Chapter 4 - We Need Money

Two weeks passed and Ron had already studied most of the potions books at Hogwarts. He hadn't tested all the potions he could, as the vast majority needed more expensive ingredients than he could afford, but that was enough for him to gain more knowledge than most first year students had.

That morning, Ron came downstairs to Molly's scream calling her children for breakfast.

He noticed that Ginny was sitting in the chair at the table with a blanket wrapped around her. She had a sulky appearance and was paler than usual. Molly had her back to the breakfast table, making something.

"Did you hear them saying they're going to finish us off today?"

Fred said indignantly, while putting 4 spoons of sugar in the cup.

"Do away with us? As if. That bunch of dwarfs will see."

Jorge said, letting out a mischievous laugh.

"Aren't they gnomes?"

Percy asked, placing the book he was reading on the table.

"They get irritated when we call them a dwarf!"

Fred replied, stuffing a whole loaf of bread into his mouth.

Percy looked a little put out by this, but then he shrugged.

After finishing eating, Ron walked to the living room cupboard, looking for a pot with soporific pods, which he had already used to make some potions. But when he opened the cupboard, the pot only had 1 withered pod thrown in the bottom.

"Do you need the soporific pods?"

Molly asked Ron, seeing him holding the empty jar.

"Do you have anything else saved?"

Ron asked, hoping to have some stock of the desired ingredient.

"We're all out of pods. I had to use it to make a Spicy Potion for Ginny. She's not doing very well."

Molly replied, handing over a glass of orange-red liquid that was bubbling slightly.

"Can I buy more?"

Ron questioned, turning the pot and glass over in his hands.

"We don't have anything left, Ron. You know, we had to buy the materials from you guys, and it's almost the end of the month. We don't have any money left now."

Molly replied, a little upset that she couldn't help Ron.

At that moment, Ron realized that he needed to find a way to earn his own money.

The easiest way he had was to sell the potions he made, but all the potions he knew were common knowledge, so no one would buy something so simple that they could make it at home.

Ginny drank the potion while holding her nose to stop the taste of the drink, and in a few minutes, she was looking healthier already.

Healing potions were all too common. Everyone did it at home, without difficulty. In addition to being very easy, they were also very quick to make, so it wasn't a good investment.

Ron went up to his room, thoughtful.

Upon arrival, he took the study books and reviewed each one to get some creative inspiration, but nothing came up. This ended up leaving Ron frustrated, looking around the room at what he could do. It was then that something caught his eye: The dusty library book.

Ron took the book in his hands. He didn't believe that the old book just had common recipes from the wizarding world, but he wasn't too hopeful about what he could do with it either.

As he opened the book again and reviewed the pages, something struck him. The blank pages started showing more writing, showing new potions and recipes, until it got to the point where the writing slowed down again and disappeared.

Ron finally realized what that book was about. The book would only show potions that Ron's knowledge could handle. Each time he improved in skill and knowledge, more potions recipes would be released, forcing Ron to study more and more, and making it impossible for anyone to access all the knowledge kept in that book.

Ron already knew almost everything that was written, as they were almost the same things as the Hogwarts book. At the end of the released pages, the book was written something like a new recipe. The writing on the last page was incomplete, fading with each word. The writing felt like it needed to be thorough in order for the book to release more stuff.

[ Name: ?????

Ingredients:

- ?????

- ?????

- 50g of Malva leaves;

- 3 fairy larvae;

- ?????

Preparation mode: ?????

Result: ????? ]

That was so confusing for Ron. There was no point in that bunch of random ingredients. It didn't look like any of the other potions, just a detail of each, so Ron should have known exactly what each ingredient did according to the reaction mixed with another ingredient to be able to make this new recipe.

Suddenly, Fred and George opened the door to Ron's room without knocking, and found the stolen cauldron in the middle of Ron's room.

"So that's where our cauldron is!"

George said irritably.

Ron got out of bed, not sure how he was going to get rid of them.

