HP: Hogwart's Journey

Robert smacked his lips. It seemed like they were getting carried away. Mr. Weasley's face was flushed red, and the veins on his neck seemed to bulge. "Oh, is that so? Is that so?" he said, his voice rising. "Do you think a poor father is something to be ashamed of?"

"That's not what we meant!" Fred snapped, his temper flaring as well. "We just want to make something of ourselves!"

But Mr. Weasley only grew angrier. "So you think your useless old man can't provide for his family anymore?"

The twins and Mr. Weasley were completely on different wavelengths, and their argument grew more heated by the minute. Mr. Weasley's face turned crimson, his expression fierce, and he looked like he was about to throw a punch at any moment. It was terrifying to watch.

Mrs. Weasley wiped her tears, seemingly sharing Mr. Weasley's thoughts. She believed her sons were ashamed of the Weasley family's poverty.

Charlie scratched his head in frustration, utterly confused about how things had escalated to this point.

Robert glanced at Percy. The third son, who was Mrs. Weasley's favorite, looked even paler than usual, fidgeting nervously, unsure of what to do.

"Percy," Robert said, patting his shoulder, which made Percy jump. "Listen to me. You need to step up and apologize to everyone."

"I-I-I…" Percy stammered, his mind clearly in chaos. His lips moved, but it took him a while to finally speak. "I didn't do anything wrong…"

"No, no, Percy. This isn't about whether you did something wrong or not," Robert said seriously. "Don't you want to be a prefect?"

"Y-yes…" Percy swallowed hard. "I can do it if I get good grades…"

"Percy, forget that book How to Become a Prefect. The author was lying! He never even became a prefect!" Robert said irritably. "If you follow his advice, you'll never make it!"

"L-lying?" Percy's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is that possible? It's a bestseller!"

"So-called bestsellers," Robert shrugged. "They're basically novels, written to grab attention."

Percy was stunned for a moment before finally finding his voice again. "Then… what should I do?"

"Do you know why Bill and Charlie became prefects?" Robert asked instead of answering.

At this question, Percy's nervousness faded, and he asked eagerly, "Why?"

"Because they don't back down when faced with challenges. They're responsible and willing to take on duties," Robert shrugged. "Which of those qualities do you think you have?"

Percy fell into deep thought. After a while, he exhaled, as if letting go of some inner struggle. "I understand…"

With that, he walked over to where Mr. Weasley and the twins were still arguing.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry, Mom. Because of my selfish thoughts, I've caused you so much worry today," Percy apologized to the Weasley parents first, which made Mrs. Weasley cry even harder.

Then, Percy looked at the twins with a complicated expression. "I'm sorry, Fred, George. I was just… jealous. I always thought I was talented in Potions, but you two created something I couldn't even recognize…"

The twins were caught off guard. "Hey, don't say that. You're making us feel awkward all of a sudden," Fred said.

Mr. Weasley patted Percy's shoulder, his expression softening. "I'm glad you realized your mistake, Percy. It's alright." Then he glared at the twins. "Shouldn't you two apologize to your mother and me? We raised you, and you're ashamed of us for being poor!"

Fred instinctively wanted to argue back, but Percy stopped him. Reluctantly, Fred lowered his head and muttered, "Sorry, Dad. Sorry, Mom."

Mr. Weasley hugged them, his voice low. "Alright, alright. I was wrong too. I didn't protect your candies, but I still think that's not important. Compared to Galleons, your mother and I care more about your safety."

In an instant, the Weasley family returned to their usual warm and loving atmosphere.

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Robert stepped forward to apologize to the Weasleys as well.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley. I'm partly responsible for this," Robert said apologetically.

Mrs. Weasley hugged him. "You're not at fault, Robert. If it weren't for you, our family would be even worse off."

"No, no, this really does have something to do with me. Can you hear me out before getting angry?" Robert shrugged. "Well, actually, Fred and George got the idea to sell candies because of me."

Mr. Weasley patted his shoulder. "We figured as much. After all, you're the only first-year I've ever seen who's so eager to make money," he joked. "Keep it up, lad. Maybe we'll get to know a future tycoon!"

Robert sighed in relief and continued, "Actually, Fred and George wanted to sell candies for a reason… They wanted to buy Ron a new robe and wand."

"And an owl would be even better!" Fred chimed in.

"Hey, hey!" Mr. Weasley half-jokingly scolded. "That's my job to worry about!"

"They wanted to earn the money themselves to buy Ron's school supplies!" Robert raised his voice. "They didn't want to add to your burden, Mr. Weasley!"

Mr. Weasley was stunned. "What? What?"

Fred said sheepishly, "When Mom went to Gringotts last time, we went with her to the vault."

"It was all Sickles and Knuts…" George added, not daring to look at Mr. Weasley. "There was only one Galleon…"

"Then we ran into Marcus…" Fred said, growing agitated. "He was so annoying, bragging about how his family's vault was gold instead of silver."

"Yeah, yeah," George nodded. "So we thought…"

"We thought we'd fill our family vault with Galleons!" Fred said angrily. "So when Mom goes to withdraw money, she can open the vault proudly for everyone to see…"

He couldn't finish because Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a tight hug, crying so hard that Fred was at a loss.

"Hey, Mom, don't cry. Fred and I will fill the vault with Galleons. You have to believe in us. We've always got ideas…" George waved his arms dramatically, trying to cheer her up.

But Mrs. Weasley ended up pulling him into a hug as well.

(End of Chapter)