16 Chapter 16 - Lessons in Protection

'Charisma? Who cares about charisma?'

Ron thought to himself.

'I accept!'

Ron mentally responded to the system.

[ You have chosen to accept

Reward received: +25% stealth ]

Ron stares at the gnome's slender hand and squeezes it, feeling a mixture of anger and disgust.

The slender gnome smiled triumphantly.

"And how are we going to do this?"

Ron asked.

"You get the parts and once a week, you give them to me. I will resell them and give you part of the money."

The gnome replied.

"How much?"

Ron asked.

"30%."

The gnome replied, shrugging.

"You know I'd rather ruin my reputation by killing you now than work for you for free, right? I want at least 60%."

Ron answered angrily.

"You won't know if I'm telling the truth."

The gnome replied.

"I will find out, and if I do, rest assured that I can hide a body as small as yours in a way that no one will ever find it again."

Ron replied, looking the gnome deep in the eyes. The gnome could feel all of Ron's coldness. His body shuddered.

"Alright. I agree."

The gnome said, his voice trembling.

"Now get out of here."

Ron said, noticing that Fred was coming.

As the gnome walked away, leaving Ron feeling like he'd made a pact with the devil himself, he wondered how far that choice would take him to escape detection. He knew he needed to find a solution soon, but for now, his safety was in the hands of a stinking gnome.

—

The day passed and they returned home.

Ron was in the backyard, waiting for Molly to show up to teach him more about spells.

"It seems you're quite excited since you got here before me."

Molly said, impressed by Ron's excitement as she walked out of the house into the backyard.

"Mum, could you teach me something more specific today?"

Ron asked.

"Hm? How specific, dear?"

Molly questioned.

"How about battle and defense?"

Ron asked.

"Battle spells are dangerous and require much greater control of magic, and your father would surely kill me if he knew I was teaching you that kind of advanced magic."

Molly replied.

"He doesn't need to know."

Ron said, not thinking before speaking.

"Are you crazy? Lying to your father? Don't say such a thing."

Molly scolded him.

"But what about protection spells? There is nothing dangerous about protecting me."

Ron said, quickly changing the subject.

"Well, your safety is most important. I think if I taught you protection spells, we wouldn't have any problems."

Molly said thoughtfully.

Ron wanted to learn protection spells in case the gnome was setting a trap for him. At least with the protection spell, he would be able to escape with his life.

"Let's start with the 'Protego' spell. You might already know a bit about him from the books you've read, but how about we evolve it a bit?"

Molly said to Ron who seemed interested in the subject.

"Come on, take this rock. I want you to shoot me."

She said, picking up a small rock from the yard and handing it to Ron.

"Now?"

Ron asked.

"I'll be alright, dear. No need to worry about me."

She answered.

Then, Ron pulled his arm back to gain momentum and hurled the rock towards Molly.

"Protego!"

Quickly, she gripped her wand firmly and pointed it towards the stone. Then. she made a swift and fluid motion with her wand, tracing a sharp slash in the air.

The rock that was rushing towards Molly, hit the protective barrier hard, causing it to fall to the ground with a thud.

Molly was a little surprised by how hard Ron threw the rock. If she hadn't used the barrier, it could cause a big accident. She thought that either he hadn't cared enough about the power of his throw, or he thought she was good enough to never get hit by the boulder.

She chose not to get into the subject.

"Did you understand? Do you need me to do it again?"

Molly asked, excited to teach.

"No, you don't need to."

Ron replied, preparing for Molly to throw the rock.

Molly picked up the same stone from the ground, stretched out her arm, and hurled it at Ron. The stone was a little slower since Ron had never done this spell before.

Ron concentrated on his mother's words and mimicked her movements with his wand.

"Protego!"

As expected, the protective shield appeared before him, preventing the stone from touching his face.

"Can you throw it a little harder this time?"

Ron asked Molly.

She picked up the rock and stretched her arm out further.

Molly hurled the rock towards Ron. The stone was much faster than the stone he had thrown towards Molly, getting very close to his face quicker than he expected.

"PROTEGO!"

Immediately said Ron aloud, frightened by the speed of the rock.

The stone fell to the ground with a thud.

"Oh dear, are you okay? I'm sorry."

Molly asked worriedly, heading towards Ron.

Ron was wide-eyed.

"I am. Just a bit surprised."

He replied while musing that he needed to train this spell more. It was just a stone. It wouldn't cause anything serious, but if it was something more dangerous, he could be dead.

"I think we better continue tomorrow."

Molly suggested.

[Next Morning - Diagon Alley]

The day was quiet, without an unusual movement.

