Chapter 17 - Theft of Items

"Next, we have 3 clients for you to serve. 2 of them are fine, but the last one that arrived looks like the devil himself incarnate and I don't know what to do. She's constantly complaining about the weather, saying our store sucks. I even tried to bring up a conversation with her, but I swear she almost bit me. Do I pass her on in front of others? I'm afraid she'll speak ill of us."

Fred said desperately.

Ron squinted at the last customer, trying to make out the woman's sullen face.

She was short and fat. She had shoulder-length hair, streaked with blonde, and a sullen expression. Impatiently, the woman waved her stressed leg.

"Leave her last. She doesn't get preference for being impatient."

Ron said, nodding towards Fred to attend to the other customers.

Fred started calling the first customer to serve him. He picked up the broken object and handed it to Ron.

"Finally, you decided to answer!"

Ron heard the woman complaining from afar, but decided to ignore it.

"I have something here that needs urgent repair. It's my daughter's music box. I accidentally broke it and I've done everything but I can't fix it. My skill with Reparo is subpar. I think I ended up breaking it even more."

The wizard explained, handing over a small pocket musical box.

Ron carefully picked up the box and carried it to the back of the tent. It looked like a compass, all coated in gold, with purple details on the front along with a name. 'Sarah'.

Normally, pocket musical boxes were made with golden gears, enchanted with magic. If Ron could swap the original gears for the bronze gears the gnome handed over, that would make him some good money.

He tried to get the pocket musical box to play, but it only made a scratchy sound.

He wasn't sure if that would work. Perhaps the 'Reparo' spell would only fix objects with the original parts. Or maybe, he should tinker with sorcery before switching parts.

He preferred to risk changing first before fixing. Thus, the object would not look like it was opened or destroyed at some point.

Without anyone noticing, Ron opened the pocket musical box with a small knife that the gnome left inside the bag.

He pulled out the original parts and quickly swapped them for bronze gears. They weren't necessarily fakes, but they were of no value compared to the originals.

Ron snapped the lid of the box into place and slipped the gold pieces into his pocket.

"Reparo!"

Ron held the wand firmly towards the musical box, speaking in a firm voice towards the object. To Ron's surprise, the spell had worked. He didn't know how long it would keep running, but as long as he didn't do this to every customer, it wouldn't be a problem.

Quickly, the pocket music box repaired itself and played soft, sweet music.

He handed the box to Fred who was ready to receive the money and call the next customer in line.

"Hey you! I demand that you attend to me first."

The grumpy woman screamed at the end of the line, trying to pass the person in front of her.

"Why would we do that?"

Ron asked cheekily.

"Why? Look here. I'm a single mother. I need you to attend to me first. Look at this girl. She's young, she doesn't need to be attended to so quickly."

The woman pointed to the girl who would be the next to be served. The girl was petite with long black hair and seemed intimidated by the angry woman.

"M-ms, I need to get this fixed this soon to take care of my sick grandma. I can't be late."

The little girl said shyly.

"Who asked you? I'm a single mother. Your grandmother can wait. You are already right here, so why hurry? She will not die."

The woman began to raise her voice at the girl as she took her place in line. The girl held one hand in the other, nervous about the situation.

The commotion began to draw the attention of other wizards who were passing around, curious about what was going on.

"What do we do?"

Fred asked in a whisper to Ron.

"I don't care about your problems. I will not serve anyone with preference. Return to your place in line."

Ron said, not caring as he held out his hand for the shy girl to hand the broken object to him.

The shy girl handed the object to him and before the grumpy woman could say anything, he turned and went back to the back of the tent.

It was a Self Warming Mug. Apparently this didn't do the main function, but not only that, it was cooling the drinks that were placed inside.

[ AU note:

Self-warming Mugs: When any drink is placed inside the mug (drinkable liquids only), the enchantment is activated and the liquid begins to heat up immediately. The temperature of the liquid heats up to whatever the wizard wants.

Appearance: It's like a small miniature cauldron, with two handles on the side, with silver and wood accents on the outside. It is made of clay on the inside.]

As there was nothing to be changed, Ron preferred to stick with the plan of stealing only a few objects. So it wouldn't be a problem for him.

"Reparo!"

Ron said firmly towards the mug. For a little test run, he poured some water into the container, and in less than a few seconds, the liquid was already heated.

He threw the water away, dried the inside and walked over to Fred, who handed the mug to the girl and received payment.

Fred looked at Ron with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Come on, lady!"

Fred said, pointing at the grumpy woman.

"Finally!"

The woman said, handing over something oddly shaped inside a velvety red cloth bag.

Ron took it to the back of the tent, revealing it to be an enchanted camera.

