"Luoluo, looks like you might know who's behind this?"

Tony noticed the expression on her face and spoke up.

In an instant, every eye in the room locked onto Yang Luoluo.

"I feel like I've heard of this somewhere before..." Yang Luoluo carefully thought back through every film and show she'd ever watched.

Black Widow... Hawkeye...

HISS,

A flash of inspiration struck. Her eyes snapped wide open.

"Did it come back to you?" Natasha asked, urgent, looking even more anxious than Clint, the one who'd actually been targeted.

Yang Luoluo pressed her lips together. She looked like she wasn't sure whether to speak. But under the weight of everyone's anxious stares, she raised a finger and opened her mouth.

"Let me be clear upfront: what I know is only what was originally going to happen. Whether it was actually her behind this particular incident, I can't say for certain. Take it as a reference."

Her arrival had already sent a lot of things veering away from the original storyline. Worried her words might send everyone down the wrong track, Yang Luoluo was quick to add the disclaimer. Only once everyone nodded did she continue.

"In the original storyline, the one who hired Black Widow to assassinate Clint was..." The name came out with some difficulty.

"Eleanor Bishop."

No further explanation was needed. The Bishop surname alone was enough. Everyone in the room knew exactly who that was, Kate's mother. Head of Bishop Enterprises.

"..."

Silence fell over the room.

Kate had lost her father in childhood. Eleanor had raised Kate alone, giving Kate unwavering love alongside a privileged life.

If Eleanor had suddenly discovered that Kate was making contact with the Avengers, and looked every bit likely to be pulled into their dangerous battles, a fiercely protective parent doing something like this wasn't impossible at all.

"Now that you mention it, Kate really didn't come to the Compound for training today..." Peter said, carefully.

"Ah, Kate messaged me this morning. Said the marks of injury on Kate had been noticed, and Kate was forced to stay home and rest, "

Clint's voice cut off abruptly.

"Then it's pretty much confirmed." Tony let out a sigh. "Good thing the person hired was Yelena Belova. Anyone else would've been a lot more trouble."

They were already getting closer and closer to finishing the time machine. If on top of that there was now an assassin lurking in the shadows, just waiting to strike at Clint at any moment...

Just the thought was a headache.

"...I'll go deal with this. You don't need to worry about it."

Clint was quiet for a moment. Then a sigh, and those words.

To be honest, Clint had never planned on bringing Kate into actual combat. The occasional missions the younger members at the Compound took on were always low-stakes assignments, the truly high-difficulty ones were handled by the veterans themselves.

Bringing Kate to the Compound to train was one thing. Teaching archery while quietly nurturing the idea of grooming Kate as the next Hawkeye was certainly in the back of Clint's mind. But all of that was still a long way off.

In other words, even if Kate was willing to become an Avenger right now, nobody would agree to it.

Wasn't Yang Luoluo still just a reserve member, even now?

"..." Natasha patted Clint on the shoulder. "Have a good talk with the mother."

Clint nodded, expression grave, and turned to leave.

......

"I never would've thought — Kate's mother, of all people."

Walking down the corridor, Peter muttered quietly.

Tony hadn't officially confirmed yet whether it was Eleanor who'd hired someone to go after Clint, but Peter's blind, unconditional trust in Yang Luoluo meant the whole thing was already a hundred percent fact in Peter's mind.

"I can actually understand why." Yang Luoluo sighed. "When Aunt May first found out you were Spider-Man, wasn't Aunt May trying to go after Tony every single day to settle the score?"

Aunt May's approach just hadn't been quite as drastic as Eleanor's.

Peter thought back to how, any time there'd been even the faintest trace of an injury on Peter, Aunt May would erupt and storm off to berate Tony for employing child labor. Peter nodded slowly, feeling that one deeply.

"Hey! Friends, can you give us a hand?"

They were rounding a corner when the Weasley twins, nowhere to be seen for quite a while now, suddenly leaped out from the other side and nearly gave both of them a heart attack.

"Oh god... almost threw a punch right there." Peter pressed a hand to his chest, then shoved it back into a pocket. "What kind of help? Please tell me it's not another prank. Because if it is, I'm out."

Peter, who had been on the receiving end of the twins' endless, ever-creative pranks, was not interested.

"Relax, I swear on Ron Weasley's final exam scores — absolutely not a prank!"

George winked at Peter. The brothers exchanged one quick glance and, without another word, grabbed Peter and Yang Luoluo in perfect sync and ran, swinging by Harry and the others' room along the way to haul out all four wizards as well.

The group:...

"What did you drag us out here for? My film was just getting to the best part, I was waiting to find out who the killer is!"

Ron had been perfectly content, curled up in the room watching a film, when the two of them barreled in like a pair of bandits. For a moment Ron had genuinely thought some exceptionally bold villain had dared to break into the Avengers Compound to take hostages.

Only when Ron recognized the faces of the two older brothers did the panic subside.

"Easy, easy." Fred waved the complaint off, and together with George pushed two tables side by side, getting everyone seated around them.

That done, the twins finally let a mysterious smile cross their faces and quietly slipped a hand into a pocket each.

