Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

This… what is this supposed to be? A flash of light, a brief illumination, a flip, and a quarter of my magic is just… gone!?

Charlie's expression turned strange. He picked up the gold coin, a feeling of absurdity welling up in his heart.

With a hint of lingering reluctance, he flipped it over and over, examining it from every angle, trying to figure out what exactly had happened.

But the reality was cruel. The magic was gone, the gold coin had returned to its original state, and everything was as if nothing had occurred.

“Goo-goo ji goo-goo…”

Fawkes half-closed her eyes, stood on the desk, leisurely ruffled her feathers, and then emitted two short, mocking chirps at Charlie. Immediately afterwards, she ignored him and lowered her head again, continuing to deal with the delicious food she hadn't finished.

“……” Charlie pursed his lips, his expression shifting through a complex range of emotions before finally settling on resignation.

He hadn't expected that the tables would turn. He never thought he would be mocked by Fawkes one day.

Lamenting the decline of morals, Charlie shook his head and pulled a lemon sherbet from his coat pocket, popping it into his mouth.

He had grabbed it when he got up to deal with Umbridge at the door. Now it was perfect for helping to alleviate some of the frustration in his heart.

Feeling the sweet and sour, thick filling instantly spread across every taste bud on his tongue, Charlie's spirits lifted considerably.

He just didn't know if it was the focus-enhancing buff provided by the lemon sherbet, or just his imagination.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

The gold coin continued to spin between his fingers. Compared to his initial clumsiness, he had become increasingly skilled in the short span of ten minutes.

While savoring the candy in his mouth, Charlie chose to reinvigorate his spirit and began to think again.

Charlie didn't believe that the system would just throw him something that was purely decorative, completely useless, and consumed magic like crazy just to make him happy.

After all, with decades of good cooperation in the past, he was still very confident in this regard.

So, if that were the case… excluding that possibility.

What remained was either that he was using it incorrectly, or that the magical item had some kind of special prerequisite.

Thinking carefully about the entire process of the gold coin being triggered.

After flying out of his hand, it landed on the table, revealing the angry face of the old man. Finally, the face on the gold coin was activated, but nothing happened.

If that was the case… then what about the other side? Perhaps the use of this gold coin lies in a simple "coin toss" ritual.

If this ritual consumed so much magic in just one instance, then according to the principle of conservation, its effect should also be equal to it in some sense.

So, what are the prerequisites? Was he missing some kind of prerequisite to impose a condition on the activation of this gold coin…

Just as he felt his thoughts gradually becoming clearer in his mind, and he was unconsciously becoming more and more absorbed in peeling away the layers of the problem.

Just as he was about to figure out the real purpose of this gold coin, a sudden knock on the door interrupted his train of thought.

“Come in…”

Charlie knew who it was, so he didn't pay much attention and didn't care. He just glanced at the door and continued his analysis.

The office door opened, and Russell walked in, holding a neatly folded, exquisite dress in his hands.

It seemed that in just half a day, he had really prepared the clothes for Charlie to wear the day after tomorrow.

“Master!”

Russell seemed very happy, walking inside with his chest puffed out, as if he had done something amazing.

“Look! How is this dress?”

He stopped in front of the desk, spread out his hands, and unfolded the folded dress, while raising his arms high and pointing his toes, laboriously presenting its full appearance to Charlie.

“This dress is the one you specially ordered a few months ago when you were invited to the Abbott family gathering… Although it’s not the latest style, whether it’s the design, the style, or anything else, in my opinion, it’s very suitable for the scene of the investiture ceremony! It can definitely highlight your noble and elegant temperament and make you the focus of the audience!”

Russell's words were confident, but Charlie's eyelids couldn't help but twitch. His original thoughts were completely unable to continue, and the coin constantly flipping between his fingers suddenly stopped.

Become the focus… He would probably become the focus, but he did not agree that it was very suitable for the scene of the investiture ceremony and would highlight his temperament.

How should he put it? In Charlie's eyes, this dress was too… "glamorous."

The accessories on the dress were extremely complicated, each one glittering and dazzling. If he could barely accept the clothes Russell had prepared for him when he went to the Hogwarts opening ceremony before, then this time, he truly resisted.

The feeling it gave Charlie was like the beautiful tail feathers of a male peacock. Apart from being extremely luxurious and used to attract the attention of the opposite sex, it had no other use.

Imagine… in front of so many highly respected old wizards in the entire British magical world, including Headmaster Dumbledore, and several well-known media outlets, he was wearing such a sparkling, luxurious dress, strutting forward, and accepting the investiture ceremony with a smiling face, pinning the Order of Merlin, Third Class on his chest.

Charlie could be sure that this would definitely be an unprecedented disaster… The next day, the headlines of various newspapers would tacitly write, “Charlie Black Wears a Luxurious Dress at the Investiture Ceremony, Ostentatiously and Openly Provoking the Wizengamot and the Ministry of Magic.”

Don't doubt whether this is too exaggerated. He dared to guarantee that those reporters who were happy to see the excitement would be eager to write the headline even more explosively, and add more fuel to the fire in the content!

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

He refocused his attention from the scene he had imagined in his mind to the present.

“How is it! Master! Don’t you also think this is a very suitable dress!?”

Looking at Russell's face, which was faintly filled with expectation, his brow furrowed slightly, and he hesitated for a moment with a hint of embarrassment.

He gently reminded, “Russell, don’t you think this is a little too… eye-catching?”

Russell was slightly stunned, turned his head to look at the dress in his hand, and shook his head as a matter of course.

“Eye-catching? I think it’s okay! After all, aren’t you the only protagonist of this investiture ceremony? Isn’t it right to dress differently from others…”

Listening to the other party's remarks, Charlie couldn't help but feel a headache. Just as he was about to patiently explain to Russell the difference between an investiture ceremony and a ball, his mouth, which he had just opened, suddenly stopped.

For a moment, he seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes couldn't help but look at the gold coin in his hand again.

“Perhaps… this is also a kind of prerequisite?”

Charlie's eyes lit up, and he heard a “ding” sound.

The gold coin, originally sandwiched between his two fingers, was bounced into the air, constantly spinning. And then it gradually began to sparkle with light.

At the same time, unlike his previous behavior of actively sending magic to it, the moment the gold coin was bounced up, Charlie immediately felt that his body had become an opened valve, and the magic stored within it was still being extracted wantonly, transforming into its source of energy.

After about a quarter of it disappeared again, the spinning gold coin finally landed in Charlie's palm.

The upward side of the gold coin was the kind and amiable face of the old man.

The old man's expression became more and more full, his eyes radiating a soft light, and even the subtle movements of the eyebrows could be felt by Charlie.

“Buzz!!!!”

The gold coin vibrated in his palm. Then, in the next second, it released the magic that had just been stored in it in an instant, presenting it as a ring that swept across the surroundings.

Russell, who had also turned his gaze to the gold coin as it was tossed up, suddenly paused, but soon, he returned to normal, just like a common moment of distraction.

However, when he came back to his senses, the expression on his face that had been taken for granted showed a bit of hesitation, and when he turned his head to look at the clothes in his hand, he was not as satisfied as he had been at the beginning.

“It seems… it is indeed a bit too luxurious.”

Russell pursed his lips, seemingly understanding Charlie's meaning, looked up and down at the clothes, and then dejectedly folded them again.

“In that case, I’ll go and choose a suitable one again! Master, I’ll be right back!”

After saying that, without waiting for Charlie to react, he hugged the dress, rekindled his enthusiasm, and rushed out of the office in a hurry.