HPDBC Chapter 34 – Seventy percent profit, and yet still living paycheck to paycheck!?
Chapter 34 – Seventy percent profit, and yet still living paycheck to paycheck!?
Hoare was stunned. He clearly remembered that what he gave to the headmaster was his newly developed healing potion. How could it have the scent of peppermint?
The only thing with a peppermint scent was...
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The twins, seeing Hoare's realization, grinned wickedly. "You actually dared to give Professor Snape a Joy Potion!"
"Well done!"
The two of them high-fived excitedly.
The Joy Potion, as the name suggests, gives a sense of happiness, making everything seem wonderful.
Hoare knew this potion was created by the Half-Blood Prince.
Which meant the one who accidentally fell for it was Headmaster Snape.
When Hoare first learned about this potion, he was amazed at how miserable one's life must be to crave such false happiness.
Later, when he found out it was the Half-Blood Prince who created it, he wasn't surprised at all.
But how did the headmaster end up taking this potion? Hoare distinctly remembered destroying it due to poor sales.
However, Hoare couldn't let on that he was unaware. The twins were grinning mischievously, and he needed to figure out what they were up to.
"So, what do you want from me?" Hoare asked.
The twins hooked their arms around Hoare's shoulders and pulled him aside.
"We see you have a knack for pranks."
"And the guts."
"How about joining us to make the prank business shine and grow!"
George and Fred's eyes sparkled brighter than their red hair at the mention of pranks.
They wanted Hoare to join not just because of this prank, but also due to his exceptional potion-making skills.
When they made the same potion, it was impressive if two out of several bottles turned out perfectly.
But when Hoare made them, almost every bottle was perfect.
Of course, the most exciting part was having a Slytherin team up with two Gryffindors for pranks, which promised excitement and challenge.
Just thinking about everyone's reactions when they found out made George and Fred eager to drink more pumpkin juice.
"Not interested," Hoare declined directly. He just wanted to eat.
Besides, the prank was an accident. If he really teamed up with them, the headmaster would punish him by making him scrub the Potions room by hand every day.
Ugh... just the thought of it was disgusting.
"Seventy percent of the profits go to me," Hoare continued, dousing their excitement.
"You know my formulas are unique. Since they're unique, they must be worth the price," Hoare's words left the twins silent for a moment.
Hoare calculated that they had almost no savings each month.
Considering they were family, he was generous to leave them with 30% of the profits.
But he hadn't expected the twins to have such a wide range of products and customers spanning all grades and houses at Hogwarts.
Hoare even saw Hermione and Malfoy's purchase records in the ledger.
He glanced at the twins, who were deep in thought.
If they ever found out that their biggest shareholder was Hoare, the one they'd bullied and pranked since childhood...
The thought of that scene made Hoare chuckle to himself.
It would be payback for years of pranks.
The twins exchanged a glance, their silent understanding needing no words.
"Deal," Fred spoke for the twins.
"Tomorrow, place the contract in the Room of Requirement. I'll pick it up after training. As for the materials, I'll leave them there in advance," Hoare rattled off the follow-up arrangements like a machine gun.
"Now," Hoare raised his hand, pushing away the arms around him, "I'm going to the Great Hall to eat."
"This is for you, goodbye," Hoare handed them a potion he had made out of boredom.
With that, he strode off.
Hoare's formula was very detailed.
It was a potion that would randomly make a part of the body extremely flexible.
It listed the exact grams needed for each ingredient, the effects of slight deviations, and the final successful outcome.
The twins, holding the formula, were too excited to care about anything else, eager to experiment with it immediately.
As Hoare left the twins and headed to the Great Hall, he waited until they were some distance away before reaching into his robe.
Inside was another identical potion. The last successful batch had only two bottles; he gave one to the headmaster yesterday, and the one in his hand was the last.
He glanced around, then hid behind a suit of armor.
Slowly, he uncorked the crystal bottle.
The crystal bottle could stabilize the potion, ensuring no changes occurred.
And at that moment, Hoare really did smell a faint peppermint scent from the potion in his hand.
What on earth was going on?