As July approached, for young wizards still in school, it meant the end of the academic year. But for seventh-year students, it was the beginning of their entry into society.
"So, that night, you two took the opportunity to attack Umbridge?" Tver, walking ahead, turned back with a strange expression and looked at the smug Weasley twins, rather speechless.
He had originally thought Dumbledore had been the one targeted that night, and that Dumbledore would be the only one to act. He had not expected students to be involved too.
But the problem was, Umbridge had not been alone. How could the two of them possibly deal with her?
"Of course," George said proudly, lifting his chin. "That night, we heard Umbridge had stormed in with people from the Ministry of Magic, saying she was going to arrest you and Professor Dumbledore."
"But we couldn't possibly let them succeed," Fred chimed in loudly, his expression so righteous that he hardly looked like one of the Weasley twins known for mischief.
"And so…"
"We ambushed them outside the Headmaster's office!"
"And gave them…"
"One enormous firework!"
The two sang back and forth, and just thinking about what they had done that night made their excitement impossible to hide, drawing glances from passersby in Diagon Alley.
"If that Death Eater hadn't been unable to take a joke and actually used an Unforgivable Curse, we could've used up all our stock!" George added indignantly.
"That was because you threw two Dungbombs at their heads!" Fred exposed him in irritation.
"I told you not to use those things. That stretch of corridor in front of the Headmaster's office stank for two whole weeks!"
"What's wrong with taking a little risk to save the professor?!" George glanced at Tver and quickly retorted with solemn righteousness.
"…Thank you, then."
Tver shook his head with a laugh. Those two had probably caused that commotion mostly because they wanted to take the chance to get back at Umbridge.
Still, so the Death Eaters had attacked students that night. No wonder Dumbledore had been so furious and had taken all his anger out on Voldemort.
"So how did your N.E.W.T.s go? Between the two of you, the advanced classes you took can't even be counted on one hand. Surely you didn't do too badly, right?"
The Weasley twins fell silent at once. They quietly exchanged a glance, lowered their heads, and muttered, "Aside from your Defence Against the Dark Arts class, we might not even get a Good in any other subject…"
The two had thought that after attacking Umbridge, they would definitely be expelled from Hogwarts. They simply had not expected that, being behind on the news, they would have no idea Umbridge had been put on trial the very next day, and that they would not face any punishment at all.
The result was predictable. Before the exams, the two of them had spent all their time anxiously, or rather eagerly, waiting for news of their expulsion. Forget revision, the fact that they even showed up for the exams counted as them being proactive.
Fortunately, they did not need N.E.W.T. certificates to find work.
Tver sighed helplessly. He now understood why Mrs. Weasley, whenever she wrote to him, had repeatedly expressed concern about these two in particular.
"In that case, there's only one path left for you."
Tver continued leading the two through the crowded flow of Diagon Alley until they arrived before an abandoned shop waiting to be renovated.
Thanks to Barty's hardline stance and the launch of the hunting plan, even though the Death Eaters had begun to grow active, wizarding gathering places such as Diagon Alley were far safer than other areas.
But that brought another problem.
The rise in Diagon Alley's foot traffic was nowhere near as fast as the rise in land prices, and many property owners simply had no intention of selling.
"This shop is already the best one I could buy. It's been abandoned for decades. If we hadn't found the owner all the way over in France, buying it really wouldn't have been easy."
It was rather funny, actually. The shop's owner had once been a loyal subordinate of the Professor. After the Professor was defeated by Dumbledore, he had tried to lie in ambush in Diagon Alley and attack Dumbledore.
He simply had not expected that after defeating the Professor, Dumbledore would close himself off and settle at Hogwarts, rarely going out.
"Brilliant!"
George, unaware of Tver's thoughts, grabbed the equally excited Fred and immediately tried to rush inside.
Tver was startled and quickly caught both of them by the necks.
"Do you want to die? There are plenty of traps inside, not just maintenance magic!"
The two shrank back, and their feet instantly stopped moving forward.
"Stay behind me. I'll deal with the magic in here first."
Only then did Tver toss the two behind him, push open the door, and stride in, showing no sign at all that he was worried about any traps.
The Weasley twins exchanged another glance. Seeing that the professor had already begun waving his wand, they hurried after him this time.
The professor could be fearless because he was skilled, but if they accidentally triggered some magic, then after finally getting a shop of their own, they would really suffer a huge loss.
"Professor, what do you do for work?" George asked casually while quietly discussing with Fred how to arrange each section of the shop.
Only after a moment did he realize that the professor walking ahead had stopped. Then he realized he had asked a strange question.
"I mean, what are you busy with now? If you were still at Hogwarts, we definitely could've earned dozens of N.E.W.T. certificates!"
Tver rolled his eyes, turned around, and continued helping them clear out the dark magic there.
"Haven't you heard about the plan to hunt Death Eaters? That's what I'm busy with…"
As if something had occurred to him, Tver suddenly turned his head.
"Would you be interested in discussing a business deal that could make the Weasley family rich for three generations?"
"What?"
The two, who had been discussing shelves, turned around in surprise, hardly daring to believe what the professor had said.
The Weasley family's current financial difficulties were precisely why they wanted to graduate and start earning money as soon as possible.
Tver, however, thought for a moment, slowly put away his wand, and smiled more and more broadly.
"It's like this. The people involved in the hunting plan face quite a lot of combat, so I want you to develop and produce a batch of equipment that can provide them with combat power."
"Combat equipment?!"
George and Fred opened their mouths wide in surprise.
They had indeed tried making some fairly powerful props, especially against Umbridge, when they had created some enhanced fireworks.
But if it had to count as something for combat…
They thought about the effect of fighting enemies with a wand in one hand while throwing Dungbombs with the other. It did not seem all that good.
"But what sort of equipment would count as combat equipment? Fireworks?" Fred asked carefully.
"No, no. You can refer to the equipment used by muggle armies." Tver wished he could immediately throw an entire military guide at them.
"For example, muggle bulletproof vests. You could develop them into spell-proof robes. Muggle smoke grenades. You could make a magical bomb that only blocks the enemy's vision!"
He remembered that the Weasley twins had developed similar things, and many of the prank items they created were not limited to wizard use.
As long as they could be issued on a large scale to the employees of the Joint Operations Office, even if he did not expect them to provide much offensive power, reducing casualties would still be a good thing.
The Weasley twins did not quite understand things like bulletproof vests and smoke grenades, but they very quickly grasped the operating principle behind things like spell-proof robes.
Wasn't it just like the Shield Charm badges the professor had given them?
They had already studied those badges inside and out. They would only need to change the format into clothing. For them, that would be easy.
"I think we understand it a bit," George and Fred said, slowly nodding. "Basically, it's taking muggle combat equipment and turning it into magical items, right?"
"That's right. But remember, this equipment can't be limited to wizards alone." Seeing how quick they were to understand, Tver immediately smiled in approval.
Receiving the professor's affirmation, the two immediately broke into delighted smiles.
"No problem!"