Chapter 629: Courtesies Among Fellow Students
Chapter 629: Courtesies Among Fellow Students
About twenty minutes later, the shop owner and Daphne finally emerged.
"Make the changes we just discussed, and deliver it to Hogwarts by tomorrow. That shouldn't be a problem, right?" asked Daphne, who was walking at the front.
"Not at all," the shop owner replied with a smile. "I'll make sure to deliver the dress to Hogwarts on time."
"Alright then," Daphne nodded and turned towards the door, accompanied by the shop owner. "Let's head back, Astoria."
As they passed by Kyle and Connor, Astoria politely greeted them, but Daphne just huffed without saying a word.
Kyle shook his head helplessly. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
Ever since the start of the school year, a portion of the Slytherins had drastically changed their attitude towards him.
Take, for instance, Malfoy.
While their relationship couldn't be described as extremely amicable before, it wasn't bad either, and they had quite a few interactions due to their shared interest in money-making ventures.
But this year was different. They hadn't exchanged a single word since the start of the term, and they had barely even seen each other.
Kyle suspected that Malfoy was deliberately avoiding him, probably due to instructions from his father, Lucius Malfoy, before the start of the school year.
In addition, there were also Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent, and Mulciber, all of whom used to be his major clients, contributing significantly to his stash of Galleons. They had also unexpectedly distanced themselves from him, drawing a clear line.
Influenced by them, other Slytherins gradually became more aloof towards him as well, and Daphne was one of them.
As a friend of Pansy and Millicent, her behavior was only to be expected.
In the face of her attitude, Kyle, who had originally intended to say something, chose to mind his own business and quietly watched them leave the clothing store.
After seeing them out, the shop owner approached and asked, "What would you like to purchase?"
"I'd like a new winter school uniform," Kyle replied.
Just like Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in Diagon Alley, this store also offered made-to-measure Hogwarts school uniforms at similar prices.
"Just the uniform?" the shop owner inquired. "How about a cloak? A dragon hide cloak will definitely keep you warm."
"No, thanks," Kyle said, glancing at the most expensive cloak on the rack, priced at three hundred Galleons.
While the price wasn't extraordinarily high for a dragon hide cloak, it was made from an entire dragon hide.
The one in front of him, however, was crafted by magically stitching together different parts. The upper half had a hint of blue, likely originating from a Swedish Short-Snout dragon, while the lower half displayed the unique grayish-white color of the Ukrainian Ironbelly.
The craftsman had done an excellent job of disguising the seams with a unique pattern, making it difficult for the average person to notice.
"Then how about a dueling cloak modeled after Dumbledore's? It's only twenty Galleons," the shop owner persisted.
Kyle shook his head again. "I just need the school uniform."
Hearing Kyle's response, the shop owner gradually lost his smile.
Hogwarts school uniforms were items with fixed prices, and unless one placed a bulk order, there was hardly any profit to be made.
"Very well," the shop owner said.
A measuring tape suddenly flew over and started taking Kyle's measurements, while the owner returned to the counter and began rearranging the items on display, his previous enthusiasm noticeably diminished.
However, Kyle didn't mind this change in attitude.
A few minutes later, the measuring tape snapped shut, and Kyle walked up to the counter, reaching into his pocket to pay.
Perhaps due to having too many items in his pocket, Kyle accidentally pulled out a few small objects along with his money—several silvery-white short hairs and an irregularly shaped ruby.
"Too many things in my pocket," Kyle muttered, quickly putting them back and asking, "How much is it?"
The shop owner's eyes glinted, and after a moment's hesitation, he replied, "One Galleon."
"That cheap?" Connor blurted out, thinking she had misheard. She knew the prices of things, having bought her fair share of items. A single Galleon was a price you wouldn't find even for a second-hand school robe in Diagon Alley, let alone a winter robe...
"Very quick, half an hour at most," the owner replied.
...
"We sure got lucky, huh?" Connor exclaimed happily as they left the shop. "It just so happened to be the one-thousandth."
"Maybe it wasn't a coincidence," Kyle said ambiguously.
"Do you remember the dress robe we were talking about earlier?"
"The one for three hundred Galleons?"
"Yes," Kyle said, "If I'm not mistaken, the unicorn tail hair on that dress was fake. It was likely created by magically stitching together mane hairs, and the fire crab gem was probably a reshaped fragment..."
"I'd bet that all those materials combined wouldn't cost more than twenty Galleons. It's definitely not as good as she claimed."
"Mane hairs and fragments of gems?" Connor asked, intrigued. "How did you figure that out?"
"I've seen a lot, so I know," Kyle shrugged, pulling out the short hairs and the irregularly shaped ruby from his pocket.
"These weren't...?" Connor trailed off.
"Indeed," Kyle nodded. "The mane hairs and gem fragments used for that dress robe. The shop owner recognized them too."
Strictly speaking, Kyle considered himself a semi-professional in the same line of work as the owner.
He had crafted similar items before—those expensive custom maps were also decorated with unicorn mane hairs and fire crab gems.
Since he had worked with the same materials, he couldn't possibly not recognize them.
However, this shop owner was much more unscrupulous than he was.
Kyle added in his mind, ...at least I didn't sell the maps for two hundred Galleons.
After leaving the shop, it was almost ten o'clock, but Kyle didn't rush to the Hog's Head. Instead, he found a spot by the window at the Three Broomsticks and leisurely sipped on a pumpkin soda.
Looking out the window, he noticed that the number of students outside was gradually increasing, and their paths were surprisingly uniform, all leading towards the Hog's Head.
What used to be an empty path was now bustling with students.
"This looks like more than thirty people," Kyle muttered to himself.
Connor also glanced out the window. "Aren't we going over there?"
"If you're curious, you can go take a look," Kyle suggested.
"Aren't you going?" Connor asked.
"Yeah," Kyle nodded. "With this many people, someone will definitely spill the beans to Umbridge sooner or later.
"And given my current standing as someone opposed to Professor Dumbledore, I shouldn't be seen there."
"What if we make them sign a confidentiality agreement?" Connor suggested. "Before it starts, we can get them to promise not to tell Umbridge about this."
"It won't be very effective," Kyle replied. "Even if they don't actively leak the information, friends chat, and it's easy to slip up unintentionally. So, it's basically impossible to keep it a secret."
"I see," Connor said. "What about a stricter agreement? Like, they can't discuss this matter in any form..."
"That's possible, but not now," Kyle took a sip of his soda. "Most people are inherently averse to the idea of contracts, and no one will willingly sign a stringent agreement without knowing what it's about.
"So, even if we want to keep it confidential, we'll have to wait until everything is finalized."
"Makes sense," Connor turned to look out the window again. "In that case, I won't go either."
(End of Chapter)
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