[Au notes

Enchanted Photo Camera: Used to take animated photographs. Videos in photographs. ]

Instantly, a smirk appeared on Ron's face, pleased with the news.

The camera was taking animated shots where the animation was going backwards, as if going into the past.

Ron opened the enchanted camera and altered all the parts he could. From glass lens for an acrylic lens, to small silver screws for cheap iron.

The camera was apparently the same, but all the necessary details were modified. It was like a Frankenstein camera.

"Reparo!"

Ron used the spell on the object, which quickly returned to work.

Apparently, as long as you didn't modify the objects' magical parts, like the 'film' in the camera, it would still work perfectly, but it would lose value if the wizard wanted to sell it. That was great news for Ron.

Ron slipped the camera into the velvet bag and handed it to Fred.

"It's one repair for 50 sickles!"

Fred replied, going to hand the red cloth bag to the woman.

"What? Hahaha. No. You must be mistaken."

The woman laughed looking at Fred, who didn't let the woman take the bag from his hands.

"I am a single mother. Have you forgotten? You shouldn't charge me that. I've been here waiting for hours and you didn't even pass me on in front of the others. I have many children to take care of. The LEAST you will do is not charge for your service."

The woman said, laughing and trying to take the bag from Fred's hands. He looked at Ron desperately, not knowing what to do.

"Madam, hand over the money."

Ron said, trying to act polite.

"You should pay me for waiting so long. That's the bare minimum."

The lady continued talking, ignoring Ron.

Ron took the bag from Fred's hands, preventing the woman from taking it.

"Do you KNOW who you are talking to?"

Ron just stared at the woman impatiently, making the woman angrier.

"I AM A SINGLE MOM! YOU CAN'T CHARGE ANYTHING FROM ME!"

The woman started screaming.

"I don't care that you got a kid because of some random guy who couldn't even care enough to stay. Just hand over our payment."

Ron said coldly.

The others around were startled by what he said. Ron looked like an innocent child and talking that way to an older woman was shocking to everyone.

"Did he really just say that?"

Fred whispered to a random man on the street as the two kept wide eyes on the situation.

"OW! HELP ME! POLICE! HE IS TRYING TO ROB ME!"

The woman started screaming desperately, while everyone around looked at the situation with pity.

"HE ROBBED ME! HELP ME! HE NEEDS TO BE ARRESTED. HE STOLE FROM A SINGLE MOTHER!"

She continued to scream, while Ron looked at her with disdain.

Ron was too young to have somehow stolen from that woman. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. She would just hold his head and prevent him from going near her belongings.

The witches around decided to keep walking, ignoring the situation, while the woman continued to run around the place desperately screaming.

"Then call the police!"

Ron suggested.

That was risky, as Ron had modified every part of the enchanted camera. He would probably be found out, but he knew that woman wouldn't call the police. Even making a fuss and acting crazy, she knew she would get screwed over not wanting to pay the hardworking little boys.

"Hey, what's going on here?"

A tall man ran towards the woman.

"THEY'RE TRYING TO ROB ME!"

The woman continued to kick her feet on the floor like a child.

"I can't believe you're doing this again."

The man said in frustration, looking around with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry about my sister. She's not on her best day."

The tall wizard approached the brothers. He seemed like someone thoughtful and kind, he didn't deserve to have to take care of a sister like that.

"Is this your little sister?"

Fred asked curiously, but the answer was already obvious. The woman had a more mature appearance, while the man looked young and healthy.

"Older. Haha."

The man replied a little embarrassed.

"Here's the money. I think it pays, right? You can have the rest. Sorry for the inconvenience."

He asked, handing over 70 sickles from the woman's wallet that she had thrown across the street trying to get attention.

"DO NOT PAY THEM. THEY CANNOT RECEIVE THE MONEY."

The woman screamed, crying in despair.

The man smiled at the boys with an uncomfortable smile and lifted the woman by the arms, taking her away.

From afar, Ron and Fred could hear the frustrated screams of the woman, who acted like she was 4 years old.

"I feel sorry for him. He seemed to be a good man. I don't think I've ever seen anyone act like that. Did you see how histerical she was?"

Fred started talking to Ron.

"Yes. I call them Karens."

Ron said, chuckling internally.

"Karen? Why Karen?"

Fred asked curiously.

"I don't know. But doesn't Karen fit her?"

Ron replied, mulling the matter over.

"Hmm, it does. And what would it be like for a man?"

Fred asked.

"I never thought of that."

Ron answered.

"Kevin. Saint Kevin!"

Fred replied, laughing.

"Kevin is a good name for it."

Ron laughed.

----

[ Toru's notes ]

Sorry about the previous chapter (chapter 16). This wasn't fully edited and I hadn't seen it. I fixed this morning. Will not happen again :)

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