,
"George Weasley, Hogwarts!"
With that, he dropped the parchment into the flickering flames under the hopeful gazes of the younger students.
The next second,
Bang! Bang!
Two dull explosions sounded as dazzling red light burst from the Age Line.
Fred and George screamed as though struck by an invisible force. They were hurled backwards and crashed heavily onto the stone floor several feet away.
Even more astonishingly, the moment they landed, thick white beards began sprouting from their chins at an alarming rate, quickly cascading down to their chests. They looked like two teenagers who had aged fifty years overnight.
At the same time, the two slips of parchment bearing their names were spat out by the Goblet of Fire with a soft poof, striking them squarely on the forehead. The edges of the crumpled papers were still smoking.
The Entrance Hall fell into stunned silence.
Then it erupted into deafening laughter.
Sagres looked at the twins sprawled on the floor, groaning while tugging at each other's beards, and couldn't help laughing as well.
"It seems the conclusion from our experiment is that it doesn't work," he said, amusement in his voice, as though he had expected this outcome all along.
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