The Capitalization of Flobberworm Juice

The Capitalization of Flobberworm Juice

George hadn't been sure whether it had been a good idea to head to Hogwarts to speak to Hagrid about the Flobberworms, but he and Fred were sure that he was the expert they needed. It was quite a shock to find his cabin empty. After some investigation, they were able to find Professor Grubbly-Plank. She did give them some rather strange looks at first, but she eventually gave in and was able to supply them with all the information they needed about Flobberworms.

"This is brilliant," said George as they stood in the corner of the shed and looked at the "merchandise" that lay before them. They had spent the last few days coloring and flavoring the byproduct of flobberworms, and were now admiring their handiwork. He began picking up jars and reading off the labels. "Tutti-Fruitti, Toasted Marshmallow, Cinnamon." He looked up at his brother. "Just like Bertie Botts every flavored beans," he chuckled.

"Well, except for the vomit and bogie flavors, of course," joked Fred. "You don't suppose Harry would be upset that we spent some of the money he gave us setting up this project do you?" asked Fred after some consideration. George scratched his chin and remembered catching Harry and Draco behind the Quidditch Pitch last year.

"I don't think that's a problem, Fred," he said grinning. Thoughts of Oliver drifted through George's brain again and he absent-mindedly began to stroke the outside of the jar he was still holding.

"Yeah if ole' Perc only knew what he started," sniggered Fred. There was a brief moment when they enjoyed a shared laugh and then they heard it, the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"Hem, hem." Fred and George both looked at each other.

"Did you hear something?" asked George, elbowing Fred after getting a look at who had invaded their space.

"Look Percy, what George and I are up to is really none of you business," started Fred looking both annoyed and slightly intimidated. Percy could cause a lot of trouble for him and George. "Mum is on pins and needles these days. There's no reason for you to go running your mouth. We're not doing anything that will get us in trouble."

Percy stood quietly for a moment and then smiled. "I know exactly what you've been up to," he replied, in a tone like the cat that had swallowed the canary. Fred and George looked at each other and then Percy.

"Could he know," they both thought. "And if so how did he find out? Had he been spying on them?"

Percy stepped forward and handed George the envelope. "If you're going to rummage through my room boys, you really should try harder to clean up after yourselves."

The twins thought for a moment about apologizing to Percy, but frankly, it wasn't in their nature. Percy wouldn't have known what to do if they had. After staring at the envelope for a moment, Fred opened one end and they were soon looking at its contents. It was easy to recognize their handy work, even thought it had been several days since they had scribbled the proposal to Percy, which had ended up in the waste bin. However here it was, plain as day and so was the reason for Percy's sudden intrusion on their space. Fred gave his brother a knowing look and then George pulled out the counter proposal and they both began to read.

"Wait," said Percy suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "I think this is something you should read and discuss by yourselves. I will be in my room when you are ready to talk." And with this statement there was a pop and Percy was gone.

They both began to laugh as soon as they started reading. "The ole boy's gone off his rocker for good this time," said George snickering. "I can't believe that "Junior Fudge" actually wants in on our Flobberworm business."

"Well he doesn't actually know that we've gone and done it yet," said Fred chuckling. "Hhmmm . . . or does he?"

George cleared his throat and looked around at the merchandise again. "Well it's possible that he's been following us around," he admitted sounding slightly paranoid. George swallowed hard. "You don't suppose he's been following us to the club?"

Fred furrowed his brow and then put a sympathetic arm around his brother. "Don't overreact George, Percy's not that clever. I'm sure that your secret is still safe with me, Oliver, and the half of the Quidditch team that will be happy that we're in the Flobberworm Juice business now." Fred winked at George who blushed pink around the ears and returned the jar of Flobberworm Juice to the table. He suddenly realized that he had been stroking the jar and quickly put it down. They both looked at the letter again. "You know," started George, "he's right."

"Percy's right? Say it ain't so, Joe." George looked at Fred like he was mad. "Sorry, still trying to recover from when we accidentally apparated into the middle of that Muggle superstore," apologized Fred.

George shuttered. "Oy, don't remind me all those Muggles in blue vests asking if they could help us."

"The toys were wicked though, and those boxes where the Muggles moved around and talked. What did they call them?" asked Fred.

"TV's. I bet Dad would like one of those," proposed George. "Maybe we could buy him one when we're rich." Fred and George had a "moment" were they stared off into space and dreamed of being rich.

"So what were you saying about Percy being right?" asked Fred when he had come around.

"Well, we have the knowledge for flavorings and colorings. Hell, we've even been knocking around some catchy slogans," said George picking up a different jar of product and grinning at the label. "Flobberjuice: Letting your worm flobber freely," said George with a hearty laugh.

"Oh yeah and don't forget." Fred reached down, picked up a jar and held it to his face, "Get a smooth ride on your broomstick with Flobberjuice." They both sniggered loudly. "Yes and ah," he cleared his throat, "you've already bagged us a semi-famous and sexy spokesman for the spots." George looked over the jar at Fred.

"Well I haven't "bagged" him yet." George rolled his eyes. "He's being coy and playing games. I had to promise to--" he stopped and thought about what he was saying. "Let's just say he's being a prat." Fred laughed loudly.

"Where are you headed with this anyway George?" asked Fred. "What do you mean about Percy?"

"Well, you know how Mum's having a heart attack about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." Fred nodded. "Well if we had our way we wouldn't be going back to school at all right?"

"True, so true," agreed Fred.

"There's no way that we can adequately distribute the product at this point in time, other than our Hogwarts market of course. Percy could be of great use to us for the rest of the market until we can get into our shop," explained George. Fred's eyes widened.

"You're right you know. I never thought Percy would be good for anything other than being the butt of our jokes, but you're right." Fred tipped his head sideways and considered the letter again. "Only one thing wrong here."

"Yeah, I agree. He's out of his bleeding mind if he thinks we're splitting the profits evenly," said George with a hearty guffaw. Fred laughed loudly.