"...So, where have Fred and George gone?"
After bidding farewell at the end of the alley with William and Sirius heading in another direction, Hermione turned to look at the crowd. After counting everyone, she seemed to remember two certain individuals who had disappeared early and hadn't shown up yet.
"I probably know, if nothing unexpected happens."
Harry looked up at the side of Madam Malkin's Robes, where a huge, blonde clown was constantly taking off and putting on a hat, and with each removal or donning, a rabbit continuously disappeared and reappeared—
But, of course, the thing that most attracted Harry's attention was not the clown or the rabbit, but the sign under the clown's head.
Clearly written there was a line of crooked letters—Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
"..."
Everyone followed Harry's pointing finger, then fell into silence together.
"...By the way, are there any other Weasleys who like playing pranks?"
Finally, Neville broke the silence, instinctively turning to look at Ginny and Ron, who were also a bit dumbfounded—well, obviously these two siblings of the Weasley Twins had also been completely unaware of this shop.
"Probably not?"
Ron raised his hand to press his jaw back into place, "They've managed to keep this hidden really well this time! I hadn't heard a single word about it!"
"Me neither."
Ginny echoed with a "same here."
"Shall we go in and take a look?"
Harry offered a very tempting suggestion.
"I'll take Tom to Madam Malkin's first, then meet up with you guys later—"
Hermione was the first to shake her head, pulling the slightly eager-looking Tom toward another shop—being dragged away, the boy wore a sullen expression.
So, the remaining people exchanged glances, then walked under the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes sign, through the creaky wooden door. Instantly, a wave of mixed scents of sulfur, bubblegum, fizzing whizzbees, and some pungent floral fragrance swept over everyone's senses.
Harry blinked unconsciously, trying to adjust to the bizarre and brilliant scene.
The space inside the shop was much larger than it appeared from the outside, with walls painted in jumping stripes of orange and purple, covered with magical posters that pulled faces and made strange noises.
The shelves at the entrance were crammed with dwarf bulrushes in various colors. Their fuzzy bodies emitted different colors of light, resembling a bunch of moving little lanterns.
The corner was piled with mountain-like, constantly writhing, color-changing dancing dolls, clumsily colliding with each other, giggling as they did.
On another shelf, like at Honeydukes, various candies were displayed—only, these things were obviously quite unorthodox, for example, Canary Creams, Ton-Tongue Toffee, and Quick-Effect Skiving Snackboxes with "works in one bite or full refund" written on the package.
"Merlin above (Arthur below (mist))..."
From the moment Ron entered, he couldn't stop gasping, his eyes wide, "This... they created all this? Where did they get the money? This place..."
The boy looked around at the packed yet strangely orderly shelves and the endless stream of customers, as well as the house-elves wearing work uniforms printed with "Weasley is Our King," busy using magic to stock replenishments, "This doesn't look like something they could create just by hiding out in their bedroom—"
Ginny was curiously picking up a purple dwarf bulrush that wanted to wrestle with her finger, her voice filled with amazement, "I need to buy one—"
"Oh? Look who's here? Our loyal potential customers!"
A familiar voice, using an exaggerated tone, came from above them.
Everyone looked up, only to see Fred hanging upside down from the chandelier, resembling an orange bat, while George poked his head out from behind a stack of wobbly "Growth Hats," wearing the same mischievous grin.
"What do you think? A little surprise?"
Fred did an impressive flip, landing nimbly on the ground and casually brushing the dust off his robe, "This is a good place—" He bowed dramatically to everyone, "A little achievement from a summer, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning..."
"...Does Mom know about this?"
Suddenly, Ron's mouth curled into a smile, and he lowered his voice, looking at the two of them, "I don't think she would agree to you owning a joke shop in Diagon Alley without even graduating, let alone explaining the source of the money—"
Upon hearing this, Fred and George exchanged a mysterious glance, their smiles growing even wider.
"Oh, my dear brother."
Fred spoke in a theatrical aria, "We can certainly explain—sponsorship, understand? Angel investment—our dear, beloved... (here omitting about three hundred words of complimentary terms, until Ginny pointed out that William wasn't with them, and Fred finally stopped) visionary Senior William had the foresight, the eye to see the talents in us that cannot be confined by the rules at Hogwarts!"
"But, Mom would never agree to this!"
Ron obviously hadn't grasped the key point in Fred's words and continued, "Of course, I can help you keep the secret—" The boy finally revealed his intent, "Unless you let me borrow that guy for a semester—" He was referring to the thing in the display window that looked like a Firebolt.
Harry seriously doubted that thing was just a broomstick in appearance since he didn't think a toy store run by the Weasley Twins would sell anything legit.
But right now, Ron was clearly "seeing wealth and greed."
Hearing this, George feigned heartbreak, clutching his chest, "Little Roni—you've broken our hearts! What about brotherly bonds? What about everyone's trust?" As he shook his head, he nonetheless pulled out a bulging little pouch from his pocket.
"Looks like it's time for you to understand, in front of the great Golden Galleons—"
Fred leisurely took the pouch from George's hand, weighing it in his palm, and the pouch emitted a captivating and pleasant metallic sound, as Ron seemed to realize something. Fred sighed again, "Even Mom would have to consider carefully whose head to swing her rolling pin over."
With a flick of his fingers, the pouch opened a little.
A few shiny, freshly minted Golden Galleons "jingled and jangled" as they rolled to Ron's feet, resembling an enticing golden puddle from above.
"We earned more Galleons this month than Dad did in five years at the Ministry of Magic—"
"Blasted capitalists!"
Ron was hit by the Galleons and kneeled, defeated, never to rise again!