In the second week of the Easter holiday, Kael maintained the same routine as before; he left the Gryffindor common room every morning after breakfast and didn't return until evening.
However, he didn't go to the library, nor did he go to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor. Instead, he spent the whole day in an abandoned classroom on the third floor of the castle.
And he wasn't alone. The classroom was bustling with Fred from Gryffindor, George, Cho Chang from Ravenclaw, as well as Conna and Cedric.
In total, six people were busily engrossed in activities in the rather small classroom.
"Kael, come check if this pattern is right?" Cho Chang put down the knife in her hand, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and said, "I feel like there's something off about it."
"No worries, a small flaw is no big deal." Kael replied without looking up, "No one will notice anyway, as long as it's roughly right."
Kael held a small knife in his left hand and a piece of a tree branch in his right hand.
—a branch from the Rowan Tree, which he had brought back from the Forbidden Forest.
Kael first removed the bark and extra parts, then skillfully used the small knife to carve irregular patterns into the branch.
Very soon, he had finished making an oval-shaped wooden pendant with a criss-crossed wand and quill pattern carved on its surface.
Beside him, there were many similar pendants, including oval, triangular, and square shapes.
The other five were also all transforming from young wizards into carpenters, busily working on the branches.
Nearing noon, Fred brushed the wood shavings off his body, looked at the "fruits of his labor" accumulated over the morning, and couldn't help but frown, "Kael, can we really sell these things?"
Hearing this, the others also raised their heads and looked at Kael.
A couple of days ago, Kael had called them in, saying they were going to make a big sale.
With their previous successful experience selling maps, they were initially quite excited and didn't have any doubts, cooperating fully with Kael's arrangements.
But unexpectedly, Kael had them whittling wood for two whole days, insisting that they did it purely by hand without using magic.
This made them feel quite puzzled.
"It should be possible."
Kael thought for a moment and said, "Rowan Tree Talismans are quite popular in the Magic Realm."
"Wait... we're making talismans?" George asked in disbelief.
It was mainly because none of them had any experience in woodworking before. Although the carved objects weren't exactly ugly, they weren't particularly good-looking either, and they certainly came in all sorts of odd shapes.
Even he wasn't willing to lie and call these roughly made things talismans.
"What you and Fred made are just wooden lumps." Kael said, "But once Conna and the others carve some designs onto them, that's when they transform."
Looking at each other, they shared skeptical glances after hearing Kael's words.
Unless the designs were some special magical runes, like Ancient Runes, they would remain wooden lumps regardless of how many symbols were added.
"Speaking of which..." Cedric couldn't help but ask, "What are exactly these designs? I've never seen them."
"They symbolize passing exams, you can understand it as passing exams with ease."
Kael thought for a moment and explained, "In 1790, at the Wizarding Conference, they formally passed the bill to establish the Wizard Examination Board, and in the same year, Hogwarts held its first N.E.W.T.s exam.
Back then, young wizards who passed the exams would receive a special letter from the Ministry of Magic, with a seal featuring a crossed quill and wand.
Later, this symbol became associated with passing exams, and at that time, many graduating students would draw this design and carry it with them for good luck before exams.
But after Professor Marchbank became head of the examination board, this design was removed and replaced with a plain envelope."
Fred and the others were amazed as they stared at Kael and instinctively asked, "1790, that's over two hundred years ago, how do you know about these things?"
"I read books."
Kael shrugged nonchalantly and said, "If you had read 'Hogwarts: A History', you wouldn't be so surprised."
Reading books... well, that explains it.
Fred and George both looked away and gave Kael a thumbs up.
'Hogwarts: A History' was a huge and thick book, hefty enough to use as a shield. It's alright to flip through a few pages and browse interesting sections when there's time, but finishing it would be a huge task for them.
And it wasn't just Fred and George, even Cedric hadn't read it all.
But that wasn't the main point.
With this explanation, they understood Kael's idea.
Although these Rowan wood items weren't real talismans, it couldn't be denied that they were quite appealing.
Especially at this time.
Even Fred and George were somewhat tempted.
If someone had sold these before the final exams last year, they might have indeed bought them.
"But Kael, can't we just use a Doubling Charm?" Cho Chang asked in confusion, "Like with the maps before, it would be much more efficient."
"Of course we can, but that would be a different price tier."
Kael wagged his finger, "This time, I'm planning to offer three tiers of products: high-end custom at ten Galleons, pure handmade... like what we're doing now at two Galleons, and finally bulk one-time products at five Sickles."
"Is it really that cheap?" Cho Chang didn't quite understand.
After all, a single map cost ten Sickles. Despite both being duplicates, carving objects like these is much more difficult than duplicating maps.
Before Kael could explain, Cedric seemed to have thought of something and turned to ask, "How much pocket money do you have left right now?"
"Pocket money?" Cho Chang pondered and said, "I spent quite a bit recently, I probably have about one Galleon left..."
Suddenly, her voice halted, and a look of realization appeared on her face.
"Do you get it now."
Kael said with a smile, "It's the end of the term, most people are running low on money. If we set the prices too high, even if they want to buy, they can't afford it.
Plus, this time we're not only targeting first-year students, but the entire school, which is several times the number of people compared to before. So five Sickles will suffice, consider it making friends."
Everyone automatically ignored Kael's last sentence, as if they remembered correctly, he said the same thing when selling maps.
Five Sickles to make friends, what about the other two tiers...
Fred and George silently lowered their heads, and the branches in their hands seemed to take the shape of Galleons now, and their task was to carve those Galleons out.
"By the way..." At this time, Kael suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "For those not made by the Doubling Charm, remember to carve the year on them at the end."
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