Once everyone returned to Hogwarts, Fred and George gleefully rushed over, asking in an exaggerated tone, "So, how is it, future Minister of Magic? Are you satisfied with the office Fudge arranged for you?"

"Did he give up his own office for you?"

"If you keep this up, you might become Minister before you graduate..."

The two chuckled as they spoke.

"You’ll be famous by then..."

"No more classes..."

"You could even issue yourself N.E.W.T. certificates!"

"Just don’t let Percy see you," Fred blurted out, "otherwise he’ll camp at your doorstep..."

Before finishing his sentence, the chuckling Fred suddenly shut his mouth, casually saying, "Sorry, I forgot he doesn’t live at home anymore."

"Which is great, isn’t it," George added, "at least we don’t have to see him anymore or have someone poking their head out on the stairs telling us to keep it down."

"Actually," Kael glanced at both of them, saying coolly, "we saw him on the way back in the same elevator."

"Oh. Great," Fred replied, "did you punch him for us?"

"Or turn him into a Flobberworm."

"We’ve always wanted to do that."

"That’s impossible... It’s the Ministry of Magic after all," Kael said, "If I did that, the Aurors wouldn’t need to step outside to take me away."

"Then wait until he’s not at the Ministry of Magic before doing it," George said through gritted teeth.

"I think he’s regretting, and wants me to apologize to Mrs. Weasley for him."

"Ha!" Fred scoffed, "If he really wants to apologize, he should go himself, not have someone else do it."

"He surely hasn’t forgotten where Dad’s office is."

"Kael, you didn’t agree to help him, did you?"

"Of course not," Kael said, "actually, my answer was the same as what you just said."

"That’s good."

Fred and George seemed uninterested in discussing Percy further; upon seeing Cedric behind them, they quickly changed the subject.

"You owe us an explanation, Cedric."

They moved forward menacingly, surrounding Cedric from the front and back.

George clenched his fist and said, "We agreed to run a joke shop together, why did you go off to work at the Ministry of Magic?"

"If your explanation doesn’t satisfy us..." Fred gave him a once-over with a nasty look and said, "you’re in big trouble."

"It’s a complicated story," Cedric said, instinctively glancing at Kael.

"Anyway, once we graduate, we can definitely work together!"

Fred and George were momentarily stunned; they had considered many possibilities, but never thought Cedric would say that.

From the sound of it, after graduating, would Cedric not work at the Ministry of Magic?

But if that’s the case, why go to the trouble of working there now? It couldn’t be just for the seven Galleons monthly salary, could it?

It doesn’t make sense...

"You’re not lying to us?" Fred stepped forward, asking.

"Of course not, I swear."

Despite saying so, Cedric’s remaining conscience compelled him to look away from Fred’s gaze.

Fortunately, just then, Professor McGonagall entered the castle, so Fred and George didn’t press further.

During dinner, those who went to the Ministry of Magic unavoidably became the hot topic at school,

Previously, it was rare for students who hadn’t graduated to work at the Ministry of Magic; suddenly there were five, naturally stirring curiosity.

"It’s no big deal," at the Slytherin table, Malfoy loudly declared, "They only hire people with O.W.L. results. After this year, I’m sure I can get into the Ministry of Magic; you know, my father has a great relationship with Minister Fudge."

Meanwhile, Gryffindor was also having the same discussion.

"Don’t worry, Hermione," Harry said, trying to comfort the silent Hermione, "We don’t have O.W.L. results in fifth grade, so there’s no choice; you’ll definitely get in next year."

"I know," Hermione replied, "and I’m not angry because of that."

"Then what’s bothering you?" Ron asked, stuffing a piece of sausage in his mouth, speaking with his mouth full.

"Haven’t you guys noticed?" Hermione put down her utensils, sounding a bit irritated, "The Ministry of Magic recruited five people in total, every other house had someone selected, except for us Gryffindor, not a single one."

"What does it matter," Ron said indifferently, "It just means none of us wanted to go to the Ministry of Magic."

"Only you would think that," Hermione retorted, "It’s not just me who applied to Professor McGonagall, but none of us got picked. I bet Professor McGonagall was really disappointed."

"Maybe it doesn’t matter, don’t forget about Umbridge," Harry said, "Everybody knows, she never liked Gryffindor because we don’t follow her rules."

"It’s likely she rejected Gryffindor’s applications; as the Deputy Minister of Magic, she should have the authority to do that."

"But she’s also a professor..." Hermione frowned, "She shouldn’t do something like that, right." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"You can never be sure; Umbridge doesn’t care about that."