The more George and Fred talked, the more excited the twins became.
"Animagus! You all know what that is, right? What, there are still people who don't know?" George grew more and more excited as he spoke.
Fred made a tsk-tsk sound and shook his head, "Look, look, all of you who don't pay attention in class. There are only seven registered with the Ministry of Magic, seven!"
"What a difficult piece of magic this is." George waved his arms, "My dear classmate, as a Gryffindor, it's a problem that you don't know what an Animagus is. Our Head of House, Professor McGonagall, is one of them!"
"Now, the latest product from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the Snake-Transformation Candy, will bring you an unprecedented Animagus experience."
"One small candy, just one, and you can easily turn into a snake!"
Anton was in absolute awe of his two older cousins. This thing didn't even have a counter-curse or an antidote, and they had just sent their own younger brother to the hospital wing, yet now they were starting to promote their new product!
Pat.
A hand clapped him on the shoulder.
Who's that?
Anton looked up unhappily. Holy crap! Professor Quirrell, and a Professor Quirrell with a very normal expression!
"It seems my class was very useful to you, and you learn quickly."
Old Voldy expressed his gratification and walked away with a smile.
Pat.
Another hand clapped him on the shoulder.
Who is it now?
Anton looked up unhappily. Holy crap! Professor Snape, and with a very gratified smile.
"It seems my Potions lessons weren't wasted on you."
"..." Anton really wanted to say that Old Voldy had just patted that same shoulder a dozen seconds ago.
Snape walked away with a swagger. Seen from behind, his wizarding robes billowed, making him look like a giant bat.
He snatched the glass candy jar held high in Fred's hand and stared intently at the twins, "For your foolishness, ten points from Gryffindor!"
"This potion is confiscated, and its sale is forbidden!"
Before the two could say anything, he floated away again like a giant bat.
"That's not fair. George, you only think about taking care of your own brother. We're best friends, and you didn't even think of us first." Lee Jordan, George's friend from the same year, stared at the candy jar in Snape's hand, his face a picture of anguish.
What could George do?
He and Fred shrugged in sync, indicating they were helpless too.
The most excited were the Slytherin students. The snake was their house symbol, and now they could experience what it felt like to be a snake. Everyone was thrilled.
The younger students who knew the inside story gathered around Anton, and soon the older students were drawn over as well.
"You must have more in stock, I know it. You're the one who actually made it, right? You were planning to start selling them, and you even said they'd be on sale in a few days. You must have stock!" a student who had been deceived by their scarcity marketing flyer stared at him intently.
Anton shrugged helplessly, "There really was only this one jar, and it's in Professor Snape's hands now."
So everyone turned to look at Prefect Phane.
Phane was stunned, "Why are you looking at me?"
"You're Professor Snape's favorite. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made you a prefect. Go and plead with him, get that jar of potion back."
"!!!" A herd of ten thousand centaurs galloped through Phane's mind. Favorite my foot, that was just a quid pro quo deal between Professor Snape and his school governor father.
But regardless, the 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' shop had become a hit before it even opened.
A large group of students surrounded the twins, heading towards the Great Hall, listening to them loudly describe the wonders of Ron turning into a snake.
The younger students flocked to Harry and Anton.
Even Hermione was surrounded by a group of girls. Heavens, she had never imagined a day when she would be so popular.
And so,
The area outside the hospital wing became deserted.
It seemed everyone had accidentally forgotten about a certain victim.
...
...
...
The small interlude in life created ripples, and soon Anton's daily routine was filled up again.
His schedule was packed with classes from Monday to Friday, private lessons with Snape on Saturday, and private lessons with Old Voldy on Sunday.
Yes, Anton couldn't resist the temptation and obediently went to Professor Voldemort's office for class.
He knew this was a deal with the devil, that Voldemort definitely had ill intentions, although he didn't know what this big shot was plotting.
But!
Every lesson Voldemort taught was like a magical key, gently unlocking the treasures of witch wisdom in his mind.
This temptation was unparalleled.
Anton really didn't know who else he could learn such high-level spell courses from.
Flitwick? McGonagall? Or Dumbledore?
Well, in terms of knowledge, Old Dumbledore was of course more formidable than Voldemort, but he didn't owe him anything. At over a hundred years old, with the school and the wizarding world to manage, he was extremely busy and would never have time to teach him.
Dumbledore really had a busy life. Grindelwald's trouble had barely ended before Tom graduated.
The title of 'the greatest' wasn't just for show; he truly dedicated his entire life.
Tsk tsk tsk, Anton felt tired just thinking about it.
Next, besides attending classes or reading, Anton spent most of his time in his own lab at 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes'.
Too many ideas, too many inspirations, were just waiting for him to verify them one by one.
Time was never enough, no matter how he used it.
The twin brothers walked a completely different path from Anton in terms of invention and research.
For example, the 'Ton-Tongue Toffee'. This thing was a high-end combination of a curse, transfiguration, and a potion. If Anton were to research it, he would definitely develop it into a spell.
A tongue swelling to a meter long, what did that even mean?
One cast of that spell, and unless you could do nonverbal spells, it was basically like being silenced.
Even if it couldn't be turned into a spell, this candy should be made into a spray, with a roughly similar effect.
Yet the twins only thought of turning it into a practical joke.
Perhaps this was the difference between a white wizard and a dark wizard. Anton had no intention of influencing these two brothers to become arms dealers. Apart from occasionally celebrating the success of an experiment with them, everyone generally did their own thing.
"Maybe I need to find an assistant!" Anton would sometimes watch the twins and ponder for a moment. He really didn't have enough time.
These two were trustworthy, naturally inclined to research, and his own cousins.
"Hahahaha..." Fred clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he collapsed on the floor as he looked at George's super-long tongue.
"Bleleleh." George swayed his hips, making his tongue swing around, which made Fred laugh until he was out of breath.
Then, George grabbed a toffee and stuffed it into Fred's mouth.
And so, the two brothers swung their tongues around in front of Anton.
"..."
"..."
The corner of Anton's mouth twitched, and he sighed inwardly.
Forget it. These two are having so much fun, and my experiments are dangerous. I'd better not accidentally maim them.
"I say, you two..." Before Anton could finish his sentence, a toffee was stuffed into his mouth.
"!!!"
"!!!"
Alright, it seems pretty fun.
So all three of them started swinging their tongues.
Swish, swish, swish.
Fred and George's wands shot out countless spells.
Lights flashed, confetti erupted, and Anton simply turned on a homemade magical music phonograph.
Let's rock!
For a moment, it was a chaotic dance of demons, filled with joy.