Lured by the promise of Galleons, Kyle and his companions spent an entire week in a small, stuffy abandoned classroom. They produced over three hundred "Guaranteed Exam Pass Charms".
Of these, more than a hundred were meticulously hand-carved by the six of them, one cut at a time — truly handmade without shortcuts.
The remaining two hundred were mass-produced — they carved the pattern once and used Geminio to duplicate it onto the rowan tree branches. Though this method was less refined, the results still appeared convincing.
After a week, everyone had mastered the Duplication Charm — a spell typically not taught until sixth year.
"It's in your hands now." Kyle said gravely at the start-of-term feast, looking at the other five, "You all know the process. Just do it like we did with selling the maps."
Fred and the others nodded with matching serious expressions.
This venture was different from selling maps — it was a business targeting the entire school, and they all felt somewhat nervous about it.
"Kyle, do we have to charge the Hufflepuffs too?" Cedric asked, his kind heart showing through.
"This isn't a necessity, Cedric." Kyle said, patting his shoulder, "But we can give Hufflepuff a nice discount."
"Fifty percent off?"
"No, five percent off!" Kyle paused briefly, then added, "Though we can round down and take off a Knut."
"..."
Cedric's mouth twitched. He wanted to stick to his opinion, but there was nothing he could do — Kyle had complete control over the pricing, and his words wouldn't make any difference.
After their discussion, everyone dispersed to prepare for tomorrow's plan.
To create the perfect promotional effect, Fred and George stayed up all night crafting a large advertisement, which they posted in the most prominent spot in the Gryffindor common room.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Worried about exams? Concerned about poor grades?
Worry no more!
To ensure everyone enjoys a wonderful summer holiday, we proudly present the "Guaranteed Exam Pass Charm".
Featured in "Hogwarts: A History", this charm was popular at Hogwarts for over a hundred years and was the best-selling product of its time. Even Headmaster Dumbledore wore one during his exams.
Interested buyers, please contact second-year students Fred Weasley and George Weasley.
(Note: This product has only symbolic meaning. It cannot enhance the wearer's intelligence or substitute for exams. Please purchase at your own discretion.)
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The original advertisement hadn't included the final note, but Kyle had insisted on adding it—purely to emphasize "safety" and "no refunds."
The twins initially worried that this disclaimer would hurt sales. But after just half a day, those concerns completely vanished.
When the first student discovered the wand and quill symbol's meaning in "Hogwarts: A History" and spread the word, young wizards began rushing to their dormitory with Sickles and Galleons, desperate not to miss out on getting a "Guaranteed Exam Pass Charm."
The dormitory door had been broken so many times that Fred eventually gave up using the Repair Charm — he simply waved his hand and removed the door entirely.
The situation was similar in Hufflepuff, where eager young badgers crowded Cedric's dormitory.
Though no advertisements appeared in Slytherin, once word spread, students naturally found their way to Kanna.
Among the six, only Cho, who handled Ravenclaw, had it easier, since most of the academic achievers felt confident enough without the charm.
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
Several days later, they reconvened in the abandoned classroom.
The wood shavings and knives that had littered the floor were gone, replaced by a square table piled high with gold Galleons and silver Sickles.
"Gulp…" Fred swallowed hard, "How much is here?"
"Converting everything, it's seven hundred and nine Galleons, fifteen Sickles, and five Knuts." Cho said without hesitation, "I didn't expect so many people would buy the custom version — it's quite a bit more than we expected."
"Seven hundred Galleons..." George's gaze was dazed, "I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Fred sighed beside him, "If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up."
Kyle picked up a gold Galleon from the table and smiled, "Well, you better think it through — this dream will happen seven times."
"Then I better wake up quickly!" Fred laughed.
But as he laughed, his face suddenly scrunched up.
He had just remembered that he was a year ahead of Kyle, which meant that by the time Kyle reached his seventh year, Fred would have already graduated — and wouldn't get a share of that year's money.
Just thinking about those hundreds of Galleons flying away made Fred's heart ache. He looked at Kyle with a resentful expression, "Why couldn't you have started school last year?"
Kyle felt shivers down his spine from that look and disgustedly stepped two paces to the side.
"It's not like I had any say in when I started school — you'll have to take that up with Dumbledore."
"Um, that's actually determined by the Book of Admittance." Cedric quietly reminded them, "It has nothing to do with the headmaster."
But Fred and George clearly weren't listening — they were busy discussing how they might be able to delay their graduation by a year.
When they left the room, each person's pocket was heavier by exactly one hundred Galleons. As for the remainder, everyone unanimously decided to let Kyle keep it as startup funds for their next venture.
Of course, he agreed.
Originally, he had thought about investing the money in the Weasley twins, but they were busy trying to find the complete password for the Marauder's Map and didn't have extra time to research joke products.
That could wait until next year.
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
In the weeks that followed, the professors noticed a special wooden accessory becoming popular at Hogwarts, with almost everyone wearing one.
It wasn't any kind of magical item, just ordinary rowan wood, some round and some square. There was also a rarer version, decorated with gold paint and coated with wax, which looked more exquisite than the others but was still not magical.
Normally the professors wouldn't have paid attention to such things — fashion accessories came and went every year, and as long as they weren't dangerous, it was fine.
But this time was different, because they noticed that ever since these accessories became popular, the young wizards seemed much less nervous during classes, with remarkably improved attitudes.
To be honest, the professors weren't sure if this was a good thing or not.
✭✭✭
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