"At the Ministry: Laughter and Challenges"

"At the Ministry: Laughter and Challenges"

"So why do we have to go to the Ministry that you seem to detest so much?" Fleur asked as she walked beside Stephen.

"I have an appointment with Mad-Eye to kick his subordinates' asses," Stephen said with a grin as he looked back at the twins, who were mercilessly teasing Harry.

A few hours ago, when Harry arrived at the Flamel house after playing at the amusement park, Fleur had arrived at the same time. With her Veela aura and the lingering malevolent presence from her role in Dragon Warrior, she exuded an almost regal presence, looking down on everyone as if she were a queen. Her aura overwhelmed the weak-minded, and Harry, the moment he saw Fleur, dropped to his knees.

Now, the twins were mercilessly mocking him.

"Sir Harry the Gallant." "No, Squire Harry is better."

"That reminds me of Charlie when he met Fleur." "Yeah, hahaha, he confessed to her instantly and got a look of pure disgust in return." "Hahahaha!" The twins always had the most fun at other people's expense.

"It's alright, Harry, don't worry. Fleur won't make fun of you. In fact, if you behave, she might even knight you," Stephen said, seeming to help Harry, but ultimately just teasing him further.

"Stop bullying the poor kid and behave. We're surrounded by people," Fleur scolded, feeling a bit guilty about her aura.

"As you command, Your Majesty," Fred said with a noble bow.

"Your wish is our command, oh Dark Queen," George added, playing along with his brother.

"Oh, my queen, forgive this humble... oof," Stephen tried to continue the joke, but was violently punched in the stomach by the queen of terror before him, dropping to his knees on the floor.

"Crap. Fred, strategic retreat."

"Affirmative, George," the twins said as they tried to escape in different directions, only to be quickly caught by light whips and thrown down beside Stephen. Meanwhile, Harry trembled like a newborn fawn, unsure whether he should seek help.

The scene drew everyone's attention—it was quite a bizarre sight.

"Weren't we supposed to behave? You were the most conspicuous one," Stephen muttered, and the twins nodded painfully in agreement.

"What did you say, you idiot?" Fleur asked, unleashing even more of her Dark Queen aura, making many of the onlookers feel the urge to kneel and be struck by her.

While everyone was distracted, a chubby red-haired man pushed his way through the crowd.

"So it was you lot. You can continue your little drama in private—this is the Ministry of Magic. What are you doing here?" the man asked, pretending to scold the rowdy kids, though his face betrayed his amusement.

"Hi, Dad." "Our father," the twins greeted as they turned and saw their father, Arthur Weasley, standing there, failing to look convincingly stern.

"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Arthur. We have an appointment with… um… Crazy Eye?" Fleur said, glancing at Stephen to confirm the name. He nodded confidently.

"Crazy Eye… Ah, you mean Mad-Eye Moody. He's in the training area, but you should remember his name properly. He's a bit paranoid and rather rough," Arthur explained, gesturing for the group to follow him. First, they had to go through wand registration and inspection.

As Arthur turned away, an embarrassed Fleur pinched Stephen for messing up Moody's name, to which he exaggeratedly reacted in agony.

"Please deposit your wands and any magical items," the guard instructed. Since Stephen's book had spread, so had the use of jewelry to channel Eldritch magic. Personalized wand handles with runes also became popular. Of course, Stephen had provided the method to wand makers, as he had no interest in competing with the millennia-old craft. However, he only shared the rune that converted mana into Eldritch magic.

The group retrieved their wands from their enchanted bracelets and placed them on the counter, surprising the guard. While he routinely asked for magical objects, it was rare for anyone to actually have them—let alone four young people who still looked like students. Even rarer was the fact that these magic items had additional enchantments. Normally, when a mana conversion rune was present, all other enchantments failed 98% of the time, making it incredibly expensive to create such objects. Yet, here were four for him to inspect.

"Y-you may proceed," the guard finally said after carefully examining everything as if it were made of porcelain.

As they walked away, Harry couldn't help but feel curious and asked,

"Boss Stephen, why was that guard so nervous while checking our bracelets?" he asked softly.

"Let me answer that, little Harry. It's because we're wearing bracelets worth as much as a mansion in the finest magical town," Fred said, throwing an arm over Harry.

"What!? They're that expensive?" Harry asked in shock, staring at his wrist, where the bracelet rested, now feeling as if it weighed a ton.

