With the two grown men finally separated, the street brawl came to an end with Mr. Weasley as the clear victor.
As for the loser—
No one cared.
Not even Lewis.
He knew exactly what Lucius Malfoy had done in the original timeline—slipping Voldemort's diary into Ginny's books. Whether Lucius understood it was a Horcrux or not, he had indirectly triggered the Basilisk incident that year.
But Lewis had no intention of interfering.
At least—not until he figured out a reliable way to deal with Horcruxes.
Who knew what kind of dark magic Voldemort might have hidden inside?
Of course, if Lewis already knew Disintegrate, he'd blast that diary without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Lockhart showed an entirely different kind of concern.
He even asked a reporter, "Could you include the fight in the article? Say Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy dueled over buying my books."
Lewis didn't bother responding.
After parting ways with the Weasleys, he arranged with Ron and the others to begin their copying plan at his tower starting the next day.
Hermione and Ciri also split off to finish their shopping.
Lewis headed to the magical creature shop to check on a previous request.
Back at Christmas, he had paid fifty Galleons to have the shop investigate rare magical creature materials—especially the Nine-Tailed Fox.
This time, the clerk, Miss Hayden, brought both bad news and good news.
The bad news—
Some Eastern poachers had mistaken ordinary fox spirits for Nine-Tailed Foxes.
The result: nothing.
The good news—
A group of South American wizards had discovered feathers from a legendary Feathered Serpent in a Mayan ruin.
The price had already skyrocketed past one thousand Galleons.
Lewis didn't hesitate.
"I'll take it."
That was a divine-tier magical creature.
Its materials could easily replace Nine-Tailed Fox tails for the Potion of Permanent Fox Cunning—or even serve as a core for the Potion of Permanent Owl Wisdom.
To be safe, he left two thousand Galleons upfront.
"If it's not enough, send me an owl."
Given the wizarding world's terrible logistics, he'd be lucky to receive it in a month.
That lined up perfectly—
He could perform his second Wild Ritual after the school term began.
Satisfied, Lewis moved on to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary—
Only to hit a dead end.
A tornado had destroyed the only Re'em cattle reserve in America.
No blood. No supply.
The Potion of Permanent Bull Strength was effectively impossible now.
But Lewis didn't mind.
He had already changed his plan.
Why turn into a cow?
If he was going to transform—
He would choose the strongest creature possible.
A dragon.
Compared to Re'em cattle, dragons were far more powerful—and ironically, far more accessible in the wizarding world.
Dragon blood was cheap.
But Lewis didn't want blood.
He wanted—
Dragon hearts.
Not one.
Not two.
But over a dozen.
He ordered hearts from nearly every known dragon species, each costing around one thousand Galleons.
Why so many?
Because he wasn't aiming to become a mere fire dragon.
He wanted something greater.
A true dragon.
Four limbs. Two wings. Intelligence. Dragon language. Apex existence.
In contrast, the dragons of this world were little more than beasts—winged creatures closer to wyverns than true dragons.
They carried fragments of true draconic blood—
But only fragments.
Lewis's plan was simple—
Collect every variant.
Strip away impurities.
Reconstruct the original draconic lineage.
And achieve the closest possible transformation to a true dragon.
For the apothecary, this was an enormous order.
Fifteen or more dragon hearts, all different species—
Not something that could be gathered quickly.
Lewis paid eight thousand Galleons as a deposit.
And began waiting again.
After finishing their shopping, the trio returned to the tower.
The next morning—
Ron, Harry, and the Weasley twins arrived bright and early, full of excitement.
Harry brought his full signed Lockhart collection.
He had zero complaints about the copying plan.
Unfortunately—
Learning the Copying Charm proved difficult.
Ron gave up quickly.
Harry struggled.
But Fred and George?
They picked it up almost instantly.
After finishing copying Travels with Trolls, George suddenly spoke:
"Lewis, I have an idea."
"We're not the only ones suffering from Lockhart," Fred added.
"We can sell copied versions to other students—cheaper than the originals."
George's eyes gleamed.
"We price them at a third—or even a quarter—of the original cost. After expenses, we still earn 12 to 14 Sickles per book."
Fred nodded.
"If you agree, we can make this happen."
George laid out the structure:
"The spell is yours, so your magic counts as capital. We handle everything else. Profit split—fifty-fifty."
Lewis barely needed to think.
"Sounds good. Approved."
He didn't lack money—
But extra income never hurt.
And constantly printing gold with the Philosopher's Stone might attract trouble.
"YES!"
The twins high-fived.
Hermione raised her hand.
"I can use the Copying Charm too. Can I join?"
"Me too!" Harry added quickly. "I'll master it soon!"
Even Ron reconsidered learning magic.
Money was a powerful motivator.
The twins quickly finalized the system.
Each book earned about 12–14 Sickles.
Half went to Lewis.
The remaining half was split:
4–5 Sickles for the copyist (Hermione, Harry)
2 Sickles for the twins (operations, marketing, logistics)
Everyone agreed.
That very day—
They sent out advertisements using every owl available.
Lewis's Hermes.
Harry's Hedwig.
All of them.
For days, owls filled the skies above the tower.
And the response?
Overwhelming.
Students were more than happy to buy cheaper versions instead of funding Lockhart.
On the first day alone—
Five full sets were ordered.
The copying workshop officially began.
And that was just the beginning.
Orders increased daily.
Fred and George had to constantly restock parchment.
The paper shop girl, Lysa, even started thinking the twins had a crush on her.
Seeing the growing scale, Lewis stepped in to help.
He took charge of quality control.
Using Scholar's Touch, he checked every copied book for errors.
Once verified—
He stamped each one with his personal magical mark.
And for some reason—
Without thinking—
He chose the symbol of Intellect.
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