No matter how worried Harry was, it didn't affect the "Weber and Willy" magic show happening far away at the TV station.
Fred exaggeratedly blew on the stack of cards and then snapped his fingers stylishly.
"Snap!"
George flipped his hand, and the Ace of Hearts appeared prominently at the bottom!
There was a burst of enthusiastic applause in the studio, and Vernon muttered, "Hmph, old-fashioned performance."
"Of course, if you want it to appear on top..."
Fred winked at the audience, and George knowingly slipped the Ace of Hearts back in casually.
"Snap!"
With another snap of the fingers, the top card was flipped, and it was also the Ace of Hearts!
Dudley let out a muffled gasp, and Petunia paused with her egg frying.
"That's impossible!"
There were exclamations from the audience!
"Oh... how did they do that?" Petunia instinctively looked at her husband.
Vernon lowered his newspaper entirely, furrowing his brows and trying to work his sluggish brain.
Only Harry, trying hard to hold back his laughter while also worried enough that his stomach knotted.
According to Harry's understanding of the Ministry of Magic and the Confidentiality Law, under normal circumstances, an owl should suddenly burst into the studio to deliver a warning letter from the Ministry to the Weasley Brothers.
Or an Auror would quietly control the scene, and then the TV screen would turn to static, abruptly interrupting the show...
However, nothing happened. Fred and George were basking in the astonished gazes from the audience for a good while before beginning their reveal:
"Haha... Actually, this kind of magic is very simple. Generally, it requires a special stacking sequence, bounce lines, and twenty years of practice..."
"—But our method is much simpler! Just check the phase of the moon before going out, see how the fairy at my house feels, and get scolded by Mom a few times..."
"Of course! The most important thing is having a twin brother who is in perfect sync to distract the audience at the critical moment—"
"Then just hook your finger..."
They leaned on each other, brazenly admitting their "cheating" in front of the camera, which caused the audience to burst into laughter.
"Oh my god! Isn't this cheating?" Host Mike intentionally exclaimed exaggeratedly.
Fred mimicked his tone, saying, "Oh my god! Mike! You don't really think we can teleport playing cards, do you?"
He winked, and another wave of laughter erupted from the audience.
Then the twins went on to perform human levitation [with a stool hidden under their bottom], coin through a bottle [actually rigged with the bottle], telepathy [Fred gave George cues with special techniques] and other common magic tricks.
Of course, after the performances, the revealing process was always included, causing the audience to frequently exclaim:
"Is it really that simple?!"
"Haha, I could do that too!"
Especially when they performed the "teleportation" trick, and George said, "The secret of this magic is—"
The entire audience shouted together, "Having a twin brother who looks exactly the same!"
"Terrific!" Fred stomped up onto the stage from the audience, loudly accusing, "You stole my line!"
"Hahahahaha..."
The joyful laughter nearly blew the roof off, and Harry finally relaxed—turns out Fred and George weren't crazy enough to use magic publicly, they were just performing common tricks!
However, just as he was taking a sigh of relief, he saw the twins switch positions instantly, one of them donning a pointy Wizard Hat, even pulling out a magic wand, and said with feigned profundity:
"Some of you might ask—these are all common magic tricks, how dare we claim it's 'like Magic'?"
"So now, we are going to show you real magic... em, Magic... real Magic—Levitation!"
Fred seemed to jump on the table in a posed fashion, his eyes darting around at his wording slip, which again brought about rounds of laughter.
Then George waved his magic wand, pretending to shout, "Levitation—Wingardium Leviosa!"
"Bang!"
Harry's hand shook, and the fork fell onto the table!
He stared wide-eyed at the screen, screaming internally—
Stop! What are you doing?! Where's Mrs. Weasley? She'd certainly kill them!
They watched as the heavy wooden table, along with Fred sitting on it, rose and floated shakily, from the left to the right, then slowly back from the right to the left.
Fred even stood up, spreading his arms and shouting, "Look! Call me Antigravity Willy!"
George was next to him, swinging the magic wand like a conductor, looking extremely effortful.
There were gasps from the audience, many craned their necks as if wanting to see clearly the mechanisms hidden on them.
Host Mike continuously exclaimed, "God! God! They're really flying!!"
Fred descended slowly, the twins bowed, and then flashed bright, playfully defiant smiles.
George mischievously winked and said, "So, dear friends, can anyone figure out the premise of this little trick?"
The audience pondered hard, some shouted, "Metal frames! It must be some metal frames!"
Someone else shouted, "Look how he's flying... is there a cable hanging from his back?"
And another asked foolishly, "Can you actually defy gravity?"
The camera panned over the audience, capturing their faces filled with confusion, wonder, and brain-wracking expressions.
But this time, the twins didn't reveal the secret, instead, they looked at the camera with a confidently provocative smile:
"Dear friends, this magic that feels like Magic is an open challenge we present to magicians and smart folks around the world—find the mystery in it if you can!"
Host Mike jumped in at the perfect moment, cheerfully saying, "The first audience to crack the 'Antigravity Willy levitation mystery' will receive a prize of one thousand pounds!"
"What are you waiting for? If you've guessed their technique, pick up the phone and tell us your answer now! Our phone number is 071..."
"One thousand pounds!" Vernon jumped up from his chair: "Quick! Dudley, hand me the phone! Petunia, write down the number, we must be the first!"
Petunia reacted astonishingly fast, grabbing a pen like an agile bird, while Dudley clumsily rushed to the phone, yanking the receiver off.
"Let me call! Dad, let me call! I know what to say!"
After Mike repeated the phone number twice on screen, Fred seized the last moments to raise his volume:
"The deadline for solving the mystery is next Saturday, when we will reveal the real answer, and present an even more spectacular show!"
George shouted, "Stay tuned—'Magic-like Magic'! Although Magic doesn't exist, we can make the world more magical!"
The intense background music started, and the massive show logo and credits filled the entire screen. Harry quickly stuffed the last bit of bread into his mouth and dashed out of the kitchen!
"Hey!" Vernon, busy dialing, immediately roared: "Your cutlery—"
But Harry had already dashed up the stairs, the wooden steps creaking briskly under his feet.