122 Business

Once classes were over, the marauders headed for the dormitories. According to Sirius, it would be the first business meeting. They would be his partners.

"Right, mates. We need some splendid business ideas. Don't be afraid to bring up illegal business... Let's get started!" said Sirius, opening a notebook and taking his quill.

"Peter Pettigrew, you go first. You seem to have a great idea in mind," added Sirius, looking at Peter, who was picking a snot out of his nose.

"Huh? Y-yeah, yeah, right!" said Peter in surprise as he threw his booger away from him.

"Mm...Valentine's Day is a month away. We can sell love potions. Lots of girls will buy them," said Peter after thinking for a few seconds.

James was amazed that Peter, who was picking snot out just a few seconds ago could propose such an illegal business at Hogwarts. And what surprised him more was that he could tie it in with Valentine's Day as it would make for higher sales. A very good idea, albeit a dangerous one.

"Love potions," Sirius said, jotting down the idea.

"That business can make a good profit and more so on Valentine's Day. What do you guys think?" asked Sirius, looking for opinions.

"It's much more dangerous than joke products. Compare a stink bomb to a love potion that causes a person to fall madly in love with a person," commented Lupin.

"Where will you get the ingredients for the potions? You'll need a large initial investment. Also, they are not easy potions to brew. They are advanced. You need a potion maker," commented James.

"The ingredients...we can find them at Hogwarts like all the potions we've made so far," began Sirius.

"We made?" asked James with a slight smile.

"Well, that you have made. And as for brewing we already have an expert potion maker, right?" said Sirius, looking at James.

"No. I don't have that much time to devote to making love potions. Besides, we'll need a big batch, and it would take me too long," refused James, giving no options to argue.

"Love Potions out..." said Sirius, crossing out in his notebook as he knew James wouldn't change his mind.

"You Toby? Any ideas?" asked Sirius.

"Bibles," replied Toby.

"What?" asked Sirius, scratching his ears.

"Bibles. The book of divine inspiration and a reflection of the relationship between God and mankind. Maybe we can get the Slytherin students to stop looking down on others who aren't purebloods," said Toby, looking up at the sky and clasping his hands together.

"Oh... that's an excellent idea," said Sirius, flicking his wrist as if he were writing in the notebook, but he wasn't writing anything.

"We'll think about that idea later. You Lupin?" he added.

"We could set up an illegal broom racing tournament," Lupin replied, letting his imagination run wild. He doubted some of these crazy ideas would ever get off the ground anyway.

"I like it. A different approach, but where do we do it? We need a really big place," Sirius asked.

"The dueling room. We can put defensive charms so Filch can't find it. James knows them," replied Lupin. How he spent a lot of time with James practicing and studying, he knew of many defensive spells that would serve to hide a room from other people's eyes.

He would never put the room of requirements as the tournament location, as he doesn't want other people to know about that secret room.

"Mm, it would be hard to get all the students to come to the tournament late at night. It would be very conspicuous and would draw the attention of first Filch and then the professors," said Sirius.

In the end, they ended up discarding this idea. They would need a lot of people for the tournament and people to gamble, since that way, they would make money as the hosts, but there could be moles, and the place would be exposed. Or some distracted students get caught, and all their business comes to light.

"James?" asked Sirius hopefully. His best friend was usually the one with solutions for everything.

"A school paper," replied James. He had time to think so it didn't take him long to answer.

"Explain further," said Sirius, ready to write down everything his friend said.

"Hogwarts doesn't have a newspaper. And I'm not talking about serious news. There will be all kinds of gossip news, rumors, exams, quidditch matches, etc. We have no competition and its production is not difficult at all. We just need a printer to print the copies of the newspaper that will be published once a week. We can charge higher than normal for each copy since students don't have many options for spending their money anyway," explained James patiently.

"Every week, we will make a profit. On the other hand, they can't tell us much if we get caught. Since when is it illegal to sell a school paper?" said Sirius with a smile.

"We could make it legal. Tell the school we'll sell a school paper. That way we'll save ourselves from future trouble," commented Lupin.

"I don't know... They can try to manipulate the information or set limits. The fun will be putting out all kinds of crazy gossip. The morbidity will be fed, and everyone will buy the papers wanting to know if Juanita ended up with Pablito," said Sirius.

"And who will write the paper?" asked Peter. Neither of them liked to write.

"I have one person in mind," said James.

"Who?"

"Xenophilius Lovegood. The boy who shared a carriage with us on the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the year. His dream is to be a journalist. We can hire him. That way he'll hone his skills, and we can give him a salary," James replied.

"It's true. The guy with the toad! He had a camera and couldn't get enough of gossip. I remember him showing me the picture of Narcissa with that pale boy from the Malfoy family," said Sirius with a big grin. They already had the perfect journalist.

The marauders had already decided what their business would be. They talked for an hour, and then James went to the library to continue studying transfiguration with Lily.

Before hiring Xeno they would need to get a few things for the business. Papers, ink, pens, and a printing press are all magical to make the job easier.

The first thing they would try would be to go to the room of requirements asking for all these things. If they get them they already have their business formed, and without losing a single galleon.

James gave that task to the others. He already had a mission for that night. Find the Hufflepuff boy and find out what he is looking for Professor Eustace.

James had no idea where the Hufflepuff common room was. So he finished dinner faster than usual and went back to the Gryffindor dormitories.

There he grabbed his invisibility cloak and returned to the Great Hall. He kept an eye on the freckled boy, who was still dining in solitary. When he got up and started walking towards the common room he followed him.

The entrance to the Hufflepuff common room was located in a corner to the right of the kitchen corridor. The entrance was hidden behind a stack of barrels. He would never have found the room had he not followed a Hufflepuff student.

The freckled boy banged on the door hidden behind the barrels with a particular rhythm that James couldn't decipher since he couldn't see very well. The lid opened, and he disappeared.

'Well... now it's time to wait,' thought James. It was only just after eight o'clock. He was sure the boy would be leaving the common room late at night.

James calculated that the boy would be out after curfew. When it would be forbidden to wander around the castle.

He sat down in a corner facing the front, and from his wallet, he pulled out a book he had started a few days ago. He had to take advantage of the time to read and continue studying.

It wasn't the most comfortable way to study, but it was better than waiting around doing nothing. Time passed, and more Hufflepuff students were entering the common room, but James didn't pay attention to them.

At about ten o'clock there was no one coming out or going in. The last ones were the prefects who made their daily patrols. Making sure that no students were outside the common room.

Eleven o'clock came, and the place was empty and silent. James was in his invisibility cloak and had a silencing spell on so it looked like no one was there.

Finally, the door to the common room moved. The noise caused James to lift his head from his book and look intently at the person walking out the door. As he expected it was the freckled boy.

'Let's see what you're trying to find out,' thought James, putting the book away and standing up.

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