Every single person seated around the table moved in perfect unison, pulling back, fully on guard.

"Ta-da! Our latest creation!" The twins grinned, all teeth, and laid a sheet of parchment at the center of the table.

"We made it based on your Muggle tablets!"

"We're thinking of calling it the Magic Parchment, or... the Magic Tablet? Does that sound good?"

"The features are similar to a tablet too. Want to test it out?"

"..."

The twins traded lines back and forth without pause, leaving absolutely no room for anyone else to get a word in.

Only once they'd talked themselves out, mouths finally closed, looking around at the group with wide, expectant eyes, did Yang Luoluo and the others shake the buzzing from their heads and look down at the parchment on the table.

The Magic Parchment looked almost identical to an ordinary sheet. Nothing written on it. Along one of the wider edges, a small piece of glass had been embedded, transparent, roughly diamond-shaped.

Noticing everyone's gaze gravitating toward the glass, George spoke up. "That's made following the principle of the Two-way mirror. Works just like your camera."

"There's another one on the back." The parchment was flipped over, and sure enough, an identical little "camera" on the reverse side.

They'd all been wondering how George and Fred could even tell which side was which.

Now they had their answer.

Right in the center of the back, two large, half-overlapping "W"s had been printed.

"A logo, you know how it is." Fred smiled.

Since it was a Weasley twins creation, naturally the logo had to reflect both their twin identity and make anyone who saw it immediately think: Weasley.

Two half-overlapping "W"s were the obvious choice.

Somewhere along the way, Ron had quietly forgotten all about the unfinished film. Ron flipped the parchment over in curious hands.

"Are there other features? I mean, since it's modeled on a tablet, things like contacting other people, or playing games, those should be in there, right?"

"Of course!" the twins answered in unison.

George flipped the parchment back to the front, drew out a wand, and pressed it to the surface.

Something remarkable happened.

The previously blank parchment began to develop a large black border, spreading outward like ink bleeding rapidly through paper. Time information appeared inside the border along the upper edge.

And at the same moment, a familiar building came into view.

"Is that... the Compound?" Hermione looked at the parchment, startled. The exterior of the Avengers Compound was displaying right there on it, like the wallpaper on a tablet.

"You can actually take photos with it — and set them as the wallpaper?!"

Yang Luoluo was completely stunned.

She knew the Weasley twins were clever. She knew they were always capable of conjuring up all manner of strange and remarkable things. But she had never, ever expected them to take a single sheet of parchment this far.

"Mm-hm." The twins watched the group's slack-jawed expressions and lifted their chins with satisfaction. "We did say it was modeled on a tablet. Whatever a tablet can do, we can do too!"

"After all..."

"We're Weasleys."

➤ Next: Magical Parchment (2)

Chapter 102 - Magical Parchment (2)

"Cool!"

Harry was always enthusiastic about George and Fred's inventions. Eyes shining, Harry offered eager praise, and Fred laughed and ruffled Harry's hair.

"There's more!"

George tapped the parchment a few times. An interface remarkably like a chat app popped up, it was even named "Wizard Circle."

At the same time, Fred produced an identical sheet of parchment from somewhere.

The two overlapped the sheets top to top. A small mark flickered at the upper edge of both pieces, and before everyone's unblinking eyes, a line of text appeared on the page,

"You have added [Fred Weasley] as your friend."

Draco Malfoy blinked and forced down the shock rising inside.

These Weasley twins... really were something else.

The twins were still at it, taking turns explaining to the group.

"See? Pretty convenient, right? Just tap them together and you've added a friend."

"Way faster than sending letters by owl. You can communicate anytime, anywhere."

"We have a few more finished sheets here. Want to try them out?"

They produced another stack of parchment and handed them around. When they reached the only two Muggles present, Yang Luoluo and Peter Parker waved their hands with a touch of regret.

"We're both Muggles — we can't use wizard things."

The others were already excitedly mimicking the twins, tapping their wands on the parchment to open the interface. The twins heard what the two said, looked at each other, and grinned. "We knew you'd say that!"

Yang Luoluo, Peter Parker:?

"Heh, we came prepared — specifically designed for Muggles!"

As they spoke, the twins pulled two bracelets from their pockets and slipped them onto Yang Luoluo's and Peter Parker's right hands without another word.

"To prevent theft and unauthorized use, every wizard needs to tap it with their wand before using it and infuse their own magic into it at the same time."

"Since everyone's magical signature is unique, that's basically the same as setting a password. After that, only the person who infused their magic can unlock the parchment. In anyone else's hands, it's just an ordinary sheet of parchment."

"Since Muggles don't have magic, there was no way for you to set a password or use it at all, so we made these bracelets. You just need magic infused into them beforehand, and then you can use the parchment through the bracelet."

"The catch is, we can't guarantee the same person will always be the one to infuse magic for you. So if you're using the bracelet, you won't be able to set a password. Just be careful not to let the parchment get stolen."

"Though you're both Avengers, so your stuff probably won't get stolen... right?"

George frowned, looking a little troubled. The two brothers had puzzled over this problem for a long time and still hadn't found a solution.

