The afternoon sun spilled lazily into the courtyard of The Burrow, and the luncheon slowly drew to a close after a period of laughter and the clinking of dishes.
Adelaide was surrounded by her group of chattering friends, enveloped by their enthusiastic topics and concerned inquiries, as if trapped in a warm but somewhat suffocating cocoon.
Her eyes darted toward the door from time to time, as she secretly calculated a way to escape.
Glancing inadvertently through the living room window, Adelaide saw the Weasley Twins sneak out of The Burrow at some point—a flash of inspiration struck her, and her face immediately lit up with an apologetic smile. She said to her friends, "I'm so sorry, the Weasley Twins just told me they have something important to discuss with me. I have to go for a moment."
Before her friends could respond, she slipped out of the circle like a nimble bird.
Stepping out of The Burrow, the fresh air hit her face. Adelaide took a deep breath, finally feeling alive again.
"Fred, George, where are you going? Take me with you!"
She quickly caught up with the Weasley Twins, fearing her friends would discover her appointment with them was just an excuse to escape the circle.
Seeing Adelaide sneak out as well, George put his hands on his hips and complained with a face full of grievance, "Adelaide, pouring syrup into the Butterbeer was too much! It tasted like a syrup factory had been dumped into the glass. I nearly lost my tongue from the sweetness on the first sip."
As he spoke, he exaggeratedly stuck out his tongue, making a face of pained sweetness.
Limping beside him, Fred sighed at George's complaint and said with a bitter face, "Syrup is nothing; I'm the one who's miserable. When Dad swung that palm, I wanted to dodge, but this girl Adelaide suddenly stepped on my foot and wouldn't let go, making me take the hit full-on. Look at my foot; it's been flattened. I'm limping like I'm wearing a deformed magic shoe."
Adelaide snorted at their complaints, crossing her arms with a hint of dissatisfaction in her eyes. "You have the nerve to talk? Inviting Hermione was one thing, but what was the point of inviting Cho Chang? Do you have any idea how close I came to dying just now?"
The Weasley Twins glanced at each other, their eyes seemingly exchanging some sort of silent understanding.
Then George cleared his throat and said solemnly, "Because Cho is our friend. Think about it, Ginny grew up in Ottery St Catchpole Village and has no friends other than Luna."
"As her closest brothers, we thought inviting some friends to our sister's birthday party to support her was perfectly normal, wasn't it?"
Adelaide didn't cool down after their explanation; instead, she frowned and continued to question them, "You invited Cho, but why didn't I see you invite Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan? You're much closer to them!"
Fred shrugged and said, "We invited Angelina, but she's going to Italy for the summer, so she's busy. As for Lee Jordan, how could we introduce that rascal to Ginny? What if she picks up bad habits from him!"
Adelaide rolled her eyes. Fred dared to call others rascals when he and George were clearly the most lawless ones.
George patted his head, suddenly remembering the main reason he and Fred had invited Adelaide to The Burrow. "Adelaide, Fred and I plan to breed some Gnomes—you know how popular Puffskeins are at Hogwarts. If we succeed, we'll definitely make a fortune."
Adelaide raised her eyebrows. She remembered that in the original books, Gnomes were bred and put on the market by the Weasley Twins during Harry's sixth year, and they were indeed very popular. Although this investment had a longer cycle, it was definitely not a loss.
With profit to be made, Adelaide's resolve to "never give the Weasley Twins a single Copper Knut during the summer" softened. One shouldn't hold a grudge against Galleons.
Adelaide walked along the pond with the Weasley Twins while thinking. After a moment, she said, "Your idea does sound good. Those Puffskeins are very cute with their fluffy appearance; if you can breed a pygmy version, many people will surely love them. But I'm a bit concerned about the subsequent profit-sharing. How do you plan to distribute it? After all, it concerns everyone's interests."
Fred hurriedly stepped forward, gesturing eagerly with his hands in the air. "We've discussed it carefully and plan to split the money into three parts. One for you, as a return on your investment and involvement; one for ourselves, since we've put a lot of effort into researching the breeding methods for Puffskeins; and one will be for shop funding."
"You know, we've always had a dream of opening a Joke Shop after graduation, specializing in all sorts of novel and interesting magical items."
"If you're willing to invest, we'll give you an extra share; we definitely won't let you lose out."
George nodded vigorously beside him, adding to Fred's words, "The initial capital will be about a hundred Galleons—it's not easy to buy and raise a large number of Puffskeins. They need a suitable environment and plenty of food, which costs a lot. We also estimate that the subsequent additional amount might reach three hundred Galleons."
"But don't worry, once we succeed in breeding them, those adorable Gnomes will definitely be a hit. By then, we'll have tens or even hundreds of thousands of Galleons coming in. It's a guaranteed profitable business!"
A hundred Galleons wasn't much to Adelaide; it was just a month's pocket money. She had over four thousand Galleons saved in her little vault, so she could afford this investment.
"I suppose I can, but I have one small request. If you can meet it, I'll invest."
Then Adelaide listed several Magical Creatures and Plant Seeds from her planned list.
Hearing Adelaide's string of requests, the Weasley Twins were full of confusion. They really couldn't understand what Adelaide wanted with all those random Magical Creatures and Plant Seeds.
However, they were quite confident in their connections in Diagon Alley. These things weren't rare creatures or scarce items; with their channels, getting them would be a piece of cake.
Fred rubbed his chin and said after exchanging looks with George, "Alright, we can get those things for you. But you have to give us a definite answer. If we get everything you want, how much are you planning to invest?"
Adelaide patted her chest and said decisively, "As long as you get everything I asked for, I'll immediately pay you a hundred Galleons in startup capital. With that money, you can go all out."
Hearing the figure of a hundred Galleons, the Weasley Twins' eyes immediately lit up. They smiled at each other, feeling that this was a very good deal.
"Alright, then it's a deal. Happy cooperating!"
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