Creating Happiness with Care

With the double boost of the midnight duel and Malfoy's expulsion, Hermione Granger had thoroughly cemented her position as Gryffindor's Valkyrie.

With such a Hogwarts legend guarding the little shrine and collecting admission fees, Zhang San declared that any dragon had better coil up for him, and any tiger had better lie down.

As for Harry Potter? Zhang San sighed that the Boy Who Lived was too busy with official duties and could only regretfully suspend his work as the shrine's caretaker.

Why had Hermione accepted Zhang San's job offer? The reason was actually much the same as Ron's—she needed money.

Although Hogwarts provided food and lodging without charging tuition, that did not mean young wizards had nowhere to spend money. Hermione was a girl who loved reading and thinking, and putting her theories into practice required the support of Galleons.

In all of Hogwarts, aside from Zhang San's place, there was nowhere that seriously offered young wizards work-study opportunities. So no matter how many issues Hermione had with Zhang San, she could put up with them for the sake of Galleons.

Mr. Neville Longbottom had a far grander outlook. The Longbottom family did not lack money. He did not want wages and was even grateful to Zhang San for giving him an opportunity to cultivate flowers and plants.

At Zhang San's suggestion, Gryffindor's resident sword saint was preparing to focus deeply on Herbology. But Professor Sprout would never permit a young wizard to enter Hogwarts's greenhouses on his own—magical plants were quite dangerous, and a young wizard could easily walk in upright and be carried out lying down.

So it was not easy for Neville to build up his plant-growing skills. If Zhang San had not provided him with a "tailor-made" job, Longbottom could only have learned bit by bit from growing little potted plants. As the saying went:

Youth does not come twice, and a day has no second dawn. Seize the moment and strive, for time waits for no one.

Neville also hoped to start out on a higher platform. He was only slow, not stupid, and he knew what was good for him.

Though Harry Potter had regretfully taken an extended leave, he was still Zhang San's good brother. When the little shrine had first opened and was at its busiest, Harry had agreed to help without pay or complaint. Zhang San would always remember that friendship.

Besides, Harry Potter had only stepped away temporarily. Once Quidditch training eased up a little and his flying skills had fully matured, he would make a triumphant return. He still planned to work hard for Zhang San and accumulate as much incense power as possible to redeem his parents' souls from the underworld.

When the weekend arrived right on schedule, Zhang San's little shrine opened for business once more.

Hogwarts students who had been cooped up in the castle for a week surged toward the incense counter like zombies storming a city. The attendant had changed from Harry Potter to Gryffindor's goddess of war—Hermione Granger.

The previously noisy entrance instantly fell silent. The students obediently formed a line, handing over money with one hand and taking their goods with the other.

After leaving the incense counter and entering the little shrine, the young wizards expertly found a shrine hall that suited their fancy and followed the usual procedure of lighting and placing incense.

Amid curling incense smoke and swirling mist, the young wizards eagerly rushed into the entrance to the underground space behind the main hall. After selecting their favorite game consoles, they sat down, inserted coins, and began playing.

Because the little shrine had gained a new line of business, Ron had gone from being the bouncer to an attendant in the main area.

"Come take a look! Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is now open on the second basement level!"

"We've got Ton-Tongue Toffee, Fainting Fancies, Nosebleed Nougat, Puking Pastilles, Exploding Bonbons... Whether you eat them yourself or use them to prank your classmates, they're safe and reliable!"

"If you want to add some festive cheer to a holiday party, Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs are your best choice. Custom magical fireworks that can't be extinguished with spells—light them in class, and even the professors can only sigh helplessly."

"On top of that, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes also sells magical items from the East... Don't miss out as you pass by!"

Before starting work, Ron had specially learned the Sonorus Charm from Percy. The moment he opened his mouth, everyone in the room turned to look at him.

The young wizards buzzed with discussion over the opening of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. If it had been a stationery shop, they might have dismissed it with disdain. But it was a prank toy shop, so they naturally had to check it out.

The flagship products in the joke shop were, of course, the signature toys invented by the Weasley Twins. But the two brothers could not possibly fill an entire store's counters by crafting everything themselves, so they also acted as middlemen, buying standard goods wholesale from toy manufacturers and reselling them.

Hogwarts's school rules were extremely favorable to their "campus convenience store." Only third-years and above could visit Hogsmeade on weekends, leaving the untapped market of first- and second-years entirely in the hands of Zhang San's little shrine.

As long as Hogwarts's rules remained unchanged, the little shrine's "campus convenience store" would never lack customers.

The goods at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes were particularly varied. Aside from small toys, they also sold snack foods and non-alcoholic drinks.

Young wizards could suffer rather serious consequences from drinking alcohol, so Zhang San's place could only sell non-alcoholic beverages.

The best-selling drink was bubble tea, which had just been developed and had not yet taken the world by storm. With its wide range of flavors and chewy toppings, it won the young wizards' hearts the moment it was introduced.

A cup of bubble tea cost one silver Sickle, exactly half the price of Butterbeer. In the magical beverage market, that was already a very reasonable price.

Though a cup of bubble tea sold for only one silver Sickle, its profit margin was still quite impressive.

The main ingredients of bubble tea were black tea, fresh milk, sugar, and the crucial tapioca pearls. None of those ingredients was expensive, yet once combined into bubble tea, they could be sold at the high price of one silver Sickle.

Because bubble tea sales were so booming, Ron was practically about to dislocate his arm from shaking drinks and still could not keep up with the young wizards' orders. Left with no choice, Zhang San recruited several temporary workers to help Ron shake the tea.

Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown, all Gryffindor students, were invited by Zhang San to help out.

Drawn by the call of Galleons, the students earnestly began learning how to make bubble tea.

There was really nothing much to learn—just mix the powdered ingredients, hot milk, and pearls together, then shake hard. The most labor-intensive part was simply shaking the tea evenly.

Zhang San could have used the Levitation Charm to shake the tea himself, but as the boss, there was no need for him to handle every little task personally. Money could never be earned in full, and Zhang San was not short on money anyway. His frenzied harvesting of the young wizards' pockets was purely for his own amusement.

His cultivation required him to absorb intense emotions from the outside world. In theory, happiness and joy were also intense emotions, and they were part of Zhang San's "diet."

Although positive emotions did not raise one's cultivation as fiercely as negative emotions, they also had far less impact on the soul.

So when given a choice, Zhang San preferred to create more happiness for the young wizards. While creating happiness through wages, he also caused anxiety among all the young wizards whose pocket-money balances were running low. It was like getting two meals from one fish.