Two months later,
Leaving his bed, Lucien stood at his workbench and extinguished the flame beneath the cauldron, waiting for the potion inside to cool.
Stretching, he brought up the system panel and opened the "Emerald Tablet Loan" section.
He checked the sales quantity and total revenue.
Once his Alchemy tools and potions entered the market, the system displayed the data in real time.
It was quite convenient.
After the start-of-term feast, both the quantity and revenue had begun to grow slightly.
It seemed the twins had already started testing things out in Gryffindor.
Once the Seventh Workshop store was fully established at Hogwarts, and the new students truly experienced how strange and ever-changing the staircases were, sales would undoubtedly increase further.
According to Lucien's estimates, not only first-years, but also a considerable number of second- and even third-year students would still have demand for items like the Staircase Compass and the Shortcut Map.
Hogwarts had 142 staircases, many of which could turn, vanish, rise, or descend at will.
Their patterns of movement also differed. Some changed at fixed times, some reacted to footsteps, and others responded to special passwords.
Only those who could remember these patterns were truly able to avoid being late.
But in urgent situations, anxiety could easily cause confusion, leading straight to a "late arrival" experience.
In fact, Lucien had discussed the staircases with Dumbledore, expressing concern that they might hinder students' learning.
But Dumbledore's explanation had been:
"Learning to deal with the unexpected and adapt to change is also a form of growth. I believe that after graduation, the children will miss these ever-shifting staircases."
Lucien had been at a loss for words at the time. If this hadn't been the magical world, he might have suspected that the Headmaster had been embezzling funds, which was why he avoided or minimized improvements beneficial to students.
No wonder—back in his previous life, his own high school Headmaster had supposedly renovated the cafeteria, only for Lucien to discover at the start of term that only the walls had been repainted. The Headmaster was later reported and dismissed.
Lucien felt that Dumbledore's true focus was not entirely on Hogwarts as a school.
Ever since Lord Voldemort had risen, Dumbledore's attention had been directed toward the Dark Lord.
And after Harry was born, when Voldemort became a wandering spirit, Dumbledore began to cultivate Harry, the Savior.
So although he held the position of Headmaster, Dumbledore's actual investment in the school was not especially great.
Lucien had also discussed this with Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and others, and they too were troubled by the declining quality of Hogwarts students in recent years.
Now was a time of peace, and young wizards who studied magic also thought about their future livelihoods.
Unlike in the past, when people feared for their lives and students studied desperately, honing their magical abilities out of fear of being wiped out the moment they left school.
Yet the steady decline in the abilities of graduates over the years was undeniable, something responsible educators could not ignore.
As for Dumbledore's approach, Lucien understood it. The wise and powerful old wizard saw far and thought deeply.
Dumbledore considered the safety and survival of the entire magical world, focusing on the Dark Lord and the Savior.
As for the growth of a few generations of students… that was something he could set aside.
Lucien, however, believed that a school should be a place for proper learning.
He also knew that he didn't yet have the power or ability to change the overall situation. But making a few small tools to help his classmates improve their learning efficiency was still within reach.
In any case, he was already planning to invent and sell Alchemy tools and potions, and the process itself would deepen his understanding and practice of both fields.
Three birds with one stone.
Seeing that the potion had cooled sufficiently, Lucien cut it into candy-like pieces and dusted them with powdered sugar.
He packaged the trial batch, preparing to hand it over to the twins along with other samples the next day.
When developing a new product, it was essential to gather feedback first.
Compared to items like the compass and map, these products were much cheaper—usually only a few Knuts, with anything costing a Sickle already considered expensive.
They were more suited to students' spending power.
After all, aside from a few exceptions, how much money could students really have? The only viable approach was small profits with quick turnover to increase sales volume.
The compass and map also had different durations of effect, which determined how often young witches and wizards would need to purchase replacements.
However, they would quickly realize something about these items: they could be shared.
For example, when money was tight, two or three people could split the cost and use one together.
Of course, it wouldn't always be possible to stay together—there would inevitably be times when they had to separate.
At that point, they would either have to rely on their own memory, hope a senior happened to pass by, or get directions from a portrait or a ghost.
But once they had saved up enough pocket money, they could each buy one of their own.
…
Great Hall.
While eating lunch, Harry scooped up a spoonful of cream of mushroom soup but didn't drink it, instead letting out a sigh.
"Even though we haven't had Defense Against the Dark Arts yet, I'm a bit… worried about Professor Lockhart."
Lucien thought for a moment. According to the timetable, Gryffindor should have had Herbology that morning, so how had Lockhart come into it?
Perhaps because of the good food, Ron seemed in slightly better spirits, no longer as listless as the day before. He chimed in:
"Yeah, Lockhart actually hinted—whether on purpose or not—that he's better at Herbology than Professor Sprout. That guy is so flashy. I really don't understand why Mum and the others like that peacock."
"And those clothes he wears—a teal robe with an equally flashy hat, tsk. Oh, Harry, what did he say when he dragged you away before class?"
Hearing this, Harry set down his spoon with a gloomy expression and said irritably:
"What 'before class'? It was already in the middle of class. Professor Sprout clearly didn't like it, but Lockhart still pulled me away and went on about the taste of fame, newspaper headlines, the Most Charming Smile Award…"
"And then he said he'd demonstrate to Professor Sprout how to treat the Whomping Willow… but does bandaging really help? It already looked crooked to me…"
As he spoke, Harry couldn't help feeling a little guilty. After all, he and Ron had nearly crippled that large willow tree, and it was said to be older than both of them combined.
Lucien roughly understood the situation—it was nothing more than Lockhart habitually showing off his nonexistent wealth of experience.
He might be able to fool naïve witches, but why would he dare to display his so-called Herbology knowledge in front of an actual Herbology professor?
Worse, it was all fabricated—nothing more than empty bluster, showing off in front of someone who truly knew the subject.
Sure enough, it would be better if Lockhart left sooner… no, retired early.
Hmm. Since Tom's diary had ended up in his hands, perhaps learning the Memory Charm and finding a competent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor could be dealt with at the same time…
________
(^///^) Please support this fic and also read 12 chapters ahead at Patreon.com/DrakDevil1