Swinging a sledgehammer isn't swinging a wand. A simple conclusion, but not obvious, strangely enough. My arm hummed and ached. It seemed to be vibrating even now, and my hearing, my hearing! What happened to me?! Concussion, no less. The ringing in my ears had no intention of passing, and even the life energy "running through my veins" seemed to have resigned its commission.
I'm exaggerating, of course, but it was only ten minutes later, during which I collected and put the blanks into my backpack, that everything returned to relative normalcy.
Leaving the room, I was slightly surprised by the noise, and reaching the common room, I was surprised even more. It was already getting dark outside, and there were quite a few people in the common room itself. Strange that I wasn't disturbed. Although, I think Zacharias said that personal nooks are well protected from noise, and this protection is bypassed only by words intended for the owner of the nook. This works only with tightly drawn curtains. But then a logical question arises — why don't the guys close them at night? Because then they would be protected from my attempts to wake them, which, by the way, I no longer undertake. Maybe someone opens them in the morning?
Seeing Cedric on the sofa in the company of peers, I headed towards them.
"Hi everyone," I waved my hand.
"Oh, hello, rising star," everyone present greeted me joyfully.
"Star?"
"But of course," Cedric shrugged, smiling. "I'll say right away, it wasn't me who blabbed everything to everyone, but Herbert."
"What is 'everything'?"
"That you are now on our team as a Chaser, and potentially a Seeker."
"Aaaah, I see," I smiled. "Cedric, I need a word, can I have a minute?"
"Of course," he nodded, getting up, and turned to his group. "I'll be right back."
We stepped into a secluded corner of the common room, and the Prefect waved his wand in the air, causing the air around us to ripple.
"So we aren't overheard. Household charms, fourth year," he explained, seeing my curiosity. "There are other options, but this is simple and effective. Did something happen?"
"Here," I handed Cedric one of the amulet droplets.
"What is this?" the Prefect took the item in his hands without fear, and immediately understood everything. "Oh, wow! You're quite something."
Cedric examined the results of my labors with interest for about a minute.
"This would go for three Galleons, no problem. Did you make it yourself?"
"Strictly between us."
Cedric looked at me with a sly smile.
"You noticed that I work like a damned man for my reputation, right? I'd make a fine authority figure if I blabbed left and right."
"I get it, I get it. We play factions, war games, alliances, and other nonsense here at Hogwarts."
"That's true," Cedric smiled much wider. "Both my father and his friends, all said in one voice that Hogwarts is a small world, mimicking life outside a bit. Here, even contracts made and so on need to be confirmed after leaving school, or they become invalid."
"Really?"
"There are many different charms and taboos on Hogwarts regulating student life. After all, the Founders wanted to make a school, not a branch of Hell in the mountains of Scotland. And considering those times, morals, and constant feuds, skirmishes, and conflicts, there's nothing to be surprised about. Anyway, to the point. So you showed me a working amulet... Um, a pendant — I think that's better. What next?"
"Simple," I smiled. "I can stamp these out for every student if I wanted."
"Now it gets interesting."
"I need to sell them."
"So sell them," Cedric shrugged, but expectation was readable in his gaze.
"I'm Muggle-born, Cedric. And you understand perfectly well that a large part of the market will be inaccessible to me simply because of others' prejudices."
A group of students walked past, but they were clearly looking for Cedric. What I appreciate about our house is the students' perceptiveness. They see that the person they need is engaged in an obviously important conversation, so they wait; they don't interrupt or butt in.
"Then I can suggest working through the Weasley twins."
"I wouldn't want to reveal my involvement at all. And why the Weasleys?"
"They make a lot of crafts and potions, mostly of a prank nature. No one will be surprised if they start selling warming pendants too. For a small percentage."
"And guarantees of a fair deal?"
"Reputation, Hector," Cedric smiled. "It's all about reputation. Since their second year, they've dreamed of opening their own joke shop, and for this idea, they work harder than half our house, even if they are Gryffindors."
"You know a lot about them."
"We're neighbors. I've known them since childhood. They have a big and poor family, and failure means a real collapse of their plans, with no chance to fix anything."
"I get it, but still. For now, I don't want to shine unnecessarily."
"Understood," Cedric nodded. "Well then... Let me conclude a supply agreement with them, without specifying the manufacturer. But the percentage, you understand."
"How much?"
