Heir to ancient magic, the Chosen One favored by a phoenix, a walking fourth-wall-breaking calamity. In front of him, Voldemort wouldn't even qualify to carry his shoes.
"Avada… Lightning Chain? Is that the Killing Curse?" Harry asked, eyes wide.
"Back then nobody cared," Fred said with a shrug. "The Ministry was too busy kissing his feet and thanking him. But after that legendary senior left England to travel the world, the Ministry slammed the ban hammer down and gave the Killing Curse its lovely little side effect."
"Use it once and you get a one-way ticket to Azkaban," George picked up. "Honestly though, that rule only stops the kind of wizards who were never gonna use it anyway. It sure doesn't stop Dark wizards. Even Aurors get special permission to use it on missions. Can't exactly expect them to fight sneaky, murderous nutcases with just Expelliarmus and Stupefy, right, Harry?"
"…Yeah, that makes sense," Harry nodded. "Cops need guns to catch bad guys, after all."
"So is that senior still alive?" Lynn asked, finally swallowing his shock.
"Pretty sure, yeah," Fred answered. "We haven't heard from him in ages, but he's only a few years older than Dumbledore. Our headmaster's still kicking and doing the Lindy Hop at the Yule Ball, so no way our legendary alumnus kicked the bucket early."
"By the way, Lynn," Fred said, smoothly changing gears with a huge grin, "you interested in messing around with some fun projects with us?"
"Charlie split a bit of his Triwizard winnings with us as startup capital. We're planning to invent prank products that'll blow Zonko's out of the water. We really need a partner who's a genius at Transfiguration. We were gonna ask Ced, but he's not into it. You, though? You might end up even better than Cedric. Wanna come play?"
"That's the shop that sells the Exploding Snap and stuff, right?" Harry suddenly remembered their Diagon Alley trip. "They've got tons of cool things!"
"Yep. But our goal is to leave them in the dust."
"Bigger, stronger, world domination!" the twins declared in perfect sync, eyes blazing with ambition.
"It sounds like a blast, Lynn!" Harry tugged his sleeve, practically sparkling.
"I'm planning to study wandcraft later," Lynn said after a short pause, then nodded. "But who knows, maybe I'll get some inspiration from you guys?"
"YES!" The twins high-fived. "Best news we've heard all day! No rush though; we've still got a ton to learn ourselves. Right now it's basically just a two-man clown show, but we're absolutely making this happen. Welcome aboard, partner. You won't regret it!"
"What about me? What can I do?" Harry asked excitedly, then deflated a little. "I'm not as smart as Lynn…"
She brightened again. "How about I invest some Galleons? Like Charlie did!"
The twins' faces lit up like Christmas had come early.
"To have the approval of such a cute, beautiful, and brilliant young lady is an honor beyond words!" they chorused dramatically.
Harry stuck out her tongue, a little embarrassed. "It's really because of Lynn. I trust him completely… So, how much should I put in? One thousand… two thousand Galleons enough?"
The twins froze, jaws on the floor. They'd been expecting maybe fifty or a hundred Galleons tops. She'd just added an extra zero.
"Uh… Charlie only gave us two hundred to start…" they mumbled, suddenly sheepish.
"Two thousand it is, then!" Harry said cheerfully, completely oblivious to money's value. "Withdrawing it'll have to wait till the holidays when I can go to Gringotts. I've only got a few hundred on me right now. Want five hundred upfront if you guys need cash?"
"No, no, no, we're good!" The twins waved their hands frantically. They might be pranksters, but they were still decent human beings. "And seriously, never tell anyone you're carrying that kind of money around school. That's a fortune, Harry!"
"Is it really that much?" Harry glanced at Lynn, confused. She'd spent more than that in a single afternoon in Diagon Alley. Her parents had left her millions. Literal mountains of gold tall enough to bury two or three Hagrids.
"I've got twenty-six Galleons and five Sickles in my pocket right now and I'm still richer than most kids here. What do you think, Harry?" Lynn said, lightly knocking on her forehead. "Put that purse away before you lose it."
"Here, you hold it then. I'll just ask you when I need something." Harry happily shoved the little money bag into his hand and patted her chest in relief. "I feel safer with you keeping it. Oh, and if you need to buy anything, just use mine. No need to ask."
"So am I officially your sugar-baby now?" Lynn asked with a weird look.
"Keep dreaming. But yeah, spend whatever. I don't care."
In Harry's mind, she kind of owed Lynn big time. At first it felt strange, but the longer she lived this new life (and the better it got), the more she settled into her new self. When it came to repaying him, though… besides her absurd pile of gold, she didn't really have anything else to offer.
"Anyway, you guys keep eating. I'm gonna go find Hermione and Lavender. Bye~" Harry wiped her mouth, hopped up, and bounced away.
Once she was gone, the twins turned to Lynn with the smuggest grins imaginable.
"Harry really seems to li—"
"It's trust," Lynn cut them off instantly. "We're just good friends. That's it."
"Such a heartwarming friendship."
"To friendship!" They raised their pumpkin juice goblets and clinked them against Lynn's.
"Speaking of which," Lynn said, patting his very flat wallet, "got any good money-making schemes right now? I'm kinda broke."
The twins exchanged a sneaky look and grinned.
"Of course we do~"
"But this isn't the place to talk. Come on, let's move somewhere else."