Hogwarts: Please, Just Graduate Already!

Normally, the top student got up at six thirty every morning. After washing up, she read in the common room for an hour before going to eat.

Even in Gryffindor, only Percy could rival that kind of grind. Today, to promote the map, she deliberately stayed curled up in bed until everyone woke up.

Then they set off together.

Hermione's roommates paid no attention whatsoever to her unusual behavior. Sleeping in was perfectly normal, after all.

After breakfast, the group headed for the corridor.

Their first class was Charms class, and the classroom was on the fourth floor. The stairs here followed two different movement patterns, and only by watching for a while could they tell which one was in use that day.

Hermione knew her chance had come.

"No need to watch. I have an easier way."

Hermione cleared her throat, and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown both looked at her.

"What do you mean, Hermione?"

The little witch took out the map and lightly tapped it with her wand. The map appeared, and then she tapped the icon for the Charms classroom.

"Look, the next staircase coming over can take us straight up. It'll bring us close to the classroom."

Her roommates were all drawn in by the magical sight and leaned their heads closer.

"It's true! The movement paths of these stairs are exactly the same as in reality." "Hermione, where did this map come from?" "This? Wayne made it. Look."

The little witch was quite eloquent, and in just a few words, she introduced all the map's advantages.

Parvati and the others found it even more interesting now. They were no longer in a hurry to get to class and instead had Hermione use the map to guide them onto the stairs for testing.

It was breakfast time, and there were quite a few young wizards in the corridors.

Seeing their strange behavior, others curiously came over as well.

It was only when class was truly about to begin that Hermione grabbed her roommates and hurried off to the Charms classroom.

Since Hermione had arrived with her roommates today, Wayne could hardly sit with her, so he went to the other side of the classroom with his roommate Toby.

In class, Professor Flitwick explained the Mending Charm they would be learning that day, then let the students practice freely.

Taking the opportunity, Harry and Ron deliberately tossed a broken wooden stick at Hermione's feet and came over.

Harry asked quietly, "Hermione, does Wayne have any more maps like that?" Neville, sitting at the desk in front, turned around as well and looked at the little witch expectantly.

All of them struggled to get up in the morning and were absentminded besides. Being late was hardly a rare occurrence for them.

Neville especially needed a map like this more than anyone else at Hogwarts. The chubby boy looked at Hermione as if she were his savior.

Hermione said, "Yes. I bought this one."

Neville trembled with excitement. "That's great! I won't be late anymore." "That's assuming you remember to bring the map when you leave," Ron mocked, then asked the question he cared about most.

"How much does the map cost?" "Ten Galleons."

Ron's voice suddenly rose, and half the classroom heard him. "How much?!"

Professor Flitwick noticed the commotion and came over. "Gentlemen, this is class time. If you wish to chat, you may do so during the break. Weasley, what was that about?"

"N-Nothing." Ron lowered his head in panic, but Flitwick had already seen the map Hermione had taken out.

Hermione shot Ron a fierce glare and could only apologize. "Sorry, Professor. We won't talk about anything else again."

"Just be more careful next time." Flitwick nodded. "However, could you explain what this is?"

After Hermione demonstrated it, Flitwick's eyes lit up. "Tracking Charm, Marking Charm, hmm, and Concealment Charm, Solidified Rune, Anti-theft Charm... What a genius idea."

"Miss Granger, you said this was Mr. Lawrence's work?" "Yes, Professor."

"Good, very good." Flitwick's eyes held both gratification and regret. Why wasn't such a clever young wizard in Ravenclaw? "For this map alone, I'll award Hufflepuff twenty points. I can scarcely imagine that this is something a student who has only just enrolled could create."

Flitwick eagerly went to discuss the Charms used on the map with Wayne, leaving Harry and Ron dumbfounded.

Neville admired Wayne immensely as well and planned to buy a map as soon as class ended.

Ten Galleons was ten Galleons. He was not short on money.

Although Neville's grandmother was strict, she treated him very well. The Remembrall from before, for example, had been a very advanced Alchemy item.

At noon, as soon as Wayne sat down in the Great Hall, students came flooding in from all directions, noisily asking about the map.

Aside from Slytherin, students from every House were there.

Most were lower-year young wizards, though there were some upper-year students as well. Cho promoted it differently from Hermione. She had simply taken it out in the Ravenclaw common room for everyone to see, and after class just now, she had even specifically demonstrated its ability to mark Filch.

That made even more people interested.

Upper-year students especially had long been unable to resist sneaking out at night. Curfew began at nine, so how could these overly energetic young wizards possibly stay idle?

With the map, their safety was greatly improved.

Wayne had not expected the effect to be so good. Surrounded so tightly that not even water could pass through, he could only shout:

"Don't rush, everyone. Lunchtime is too short, and I didn't bring enough maps with me.

"If you need one, come to the side hall next to the Great Hall after classes this afternoon. I guarantee there'll be plenty in stock!"

Only after hearing Wayne say that did they leave in satisfaction. Cedric then came over with a shameless grin. "Godfather, give me a discount. Ten Galleons is too expensive." "Get lost!"

"Sure thing!"

At four in the afternoon, the side hall where the new students had waited before the Sorting had completely changed. A huge banner floated in the air.

Celia's Mysterious Shop Grand Opening!

Our slogan: Today is another day full of hope! Although no one understood what the slogan meant, they all found it impressive somehow and obediently paid with one hand while taking their goods with the other.

Of the three map versions, most people chose the Standard Edition. Having the stair movement paths was enough for them.

