Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

In the library, Draco sat upright and dignified at his seat.

He solemnly held the letter sealed with the Black family crest in his hand.

"I'm going to open it."

He glanced at Harry and Ron on either side of him, nodded in acknowledgment, his tone filled with unprecedented solemnity and seriousness.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!!"

Ron was beside himself with excitement, his hands clenched into fists, urging him on, his legs frantically tapping the ground under the table.

Harry, on the other hand, though still not fully understanding what was going on, was infected by Ron and Draco's excitement as he looked at the letter from Mr. Black, and he felt a vague sense of excitement and anticipation.

"Okay!"

He nodded heavily, pushed his glasses up his nose, and widened his eyes carefully.

Hermione, however, still didn't understand their silly thoughts and ideas.

She went to the side on her own and began to preview the content Professor McGonagall would teach in the next Transfiguration class.

With a "ripping" sound, as Draco opened the envelope, the folded letter inside floated out on its own, slowly unfolding in the air, and then quietly landed on the table.

Hermione couldn't help but raise her head and glance a few times in the direction of the three of them, then quickly retracted and buried her head back into her Transfiguration textbook, deliberately ignoring them.

On the letter paper, beautiful handwriting was written with a quill dipped in blue ink.

For Draco, who was already familiar with his uncle Charlie's notes, he could naturally recognize at a glance that this was Charlie Black's handwriting.

"To my dear nephew Draco,"

Looking up, the first line was the most basic greeting, followed by Charlie continuing to write.

"I am very happy to see you achieve such excellent results in school.

Whether it's Transfiguration, Potions, or History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, etc... I believe you must have reached the top level in the entire grade.

Even I, back then, probably couldn't have reached your level."

Receiving Charlie's personal acknowledgment, Draco's heart beat even faster, he unconsciously clenched the letter in his hand, crumpling it...

"Oh my gosh..."

Harry leaned his head over, his eyes full of envy, but within that envy, a trace of loneliness flowed from the depths of his eyes.

As a staunch fan of Mr. Charlie Black since the beginning of the school year, Harry naturally longed for the day when he could receive Charlie's recognition like Draco.

But alas... what could he possibly do to make Mr. Charlie look at him differently?

Harry tried hard to think in his heart.

In terms of relationship, he and Mr. Charlie Black could only be considered to have met once, and he had helped him a lot.

He not only solved his aunt and uncle's harshness and abuse towards him but also helped him punish Dudley and vent his anger.

He even specially called Dobby to deliver the birthday gift to his hand... Looking back at himself, he had never done anything to repay Mr. Black.

In terms of academic performance, he was only considered good at Flying or Defense Against the Dark Arts, and as for other subjects, he could only barely maintain an average level.

Not to mention comparing himself with Hermione and Draco, who had always been at the top of the class.

Compared with those outstanding partners around him, he was just an ordinary teenager, just like the other young wizards who studied with him, without any outstanding qualities... The only thing extra was the title of "Savior."

But so what?

Perhaps ordinary people would think this was a remarkable achievement or reputation and worship him for it.

But in Mr. Black's eyes, what could this be considered?

After coming to Hogwarts, Harry had more or less learned about Mr. Black's past stories through various channels...

He knew of his extraordinary talent, knew of his perfection, knew of his high-profile appearance on the battlefield, knew of his desperate fight with the demon whose name no one dared to mention... Would such a great Mr. Black look at him differently because of the identity of a "Savior"?

No, perhaps in his eyes, this was just a childish joke...

Thinking of this, the disappointment in Harry's heart grew even stronger.

Although there was still a smile on his face, the trace of loneliness in his eyes had deepened a lot.

Suddenly, Harry seemed to remember something again.

"Perhaps my parents knew Mr. Black when they were in school?

After all, Mr. Black once mentioned my parents... Maybe they were good friends when they were in school?

If I wrote a letter to Mr. Black for this reason, I wonder if he would send me a letter with the Black family crest like he did for Draco..."

The trace of loneliness in his eyes was transformed into hope again, Harry cheered up and clenched his fists, silently cheering himself up in his heart.

However, Draco and Ron, who were concentrating on reading the letter, naturally had no way of knowing about Harry's mental changes in such a short period of time.

"Did you mention me in the letter you wrote to Mr. Black?"

Ron shook Draco's shoulder vigorously with his hand, looking at the other party eagerly, his eyes full of desire.

"No!"

Draco glared at him unhappily, poked his elbow, broke free from Ron's clutches, and continued to read on.

He saw that in the position below, Charlie continued to write.

"I believe that not only I, but Narcissa and Lucius, will also be happy for the efforts you have made and be proud of you."

"Therefore, as your uncle, I think I should also reward you... I thought for a moment, wondering what I should send you."

"Reward!?"

Ron's voice suddenly couldn't help but rise a few degrees.

Although he didn't shout it out directly, it was particularly obvious in the Hogwarts library.

For a time, everyone subconsciously cast dissatisfied glances in the direction of the sound.

Ron, who also reacted, quickly covered his mouth, subconsciously hunched his back, and buried his head down.

He blinked his eyes and looked at Draco.

"What will your uncle send you, is it candy?

Maybe he will give you a whole bag of violet candy... If that's really the case, can you share some with me?"