"That's right, a mana transformation bracelet for Eldritch magic with an additional enchantment can be worth 1,000 gold Galleons. Do you now feel the weight of wealth, little Harry?" George added, smirking as he watched Harry's face change color.

"One-thousand! Wait, just with one enchantment? But the one Boss Stephen gave us has anti-theft, recovery, repair, and a two-cubic-meter storage space. Then… how much are they worth?" Harry asked, trembling even more and turning as pale as paper, making the twins' smirks widen.

"Enough, you two… Don't worry, Harry. To be honest, adding multiple enchantments to a bracelet is easy as long as the runes match the main one. The only real challenge is finding a material that can handle it. The ones I released to the public only have the mana conversion rune, not the others. The fact that these can hold multiple enchantments says a lot about the manufacturers," Stephen explained, taking pity on Harry.

"So, they're easy for Boss to make… Phew… What kind of material can support all these enchantments, then?" Harry asked, a little less nervous as his color returned, just before Stephen responded.

"Oh, it's a magical mineral I created. If it had a price, I'd say around 10,000 Galleons, since that's how much I spend to create a single kilogram," Stephen said with a nonchalant smile, making Harry turn even paler than before.

"Enough, you idiot. Stop scaring the kid," Fleur said, seeing Stephen laughing his heart out. She then turned to Harry. "Don't worry, Harry, Stephen is exaggerating a little. He didn't actually spend that much to create the mineral."

"Th-then… how much did he spend?" Harry asked uncertainly, unsure whether to believe her. And he was right to be cautious, as Fleur continued speaking.

"Uh… I think it was around 6,000, so he exaggerated a bit. And no, the bracelets aren't as expensive as a full kilogram of the mineral. Maybe they're worth around 2,000 Galleons each," Fleur said, thinking this would help Harry relax about wearing such a costly gift from Stephen. But she was obviously wrong, as the trio behind her burst into laughter.

Seeing no way to help Harry, who now walked nervously while guarding the bracelet as if his life depended on it, Fleur decided to just keep moving forward with the three jokers, who continued to amuse themselves, until they arrived at the Magical Law Enforcement office.

"Oh, kid, you finally arrived. I've been waiting for you," Moody said as he saw Stephen enter. Then he noticed the others with him, giving them all a thorough look with his magical eye, as if analyzing their entire existence in a single glance.

"Hello, Mad-Eye. These are my friends, some of the best fighters around. And the little paranoid one is Harry Potter," Stephen introduced.

"Yeah, I know them. The sons of Arthur Weasley, the dueling runner-up, and the Boy Who Lived. Interesting group," Moody said, scanning them for a few seconds, making them feel uncomfortable—especially with his scars and that unsettling eye, which seemed to see straight through them. Then, he turned and started walking.

"Follow me!" he ordered as he walked with his cane. Everyone exchanged glances before following him.

After walking for a bit, they arrived at a rather spacious room that seemed to be used for training Aurors. Many of them appeared to be waiting for someone.

"Greetings, sir!" they all shouted upon seeing Moody enter, immediately standing at attention.

"Alright, drop what you were doing. These kids claim to be stronger than you, so they'll prove it. Get ready," Moody said without hesitation, shocking both Stephen's group and the Aurors present.

"What? Excuse me, Mr. Moody, but wouldn't it be dangerous for children to face trained Aurors?" one of the men asked, trying to be polite rather than outright stating how impossible that sounded.

"I already said it. One from each group will fight. And never judge based on appearances," Moody declared, leaving no room for argument.

"Well… ah, alright, let's do it this way. Who wants to go first?" Stephen asked his group, giving up.

"Me!"

"Me!" the twins shouted eagerly.

"Hmm, alright. Fred, you go first," Stephen decided after a brief moment of thought.

"Yes! I won!" Fred cheered, while George complained about it being unfair.

Walking toward the center, Fred watched as one of the Aurors approached with a face full of irritation at the idea of fighting a child.

"Let's finish this quickly, kid. Us adults have important things to do," the man said.

"Well then, quickly it shall be," Fred replied with a mischievous grin, further fueling his opponent's frustration…

—

Thank You for Reading

Dear readers,

Thank you for joining me on this literary journey. If you enjoy my novel and want to keep reading, I invite you to support my work through Patreon and Ko-fi. Your contribution will allow me to continue creating and sharing more exciting chapters.

I hope to have your support and continue bringing you unforgettable stories!

ko-fi.com/yodarki

https://www.patreon.com/c/YoDarki