Unlike the Weasleys, who had never even heard the term “fraternal twins” before, Harry, having attended primary school, actually knew what it meant.
The trend of “relaxed education” had already begun to sweep across Europe, though it hadn’t yet grown into the overwhelming wave it would become decades later.
At least in Britain, the school system was still relatively sensible.
While top students like Hermione were rare, and children with her level of academic drive were still a tiny minority, the average kid in this era at least possessed decent general knowledge.
Even so, despite having heard of fraternal twins in school, seeing a pair of twins with nothing in common except their hair color still gave Harry a massive shock.
Especially when they were standing right beside Fred and George, a pair of identical—truly identical—twins.
“Haha, that’s a totally normal reaction,” Ron said, bursting out laughing at Harry’s stunned expression.
Although the Weasleys weren’t on great terms with many of the pure-blood clans, they had good relations with other wizarding families and often visited one another.
In the past, almost everyone who found out Ron and Tris were twins reacted the exact same way.
Harry gave a silly nod, struggling a bit but ultimately accepting the concept.
He could clearly feel that the Weasleys were genuinely friendly toward him, which made it easy to slip into their cheerful atmosphere.
The only thing that puzzled him slightly was why Mr.
Weasley was so fascinated by Muggle things.
Having lived with a Muggle family for ten years, though, Harry knew that world inside out and answered almost every question asked.
In return, Harry quickly learned about the wizarding world from the Weasley brothers.
Well, compared to the clumsy-tongued Hagrid, Fred and George were exceptionally eloquent.
They painted a vibrant, thrilling picture of the magical world for Harry—and while their descriptions were sometimes slightly exaggerated, it only fueled his longing for it even more.
By the time Tris and the others arrived, Harry had actually already been fitted for his robes.
However, they waited until he and Ron finished getting measured before heading together to their next stop: Ollivanders Wand Shop.
Tris had originally thought that as a transmigrator, he would get an extraordinary wand.
The result, however, was well beyond his expectations.
Yew with a dragon heartstring core—while Mr.
Ollivander called it a fierce and powerful wand, it could hardly be considered unique.
By contrast, Harry’s combination of holly and phoenix feather drew much more attention.
Especially after Mr.
Ollivander explained his theory about twin wands.
Tris was the first to choose his wand.
While Ron was trying wands inside, Tris pulled Charlie outside and suddenly hit him with a Disarming Charm—over the past few years, Tris had already mastered most of the basic spells.
“What was that for?” Charlie asked, utterly speechless as he watched his wand land in his younger brother’s hand.
Charlie was very fond of and patient with his youngest brother, especially since Tris’s suggestion was what allowed him to head off to his dream dragon sanctuary in France.
Still, this sudden trick left him thoroughly baffled.
“Heh-heh, Second Brother, you’re getting a new wand anyway, aren’t you? This one’s already damaged to death.” Tris pointed at the cracked tip of the wand, from which a faint silver glow leaked—the lustre of the unicorn hair inside.
Charlie felt a bit embarrassed.
He really had been a little too rough with his wand.
Normally, a wand used for six or seven years wouldn’t end up damaged like this.
“Since you’re going to replace it anyway, why not give this old wand to me?” Tris said with a grin.
“If you wanted it, you could’ve just asked,” Charlie said, shaking his head in amusement.
“Why ambush me with a spell?”
Tris had often borrowed Charlie’s and Molly’s wands to practice magic before, especially over the past few days, using Charlie’s wand constantly.
If Tris had simply asked, Charlie would definitely have given it to him.
After all, he was about to get a brand-new wand anyway.
“That’s how the wand changes allegiance! Otherwise, it won’t work properly for me,” Tris said righteously. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Charlie blinked, not quite understanding what his little brother meant.
But he didn’t care much either, playfully ruffling Tris’s hair to let the matter drop.
Tris had guessed his older brother would react this way.
Delighted, he revelled in acquiring an extra wand.
An underage wizard’s first wand would be monitored by something called The Trace, which allowed the Ministry of Magic to know if magic was used in an inappropriate time or place.
In truth, for young wizards from magical families, this restriction wasn’t particularly severe.
After all, even if it triggered, one could easily claim someone else had casually picked up the wand and used it.
Unless magic was cast constantly, the Ministry usually turned a blind eye.
But Tris was different!
His Grindset System demanded he practice magic—currently ten times a day, and who knew how much more in the future.
Practicing over holidays with his own wand posed a risk of breaking the rules.
Therefore, a wand stripped of The Trace was very necessary.
As for hitting his older brother with a Disarming Charm, that was because of the wand’s allegiance mechanism.
Previously, whether he used Charlie’s or Molly’s wand, it always felt awkward.
At first, he thought it was just his own terrible skill—that his incantations, hand gestures, and understanding of magic weren’t up to par.
