One Saturday morning in April, Maurise woke up in his dormitory and immediately teleported to the Ship in a Bottle. He walked into the living room, threw himself onto the sofa, and stared blankly at the dark television screen.
Lately, his Animagus preparations had been progressing smoothly without any hitches. The adjustments to his new flying broom were also proceeding in an orderly fashion. To create a broom capable of defeating the Firebolt on the open market and achieving true financial freedom, Maurise spared no time or effort. He had bought practically every broom available to study their mechanics thoroughly.
Except for the Firebolt.
Thinking of this, he rubbed his temples, feeling a wave of regret. Why did he have to be so quick to dismantle it back then? If he spent another five hundred Galleons to buy a second one, it would make him look rather foolish...
Alright, very foolish.
Just as Maurise was lost in thought, a sharp "Meow!" broke the silence.
Tin barged into the room, its cries more urgent than ever before. Maurise immediately understood what it meant and paused slightly.
"You lost that second-hand wand?"
Tin nodded vigorously, its tail drooping in dismay.
"Alright, do not panic." Maurise stood up and walked down the corridor, returning a moment later with a wooden chest. He placed it on the table and flipped it open, revealing a cluttered pile of wands of various lengths and colors.
"I bought these wholesale from Knockturn Alley, just in case," Maurise said, patting the chest. "They are all functional wands. See which one you like."
Tin approached the box with a complicated expression. It had been so anxious just a moment ago, only to find out its master had quietly hoarded an entire chest full of replacements? It lowered its head and began rummaging through the pile.
Maurise leaned back on the sofa and watched. In truth, he had made a special trip to purchase these wands a while ago. The shop owner had called it a wholesale price, but it still was not cheap. He had bought them for two main reasons: first, to study wand anatomy and figure out how they worked internally, and second, to see if he could equip his summoned skeleton soldiers with them.
As it turned out, the second idea was a complete failure. Skeletons simply could not use wands. Therefore, the wands had been casually tossed into storage, waiting for the day a certain idiotic cat inevitably lost its own.
Yes, he had anticipated this day would come. As its master, he knew his pet's temperament all too well.
Incidentally, within Maurise's group of undead creatures, Tin's official role was strictly that of a "pet." Aside from Cinder, Tin, and Champion, he usually kept his other undead summons tucked away. Champion was responsible for guarding the Ship in a Bottle, while Cinder handled mail delivery and errands.
As for Tin... Maurise shook his head helplessly. Bringing it along was practically useless. It had no special abilities, and its combat power was virtually zero. All it had was a relentless desire to cause trouble.
Let it be.
Under Maurise's indulgent gaze, Tin finally found a wand that felt comfortable, or rather, fit nicely in its mouth. It picked up the wand, and a shower of crackling sparks erupted from the tip. It seemed the compatibility was decent.
Alright then. Maurise stood up and stretched, ready to get back to work.
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from the entrance. Maurise turned his head to see three figures filing into the room: Fred, George, and Neville.
"You are here quite early today," Maurise noted, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It is only nine in the morning."
Fred grinned widely and exchanged a knowing look with George. Suddenly, a voice echoed directly inside Maurise's mind.
'Maurise, can you hear me? It is Fred.'
'And this is George, bringing you a hit single, A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love...'
Maurise raised an eyebrow. Undoubtedly, this was the Telepathy Charm.
Fred kept his grin and spoke out loud, "You said it yourself, Maurise. Once we mastered the Telepathy Charm, we should come find you immediately. Here we are."
George added, "We owe it all to Neville, really."
Neville scratched the back of his head sheepishly, his face turning slightly pink. "I... I did not actually do much."
Maurise nodded slightly. "A bit later than I expected," he remarked. "In fact, since I had not heard from you in a while, I assumed you simply lacked the ability to learn this magic."
Fred's eyes widened in mock outrage. "Wait, are you saying our talent is lacking?"
"At least when it comes to the Telepathy Charm, yes," Maurise replied slowly. "Or perhaps it was just a lack of focus and effort. Neville is clearly much better at it than you two."
Fred and George choked simultaneously. Maurise's words were exceptionally sharp today.
"I really did not..." Neville stammered, trying to explain, but no one was paying attention to his protests.
Fred waved a hand dismissively. "Fine, we accept your criticism, Maurise. We definitely were not taking it seriously enough," he admitted. "So, now that we have learned the spell, what do you need us to do?"
George chimed in, "You could not have just wanted us to learn it for fun. There is a task, right?"
The corners of Maurise's mouth crept up. These two understood him quite well.
"Nothing major," he confessed candidly. "I just have something I need you to help me test. Hmm... perhaps you have heard the term from the Muggle world: telephone. I have an item here with a similar function."
"A telephone?" Fred and George chorused. Having a father entirely devoted to studying Muggles, they had certainly heard of the device. Neville, however, looked completely blank.
"Exactly." Maurise nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three thumb-sized crystal spheres, handing one to each of them. "To be honest, I am not entirely sure if they work yet. These are Mental Connection Crystal Spheres. As long as you cast the Telepathy Charm on them, you can communicate from absolutely anywhere, and you can even talk to several people at the same time."
Fred took his crystal sphere and examined it closely. The small orb was completely transparent, with fine, beautiful silver veins flowing slowly within it.
"Absolutely anywhere?" George looked up. "Does that mean if I am at Hogwarts and Fred is in Hogsmeade, we could still talk to each other?"
"Theoretically, yes," Maurise replied.
"How do we use this thing?" Fred asked impatiently.
"It is very simple," Maurise said, holding his own sphere up to eye level. "Hold it, focus your mind on the person you want to contact, and then cast the Telepathy Charm. The crystal sphere will automatically link your minds."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crystal spheres in the hands of the three Gryffindors simultaneously emitted a soft, glowing white light.
Maurise instructed, "Now, direct your mental energy into the crystal sphere. It will automatically pair up and connect the three of you with me."
The three of them stood obediently and focused their minds. A moment later, Maurise's familiar voice rang out clearly inside their heads.
'Testing, testing. Squeak if you can hear me.'
"Squeak!"
After Neville followed the instruction perfectly out loud, he realized the other three were staring at him with highly bizarre expressions.
"Did I... did I do something wrong?" he asked, shrinking back slightly.