Fred appeared at the tent, accompanied by an ordinary girl. The woman was short, with blond hair. She had a worried expression on her face and was carrying an object in her hands.

"This watch belonged to my grandfather. This has enormous sentimental value to me. Unfortunately, it stopped working years ago. Can you fix it?"

The girl asked Fred.

"Can I please have your watch for a moment, miss?"

Fred gently asked the small woman.

"Alright. But be careful, okay?"

She looked afraid of leaving the watch in the wrong hands and someone else destroying the object, but she handed it to Fred.

"Is it just a watch?"

Ron asked in a whisper to Fred, hoping it was some magic item.

"Yes, just a watch."

Fred replied, handing the object over to him.

Ron picked up the object and carried it to the back of the tent.

The gnome's voice echoed in Ron's head. He needed to steal something soon, but he had no idea what.

"Reparo!"

Ron did the spell towards the clock, making it work perfectly again.

Turning the watch over in his fingers, he noticed that there were some initials engraved on the object. Probably the initials of the client's grandmother.

As Ron began to examine the watch in detail, he noticed a small mechanism hidden in the back cover. It was a secret compartment, disguised by the gears. The compartment was jammed shut, as if it hadn't been opened in years.

Ron glanced back, trying to make sure he was safe digging in that piece. He could see Fred talking to the girl. For some reason, even if unconsciously, Fred seemed to be trying to distract the woman by bringing up random subjects with her. Fred would be a great partner, but he would end up screwing it up because of nervousness.

Ron managed to open the secret compartment. Inside, he found a small solid gold pendant in the shape of a heart, with a red gemstone set in the center.

Here was the perfect object to steal. He was pretty sure the lady didn't know about the compartment, so it wouldn't be missed.

Ron put the pendant in his pocket without anyone noticing and took the watch to the girl.

"Oh, it's working perfectly. Thank you so much!"

She said with a huge smile on her face and quickly paid Fred, leaving the tent.

"Hey Fred, I need to go to the bathroom. Can you wait a bit?"

Ron asked.

"Oh, go ahead. I recommend going to Madam Puddifoot's. The bathroom smells like cupcakes."

Fred replied, going inside the tent.

Ron nodded and quickly left the tent.

When he was already far away from Fred, Ron turned his sweatshirt inside out, covering the print he was wearing, and put on the hood.

Then, quickly he entered Knockturn Alley.

A few steps forward, Ron managed to find the gnome standing in the same place as usual, trying to fool some wizards who were passing by quickly.

"Psst!"

Ron hissed at the gnome, pulling him down an alley quickly.

"Weasley, what are you doing here? We were only going to meet at the end of the week."

The gnome said.

"Will you shut up? Don't call me that."

Ron said in a whisper.

"And what do I call you?"

The gnome asked. He seemed a lot friendlier, which brought on an air of irony.

"Whatever. I have a problem. I need you to sort it out."

Ron said, shrugging.

"Hm, then I will just call you friend. What's the problem?"

The gnome asked, smiling.

"Why are you acting like this? Are you kidding me?"

The gnome's manner began to stress Ron.

"No, of course not. We work together now. You are my friend."

The gnome replied. He looked needy.

"I need fake parts. How do you want me to steal the originals if I don't have any fakes?"

Ron whispered to the gnome.

"Oh, you're right. I hadn't remembered that…"

The gnome said, turning to pick something up behind him.

Ron was suspicious, so he reached into his pants pocket, holding his wand and repeating the pronunciation of the last spell he learned, ready to defend himself.

"Here it is! You can keep this as long as you bring me the original parts. I won't charge you for this, okay buddy?"

The gnome said, handing him a bag with some random parts.

"And how am I supposed to know which is which?"

Ron asked, eyeing the amount of junk in the bag.

"Well, that is your problem."

The gnome replied rudely. It made Ron feel a little safer talking to the gnome. He looked normal.

"And did you bring me something?"

Ron was just turning to leave when the gnome interrupted him.

Ron pulled the pendant out of his pocket and surreptitiously showed it to the gnome.

The gnome's eyes widened, revealing the twinkle in his eyes as he looked at the jewel.

"I know how much that much gold is worth. If I come up with less money than I expect, you know what will happen."

Ron said, keeping a serious expression on his face.

The gnome nodded, leaving kindness aside, and quickly took the jewel.

Ron returned to the store, where he found Fred distracting a small line of customers waiting for Ron to return from the bathroom.

"You came back!"

Fred looked relieved.

"You had a strong stomach ache, right? Hahaha. I told you spicy muffins in the morning wouldn't be ideal, but you wouldn't listen."

Fred said, patting Ron on the back as he escorted him into the tent.

----

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