Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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During the second week of the Easter holidays, Kyle maintained his usual routine, leaving the common room after breakfast and returning only in the evening.
However, he didn't go to the library or the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, but instead spent the entire day in an abandoned classroom on the third floor of the castle.
And he wasn't alone; the classroom also contained Fred and George from Gryffindor, Cho Chang from Ravenclaw, as well as Kanna and Cedric.
Six people in total, bustling about in the small classroom.
"Kyle, come and check this pattern, is it correct?" Cho Chang put down his knife, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I feel like something's not quite right."
"It doesn't matter, a few minor flaws are fine," Kyle said without looking up. "Anyway, no one can tell, as long as it's roughly the idea."
Kyle held a knife in his left hand and a branch in his right
—a branch from a mountain pear tree, one of those he brought back from the Forbidden Forest.
Kyle first removed the bark and excess wood, then skillfully used his knife to carve irregular lines into the surface.
Soon, an oval wooden pendant was finished, its surface etched with a wand and quill crossed.
Beside him were many similar pendants, some oval, some triangular, and some square.
The other five, like Kyle, transformed from wizards into carpenters, busily working with the branches.
Around noon, Fred dusted off the sawdust, looked at his morning's "work," and frowned, asking, "Kyle, can we really sell these things?"
The others looked up at Kyle.
He had summoned them a couple of days ago, saying they were going to pull off a big deal.
Having succeeded in selling maps before, they were initially excited and didn't suspect anything, readily following Kyle's instructions.
But they hadn't expected Kyle to have them carve wood for two days straight, without using magic—purely by hand.
This left the group somewhat confused.
"It should work,"
Kyle said after a moment's thought. "Mountain pear amulets are quite popular in the magical world."
"Wait...we're making amulets?" George asked incredulously.
The main problem was that they had absolutely no experience as carpenters. While their carvings weren't exactly ugly, they weren't exactly beautiful either, and the shapes were all rather bizarre.
Even he wouldn't dare lie and call such crudely made things amulets.
"What you and Fred made are just lump pieces of wood," Kyle said. "But it'll be different once Kanna and the others carve patterns on them."
The group exchanged bewildered glances, skeptical of Kyle's words.
Unless the patterns were some special magical symbols, like ancient runes, even carving a hundred of them would still just result in lump pieces of wood.
"Speaking of which…" Cedric couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is this symbol? I've never seen it before."
"It's a symbol that represents passing the exam, or you could say it means you'll pass every exam."
Kyle thought for a moment and explained, "At the Wizarding Convention in 1790, the Act establishing the Wizarding Examinations Board was officially passed. In the same year, Hogwarts held its first NEWTs exam.
At that time, young wizards who passed the exam would receive a special letter from the Ministry of Magic. The envelope was printed with a symbol of a quill and wand crossed.
Later, this symbol became the symbol of passing the exam. Back then, many graduating students would draw this symbol and carry it with them before the exam for good luck.
However, after Professor Marchbank became the head of the examinations board, this symbol was removed and replaced with a very ordinary envelope."
Fred and the others stared at Kyle in disbelief, instinctively asking, "1790? That's two hundred years ago! How do you know all this?"
"Reading,"
Kyle shrugged, speaking casually. "If you'd read *Hogwarts: A History*, you wouldn't be so surprised."
Reading…that's alright then.
Fred and George simultaneously turned their heads away, giving Kyle a thumbs-up.
*Hogwarts: A History* was a huge, thick book, practically a shield if you could carry it. Flipping through a few pages when they were bored was fine, but finishing it was a stretch.
And not only Fred and George, but even Cedric hadn't finished it.
But that wasn't the point.
After this explanation, they understood Kyle's meaning.
Although these things made of pear wood weren't real amulets, their allure was undeniable, especially at this time.
Even Fred and George were somewhat tempted.
If someone had sold this thing before last year's final exams, they might have actually bought it.
"But Kyle, can't we use a copying charm?" Cho Chang asked doubtfully, "Like the map before, that would be so much easier."
"Of course, but that costs a different price."
Kyle shook his finger, "This time I'm planning to make three tiers of products: high-end custom for ten Galleons, purely handmade... like what we're doing now for two Galleons, and finally, one-off mass-produced products for five Sickles."
"So cheap?" Cho Chang was a little confused.
You know, a map costs ten Sickles, and while they're both copies, copying these sculptures is much more troublesome than copying maps.
Before Kyle could explain, Cedric next to her seemed to have thought of something and turned to ask, "How much allowance do you have left?"
"Allowance?" Cho Chang thought for a moment and said, "I spent quite a bit recently, and now I probably have about one Galleon left..."
Suddenly, she paused, and a look of realization appeared on her face.
"Got it?"
Kyle said with a smile, "It's the end of the semester, most people don't have much money left.
If the price is too high, they won't be able to afford it even if they want to. Besides, this time we're not just targeting first-year students, but the entire school, several times more than before, so five Sickles should be enough. Consider it as making friends."
Everyone automatically ignored Kyle's last sentence; if they remembered correctly, he said the same thing when he sold the maps.
Five Sickles to make friends, but what about the other two…?
Fred and George lowered their heads in silence, the branches in their hands seemingly transforming into Galleons, and what they had to do was pry them out.
"Oh, right…" Kyle seemed to suddenly remember something and said, "For those not made with the Copy Charm, remember to engrave the year at the end."
[End of the chapter]