Chapter 113: Execution?
"After all, the legend of Harry is known by almost everyone in the wizarding world. Harry is also a savior in the eyes of many children."
Dylan smiled.
Harry scratched his head sheepishly.
The Weasley twins, however, looked at Dylan.
"You sound just like our dad when you talk."
"Exactly!"
Dylan glanced at the two jokers.
"Dylan, I feel like you've grown a lot taller in just a month!"
"Yeah, you're almost taller than us now! If someone said you were a third or fourth-year student, people would probably believe them!"
Speaking of this, Ron and Harry couldn't help but look over as well.
They hadn't really noticed it before, but now that they observed, it seemed to be true!
"It feels like you're almost a head taller than me now, Dylan!" Ron exclaimed, eyes wide. "Did you drink some kind of growth potion?"
Harry also blinked twice. Comparing Dylan to himself, he felt like a gnome.
"I wonder when I'll grow taller too."
Dylan smiled. "First of all, I eat a lot for every meal, three times a day. I get plenty of nutrition, so it's normal to grow taller."
"Besides, practicing spells often also promotes the circulation of magic, which also helps with growth."
"Finally..."
Dylan's gaze fell on Harry.
"If you don't want to go back to your aunt's house in the future, you can totally come to my place for the summer—anyway, my parents might not even be home."
Dylan pursed his lips, then said, "When the time comes, the food I prepare for you will definitely be as good as the school's! You'll eat and drink well every day, and you'll grow taller soon too."
Harry's eyes flickered slightly. "Okay!"
Ron shook his head vigorously beside Harry. "No, no! What's the point of you two being alone at home? It's better to come to our place! We can play together—"
Ron glanced at his mum and added, "And you're so good at schoolwork, you can even tutor me!"
Dylan didn't refuse. "I'll definitely come when I have time."
This topic ended, and Ron continued to munch on his bread, muttering softly, "It must be because I only eat these non-nutritious things every morning that I never grow taller!"
Mrs. Weasley, who had been about to go to the kitchen to continue making breakfast for the others, paused, her gaze suddenly sharp as a knife, flying over.
—In fact, the dining table was right next to the kitchen, and Mrs. Weasley only needed to take a few steps to reach the cooking area.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, but you all eat the same food at school. Everyone else has grown taller, why haven't you?"
She could hear that?
Ron quickly shut his mouth, not daring to answer, and instead turned to Harry. "Your aunt always feeds you leftovers, and sometimes she doesn't even let you eat. You probably haven't grown taller because you're malnourished!"
"If you ask me, you shouldn't go back there in the future. Whether you go to Dylan's house or come to ours, we'll all welcome you!"
The twins also nodded repeatedly. "Ron's right!"
Harry smiled shyly. "Thank you all."
"Hah—"
Ron yawned involuntarily after finishing his bread.
"Mum, I want to—"
"You want to go to the garden and help me deal with those noisy gnomes? Wonderful!"
Ron was stunned. "Wh-what?"
Mrs. Weasley's voice came, "Ron, I knew you were a thoughtful child. And Fred, George, you go and help Ron too."
"Those gnomes have made a mess of the garden again!"
The twins exchanged a look. "But Mum, we were up all night."
"Oh, poor dears, but—did I tell you not to go to sleep?"
The boisterous twin brothers, facing Mrs. Weasley, were as obedient as little quails.
"No."
"Perfect! So, now that you're back, hurry up and help me!"
"Yes!"
The twins answered decisively.
Harry looked at the dejected Weasley twins and Ron, who had dark circles under his eyes. He hesitated, then opened his mouth. "Mrs., I'll go too..."
Before Harry could finish speaking, Mrs. Weasley interjected.
"Oh, dear Harry, and Dylan, you rushed over here. I'm sure you must be a bit tired. Why don't you go to Ron's bed and rest for a little while?"
Ron's eyes widened. "Hey! Mum! That's not fair!"
Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh?"
"Then tell me, where is the unfairness? Are you going to make our guest work for you? I think you might be turning into a rude madman too?"
Ron's expression stiffened, and he slumped down again—looking exactly like the twins.
Dylan chuckled softly and spoke up for Ron.
"Mrs., I came over completely well-rested. I don't want to sleep anymore. And there aren't any gnomes at my place, so let me go and clear the gnomes with Ron and the others."
"Oh, dear, you're so sweet. Since you want to, of course! Then you go and play with Ron and the others. Remember to leave all the dirty and tiring work to them."
Ron: "(∧)!"
Harry followed closely behind Dylan and quickly said, "I'll go too!"
"Alright, but don't tire yourselves out too much," Mrs. Weasley's gentle voice came.
Dylan looked at Ron and the others, who were still quite excited but had hints of sleepiness in their eyes. If they relaxed even a little, they might be overwhelmed by fatigue. He couldn't help but stroke his chin.
"Mrs., do you mind if I use a spell on Ron and the others?"
