George hurriedly left.
Since Kael's house wasn't connected to the Floo Network, he had to first return to the Shabby Residence and then use the fireplace there to go to Diagon Alley.
Fred originally wanted to go with him, but when passing by a mirror, he changed his mind and turned back to the attic.
Though Fred usually acted carefree, he did care about his appearance somewhat; he didn't want to show up in crowded Diagon Alley looking like this.
Otherwise, he'd probably become the first joke of the new school year.
In the attic, Kael was examining the twins' results from the past few days.
— A whole box filled with over ten different kinds of candies, all of which were the most popular varieties on the market.
Zesty Bee Candy, Cream Fudge, Toffee, Chocolate Candy were all there.
Kael picked up a piece of Cream Fudge, and the moment he brought it close, he smelled a faint bitterness that clashed with the candy's sweetness.
"Mmm mmm mmm..."
Fred seemed to want to say something, but Kael didn't understand.
He took out a notebook and wrote:
"This is a failure. We've found that only Toffee can mask the taste of the Swelling Potion."
Kael nodded and picked up a piece of Toffee to smell it. The bitterness was indeed much fainter; one wouldn't notice unless they were really careful.
Their method was quite crude, just hollowing out the candy and stuffing the Swelling Potion inside.
If done more delicately, they might completely cover up the taste of the Swelling Potion.
Of course, it might also be that they were too lazy to bother.
After all, without solving the dosage issue of the Swelling Potion, this thing didn't even count as a semi-finished product.
Later, Fred gave Kael a notebook, which recorded all their previous experiment records, clearly stating the specific reasons for each failure and the adverse consequences.
It was nearly ten pages long, quite detailed.
As Kael was flipping through the notebook, George returned with a paper bag full of Shrunken Figs.
"Didn't need to buy so many, George." Kael reached out and said, "The Shrunken Figs only play a supporting role; one or two are enough."
"Better to be prepared," George casually handed the items to Kael, laughing and asking, "So, are you joining us?"
Kael shrugged, "After writing homework for a week, I need some fun."
"Speaking of which..." George suddenly sighed and said, "I can't believe you waste precious holiday time on that homework.
Percy is the same. When I went back earlier, he was complaining about me disturbing him.
My goodness, I just opened the door, and he wasn't even doing homework in the living room!"
"I have to say, in this aspect, you're much better than he is; at least you never blame us for not being able to write your homework."
Faced with the Weasley family's daily squabbles, Kael didn't mind, he simply took out two Shrunken Figs, peeled them, and squeezed out the juice.
Meanwhile, George took out half a bottle of Engorgement Potion from a nearby box, thought for a moment, and poured half of it into an empty bottle.
Fred and George's potion-making skills were average, and Mrs. Weasley didn't allow them to mess with cauldrons at home. In a rush, they bought these Swelling Potions directly from Diagon Alley, at five Galleons per pint.
Save where you can.
After adding the Shrunken Fig juice, the color of the Swelling Potion started to lighten, quickly changing from sky blue to light blue.
Kael nodded.
As long as it didn't turn another color, it meant the potion's properties hadn't changed.
He picked up the bottle, preparing to drop some on his hand to test it.
But George stopped him.
"No, no, no, Kael, that's not the way."
George said seriously, "We need the tongue to enlarge, not the hand."
Then he took a new candy from his pocket, dripped some potion on it, and put it directly into his mouth.
"I really shouldn't be tasting something edible." George mumbled, "This taste is too weird, it feels like mmm... mmm..."
George's cheeks began to slowly swell, and his words turned into muffled whimpers.
It was his tongue.
Fred was dancing around excitedly beside him, waving his arms and making noises, seemingly celebrating something.
George's tongue started to expand rapidly until it hung out, looking like a slippery giant snake.
"Looks like it worked."
Kael observed George's condition.
The Shrunken Figs did indeed neutralize part of the Swelling Potion, making it much milder, only working on the tongue that had the most contact with the potion.
All they needed was to find a way to remove the potion's distinctive flavor so that young wizards couldn't detect it, and the "Skiving Snackbox" would be truly completed.
Fred and George were overjoyed.
"Well done, Kael... haha, Shrunken Fig."
After the effects of the Swelling Potion wore off, George excitedly said, "You don't know, we were actually planning to give up."
"The Swelling Potion is too expensive." Fred spread his hands and said, "Before this, we had already wasted a whole bottle."
"Five Galleons." George felt a twinge of pain, "We really should have waited for you."
Thinking about the five wasted Galleons made his heart ache.
If they had converted that into Dungbombs, it would be enough for them to have a small battle with Slytherin.
"You two have money, don't you?" Kael asked, "A hundred Galleons each, haven't you spent it all?"
"Having money and wasting it are two different things," Fred sighed, "and now we only have thirty Galleons left, and that's combined."
On the first day of the holiday, when Mrs. Weasley was scolding Fred and George, she accidentally knocked off the wallet they had hidden on them.
The golden Galleons scattered all over the place, nearly scaring Mrs. Weasley into fainting; she thought the twins had robbed some Slytherin student at school.
Even though Fred and George quickly explained the source of the Galleons, Mrs. Weasley didn't believe them.
It wasn't until Chris came over and explained everything that she was convinced.
However, Mrs. Weasley confiscated those Galleons, fearing they'd do something bad.
So now, Fred and George only had the money they had hidden in the box.
Like they said, thirty Galleons, not much, just barely enough.