Chapter 40: Spreading Influence, and Important Customers (1/2)
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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Katie Bell and her friends were walking in the corridors, walking back to their common room after classes, when they were stopped by a voice,
”Bell!”
The Gryffindor Chaser looked back to see Quinn West wave his hand as he weaved through a crowd of students.
”Yeah, what is it?” asked Katie when the Ravenclaw walked near her.
She saw Quinn put his hand into his bookbag and take out a stack of notebooks. She could see the thin colorful spines of the notebooks with the violet notebook on the top.
”What are these?” she asked as Quinn handed them to her. Katie read the topmost violet notebook, ”Charms, year two?”
”Yup,” said Quinn, popping the 'P' at the end.
”These are my examination notes for all seven subjects for our year,” smiled Quinn.
Katie frowned and uttered, ”But, the exams aren't for another couple of months...”
Quinn nodded, replying to the Quidditch athlete, ”True, but I am giving these to you because I am going to sell these notes from now on.”
He tapped the corner of the notebook, directing the attention of Katie and her friends to the words A.I.D written in the box.
”You can buy them at the A.I.D office for five (5) sickles a subject. No need to buy the entire set.”
He looked at Katie's two friends and raised his hand to show an A.I.D card. He shifted his thumb to reveal that he had two cards in his hands, showcasing sleight of hand.
”These are for you ladies,” said Quinn as he gave the cards to them. ”If you want to buy my notes. You can come to this room. As I said, you don't have to buy the complete set, and you can pool money among a group to buy the entire set and share the notebooks.”
He turned back to Katie and spoke, ”This set is free. But, I want you to do something for me.”
When Katie nodded, Quinn continued, ”Spread the word that I am selling these notebooks among the Gryffindor house. I have notes for all subjects of the first and second year. Tell them the cost and say that the price is negotiable.”
He placed his hand on top of the notebooks, and when he removed it, there was another black and gold A.I.D card sitting on the top of the notebook.
”They can come to visit at the A.I.D office. I will discuss prices with them there,” finished Quinn.
Katie looked at the card sitting on top of the notebook, ”How many of these do you carry?”
Quinn waved his empty hand and shook it for another card to suddenly appear in his hand. He held the card with his other hand and revealed a whole deck of contacting cards in his hand, spreading them like a deck of playing cards.
”A lot of them,” smirked Quinn, enjoying the look on their faces at the show of simple sleight-of-hand 'magic.'
”Do this for me, will you? Remember, first and second-year subjects only, and the prices are negotiable,” said Quinn as he walked backward and waved them goodbye before disappearing among the students.
'Gryffindor seed planted,' thought Quinn.
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- (Scene Break) -
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Megan Jones stood near the Hogwarts kitchen with a dozen sheets of paper in her hands.
”Ms. Jones, as per our agreement, I want you to take these flyers and stick them on the Hufflepuff notice board, entrances of both the girls' and boys' dormitories, and all the places you think these flyers would stick out,” said Quinn
Megan Jones was Quinn's very first client. She had come with a simple task of fixing a gift from her mother, Quinn had fixed it without even blinking, and now he was cashing the favor.
A simple task for a small favor that she owed.
She nodded, showing her understanding.
”You just have to place these flyers on the surface, tap them with your wand while saying stick. I have charmed them to stick when you do that. No mess, no fuss,” explained Quinn.
”Okay, I will do it,” replied Megan.
He waved her goodbye as she ran towards the Hufflepuff common room.
Quinn didn't give anyone in Hufflepuff a free set because he didn't know any first-year and second-year students on a personal level. So he decided to use flyers for marketing the exam notes.
He charmed the flyers with animation charms that really made them stand out and were catchy to look at.
'Heck, they even glow in the dark,' thought Quinn.
He waited for Megan to return to give him a confirmation, and after ten minutes, she returned.
”I did it. I pasted all the flyers on the walls.” Her face was a little red as she came running from the Hufflepuff common room.
”Excellent. Thank you, Ms. Jones,” replied Quinn, smiling, hoping the flyers would garner some traction in Hufflepuff.
As he was about to leave, Megan suddenly asked, ”Will I be able to get your notes later when I start preparing for the exams?”
The exams were still a couple months away, and other than the majority of Ravenclaw students and some studious students in other houses, no one else had started studying. So, Megan didn't want to buy them now and wondered if they would be available later.
Quinn grinned in reply, ”You can come to the office on the day of the exams, and you would still get the notes. So, drop by when you are in need.”
He waved her goodbye and walked away thinking,
'Hufflepuff is a go.'
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- (Scene Break) -
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Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis sat under the shade of a tree, doing homework in peace. They were sitting on a checkered sheet, with all their things laying comfortably on the cloth.
