But the next day, Ron pulled himself together again.
He didn't sleep in and linger in bed like usual. He finished washing up before dawn and curled up on the living room sofa holding Scabbers, which gave Molly a huge fright when she got up later.
"Merlin's socks, Ron, what are you doing hiding here?"
Ron hemmed and hawed to gloss over it, and didn't tell his mom the truth until the twins, who had gotten up early to clean the garden, came out.
"Ron is kissing up to Vaughn!"
"That's right, we eavesdropped yesterday and heard Vaughn say he was moving this year's Christmas present up and giving him a new wand."
"Yes George, a very accurate recap. It seems our silly little brother isn't too stupid, knowing to treat his benefactor with respect."
"But he's still not sincere enough Fred, he didn't even dare to tell Mom!"
"Yes George, our silly little brother's useless pride."
The twins chimed in one after another, giggling and making Ron so furious that smoke practically came out of his ears, then they skipped out of the house.
Vaughn was woken up by their cheers.
When he got up, the sunlight had already crossed Stoatshead Hill, casting striped, mottled shadows through the window. Ginny was still sleeping soundly, curled up in his arms.
Last night, she had come over hugging a storybook, and Vaughn read her fairytales for at least an hour before coaxing her to sleep.
This was also one of the reasons why the brother and sister were the closest. Bill and Charlie had left home early for work, Percy never had patience for anything outside of studying, and Fred and George were as lively as monkeys all day long.
Only Ron and Vaughn were willing to read stories to Ginny. Of course, Ron only told the stories he was interested in, so Ginny had long since stopped paying attention to him!
Vaughn got out of bed, got dressed, and pushed open the window. He saw old Errol flapping his aged wings, hopping around in the weeds and bushes of the garden, driving out gnomes that were only a foot tall, entirely brownish-yellow, with huge heads and thin limbs, looking like potatoes with legs.
Meanwhile, the twins each rode a flying broomstick, swooping back and forth overhead. They grabbed the gnomes that Errol drove out, spun them around with a good shake, and threw them far into the wilderness.
Leaving behind only increasingly distant screams in midair, along with the twins' joyful laughter.
"These two, it seems like they can find fun in whatever they do!"
Vaughn chuckled and shook his head, then went back to the bed to pick Ginny up.
The little girl was startled awake, sleepily rubbed her eyes, and yawned. "Vaughn?"
"I'm going to Diagon Alley, Ginny. You have to go back to your own room to sleep."
"Oh..." Ginny buried her head in his shoulder and mumbled groggily, "I want... Chocolate Frogs..."
"Okay, I'll bring some back for you!"
While carrying Ginny downstairs, he ran into their mom, who was just coming up to call them.
"Oh—look at my two little cuties, my sweethearts." Molly's broad figure could embrace both her children at once. She wiped the corners of her eyes. "Mom is so happy that you siblings are so loving to each other. Vaughn, you're always so sensible, taking care of Ginny and even buying Ron a new wand... In fact, I think it's enough for him to use an old one!"
Downstairs, Ron, who had eagerly run over upon hearing the noise, was so scared that he gripped his fingers tightly.
He nearly strangled Scabbers to death, terrified that his older brother with his terrible personality would go along with their mom's words and break his promise.
Fortunately, Vaughn just glanced at him. "It's fine, Mom, it's only 7 gold Galleons. Besides, using a wand that doesn't belong to him will likely affect his studies!"
7... 7 gold Galleons, and he says only?
Ron felt like he had been stuffed into a barrel of lemon juice; his entire being felt sour from the inside out.
Knowing her son was very wealthy, Molly didn't say anything more. Both Vaughn and Ron were her sons, and she loved them both. Although out of her educational philosophy she didn't want Ron to spend Vaughn's money, if Vaughn was willing to give his younger brother a gift, she wouldn't object.
The fact that her youngest son could only use his older brothers' hand-me-downs already made her feel very guilty, and Vaughn was right—using a wand that didn't belong to him would indeed have an impact. So she didn't try to stop him anymore.
Molly carried Ginny back to her room.
After washing up, Vaughn ate breakfast with Ron. Seeing that it was getting late, Molly took down a flowerpot filled with grayish-white, glittering powder from the fireplace and said to Vaughn and Ron:
"Vaughn, you've used Floo Powder before, so you know what to do. But Ron, you haven't used it. Pay attention to your brother's demonstration in a moment. Your enunciation must be clear and strong: Diagon Alley! Diagon Alley! Understand?"
"Got it, Mom!" Ron was very excited, the tips of his ears flushed red.
Molly held the flowerpot out to Vaughn. Vaughn curled his lip; he never really liked this stuff, as it would get his clothes and hair dirty.
However, since he hadn't learned Apparition yet, he could only travel this way.
Vaughn grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, stepped into the fireplace, and threw the Floo Powder forcefully at his feet while shouting, "Diagon Alley!"
With a bang.
Green flames rose before his eyes. Vaughn felt as if he had crawled into a washing machine. His whole body was stretched out, spinning rapidly around a single point, surrounded by similarly distorted and bizarre images.
A few seconds later, he finally staggered to a halt. He shook his head to drive away the lingering dizziness, brushing off the soot on his body with disgust while looking around.
This was a closed-off alley. Several fireplaces were neatly embedded in the dark brick walls, and green flames flared up one after another. Wizards and witches stepped out of them, some leading children, probably having also received Hogwarts letters and brought their children to buy books and supplies.
Vaughn didn't observe any further and waited in place for a moment. Green flames flared up behind him, and the next moment, a soot-covered Ron tumbled out, falling face-first at Vaughn's feet.
"Ron, such a grand gesture?"
Vaughn pulled him up with a grin.
Ron was dizzy and didn't clearly hear what he said at all. It wasn't until Molly also arrived, brushed the soot off his body, and led the two brothers out of this enclosed alley into the genuinely bustling Diagon Alley that Ron completely sobered up.
It was a long street with no end in sight, several meters wide. The cobblestone road was packed with men and women wearing pointed wizard hats.
On both sides of the street were all kinds of shops. They all had square display windows divided by panes of glass. Sunlight shone down from above the alley, illuminating the windows and the goods inside to a dazzling brightness.
The door of the shop closest to this alley entrance opened, and a pair of wizards led a boy out. The boy's mouth was chewing, and his hair continuously changed colors as he chewed.
Ron's eyes went wide—he saw the sign of that shop, Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, Fred and George's favorite store, which they had talked about over and over again in his ears countless times.
It was the place he visited most often in his dreams!
In a daze, he heard Vaughn say to him, "Ron, welcome to Diagon Alley!"
At the same time, someone behind him was also saying:
"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"