Quickly the two walked towards the cauldron, picking it up from the floor and turning to leave the room.

"HOLD ON!"

Ron said, looking both ways thinking about something.

"What is it?"

Fred asked, mockingly.

"I need it! Can't you lend it to me?"

Ron asked in an angelic voice, trying to convince by kindness.

"And why would we do that?"

George questioned.

"Exactly! What are we going to gain by lending it to you?"

Fred crossed his arms, leaving George to hold the cauldron alone.

Ron was silent for a few seconds, trying to think of something. Fred and George got tired of waiting and turned around again to leave the room.

"THE GNOMES!"

Ron yelled, causing the twins to turn back to Ron, curious.

"You said they would finish you off… I can help you!"

Ron said firmly.

"Help us how? You always run away from battles with the gnomes."

Fred said, laughing.

"Since when do you have the courage to face them?"

George completed, looking at Fred as they laughed.

"I can help you teach them a lesson with this!"

Ron stepped forward, taking one of the potion books in his hand. He knew that Fred and George weren't very good with potions, so it was a good proposition for them.

"A potion? But they would never accept drinking something from us."

Fred asked Ron, looking at George.

"He's right! And besides, they always cook their own food. I don't think we could deliver the potion in a way that they would accept it."

George completed, but still looked curious about the plan.

"But they don't need to know it's on purpose."

Ron said, with a sly look.

"And how so?"

George asked, placing the cauldron on the ground as the two approached.

"We can make them think they stole from you! Thus, they would emerge victorious and drink the drink as if it were a reward."

Ron said, trying to convince them.

It seemed to work. George and Fred looked at each other. They clearly started to get more excited than before.

"But I will need your help to get the ingredients…"

Ron said, opening the potions book again.

"What potion are you going to make?"

Fred asked, pulling up a stool to sit next to Ron.

"It's a surprise!"

Ron replied, planning to test that mystery book recipe on the gnomes.

"And what do you need?"

Ron sat down on the bed with a piece of paper propped up on one of the pages of the book, and started jotting down the ingredients he needed.

- 800 ml of water;

- 200ml of worm-blind mucus;

- 50g of Malva leaves;

- 3 fairy larvae;

- Colored Magic Pigment in Rose Pink;

Ron's quick thinking had the list ready in a few minutes. He remembered every reaction the ingredients could have, along with every potion he'd memorized. Any mistake could cause something tragic to happen, but Ron trusted his knowledge.

He handed it to the brothers who carefully analyzed each ingredient.

"Hm... It's not that difficult, but I don't think we have enough money."

George said, putting his hand in his coat pocket, looking for some coins.

"What if we just steal it?"

Ron offered, not expressing concern.

"WHAT? TO STEAL?"

Fred screamed in fright, but George covered his mouth quickly, preventing him from continuing.

"SHHHHHH! Don't shout!"

"Are you crazy, Ron? It could put dear old dad out of his job."

George said, whispering.

Ron thought a little about what he said.

"Then we need to find another way to get the ingredients."

He replied.

"Well, we've got free water, we've got blindworm mucus, we've got Malva leaves you can get in the garden... We only need to buy the fairy larvae and the magic colored pigment."

Fred said, going through all the items.

"Okay, let's do this: Search every corner of the house for all the coins you can get. Look under the furniture, inside the sofa, and in coats. I'll find a way to get the magic pigment, we just need the money to get the fairy larvae."

As Ron said, the brothers began to search the room for coins.

Fred and George went down to the living room, turning the whole house over. They shook the sofa, moved all the chairs, entered the fireplace, in every corner where a coin could fall, they were stuck.

"I FOUND ONE!"

From time to time, Ron would hear one of the brothers shouting that he had found a coin, informing the other.

After a few hours, they gathered in Ron's room again, counting how many coins everyone had collected.

They had scraped together a little more of the value of the faerie larvae, so maybe Ron could haggle over the price of the mafic pigment.

They walked down towards the fireplace planning to go to Diagon Alley.

"Where are you going?"