"They'll agree to fifteen percent, and I'll take five for mediation. It's best to sell them for two and a half Galleons — that's an affordable price for everyone. But keep in mind that about twenty people won't buy simply 'because'. There are about two hundred and eighty students in the school right now, mostly in the upper years, but the situation is correcting itself over the years. Approximate revenue will be around six hundred twenty-five Galleons... minus percentages... about five hundred, but better to count on a little less."
"I think that will be quite good."
Trust is a very strange thing. Now you have it, now you don't. We'll see how this act of trust in the Prefect and the Weasley twins, whom I don't personally know yet, ends. If anything, I have money anyway — left over from what my parents gave me. But that's a rainy day fund. Let's see if these guys are worth working with. Well, to assure them of the seriousness of my approach...
"Do you have a bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm?"
"Hmm? Wait," Cedric looked surprised. "You already made them? For everyone?"
"Nah, about a hundred and fifty."
"And you'll just give them to me like that, without even getting a contract?"
"Well, if you screw me over, so what? We still have two years of studying together until you graduate."
"Hoh, you're sharp," Cedric smiled much more honestly than usual. "Let's go."
We headed to the boys' wing, and my gaze, as always, slid with slight displeasure over those damned round doors. Never mind, it will pass soon. Reaching the room Cedric shared with his year-mates, we went inside. What can I say — exemplary order, but there are things that stand out from the usual picture. A very fluffy carpet covering almost the entire area of the room, and at the entrance, a special rug that literally removes dirt and dust from you with magic when you step over it. There is one large bookcase here, and under the windows, a whole bunch of shelves are nailed up, holding pots with the most diverse vegetation, sometimes quite bizarre, as if from another planet.
"Here, put them in here..."
While I was inspecting the room, Cedric dug out a bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm from his things and, approaching me, held it out with the neck open. I nodded and took off my backpack, unzipping it immediately. With a pass of my wand, I made the talisman pendants fly one by one out of my backpack and disappear into Cedric's bag.
"Practicing non-verbal household charms? Wise."
"I thought you'd say something like: 'Oh, mighty Merlin!'."
"Hahaha, no, I won't say that," Cedric was genuinely happy as the pendants kept flying. "I have a second cousin once removed, he refused school altogether, pureblood, can afford it without consequences. But he didn't study either. At about twenty, he realized there was no more money, and he couldn't really support himself. In two years, he learned everything he could get his hands on."
"Being a wizard and not studying magic?"
"Being a normal person and not studying to be an engineer or astrophysicist, or whatever it is now... Programmer?"
"Where is that information from?"
The pendants in my backpack ran out.
"One hundred twenty-six, plus the one in your hand," I stated the number of samples I had made.
"Got it," Cedric tightened the neck of the bag and placed it by his bed. "Computers and such have been around for about fifty years."
We headed back to the common room.
"It was funny to go to a museum and look at the first sufficiently miniature samples that could be placed inside a building, rather than instead of one. And now, I heard, they make quite small things, you can put them on a table."
"Well, in a sense."
"And the profession is becoming more and more popular... Programmer, I think, still not sure, I'm not an expert in regular technologies."
We entered the common room.
"Believe me, Cedric, you already know more about Muggle technology than some Muggles."
"There's nothing surprising about that. We live near a small town, literally a couple of kilometers away. I constantly ran there, magazines, books, library, TV... Black and white, though. By the way, why do you have to pay for color television?"
"You're asking me? No idea. But you can't watch color broadcasts without a license. Fines and so on..."
"Ah, I see. Squeeze money out of everything squeezable. Alright," we had almost reached his comrades. "I'll talk about your issue and let you know the results."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it yet."
Cedric returned to the sofa to his group, and I looked at our corner, where our year gathers. It wasn't empty.
"Hey people," I waved to Justin and Ernie. "How's it going? Doing homework?"
"Yeah, come join us."
The homework is really worth doing. Because tomorrow... Tomorrow is a hard day. Essentially, I've solved all the main issues for this week, and all that remains is to receive the first money, order ingredients, and start attending additional Potions classes. If Daphne, of course, manages to persuade Snape to agree to such a thing. Cedric is still working on the flight training schedule. He says it would be good to know how the school administration distributes the time for house Quidditch practice on the pitch, and proceed from there, but for now, we'll fly like this, in the mornings.
As for Charms and spells, it seems the guys and I will practice twice a week, which is quite enough for me. It looks like I really have sorted out my schedule.
"Hector, wake up," Justin nudged me lightly on the shoulder. "The Potions notes won't write themselves."
Indeed.
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