But it was already more than enough to leave everyone present absolutely speechless.

Yang Luoluo and Peter Parker exchanged a glance and saw the same disbelief mirrored back.

Since the twins had already infused magic into the bracelets before handing them over, the two pressed their hands onto the parchment, and sure enough, the exact same screen appeared as it had for Harry and the others.

"This is incredible!"

The two swiped across the interface like naturals, figured out how to create real-name accounts on their own, and added everyone else as friends, just like the twins had shown.

"Didn't Albus Dumbledore invite you to be a professor? When the time comes, you can use this to assign homework."

"If the bracelet runs out of magic, just ask Ron Weasley and the others to recharge it for you. I bet they'll be more than happy."

Fred flashed a wicked grin, tapped the parchment in front of Yang Luoluo a few times, and opened an app named "Hogwarts Study Tour", the icon was even a chibi version of Hogwarts Castle.

Seeing familiar tabs like "Classes" and "Courses," Yang Luoluo had an eerie flash of recognition. It reminded her of the study app that had ruled over her entire college life.

Hiss. These twins were ruthless.

Several ungraduated students happened to be right there in the room. Fred stole a glance at them, quietly created a course, and invited Harry and the others in without anyone noticing.

As the course owner, Yang Luoluo watched the whole thing unfold. Holding back her laughter, she opened the "Create New Assignment" page and casually typed in a few simple addition and subtraction problems.

Click Publish.

Harry and the others instantly received an assignment notification.

The wizards:...

In an instant, the Weasley twins were on the receiving end of several piercing, hostile stares, along with Yang Luoluo and Peter Parker's completely unrestrained gloating laughter.

"Good brothers, once Hogwarts starts the new term, I'll personally introduce the names of this great invention's creators to every single student!" Yang Luoluo patted the twins on the shoulders, unable to stop the corners of her mouth from creeping upward no matter how hard she tried.

She kept a completely straight face. "Your names deserve to be remembered by history."

The smiles on the twins' faces slowly died. "Th — that's really not necessary..."

Becoming public enemies of the entire wizarding world... was just too terrifying.

"Ha!" Ron Weasley let out a loud, shameless laugh and thumped a hand against Ron's own chest. "Don't worry, as your little brother, promoting your work is my sacred duty!"

George turned to look at Ron Weasley, a wicked smile tugging at George's lips. "You said it yourself: you're our brother. You really think you're getting away scot-free?"

"Ah, what a pity. We've both graduated, leaving little Ronnie all alone at school to face the music. Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Fred fanned the flames cheerfully from the side.

Just picture it: students ravaged by homework, unable to track down the culprits, but stumbling across the culprits' little brother instead...

Hee-hee. Bullying their younger brother really was the most fun.

Ron Weasley froze. The smile faded from Ron's face and migrated straight onto the twins'. Shuddering from head to toe, Ron groaned with a crestfallen expression. "I hate you both..."

While the brothers tore each other apart on one side, the rest of the group sat together in easy harmony on the other, playing games.

"Hmph. I'm first on the leaderboard now."

"Please, Draco Malfoy, you only started the game a little earlier than us. Just wait, I'll catch up in no time!"

"I'll be waiting for you to catch up, Scarhead!"

"You're both so childish..."

Yang Luoluo assumed they were playing something thrilling. She leaned over to look,

H-Happy Match?

Yang Luoluo stared. Looking closer, the gameplay was almost identical to a standard match-three game, except the in-game elements had been swapped out for magical ones: golden snitches, quills, broomsticks.

She genuinely felt for the wizards.

Poor wizards. Having this much fun over a simple match-three game made it abundantly clear that the Wizarding World was truly starved for entertainment.

The group holed up in the room all afternoon playing with the parchment. Before leaving, the Weasley twins generously gifted the parchment sheets to everyone and asked them to keep testing, passing any feedback or suggestions through the chat app.

As far as Harry and the others were concerned, though, the invention was already more than ready to be released to the entire Wizarding World.

"Really impressive. Mum and Dad have always thought George and Fred were fooling around, but their invention this time is genuinely amazing. I bet it'll sweep across the entire wizarding world."

Ron Weasley's steps had been dragging for reasons unspoken, growing slower and slower until Ron fell behind Harry and the others and ended up walking side by side with Yang Luoluo and Peter Parker.

"The two of them just don't like studying, that doesn't mean they aren't smart," Peter Parker said with genuine feeling.

The way they'd built Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes into a thriving business said it all. The twins had serious commercial instincts and a real knack for innovation.

Ron Weasley glanced up at Yang Luoluo and Peter Parker, pressed both lips together, and finally said what had been sitting at the bottom of Ron's chest for a long time.

"Harry is the famous Savior. Hermione Granger is the smartest person I've ever met. Malfoy is the heir to the Malfoy family. And now even George and Fred have found what they're meant to do..."

"What about me? What am I going to do after I graduate... I don't have anything that makes me stand out."

Some things were impossible to say to friends you'd known for years. Somehow, with friends you'd only known a few months, the words came out without any difficulty at all.

Ron Weasley was utterly dejected.

➤ Next: Won't You Give Me Some Compensation?