The modification of the "Tank Star Destroyer" would have to wait until Mr. Weasley returned home from work so they could consult him before starting.
After all, these items were Mr. Weasley's prized possessions.
However, this didn't stop Kyle and the twin brothers from squatting in the garage, discussing the modification plans for the Star Destroyer.
"Right now, the biggest problem standing in front of us is..."
"...no money."
When the brothers spoke, connected by their shared wavelength, it was as if a single person were talking.
"It's not just the alchemical materials that cost money; buying car parts from Muggles requires Muggle currency. What's it called again?"
"Pounds," Kyle answered George's query.
"Ah, right, pounds," Fred counted on his fingers. "Just buying a decent car engine costs hundreds, maybe even a thousand pounds. Converted into Galleons, that's at least one or two hundred."
"Wait, Galleons and Pounds can be exchanged?" Kyle interrupted Fred.
George, Fred: "..."
Fine, he is a wealthy young master; it's normal for him not to know these things.
"Gringotts provides an exchange service between Pounds and Galleons," Fred explained.
George rolled his eyes at Kyle. "Otherwise, how would Muggle-born first-year students buy their school supplies in Diagon Alley?"
Kyle, having been looked down upon by the two, awkwardly rubbed his nose.
He had withdrawn money directly from his vault at Gringotts back then; Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything about this to him.
"What's the exchange rate?"
"Exchange rate?" George didn't quite understand the term.
"I mean, how many Pounds can you get for one Galleon?"
"Oh, oh, probably about five pounds," George rattled off the number.
If Pounds could be exchanged, then US Dollars should be usable too.
Kyle made a rough estimate. The "Franklins" he had earned back in New York amounted to at least two or three hundred thousand dollars.
When there is too much money, it just becomes a string of numbers he's too lazy to memorize.
Moreover, after entering the wizarding world, the money he had earned lost its utility.
Kyle's savings were still lying in that safe inside Bag End; he wondered if they had gone moldy yet.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang! A heavy, large safe appeared in front of the three of them.
Twisting the lock on the safe, Kyle quickly cracked it open. The piles of banknotes inside made George and Fred's jaws drop.
"This... this is..." Fred couldn't even speak.
This was the first time the twin brothers had seen the true financial power of a filthy rich tycoon... or rather, just the tip of the iceberg.
"This is US Dollars, the Muggle currency from America. It's similar to Pounds, so it should be exchangeable at Gringotts too, right?"
George looked at the mountain of cash before him, his eyes revealing his longing. With this much money, if it were all theirs, they would have the startup capital to open a magic joke shop.
However, in the end, he firmly said to Kyle, "We can't take your money. Besides, Gringotts has a limit on currency exchange."
"A limit?" Kyle kicked the safe back into Bag End. "How much?"
"Each person can only exchange a maximum of two hundred Galleons per year. If you use gold for the exchange, the limit is a bit higher," George said.
Two hundred Galleons was one thousand pounds.
If he gave his and Cedric's exchange quota to the twins—since the two of them wouldn't use that quota anyway—that would make eight hundred Galleons. In terms of wizarding world prices, that was enough for the twin brothers to do a lot of things.
Let alone modifying the tank in front of them, it would be more than enough to build George a Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets.
No, wait. If they wanted to use higher-quality magical metals, such as mixing in some Mithril, this amount of money wouldn't be enough to build ten puppets.
Eight hundred Galleons, four thousand pounds. To Kyle, that was just a matter of squatting at a dock with illicit dealings for one night.
If he staked out a big transaction, he might even secure enough for next year's exchange quota.
Even if the quota for exchanging gold was much higher, they just needed to pull off a few more jobs to earn enough pounds.
It seemed he was about to return to his old trade; the Dark Knight would embark on his journey once more.
Kyle rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Do you guys want to make some money?"
The twin brothers nodded like chickens pecking at rice.
What they lacked most was money.
"Can you apply to Mrs. Weasley to come to London with me in a few days?"
"Go to London for what?" A head suddenly popped up in the window on the wall beside them.
"Ced? Perfect timing, I have something to tell you." Kyle waved at Cedric, signaling him to come into the garage to talk.
The four young wizards sat on small folding stools, forming a circle in the old garage.
After Kyle recounted his survival methods from his time in New York to the other three, Cedric summarized it simply:
"So, what you mean is, you want us to go rob people?"
Kyle shook his head. "No, that's called punishing evil and promoting good."
Cedric: I don't believe a word of it.
Upon hearing that they would be beating money out of gangsters who were similar to Dark Wizards, the other three young wizards had no moral barriers whatsoever.
On the contrary, having read quite a few comics about superheroes, they were actually eager to give it a try.
"If we're going with Kyle, my mum shouldn't object," Fred said.
Of the four people present, aside from Kyle who was a second-year student, the other three were fourth-years.
They were big enough now; traveling to London together shouldn't result in them getting lost.
He and George stood up from their stools, wanting to run back into the house to tell Mrs. Weasley about it.
"Come back," Kyle called out to them. "Before we go to London, you need to get your proficiency with Protego up to scratch."
Although, under the influence of magic, wizards possess much more tenacious vitality than Muggles.
For instance, when Neville fell from a height of forty or fifty feet during flying class, he only broke his wrist. After getting up, he could even walk to the Hospital Wing by himself.
But in the face of Muggle firearms, a wizard's head would still turn into a loot box if it took a bullet.
It had to be said that Kyle was quite brave back then. Without mastering any defensive magic, and relying solely on the Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu to burrow underground and dodge bullets, he dared to repeatedly dance on the edge of death under the gunpoints of gangsters.
Although he was still alive and kicking after courting death so many times, he hadn't been able to avoid getting injured.
He was lucky never to have been hit in a vital spot, but he couldn't guarantee the other three would be as lucky as him.
Therefore, until the three of them could proficiently use the Shield Charm, Kyle absolutely would not take them along on a suicide mission.
"My mum won't let us cast spells at home during the holidays," George said with some difficulty.
"That's no issue," Kyle smiled.
He pulled his suitcase out of the ninja tool pouch that had undergone an Undetectable Extension Charm.
"We can practice magic inside the suitcase. I specifically asked Professor Dumbledore to cast shielding spells on it; it can block the fluctuations of the Trace on us."
The Trace is a type of magic attached to underage wizards, specifically used to detect magical fluctuations from their spellcasting. The Ministry of Magic uses it to discover instances of underage wizards using magic.
Of course, this magic isn't very accurate in its detection. It can only detect if a magical fluctuation has occurred in an area, and at most, specify what spell was cast in that area.
It cannot precisely pinpoint a specific wizard.
Naturally, if a wizard lives in a Muggle neighborhood and is the only wizard for several miles around, then it can lock onto them precisely.
However, if there is a large gathering of wizards in the area where the magical fluctuation occurs, the Trace's detection becomes ineffective.
In other words, children from wizarding families can act completely without restraint during the holidays, relying entirely on whether their guardians are responsible or not.
But for people like Hermione and Harry, the situation isn't so good.
They live in Muggle communities where they are the only wizard within a radius of ten miles or so. As soon as there is any magical fluctuation, it can be traced back to them immediately.
Kyle never hesitated to speculate on the intentions of the Ministry officials with the greatest malice.
One must remember that those who participated in drafting the laws of the wizarding world back then were all from Pure-blood families.
By setting up rules that were so favorable to themselves, were they trying to suppress the growth of Muggle-born wizards?
After all, the summer and winter holidays at Hogwarts are quite a long period of time.
During this time, if one group of people cannot cast spells outside of school while another group acts without restraint, the gap in magical level between them will widen over the accumulating days and months.
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)