After Mrs. Weasley nodded in agreement, Allie, Ginny, Fred, and George headed out to the garden, followed by Ron, who tagged along just to watch the show.
Allie pulled Ginny and Ron a bit further away from the twins, as she was afraid the upcoming trick might frighten them.
Allie walked up to "George," looked right at him, and said with a completely serious face, "There's a spider on your collar. Squat down quickly and I'll brush it off for you."
"George" let out a dismissive scoff, thinking this had to be the most amateurish prank he had ever heard of.
Until he felt a faint, tickling sensation crawling across his face, the real George had already backed away two steps, and Ron's face was drained of color in sheer terror...
Fred suddenly realized there really was a spider on him, and he jumped in fright. He jerked his head around to find a fist-sized black spider crawling right up his shoulder!
Standing nearby, George watched the scene unfold with a sly, knowing grin. Ron stared at Fred in absolute horror, clearly shaken to the core.
As Fred flailed wildly, trying to swat the spider away, it flew through the air in an arc and landed securely right on Allie's palm.
"Looks like you aren't a big fan of this cute little gift, Fred~" Allie chuckled, barely able to contain her amusement. She finally understood why Fred had given her that cicada earlier—he must have wanted to see this exact reaction.
"Merlin's cauldron! Who on earth would like a terrifying spider like that?!"
Ron wholeheartedly agreed. "Allie, why don't you get rid of the spider in your hand first? It really doesn't look very cute." Ron was terrified it might suddenly leap onto him.
Allie compromised. She set the spider down on the ground and watched it crawl out past the garden wall. "Don't be scared, this is a boggart spider. They only eat flower sap and are very timid. Maybe your family's flowers are just blooming so well that it got a little greedy."
Ginny felt that Allie was different from other girls. "Allie, you know so much. How do you do it?"
"It's all thanks to Hagrid, he's very..."
Before she could finish, George interrupted.
He had just watched a flawless prank play out right beside him, and seeing his own brother fall victim to it was immensely entertaining. Usually, they were the ones pulling pranks on everyone else.
"Allie, what did you just call him?" George asked, pointing at Fred, who was finally calming down.
Fred also remembered that Allie had called him by the right name just now, though perhaps it was just a coincidence.
The two twins always kept the exact same hairstyle and wore the same clothes. Probably because they were twins, not only did they look identical, but their personalities and hobbies were completely the same, too.
They frequently disguised themselves as each other to easily get away with their pranks.
Truth be told, apart from themselves knowing who was who, nobody else ever could.
"You're George, and the one who pranked me and Ginny was Fred," Allie stated accurately.
Fred and George exchanged glances, a surge of unprecedented competitive spirit rising in their chests. They dashed back into the house to reorganize themselves, matching everything down to the creases in their clothes and their minor habits.
"Go ahead, guess which one of us is Fred and which one is George," the two of them said in unison.
Ron and Ginny felt their heads spinning. Even though the two of them constantly played this "guess who" game, they had never once won.
Maybe they had gotten it right a couple of times, but they never had absolute proof.
Once again, Allie named them without hesitation.
"No, I'm Fred," George insisted.
Ginny and Ron were completely clueless.
"Allright, kids, come inside for dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called from inside the house.
Allie shrugged. "Is that so? We should probably go inside anyway, Mrs. Weasley will be coming out in a minute."
Hearing Mrs. Weasley's call, everyone headed indoors to get ready for dinner. Fred and George were still trying to figure out how Allie had managed to tell them apart, especially since they knew for a fact she had used the correct names earlier.
At the dinner table, everyone ate and chatted in a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere. Mr. Weasley always knew how to connect with the kids, and seeing them so happy filled Mrs. Weasley with boundless joy.
"When did you even manage to get that spider onto Fred?" George asked.
The three of them—Allie, Ginny, and Ron—had been walking ahead of the twins the whole time.
Allie swallowed a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "George, would you ever reveal the secret behind how you pull off a prank?"
"Of course not, that would ruin all the fun."
"Me neither." With that, Allie turned her full attention back to the table. Would you believe it? This was the first time she had ever eaten sausages that weren't burnt and mashed potatoes without a scorched taste.
She harbored a secret that even Hagrid didn't know: certain magical creatures were strangely friendly toward her, and she could actually sense their emotions.
Just like how, in her eyes, she could clearly tell George and Fred apart—it was simply a feeling. When Mrs. Weasley had been scolding them earlier, she had sensed the spiders near the garden and simply had one ready to help pull off the prank.
An afternoon a few days later, Allie and Ginny were sitting by the doorway resting after helping Mrs. Weasley feed the chickens.
Fred and George hadn't pulled any pranks over the past few days; they seemed to be plotting something, likely preparing for an even more spectacular prank next time.
Ron kept running down to the shed to touch the flying broomstick, because Mrs. Weasley had explicitly told him he wasn't allowed to ride a broom on his own until he was older.
Percy spent most of his time reading in his room. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both very proud of him, feeling that Percy was the least worrisome of all their children.
Mr. Weasley had brought home some Muggle items from the Ministry of Magic—a few batteries and plugs. He had no idea how they worked, but he figured they would make his precious shed look a bit more "comprehensive."
Mrs. Weasley would often get cross with Mr. Weasley for constantly dragging strange objects home, but Ginny told Allie that all Mr. Weasley had to do was whisper "Molly-wobbles," and she would instantly be mollified—it was a term of endearment exclusive to the two of them.
Then there were their two older brothers who rarely came home: Bill, who had gone to Gringotts as a curse-breaker, and Charlie, who was in Romania studying dragons.
Perhaps if she ever got the chance to meet Charlie, she could ask him if he might be able to get her a baby dragon; she wanted to give it to Hagrid, since Hagrid had always wanted a dragon of his own.
"Allie? Where are you, dear? There's a letter for you!" Mrs. Weasley called from across the yard, waving a letter in her hand.
"I'm here! I'm coming right now, Mrs. Weasley!" Allie called back, grabbing Ginny's hand as they hurried over to her.
It was a letter from Hagrid, instantly recognizable by the sprawling, crooked handwriting on the envelope.
Ginny leaned in to take a look as well.
Allie opened the envelope and read the letter inside:
"Dear Allie,
I went into the Forbidden Forest to visit Aragog. It's had a lot of children now, and I told it about you—it's very interested. If there's a chance, I'll introduce you two; I'm sure you'll like it. I've been raising a cute little dog for you named Fluffy. Maybe I can let it grow a bit bigger before term starts, so Fluffy can be your official pet.
Your friend,
Rubeus"