On the fifth floor, after finally dealing with his emotional mother and siblings, Vaughn returned to his room and stared thoughtfully at the system panel floating before him.
Ever since awakening the system, this was the first time he had seen a “Quest.” Moreover, the quest didn’t seem to care whether he succeeded or failed.
There was no penalty for failure, only rewards for success.
But it was precisely those rewards that caught his attention.
“Talent Points…” Ever since the Beginner’s Gift Pack had maxed out his Potions talent, allowing him to experience just how effortless and extraordinary learning and brewing potions became with a talent score of ten, Vaughn had been eagerly awaiting another opportunity to improve his talents.
Not to mention the Magic Power Scale.
As the name implied, the Magic Power Scale referred to the total quantity and strength of magical power within a wizard’s body.
The higher one’s Magic Power Scale, the more powerful their spells would be, and the more spells they could cast.
However, it couldn’t simply be understood as a mana bar or spell power.
Casting spells also consumed emotional energy, while the strength of a spell depended heavily on the caster’s proficiency with it.
There were still two months left before the quest deadline.
Vaughn stopped dwelling on it and closed the system panel.
He glanced once more at the opened Hogwarts letter in his hand.
On the first page, elegant handwriting read: [HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Order of Merlin First Class) Dear Mr.
Weasley, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1st.
We await your owl by July 31st.
Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress] After writing his reply at the desk, Vaughn sent it off to Hogwarts using the Weasley family’s new owl.
Poor old Errol was simply too old now.
A few years ago, while delivering potions Vaughn had brewed, the owl had nearly crashed straight into a pond.
After Vaughn started making money, he let Errol retire and enjoy his remaining years in peace.
The old owl now lived comfortably in the garden.
That had also been the first time Arthur and Molly accepted money from him.
Errol’s age was something they could do nothing about, and they couldn’t even think of a reason to refuse.
The few times afterward were all spent improving the house itself.
Daily expenses still relied entirely on Arthur’s salary.
They didn’t want their children developing resentment or distance because of money.
Thinking of money reminded Vaughn of the second page of the letter.
Looking at the densely packed list of books and supplies, he couldn’t help shaking his head.
“Looks like Ron’s going to inherit Bill and Charlie’s old stuff again.
Hopefully he won’t cry this time.” In truth, Ron was much tougher than Vaughn had imagined.
By the time Vaughn finished sending the letter and stepped out of his room, Ron was pacing proudly around the fourth floor, clutching his crumpled Hogwarts acceptance letter with his head held high.
Percy patted him heavily on the shoulder.
“Ron, I knew you’d get into Hogwarts!” Ron raised his chin even higher.
From upstairs, Vaughn rolled his eyes.
Just yesterday, while passing by the kitchen, he’d overheard Percy secretly asking Molly whether they should forge an acceptance letter if Ron didn’t receive one.
“To celebrate your admission to Hogwarts, how about I give you Scabbers?” The sudden burst of “good fortune” left Ron completely stunned.
He watched blankly as Percy pulled an old rat from his pocket, stuffed it into his arms, and quickly walked away.
Leaning over the railing and enjoying the scene, Vaughn soon heard two sets of footsteps sneaking toward him.
There was no need to guess.
The only people in the family who acted this suspiciously were Fred and George.
Sure enough, the twins appeared beside him the next moment.
Mimicking his posture, they leaned over the railing and looked downstairs while loudly whispering: “I bet Percy has wanted to get rid of Scabbers for ages.” “Exactly, George.
Scabbers is old and ugly.
He could kick the bucket any day now.” “Poor Ron.
He probably thinks Percy made a huge sacrifice.” “Indeed, George.
How can someone that foolish be our brother?” “I can’t understand it either, Fred.
Maybe all of Ron’s brains went to our other brother.” The twins cackled and bantered back and forth until Ron downstairs was nearly smoking from anger.
He pulled out the rat as if he wanted to throw it away, but couldn’t bear to do it.
In the end, he stormed back into his room in a huff.
After enjoying the show, Vaughn smiled at the twins.
“Alright.
What do you two want?” The twins exchanged glances, looking unusually embarrassed.
“You say it, George.” “No, you say it.
You’re the older brother.” “Oh?