However, Wayne had explained before selling them that his craftsmanship was not refined enough, and the magic on each map could only last for one school year.

It would become invalid next semester.

His craftsmanship being lacking was true, but sustainability and planned depletion were necessary too.

He had calculated this rate of wear and deliberately designed it that way.

If he had not considered that young wizards had limited pocket money and could not spend too much on maps, he would absolutely have made them disposable items that broke once a month.

Wayne handled delivery, Cho collected the money, and Hermione kept the accounts.

The three of them worked for more than an hour before no one else came to buy maps. "Quick, count how much we made."

Hermione's cheeks were flushed with excitement. "I've been counting the whole time. One hundred and twenty Galleons, plus six hundred and fifty Sickles."

"Wayne, you're amazing! You made so much money in one afternoon!"

Cho looked at Wayne with admiration. Her yearly allowance was only twenty Galleons, and her parents' combined monthly wages were about the same amount. Wayne's one day of work equaled her living expenses for all seven years at Hogwarts. "That's not how you calculate it." Wayne shook his head, not as happy as the two girls. "I spent an entire week working on these maps, and the material costs money too. Most importantly, fewer and fewer people will buy our maps in the future."

"You're right." Hermione thought about it and realized that was indeed the case, but she was still delighted. She looked over the accounts and said excitedly:

"Not many Slytherins have come yet, and they're really rich. Of all the maps sold, only six went to Slytherin. But without exception, every one of them bought the Promax Edition. Besides them, only two people bought the most expensive version."

One was Harry, and the other was Neville.

After making so much money from those little Slytherin snakes, Hermione suddenly felt they were not quite so detestable.

For wealthy pure-bloods, money was not the issue. What they pursued was being able to show off their status and distinguish themselves from others.

Come on, time to split the money.

Wayne waved his hand and led the two little witches into an abandoned classroom.

More than a hundred Galleons and several hundred Sickles were poured onto the table, gold and silver light flashing everywhere.

Six hundred and fifty Sickles, let's convert that into forty Galleons to make the math easier. That's one hundred and sixty Galleons total. Here, twenty-four each. Put them away.

Wayne finished calculating quickly and pushed a small pile of gold coins toward each little witch. "Is it really appropriate for us to take so much?" Cho hesitated. "I really didn't help much."

"This was what we agreed on before. No backing out." Wayne left no room for argument and stuffed the money directly into their pockets.

"There'll be more products in the future, and I'll need your help then. I can't manage it all by myself."

Wayne truly did not care much about this money. His points were calculated according to an item's selling price.

As long as a young wizard spent one Galleon, five points immediately came in.

Seeing how resolute he was, Cho and Hermione looked at each other and could only accept helplessly. Slytherin common room.

First-year Blaise Zabini was showing off the map he had just bought. "See this? This map can display Filch's location. What's that stupid Squib doing wandering around on the third floor? He's like a headless fly."

A group of students gathered around him and found it quite interesting. "Zabini, where did you get that thing?"

"I bought it from Lawrence." Zabini raised his head proudly. "It wasn't expensive. Just ten Galleons."

"It really isn't expensive." The others present all nodded in agreement. Who knew whether they meant it or were merely putting on an act.

Even if they truly thought it was expensive, they could not show it now. They had to uphold the honor of pure-bloods.

"Hmph."

Watching Zabini surrounded by the crowd, Malfoy snorted, both envious and jealous.

That kind of treatment was something only he deserved. He, Malfoy, was the invisible prefect of the first years.

"What's he so smug about? He just spent a little money." Malfoy muttered curses. "And it's that Lawrence again."

Unlike his simple dislike of Harry, Malfoy's feelings toward Wayne were pure contempt and jealousy.

Born a Mudblood, yet far smarter than him, a pure-blood, and constantly praised by the professors.

Now he had come up with some stupid map and once again become the center of student discussions.

Even the young master of the Malfoy family did not receive such treatment. "Let's go!"

Malfoy stood up angrily.

Crabbe asked blankly, "Where are we going?" "To buy a map from Lawrence!"

Like Hufflepuff, the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons, though theirs was closer to the Black Lake.

To reach the Hufflepuff common room, they first had to go to the Great Hall before heading back down.

Before curfew began, Malfoy needed to hurry and buy a map too. Although he did not want to give Wayne money, if others had something, he had to have it as well.

Otherwise, what if people thought the Malfoy family had fallen into decline?

He found a Hufflepuff student and had him call Wayne out, then waited with his two lackeys.

Before long, Wayne came out.

Wayne had been chatting with Cedric in the common room. Cedric was very interested in the Revealing Charm on the map, and it was quite different from what he had learned.

Wayne had found this improved version in the Restricted Section. He did not keep it to himself and gave the spell to Cedric.

"Malfoy, did you need something from me?" "Yeah."

Malfoy was still as punchable as ever, lifting his chin. Unfortunately, he was shorter than Wayne and could only look up at him.

"Do you still have any of those maps you're selling? Give me one, the most expensive version." "The Promax Edition?"

Malfoy impatiently waved his hand. "The one that can mark Filch's location. Hurry up."

"Yes, of course. Wait here while I go get one for you."

After saying that, Wayne ducked back into the common room to get a map, returning five minutes later.

Seeing the map, Malfoy did not want to say another word to Wayne. He paid directly and prepared to leave.

Just then, Wayne's sneer came from behind him.

"So the Malfoy family is only this much after all. You can only use the same things as everyone else."

Malfoy: This Is What a Noble Should Be Like!

Conning a Worker