CHAPTER 61 - The Return of the Missing Person

Robert's return surprised the Hufflepuffs for quite a while. 

"Robert, I knew you wouldn't die!" Stebbins, with snot bubbles hanging from his nose, lunged at him in the common room, startling Robert so much that he almost cast a Petrification Charm on him. 

The tearful Stebbins recounted the tortures the Slytherins had inflicted since the start of the term. 

In short, when they noticed Robert hadn't returned to school, they spread rumors that he had been expelled for illegally using magic during the holidays, which was discovered by the Ministry. 

Later, they claimed Robert had turned a Muggle into an elephant with a spell, leading to a warrant for his arrest by the Ministry. 

Finally, they even said Robert had encountered a dark wizard during the holidays and was killed by him. 

The first one was just a joke, but the latter two were a bit too much. 

Robert had to comfort him, "Stebbins, are you an idiot? Didn't I already write to tell you I just went to my aunt's house and came back late? You believed the Slytherins over me!" He even gave a look that said, "Child, I'm very disappointed in you." 

Stebbins didn't understand his expression but sensed the dissatisfaction in Robert's tone and timidly said, "They said it was a letter you sent me from Azkaban." 

Robert was half-dead with anger and poked Stebbins' head with his finger, "They were lying to you! Owls can't find Azkaban!" 

"Huh?" Stebbins looked up, still with snot bubbles, and asked confusedly, "Is... is that so?" 

Robert facepalmed; this guy was hopeless. 

He gave each friend a sachet he brought from the Flower Country, which had a decent refreshing effect. 

His dormmates naturally got something different, but Robert didn't bring it out just yet. 

The Hufflepuffs put away their textbooks from the morning and swarmed out of the common room to the Great Hall for lunch. 

Robert's appearance in the Great Hall caused quite a stir. 

The Slytherins, who had been boasting about Robert's death for nearly half a month, were now unsettled by his return. The snakes were uneasy; last semester, Robert's underhanded tactics were well-known, even though Madam Pomfrey always thought the snakes had hurt themselves. But the snakes weren't idiots; who would spend a whole semester just learning to hit themselves? 

So when they found out Robert hadn't shown up at Hogwarts at the start of term, they let loose—expelled, imprisoned, murdered—they almost believed their own stories. Now, karma had come! 

Thankfully, Hufflepuff had History of Magic today! 

Tonight, they had to come up with a way to take down this jerk! 

The Ravenclaws greeted Robert warmly; they were always enthusiastic about people who loved learning. 

As for Gryffindor... 

Two identical-looking lions lit up the moment they saw Robert. The twins completely ignored their older brother's murderous glare and ran over from the Gryffindor table. 

"Wow, look what we found!" Fred exclaimed loudly, "The missing person has returned!" 

George gave Robert a bear hug, "Robert, if you hadn't come back, people would've said you were buried on some deserted island, turned to bones!" 

"We were planning to send you a few more letters, but Errol couldn't manage intercontinental flights," Fred said disappointedly, "So we could only send you replies when you mailed us." 

Robert was shocked by his words, "Hey, Fred, don't joke around, Errol's already pitiful enough, give him a break!" 

Fred scratched his nose, looking slightly embarrassed, "Well, true, but Errol's been with us for many years." 

"Come to think of it, our pets seem to live pretty long lives?" George mused, looking at Percy, "I think Scabbers has been with us for eight years?" 

"Maybe nine?" Fred paused, muttering to himself, "Oh my, that's a long time." 

He instinctively glanced at Percy, then turned back and whispered to Robert, "Hey, mate, what you told us about You-Know-Who last year, we thought about it all summer. Gotta say, you scared us." 

Robert rolled his eyes; yeah, right. 

Sure enough, Fred continued, "You-Know-Who is too far away, so we decided to make a name for ourselves before he shows up." 

Meow meow meow? 

Robert was full of question marks. 

The twins jumped back in unison, and George stepped forward, pulling out a candy, "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes proudly presents our product—Rapid Pimple Vanishing Sweets!" 

"Pfft!" Robert spat out his pumpkin juice. 

Fred was still introducing his masterpiece, "Just one piece, and your pimples vanish! Think about it, You-Know-Who is rare, but pimples on your nose and face are daily nuisances. Don't you want to get rid of them? They're much easier to deal with than You-Know-Who. At least to escape You-Know-Who, you'd have to give your life, but to escape pimples, you only need..." 

"3 Sickles!" the twins said in unison. 

Robert was dumbfounded; these two had even prepared their ad script! Wait, the main ingredient for this miracle cure was Bubotuber pus, right? So you guys still went after Professor Sprout's Bubotubers? 

Stebbins nearby seemed tempted; he had recently developed some red bumps on his nose, which were supposedly a type of pimple, seriously affecting his looks. 

Seeing Stebbins' expression, the twins immediately got interested, flanking him and starting their underground deal. 

"You know, these are hard to make, the ingredients are expensive," Fred whispered. 

"3 Sickles is really cheap! Really!" George whispered dramatically, "We spent 2 Sickles and 10 Knuts just on ingredients, we're barely making a profit, just covering the production costs!" 

Stebbins seemed hesitant, feeling it was still a bit pricey, so Fred whispered, "Alright, mate, I get it, post-holiday budgets are tight, but since we're just starting out today..." 

George patted his shoulder, "2 Sickles and 10 Knuts, we'll just charge you the cost, any lower and we won't have money for Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans." 

"Deal," Stebbins happily paid and got a piece of candy. 

The twins exchanged glances, waved at Robert, and scampered back to the Gryffindor table. 

(End of Chapter)