“An outstanding design, Mr.
Shafiq.
You mentioned that this is only part of your design—could you introduce it in detail?
Furthermore, for this excellent design, ten points to Slytherin,” Dumbledore said.
“Thank you, Professor.” Kyle then introduced his toy golem to the professors and the three young lions.
Potter and the red-haired boy were clearly fascinated, listening with expressions of immense longing.
Before Kyle could finish his explanation, the red-haired boy eagerly interrupted.
“M-Mr.
Kyle Shafick, how much does your toy golem sell for?” The red-haired boy had clearly forgotten his earlier provocation.
Kyle didn’t mind that the boy mispronounced his name, but instead flashed him a mischievous smile.
“The basic model is only 2,800 Gold Galleons, Mr.
Weasley.
Custom versions are a bit more expensive, of course.” Clearly, the financial situation of the red-haired boy’s family was well outside Kyle’s target customer base.
Potter’s parents, however, seemed to have left him a considerable inheritance—evident from his purchase of a Nimbus 2000 as soon as he entered school (Kyle didn’t know the broomstick had actually been a gift from Professor McGonagall).
The Nimbus 2000 retailed for as high as 2,200 Gold Galleons.
Compared to it, Kyle’s toy golem was by no means inferior in design, and in critical moments, it could serve as life-saving protective armor.
Moreover, he had heard that the Nimbus Company was developing a new broomstick called the Firebolt, with a projected price of 5,000 Gold Galleons.
Thus, Kyle didn’t feel his price was set too high at all.
Upon hearing this price, the red-haired boy closed his mouth in despair, glaring at Kyle as if he were a class enemy.
“Hmm…
Mr.
Shafiq, the product you designed is undoubtedly brilliant, but this price hardly guarantees that every young wizard can have one,” Dumbledore said to Kyle with a strange expression.
“That doesn’t matter.
If the young wizards can’t afford it, the school can equip them with them.
After all, the school governors are very wealthy, right, Professor Dumbledore?
I’m sure you can convince the governors to agree.
After all, a troll just invaded the school—the school governors ought to take the students’ safety seriously,” Kyle replied cheerfully, not missing the chance to twist the knife in Dumbledore’s side.
“Enough of this pointless chatter.
Mr.
Weasley, Miss Know-it-all, and the great Savior, please return to your common room at once.
Do not let me catch you lingering outside, or I will not hesitate to give you detention.
And you, Mr.
Shafiq, I trust your sales pitch is over.
Return to the dungeons immediately!” Professor Snape was clearly impatient with the squabbling before him.
“Yes, Professor,” Kyle replied, taking the lead to leave the girls’ bathroom.
The three kids followed him out.
“Well then, good night, you three.” Wishing the three Gryffindors a cheerful farewell, Kyle turned and walked down toward the dungeons.
— The next day.
Just as Kyle had expected, everything that had happened the previous night had already spread across all four houses.
Wherever one went, young wizards gathered in groups, gesturing excitedly as they discussed the tale of the students fighting the troll.
Kyle even caught the little red-haired boy on multiple occasions, spraying spit as he boasted about his heroic deeds to anyone who would listen—charging at the troll, showing no fear whatsoever, throwing rocks to draw its attention, and so on.
Though listening closely, it seemed to boil down to those same few lines.
As the story spread, Kyle’s reputation in the school grew even greater.
To the young wizards, saving the Savior was a legendary feat that only happened in dreams.
Kyle found himself surrounded by swarms of younger students wherever he went—a treatment he found thoroughly annoying.
At the same time, Kyle’s unreleased toy golems attracted massive attention.
After all, no wizard could ever have too much protective gear.
Out of necessity, Kyle had to explain repeatedly that his work was still incomplete and that it would take some time before the finished product was ready.
Yet this did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.
Kyle received as many as thirty pre-orders.
It was hardly an exaggeration; to noble families, 2,800 Gold Galleons was truly nothing.
According to Malfoy, he had already convinced his father to donate five Nimbus 2001 broomsticks worth 10,000 Gold Galleons to the Slytherin house team, purely so Slytherin could counter Potter’s Nimbus 2000.
These long-standing noble families probably didn’t even know how many Gold Galleons they had—except for the Weasleys, of course.
Naturally, the Malfoys might have done this simply to secure Malfoy a spot on the Slytherin team.
After all, Quidditch captain Marcus Flint had publicly declared that Malfoy would definitely join the team next year.
Having handled these tedious affairs, Kyle buried himself in his research.
Flight modules, control systems, light and sound effects, along with voice recognition and body fabrication added later on—as his techniques grew more proficient, the pace of development accelerated.
All development work was completed within a month and a half, and he finished the final prototypes right before the Christmas holiday arrived.
The next afternoon, having no classes, Kyle went to the Quidditch pitch.
Bright sunshine made the young wizards unwilling to stay in the cold, damp castle, and they gathered on the pitch in groups.
Ignoring the students playing nearby, Kyle drew out a pouch enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm and tipped out the prototypes.
He was rather exasperated by this method of transportation, but he simply couldn’t spare the energy to research a better solution recently.
Including the Baymax-shaped toy golem he had added later, there were five prototypes in total.
Before Kyle could even use the Levitation Charm to arrange the five prototypes, the surrounding students had already crowded around.
“Is this the toy golem?” “So majestic!” “Merlin, it’s so tall!” “Look at that one!
It’s so cute, it looks so warm!” Even before Kyle gave a public demonstration, the young wizards were already conquered by the toy golems’ designs.
Although four of the designs had stood the test of time in his past life as excellent aesthetic choices, this was the nineties wizarding world after all.
Kyle couldn’t guarantee that designs twenty years ahead of their time would be accepted.
To be honest, Kyle had been prepared to adjust their appearances or even adopt the traditional look of magical golems—even though he felt that style was far too tacky.
However, the feedback from the students on the scene gave Kyle considerable relief.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present my latest research achievement—the Toy Golem.” Seeing more and more students gathering around, Kyle simply treated this test as a product launch, combining testing and promotion all in one.
“I believe everyone has already heard of my toy golem and has some understanding of it.” “First, I will demonstrate the remote control capability of the toy golem.” With that, the Gundam golem and the Steampunk golem lifted their person-tall legs and stepped forward.