Now you remember who’s older?” After a few jokes, they realized Vaughn’s smile hadn’t changed in the slightest.
Knowing they couldn’t fool him, the twins moved to either side of him, one kneading his shoulders while the other pounded his legs.
“Well…
dear Vaughn, you’re going to Hogwarts soon.
You’ll need to go to Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies, right?” “Mum said you can buy your own things.
We always knew you had money…” “But we didn’t know you had this much money.
So…
if it’s convenient, could you invest in some materials for us again?” “Just a little bit!
Our great joke shop enterprise is only missing this final push!” Watching the normally unruly and fearless twins bowing before the mighty Golden Galleon, Vaughn nearly laughed.
Still, he understood why Molly never allowed them to conduct their experiments.
She genuinely worried they might go down the wrong path.
So even though the twins had secretly borrowed money from him over the years, he’d never fully opened the floodgates.
They had always assumed he only earned a few Sickles here and there.
Not until today.
Just purchasing everything on the Hogwarts supply list, including a pet, would cost well over a hundred Galleons.
To the twins, that was already a fortune.
Enjoying their massage, Vaughn paused thoughtfully.
“Last time you borrowed ten Sickles from me, you said the exact same thing.” “That was last time!
Our first joke product is almost finished now, isn’t it, Fred?” “Exactly, George!” Seeing that they genuinely looked serious—and deciding he’d teased them enough—Vaughn stroked his chin.
“Hmm…
the garden needs cleaning tomorrow…” Before he could finish, the twins immediately jumped in.
“How could we possibly let you handle such exhausting work?” “That’s right.
Leave it to us!” “…I was going to dump it on Ron, Fred.” “This is our sincerity, George!” “Good point!” Looking at the two pairs of hopeful blinking eyes, Vaughn waved his hands helplessly.
“Alright, alright.
We’ll see how you perform tomorrow.” The twins cheered and sprinted downstairs.
Watching them go, Vaughn shook his head.
After thinking for a moment, he walked to Ron’s door and knocked.
A short while later, the door flew open.
Still sulking, Ron glared and tried to look fierce despite clearly lacking confidence.
“W-What do you want?” “Ron, come with me to Diagon Alley tomorrow.” Ron opened and closed his mouth a few times, seemingly wanting to refuse.
But he’d spent so long feeling inferior around Vaughn that he couldn’t gather the courage.
After a long pause, he muttered stubbornly, “Why me?
I’ve already got secondhand stuff.” “Oh?” Vaughn shrugged and said regretfully, “I was thinking of giving you your Christmas present early this year.
Maybe a brand-new wand.
But if you don’t—” Before he could finish, Ron shouted: “I’ll go!” “Hm?” The freckles across Ron’s face turned bright red.
“I-I’ll go…
I can buy some rat food for Scabbers while I’m there…” Vaughn’s gaze drifted past Ron’s shoulder.
Inside the messy room behind him, the rat was sitting on the desk, happily chewing a biscuit.
Completely absorbed.
Feigning interest, Vaughn said, “Speaking of Scabbers, I’ve been asking Percy for him for a while now.
He’s old and ugly anyway.
Why not give him to me as a test rat for my potion experiments?
What do you think, Ron?
Want to consider it?” Inside the room, Scabbers froze in the middle of chewing.
Ron stared wide-eyed, his lips trembling as he found himself unable to speak.
If Vaughn had made such an outrageous request a minute earlier, Ron definitely would have exploded, summoned all his courage, and chased this awful older brother away.
But now…
There was a new wand involved…
This…
Fortunately, he wasn’t forced to struggle with the decision for long.
Seeing Scabbers slowly begin sneaking toward the edge of the table, Vaughn decided not to scare him away for real.
He patted Ron on the shoulder and laughed.
“Just kidding.
A rat that small would die from a single sip of potion.” Scabbers’ entire body began trembling.
“Don’t sleep in tomorrow.
That’s all.” Ron let out a long breath of relief.
Only after watching Vaughn head upstairs did he rush back into the room and scoop up Scabbers.
“Oh, Scabbers, don’t be scared.
He was just trying to frighten us…” Outside the room, at the turn of the staircase, Vaughn stared at Ron’s door and revealed a cold sneer.
Hmph.
That rat can keep its life a little longer.