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Chapter 62 - Chapter 62 – Mobile Advertising Cat Project

As the exam period drew closer, the atmosphere in the castle gradually became tense. Students could often be seen hurrying through the corridors, clutching thick magic books and quietly reciting spells and potion recipes under their breath.

The library grew increasingly crowded; sometimes, if you weren't quick enough, you couldn't even find a seat and had to borrow books to read elsewhere.

However, most of the people studying intensely were those preparing for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. Robert, being only a first-year, didn't feel particularly nervous at all.

The only difference for him was probably that he had become more popular.

This newfound popularity was mainly thanks to Fred and George. At noon on the day their detention ended, the two of them strutted around the castle, proudly showing off their "brand new" wands.

While they certainly drew plenty of attention to themselves, they also helped Robert advertise. Now, more and more students were beginning to ask about the dyeing spray.

It was honestly a little embarrassing for Robert to admit that the product he had prepared at the beginning of the term had been completely forgotten due to various distractions throughout the year. As a result, the first bottle hadn't been sold until the end of the school year.

But by that time, most students had already run out of pocket money. Robert's original pricing strategy had been to make a big profit on a single item that could last thirty years, which resulted in lots of interest—but very few buyers.

"What if you lowered the price a bit?" Fred suggested one morning at breakfast. "If each one were just a galleon, most people could probably afford it if they just clenched their teeth and paid up."

"Yeah," George nodded in agreement. "A wand only costs seven galleons. Your dyeing spray shouldn't cost more than a wand, right?"

"No way. I don't rip off poor students," Robert replied self-righteously.

"Huh?" The Weasley twins stared at him, suddenly feeling like they'd just been subtly insulted.

Robert honestly didn't think they were poor. That feeling of someone trusting and valuing his product... it was kind of nice. But wait—if it weren't for the steep discount Robert had given them, they never would have spent ten galleons on a wand dyeing spray that served no purpose other than decoration.

"Well then, your only option is to advertise more," George said. "Maybe you can trick more people into buying."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Robert said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "The problem is how to advertise. Should I post something on the notice board in the common room?"

"If you could get into the common rooms of the other three houses, that might work," Fred suggested.

"But I can't get in," Robert shrugged. He hadn't even gotten to know everyone in Gryffindor yet, so how could he possibly know people from other houses?

"Want to hear my suggestion?" Fred leaned in with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Think about it. Who tirelessly travels to every corner of the castle every day?"

"Who always loves to chase after students?"

"And who is known by everyone in the castle?"

"Dumbledore?" Robert guessed.

"No, not him," George shook his head vigorously. "It's Mrs. Norris."

"Why not use the dyeing spray to write your advertisement on Mrs. Norris?" Fred proposed. "That way, she'll carry your message to every student!"

"More importantly, you won't have to spend a single extra knut," George added with a grin.

"Yeah, and she'll also carry it straight to Filch," Robert replied dryly. "And then next year, the dyeing spray will probably end up on the list of banned items."

"Don't say that. How do you know it won't work if you don't try?"

"Exactly. Give it a shot!"

The twins followed Robert around, enthusiastically trying to convince him to dye Mrs. Norris with a flashy color.

But Robert knew very well that they just wanted it to be easier to track the cat during their nighttime excursions.

Besides, when Tom was in one of his haughty moods, he often caught Mrs. Norris and beat her up. Robert couldn't bring himself to mess with the little fur she had left.

Anyway, the "Pet Wand" he had launched was also earning him some pocket money, which was more than enough... Robert was quite content with that.

A few more days passed, and the exams began.

Robert had no choice but to sit in the hot and uncomfortable Great Hall like everyone else and battle wits with the exam papers.

The first-year exams weren't especially difficult. Robert estimated that he could probably get about half of the questions right. The main issue was that he simply hadn't memorized some of the vague, obscure, lengthy, and overly complicated material... like the fifteen different ways to deal with a werewolf.

Honestly, you didn't need fifteen. There were basically two: run away, or if you couldn't run, find a way to kill it. Everything else was pointless.

Besides, werewolves probably read the same textbooks. Hogwarts hadn't updated their curriculum in at least thirty years. The werewolves might've already come up with countermeasures.

In all of Gryffindor, only Hermione would bother memorizing that sort of thing... Well, maybe Percy, too.

In contrast, the practical exams were much more enjoyable—especially for Robert, who had a secret advantage. As long as he used the right wand, getting a high score was easy.

The Hogwarts curriculum mostly focused on white magic. With the enhancements provided by Silver Mane, even the more challenging exams became a breeze.

For Transfiguration, they had to turn a mouse into a snuffbox. Robert finished first.

In the Charms exam, Professor Flitwick asked the students to make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk.

This was really just a creative test of their Levitation Charm skills. The "tap-dancing" simply meant making the pineapple bounce around on the tabletop so it looked like it was dancing.

After all, Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 didn't include the Tarantallegra charm. If you wanted to learn that, you'd need to look in One Hundred Revenge Methods Against Enemies.

But if it was just Levitation, it was a piece of cake. Even without Silver Mane, Robert could handle it easily.

His pineapple's dance did look a bit like a stiff robot dance, though. He wasn't sure if that would cost him points.

The most troublesome exam by far was Potions. Potions involved more cauldron work than wandwork, and the wand was mostly used as a stirring tool.

Snape had tasked them with brewing a correct Forgetfulness Potion in under two hours.

This was a subject Robert had always struggled with. The correct potion was supposed to be blue and produce smoke. What he turned in, however, was brown and gave off pink smoke.

Judging by the look on Snape's face, Robert wasn't likely to get a very high mark.

Afterward came Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and History of Magic, in that order. With those finished, exams were officially over.

To celebrate the upcoming holidays, the castle erupted into joy. The previously heavy and tense atmosphere vanished almost overnight.

On the second day of the holiday, Fred and George came looking for Robert again. They wanted to team up and take on the Whomping Willow that night, insisting again and again that there would absolutely be no mistakes this time.

But Robert still refused.

He didn't fully trust their promises—and, more importantly, he was waiting for something far more important.

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