After dinner, Ted visited the secret base of the Weasley twins.
The twins were deep in discussion, planning their next great prank invention.
At the same time, they were scheming about raiding one of their relatives' storage rooms to see if there were any old, unwanted items they could repurpose—or more accurately, misappropriate for their experiments.
As they rummaged through ideas, the conversation turned to Aunt Muriel Prewett, their wealthy great-aunt and their mother Molly's aunt.
"She's loaded," George remarked, stretching his arms behind his head.
"She inherited the Prewett family fortune, not to mention that ridiculous goblin-made tiara and a mansion big enough to get lost in."
Fred snickered.
"And yet, what did Mum get? An old watch."
"No offense, but it's not exactly fair," Ted said, leaning against the makeshift workbench.
"Well," George shrugged, "Mum and Dad did elope, which didn't sit well with the family. No financial support, no inheritance perks."
Fred chuckled. "And we might've made things worse for ourselves."
"What did you do?" Ted asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing much," George said casually, "just slipped a whoopee cushion under Aunt Muriel's seat one Christmas."
"A magical whoopee cushion," Fred corrected with a smirk.
"It didn't stop for hours."
The twins burst into laughter, completely unbothered by the consequences.
Ted couldn't help but grin—these two were going to cause chaos at Hogwarts for years to come.
At this point, the twins were just in the brainstorming phase of their prank toy business.
They had plenty of ideas but lacked the magical expertise to bring them to life.
Ted, drawing from his own knowledge, gave them several suggestions, particularly about trick candies.
"If you're serious about this," Ted advised, "you'll need to get better at potions. A simple spell won't cut it for something like Nosebleed Nougat—it's basically controlled blood magic."
"Sounds complicated," Fred admitted.
"Sounds awesome," George grinned.
Ted smirked. "You'll need to study for it, though. No way around that."
The twins groaned in unison. "Merlin's beard, we're doomed."
That afternoon, the group gathered on a nearby hillside, basking in the sun and playing games.
As they relaxed, Ted brought up house-elves, prompted by a random thought about magical creatures.
"Do any of you actually know how house-elves come to be?" he asked.
The group exchanged glances. Ron shrugged.
"Only the really old wizarding families have them. We don't. Not that we'd want one, anyway."
"I heard Hogwarts has over a hundred of them," Neville added.
"They run the kitchens, clean up, do all the behind-the-scenes work."
Peggy, a knowledgeable fifth-year student, chimed in.
"House-elves aren't born like normal creatures. They come into existence because of a house's magic. The older and grander the house, the more likely it is to have house-elves."
Hermione, ever the inquisitive one, looked stunned. "You're saying they just… appear?"
Peggy nodded, nibbling on a piece of pastry.
"Exactly. I've never heard of house-elves getting married or having families. They're most likely created through some form of ancient magic.
That's why they're so bound to their homes. Give them clothes, and the contract is broken."
Ted frowned, deep in thought. "So if a house falls apart, does that mean its elves lose their magic too?"
"That's the theory," Peggy replied.
"Without a home to bind them, their magic fades."
Hermione's expression darkened, struggling to process the implications.
"So they're basically magical slaves?!"
She looked at Ted, as if searching for reassurance.
Ted met her gaze and said calmly, "Hermione, don't focus on how they were created. What matters is how we treat them.
If they're kind, we should be kind back. If they're not—well, they'll learn what our magic can do. Origins don't define worth. Same as with pure-bloods and Muggle-borns."
Hermione took a deep breath and nodded, though the weight of the revelation still lingered in her mind.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, it was time for everyone to head home.
Neville and Harley took the Floo Network straight back, while Ted, Ron, and Jerry returned to the Leaky Cauldron.
Jerry, due to his more… noticeable features, avoided traveling in the Muggle world.
That left Ted to escort Hermione to her waiting father.
"See you at school, Hermione!" Ted waved as she climbed into the car.
She smiled. "Make sure Anzu sends me a letter!"
Ted rolled his eyes good-naturedly as his pet let out an exhausted hoot.
Mr. Granger smiled warmly. "Ted, you're welcome at our house anytime."
"Thanks, Mr. Granger! I'll take you up on that."
And with that, the day came to a close.
...
On the first day of August, Ted woke up feeling a strange surge of energy, as if something was waiting for him.
Ding~ Talent [Knowledge of Other Worlds (Gold)] is triggered.
Discovered [Item Crafting Specialty Book (Green)].
Ted's eyes widened with excitement.
The book contained knowledge from an old mage in Candlekeep about the fundamentals of crafting magical items.
He could trade 320 experience points to unlock it.
"Oh, this is going to be good," he muttered with a grin.
Throwing on his clothes, he turned to Jerry, who was still buried under his blanket, his round ears twitching at the sound of Ted's movements.
"I'm heading to the basement. After breakfast, just go straight to Mr. Jiggers's shop. Don't wait for me."
Jerry let out a sleepy grunt, acknowledging the message but clearly unwilling to leave the warmth of his bed just yet.
Once in the basement, Ted exchanged his experience points for the knowledge and immediately felt a rush of information flood his mind.
He froze for a few moments, letting it all settle, then sat down to sort through what he had gained.
"This... is actually really useful!" he murmured, his mind racing.
The knowledge covered a wide range of item crafting, from potions to magical weapons, armor, enchanted trinkets, wands, spell scrolls, and even powerful artifacts.
In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, spellcasters relied heavily on scrolls—prepared in advance for emergencies, usable by others, and even serving as a method for learning new spells.
These scrolls weren't cheap, either.
Many mages made their living by copying and selling them, using their earnings to fund the purchase of even more advanced scrolls.
Ted had spent the past month marveling at strange magical artifacts, many of which were beyond his understanding.
But now, with this knowledge, the idea of crafting his own was thrilling.
"This is all basically alchemy, isn't it?" he realized.
"I need to start studying it properly."
Thanks to his past quests and the [False Philosopher's Stone (Red)], he had already pushed his alchemy to level 1 (+1), but he had yet to truly dive into the subject.
Alchemy wasn't particularly popular in Britain—it thrived more in places like France, Egypt, and the Middle East.
He made a mental note to find a few books on the subject.
With enough study, he could call himself self-taught.
As he delved deeper into his newfound knowledge, he found himself completely engrossed.
The process felt oddly nostalgic, like the hands-on crafting projects he had done as a kid.
But unlike simple childhood experiments, magical crafting required serious investment.
Unlike regular spells, which were mostly free to practice, making magical items required rare materials—ingredients that didn't come cheap.
Luckily, Ted had discovered a hidden gem—the wizarding equivalent of a second-hand marketplace.
Here, wizards traded all sorts of odd materials: ores, gemstones, crystals, rare metals, herbs, and other mystical components.
Most of these items were discarded because their owners had no use for them.
Some were too niche, others too weak to fetch a high price at an official shop, and some were just plain weird.
Now, with this magical marketplace growing in popularity, Ted had even set up a few stools and tables outside Mr. Jiggers's apothecary.
It had turned into a sort of wizarding street market, with curious onlookers gathering to chat, trade, and tell stories.
It wasn't long before wizards started bringing their own chairs, setting up impromptu booths, and making a full day out of it.
Ted chuckled at the sight. "This place is turning into a magical auction house. Should I start a wizard stand-up comedy club? Maybe get Ron to tell stories?"
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Word count: 1469
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