The questions took twenty minutes.
Hermione's were the most thorough and covered three distinct areas. First, the mechanics of the Goblins' market and how the position structure worked in practice. Second, the legal status of sports wagering under the Ministry's financial regulations, specifically whether the structure constituted coordinated market manipulation. Third, the tax declaration requirements for winnings above the reporting threshold.
He had answers for all three. The legal question required the most precision: the relevant 1981 regulations defined manipulation as the use of fabricated information to move a market, not foreknowledge, a distinction that several Goblin-sponsored legislative amendments had been careful to preserve, for reasons that were not difficult to understand if you were Goblins who occasionally had access to information the market did not.
'They wrote those amendments themselves,' Hermione said.
'Yes,' Ron said.
'You've read them.'
'Last December. The Black library had the annotated edition.'
She looked at him with the expression she had when she found evidence that Ron had been several months ahead of her on something she hadn't thought to investigate yet. It was a very particular expression and it had been appearing more frequently since second year.
'Winnings above five hundred Galleons per event require a standard declaration for wizarding tax purposes,' Ron said, answering the third question before she asked it. 'I've noted the threshold.'
Percy, who had also been thinking about this, nodded once and said nothing further, which was Percy acknowledging that the answer was correct and sufficient.
Bill's questions were practical and focused on execution: timing of account setup, mechanics of position lodgement at the Gringotts desk, margin requirements, withdrawal timeline after settlement. Ron had worked through all of these in a forty-minute conversation with a Goblin named Gritneck at the Gringotts service counter in April, framed as a question about investment structures for a hypothetical tournament scenario. Gritneck had answered with the dry efficiency of someone who respected intellectual preparation.
Fred said: 'Tell us what a hundred Galleons looks like at the end.'
'On the conservative figure,' Ron said, 'roughly three and a half thousand.'
Fred looked at George. The look had the quality of a decision that had been pending for a long time and had just found its moment.
'That's the shop,' George said.
'Yes,' Ron said. 'With enough left over to rent a proper space rather than the broom cupboard you've been planning around.'
The twins looked at each other again.
'We'd like a condition,' Fred said. 'You've told us how to fund it. We want to give you something back.'
'Ten percent,' Ron said. 'Of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Not as a further investment — as a standing agreement. Whatever the business becomes, ten percent comes to me in perpetuity.'
A pause.
'We'd have offered more,' George said.
'I know,' Ron said. 'Ten percent is right. You're building it. I'm contributing ideas and this. Ten percent reflects that proportion correctly.'
'Done,' Fred said, and held out his hand.
Ron shook it. Then George's.
'We're going to need a solicitor,' Percy said, from the corner, in the tone of someone who had already mentally drafted the agreement and found it adequately structured.