Chapter 131: Promotion Plan
Just as the twins were anticipating a flood of orders, Filch dashed their hopes.
"Are there really so few Squibs?" Fred asked, unable to hide his disappointment.
Noticing color rising in Filch's face, Fred hurriedly tried to make amends. "I didn't mean it like that. I just thought, well..."
"We mean, er, we originally thought we could help more people." George jumped in to smooth things over.
"Yes, exactly. I phrased that poorly." Fred realized he had misspoken and scrambled to correct himself.
Filch's expression softened slightly, though a hint of red lingered on his cheeks as he turned and walked away.
It had all happened just moments earlier. Upon leaving the Great Hall to return to their dormitory and reorganize their stock of alchemy wands, they had been waylaid by Filch, who had been waiting for them.
The caretaker sought a wand that could cast Reparo to better maintain the castle's facilities.
The twins immediately agreed and offered a steeply discounted price of three Galleons.
For the twins, this was already a massive profit, but in Filch's eyes, it was a bargain.
Filch didn't haggle at all. He even wanted to order a few more wands, but his magic was currently too weak, so he needed to figure out which spells suited him best first.
This significantly boosted the twins' confidence, and they seized the chance to ask Filch how many Squibs there were in the world.
The answer, however, was deeply disappointing.
Once they confirmed Filch was far enough away to be out of earshot, the two discussed it in low voices. "I'd always heard the Squib population was small, but I didn't expect it to be this small. Worldwide, there are actually just over two thousand."
"With so few people, and considering some have integrated into Muggle society, there are probably fewer than a hundred Squibs in the entire UK. Our plan to get rich is ruined."
The two looked at each other, both discouraged, but even a small profit was still profit. They still wanted to continue the business.
Meanwhile, Ethan had just left the Great Hall and settled in the library when he heard Hermione's quiet request.
"You want to borrow my copy of Hogwarts: A History?"
Ever since last night, Hermione had wanted to research the Chamber of Secrets, but aside from one book she vaguely remembered, she hadn't found anything in any other texts.
"Yes, all the copies in the library are checked out. Even the waitlist is backed up for another two weeks."
"And my copy is at home. Didn't you buy another copy later? It should be at school, right?"
Back in Diagon Alley, Ethan hadn't bought the book. Instead, Hermione had bought her own copy and shared it with him.
Later, he discovered there were some rather interesting things in the book, so he bought his own copy to keep in the dormitory and flip through occasionally.
"You want to find information about the Chamber of Secrets?" Unfortunately, he didn't know where Ron and Harry had gone. If he had known, Ethan would have wanted to see how Ron was behaving and whether he realized what he had done.
"Yeah. After we got back to the Gryffindor common room yesterday, everyone was talking about it."
"All right. You can come with me to get it later, but there isn't much useful information in it." Ethan nodded.
He asked Hermione to wait by the door while he went into the dormitory to fetch the book.
"Here." She nodded, took the book, and hurried toward the stairs.
Ethan sat on a sofa in the common room, listening to the gossip drifting around him.
Purebloods like Draco were acting strangely. Some seemed fanatical about the situation, yet oddly indifferent to the danger, while others were uncharacteristically quiet, their faces somewhat pale.
Nancy wasn't in her usual spot by the window. Just as Ethan was preparing to return to the dormitory, however, he saw the black-haired girl enter the common room. Her hair was wet and clinging in strands, and she hurried toward the girls' dormitory.
*Is it raining outside again?* Ethan wondered.
During Wednesday's Potions class, Ethan kept a close eye on Ron. Two days had passed since the Halloween incident, and neither of them had been to the library. Ron didn't look well; his nose kept twitching as if he had a cold.
"If you have a cold, go to the hospital wing for medicine!" Snape looked at Ron in disgust, then turned away and deducted two points from Harry.
Draco snickered. Goyle and Crabbe joined in until Snape glared at them, and the three fell silent.
Since no one had been injured and only the caretaker's unpleasant cat had been petrified, students discussed the incident, but it hadn't caused widespread panic yet.
Ever since Filch had acquired the alchemy wand, although he still patrolled that corridor, he had been in much better spirits than before.
Even when a Hufflepuff first-year accidentally got snot on the floor, the student wasn't punished.
