— — — — — —
The Riddle home was buzzing with life.
The Greengrass sisters, Hermione, and a few others had gathered there.
Ginny was still in Egypt, and Luna had gone off to Switzerland with her father in search of undiscovered magical creatures. If they'd been around too, the place would've been even livelier.
Everyone had gone to Diagon Alley earlier to watch the madness unfold — and somehow ended up playing cashier for a while. By the time they were done, only a few dozen Codex notebooks were left, all Standard Editions. There was still a long line outside, but it was closing time, so they called it a day.
Tom had stocked the shop with 1,500 Standard Editions and 100 Deluxe Editions the day before. Selling out in just one day had surprised even him.
Of course, many customers hadn't bought just one. Some picked up extras for family, others wanted separate ones for work and personal use. This was just the magical world's version of carrying two phones before "dual-SIM" existed.
And this was only the beginning. The more people owned Codex, the stronger the snowball effect would get. Once everyone was chatting through Codex, not having one meant being left out of every conversation. Who'd want to be that person?
"I bet once term starts, every Hogwarts student will have one," Hermione said, sounding more excited than Tom himself.
Penelope nodded eagerly. "Definitely. I ran into a few Ravenclaws today and added them as friends. We already have dozens of group chats going — a hundred pages isn't nearly enough."
"That's why the real money's in the paper refills," Daphne said with a grin. "Tom's got it all planned out."
"Oh, I get it," Hermione chimed in. "It's like my dad's dentistry practice. Fixing teeth isn't the profit — it's the follow-up visits and the care products he sells after."
By the time they were done talking, Tom had been unanimously branded a "scheming businessman." But he didn't bother arguing.
Call him what they wanted. All he cared about was finishing his trial and getting that golden apple.
Late that night, after escorting each of the girls home, Tom pulled out his Codex— completely filled with messages — and checked the situation in other countries.
The first launch had only covered Britain, France, Germany, and Spain. Any more than that, and production couldn't keep up. Keeping it limited also made it easier for Gringotts branches to roll out their bank cards without mistakes.
Things were going great. All three foreign distributors had asked for bigger orders — more paper, more notebooks, as many as they could get their hands on.
Tom glanced at his progress screen.
That morning, his trial counter had been at 210,000. Now it was past 250,000 — most of it profit from Codex, with a smaller portion from card transaction fees.
Forty thousand Galleons in a single day. At this rate, he'd reach the trial requirement soon enough.
Still, that was just math on paper. In reality, things wouldn't stay that simple.
The early boom in Codex sales brought huge profit margins, but once stock ran low, production would be limited to what he and Nicolas could make each month.
As the market became saturated, sales would naturally slow down.
On the other hand, the card payment fees would eventually outpace everything else — but that would take time. It all depended on how efficiently Gringotts could spread the system.
He opened his system interface, looking at a mission he got a long time ago.
[Mission: A New World]
[Description: Through your knowledge and vision, you've given the wizarding world a new path forward. Your inventions are vital — the foundation of what's to come.]
[Objective: Continue developing and expanding your creations. Rewards will be issued in stages based on progress. The final reward will be a one-time evolution of your learning space.]
[Current Progress: 5]
[Reward: ——]
The system said rewards would be given in stages — yet so far, not even a single reward had appeared.
Tom sighed. He had no idea how many stages there were, but right now all he wanted was enough points to reach 5,000 Achievement Points and summon his next teacher.
...
In the days that followed, Codex and the card system became the hottest topics in the wizarding world. Crowds thronged Diagon Alley every day, and even foreign wizards who'd read about it in the papers came just to see what the fuss was about.
Tom only released 1,000 Standard Editions and 50 Deluxe Editions each day — and they sold out almost instantly. The rest of the stock, along with whatever he and Nicolas produced daily, was snatched up by foreign distributors before it even hit the shelves.
In France, Madame Maxime had gone big — ordering 2,000 Standard and 200 Deluxe notebooks. She even asked Fleur to negotiate the deal, which Tom couldn't exactly refuse.
All of them were custom-made for Beauxbatons students and professors — free gifts, with the school crest embossed on the covers.
Tom quietly forwarded that message to Dumbledore. "See, Headmaster? Other schools are supporting their students. Maybe you'd like to follow suit?"
Dumbledore's face apparently twitched when he saw it.
Beauxbatons and Durmstrang both had deep pockets — Beauxbatons got multi-country Ministry funding, and Durmstrang's students were nearly all pureblood heirs from old money families.
But Hogwarts? Hogwarts had… Hogwarts.
Sure, he could out-duel both schools with one hand tied behind his back — but compete financially? Forget it.
So Dumbledore simply pretended not to see the message.
Unfortunately for him, Tom's newest Codex had a "read receipt" feature that showed the exact time a message was opened.
