Kyle wasn't one to dawdle. After forming his plan, he had Kanna return to the dormitory while he rushed to Gryffindor Tower.
Unfortunately, Percy wasn't in the dormitory when he arrived, and no one knew his whereabouts.
There was nothing to be done — the matter would have to wait. It seemed Scabbers wasn't having much luck today.
When Kyle returned to the Hufflepuff common room, he found Kanna curled up in the corner of a sofa with her rat, nervously eyeing the windowsill. There, a massive owl was giving her — or rather, the rat in her hands — a menacing look, occasionally clicking its beak.
Stella had never seen such a plump rat before — its fur sleek and glossy, its figure well-rounded. To an owl, this was the finest of delicacies, making her drool. Of course, she knew the rat was the little witch's pet and strictly off-limits. She could only feast with her eyes.
But Kanna had no idea what the owl was thinking!
When Kyle arrived, the little witch was clutching her robe, her face pale and forehead beaded with sweat. She looked more frightened than when she'd discovered her missing Galleons.
Only after Kyle distracted Stella with a piece of Mortla rat jerky did some color return to Kanna's face.
Kyle walked over and spread his hands, "I couldn't find Percy. He wasn't in Gryffindor Tower."
"Mm." Kanna hadn't given it much thought.
In her view, other field mice were all ugly, and Porgy wouldn't like them anyway — otherwise, it wouldn't always play with the hamster.
Besides, Kyle had rushed off so quickly earlier that she hadn't even had a chance to refuse. This outcome suited her perfectly.
After returning Porgy to the dormitory, Kanna came back much more relaxed, even baring her teeth at the owl in revenge.
Stella fluttered his wings and flew out the window, but not before giving her a backward glance as if she were an idiot.
This thoroughly irritated the little witch.
"Why are you getting angry with it?" Kyle shook his head in amusement, then placed ten Galleons on the table.
"I don't want them!" Kanna firmly shook her head before he could speak, "Thank you for your kindness, but really, there's no need."
"But Christmas is still a long way off." Kyle said with a frown, "Even if you don't need to worry about food, what about parchment and ink? These all cost Galleons. You can't simply go without them. Or did you bring enough supplies before school started?"
At Hogwarts, parchment and ink were consumed very quickly. The supplies required in the acceptance letter barely lasted a month. Usually, young wizards would ask the prefects to bring back more supplies when they visited Hogsmeade.
Though not expensive — just a few Sickles — it still cost money. Nobody was giving out Knuts for free.
"I..." Kanna fell silent.
His words had reminded her that even at Hogwarts, you couldn't get by without money.
But even so, she still shook her head and said, "I'll figure something out."
Kyle tried to persuade her several more times with logic and reason, but Kanna remained unexpectedly stubborn. Apart from rat supplements, she wouldn't accept anything — not even the parchment he offered.
"You really do care about that rat." Kyle rubbed his forehead and suddenly asked, "By the way, do you know any of the Slytherin first-years?"
Kanna thought for a moment and said, "I should. A few years ago, I met Rohl and Yaxley at a banquet. They're both in Slytherin, first year too. But I don't know if they remember me — I haven't attended those kinds of banquets in a long time."
"That's fine, just having an impression is enough." Kyle pondered for a moment before saying, "Kanna, would you like to earn some Galleons yourself?"
"Earn... Galleons myself?" She seemed bewildered by the idea.
"Yes, earn them yourself, just like adults do." He tapped his finger on the table and said, "I have a way at Hogwarts. Though it might be a bit difficult for you, the profit is high. Once you're done, you won't need to worry about parchment anymore — you could even buy lots of snacks. What do you say, want to give it a try?"
Kanna didn't speak, but she was clearly tempted.
She had previously considered helping others with homework in exchange for parchment and ink, but that made her feel guilty, and she feared the professors would find out.
Now that he mentioned another way, she wanted to try it.
Kyle didn't keep her in suspense and continued, "Remember the map Cedric gave you yesterday?"
Kanna nodded, "Mm, I remember."
After flying lessons yesterday, second-year Cedric had given each of them a map of Hogwarts. She remembered it clearly. She'd also heard that Ravenclaw students had similar maps, though they had to purchase theirs.
"It's this." Kyle said, slapping down the gold-edged map Cedric had left him, "This is the Slytherin version, but we need someone to act as a middleman to sell these to them. Want to try? Five Galleons each, and we'll split the profits fifty-fifty."
"Five Galleons?!" Kanna stared at him incredulously, wearing the same expression as Stella had earlier.
How could these maps possibly be worth five Galleons? It seemed far too expensive — who would buy them?
"The Ravenclaw ones are only a dozen Sickles." She said quietly.
"This is a gold-edged limited edition, completely different from those ordinary ones." Kyle said, raising an eyebrow, "We used the finest materials and craftsmanship. They're all handmade, and it took three whole days to make just ten of them — no more. Think about it: among hundreds of people at Hogwarts, only ten can own this limited edition map. Isn't that worth five Galleons as a symbol of status?"
"..."
Kanna felt a bit dizzy, but when he explained it that way, five Galleons did seem reasonable.
"But it's been three days since school started, and we've had all our classes." She said after a moment, "Will these maps really sell?"
"Don't worry about that." Kyle said calmly, "Hogwarts isn't just classrooms — there's the library, hospital wing, professors' offices, and other places first-years don't know how to find. And remember, the stairs in the main tower move. Who knows where they'll be the next day? What if you encounter an unfamiliar path?
Standing around waiting wastes too much time, but walking ahead risks getting lost. Either way, you'll be late. That's when the map becomes essential, especially one that marks most of the stair movement patterns.
So don't worry, people will definitely buy them."
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