As soon as Loki flipped to the second section of the newspaper a smile blossomed on his face.
'I can't believe my luck! I instantly got a super rare card!' Loki exclaimed as he looked at the card that was printed along with others in the lower half of the newspaper.
With Bilton Blimes Loki had created a card game whose cards would be randomly printed in newspapers.
The card game was simple, it took a lot of inspiration from Clash Royale. There was a tower on both sides of the paper that was to be protected from the relentless assault of the other player.
On a fresh page, was a board that contained three towers, two protective on the sides, and one main in the centre.
On a flap above the page were five new cards in each print.
The user could add these cards to their deck and play them on the battlefield to spawn their troops which would move towards the enemy tower in hopes of damaging it.
The enemy could also defend their tower by spawning their own troops and blocking your advance.
The theme was set in Hogwarts where the several cards were either professors or students who had achieved Special Awards for Services to the School.
Each newspaper could be used for a single round and the cards could also only be used for a single round after which they would deactivate and burn away, this was so that people would buy more newspapers if they wanted to play more like a traditional arcade.
'Thank god for teaching me about Pay to Win.'
'What a great system to earn money from unsuspecting people.'
Although the cards could only be used once, the winner could keep any card from their deck that they desired and save it for a new round, this incentivised winning and gave the players a sense of connection to their cards.
'This connection was also useful because players would treat prints of papers like loot boxes.'
'I guess I don't need to say much more after that.'
'This idea was a money printing machine.'
And Loki had been lucky enough to receive the Dumbledore card as soon as he'd bought the newspaper.
The artwork was a bit 'unique' but it was still a lot better than Hermione's idea to just write the names of the wizards on the cards.
Loki pulled out the five cards he'd received from the paper and stored them in his pocket much to the curiosity of all the other children that were on the table, especially when they saw him so excited about the cards he was holding.
Looking around Loki found the same enthusiasm on the Gryffindor table where Hermione was going through the newspaper, catching the attention of Ron who was hyper-excited to learn more about the game in the Arcade section of the newspaper.
As soon as Professor Snape stepped into the hall he bought a newspaper for himself prompting many Slytherins to go and check out the wending machine to get a newspaper for themselves.
And soon after Professor Lockhart entered the Great Hall, he purchased a newspaper, sending many of his fans to purchase it for themselves enthusiastically.
Overall Loki concluded that everything was going as planned and chose to relax as he had his breakfast.
The newspaper soon spread around like a sensation as students began to recognise the new form of entertainment that came with it.
Loki could even see a few enthusiastic students begin to play Arcadia Royale.
'I wonder at this rate how long it'll take for the newspapers to get sold out.'
'Hermione predicted that we'd have a few, about a tenth, newspapers remaining but seeing how enthusiastic the students are I doubt there'd be any more remaining.'
"Excuse me, Professor!!" Loki saw a first-year holding a camera walk up to the professors' table where he spoke to headmaster Dumbledore directly.
"Yes?" Dumbledore asked with a grandfatherly smile peering at the boy through his half-moon spectacles.
"Is it true that the Hogwarts's castle mascot is a Dragon!?"
The words sent a wave of whispers among the students as they waited for Dumbledore's response.
"Yes it is true and she will be unveiled for everyone to see and interact with from this weekend, so be ready."
"Un! Can I take a picture for her?" The boy asked prompting Dumbledore to nod for everyone to see.
The boy rushed back to his spot on the Gryffindor table to discuss the news with his friends.
'He has a camera…maybe I can hire him as the photographer?'
'But he appears to be a first-year…a little too young.'
'I mean not like I'm much older but…'
Days passed in a similar routine with an issue of Hogwarts Honest Mill coming out every other week with students excitedly collecting cards that came with them and playing Arcadia Royal.
The time in between the new issue of the paper each week, students spent reading the various articles, learning new things inadvertently as they waited their turn to harvest new cards.
Walking through the corridors with leisure, Loki thought back to what Hermione had told him.
'Loki it's better we bring an artist on board. It will give everything a professional look and improve our standing with the populace in general.'
'An artist? But who? We'd need someone who can work as we do, so it can't be a student in the higher classes. Is there a good artist in our class?'
'I don't know, but I'll try and find someone if you feel like it's alright.'
'Yeah, I'll try to find someone too and then we can interview them together.'
'Un.'
As Loki reached the Slytherin Common room he found small groups of students playing Arcadia Royale bringing a slight smile to his face.
The common room had become a friendly place for Loki since most knew that he was the one that made the Arcadia Royale game, and everyone deemed him important enough to keep him safe from harm, making anyone who dared to attack him a public enemy of all of Hogwarts.
And not even Malfoy wanted to risk taking such a prestigious position.
'Maybe I can swindle him into taking the title?'
Loki looked around the room with a soft smile as he felt a little pride in himself seeing the students play something he introduced them to and that was when he noticed a blonde girl in the corner of the room sketching the entire scenario into her drawing pad.
As soon as Loki's eyes landed on her she looked up from her own book and met Loki's eyes.
Immediately making way and walking towards the girl, Loki tried to peer into her book but she skillfully hid it by bringing it closer to her chest.
"You draw Daphne?" Loki asked.
"Why are you asking?" Daphne asked in return with a simple emotionless look on her face.
"Well if you're any good at it, I have an offer for you."
"Huh?"
"I'm serious. I'm currently searching for an artist for the newspaper."
"..." Daphne looked a little startled but she maintained her composure and slowly let down the book she was holding.
On it was the most immaculate drawing Loki felt he'd ever seen, everything from the light to the perspective and even the shapes and sizes was perfectly captured as if drawn by a robot.
"Beautiful." Loki mumbled and then looked back at Daphne, "Would you like to join us in making the newspaper?" Loki asked without hesitation.
"Erm….Can I take a little time to answer this?" Daphne asked feeling a little hesitant.
"Take as much time as you will, but once you're ready come over to classroom 2-21 and meet me or Hermione there. Oh, Hermione is a muggle-born, I hope you don't have any problem with working with her?"
"....No, but give me a little time.", Daphne said with a slight nod of her head.
"Of course." Loki nodded and left to his room where he unwinded himself and collapsed into the bed.
'Perhaps this was a good luck scenario attracted to her because of fate?'
And after he felt his muscles relax he sat up and seriously began working on his Occlumency but kept failing to get rid of the last thought that always remained in his mind.
Eventually, Loki gave up and helped Sunny digest his potion, and before he slept he sent a letter to Kreacher to send him ingredients for the next potion for Sunny since he was close to fully digesting his potion.
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