Chapter 27: Schemes II

"Wait, so you are telling me there are, or were, Cursed Vaults in Hogwarts?"

"Yup," Simon said, looking at George.

"And the curses got broken so there is nothing really left in any of them anymore?"

"Uhuh." Fred deflated a bit at the fact that he could not go on some cursebreaking adventure.

"But the first vault, the Ice Vault, had some amazing book of spells?"

"Affirmative." Phoebe definitely wanted in on said book of spells.

"And it included the spells that helped create the game of Exploding Snap?"

"Yes." Cedric look a bit bemused by this turn of events.

"And you think we can use these spells, to create some sort of game that is also a prank on the whole school?"

Simon nodded as he and his friends walked around the Hogwarts grounds with Raze circling above them.

*"It was wise to have this discussion far from prying ears."*

"Well, more so a prank on the Professors and the Ministry, which makes it a better prank."

Simon proceeded to explain the rules of the game and the Weasley twins grinned at the ideas they were hearing.

Cedric frowned, "Are you sure anyone would actually play such a game? It seems quite silly…"

"I disagree with Grandpa Diggory. Any student would jump at the opportunity to make a fun sentence involving Dumbledore's knickers!" Fred snapped.

"Or Snape's hair products," George added, "It sounds brilliant. But how can we get people to play this game and buy this game without it all coming back to us?"

"First, we can place a sample set with rules in every common room with a little help from our friend who can apparate within Hogwarts," Simon said giving his friends a knowing look, "And we can get someone who has nothing to lose but loves making money a lot to be our seller."

"…Do you mean Jae?" Cedric queried, "Because he already sells contraband on campus and has detention forever?"

"Exactly. I am sure we can broker to give him a cut of the profits. Something like 30-40% at first to get his cooperation but with a much lower cut for subsequent sales later on. But the partnership would be guaranteed for a long period of time so I am sure Jae with acquiesce eventually even if he is making less per sale."

All of Simon's friends slowly nodded. It was moments like this where they understood why his sorting took so long. The book smart Ravenclaw was demonstrating the business acumen of a seasoned Slytherin capitalist.

"But just in case Jae tries to steal our idea or rat us out, which I highly doubt from what I have heard of him, we should probably get our game patented and make sure we are legally protected. Maybe even make a few holding companies to hide behind so we won't get into trouble." Having seen Dirk pore over various potion patents entering the Ministry, Simon knew that was the least he could do to protect this accelerated early form of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. And having had another life in a world with a modern legal system, Simon knew a thing or two about shell companies just from reading the news from his hospital bed.

Simon seemed to have lost the Weasley twins and even Cedric after mentioning "patents" and "holding companies". Sometimes, Simon forgot he was still 11 and his friends were also 11. Even if they were smart kids, they did not think *that* far ahead. At least, Phoebe appeared to somewhat understand Simon's concerns.

"I can help with the lawyer part."

The boys turned to Phoebe, surprised that she was showing any degree of support to this scheme. Only Simon and the twins ever seem to come up with wild ideas of things to try and test out. While Cedric tended to tag along at a safe distance for a good laugh, Phoebe usually would just roll her eyes.

"Honestly, this game sounds quite idiotic but from these few months at Hogwarts I could tell the halls are full of idiots," Phoebe said, looking pointedly at the twins, before continuing, "And with Christmas just around the corner, such a game just might sell well."

Simon was about to suggest asking Uncle Diego to pull some strings but had no complaints regarding Phoebe's intervention. It might be good to keep his family out of this business thing for now.

"But there are conditions," Phoebe added.

---

Bartholomew Rowle paced in his study room.

It is rare that his daughter would ask him or his wife for anything. Even though Bartholomew had a thriving legal practice assisting entrepreneurial wizards who wished to invest in muggle industries, his daughter appeared to recognise the difficulty he had to achieve all he had accomplished, with little support from the main Rowle branch. Bartholomew smiled slightly thinking about how well he and his wife had raised their daughter unlike the spoiled children of many pure-blood families.

Hence, he was surprised when his daughter asked him for a favour. Rowena Rowle was quite vague regarding the specifics but made it clear that those individuals assisted her out in her time of need. If her daughter was indeed assisted by these individuals, there was no reason for him not to return the favour.

A faint knock could be heard at the door.

"Come in."

Bartholomew was surprised to see 5 children around the age of his daughter enter his study in their Hogwarts robes. He was about to ask how they arrived from the Hogwarts campus at this hour when an Asian boy in Ravenclaw colours asked, "Is this study warded and will all our conversations be confidential, just between lawyer and client?"

"…Yes, this office has been warded and a legal advice privilege charm had been cast before you all arrived," Bartholomew replied, surprised at this question.

"Sorry about this sudden meeting," a girl with long raven black hair in Slytherin robes spoke, "I am Phoebe Greengrass and the boy who burst in with questions is Simon Li."

The boy named Simon flushed at Phoebe's comment.

"Behind us are Cedric Diggory, Fred Weasley and George Weasley."

The boys each gave a little wave when they were each introduced.

"If it is alright, Mr. Rowle, we would wish to seek some business advice…"

---

Two weeks later, all the students of Hogwarts woke up to find a black box on a table in their respective common rooms, filled with an assortment of cards. The black box simply had bold white print on it stating *"Wiccan Insensitivity. A party game for horrible people."*