Chapter 35

The four Gryffindor boys entered the sweet shop. They looked around and were shocked to the very core. There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizzbees, the levitating sherbet balls that twins had mentioned; along yet another wall were 'Special Effects' sweets. Albert recognised some, so he went over, followed by the others, to see what they were.

"What's this?" Albert asked, looking at a sweet wrapped similarly to Fizzing Whizzbees.

"That there, my friend, is Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. If you decide to blow a bubble, it could fill a room with bluebell coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days," George said.

"That one?" Albert asked.

"Tooth Flossing Stringmints. They are similar to muggle tooth floss, but they come in all sorts of flavours and you can eat them," Lee said.

"These tiny sweets?" Albert asked.

"These tiny things are Black Pepper Imps. After you eat it, you can breathe fire just like a dragon," Fred said.

"And these should be the Ice Mice you guys told me about on the train, right?" Albert asked.

"Yeah, you remembered, but do you know what they do?" George said.

"Something about hearing teeth chatter and squeak," Albert guessed, as the three nodded at his answer. "And theses?"

"I wouldn't get them if I were you," Lee Jorden said.

"Those are acid pops and they can burn a hole through your tongue," Fred said.

"We gave Ron-kins one, and that happened. Mother got so angry at us that she grounded us," George said.

"Terrible times," the twin said in unison.

"I can only hope to guess," Lee said.

"No, not Ron-kins getting hurt, us getting grounded," George said.

"We were so bored. There was nothing to do," Fred said.

Albert then used the Levitation charm to pick up all the sweets he wanted. He also got more for the others as they had used most, if not all, their money in Zonko's Joke Shop. Albert them walked up to the counter ready to pay when he recognised the old lady behind the till.

"Hello, Mrs Trolley Lady, How are you?" Albert said, as he put the sweets on the counter.

"Hello, dear. You're the child who brought two of everything from the trolley this year, aren't you?" the old lady said, calculating his total.

"I'm surprised you remember me," Albert said.

"I always remember a kind patron. Would you like anything else, dear?" the old lady asked.

"What do you recommend?" Albert asked.

"Exploding Bonbons. This is one of my best sellers behind Bertie's Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs and Sugar-laced Quills as they're my favourite. I would also recommend Cockroach Clusters as they're Professor Dumbledore's favourite but I'm pretty sure you won't like them," said the old lady.

"No, to the Cockroach Cluster, but can you add two portions of Exploding Bonbons and four Sugar-laved Quills, please?" Albert asked.

"Yes, my dear," said the old lady as she went to fetch them. She returned and placed all of it inside a paper bag. "That will be 16 Sickles and 24 Knuts."

"Here you go," Albert said as he handed the money over and retrieved the bag.

"A little of advice from this old lady, if you would like to hear," she said as Albert halted and nodded. "It's not good to sneak out the castle during school term. If you get caught, the punishment will be severe. If I were you, I would utilise our Owl Mailing Service for an extra Sickle, as you won't get caught," said the old lady.

"Thank you for your advice and goodbye," Albert said as he waved and left the shop with the others.

When they left the premise, Albert immediately dug into his sweet bag as he picked out a handful of crystallised pineapple and ate it one by one. The others looked on in envy as Albert ate. They were jealous of how the owner treated Albert and how she just ignored them. However, they we delighted Albert brought at least two portions of everything he brought. They only hoped he would share with them.

"Stop looking at me like that. You can have some as long as you leave a handful of each sweet. They're for my family," Albert said as he offered them the bag.

"Thank you, you're the best," the three of them said in unison.

The boys made their way back to Hogwarts, more specifically the Gryffindor common room, and returned around two o'clock in the afternoon. They visited other shops and took in the views that Hogsmeade offered. Albert and Lee went to put their stuff away while Fred and George sat in the common room with their stuff. They were excited but their legs ache from walking for a few hours but all that vanished when a certain redhead older brother approach them.

Percy Weasley walked into the common room of the Gryffindor tower, a stern expression on his face. He spotted his two missing younger brothers. They had missed breakfast and lunch and he hadn't seen them in the common room much. He saw the brown paper bags that his older brother used to come back with from Hogsmeade.

"Boys, I heard you went to Hogsmeade today," Percy said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Percy, we were just exploring," Fred said, trying to play it cool.

"Exploring? You know you're not allowed to leave the castle without permission," Percy said, his voice stern.

"We know, but we wanted to see what Hogsmeade was like," George chimed in.

Percy let out a sigh. "I understand that, but you have to understand the consequences of your actions. If Professor Dumbledore finds out, you could be punished. Do you want that?"

The twins hung their heads, shamefaced. They had not thought about the consequences of their actions. They were more interested in spending his money and buying stuff from Hogsmeade.

"We're sorry, Percy," Fred said. "We won't do it again."

"You guys should really put that away in our room, otherwise we're never going to sneak out to Hogsmeade ever again," Albert said and headed towards the common room. The twins to this as their cue to follow him and avoid their brothers' incoming nagging.

Percy, looking back at those four boys, felt an indescribable amount of anger and rage flowing through his body.