Magnus watched as the tiny dot that was Filch retreated from the seventh floor.
Still, none of them looked relieved.
They all knew that the caretaker could have gone to fetch someone.
It was not until the dot had stopped within the caretaker's office and remained there for a whole minute that they all let out the breath they had been holding.
"Huff... that was too close... he almost had us," George said, leaving his spot on the door and joining them.
"I am sorry, guys... thought I lost that freaking cat," Magnus explained.
"No need for an apology, mate," Fred said. "That wretch has become a pro at fooling people."
"I think we should seriously make portable extendable ears," George interjected. "We could have easily warned you."
"Agreed," Fred said and flicked his wand towards a big chart in one corner of the room.
Magnus watched as the words "Long-range Portable Extendable Ears" appeared at the bottom of the long list of items. He assumed these were the things the two were planning to work on.
"Wow... that is quite a long list," he exclaimed in awe as he turned to scan the room for the first time.
In all fairness, even by modern-world standards, the twins—or rather, the Room of Requirement—had outdone itself.
The place was quite spacious, with a broad workbench at the center where they now stood. All around them were neatly placed shelves full of closed cartons, glass cauldrons, and some vials.
Another section held samples of things the twins had already finished creating—several dung balls, toffees, dung bombs, and many more things he didn't even recognize.
"It's brilliant, right?" Fred asked, seeing his reaction to the room.
"It's crazy... dude, I mean, it's like you two have your own factory inside Hogwarts."
"Exactly... I mean, so long as you are able to sneak some food in, you could live here for eons," Fred said, sounding like that idea wasn't far off in his thoughts.
"Anyway, we are almost done with the dung balls... just a few more and we are off to bed."
Magnus picked up one of the unfinished balls and scrutinized it. There wasn't any visible difference between it and the one he had used earlier.
"These ones are almost complete, only the spellwork remains."
Perfect, Magnus thought.
That meant it could still be shaped into something else instead of a dung ball.
"Wait a sec, guys," Magnus said, causing Fred, who was already preparing to cast a spell, to pause.
"What's up, mate?" he asked curiously.
Magnus placed the yellow ball back on the workbench before facing them.
"Listen," he began. What he was about to ask them was too complex to put into words, especially because, as far as magic was concerned, he was completely a noob.
"Remember the deal we made?..."
The twins nodded. "You mean you training the Eevees... yes, kinda hard to forget—you owe us twenty Galleons," George said.
"Well, I need you to start keeping your Pokémon with you all the time—day and night."
They were confused. He could see that much.
"Day and night?" Fred repeated, confused. "What the hell is he saying?"
"Mate, you're joking, right?" George added. "I mean, you know we're third-years. Only first-years are allowed to have their Pokémon within the castle."
"Well, good thing I'm not asking you to have them within the castle. I want them inside here," he said, pointing to the balls on the workbench.
"What...? You want us to carry them inside a dung ball?" George asked, even more surprised.
Magnus smiled. They were catching up. "Not exactly. I mean, you said this lot doesn't have the spells yet?"
They nodded.
"Well then, they aren't dung balls yet, are they?"
When the twins broke into identical knowing smiles, Magnus knew they had finally understood.
"Blimey... that is brilliant, mate," Fred said, looking at his brother.
George grinned even more widely. "Merlin... we could get rich, mate. You know—anyone from second to seventh year who wants to keep their Pokémon close would buy them without bargaining."
That was certainly not what Magnus meant.
"No... forget business, guys. You will only be making four." He knew it was futile to tell these two what to do, but they had to understand.
"If you create more of them, Hagrid could easily tell some Pokémon are missing at the daycare."
"Not if we also create illusion balls," George said, looking more gleeful.
Magnus felt like screaming sense into them. This two seemed to have a solution to any problem he created and galeons seemed to be the sole motivation for them.
"That would destroy the whole plan," Magnus said seriously. "The more people know about the balls, the easier the teachers will find out. I can't have that—not if you want to win."
For once, the twins grew serious.
"So, you actually have a plan?" Fred asked, laying his wand down. He could see that he had their attention.
"Of course I do, but I think we jumped way ahead. Do you seriously think you can create such a ball? I mean, something that can hold a Pokémon and release it when needed?"
They looked at each other, and Magnus could see a mixture of excitement and doubt.
"Well... it's complicated, you know... I mean, it's one thing to create joke stuff, but these are living things, mate... what if..."
"Wait..." George said, fetching a clipboard sprawled on the workbench.
"Have you given it a thought? I mean, have you thought about it?"
Magnus nodded. "But it's kinda hard to fully describe it," he said cautiously, looking at the clipboard.
"No... you actually don't need to write," George explained. "We call it a Brainbook. Whatever your idea is, it helps you brainstorm."
Magnus looked at him, perplexed.
What George was saying was almost too brilliant to be true. And not that he didn't think these two were smart—it's just that such an invention would require a sophisticated grasp of magic, something that was well beyond any student.
"Oh... no, we didn't make it... the room provided it," George answered, seemingly reading his thoughts.
"I mean, we were just stuck on one of our projects and needed to brainstorm, and boom, this appeared right in front of us."
Yeah, that sounded like the Room's work, but it was also dangerously close to resembling Riddle's diary.
Magnus took the clipboard.
On second thought, he decided that it was beyond the scope of the Room to harm when its purpose was to provide safety and solutions.
"Just focus on the main points that you think would comprise the ball," George said.
He did just that.
What do I need? he thought.
The ball has to remain the same size—small and portable—so yes, weightless as well... It has to summon a specific Pokémon when opened and release it at the handler's request. Inside, it has to be quite spacious to give enough room for the Pokémon to move and play. It has to have an illusion of the Pokémon's natural habitat for maximum comfort. The barriers also should not affect the trainer and Pokémon's bond... So what type of spell combinations would it take? And what would be a step-by-step guide to creating such a ball?
The clipboard did respond. I mean, the previous writings disappeared, and in their place appeared a list of instructions that made him feel hopeless. There was simply no way fourteen-year-old students would understand this.
The twins stared at the instructions for a while before they burst out laughing.
"No, thanks , mate, not unless you plan to include Dumbledore in creating it" Fred said, laughing.
He took the clipboard, and within a minute, Magnus' thoughts disappeared, and Fred's replaced them.
"We have to make do with what we can", he said, looking at the clipboard. "This is nothing advanced—just something to help sneak them into the castle unseen... We can let them out when inside our dorm room."
Magnus looked at the simple-looking guide. It was just a combination of basic enlargement, summoning, and a few other spells he didn't know yet. Definitely nothing advanced, let alone decent.
He however needed to start conditioning the Pokémon for evolution, and to do that, the Pokéball was mandatory—unless they could fit the Eevees into their pockets.
"Can you do it?" he asked hopefully.
Fred rubbed his hands anxiously.
"Let's find out."
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