"Of course not. If they bully you, you can totally use spells to teach them a lesson."
Ron's vision went black.
Mum!
Do you know what kind of spells he's learned?
You're asking him to teach your son a lesson, he's going to teach your son to death—do you know that, hey!
Dylan grinned. "Serenitas Lux (Serenity Light)!"
Dylan's wand turned slightly, and a burst of magic gently enveloped Harry and Ron and the twins.
The four youngsters, who had been up all night, immediately felt the lingering fatigue dissipate significantly under the influence of this magic.
"Hah—!"
The four of them yawned one after another, but it wasn't out of sleepiness, but more like after just waking up.
"Ya!"
The twins stretched lazily and shouted.
"Wow! This magic can actually make people energetic? Why haven't we learned this before?"
Ron had already witnessed the magic's wonder and, facing his two brothers' exclamations.
The corners of his mouth curled slightly, his eyes slightly disdainful as he glanced at the twins. "You uncultured swines! This is a spell Dylan specifically learned from the professors! Harry and I have already mastered it!"
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
Ron's smug expression almost froze. He quickly winked at Dylan and then said, "Harry has completely mastered it!"
The twins reacted and stared at Ron. "What about you?"
Ron coughed. "I've almost learned it!"
"Stop bragging, Ron!" The twins stuck their tongues out at Ron.
Dylan turned his wand again. "Scourgify (Clean-Up Charm)!"
Magic cleaned all the dishes on the table.
"Wingardium Leviosa (Levitation Charm)!"
The power of the Levitation Charm enveloped the dishes, causing them to stack up. Then, with a flick of Dylan's wand, they floated towards the kitchen.
Mrs. Weasley's praising voice rang out, "Quite excellent spell usage!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Mrs."
Dylan stood up from his seat, casually cleaned Harry's used teacup, and put it back in its place.
The group then rushed towards the garden.
The sunlight had by now broken through the clouds, like a thin veil, cascading down and illuminating the messy yet vibrant garden.
Dylan walked over and found that, apart from the vegetable patch, even the walking paths were overgrown with weeds.
In the flower beds, weeds tangled with marigolds, and rose vines climbed haphazardly over the surrounding bushes.
The Weasley twins plunged headfirst into the bushes.
In the blink of an eye, they pulled out two struggling gnomes.
"These are the guys who always come to mess up our garden!"
Dylan looked over, carefully examining the appearance of these gnomes.
These creatures looked only 10 to 12 inches tall, quite ugly, with wrinkled and bumpy skin—looking like shriveled little radishes.
They were short but had extremely large and round heads.
Their large, pointed ears, like two jagged pieces of wood ear fungus, stuck out unpleasantly on either side of their heads.
After being caught by the twins, their large orange-yellow eyes bulged out, looking like they could fall out at any moment.
"Oh, they're really ugly," Harry blinked.
Ron agreed, grimacing. "Uglier than Mandrake roots, right?"
Harry nodded. "A close call."
"Hahahaha!" The twins burst out laughing.
George and Fred grabbed the gnomes by their little legs.
They swung their arms in circles, like meteor hammers.
"Whoosh!"
They released their grip, flinging the two gnomes away, tossing them beyond the fence.
Dylan's head tilted slightly. "Just... like that?"
"Yep, just like that!" the twins nodded.
Dylan looked around and noticed a gnome in the muddy ground near his feet, peeking out of a hole and looking at him.
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Petrificus Totalus (Full Body-Bind)!"
"Pew~"
The magic light hit the gnome. Sensing danger, the gnome turned to burrow back into the earth, but its body suddenly stiffened, becoming completely immobile.
Dylan used the Levitation Charm to maneuver it in front of him.
—He didn't want to touch something so ugly.
—Cockroaches were better-looking than these things.
"If you just throw them outside the house like that, isn't it the same as not throwing them at all? They'll just dig their way back."
Ron was busily working near the flower bed.
—He was chasing an extremely agile gnome.
"You nasty thing, it's you again! Don't run away!"
He was about to chase it but tripped over a tool at his feet, almost falling flat on his face.
"Ugh! Blast it!"
Just then, Fred suddenly appeared in front of the gnome Ron was chasing and snatched it up as it jumped.
Hearing Dylan's words, George also caught a gnome and was about to look up and explain, but he heard Dylan continue—
"Why not just execute them with magic?"
The gnomes caught by George and Fred were kicking their short legs, trying to get these nasty humans to let go.
However, after hearing Dylan's voice, both gnomes shivered simultaneously. They even stopped clawing at the twins' hands and instead tightly hugged one of their fingers, afraid the twins would hand them over to this terrifying human.
Fred looked down at the cowering gnome in his hand, then at Dylan.
"Ex... execute?"
Fred chuckled awkwardly. "Where did you learn that word? I thought I heard some Death Eater talking."
He quickly shook his arm to make the gnome let go of him, then swung his arm wide and flung the gnome in his hand away.
