Unfortunately, deceit doesn't last long in front of the Weasley twins, which ant Allen's newfound amusent was quickly cut short. Honestly though, being able to fool these two, famously the most mischievous pair in the wizarding world, for even this long was already a miracle. Chalk it up to how well this "fooling the first years" tradition had been passed down.
While Percy was still racking his brain to co up with more outrageous stories to scare his prank-loving younger brothers, Allen noticed the twins exchanging a aningful glance. That was it, he decided not to continue supporting Percy's tall tales. Clearly, Percy had gone too far and the twins had started picking up on the inconsistencies.
It wasn't really Percy's fault. For soone usually so straight-laced, the fact that he even managed to play along with this prank tradition at all was impressive. But he was up against a duo who, in just a single year, would etch their nas into Hogwarts history with their unmatched pranking prowess.
If mischief had a unit of asure, Hogwarts would be one stone's worth. One portion belongs to the pranksters of the past, one to those of the future, but Fred and George alone would take eight portions!
And so, just as Percy was trying to concoct his next horror story, the twins made their move.
"Oh wow, Percy, you're really that amazing?" one of the twins said in an exaggeratedly surprised tone. (Allen still couldn't tell which one it was.)
"You should've told us sooner! I had no idea," chid in the other.
"Wait, no, I think I do rember sothing," the first twin continued, feigning a thoughtful look. "Didn't Percy once complain that Charlie's old wand couldn't cast even a single spell?"
"Yeah! And he said the only reason his Transfiguration spell went wrong and turned into a needle with an eye too small was because of that wand!"
"So how did soone who couldn't even conjure a decent needle survive five werewolf chases during the Sorting?"
"Amazing! Maybe the werewolves all died of sha after trying to squeeze through that needle eye?"
"Shut it, you two!" Percy snapped, clearly flustered. Grabbing the chance to escape, he mumbled sothing about looking for friends and fled the compartnt.
The mont he was gone, the twins turned their firepower on Allen.
"Allen! That was just an, you knew Percy was lying from the start!"
Of course, the ever-sharp twins had instantly figured out that Allen had been pretending to be scared just to help Percy fool them.
But Allen wasn't about to take the fall for this.
"If I hadn't played along, wouldn't you two have fallen for it completely?" Allen shrugged casually as he tossed the bla, directly at Percy.
[Ding~ skill: Scapegoat, successful!]
The twins paused, visibly stunned. Co to think of it, without Allen's exaggerated reactions, Percy wouldn't have gotten so carried away, nor would his story have fallen apart so quickly. Plus, Allen had only just t them, it made sense he wouldn't want to expose Percy right away.
It all added up. The two hadn't even begun their Hogwarts prank career yet, and already they were convinced Allen was on their side. Just like that, they started chatting with him as if they were old friends.
As for Percy… well, good luck. May the full force of familial "love" be with you!
"Oh, by the way, Allen," George suddenly asked, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. "You didn't seem scared at all by Percy's stories. Do you already know sothing about the Sorting?"
That question caught Allen off guard. He didn't just know about the Sorting, he even knew that a strong enough personal request could influence where the Sorting Hat placed you. But he couldn't possibly say that out loud!
Are you kidding? If he started spouting secrets only the Headmaster or maybe Voldemort would know, Dumbledore would have him dissected within the week. A Muggle-born kid with no records who knows Hogwarts secrets? He'd be treated like a Horcrux in disguise!
Still, he couldn't dodge the question entirely. Ti to put his orphanage-honed storytelling skills to use.
"I've read a lot of books about Hogwarts," he said smoothly. "They all describe school life in various ways. From what I've seen, a lot of students ss up spells and fail at magic, but barely anyone ever gets expelled, unless they cheat."
"So I figured the Sorting probably isn't that complicated. Otherwise, the school wouldn't have so many weak students. And since they don't get kicked out, the school must be pretty chill. In conclusion, those horror stories about the Sorting are probably just a scare tactic. Like orientation pranks in Muggle schools."
"Huh... that makes a lot of sense," Fred muttered, visibly relieved. "When you put it that way, I feel way better."
"Oh right, Allen, you ntioned Muggle school orientation pranks, what's that about?" George asked, twirling his wand with interest.
That question didn't raise any alarms. After all, even Hogwarts had its share of schoolyard bullying. Why do you think Snape hated Harry's dad so much? The poor guy was bullied, got his crush stolen, and ended up taking a killing curse for his bully's son. If that's not suffering, what is?
But… why did George and Fred's eyes suddenly light up when Allen ntioned bullying?
Wait a second, that's illegal, you know?! Don't tell they're getting ideas. This is exactly why people like the twins should never be told about real-world bullying, rember how bad things got in Germany in the '40s?
Allen was imnsely grateful he'd only ntioned school hazing. The twins were too kindhearted to go that route. But if he'd told them about detective fiction?
Just imagine if he'd introduced them to Detective Conan...
"Don't ss with us. We're the Weasley twins. We've watched over 700 episodes of Detective Conan. We know 600 ways to prank people, mastered over 200 locked-room tricks, and own a warehouse full of joke shop gadgets. We specialize in alibis, smoke bombs, trick wands, exploding dung pellets, and vomiting candies. ss with us, and you won't even know you've had."
Would that be enough to trigger the evolution of an Ultimate Pranking Twin Duo?
Dear rlin, just picture it. Poor old Filch, already the twins' sworn nesis, would be absolutely destroyed. He's barely hanging on as it is. If their prank skills leveled up, the results would be... poetic.
Well, Allen hadn't heard of the twins pranking their friends before, so he made a decision, soday, he'd tell them the story of that "portable Grim Reaper"...
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