Kael took just over an hour to finish making more than twenty maps, and on the first morning of the school year, he promptly handed them to the young wizards who had paid the deposit.
Another hefty Galleon income, nothing more delightful than this.
As they ate breakfast, a few of them sat around the Gryffindor table, and began dividing the spoils... ahem, distributing the fruits of their labor.
Their wallets suddenly swelled a lot, and everyone was very happy.
As for why they chose the Gryffindor table... no special reason, just because it was closest to the auditorium doors.
"Oh, right Kael, this is for you."
Fred and George counted out seven Galleons, put them into a cloth bag, and handed them to Kael.
"A bet is a bet..."
George said with some heartache, "I swear, if we bet with you again, we're Crups!"
"And so am I," Fred nodded in agreement from the side.
"Ha, I almost forgot about this."
Kael took the bag, and with extreme distrust, poured all the gold coins out onto the table and counted them seriously.
Last year, Fred and George devised a little game, a guessing game about when Professor Quirrell would leave the school.
Under their fervent invitation, Kael reluctantly played a game.
The result goes without saying...
Twenty Galleons doubled instantly, not only earning a bit of pocket money but also emptying Fred and George's wallets.
Since they didn't want to use their startup funds for the shop, the two relied on their good relationship with Kael and dragged until now to pay off the forty Galleons.
"Not bad, exactly forty Galleons."
Under Fred and George's looks of wanting to hit someone, Kael calmly put away the bag.
"Are you playing again this year... Professor Lockhart is a famous wizard in the magic realm, if it's related to him, I believe many people would participate."
"Huh..." George sneered.
"Unless you don't enter," Fred said.
"Alright then, I won't participate," Kael said calmly.
Then he turned his head to Conna beside him, "You prepare forty Galleons, count it as mine, and if we win, we'll split it half and half."
"Okay!" Conna nodded without hesitation.
"You two, enough already!"
Watching the two guys conniving loudly, Fred fiercely bit into a slice of bread, as if it were Kael's head.
Just like they just said, if they played a game like this with Kael again, they'd be Crups... and the ugliest kind!
"Wait a minute." At this moment, Cedric suddenly said, "I remember you still have something to do, correct.
You said back then, if Kael got the Merlin Order Medal in his second year, what were you going to do?"
"Oh, I know."
Cho held back her laughter and cooperated, saying, "Carry three trophies and tap dance around the castle once."
"And Butterbeer," Conna also said with a smile, "Great, you won't have to pay for butterbeer in the future."
Fred and George's expressions became even more unsightly.
Carrying three trophies, tap dancing... Merlin above, how on earth did they come up with such a high-difficulty move.
And also, covering all of Kael's future Butterbeer... how much would that cost!
For a moment, the two only felt a burst of cold in their hearts.
Fred even gave himself a slap...
"Smack!"
"I just can't seem to control my mouth!"
A crisp sound instantly drew the attention of those around.
Even in Gryffindor, famous for its courage, those who dared to slap themselves so hard were few and far between...
They were all quite curious.
Fortunately, at this moment, the mail arrived.
Hundreds of owls squeezed in, circling in the auditorium, dropping letters and packages into the talking crowd.
Kael stretched out his hand and caught a copy of the Daily Prophet.
But he didn't have time to read it, as he was distracted by a commotion nearby.
An owl knocked over the milk jug... milk and feathers splattered everywhere.
But that's not the main point.
The main point is that it had a wet red envelope in its mouth.
"Oh no…" Ron's voice cried out not far away.
Many people had noticed that red envelope and looked over.
"That should be a Howler, right?" Conna asked in a whisper.
"That's right." Kael nodded.
"You better open it, Ron." Neville, sitting next to Kael, whispered, "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it, and then..."
He drew a breath, "It was terrifying."
"What happens?" Cedric asked somewhat curiously.
He'd never seen a Howler before, only heard of such a thing.
"It explodes." Kael spread his hands and said, "And, do you know what 360-degree surround sound is?
Wherever there are envelope pieces, there are sounds, you can hear it even on the other side of the Black Lake."
Ron's face turned white, and as they spoke, smoke began to rise from the corners of the envelope.
"Open it quickly," urged Neville, "there are only a few minutes..."
Ron reached out a trembling hand and carefully tore open the envelope.
"Run!"
Someone shouted, and the young wizards gathered to watch scattered instantly.
Those who couldn't run, like Neville and Cedric, also covered their ears.
Harry and Hermione, not understanding what it was about, followed suit and put their hands over their ears.
And they soon discovered why they had to do it...
Like an explosion, a loud noise filled the entire auditorium, shaking dust from the ceiling.
"...stole the car, if they expel you, I won't be surprised, wait until I get my hands on you, you probably never thought, how your dad and I felt when we found out the car was gone…"
Mrs. Weasley's voice was magnified a hundredfold, shaking the cutlery on the tables.
Now, it wasn't just Gryffindor, everyone in the auditorium turned their heads, searching for the source of the sound.
Ron had already hidden himself under the table, showing only a bright red forehead.
But it was no use, the howling continued...
"...I never thought you'd do something like this, you and Harry nearly got yourselves killed!
...So infuriating, your dad will be reviewed at work, it's all your fault, if you don't follow the rules, we'll take you back immediately!"
The howling stopped, but the buzzing continued, and the red envelope that had fallen to the ground burned up, curling into ashes.
Kael also noticed that Mrs. Weasley wasn't most upset about Ron stealing the car, but about him and Harry almost getting pounded by the Whomping Willow.
If it weren't for this incident, Mrs. Weasley probably wouldn't have been mad enough to send a Howler.
...