George also flung the gnome in his hand away.
"These gnomes are annoying, but they don't really affect our vegetable growing. You know, we have magic."
"Yeah, and Dad says these gnomes stir up the soil every day, which actually helps the vegetables grow better."
"Dad also says these gnomes are actually quite interesting."
"Yeah, with them around, when we have nothing else to do, we can catch them and play."
Dylan nodded thoughtfully.
"Whoosh"
He suddenly flicked his wand gently.
The gnome he had been controlling with the Levitation Charm also flew over the fence.
Wizards having magic was a redundant statement, but also a fact.
Gnomes ate all sorts of things.
—In fact, if they were really hungry, they could even eat weeds.
They wouldn't necessarily eat the crops in the ground.
Even if they ate some, wizards wouldn't really care too much.
Because as long as they had the seeds, they could use the Engorgement Charm to make them mature quickly.
Only Muggles hated so-called pests with a passion.
However, when one had the ability to be completely immune to pest infestation, pests could indeed become "interesting."
Treating catching pests as a game was indeed quite in line with the Weasley family's philosophy.
The twins exchanged a look and were about to call Harry to catch gnomes together.
However, suddenly, the bushes and shrubs around them began to rustle.
The gnomes, which had been hiding very deep, now seemed to be under a Full Body-Bind, popping out one by one from the grass and even the soil.
As soon as these gnomes appeared, they frantically moved their short legs, running to the feet of the nearest person and obediently lining up.
Harry and the others were stunned.
Looking at the long line of gnomes forming at their feet, and then at Dylan's side, where not a single gnome dared to approach.
He opened his mouth. "This..."
The twins couldn't hold back their laughter and burst out, "Looks like Dylan's words scared them."
Ron was also dumbfounded. "But I threatened them before too, why weren't they afraid of me?"
"Maybe because you don't look scary at all?"
"And a bit comical."
The twins said.
Ron's face fell.
He snorted angrily, bent down, directly grabbed the ankle of the first gnome in line, raised his arm high, pulled back, and then flung it away with force.
With a "whoosh," the gnome closed its eyes, cut through the air, and disappeared into the garden.
"This is fine too, I'm a bit sleepy anyway. I don't want to play the gnome-catching game right now!" Ron grumbled.
Harry looked at the gnome at his feet, waiting for him to make a move. Seeing that he hadn't grabbed it for a long time, it became so anxious that it started hopping up and down.
Only then did he bend down, grab the raised foot, and then repeatedly swing his arm, imitating the twins' movements, throwing the gnome away.
Watching the gnome draw an arc in the air, he couldn't help but feel a bit excited.
"This is quite fun!"
Harry, Ron, and the two twins all started bending down, grabbing gnomes, and flinging them away.
Bending down, grabbing gnomes, flinging them away...
Only Dylan was left standing in place, with nothing to do.
"These gnomes are quite smart," Dylan narrowed his eyes.
He had indeed been a bit puzzled earlier as to why the Weasleys didn't just kill these gnomes directly.
After all, these gnomes reproduced extremely quickly. If they were just thrown out, they would not only return soon but also produce more offspring.
However, since the Weasleys didn't plan to really deal with them, he naturally didn't need to interfere.
Moreover, the number of gnomes that could survive in a certain area was always limited.
Exceeding this number, their population would naturally decrease without external interference.
So if these gnomes overpopulated, the excess gnomes would naturally go outside to find space to survive.
With the gnomes themselves appearing and lining up, waiting to be thrown out of the house.
The task Mrs. Weasley assigned them to clear the gnomes was simple and completed very quickly.
"Dylan, do you want to go to sleep?"
The twins walked over.
Fred said, "Go up to the third floor, turn left, and the largest room you see at a glance is ours. There are two beds there. If you and Harry are sleepy, you can go directly to our room to sleep."
"Aren't you going to rest?" Dylan raised an eyebrow.
"No, we want to ride Harry's broom!" the twins shook their heads firmly.
Hearing this, Dylan took his Nimbus 2000 out of his suitcase.
"I have another one here. If you want to play, you can each take one, but be careful—I mean your personal safety."
Seeing the broom Dylan took out, the twins' eyes lit up.
George quickly took it.
Fred even gave Dylan a bear hug. "Wow, that way we don't have to consider who goes first! We can even race!"
George hugged Dylan's Nimbus 2000, chuckling non-stop.
Suddenly, he remembered something and added to Dylan and Harry, "Oh, one more thing!"
"It's not that I don't want you to make noise in Fred's and my room, but the explosive materials Fred and I made are still there, so try not to move around too much."
Fred added, "Otherwise, it might cause an explosion."
"Huh?"
Dylan's mouth twitched.
It could explode?
Did they think they were Seamus?
Dylan clicked his tongue. "I suddenly don't feel like resting anymore. I wasn't sleepy in the first place."
(End of chapter)