Wayne had initially intended to ask Hermione for help, but she had just started school and had a long way to go before she met his requirements.
In that case, Cedric seemed like a suitable choice. As for whether Cedric would learn and then turn against him, Wayne had his own ideas. Making maps was just a test; if Cedric played dirty... well, he would end up losing far more.
"I'll do it." Without hesitation, Cedric agreed to Wayne's proposal. Twenty percent sounded small, but by the end of the school year, it would amount to several dozen Galleons—much more than his allowance. The main thing was that he could learn a lot from Wayne, which was what Cedric valued most. He had come to realize that the young wizard in front of him was a prodigy; he had already mastered more powerful spells than Cedric had when he first started.
"Let me see what you can do." Wayne posed a few questions to test Cedric's knowledge, and after some back and forth, he nodded. "You know a bit, but not much."
Cedric sitting across from him could only feel frustrated. Can't you be a little more tactful?
At least I'm your senior; can't you give me a little credit?
Wayne pulled out some parchment and wrote down the spells they would use, handing them to Cedric. "Learn these first. I'll handle the other work. Does that sound good?"
Cedric glanced over it and nodded. "Give me a week, and I should be all set."
"Alright, but make it quick. Otherwise, once I have to hand over a copy to everyone, it won't be of much use even if you learned how to do it."
"I'll try my best," Cedric said, looking exasperated. "You have no idea; Waterly has lost it! What was originally two training sessions a week has now turned into five. I can barely keep up!"
Wayne waved him off. "Do what you can."
For the rest of the time, while business wasn't quite as booming as before, Wayne managed to sell quite a few maps every day.
Since Malfoy arrived that night, his attitude towards Wayne has improved quite a bit; he even has started nodding in agreement.
As soon as the money sent from home arrived, it was brought over without delay.
Wayne didn't disappoint him either. Looking at the exquisite map made from dragon leather, which also had features like anti-peeking and anti-theft, Malfoy, who felt a bit pained at first, suddenly thought the money was well spent.
He boldly flaunted it in front of other pure-bloods. Wayne was eager for him to do so since, from this free publicity, he had secured five custom versions and over ten promax versions, all coming from Slytherin.
Wayne intended to share this money with Hermione and Cho, but neither of them wanted any part of it. They insisted that any sales were purely due to Wayne's abilities and had nothing to do with them. Hence, Wayne didn't push the matter further.
Cedric witnessed the transaction firsthand, his face resembling someone suffering from constipation.
With a dark expression, he jumped onto the Hufflepuff long table, striking poses and wriggling his backside, leaving the other young wizards in a daze.
Professor Sprout couldn't bear to watch any longer and directly banned him from earning house points for two days, sending him off to tend to the plants in the greenhouse.
As Cedric glared in frustrated disbelief, Wayne laughed uncontrollably, just like everyone else.
On Friday, while having breakfast, Wayne received a letter from an owl.
Curiously, he opened the envelope:
"Wayne, I've recently found quite a few materials you need. Would you like to come over for afternoon tea tomorrow? Of course, it would be even better if you could bring the phoenix with you."
Upon seeing that it was from Hagrid, Wayne couldn't help but smile. This wasn't just an invitation for him; it was an invitation for the phoenix.
However, Wayne had no plans to refuse. He had indeed used quite a few materials while practicing making props lately, so it was a good opportunity to replenish his supplies.
Feeling a gaze fixed on him, Wayne looked up.
Seated at the head table, Snape was also not eating, simply watching Wayne.
Over the past few days, he had tried several indirect approaches to obtain some phoenix materials from Wayne.
Despite all attempts, this brat remained unmoved, and after deducting a few points from him, Snape found his mood had inexplicably improved instead.
What was wrong with him?
Snape, usually so composed, couldn't comprehend why there was a little wizard who didn't fear point deductions as punishment and seemed to look forward to it.
During Potions class that afternoon, Snape again 'experimentally' deducted 15 points from Wayne.
The young witches and wizards of Hufflepuff had become accustomed to it. By now, many students knew that Snape's least favorite was Harry, followed closely by Wayne.
They had no idea when this rivalry began; all they knew was that Snape found ways every day to deduct points from Wayne.
So what if he deducted points? The House Cup didn't even matter; it was practically impossible to come in last with Gryffindor around.
Oh no, wait, it was 'Gryffinnot' now, with no points left.
Seeing Wayne smile as brightly as a flower, Snape finally gave up.
"Lawrence, how exactly would you hand over those materials to me?"
"Are you using them all to make those ridiculous maps?"
After class, Snape kept Wayne behind for a private discussion.
Wayne's map-selling activity certainly hadn't gone unnoticed by the professors.
With the exception of Professor Flitwick's praise, the others were singing his praises as well (though they had no idea that the maps could track Filch's movements).
Now, students were late less and less often, and even if they were, it certainly had nothing to do with getting lost, which relieved the professors considerably.
Therefore, recently Snape had been deducting points from Wayne while other professors were adding them back.
Somehow, it turned out that Wayne was gaining more than he was losing.
"Professor," Wayne said, smiling shyly, "I actually have gathered quite a lot of materials recently: tears, feathers, droppings; I have them all."
Snape's breathing grew heavier.
These were all valuable items.
"You don't need them; selling them would be a waste. Just give them to me, and I can share a portion of the potions I brew with you."
Ding.
"And I won't deduct any points from you for the next two months."
Snape coaxed him gently.
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