After lunch, it was Tver's turn to be detained. The Weasley twins, newly fired up with enthusiasm, refused to let him leave.
Since he had nothing urgent to attend to, he simply stayed and talked business with them all afternoon.
For the brothers, some of the professor's ideas sounded unusual, but this was the first time an adult wizard had not only refrained from dismissing their inventions, but had actively offered to provide materials and even a shop.
Of course, as the professor had made clear, generous terms did not mean charity. It was a business partnership.
"But what do you mean by making the products consumable, and as simple as possible?" George asked, puzzled.
"Consumable means like these biscuits. Once you eat one, it's gone. Not like the badges. As long as they aren't broken, they keep working."
Tver picked up another biscuit as a demonstration and swallowed it in one bite.
"That means…" George's face lit up with unmistakable entrepreneurial excitement.
"We can keep selling to the same customers over and over, as long as they still like the product!" Fred finished eagerly.
"Exactly. And keeping things simple doesn't mean restricting your creativity," Tver continued. "It means that when you design products, you should incorporate as many ordinary Muggle-manufactured materials as possible."
He gave them a meaningful look.
"Muggle goods are cheap. And they're getting cheaper. We can even use Muggle-made biscuits directly."
"The more units we sell, the more materials we use, and the lower the overall cost becomes. In total, the profit margins will exceed anything the wizarding world has ever imagined."
George immediately sank into a blissful daydream, clearly picturing a shop overflowing with customers.
Fred, however, still frowned.
"Professor," he said quietly, "can we really rely that heavily on Muggle goods?"
"Don't worry." Tver smiled gently, though in the fading light of dusk the expression carried a hint of something unreadable.
"All Muggle supplies are purchased through Gringotts. With that layer of intermediary, even the most meticulous Ministry official would see us as nothing more than law-abiding merchants."
In the Muggle world, beauty masks were already spreading. Distributors profited, customers benefited, and the entire chain was thriving.
The wizarding world, on the other hand, remained unchanged.
The Weasley twins' joke shop would be the bait Tver used to awaken wizarding greed.
Once the twins began earning substantial profits, shopkeepers in Diagon Alley, and eventually across the entire wizarding world, would start investigating the secret behind their success.
And at that point, a small "leak" would be enough.
They would realize that many goods in the wizarding world did not need to be painstakingly grown or crafted by wizards.
All they needed to do was exchange Galleons for Muggle currency and purchase materials that were cheaper and often of better quality than wizard-made products.
Take Madam Malkin, for example. In the past, she had to turn thread into fabric, then cut and stitch each robe herself.
Even with magic to assist her, it still consumed time and effort.
With the help of Muggle products, she could simply purchase ready-made Muggle robes and devote her time and energy to enhancing their magical properties.
That would not only increase profits, it would introduce something close to a technological revolution in production methods and product innovation within the wizarding world.
Of course, chaos and conflict would be inevitable. But Tver had been working hard to win Dumbledore over and to preserve Marvolio's soul precisely so they would hold absolute power, whether in the wizarding world or the Muggle one.
With that kind of strength, maintaining order would be effortless, so long as the majority of wizards did not rise up in fierce opposition.
Watching the Weasley twins sink into thought, Tver understood their hesitation.
Their father, Arthur Weasley, was the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Growing up around him, they knew very well how many restrictions the Ministry placed on Muggle items.
Yet Arthur himself had an almost childlike fondness for Muggle objects, which meant the twins had never developed an especially cautious attitude toward using them.
"Alright, there's plenty of time to think about this later," Tver said, patting them on the shoulders. "The ball's about to start. Go change into your dress robes."
Only then did they notice that as dinner ended, the Great Hall had nearly emptied.
Less than an hour remained before the ball began.
They hurriedly said goodbye to the professor and reached for the remaining biscuits—
The remaining biscuits?!
The two stared in horror at the empty plate. It had been piled high that morning when they brought it over for students to sample. Yet after an entire afternoon of discussion, not even a crumb remained.
Tver tilted his head away, whistling innocently as he made a swift exit from the Great Hall.
Whatever else could be said, the biscuits truly were delicious. The added potion gave them a distinctive flavor.
It seemed the box the Weasley twins had given him was actually quite valuable.
...
Close to eight o'clock, Tver changed into the formal robes he had prepared in advance and headed back toward the Great Hall.
He had specially visited Madam Malkin on the first day of the Christmas holiday to have them tailored.
Black remained the dominant color, with its usual subtle undertone of red. This time, however, Madam Malkin had cleverly woven in fine golden threads.
They were faint, almost imperceptible, yet under the firelight of the evening they caught the glow and shimmered softly.
The black fabric and the gold threads that seemed to gleam in the dark combined to create a fitted robe that made Tver look both mysterious and undeniably noble.
The students he passed along the way were in a rush. They offered hurried greetings before dashing past him, as though they were already late.
When he reached the entrance to the Great Hall, the doors were tightly shut, and a crowd of excited students had gathered outside.
There was no trace of winter's chill on their faces. Their anticipation for the ball had completely driven it away.