The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 424: Adult Twins

April is the season of lush grass and singing birds. Hogwarts has also changed its color, and everywhere you look is filled with refreshing green.

On April Fools' Day, Fred and George finally waited for their belated seventeenth birthday. The young men who were once full of hope were finally growing up.

On their shoulders there are no longer the gentle breeze and bright moon, or the swaying willows. Instead, they are burdened with heavier responsibilities, the responsibilities of adults.

This day happened to be a Saturday, so there were no classes and no Quidditch practice. Fred and George could celebrate their birthdays and commemorate their last teenage years.

In the morning, Ada and the twins walked out of their dormitories and met in the common room.

Everyone who knew the twins in the common room would greet them with a smile and wish them a happy birthday. The twins also smiled back, as they had been looking forward to their seventeenth birthday for a long time.

Although Fred and George were a little naughty at times, it was really hard not to like them.

"Happy birthday, Fred and George!" Ida said. She walked over to the twins, and several students who were surrounding the twins left after greeting Ida, showing their good sense.

Ada suddenly showed a look of disgust on her face. She said, "You...what happened to your hair? Was it licked by the baby cow?"

Perhaps the twin brothers were too excited about turning seventeen, so they got up early and started messing with their hair.

The twins' hair was no longer combed like adults'. Only Merlin knew how much oil they had used on their hair. Their fiery red hair became smooth and shiny, as if it had been licked by several calves.

"Doesn't it look good?" George asked confidently, "Dad had this hairstyle when he was young."

Ada was incredulous. Did the bald Mr. Weasley also comb his hair back like Jin? Maybe she was so used to seeing Mr. Weasley with a bald head that Ada couldn't even imagine what Mr. Weasley would look like with hair on his head.

"Don't judge us by your fashion sense," Fred said unhappily. "You're just a little idiot who can only wear your hair in a long bun."

Ada was not happy about this. What do you mean by only knowing how to style shoulder-length hair and buns? She can also braid pigtails! Besides, shoulder-length hair has many different styles and needs to be taken care of!
Ada lifted her bangs and asked, "Didn't you notice any difference between me today and yesterday?"

"No!" the twins said firmly, "I can't see it at all. Or did you wash your hair today?"

Yesterday, Ada had the simplest hairstyle, just a simple comb of her fingers, without any fancy moves. Today, Ada had a "meticulous" hairstyle, not only applying hair oil to make her hair more airy, but also carefully braiding a small braid.

Pursing her lips, Ada opened her clenched fists. It was her own fault for discussing the change in her hairstyle with Fred and George.

The twins had no idea that they were almost beaten, and they both opened their palms to Ada at the same time.

Of course Ada knew what the two of them meant, but she pretended not to understand and slapped the two men's outstretched hands with her empty right hand.

The force is mutual. The thick-skinned twins didn't feel much pain, but Ada shook her hands.

"Don't be silly, it's a birthday present," the twins said. "Don't hide it, we all saw it."

Ada had no intention of hiding it, she was just shocked by the brothers' hairstyles. Ada placed the two boxes in their hands and said again, "Happy birthday."

The twins took the gift box, and their next move was very synchronized. They put the box to their ears and shook it, as if they could tell what was inside just by hearing.

"What's in this?" Fred asked, shaking the box. "Isn't it something weird?"

"Isn't that perfume?" asked George, who was also shaking the box and imitating the sound.

Ada sat down in an armchair nearby and said with a smile, "If it was perfume, it would have broken into pieces if you shook it like this. It's a dung egg, a mini dung egg."

The twins naturally didn't believe this, so they sat down and started to open the gifts. Practice makes perfect, and only by opening the gifts can you know what is inside.

I had to open it anyway, so why was I waving it next to my ear? It was a waste of time.

Soon, the twins opened the box. The two brothers looked at the gift lying quietly in the box and asked in confusion, "What does it mean?" "A razor!" Ada said, "Don't you know what a razor is used for?"

Of course I know. How can a man not know the role of a razor? It is a must-have item for men. Even if you want to grow a beard, you must take care of it regularly, otherwise it will make you look particularly sloppy.

It is difficult for a sloppy man to gain the favor of others, unless he has a special job.

Giving the twins razors represents Ada's wish that the two brothers can grow up to be mature and capable men, and men worthy of the trust of others.

Actually, Ada wanted to give them watches, but after thinking about it, she felt that it was inappropriate. Although she was a few months older than the twins, it would be better for the Weasleys to give them such gifts.

Because she was a few months older than the twins, Ada often used her older sister's influence in front of her brothers (although the effect was not very good), and Fred and George often complained about this.

The brothers complained that they were not born a few months earlier so that they would be older than Ada. Especially after Dumbledore said that only those who were seventeen years old could register for the three-school joint entrance examination, Fred and George's resentment was even deeper.

In response, Ada just wanted to say that the twins were thinking about Peach. If they were born a few months earlier, they would not even be considered premature babies, but miscarriages.

If it was earlier, then I simply didn’t get pregnant…

Unless... unless the two of them were willing to join Percy and go from being Weasley twins to being Weasley triplets.

After the twins put away the razor and sent it back to their dormitory, the three of them went to Hogsmeade together. They did not use the secret passage behind the one-eyed witch, but took the Twilight Cottage.

The Twilight Cottage, formerly the Shrieking Shack, was originally built in Hogsmeade Village. However, in order to prevent the secret of Lupin being a werewolf from being revealed and to prevent others from accidentally breaking in, its doors and windows were sealed.

After taking over the shed, Ada did not reopen the door to Hogsmeade. She just did some tricks to the windows so that the shed could be bathed in sunlight again.

The door to Hogsmeade was opened after Sirius had renovated the shed to allow for his own access.

But to the villagers outside, the Twilight Shack was still the Screaming Shack, nothing had changed.

Three people in civilian clothes suddenly appeared in the deserted courtyard of the Shrieking Shack. Fortunately, no one saw them, otherwise the news that the shack was haunted would have spread again.

Hogsmeade was always bustling on weekends, with the streets full of wizards visiting for fun, so no one found Ada and the twins strange and simply treated the three of them as young people who had just graduated.

Ada and the twins walked into the Three Broomsticks, chatting and laughing. This was their destination.

Fred and George strongly requested to come to the Three Broomsticks today, not for any other reason, they just wanted to enjoy the rights of adults.

Ada found an empty seat and sat down, propping her head with her right hand and looking at the twins. Fred and George walked towards the bar with big arms and big swords, shouting and yelling, as if they were afraid that others would not know that they were adults.

"Two glasses of hot Firewhiskey!" Fred shouted.

"No ice! Nothing!" George shouted back.

Holding two glasses of fire whiskey without anything in it, the two brothers walked over to Ada. They put the whiskey on the table, and their serious faces smiled at the same time.

"It's so cool!"

“It feels so good not to be rejected!”

Yes, today when the school was not allowed to go to Hogsmeade, the twins sneaked here just to order a glass of whiskey loudly, because they were already adults.

Looking at Fred and George's smiling faces, Ada couldn't help but think: They don't look like adults at all, they are still the same as always!

"As long as you two are happy," Ada said, "I just want to ask, are you only going to bring back two cups?"

(End of this chapter)