Harry struggled to lift his upper body, only to see the tip of a round, chubby tail.
Padma squatted down, trying hard not to laugh, and produced a small mirror in her palm, finally allowing Harry to see his current appearance.
His whole body was covered in emerald green scales, his supple body coiled on the floor, his head was round, and there were dark green patterns around his eyes — a clear resemblance to his glasses.
"Hiss—" Harry blurted out, "This feeling is too strange."
"Hmm?" Hermione poked his head, reminding him, "You're speaking Parseltongue, Harry."
Harry flicked his tail, dryly saying, "Why a snake? I'd rather turn into a lion."
With that, he "POOF" reverted back, stumbled a bit, hurriedly grabbed the sofa to steady himself, and adjusted his glasses.
He felt his legs were a bit weak, seemingly not quite adapting to the presence of his two legs.
"This feeling is really too strange!" Harry couldn't help but mutter again.
"Let me try it."
Theo casually took a gummy and popped it into his mouth, "Pop" went the soft sound, and he curled up into a ball. In an instant, there was a round, orange cat standing on the floor, twitching its ears, looking around bewilderedly.
Everyone burst into laughter again.
The orange cat naturally had a "stinky face" expression with lifeless eyes, as fat as a small truck, its belly almost sagged to the floor.
Leian couldn't help but reach out and pick him up, weighing him, and exclaimed, "Merlin, this is the fattest cat I've ever seen!"
The orange cat patted its fluffy belly, speaking in Theo's voice, "I hope next time I can turn into a lighter animal. As fat as this, I feel I might be getting heart disease!"
After a while, Theo returned to normal, rubbing his neck, saying, "Why does the transformation always end up in these... um... not quite realistic shapes?"
George blinked, "Aha, don't you think it's more fun this way?"
"We've chosen them carefully!" Fred nodded earnestly, "Even if you do nothing, the moment of transformation brings joy!"
Vid put down the candy jar and said, "From a safety perspective, overly realistic animal forms could cause panic. Imagine if a poisonous snake or giant spider suddenly appeared nearby; even knowing it's a transformation might still frighten someone!"
"And realistic animal transformations could be exploited by those with ulterior motives, like infiltrating places or disguising as someone's pet..."
Everyone thought simultaneously of Peter Pettigrew — It's said the Weasleys were relieved that Percy gave him to Ron (Ron: Huh?), rather than their little sister Ginny.
"So we opted to retain the amusing traits of animals but incorporated Muggle cartoon animation, making the transformation seem less real," Vid continued.
"So..." Harry mused, "You could actually transform into very real animals, but you deliberately chose not to?"
Fred nodded, "That's right."
Michael's eyes lit up, "If someone transformed into a completely realistic animal... wouldn't that be like a simplified version of Animagus?"
"Correct, and then the Ministry of Magic would invite us for tea!" George said, sitting on the table.
Fred mimicked the tone of Aurors, solemnly saying, "Prohibition on production, prohibition on sale! Destroy all products or you'll be sent to Azkaban!"
George spread his hands, saying, "So, this is just a prank product, understand? It'll never replace a genuine Animagus transformation."
Hermione was taken aback, "It's rare for you both to think things through like this. In that case, the Aslan Magic Workshop should soon release new products, right?"
Fred coughed, and George's gaze floated upwards.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked curiously, noticing their behavior.
"Actually..."
Fred scratched the back of his head, showing rare signs of unease:
"We don't want to give this product to Aslan Magic Workshop... We want it as the signature of the Weasley Brothers' Joke Shop."
As he spoke, he peeked at Vid out of the corner of his eye.
Though Illusion Candy was improved from Canary Cookies, it wouldn't have evolved beyond "turning people into oversized canaries" without Vid's input, making it so entertaining and diverse.
And if Illusion Candy sales were handed over to the Joke Shop, which is still just a plan, Vid would have to wait a long time to see returns; and the brothers wouldn't be able to produce on a large scale like Machioni's company, allowing the inventor to earn substantial royalties.
"Of course,"
While everyone was still unsure, George seamlessly took over the conversation, speaking slightly faster than usual:
"This is just a preliminary idea, since we still have over a year until graduation! We might develop even more outstanding inventions by then."
So if Vid disagreed, they'd respect his opinion and continue researching other prank products.
Vid understood their intentions and said with a smile, "I don't care who sells Illusion Candy. Ultimately, its foundation is your invention, and it should be up to you two to decide."
The twins visibly relaxed, awkwardly saying, "But in that case, the revenue we can offer you might not be as much as Machioni's..."