I Have a Path (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendation)

Kyle was not a man to dawdle. Once he had an idea, he told Kanna to head back to the dormitory first, while he immediately made a trip to the Gryffindor tower.

Unfortunately, after arriving, he discovered that Percy was not in his dormitory, and after asking around, no one knew where he had gone.

With no other choice, the matter had to be shelved for the time being.

One could only say that Scabbers simply didn't have the luck for it.

When Kyle returned to the Hufflepuff common room, Kanna was curled up on a sofa in the furthest corner, clutching her rat and looking nervously at the windowsill opposite.

There, a massive owl was glaring viciously at the rat in her hands, smacking its beak from time to time.

Ladon had never seen such a plump rat before; its fur was sleek and oily, and its body was well-fed. In an owl's eyes, this was the finest grade of food, and it was feeling a bit greedy.

Of course, it also knew that the rat was the little witch's pet and certainly couldn't be eaten, so it was just satisfying its eyes.

But the problem was that Kanna didn't know what it was thinking. By the time Kyle walked over, the little witch was clutching the hem of her robe, her face pale and visible beads of sweat on her forehead.

Honestly, she hadn't been this nervous even when she discovered her gold Galleons had gone missing.

It wasn't until Kyle distracted Ladon with a piece of dried Murtlap meat that the color finally returned to Kanna's face.

Kyle walked over and spread his hands, saying, "I couldn't find Percy; he isn't in the Gryffindor tower."

"Mm."

Kanna didn't think too much about it. In her view, other field mice were ugly, and Pochi certainly wouldn't like them; otherwise, it wouldn't have spent all its time playing with the hamster.

The main thing was that Kyle had run off so quickly that he hadn't given her a chance to refuse.

This result was for the best.

Kanna sent Pochi back to the dormitory. When she came back out, she felt much more relaxed, even baring her teeth at Ladon in retaliation.

Ladon flapped its wings and flew out the window, but before leaving, it specifically glanced back at her, as if looking at an idiot.

This infuriated the little witch.

"Why are you getting angry at it?" Kyle shook his head with a chuckle, then placed ten Galleons on the table.

"I don't want them!"

Before Kyle could even speak, Kanna shook her head firmly and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but I really don't need them."

"But it's still a long way until Christmas," Kyle frowned. "Even if you don't have to worry about food, what about parchment and ink? These things cost Galleons; you can't just not buy them.

Or did you bring enough supplies before school started?"

At Hogwarts, the consumption of parchment and ink was quite high. The amounts required on the admission list were nowhere near enough, and they would run out in a month at most.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, young wizards would ask the prefects to bring some back when they went to Hogsmeade.

Although it wasn't expensive—just a few Sickles—it still cost money, and no one would give you anything for free.

"I..." Kanna fell silent. Clearly, Kyle's words had reminded her that even at Hogwarts, it wasn't possible to get by without a single Knut.

Even so, she still shook her head and said, "I will find a way."

Kyle tried to persuade her a few more times, using both facts and logic, but on this point, Kanna was unexpectedly stubborn. Aside from medicine for her rat, she refused everything else.

She even turned down the parchment Kyle offered her.

"You really are good to that rat."

Kyle rubbed his forehead and suddenly asked, "By the way, do you know any of the Slytherin first-years?"

Kanna thought for a moment and said, "I suppose I do. A few years ago, I met Rowle and Yaxley at a banquet. They are both in Slytherin and are in the first year as well.

But I don't know if they still remember me, because I haven't attended that kind of banquet in a long time."

"That's fine, just having an impression is enough." Kyle pondered for a moment before saying, "Kanna, do you want to earn your own Galleons?"

"Earn... my own Galleons?" Kanna didn't seem to have reacted yet.

"Yes, earn them yourself, just like the adults do."

Kyle tapped the tabletop with his finger and said, "I have a path here at Hogwarts. Although it might be a bit difficult for you, the profit is high. Once it's done, you won't have to worry about things like parchment anymore, and you'll even be able to buy plenty of snacks.

How about it? Do you want to try?"

Kanna didn't speak, but she was clearly tempted.

She had previously thought about doing homework for others in exchange for parchment and ink, but she always felt guilty doing such things and was afraid of being caught by the professors.

Now that Kyle said there was another way, she wanted to try.

Kyle didn't keep her in suspense and continued, "Remember the map Cedric gave you yesterday?"

Kanna nodded and said, "Mm, I remember."

After the flying lesson yesterday, that second-year Cedric had given each of them a map of Hogwarts, and she had a deep impression of that.

She had also heard that the Ravenclaws had such maps too, but they had to pay for them.

"That's the one." Kyle slapped the gold-rimmed map Cedric had left him onto the table and said, "This is the Slytherin version, but we currently lack a middleman to sell these to them.

Do you want to give it a try? Five Galleons each, and we'll split the final profit fifty-fifty."

"Five Galleons?!" Kanna looked at Kyle in disbelief, her expression exactly the same as Ladon's just a moment ago.

How could these few maps possibly be worth three Galleons? That's far too expensive; how could anyone ever buy them?

"The ones from Ravenclaw are only a dozen Sickles or so," Kanna whispered.

"These are limited-edition gold-rimmed versions, not like those common goods," Kyle raised an eyebrow and said. "We used the finest materials and craftsmanship, hand-made every single one, and it took us three full days to produce just ten copies—not a single one more."

"Just think about it: out of the hundreds of people at Hogwarts, only ten can own this limited-edition map. It's a symbol of status and prestige. Doesn't that make it worth five Galleons?"

"..."

Kanna felt a bit dizzy, but after hearing Kyle put it that way, five Galleons actually seemed quite reasonable.

She pondered for a moment before saying, "But school has already been in session for three days, and all the classes have already been held. Can these maps really be sold?"

"You don't need to worry about that," Kyle said calmly. "Hogwarts doesn't just have classrooms; there are also the library, the hospital wing, professors' offices, and other such places. The first-years have no idea where those are."

"And don't forget that the staircases in the main building change. Who knows where they'll move to the next day? What if it's a path you've never taken before?"

"Waiting in place certainly won't work—that's a waste of time—but walking blindly makes it easy to get lost. No matter what they choose, they're bound to be late."

"That is when the importance of the map becomes clear, especially a map that marks the patterns of most of the staircase changes."

"So, rest assured, someone will definitely buy them."