The murmur of "Why don't you brush your teeth" echoed in his ears.
Ian covered his ears.
He knew.
A new day full of energy and vitality had arrived at Hogwarts. Breakfast was still the same nutritious combination, but Ian, with a slightly poor appetite, chose two vegetarian sandwiches.
Because Halloween was approaching, many little wizards were discussing it during breakfast. Ian thoughtfully looked up at those candles that seemed to never extinguish.
"What are you thinking about?"
William, chewing bacon, came up with some curiosity.
"I'm thinking you should practice leading a horse more; stop losing my horse." Ian's selected dream experience last night wasn't so great.
"Maybe you should choose a flying broom; I think I'm suited for leading a flying broom." As Ian's roommate, William was well aware of Ian's whimsical dream adventures every night.
"What about me? What did you arrange for me last night?" Michael also came up at this moment; being a bit over ten, none of them wanted the friendship of three to be just two figures.
Ian looked at him.
He put down the vegetarian sandwich in his hand.
"I don't know, Michael. Maybe you should ask William. He was the one who lost you, not me."
With a heavy sigh.
Michael, that clever little Ravenclaw wizard, had a bewildered face. Amidst a self-recommendation to be "the Great Demon King," the three of them carried the textbook "Dark Power: Self-defense Guide" out of the hall.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was on the second floor.
As the most unique and odd class in Hogwarts' O.W.Ls exams, Defense Against the Dark Arts was a bit different in its teaching method compared to other classes.
It was a class every House took separately.
"Nobody?"
"We are the first!"
The three ate quickly, so they were the first to arrive at the classroom.
When Ian and his two roommates pushed open the door and entered, they found a classroom previously filled with desks and chairs now empty, with all the furniture seemingly moved elsewhere.
"I bet Lockhart sold the school's property." Michael declared confidently, "My mom says he's no good, handsome men are never good guys."
Ian glared over.
"Of course, except for you, Ian. I know my mom can make mistakes sometimes." Michael quickly backed down, not really out of fear of Ian's glare, but for the slight possibility of hope, "Can I lead William tonight? I promise I won't lose him."
Hearing this, William, who was going over the textbook, jerked his head up and immediately pounced on Michael, teeth bared and claws out, "Damn it! I'm Ian's favorite groom!"
The two began playfully fighting in the empty classroom.
"You two are so childish."
Ian thought to himself, with no sense of urgency, making an assessment. He glanced around, feeling a bit puzzled as to why Gilderoy Lockhart hadn't brought in a heap of his own books.
According to Gilderoy Lockhart's nature, if his self-praising novels weren't on the school list, he would at least have prepared a batch of autobiographies even if it meant giving one out for free.
"Maybe the other students are helping him carry books. With this guy's shameless level, it's not impossible he'd openly sell his books in class."
As Ian was speculating.
One by one, many little Ravenclaw wizards arrived at the classroom, with Qiu Zhang being one of the earlier ones. As soon as she entered, she came right up to Ian.
"Here."
Qiu Zhang took out a money bag, "Each one was thirteen Golden Galleons. I sold five for you. It seems your maps are more popular than I expected."
This was a bit beyond Ian's expectations.
"These little wizards really have money, willing to pay full price before even seeing the goods." Ian took the money bag and opened it, finding it full of shiny Golden Galleons.
By Halloween, he might be able to send a gift to each friend in the orphanage. Of course, if the Ministry of Magic doesn't allow wizards to mail their stuff to Muggles, he might have to ask a good uncle for help converting it to Pounds. Winter is coming, and his childhood friends would likely need a thick blanket and brand new winter clothes.
Ian wanted to make money.
There were many reasons.
"Because the buyers are all my friends, like family friends from childhood." Qiu Zhang watched as Ian handed over a few maps in a secretive, street-trade-like manner.
"Thank you, my friend... I've made some technical improvements to these maps, you can tell them it's an upgraded plus version!"
Ian pulled out his small money bag to count Silver Sickles as a rebate to Qiu Zhang.
The Wizarding World's currency sometimes felt ridiculous to him; 1 Galleon equals 17 Sickles, and 1 Sickle equals 29 Knuts. Heaven knows what mathematical genius invented this conversion system.
Doesn't the decimal system smell nice?
Couldn't it be that the beings initially ruling the whole Wizarding World had seventeen fingers and twenty-nine toes?
"No need."
Qiu Zhang shook her head, refusing, "Consider it tuition for my future classes. I learned a lot from last night's course; I can clearly feel you're way better than us."