Ignoring him, Draco continued to read on.

"My first thought was candy... After all, Charlie Brand's candy factory has no shortage of this.

But after thinking about it, I felt it was too ordinary and could not reflect my intentions."

“So, I've decided to promise you a reward that has never been given before—when the holidays come, I will personally go to your house, get Narcissa's consent, and then take you to my factory. If you're willing, you can spend your vacation there! (Of course, that includes your friends you mentioned in your letter, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.)”

Draco read to the end, his voice gradually fading, his breathing even stuttering, as if unsure how to react.

Beside him, Ron and Harry had clearly seen the words on the letter as well, and their moods were similarly excited.

“Draco!!!!! You are truly my good brother!!!!! I love you to death!!!!!”

Ron gasped, his cheeks flushed with excitement. He reached out and hugged Draco's arm tightly, like a leech, no matter how the other tried to shake him off, he couldn't break free.

He tried to suppress the excitement and trembling in his voice, but the joy within was still inevitably expressed through his tone.

At this moment, Ron couldn't help but want to grab Draco's head and kiss him hard, and all the unpleasantness that had happened before was completely forgotten, leaving no trace.

If you could see the favorability rating above his head as a marker… then without a doubt, it would be a filled, shining red heart, with the words '100 percent' written on it!

Ron's current surge of emotion is not difficult to understand… it's like a Muggle child suddenly hearing from their parents:

“Given your good behavior these past few days, we've decided to take you to Disneyland tomorrow… to play for an entire vacation!!!!!”

No, it's even more exaggerated than that, because Disneyland is at least always open, as long as you have money you can go.

But Charlie's Candy Factory is different! Until now, very few people have been there!!

“Alright… alright, I get it, please move away a little, don't look at me like that, it's disgusting.”

Although equally happy to the point of nearly taking flight, Draco still didn't join Ron in his shameful behavior, but instead put on a disgusted look, constantly pushing Ron away with his elbow.

Compared to Ron's heavy breathing, Harry, although also extremely excited, showed much more restraint.

His eyes and the corners of his mouth were uncontrollably curved upwards, and he turned his head to look at Draco, his expression filled with gratitude.

Even Hermione, who had been buried in her work, finally couldn't hold back at this moment… She raised her head, craning her slender neck from her seat, looking at the letter in Draco's hand.

She seemed to find it unbelievable, not expecting that she would also be on the invitation list…

……

The noise made by Ron and Draco finally attracted the attention of Irma Pince, the librarian.

She took silent steps, quietly appearing behind the four of them, hands on her hips, brows slightly furrowed, silently watching their antics.

That gaze was like a cold wind blowing across the back of his neck, causing Ron to shiver, a bad feeling arising in his heart, as if he had been caught by his mother while fooling around with his twin brothers at home.

He stiffly turned his head, looking backwards, and soon, Irma Pince's figure in her black robes came into view, also causing his husky-like excitement to be doused with a basin of cold water, calming down a lot.

“… … … Hi, Mrs. Pince.”

Forcing a smile, Ron greeted her dryly.

But Irma Pince didn't smile. She shook her head, said nothing, and pointed towards the library exit.

The meaning was self-evident…

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Unsurprisingly, the four friends were all invited out by Miss Pince.

Hermione pouted unhappily, clutching the unfinished textbook under her arm, glaring fiercely at Ron.

“It's all your fault, now we can't even stay in the library!”

“It's just a small problem, we can go to Charlie's Candy Factory on vacation, why are you worried about these little things?”

The high-spirited Ron now seemed to have a burning buff added to him, and he wouldn't be bothered by such things at all.

He didn't even retort to Hermione's anger as usual, but simply waved his hand and said casually.

According to Harry's vague guess, this buff should continue to burn on him for several months… until he truly arrives at Mr. Black's Candy Factory.

“That's right!!”

Suddenly, Ron's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of some great idea, and said:

“I'm going to tell George and Fred!! They've always idolized Charlie Black, and even have posters of him in their room! If they knew that I, as their younger brother, was fortunate enough to go to the Candy Factory and spend an entire vacation with Charlie Black, they would definitely be insanely jealous!!”

No sooner said than done, before Draco, Harry, and Hermione could react, his legs were already moving rapidly, turning into afterimages, carrying him away in a puff of smoke, finally disappearing into the shadows of the corridor.

“He… how long does this condition usually last?”

Hermione didn't know what to say for a moment, opened her mouth, and couldn't help but complain.

“Heh heh…”

Draco, who had long since claimed to understand Ron's mind, shook his head, unsurprised, only answering Hermione with two meaningful heh hehs.

Then he lowered his head and continued to read the remaining half of the letter.

“Regarding the matter you mentioned in your last letter… my answer to that is, just relax and pretend you didn't see anything. Even if Quirrell really has something strange about him, as long as I'm here, he won't dare to do anything to you, so don't worry.”

“As for the incomplete spell you saw in my book… honestly, I'm glad you have such thoughts. But unfortunately, you've chosen the wrong direction. It's not some ancient spell, and on the contrary, the time of its birth is not even twenty years ago.”

“If you are really interested in it, my suggestion to you is to ask your Potions professor!”

.