Draco Malfoy's reputation among the students plummeted dramatically.
Once hailed as a prodigy, he was now cursed like a villain. With a series of wage cuts, layoffs, price hikes, and a strict no-return policy, he managed to make himself the most unpopular student at Hogwarts—nearly earning himself the fate of being hung upside down from the castle tower by his unpaid student workers.
"Down with Malfoy! Down with the source of all exploitation! Give us back our hard-earned Galleons!"
The students he had once employed began parading through the castle corridors. With fists raised high, they carried the Hogwarts banner, distributed flyers, and chanted slogans.
When asked by others, "What did Malfoy do to you?" they would grab the questioner's hand, tears streaming down their faces as they wailed:
"Have you ever seen a cauldron still steaming at 3 a.m.? We have."
"Have you ever worked a job where you had to pay out of pocket? We have."
"Have you ever finished a job only to be denied your wages and fired by Malfoy? We have."
Such tearful accounts elicited sighs and sympathy from the students, quickly rallying more people to join the protest—among them were students whose side hustles in the black market had been banned and disgruntled customers unhappy with the price hikes.
"Malfoy deliberately drove out other students selling Baffling Brain Elixirs so he could monopolize the market and then hiked up the prices to profit off everyone!"
"The price for a pint went up by three Galleons! Greedy Malfoy! Hogwarts' tumor! He should be hung from the tower!"
Due to unpaid labor, some employees refused to work out of principle, while others, morally coerced, refused to produce Baffling Brain Elixirs to standard quality. This led to a sharp increase in returns, with customers lamenting and cursing.
"The prices went up, but the quality got worse! Our entire dorm was vomiting and had diarrhea, even our burps were white!"
"I ended up in the hospital wing for three nights! Malfoy not only refused to compensate me but also rejected my return request!"
The protest grew larger and more boisterous, marching through every corridor, drawing astonished teachers and students out of classrooms to watch. Eventually, the crowd swarmed to the entrance of the Slytherin common room, demanding the snakes hand over Malfoy.
The unscrupulous businessman Draco Malfoy was soon dragged out after class to face the angry crowd.
"I did nothing wrong; it's just that they lack vision!" Draco shouted defiantly, trying to reason with the enraged students. "How can serving students be called exploitation? If I had to pay them, I'd lose all my capital!"
Unfortunately, he failed to understand the fury caused by raising expectations only to dash them. He continued his defense:
"Do you understand balance sheets? Do you know how to expand a business empire? Do you even know what accounting, financial management, or business models are? I'm operating under the most advanced theories in the entire wizarding world—no, the entire world! Your ignorant brains simply can't comprehend my sophisticated methods—"
Ignoring the danger posed by students clutching wands and those with some knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, Draco obstinately continued his tirade:
"You're all so backward. You can't grasp my forward-thinking ideas. I see no hope for the wizarding world in any of you—"
His words were like dancing on a minefield in the students' minds. Hearing this, the furious crowd's patience snapped.
Ron, who had suffered three days of diarrhea, promptly delivered a fiery punch to Draco's nose. Harry, who had been vomiting for three days, grabbed his wand and cast a Tarantallegra spell, causing Draco to cry out in pain as he performed an impromptu dance and face-changing act for the crowd.
Fortunately, this commotion soon drew the attention of professors from all four houses.
When Professor Snape arrived with a dark expression and forcibly stopped several students from attempting to hang Draco from the tower, the trembling and helpless Malfoy, surrounded by wands, was coerced into signing a series of humiliating agreements:
Restore potion quality, lower prices, and pay wages if employing students.
Otherwise, his small business would be confiscated and turned over to Hogwarts.
Perhaps losing his painstakingly built business was more painful for Draco than being hung from the tower.
This forced him to grit his teeth and carry on, despite his now-empty money pouch.
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