Tracy was thinking about an answer in her homework when a butterfly caught her attention. The butterfly was no ordinary one, and Tracey tugged on Daphne's clothes, getting her attention.
”What?” asked the blonde in annoyance.
Tracey pointed at the butterfly and exclaimed, ”Look! The butterfly changes color with every flap of its wing.”
Daphne frowned but followed Tracey's finger and saw a butterfly flapping its way towards the trunk of the tree they were sitting under. She noticed how with every flap, the butterfly's wings would change color.
”You are right,” murmured Daphne as she and Tracey turned their heads toward the trunk, following the butterfly as it moved upwards and eventually went behind the trunk of the tree.
The girls waited for the butterfly to reemerge, but it never came back.
”Aww, I should've followed it,” whined Tracey. Daphne just shook her, but she too wanted to see the color-changing butterfly.
When they turned back to the front, both noticed something completely unexpected.
”Eep!” shrieked Daphne, shocked at the sudden scare she just felt. While Tracy didn't squeal, she too was shocked and had a hand on her chest, breathing deeply.
The thing that scared them was actually a person. A person both were quite familiar with.
Sitting in front of them was Quinn, sitting there like he had always been with them. He was reading Tracey's homework parchments.
He looked up at Tracey and pointed at the parchment. ”Wormwood doesn't have a taproot but a fibrous root. We add wormwood to the Draught of the Living Death because it eliminates the side-effect. You missed it here.”
Both of them looked on as Quinn pointed at things in Tracey's homework with a smile.
”... so, we learn that by drying the leaves of the Nettle plant, we can get the desired effect and use it in the potion for a cure for boils. Neat, right?”
He passed the parchment to Tracey, who took it from Quinn and then threw a fresh roll of parchment in his face. Daphne followed and threw her own roll at Quinn.
”Prat!” thundered Tracey, glaring at Quinn. A new look on her usual smiling face.
”Oh, come on. It was an innocent joke. I didn't jump out to scare you and silently sat here helping you out,” said Quinn, busting out his best innocent look.
The two girls just gave a deadpanned look to Quinn.
”How did you get here? I didn't see you walking,” asked Daphne.
Quinn smiled widely, took out his fake wand, and casted a spell. The girls saw Quinn's other hand disappeared from sight.
”A Disillusionment charm to make myself invisible coupled with that butterfly to distract your attention was enough for me to sneak up on you,” answered Quinn, conjuring two of the color-changing butterflies that fluttered around the two girls.
He skipped the details that it wasn't a simple Disillusionment charm but advanced light magic to make himself invisible and erasing the surrounding sound.
”Magic with simple misdirection. Quite simple really,” said Quinn.
”So, what brings you here?” asked Tracey, as she wrote everything Quinn had said about her homework. She might have been angry, but she was listening. While Daphne admired the butterfly that landed on her finger.
”Oh, I come bearing gifts for you two,” said Quinn as he took out two sets of exam notes and handed one to each of them.
”I present to you my notes for all first-year subjects. They have everything you will need to pass your end-of-year examinations. Explained every topic in easy words with diagrams for explanations. Tips and tricks for practical usage. These notes have everything and will help you greatly for your end-of-year exams,” explained Quinn, putting on his best salesman smile.
The two Slytherin girls undid the binding on the notebook set, picked the first notebook from the stack, and started reading.
Quinn patiently waited while the girls read the material in the notes. He looked at the grass on the ground and had a sudden urge to pull on it but abstained from doing it.
After a while, Tracey spoke, ”These are amazing. They have so much in so fewer words.” She looked at Quinn and asked, ”You wrote these?”
Quinn smirked, ”Of course, I did. And, I am going to sell these.” He tapped on the A.I.D symbol on the cover of the notes.
”For that reason, I am going to need a little help.” Quinn took out another set of flyers that he had given to Megan Jones and placed them on the picnic blanket.
”In return for these notes, all I am asking from you two is a little promotion in the Slytherin house. You can post these flyers in the common room, and a little word of mouth would also be helpful.”
”I thought these were gifts,” asked Daphne.
Quinn chuckled and responded, ”You can treat my request as a return gift from you two.”
Tracey picked up a flyer and said, ”Of course, we will help. These notes are going to be a great help.”
”Thank you,” smiled Quinn. He also handed them a few A.I.D cards for distribution and explained everything about selling first and second-year subjects and how the prices were negotiable.
'With this, Slytherin is locked in too.'
Quinn was going to do the promotion in Ravenclaw on his own, and he was absolutely sure that Ravenclaw students would be his first customers and most extensive buyers.
'As long I am top, Ravenclaw students will buy whatever I sell.'
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- (Scene Break) -
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It took a couple of days before the orders started pouring in, and as Quinn had expected, the first batch of orders were all from Ravenclaw students.