✓ for sent. ✔✔ for seen.
"...."
"Oh, so he read my message and ignored it?"
Tom narrowed his eyes at the message screen, muttering under his breath. "Won't even support your own student's business, huh? Fine. I'll make sure to return the favor someday."
He quietly jotted Dumbledore's name down in his little black note of grudges — though for now, he didn't have the time or energy to plot revenge. The Ministry of Magic, along with half a dozen major companies, had been knocking on his door every day, all wanting to order Codex in bulk.
Even the Runespoor snakeskin he used as material was running dangerously low. Thankfully, in about a month the young snakes would mature, which would ease the shortage quite a bit.
For the moment, Tom could only take things step by step, expanding slowly into nearby countries.
...
Every day, more invitations arrived — parties, gatherings, galas. He picked and chose which ones to attend, meeting influential wizards and witches so that if conflict arose later, at least he'd know who was who.
That night, he didn't get home until after eight, having just left the home of a Wizengamot member.
Hermione greeted him at the door, taking his coat and the gift box in his hand. Tom raised an eyebrow. "You're still here this late?"
"Professor McGonagall asked me to remind you to pick your electives for next term," she said seriously. "You have to choose at least two."
Tom smacked his forehead.
Right. He'd completely forgotten about that. Third-years at Hogwarts were required to choose at least two electives in addition to the core classes. Normally, the school sent out a notice in July, but since ordinary owls couldn't enter his home, he hadn't received it.
Still — only Hermione would dare to add a professor as a friend.
Tom took her hand and led her into the living room. They sank together onto the soft sofa.
"So," he asked, "which ones are you taking?"
Hermione looked conflicted. "I haven't decided yet... They all seem useful, and it feels like a waste to give any up."
Miss Know-It-All was suffering from classic choice paralysis. Asking her to drop a class was like asking Ron to hand over ten Galleons — unthinkable. If she could, she'd take every class, but some overlapped, like Arithmancy and Divination. It was literally impossible to attend both.
Tom reached out and gently smoothed the crease between her brows. "Did you forget what I told you? Knowledge is infinite, Hermione. No one can learn it all. The key is to spend your energy on what actually helps you. Just pick the two least useful subjects and drop them."
He thought for a moment, then said, "Skip Divination and Muggle Studies. The rest, take what you want."
Hermione frowned. "But I think Divination sounds really useful! How can predicting the future not be important? And Muggle Studies might seem simple, but it's interesting to see how wizards view Muggles—it's worth studying."
Tom rubbed his temples. "You forgot, didn't you? The last Muggle Studies professor, Charity Burbage, quit because of our amazing Laos Wilkinson. Do you really think this year's replacement will be any better?"
He looked at her pointedly. "Other than the main subject professors, don't overestimate Hogwarts' staff. Most of them are just ordinary wizards — not much better than I am."
Hermione didn't argue. From anyone else, that would've sounded like pure arrogance. But from Tom, it was just... accurate. He'd earned the right to say it.
"As for Divination…" Tom hesitated. "That professor's not a complete fraud — she's got a spark of real ability. But she can't teach you anything."
Hermione blinked at him, curious. "What do you mean?"
"Her name's Sybill Trelawney," Tom said. "Supposedly a descendant of Cassandra Trelawney. You know who that is, right?"
"Of course," Hermione said quickly. "The tragic prophetess from Greek legend."
Cassandra Trelawney — princess of Troy, priestess of Apollo. Cursed by the god she spurned so that all her prophecies would come true, yet no one would ever believe her. She had foreseen Troy's fall, the wooden horse, everything — and still, no one listened.
Tom gave a faint smile. "See the resemblance? Sybill's prophecies are much the same. The ones that matter are inevitable — no matter how people struggle, they'll come true."
"Then all the more reason to take her class," Hermione said eagerly. "If she's Cassandra's descendant, she must be amazing!"
Tom sighed. "You're missing the point. Trelawney has a rare gift called the Inner Eye. Only prophecies made when that gift activates are genuine. The rest of the time, she's... well, a bit of a fraud. You don't have the gift, so you'll never learn real divination from her."
Hermione deflated instantly, her shoulders slumping. Still, she obediently dropped both Divination and Muggle Studies from her list.
In the end, she settled on Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures — one more elective than most students, but not so many that she'd need a Time-Turner to keep up.
Tom chose Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures himself.
He was already so advanced in Ancient Runes he could've taught the professor. No need to waste time there. And Care of Magical Creatures had one huge perk: Hagrid never assigned homework — or if he did, Tom could easily skip it. As for Arithmancy, well, it filled the quota.
When they finished filling out their forms, Tom sealed them in an envelope and sent it off with an owl for Professor McGonagall.
.
.
.