However, after obtaining the [Memory Palace], he was confident his grasp of basic spells was thoroughly solid, yet he still stumbled whenever he cast magic with them.
That was when he recalled the wand allegiance theory.
The beauty of the Memory Palace was that as long as he had once memorized something, even if the memory had grown hazy, he could recall it vividly through the palace.
The downside was that if he had never remembered or seen something in the first place, it was useless.
In the eighth movie of the series, he had seen Ollivander explain this theory regarding Harry taking Draco’s wand.
Connecting that with how Ron seemed to perform poorly in Charms and Transfiguration during his first two years in the movies, Tris had good reason to suspect it was because Ron was using Charlie’s old wand—and the wand hadn’t recognized him as its master at the time.
As to whether this theory was correct, he only needed to test it out once they got home using the old wand that used to belong to Charlie and should now belong to him.
Charlie didn’t pay any mind to it.
Ollivander recited his wand theories every time he sold a wand, but almost no one actually took them to heart.
At least, Charlie certainly wasn’t one of them.
Back inside the wand shop, Ron had finished choosing his wand.
Next, Charlie bought his new wand, bringing their shopping trip for the day to an end.
“Harry, um… this might not be entirely proper, but I still want to ask,” Molly said, looking at Harry and weighing her words carefully.
“Would you mind coming to stay at our home for a few days before term starts?”
Harry’s eyes lit up instantly at her words, and he shot a look at Hagrid beside him.
“Well…” Hagrid hesitated, scratching his big, bushy head.
“I’m not too sure. Dumbledore told me to send Harry straight home after we finished buying his things.”
Hearing this, Harry’s face fell into immediate gloom.
“Then again,” Hagrid continued, “I suppose spending a bit of time at a friend’s place before school starts shouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, the Dursleys…
Merlin’s beard, they’re the worst Muggle family I’ve ever seen!
“I reckon living with them is pure torment for Harry. It really isn’t right.”
Hope flared up on Harry’s face once more.
“Hagrid, could you not pause like that mid-sentence?” Fred complained.
Ever since the whole business with Charlie, Arthur had come to appreciate the importance of writing letters.
“Hmm, that might be a bit slow.
How about this: I’m heading back to Hogwarts right now anyway…
Er, Dumbledore gave me an errand.
I have to report back to him, so I can bring it up then.
“I don’t think it’ll be a problem. But before that, I think you should still take Harry to Privet Drive first. He probably has some things left there, right?”
“Sounds good to me,” Molly agreed, then turned to Harry.
“Harry, what do you think?”
“If it’s not too much trouble…” Harry replied, desperately trying to suppress his excitement, though his expression and eyes gave him away completely.
“Of course it’s no trouble,” Arthur said with a broad smile.
“Then Hagrid, please let Dumbledore know. I’ll take Harry to that Privet Drive place first. Molly, you take the children home.”
…
It remained a mystery how Arthur took Harry to Privet Drive and brought him back to The Burrow—after all, Ministry of Magic regulations strictly prohibited Side-Along Apparition with underage wizards.
At any rate, when Tris jogged back to the front door after running laps around the yard, he caught the two standing by the entrance, with Harry lugging a large trunk.
“Dad, Harry, you’re here?” Tris asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Um…” Harry tried to remember, not entirely sure.
“Tris, right?”
After all, remembering seven names all at once was a bit of a tall order.
After getting a nod, Harry asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”
“Working out!” Tris said.
“Do… wizards need to work out too?” Harry asked uncertainly.
“Having a strong, healthy body is never a bad thing, is it?” Tris replied with a grin.
Harry thought about it, nodded, and felt Tris had a point.
Seeing this, Tris immediately took advantage of the momentum.
“So, Harry, want to work out with me?”
“Uh…” Harry hesitated, looking up at the sky.
Although the hottest part of the day had passed, it was still pretty warm out.
“I usually exercise in the morning and evening. Today was just an exception because we went to Diagon Alley,” Tris explained.
“Well… okay then.” Looking at Tris’s earnest face, Harry swallowed his refusal after turning it over three times in his mouth.
It was a decision he would regret for a long time to come.
“Ah… Tris, is that really necessary?” Arthur looked at his beaming son, his expression deeply conflicted.
“Harry is a guest.”
“Dad, what are you talking about? Don’t you think working out is good for you?” Tris said righteously.
“Look at that little belly of yours. I think you should join me for a run too.”
Arthur immediately turned around and said to Harry, “Harry, let me show you inside.”
Watching Arthur flee in panic while dragging along a still-bewildered Harry, Tris let out a satisfied smile.
He was prepared to drag everyone around him into the grind.
It really wasn’t because seeing others relax while he slaved away made him uncomfortable—honestly!
He simply believed that staying in shape was good for everyone.
Even wizards.
Yes, exactly like that!