Molly questioned, blocking their way.

"We're going out to buy some sweets!"

Fred answered quickly, with a mischievous smile on his face and showing half of the change they had found so as not to arouse suspicion.

"Hm…"

Molly stared at them for a few seconds.

"Right! Don't take too long. If you do, I'll come after you and I'll pull each one of your ears."

Molly crossed her arms.

Ron, George and Fred ran towards the fireplace, but before they could use the Floo Powder, Molly stopped them.

"And your coats?"

The boys quickly ran upstairs, putting on warm coats, and quickly went downstairs.

Molly held the jar of Floo Powder in her hands for the boys.

"Bring something for Ginny, okay?"

Molly said, but none of them seemed to truly hear and soon they lit the emerald green flames, heading towards Diagon Alley.

Upon arrival, they begin to walk down the long and narrow street of Diagon Alley. Ron still didn't seem to get used to the place, so he was still impressed looking around.

"Why is it that every time we come here, you look around?"

George asked, walking quickly beside Ron.

"Huh? I don't know. I just think it's cool here."

Ron replied, looking away.

"I never realized how weird you are."

George replied, ruffling Ron's hair, who walked away quickly.

After a few minutes, Ron noticed a shop that stood out among the others. He stopped in front of it, looking up in awe.

"Ron, it's not here. The fairy larvae shop is further on."

Fred said, trying to get Ron's attention.

"You can go. I'll just take a look here real quick."

Ron said, not taking his eyes off the shop.

The store was called 'Potions For All Afflictions'.

Ron entered the shop silently. Even though it looked extremely small from the outside, it was big, with huge shelves on all sides with many potions of all types and categories.

The shop was a little empty, but not enough for Ron's presence to be noticed.

He walked along the shelves, noting the varieties and which seemed to be the best sellers.

It was then that, standing between some shelves, he began to listen to a conversation between some of the store's customers.

"Hair Color Potion… What nonsense. What will changing your hair color help you with?"

A male voice said.

"I thought it was cool. Have you ever wanted to change your hair color?

A female voice asked.

"No, that's silly. Changing your hair color won't make you any prettier. It might just make you weirder. Did you see our neighbor last week? Wore one of these and got blue hair.

The male voice said.

"Oh? You were looking at our neighbor?"

The female voice sounded irritated.

"Oh Love. That's not what I meant! I'm saying it's silly to want to change these things. If only they made a potion that actually made you pretty, then it would be useful."

"Hmph!"

The female voice snorted.

"But what about the beautification potion?"

The female voice questioned.

"No no! It's not safe. It obsesses everyone around you, and it's too expensive. Nor is it a natural beauty. You stop being you!"

The male voice answered indignantly.

"Hm, well… you would look pretty with black hair…".

The female voice continued. She looked calmer.

"Oh, you think?"

The male voice questioned.

"I think so! When you wear the black hat, it looks beautiful. I imagine with hair then…"

The female voice said.

Ron heard the sound of a glass vial being lifted from the shelf.

"Right. You convinced me!"

The male voice said, while the female voice laughed happily.

'Beautification potions?'

Ron thought, rubbing his fingers together. That seemed to help him think.

He waited for the footsteps of the voices to fade away and walked towards the corridor they were in.

Analyzing each session, he could see that there were potions for changing eye color, hair, hair growth, body change, voice change, nail growth, body essences, love potions… In the end, everything intertwined with purpose. to please and get approval from others, but one thing that Ron noticed was that these things always changed who the person was, from appearance to character, leaving them with a good lip and 'noses up'.

The main thing on Ron's mind was how he could create a beautification potion that would bring out one's best traits without altering one's DNA and personality. Of course, a good appearance would lead to better self-esteem, but that would only be a consequence.

Thus, it wouldn't make people crazy for anyone who drank the potion, leaving them blind with love, and also, it would improve people's psychology, helping with insecurities.

Most of the shelves in the appearance category were empty of potions, indicating that it really was the top selling category.