"Henry William?"

"Hoare Weasley?"

The two young boys speaking were crouched in a corner of a bar. The red-haired one pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment and a quill from his pocket, handing them to the brown-haired boy.

"We agreed on 6 Galleons. Here's the contract. Once signed, it will take effect automatically."

"Pleasure doing business~"

The brown-haired boy happily took the contract and signed his name, Henry William, at the bottom without even looking at it. He then tossed a similarly crumpled piece of parchment to the red-haired boy, eager to use his 6 Galleons to buy all sorts of prank toys.

"Pleasure doing business."

The red-haired boy took the parchment, smoothing it out carefully until there wasn't a single crease, greedily eyeing every word on it.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(President of the International Confederation of Wizards, First Class Order of Merlin, The Greatest Wizard, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot)

Dear Mr. William:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment.

The term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress"

Following that was the list of items needed for the first year.

Hoare Weasley, the red-haired boy, of course, a Weasley. In the wizarding world, where else would a red-haired child come from?

After haggling with Henry William for half a day, they finally agreed on 6 Galleons for the Hogwarts acceptance letter that Henry William didn't want.

Henry William counted the 6 Gold-Galleons over and over in his hand, speaking disdainfully, "What's so great about Hogwarts? I still prefer Durmstrang, where you can learn real magic."

Hoare ignored him, carefully folding the acceptance letter and placing it in his pocket. "Then let's say goodbye here."

"Of course." Henry William raised an eyebrow.

The two stood up from the corner, waving half-heartedly as they parted ways.

***

August 31st.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Hoare had his luggage ready early.

This was the first time since Ron was born that he would be separated from his twin brother. He cried his eyes out, even trying to crawl into Hoare's suitcase to go with him, leaving Hoare both amused and helpless.

Who knows what Ron's reaction will be when they meet at the station on September 1st.

Now the boy was crying so hard, who knows if he'll even recognize me then.

Molly, wiping her tears, twisted Ron's ear as she bid farewell to Hoare. The next time they'd see each other would be Christmas.

***

September 1st.

This was a special day.

For students, it marked the end of a happy summer vacation.

King's Cross Station is the terminus of the London railway.

On this day, the station also welcomed a group of special guests, unbeknownst to them.

Since the 1950s, the Hogwarts Express had been tasked with transporting wizards to and from school and London.

Whether half-blood or pure-blood, all wizards going to Hogwarts had to take this train to reach the school.

Hoare, carrying his suitcase, skillfully avoided the patrols on the platform, passing through Platform 9¾.

He had been here before when sending his brothers off to school.

The vintage steam train appeared before Hoare once again.

He arrived early, and there weren't many parents or students on the platform at this time.

An A-level Metamorphmagus couldn't change as freely as a natural one; for example, height and body shape couldn't be altered. Hoare thought it was fortunate that he and Henry William were about the same size; A-level was sufficient.

Even though he knew it was enough, Hoare still planned to give it a try, to test the effect of the Metamorphmagus.

With the head of a stranger, Hoare picked a prominent spot and opened his self-made suitcase. Inside were several books, boldly titled "Welcome to the Wizarding World."

"Don't miss out, the first comprehensive guide to the wizarding world, covering lifestyle, food, and entertainment."

"Limited copies, first come, first served."

Hoare began hawking on the platform. This "Welcome to the Wizarding World" was compiled, edited, printed, and produced by him alone.

The content came from memories of his past life and was edited and organized after years of verification.

It was specifically targeted at new students unfamiliar with the wizarding world.

Even the smallest profit was still profit, and since it was an easy task, why not make some money?

"Mum, Mum, can I have a copy of this guide?" A student in a new school uniform pulled their parent over to Hoare.

"How much is this?" The student's parent flipped through a few pages, finding the content indeed novel. She had lived in the Muggle world since graduating, only occasionally returning to visit family, so the wizarding world was quite unfamiliar to her.

Hoare discreetly assessed the parent's attire. She had a photo pendant of Gilderoy Lockhart hanging from her bag.

Since she was a fan of Gilderoy Lockhart, she probably wasn't short on money. Gilderoy Lockhart's books weren't cheap; a set cost at least thirty Galleons.

"One Gold-Galleon," Hoare priced.

"Here." Sure enough, the lady handed over the money without hesitation and took the book.

Afterward, he made a few more sales, offering different prices based on the customer's attire, ranging from ten Silver-Sickles to one Gold-Galleon.

Hoare mused that if it weren't for testing the effect, there probably wouldn't be a next time; this way of making money was still too slow.

"What's this!?"

A fiery red head popped over.

Hoare was startled—it was Ron.

Unfortunately, Ron didn't recognize him at all.

"Ron, my dear brother, what are you looking at?"

"‘Welcome to the Wizarding World’? Ron, don't worry, you've got us~"

George and Fred squeezed in next to Ron, messing up his hair.

"I'm just looking." Ron tried to shake them off. "Let me go." Hoare knew the outcome, of course, was failure; he failed every time.

"Mate, you look familiar?" Hoare was startled by George's sudden close-up.

"Maybe we've met." Hoare replied calmly.

"I think so too, even very familiar." Fred leaned in as well.

Seeing that their attention wasn't on him, Ron ducked and slipped away from their grasp.

"George, Fred, what are you doing! Hurry over here!" Molly called out from a distance, beckoning them back.

George and Fred exchanged a glance and shouted back, "Coming, Mum~"

Fred said goodbye to Hoare, "See you at Hogwarts then."

Hoare finally relaxed completely. It seemed no one in the Weasley family recognized him; the A-level Metamorphmagus was more than sufficient.

Now the final test would be the white wizard at school, Headmaster Dumbledore.

As time passed, the platform grew noisier, with young wizards buzzing with excitement and parents fussing over them. It was chaotic yet warm.

When the train whistled, urging everyone to board as it was about to depart, Hoare, hiding in the corner, leisurely picked up his suitcase and brushed past the Weasley family to board the train.

"Percy, George, Fred, Ron, hurry up! The train's about to leave."

"Guess which one of us is George and which is Fred."

"Guess which one of us is George and which is Fred."