A Big Deal

During the second week of the Easter holiday, Kyle continued his usual routine, leaving the common room after breakfast every day and not returning until evening.

But instead of going to the library or the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor, he spent the entire day in an abandoned classroom on the third floor of the castle.

And he wasn't the only one; there were also Fred George from Gryffindor, Cho Chang from Ravenclaw, as well as Kanna and Cedric in the classroom.

There were six people in total, working busily in this small classroom.

"Kyle, come and take a look at this pattern, is it correct?" Cho Chang put down the knife in his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "I feel like something's not quite right."

"It doesn't matter, a few minor flaws are fine," Kyle said without looking up. "Anyway, no one will notice, as long as the general idea is there."

Kyle held a small knife in his left hand and a twig in his right.

--The branches of the Yamanashi tree, those brought back from the Forbidden Forest.

Kyle first removed the bark and excess material, then skillfully used his knife to carve irregular lines on it.

Soon, an oval-shaped wooden pendant was completed, with a cross of a magic wand and a quill engraved on its surface.

Beside him, there were many similar pendants, some oval, some triangular, and some square.

The other five, like Kyle, went straight from wizards to carpenters, busily working on the branches.

Around noon, Fred dusted off the sawdust from his clothes, looked at his morning's "work," and couldn't help but frown, saying, "Kyle, can we really sell any of this stuff we made?"

Upon hearing this, the others also looked up at Kyle.

Kyle summoned them here a couple of days ago, saying he was going to pull off a big job.

Having had a successful experience selling maps before, they were quite excited at first and didn't have any doubts. They cooperated very well and followed Kyle's instructions.

Unexpectedly, Kyle led them to whittle wood for two days straight, without allowing them to use magic; it had to be done entirely by hand.

This left the group somewhat confused.

"It should be possible."

Kyle thought for a moment and said, "Hillbilly amulets are quite popular in the Wizarding World."

"Wait... we made amulets?" George asked incredulously.

The main problem was that they had no prior experience as carpenters. While their carvings weren't exactly ugly, they weren't exactly beautiful either, and the shapes were all sorts of bizarre.

Even he wouldn't dare to lie and say that such a poorly made item is a talisman.

"What you and Fred made is just a lump of wood," Kyle said. "But it'll be different once Kanna and the others carve patterns into it."

The group exchanged bewildered glances, expressing doubt about Kyle's words.

Unless these patterns are some special magical symbols, such as Ancient Runes, even if you carve a hundred of them, they'll still just be wooden blocks.

"Speaking of which..." Cedric couldn't help but ask, "What kind of pattern is this? I've never seen it before."

"That signifies passing the exam; it can also be interpreted as passing every exam."

Kyle thought for a moment and explained, "At the Wizarding Conference in 1790, the Act establishing the Wizarding Examinations Authority was officially passed. In the same year, Hogwarts held its first NEWTs exam."

At that time, every young wizard who passed the exam would receive a special letter from the Ministry of Magic, with an image of a quill and a wand crossed on the envelope.

Later, this pattern became a symbol of passing the exam. At that time, many graduating students would draw this pattern and carry it with them before the exam for good luck.

However, after Professor Marchbanks became the head of the examination board, this design was removed and replaced with a very ordinary envelope.

Fred and the others stared at Kyle in disbelief, instinctively asking, "1790? That's two hundred years ago! How do you know all this?"

"Read a book."

Kyle shrugged and said nonchalantly, "If you'd read <Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History>, you wouldn't be so surprised."

Reading a book... then that's fine.

Fred and George both turned their heads away and gave Kyle a thumbs up.

The book "Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History" is so big and thick that you could use it as a shield. It's fine to flip through a couple of pages when you have nothing to do and look at the parts that interest you, but it's too much to ask them to finish reading it.

And let alone Fred and George, even Cedric hasn't finished watching it.

However, that's not the main point.

After this explanation, they understood what Kyle meant.

Although these items made of sapwood are not real amulets, their allure is undeniable.

Especially at this time of year.

Even Fred and George were somewhat tempted.

If someone had been selling this thing before last year's final exams, they might actually have bought it.

"But Kyle, can't we use Gemino Curse?" Cho Chang asked doubtfully. "Like the map we used before, that would be so much easier."

"Of course, but that comes at a different price."

Kyle shook his finger. "I'm planning to make three tiers of products this time: high-end custom-made with ten Galleon, purely handmade... which is what we're doing now with two Galleon; and finally, a one-off mass-produced product, five Sickle."

"So cheap?" Cho Chang asked, somewhat puzzled.

Keep in mind that a map costs ten Sickle. Both are replicas, but replicating sculptures is much more complicated than replicating maps.

Before Kyle could explain, Cedric, who was standing next to him, seemed to have thought of something and turned to ask, "How much allowance do you have left?"

"Pocket money?" Cho Chang thought for a moment and said, "I spent quite a bit recently, and now I probably only have about one Galleon left..."

Suddenly, she paused, a look of realization crossing her face.

"Do you understand now?"

Kyle laughed and said, "It's the end of the semester now, 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."

Moreover, this time we're not just targeting first-year students, but the entire school—several times more than before. So five of Sickle be enough; consider it making friends."

Everyone automatically ignored Kyle's last sentence; if they remembered correctly, he said the same thing when he sold the map.

The fifth Sickle making friends, but what about the other two...?

Fred and George lowered their heads in silence, the branches in their hands seemingly transforming into the shape of Galleon, and all they had to do was Galleon them out.

"Oh, right..." Kyle seemed to suddenly remember something and said, "For those not made with the Gemino Curse, remember to engrave the year at the end."