As the undisputed kings of Hogwarts secret passages and general rule-bending, the Weasley twins actually pointed Lynn toward a solid gold mine. There were plenty of ways to make decent money; it just needed a little setup time.
The twins had serious connections in Hogsmeade. Being the kind of guys who could stretch one Galleon into two (and still have change), they'd long ago sniffed out the cheapest places to buy the weird ingredients they needed for their pranks.
The Hog's Head pub was where all the shady dealers hung out; those folks didn't just sell stuff, they bought it too.
That was the easiest, most convenient cash pipeline the twins had, but to actually make money off those old crooks, you needed real skills. Like, say, being scary good at brewing potions.
Sure, Snape's a certified Potions Master, but the number of students who actually learn anything useful from him is tiny. Out of a hundred-plus kids per year, maybe fifteen percent make it into his sixth-year advanced class. And once they graduate? Unless their job involves cauldrons, most of them forget everything they ever knew within two or three years.
First-year is honestly when students are at their peak; they actually remember the recipes.
The catch? Anything you brew in class gets confiscated by Snape, and almost nobody messes around with potions over the holidays.
In the wizarding world, potions basically sell themselves. Moving them through the Hog's Head was a no-brainer for Lynn.
"Polyjuice is probably too ambitious right now; no time to test it properly. But Living Death? Easy. Energy potions are quick too. Lower profit margin, but the demand is huge, they brew in about an hour, and one cauldron gives five or six bottles. Even if I only make three Sickles profit per bottle, that's still a Galleon a batch. Way better than some Ministry desk job."
Lynn was finally stress-free about buying Autumn a birthday gift and felt pretty great about it. Back in the dorm, he shut the door, went to his bed, and pulled out his four-dimensional pocket.
The little cloth bag was ridiculously durable; no wear and tear at all, and insanely stretchy. Anything he could lift, he could stuff inside.
It had also been about long enough since the last refresh. Lynn opened the bag, stuck his head in, and whoosh; the whole kid vanished. The bag itself disappeared from the air too; it only reappeared once he climbed back out.
Inside was total chaos-darkness, but not pitch-black. More like a brightly lit room with the curtains drawn; dim, but you could still see.
The space was endless. Lynn had tried walking to the edge once and never found it. The second he turned around to head back, one step put him right at the entrance again.
Near the entrance he'd set up some shelves. That's where he kept all the magical gadgets he'd collected so far. Half the shelf was just Bamboo Copters. It was getting embarrassing.
"Please, anything but another Bamboo Copter…"
Lynn scanned the gloom. New items weren't hard to find; some kind of sixth sense always tugged him in the right direction.
He crossed his fingers, levitated with a little telekinesis, and zipped forward.
Less than thirty seconds later, bright colors popped out of the darkness. He reached out and snagged two floating objects.
"Two at once? Today's my lucky day!"
The first one looked exactly like a flashlight, and Lynn's eyes went wide.
"No way… is this the Shrink Ray—? Nope, not getting my hopes up."
One second of hype, instantly crushed.
"Of course it's not the Shrink Ray. Whatever, as long as it's not another copter."
The moment he touched them, full instruction manuals downloaded straight into his brain.
The flashlight-looking thing was actually a Fantasy Projector; it could project whatever you were imagining as a beam of light. (Nobita once used it to project a giant rat and scare the daylights out of Doraemon.)
The second item was… kind of sad.
Taste-Sharing Chewing Gum.
Break the piece in half and give it to two people. For the next 24 hours, whatever the first person eats, the second person tastes too.
Great for dieting; you can enjoy fancy food flavors without gaining weight.
Lynn stared at the half-empty, already-opened pack.
"…If I chewed a piece and then kissed a girl wearing lipstick, would the other person taste it too—? Okay, okay, that's actually kind of genius."
He gave himself a mental high-five. If he ever met a desperately lovesick guy who couldn't get the girl, he could totally "help": give one half to the guy, one half to the girl's boyfriend, and boom; free seafood flavor. Maybe the boyfriend would kiss her harder next time.
"I'm such a thoughtful guy."
He was genuinely proud of himself and half-tempted to go find a heartbroken sap right now.
"Why's it already opened and missing half, though? Lame."
He pocketed one of the remaining pieces, put both new gadgets on the shelf (once they're stored, they don't vanish), and crawled back out.
The dorm was still empty; his roommates were probably off causing chaos somewhere. First weekend after term started; tons to do.
"Maybe I'll swing by Hagrid's, ask where I can pick some Horned Slugs and Bouncy Bulbs myself. Those are common, but buying them feels like a waste when I'm broke."
Lynn wasn't about to spend Harry's money. He could earn his own; that's how he'd always done it.
"Oh, right; still gotta give Hagrid that hot-pot recipe."
He sat at the little desk, pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, flattened it, and started scribbling fast with his quill. The piece of Taste-Sharing Gum he'd pocketed earlier slipped out with the parchment and landed on the armchair; half the wrapper still on, but he didn't notice.
Parchment folded and tucked away, Lynn bounced out the door in a great mood, took a shortcut from the Room of Requirement, and headed straight down to Hagrid's hut at the edge of the grounds.
A few minutes after he left, the dorm door creaked open again.
Ron came in glowing, smacking his lips, still riding the high from crushing everyone at wizard chess that morning. He'd been so pleased with himself he'd scarfed two extra chicken legs at lunch and was now stuffed and ready for a nap before his glorious return as Gryffindor's undefeated chess king.
He flopped toward his bed and spotted something on the armchair.
"What's this?"
A half-wrapped piece of gum. Ron had never seen the brand before, but the wrapper was in English; no problem there.
"Some new candy flavor?"
He turned it over a few times, then grinned.
"Definitely my lucky day!"
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a fat, sleepy-looking rat. Yeah, he called Scabbers useless all the time, but he still loved the little guy. Whether rats could chew gum wasn't really part of the decision-making process.
Ron unwrapped it in two seconds, popped the whole piece in his mouth, and started chewing.
…Nothing. Not a hint of flavor.
His victory buzz faded a little.
"No wonder somebody threw it out. Tastes like cardboard. Blech."
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