August 8th.
Cedric took the early Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron in London.
He's fine with Floo Powder, but he doesn't like getting his clothes dirty.
He's going to do something big today.
Buy a mobile phone!
As a prominent figure at Hogwarts, Cedric is handsome, Quiet, humble, academically excellent, and easy-going. Almost no one knows that this fair and upright Hufflepuff actually has a strong sense of curiosity.
He lived in the Ottery St Catchpole, not far from the Weasley family. In previous summers, the Weasley Twins would often invite him to practice hitting and defense, but this summer, he had hardly seen the Weasley Twins out.
You might run into Ron occasionally.
" Ron, you're chasing Gnome again," Cedric said deliberately as he passed by. "Where are Fred and George? I haven't seen them around lately."
"They're researching legitimate magical gadgets," Ron said with a sour face. "My dad first had them help assemble parts for Magic Mobile Phone, saying they could earn pocket money that way... I suspect they did it on purpose. I only messed up a few times in a row, and they wouldn't let me participate anymore. Now I'm doing all the work of Gnome and feeding the chickens by myself."
Cedric knew about the Magic Mobile Phone, but he didn't know that the Weasley family were also involved in its creation.
Ron was still grumbling on and on. "I thought our family would become rich, but you know what? My dad wants to build a flying airplane—airplanes can fly, after all! I just can't understand why Mom would support Dad wasting money on that, but won't let me buy Magic Mobile Phone."
Cedric also paid attention to the recent Magic Mobile Phone explosion incident, and even Nick Flamel praised the Magic Mobile Phone as a great creation.
Cedric is the only son in his family, and his parents are always proud of him. He has been saving his allowance, and it seems it's time to put it to use.
He wants to buy a Magic Mobile Phone.
The news of the Magic Mobile Phone's first anniversary celebration on August 8th had spread throughout the Wizarding World long before, and even his own father had mentioned it many times at the dinner table. Cedric got up especially early, afraid that he might miss something.
But he found that he was still a little late.
He had never seen so many wizards gathered in the Leaky Cauldron; they practically filled every seat.
Are you here to buy Magic Mobile Phone too?
"Yeah, we arrived two days early and stayed at the Leaky Cauldron. We only slept in two minutes today, Diagon Alley was already packed."
"I'm really worried about what would happen if Death Eaters came and caused trouble. Would they harm innocent customers?"
"I've been practicing the Diffindo for two or three years now. Whoever gets in front of me, I'll beat them."
"... livestock."
Cedric looked around in shock, now hesitant, even considering whether to turn back.
"Child, do you know where the Magic Mobile Phone Official Flagship Store is?" an old woman asked Cedric. "The last time I was in Diagon Alley was seven years ago."
A Kneazle perched on the old woman's shoulder. She looked to be about fifty years old, with a kind and gentle face.
Cedric agreed without hesitation, "I don't know the exact location either, but I can take you there."
The young and old duo have officially teamed up to venture into Diagon Alley.
Cedric was still trying to recall the order in which he should knock down the bricks, but he found that he didn't need to at all. He only needed to stand in front of the wall for two or three seconds, and someone would immediately impatiently step forward to clear a path behind him.
It was back-to-school shopping season, Diagon Alley was already packed with people. With the Magic Mobile Phone Shop's first anniversary celebration added to the mix, Cedric and the old woman practically clung to the edge of the shop.
The Magic Mobile Phone has actually been in the public eye for a while, but with fewer than 300 units sold per month, even some enthusiastic people have become conservative – no one wants to stand in long lines for a product they haven't even tried yet, and there's even the risk of not being able to buy it and making a wasted trip.
But this year's anniversary sale is different. The Magic Mobile Phone store made a bold statement in the newspaper, promising that everyone on the street could buy Magic Mobile Phone.
Cedric felt that the Magic Mobile Phone Shop was going to break its promise.
Based on the current density, there are at least several thousand people on this street, not to mention the wizards in the Leaky Cauldron and those who haven't yet used Floo Powder to teleport over.
"We may have to leave disappointed," Cedric comforted the old woman who was holding his arm.
At that moment, Lorne wiped the sweat from his forehead, realizing he was about to break his promise.
" Quirrell, how much stock do we have?"
"Around three thousand," Quirrell replied, frowning. "Right now, that's enough to cover everyone on the street, but it can't keep up with the constant influx of new users."
Lorne knew he couldn't afford to use scarcity marketing tactics repeatedly, as it would only damage his public image.
"Add a gift and redemption code component when buying the Magic Mobile Phone," Lorne immediately suggested. "Make the buying process a bit more complicated and time-consuming. Even with a large number of people, the time allotted for the day is fixed. As long as we control the pace, we won't run out of stock and damage our reputation."
"Also, have Dobby and his carriage procession run several times, taking up as much of everyone's time as possible."
Lorne doesn't plan to have Quirrell and Sains organize the anniversary event separately this year, because there simply aren't enough people. The two of them will need to open two stalls and greet customers together.
As for the updates to game events, the new features of the Cuckoo Messaging, and the promotion of the new game project, all of these were put on Lorne's shoulders. He prepared a carriage that was very similar to the one in The Wizard Legend, and he stood on the roof of the carriage to give lectures. Dobby could even pretend to be Yaoyao inside the carriage.
Lorne sighed, realizing he needed to recruit at least a dozen or twenty of this year's graduates to be his employees!
However, there are advantages to having only two people selling phones. He can use the excuse of insufficient staff to cover up the fact that the stock of Magic Mobile Phone is still not enough. After all, apart from himself, he has already sent all his employees to open stalls to sell phones.
However, those who fail to purchase the Magic Mobile Phone will ultimately be greatly disappointed, and Lorne has prepared a backup plan—a membership card.
Due to the lack of legal counsel and relevant qualifications, the membership card cannot currently be used for savings; the membership card launched this time has only one function.
Record the address, and we'll deliver to your door within a month.
Lorne currently has over seven thousand system points, and he believes he can complete the task after today's anniversary event ends. After completing the task and receiving the rewards, he can simply use all his points to buy the Magic Mobile Phone in the system shop. In addition, the Weasley family has been working overtime to add more people to manufacture it, so he doesn't believe they can't fill the gap.
" Dobby, let's go."
Having figured things out, Lorne had no other concerns. He stood on the roof of the carriage and solemnly called out.
"Don't call me 'Dobby,' drive Yaoyao's car. From now on, Dobby will only sing Yaoyao's songs."
Lorne mentally gave Dobby a thumbs up. Great, no out-of-character moments.