Chapter 552: The aging potion

Ivan looked at Gabrielle and then looked at the surroundings again.

A lovely, tender, exciting girl, in a secluded, quiet grove of trees, that was really....

Ivan gave a subconscious pout and smiled bitterly.

Nothing happened next, and more than half an hour passed.

He walked Gabrielle around the castle, feeling very relaxed and happy.

Ivan had just returned Gabrielle to the carriage when he saw Hagrid come out of the hut. Hagrid did not see Ivan. He kept looking at the carriage, as if he had transformed into another man.

He was wearing his best, and very hideous, brown suit, and a yellow and orange checkered tie.

This was not the worst of it, though. He had evidently tried to tame his hair, using large amounts of what appeared to be axe grease. It was now combed into two locks...perhaps he had tried to make a ponytail like Bill's, but found he had too much hair.

The outfit didn't suit Hagrid, and Ivan looked at him for a moment, then decided not to comment.

It was clear that Hagrid wanted to make a good impression on Madame Maxime.

Because of his gigantic lineage, there were very few women who could match his aesthetic ideals.

Although the two of them would have many difficulties to overcome, Ivan sincerely hoped that the two of them could be together at some point.

When Ivan entered the foyer, there were already over seventy people.

The entire Durmstrang batch was voting. Ivan thought for a moment and decided to continue validating what had not been done last night.

Although he had some guesses, it wasn't wrong to verify them.

He returned to his dormitory as quickly as he could, and pulled out the Marauder's Map from under his pillow.

On the map, there were already over a hundred people in the room.

There were many names Ivan didn't know, and they were all Durmstrang students.

He looked at it briefly and didn't find Barty Crouch Jr. among them.

It seemed that Barty Crouch Jr. did not mix with the Durmstrang students.

Just as Ivan was looking at the Marauder's Map, Colin sat up from the bed.

"Good morning, Ivan!" He stretched his shoulders and then seemed to remember something. He hurried out of bed and headed down the hallway. "I want to know who put their names in the Goblet of Fire!"

"Oh!" Ivan put away the Marauder's Map. His heart was heavy and he always felt like something was wrong.

They both arrived in the Common Room, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just come out of their rooms.

Hermione's hair was in disarray and the buttons on Harry and Ron's shirt were not buttoned properly. Thick dark circles under their eyes indicated that they had not slept well the night before.

When the five of them entered the foyer, the Durmstrang lot and the others had already left, and there were only about thirty people around, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire.

They had placed it in the center of the room, on the stool normally carried by the Sorting Hat. A thin gold line had been drawn on the floor, forming a three-meter circle around it in all directions.

"Has anyone put their name in yet?" asked Ron to a third year girl excitedly.

"Yes, everyone from Durmstrang," she replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."

"I'm sure one of them put it on last night when we'd all gone to bed," said Harry. "I would have - I wouldn't have wanted everyone watching - what if the goblet engulfed you again?"

At that moment, Fred, George and Lee Jordan came rushing down the stairs, all three looking very excited.

"Done!" said Fred in a triumphant whisper. "I just took it."

"What?" said Ron.

"The aging potion, dung brains," said Fred.

"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "We just need to be a few months older."

"We'll split the thousand galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," Lee said, grinning broadly.

"I'm not sure this is going to work," Hermione said warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

Ivan was sure that the Aging Potion they had developed would not be successful at all.

Like the Multijuice Potion, the Aging Potion could only change the appearance of the users and make them age.

Its effect lasted longer than that of the multijuice potion and it was not necessary to take it every hour. The boiling system was much simpler, but it could not make people change in essence.

Simply put, Fred and George, who drank the Potion of Aging, became what they would be in the future.

If they drank enough Aging Potion, they could even look like their father, Mr. Weasley.

This type of magic could only confuse people's perception and could not break Dumbledore's magic.

In fact, with the skill of the young wizards, it was impossible to break Dumbledore's restrictions.

Fred, George and Lee ignored Hermione, but looked at the Goblet of Fire, trembling with excitement.

"Ready?" said Fred to the other two. "Come on, then... I'll go first."

Fred pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket with Fred Weasley's name on it... Hogwarts. Hogwarts. He walked to the edge of the line and stood there, balancing on the tips of his toes like a diver preparing for a fifteen-meter drop.

Then, with the eyes of every person in the hall on him, he gave a big sigh and crossed the line.

For a moment, everyone thought Fred had succeeded.

George certainly thought so, for he let out a shout of triumph and leaped after Fred.

But the next moment there was a loud crackling sound, and both twins flew out of the golden circle as if activated by an invisible launcher.

They landed painfully, ten feet apart, on the cold stone floor and, to make matters worse, there was a loud popping noise and they both sprouted identical long white beards.

The hall echoed with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had stood up and taken a good look at each other's beards.

"I warned you," said a low, amused voice, and they all turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He looked at Fred and George, his eyes sparkling.

"I suggest you both go upstairs to see Madam Pomfrey. She is already attending to Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw and Mr. Summers of Hufflepuff, who have also decided to age a little. Though I must say, neither of their beards were as fine as his."

Fred and George departed for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee Jordan, who was howling with laughter.

Ivan, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Colin, also laughing, entered the Great Dining Room for breakfast.