"Pay attention!" he scolded, glaring at the terrified first-year. He took out his wand, cast Scourgify to clean the floor, and turned away arrogantly.
The first-year almost thought they'd seen a ghost. This was nothing like the Filch they'd known during the two months since starting school.
Soon, word of Filch's strange behavior spread, giving the caretaker's reputation a slight boost.
As November arrived, the weather grew colder by the day. However, Hermione's hand warmer had fallen out of favor because the Warming Charm placed on their robes had been successfully stabilized.
Inside Hagrid's hut, Ethan touched his robes, feeling how warm and light they were.
Looking at the faint runes printed on the lining like decorative patterns, he felt quite satisfied.
"It really is nice. Just recharge the magic once a week and it runs continuously. No need to keep casting it."
"After more than a year, we finally succeeded." Hermione was smiling too. She'd started the research the previous winter and had finally applied the alchemical technique to clothing before winter ended.
"Won't you consider selling it to others? I think it would be really popular with students."
"No. Making a few pieces is fine, but making too many takes too long. I'm not short on Galleons right now. We can sell it later if we need to." Hermione considered it for a moment, then rejected the suggestion.
She wasn't like the twins. She wasn't short on pocket money, and she didn't need to research joke products, so she didn't have those kinds of expenses.
After Fred and George's plan to sell alchemical wands to the Squib market fell through, they continued working intently on their Wizarding Cards. They already had a fairly polished product, which Ethan had handed over to Cyril Shafiq for small-scale printing.
They also planned to take advantage of the Chamber of Secrets legend to promote it quickly, figuring they could break into the market faster.
On Sunday afternoon, Ethan received the first batch of cards from Cyril Shafiq and shared them with the twins.
Fred couldn't stop admiring the redesigned cards. "Truly exquisite. Too beautiful!"
George was just as enthusiastic. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's play a round!"
Ethan watched the twins shuffle their decks endlessly, experimenting with Four Founders strategies, and began planning how to market the game.
"This is too much fun!" An hour later, Ethan finally called a halt to the game, though they still wanted to keep playing.
"It certainly is. You two can go to Hogsmeade on Saturday, right? Next week, I'll have my family send a large batch of packaged Wizarding Cards to you.
"Your task over the next few days is to show them off in the other three houses to attract more attention."
He explained the plan to the twins. They nodded, convinced it would work.
He kept a set for himself and planned to use Draco to promote the game in the Slytherin common room, giving the rest to Fred and George.
He placed roughly twenty packs of cards in his backpack and took them back to the common room.
Draco happened to be there as well. Ethan brought him back to the dormitory, explained the rules, and asked him to help with the promotion.
"I won't let you help for free. Tell me what you want. If it's something I can agree to, it's yours."
"There's no need for that. We're friends. Friends don't keep score." Draco shook his head.
Ethan paused, then nodded silently.
The two walked out of the dormitory together. As Ethan had instructed, Draco took out several beautifully packaged card packs that magic couldn't see through and opened them on a prominent table.
Ethan sat opposite him and took out his own stack of card packs.
Once they'd opened the cards, Ethan quietly explained how to combine cards, draw cards, and other gameplay mechanics.
Soon Draco got the hang of it, and the two started a match.
Being the center of attention in the common room, Draco naturally drew his usual followers, Goyle and Crabbe, who typically spent their time playing Wizard's Chess.
Mesmerized by the novelty of the game, the two sat nearby with their eyes glued to the table.
The spectacular spell effects, intricate character movements, and spoken dialogue completely captivated them.
Before long, a crowd began to gather.
Within an hour, the area was packed tight. Some students even stood on chairs just to get a glimpse of the new game.
When Draco lost, his hero, Godric Gryffindor, let out a final roar. The three-dimensional figure shattered and vanished from the card table. Cheers erupted around the room as Ethan played Salazar Slytherin's card.
"What is that? It looks brilliant!" The whispers grew louder until someone finally asked the players at the table.
"Wizarding Cards. It's a new game that's hitting the market soon." Ethan looked at the eager faces surrounding him and knew his promotional plan was already a success.
True to form, once Ethan left his seat, everyone scrambled to challenge Draco. In a single night, word of the Wizarding Cards had reached every Slytherin.
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2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 202
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 291
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 129
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