Chapter 94: A Big Deal
Chapter 94: A Big Deal
During the second week of the Easter holidays, Kyle maintained his usual routine of leaving the common room after breakfast and not returning until evening.
However, he didn't go to the library or the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor. Instead, he spent the entire day in an abandoned classroom on the third floor of the castle, along with Fred and George Weasley from Gryffindor, Qiu Zhang from Ravenclaw, and Connor and Cedric.
A total of six people were busy as bees in the small classroom.
"Kyle, come and take a look at this pattern. Does it look right to you?" Qiu Zhang put down the small knife in his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I feel like something is a bit off."
"It doesn't matter," Kyle said without looking up from his work. "A few small flaws won't make a difference. Anyway, no one will be able to tell, and it's just supposed to be a rough representation."
In his left hand, Kyle held a small knife, and in his right, a branch from a Rowan tree.
Kyle first stripped the branch of its bark and any excess wood, then skillfully carved irregular grooves into it with his knife.
Soon, he had crafted an oval-shaped wooden pendant, adorned with a crossed quill and wand—a symbol of magic and knowledge.
Similar pendants lay on the table beside him—some oval-shaped, others triangular or rectangular.
The other five students had also transformed into makeshift carpenters, busily shaping and carving the wood with their knives.
As noon approached, Fred brushed off the wood shavings that had accumulated on his clothes and surveyed the results of his morning's "labor." He furrowed his brow and asked, "Kyle, do you really think we can sell these things?"
The others looked up from their work, their eyes turning to Kyle as well.
Kyle had called them here a couple of days ago, promising a big deal. With their previous successful experience of selling maps, they had been excited and readily agreed, following Kyle's instructions without question.
But they never expected that Kyle would have them whittling wood for two whole days, without the use of magic.
This had them more than a little confused.
"It should be fine," Kyle replied after a moment's thought. "Yanshanni tree amulets are quite popular in the wizarding world."
"Wait... are we making amulets?" George asked in disbelief.
To be fair, none of them had any prior experience as woodworkers. While the items they had crafted couldn't be called ugly, they certainly weren't aesthetically pleasing either, and their shapes were all over the place.
Even he couldn't bring himself to call these rough-hewn trinkets amulets in good conscience.
"What you and Fred have made are just wooden knobs," Kyle explained. "But once Connor and the others engrave the patterns on them, they'll become something else entirely."
The five students exchanged skeptical glances, unconvinced by Kyle's assurance.
Unless these patterns were some kind of ancient Runic symbols or held some special magical significance, they couldn't imagine how engraving a hundred of them would transform these wooden knobs into anything worthwhile.
"Speaking of which..." Cedric spoke up, his curiosity getting the better of him. "What exactly are these patterns? I've never seen them before."
"They represent the mark of passing an exam, or you could say, a guarantee of success in any test," Kyle explained, his mind racing. "Back in 1790, during the Wizarding Congress, a bill was passed to establish the Wizarding Examinations Authority. That same year, Hogwarts held its first N.E.W.T.s examination.
The young witches and wizards who passed received a special letter from the Ministry of Magic, bearing the symbol of a crossed quill and wand on the envelope."
Fred and the others stared at Kyle, dumbfounded, and asked subconsciously, "1790, wasn't that over two hundred years ago? How do you know about this?"
"I read it in a book."
Kyle shrugged and said nonchalantly, "If you had read 'Hogwarts: A School History' through, you wouldn't be so surprised."
Reading a book... that's fine then.
Fred and George simultaneously averted their heads and gave Kyle a thumbs up.
The book, 'Hogwarts: A School History', was large and thick; one could even use it as a shield. It was manageable to flip through a couple of pages when free, skimming the interesting parts, but it was a challenge to finish reading it.
In fact, not only had Fred and George not finished it, but Cedric hadn't either.
But that wasn't the main point.
After this explanation, they understood what Kyle meant.
Although these rowan wood creations weren't actual amulets, it was undeniable that they held a strong appeal.
Especially at this time.
Even Fred and George were a little tempted.
If someone had sold these trinkets before last year's final exams, they might have actually bought them.
"But Kyle, why can't we use the Replication Charm?" Qiu Zhang asked in confusion. "Like we did with the maps before, that would be so much easier."
"Of course, we can, but those would be priced differently."
Kyle shook his finger, "I plan to make three types of products: high-end custom for ten Galleons, fully handmade... that is, the kind we're making now for two Galleons, and finally, disposable bulk products for five Sickles."
"That cheap?" Qiu Zhang didn't quite understand.
A map cost ten Sickles, and while they were both replicas, replicating these wooden sculptures was much more troublesome than replicating maps.
Before Kyle could explain, Cedric seemed to realize something and turned to ask, "How much pocket money do you have left now?"
"Pocket money?" Qiu Zhang thought for a moment, "I spent quite a bit recently, so I probably have about one Galleon left..."
Suddenly, her voice trailed off, and her face lit up with realization.
"I see," Kyle said with a smile, "It's the end of the term, and most people don't have much money left. If we price it too high, they might want to buy it but won't be able to afford it.
And this time, we're targeting not just first-year freshmen but the entire school, which is several times more than before, so five Sickles is enough. Consider it a friendly gesture."
Everyone automatically ignored Kyle's last sentence. If they remembered correctly, he had said something similar when he sold the maps.
Five Sickles for friendship, what about the other two types then...
Fred and George remained silent, their heads bowed. The twigs in their hands seemed to have transformed into gold Galleons, and their task was to carve these Galleons out.
"By the way..." Kyle suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up, "For the ones made with the Replication Charm, remember to engrave the year at the end."
...
(End of Chapter)
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