Under the lure of Galleons, Kael and the others spent an entire week in that cramped and stuffy abandoned classroom. They produced over three hundred "Exam Pass Charms."
Over a hundred of these were painstakingly carved by hand by the six of them, pure craftsmanship, with no cutting corners.
The remaining two hundred were assembly line products, where they first carved the design, then used a Doubling Charm to transfer it onto those Rowan Tree Branches—pretty perfunctory, but they looked the part.
By the end of the week, their proficiency with the Doubling Charm was quite advanced.
It's worth mentioning that this spell was originally meant to be learned in the sixth year.
"The rest is up to you guys."
At the welcome feast, Kael looked seriously at the other five people and said, "You all know the procedure; just do it again like we did with selling the map."
Fred and the others nodded solemnly in agreement.
Though they said it like that, this was clearly not just a small-time scheme like selling maps; it's a big business targeting the whole school, so they were understandably a bit nervous.
"Kael, do we really have to charge Hufflepuffs too?" Cedric, ever the nice guy, was somewhat hesitant.
"This isn't a necessity, Cedric." Kael patted him on the shoulder and said, "But we can offer Hufflepuff a decent discount."
"Fifty percent off?"
"No, five percent off!" Kael thought about it and added, "But we can waive the small change, reducing it by a Knut."
"..."
Cedric twitched his mouth, wanting to stand by his point of view but couldn't do anything about it; Kael had the pricing power firmly in his hands, and his opinion wouldn't matter.
After a brief discussion, everyone dispersed to prepare for the plan the next day.
To achieve optimal publicity, Fred and George even worked overnight to write a large flyer, posting it in the most conspicuous spot in the Gryffindor Common Room.
[Are you worried about exams? Are you concerned that you won't perform well and won't get good grades?
Now, you don't need to worry anymore!
To ensure everyone enjoys a wonderful summer vacation, we proudly recommend the "Exam Pass Charm."
It was recorded in "Hogwarts: A History," a bestseller at Hogwarts over a century ago, and even Headmaster Dumbledore wore it during exams.
If interested, please contact Year 2 Fred Weasley, George Weasley.
(Note: This product is only symbolic and cannot enhance the wearer's intelligence nor replace exams; please purchase at your discretion.)]
The initial version of the flyer didn't actually have that last sentence, but after Kael learned of the matter, he specifically made them add it.
It wasn't for anything else, just for stability, and to avoid returns.
Fred and George were a bit worried that after adding that sentence, no one would want to buy their stuff anymore.
But merely half a day later, that concern vanished.
Once the first person found the symbolic meaning of the wand and quill image in "Hogwarts: A History" and told everyone else, young wizards rushed into their dormitories clutching Sickles and Galleons, afraid that if they were even a second late, they wouldn't get their hands on an "Exam Pass Charm."
The dormitory door had been broken several times, and in the end, Fred didn't even bother using a Repairing Charm anymore, simply waved his hand and took the door off entirely.
Over at Hufflepuff, it was a similar scene, only the badgers crowded Cedric's dormitory.
Even though there were no flyers posted on the Slytherin side, they naturally came to Conna upon hearing about it.
Among the six, Cho, who was responsible for Ravenclaw, had it a bit easier since most of the top students were confident and didn't need this.
...
On a certain afternoon a few days later, still in that abandoned classroom.
The floor, once littered with wood scraps and small knives, was now replaced by a square table, piled with heaps of Galleons and Silver Sickles on top.
"Gulp～"
Fred swallowed and asked, "How much is this?"
"After conversion, it's a total of seven hundred and nine Galleons, fifteen Sickles, and five Knuts," Cho blurted out, "I didn't expect so many people to buy custom models, so it's a lot more than we anticipated."
"Over seven hundred Galleons…" George looked dazed, "Am I dreaming?"
Fred sighed beside him, "If I am, I hope I never wake up from this dream."
Kael picked up a Galleon from the table and smiled, "Then you'd better think clearly; there are seven of these dreams in total."
"In that case, I'd better wake up quickly," Fred laughed heartily.
But as he laughed, his face suddenly crumpled.
Fred suddenly remembered that he was a year older than Kael, which meant by the time Kael was in his seventh year, Fred would have already graduated, missing out on the money for that year.
The thought of several hundred Galleons slipping away pained Fred, and he looked at Kael with resentment and said, "Why couldn't you have enrolled last year?"
Kael felt a chill from his look and moved to the side a couple of steps disdainfully.
"I don't decide when I start school; you'd have to talk to Dumbledore about that."
"Err, that's determined by the Access Book," Cedric quietly reminded on the side, "It has nothing to do with the Headmaster."
But clearly, Fred and George weren't listening; they were discussing how they could delay graduation by a year.
By the time they left, each one's pocket was filled with a hundred whole Galleons.
As for the rest, everyone unanimously decided to have Kael keep them, to be used as startup funds for the next venture.
Kael agreed.
He initially planned to invest this money into the Weasley brothers, but the two of them were currently busy looking for the complete incantation of the Marauder's Map and had no extra time to work on any joke products.
It'll have to wait until next year.
...
In the following weeks, the professors suddenly noticed that a particular type of wooden ornament seemed to become popular at Hogwarts, almost everyone wore one.
It wasn't any kind of magic item, just ordinary Rowan wood, some round, some square.
There was another kind, less frequent, gilded with gold lacquer, waxed on the surface, looking more exquisite than others, but still not a magical item.
Normally, the professors wouldn't care about such things; it's just a fad, happens every year, as long as it's not something dangerous.
But this time was different because they discovered that ever since these ornaments became popular, young wizards weren't as nervous in class as before, their mental state was markedly improved.
Honestly, the professors were unsure if this was a good thing or not.