Mrs. Weasley scolded angrily for over half an hour, then pointed her wand at the joke magical goods on the floor.
"I'm going to burn all of this right now! And next time I catch you messing about with these useless things instead of doing proper work, I'll throw you both out!"
"No! Mum, you can't do this!" George said, crumpling. He rushed to the pile of joke goods, defending their hard work to the death.
Fred's cheeks flushed red. He gathered his courage and retorted defiantly, "These aren't useless! We're going to sell them soon! Adrian said the people at the Ministry will definitely buy them!"
"Ministry of Magic? They'd have to be mad to buy your things!" Mrs. Weasley fumed. Had they looked at what they'd made?
An ugly-looking ball that, according to George and Fred, produced foul-smelling liquid when it hit someone.
Extendable Ears for eavesdropping, a quill for automatic homework, and other messy things with no clear purpose.
In Mrs. Weasley's opinion, only little wizards who liked pranks would buy this rubbish.
"Get out of my way!" Mrs. Weasley rolled up her sleeves angrily, preparing to pull George away. Fred begged desperately from the side, but she was unmoved.
Fred had to look to the rest of the family for help.
Ron hid in the back, watching the drama unfold. Ginny was willing to help persuade their mother, but she closed her mouth when she saw Mrs. Weasley's fury.
Arthur Weasley turned a deaf ear, reading his newspaper. George and Fred had angered him with their poor marks from the previous school year.
At that moment, an owl suddenly flew through the open window, a package tied to its claw. After seeing George and Fred, it made joyful hooting sounds and flew toward them.
"It's Echo! Adrian must have replied!" Fred said excitedly.
Hearing this, everyone turned to look. George, who'd been lying on the ground, jumped up.
Seeing their excitement, Mrs. Weasley grew even angrier. She grabbed the owl as it was about to land, wanting to know what they were up to.
As Mrs. Weasley reached to remove the package from the owl's feet, she turned it over impatiently and shook it hard.
George moved to protest angrily, it was their package, but the next second he was nearly blinded by a flash of golden light.
Many round, golden objects spilled from the package, crashing to the ground with clanging noises. Galleons scattered everywhere.
"Blimey, the bag's full of Galleons!" Ron stared at the Galleons on the floor, his eyes bulging.
One rolled to Arthur Weasley's feet.
Arthur ignored his newspaper now. He bent down and picked it up blankly. After examining it carefully, he confirmed the Galleons were real, not Leprechaun gold.
Mrs. Weasley never expected so much money in the bag. She stood with her mouth open, not knowing how to react.
"These are all ours!" George and Fred rushed forward excitedly, picking them up one by one. They even snatched the one from Arthur's hand. Together they counted fifty Galleons.
"Where did this money come from?" Mrs. Weasley frowned, puzzled, a bit panicked, and a bit frightened.
Fifty Galleons wasn't a small amount!
"We told you the Ministry's willing to order our products! This is only a deposit. We can earn two hundred Galleons total. You can read the letter yourself!" George shook the envelope in his hand confidently.
Fred nodded. He thought Adrian's letter had arrived at the perfect time, any later and their work would have been burned.
Mrs. Weasley glared at them fiercely, then took the envelope and looked at it.
Arthur couldn't sit still. He leaned over to check the letter.
Ron and Ginny wanted to see too, but Mrs. Weasley held it high, preventing them from looking.
George and Fred looked at them triumphantly. They both felt certain their mother wouldn't stop their research anymore. After all, it was an order from the Ministry!
After reading the letter, Mrs. Weasley still couldn't believe it. She looked at Arthur in confusion, wanting him to confirm.
Arthur thought for a moment, then said aloud, "It seems there is such a thing. Recently, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement applied for a batch of funds from the Ministry due to personnel injuries. About five thousand Galleons. I heard they purchased many magical items from a magical shop."
"That's Adrian's family's shop! We just put our things up for sale there!" George said.
Fred was shocked by the five thousand Galleons Arthur mentioned.
He and George had thought they'd made a lot of money, but it turned out to be just a fraction compared to Adrian.
Envy aside, Fred thought it made sense. After all, Adrian's family officially sold magical items. That was different from amateurs like them doing research in private.
Though Mrs. Weasley believed the information a bit more after confirming with her husband, she still couldn't accept it.
"I think you should focus on your studies now, instead of doing this weird stuff," Mrs. Weasley said slowly, holding the letter.
"Mum, this is an order from the Ministry! If we don't do it, we'll be sent to Azkaban!" George shouted.
"Rubbish!" Arthur tapped George's head with his newspaper. The Ministry wasn't run by dark wizards, they couldn't just arrest people randomly.
However, after teaching George a lesson, Arthur also helped persuade his wife. While failing to fulfill the Ministry's order wouldn't result in Azkaban, the massive penalty fees couldn't be paid by the family.
Besides, with so many Galleons involved, wasn't it worth it?
After being persuaded by everyone, Mrs. Weasley nodded reluctantly. She agreed George and Fred could spend part of their summer holiday completing the order, and even research some magical items.
But they were never allowed to use study time for experiments at Hogwarts, especially not affecting their academic performance!
"If in next year's final exams, any of your marks are lower than Exceeds Expectations, these conditions will all be void!" Mrs. Weasley warned, her face dark.