Chapter 94: A Big Deal
Chapter 94: A Big Deal
During the second week of the Easter break, Kyle maintained his usual routine, 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.
And he wasn't alone; in the classroom were Gryffindor's Kyle, Ravenclaw's Qiu Zhang, and Hufflepuff's Conna and Cedric, a total of six people.
All six of them were busy as bees in the relatively small classroom.
"Kyle, take a look at this pattern, is it right?" Qiu Zhang put down the knife in his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I feel like something is off."
"It doesn't matter. A little imperfection is fine." Kyle said without looking up: "Anyway, no one can tell the difference. As long as it's roughly that meaning."
Kyle held a small knife in his left hand and a branch in his right.
— A pear tree branch, the very ones brought back from the Forbidden Forest.
Kyle first peeled off the bark and trimmed the excess, then skillfully carved irregular patterns onto it with his knife.
Soon, a pearwood amulet was completed, with a wand and quill crossing each other on its surface.
Beside him, there were many similar amulets, some oval-shaped, and others triangular and square.
The other five had also transformed from wizards into carpenters, toiling away at the branches.
As noon approached, Fred patted the wood shavings off his clothes and looked at his morning's "labor" with a frown. "Kyle, do you think we can really sell these things?"
The others also looked up at Kyle upon hearing this.
They had been called here by Kyle, who said they were going to make a big deal.
With the previous success of selling maps, they were initially excited and didn't question it, readily following Kyle's instructions.
But they never expected Kyle to have them whittle wood for two days, and not even allow the use of magic, relying solely on manual labor.
This left them a bit perplexed.
"It should be possible."
Kyle thought for a moment and said, "Pearwood amulets are quite popular in the magical world."
"Wait... are we making amulets?" George asked incredulously.
The main reason was that they had no prior experience as carpenters. The carvings, while not ugly, were not particularly attractive either, and the shapes were even more bizarre.
Even he couldn't bring himself to say that these crudely made items were amulets.
"You and Fred are just making wooden lumps." Kyle said: "But once Conna and the others carve patterns on them, they'll be different."
The others exchanged glances, expressing skepticism about Kyle's words.
Unless these patterns were some special magical symbols, like ancient Runic script or something, even if they carved a hundred of them, they'd still just be wooden lumps.
"Speaking of this..." Cedric couldn't help but ask: "What pattern is this? I've never seen it before."
"That represents the symbol of passing an exam, or you can understand it as 'pass every exam'."
Kyle thought for a moment and explained: "In 1790, at the Wizarding Congress, the bill to establish the Wizard Examination Bureau was officially passed. That same year, Hogwarts conducted its first N.E.W.T.s exams.
At that time, young wizards who passed the exams would receive a special letter from the Ministry of Magic, and the envelope was printed with the image of a quill and wand crossing each other.
Later, this pattern became the symbol of passing the exam. At the time, many graduating students would draw this pattern and carry it with them before the exam for good luck.
However, after Professor Machin became the head of the Examination Bureau, this pattern was removed and replaced with a regular envelope.
Fred and the others stared at Kyle, asking subconsciously, "1790, that was two hundred years ago, right? How do you know all this?"
"From reading books."
Kyle shrugged and said calmly, "If you've read 'Hogwarts: A History,' you wouldn't be so surprised."
Reading books... That's fine.
Fred and George both turned away and gave Kyle a thumbs-up.
The book 'Hogwarts: A History' is large and thick; you could even use it as a shield. When they had free time, they would flip through a couple of pages and read the parts they were interested in, but it would be too much to ask them to finish the whole book.
Not to mention Fred and George, even Cedric had never finished reading it.
But that wasn't the point.
After this explanation, they understood what Kyle meant.
Although these pearwood items were not real amulets, it was undeniable that they were very attractive.
Read the error-free version at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+Book_Bar, the first release of this novel.
Especially at this time.
Even Fred and George were a little tempted.
If someone had sold this item before last year's final exams, they might have actually paid for it.
"But Kyle, can't we use the Replication Charm?" Qiu Zhang asked in confusion. "Just like the map before, that would be so much more convenient."
"Of course, but that's a different price."
Kyle shook his finger, "This time, I plan to make three levels of products: custom-made for 10 Galleons, pure handmade... which is the kind we're making now for 2 Galleons, and finally, disposable mass-produced products for 5 Sickles."
"So cheap?" Qiu Zhang was a little puzzled.
You should know that a map costs 10 Sickles, and although they are both replicas, it's much more complicated to replicate sculptures than maps.
Before Kyle could explain, Cedric beside him seemed to think of something and turned to ask, "How much pocket money do you have left?"
"Pocket money?" Qiu Zhang thought for a moment and said, "I spent quite a bit recently, and now I have about 1 Galleon left..."
Suddenly, her voice paused, and her face showed a hint of realization.
"Do you understand now?"
Kyle smiled and said, "It's the end of the semester, and most people don't have much money left. If the price is too high, they won't be able to afford it even if they want to buy it.
And this time, we're targeting not just first-year freshmen but the entire school. The quantity is several times more than before, so 5 Sickles is enough. Consider it a gesture of friendship."
Everyone automatically ignored Kyle's last sentence. If they remembered correctly, he had said the same thing when he sold the map.
5 Sickles for friendship, what about the other two?
Fred and George lowered their heads without saying a word. The branches in their hands seemed to have transformed into the shape of Galleons, and what they had to do was to deduct these Galleons.
"By the way..." At this moment, Kyle seemed to have suddenly thought of something and said, "For the ones not made with the Replication Charm, remember to engrave the year at the end."
...
(End of Chapter)
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