Transaction (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendation)

Professor McGonagall did not stay long, returning to her office shortly after.

No sooner had she stepped out of the Great Hall than the Hufflepuff badgers began to let loose, the once-quiet dining tables instantly transforming into a bustling, noisy marketplace.

They huddled together in twos and threes, mimicking the pathetic expressions the Weasley brothers had worn just moments ago, then laughed so hard they slapped the tables.

Even Kanna, usually shy and introverted, kept her head down with her small shoulders shaking; clearly, she couldn't hold it in either.

Kyle was left dumbfounded.

Good heavens, they were all born actors. If anyone ever told him again that Hufflepuffs were all honest, simple-minded kids, Kyle would definitely give them a solid slap to wake them up.

Himself excluded, of course.

After lunch, the young wizards began to leave the Great Hall one after another, but Kyle was intercepted at the entrance yet again.

This time, however, it wasn't the Weasleys, but a familiar-looking Asian girl.

"Hello, I'm Cho Chang from Ravenclaw. Could I take a moment of your time?"

Cho extended her hand in a poised, generous manner.

"Kyle Chopper."

Kyle reached out as well, their hands touching briefly before parting.

He subconsciously glanced at Cedric afterward, but the other boy showed no reaction, simply offering a brief introduction before standing aside to wait for Kyle.

Just as he had done when they encountered the Weasley brothers earlier.

Then again, they probably didn't know each other yet, and Cho was only eleven; no matter what, Cedric wouldn't be making a move on her at this stage.

Azkaban didn't have an age limit, after all.

Kyle shook his head with a wry smile and turned to Cho. "Is there something you need?"

"I'd like to copy that map of yours, if that's alright?" Cho said. "I can pay for it."

"The map?"

Kyle looked toward Cedric, as if asking for his opinion.

Cedric understood, but lacking the skill of silent communication, he could only shrug, indicating that the map had nothing to do with him and that Kyle should handle it as he saw fit.

Tsk, a model student is a model student—can't even communicate with his eyes.

Weakling.

Kyle mocked the "unlearned" Cedric in his heart, though his expression remained unchanged.

"No need to pay." Kyle took out the map and handed it to Cho. "After all, you helped Ryan and Mikel earlier. They're my roommates, so consider this a token of thanks."

"Oh, so they're your roommates?"

Prompted by Kyle, Cho recalled the two first-years she'd met that morning. She took the map and said with a smile, "I have to say, your roommates are quite unique. They managed to miss every single correct staircase perfectly."

"Really, I watched from the side for five minutes, and they didn't get it right once. They just kept circling the same three wrong staircases."

As she spoke, Cho couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle. "Sorry, I don't mean to mock them; I just thought it was... well, magical."

Kyle blushed, not daring to continue the topic. He pointed stiffly at the map and said, "The routes on here are all related to the Hufflepuff common room, so they might not be of much use to a Ravenclaw."

"That doesn't matter," Cho shook her head. "As long as I know the specific location of the classrooms, the routes are much easier to find. Gemino."

Although her wand movement was a bit stiff, she successfully duplicated the map.

"Phew, thank goodness. I thought I was going to make a fool of myself." Cho returned the original map to Kyle, looking quite pleased with herself. "I kept failing when I practiced earlier, I didn't expect to succeed on the first try this time."

She knew she might embarrass herself and still tried it anyway? Were all Ravenclaws this competitive?

If this were Ryan... well, no need to imagine; Ryan had been pestering Kyle since lunch, complaining that he didn't want to copy the map by hand anymore and wanted a duplicate too.

Look at that—that's the difference.

And most Hufflepuff first-years were just like that.

Before he arrived, Cedric, the undisputed top student in the second year, was probably the only Hufflepuff worth showing off as a face for the house.

Kyle had reason to suspect that during the Sorting last year, Professor Sprout might have bribed the Sorting Hat.

Or perhaps she bribed it with herbs.

But speaking of Cedric...

Kyle watched Cho, who was beaming at the map, and asked casually, "Do you have any similar maps in Ravenclaw?"

Cho thought for a moment. "Maybe, but I haven't seen one."

"I see. Actually, I hadn't seen one before either; Cedric gave this one to me." Kyle deliberately glanced at the boy beside him before continuing, "Besides you, do any other Ravenclaw first-years need a map like this?"

Hm?

Cho seemed to guess Kyle's intention and probed, "Are you thinking of selling them to the others?"

"That's right, I do have that idea." Kyle didn't hide it, stating directly, "What do you think? Is it feasible?"

"It's feasible, but the price shouldn't be too high." Qiu held out both hands. "Ten Sickles is the highest price I can accept. If it goes over that amount, even by a single Knut, I won't buy it, and I imagine the other first-years feel the same."

"That's fine, ten Sickles it is." Kyle said nonchalantly, "It doesn't take much effort anyway, I'll just treat it as earning some pocket money."

"Then you two had better hurry." Qiu reminded him, "For Ravenclaw, this map is only valuable in the week before school starts. Plus, the longer it takes, the lower the price will be; if it were tomorrow, it would probably only be worth nine Sickles."

"That's enough." Kyle smiled, then reached out a hand to Qiu. "Interested in getting involved? I'll be responsible for providing the maps, and you handle the promotion and the actual transactions. As for the profits... we'll split them fifty-fifty."

Qiu was a bit surprised, but she quickly reacted, shaking Kyle's hand as she said, "Of course, I'm very interested."

Qiu did a quick calculation: there were 16 first-years in Ravenclaw in total, which meant 15 excluding herself. Even if only a third of them bought the map, she would still earn 25 Sickles.

For a first-year student like her, this was already a significant sum of money, and she certainly didn't want to miss out.

Besides, it was just a matter of running a few errands and saying a few words, which was as simple as could be for her.

Kyle nodded and said, "Then it's settled. I'll leave the Ravenclaw side to you."

"No problem, I'll head back now. There should be plenty of first-years in the common room at this hour."

Since it concerned her own pocket money, Qiu was naturally very eager. After saying goodbye to the two of them, she hurried off toward the Ravenclaw tower.