Tricking people often happens unintentionally, planting a flower and it fails, but an accidental sapling grows into shade. Without meaning to, Allen and his two roommates had ganked the entire Hufflepuff fourth-year cohort.
They had all eaten the stolen herbs together, but when it came time to rush to the bathroom and force themselves to vomit, via magic or brute physical effort, three of them were conveniently missing.
Allen and his friends were the innocent ones here! Who could have imagined that someone's imagination would run that wild, convincing themselves it was food poisoning? It effectively made Allen and the others the victims of their own people, magical or physical vomiting was not exactly comfortable.
"Hey, Allen, are you okay? Seriously, seeing you disappear like that this morning really scared us. Marshall, you guys got rescued by the school nurse too, right?"
Allen and his roommates silently nodded, saying nothing.
If they had blurted out, "Haha, we just went back to nap!", that would have been the end of their friendship right there.
After hastily finishing the meal amidst a sea of exhausted students, Allen and his group made a near-escape from the dining table. Fortunately, the morning's events had already worn everyone out enough that no one noticed anything unusual.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
That afternoon, the Hufflepuff campsite was filled with groans, everyone was drained from the morning's chaos.
In the background of rising snores, Allen and his remaining roommates stared blankly at a few pieces of paper.
These were obtained by the other roommate who had stayed in class and donated all his possessions, more precisely, they were talismans.
"Wow… Shien, are you saying you got all this for just twenty Galleons? That's basically your entire remaining allowance for the month! Are you planning not to buy anything from now on?"
Even at Hogwarts, meals were free, but students still spent money. Weekend shopping villages were open, and even underclassmen could buy various items via owl post, mostly snacks and books.
The wizarding world had no TV, but magically-modified radio stations existed thanks to countless wizards. Advertising wasn't just a Muggle thing, even someone like Filch bought correspondence textbooks via radio.
Of course, those courses weren't reliable, and Filch still hadn't mastered basic magic.
Everyone was out to "siphon Galleons," no one could accuse anyone else of cheating. And judging by Allen's estimation, these talismans were genuine, but their magical system was entirely different from Mahoutokoro's, more like a brand-new concept.
It didn't matter much. With enough money, Allen could figure out a dozen spells without issue. Right now, the priority was comforting the roommate on the verge of tears.
Shien was nearly humiliated under the teasing of the others, Allen had to step in before he lost it entirely.
"Alright, stop teasing. It's not a loss, I'm convinced the spells inside are effective, even if I don't understand several of them," Allen said, gently pushing the talismans back and taking a long sip from his teacup.
"What about that divination earlier? The one saying my luck will be incredible for the next month, that wasn't a scam, right?"
Allen rolled his eyes. "How would I know? I wasn't there. How could I judge the truth from just one sentence?"
He added after a pause, "But from what I can tell, she's a competent diviner. Should be fine."
Speaking honestly, since Allen hadn't found any issues with the offering box and it could quietly transform into a drawing tube, it was clearly a powerful magical tool. With such an artifact, the shrine maiden's skill couldn't be low.
Hearing Allen's explanation, Shien's previously regretful expression brightened with confidence.
"See! I told you the shrine maiden isn't a scammer! These talismans work! This month, my wealth and love luck will skyrocket! Minor mishaps? No problem, I feel a bright future ahead!"
Allen raised an eyebrow.
Wake up. You're out of money.
Wake up. No money means no weekend dates.
Wake up. You don't even have a girl to go on a date with.
Three strikes of reality.
The other two yawned, still watching. They hadn't followed along in the morning and were utterly exhausted, but the scene was too amusing to leave.
As the reality check hit, Shien's bravado melted like frost.
He glanced at Marshall, who shrugged and opened his own meager wallet:
"This is all I've got. You'll have to make do."
Others were in the same boat, nearing month-end, no one had extra money.
"Allen, come on, we've shared a room this long. Lend me a bit, I'll pay you back next month."
"No problem. Give me the talisman." Allen casually pulled out a small pouch with twenty Galleons and handed it over.
"Hey! Allen, you can't do that! My love luck next month depends on this!"
"Go, go, go. I don't need yours. Just the smallest one, the offensive talisman, that's the one I need."
No hesitation this time. The talisman Allen needed was handed over immediately.
The magic sealed inside wasn't incredibly strong, but it was highly informative. If magic could be sealed on paper, it could naturally be applied to tarot cards too.
Allen had been stuck on the final step of unlocking the tarot inheritance for a long time. Without monetary restrictions, the inherited powers were easier to handle, but he could have perfected this divination long ago.
As Allen analyzed the talisman, a knock sounded at the tent entrance, it was Zongze.
"Good afternoon, Allen. If everything's okay, get ready, we're heading to Akihabara tomorrow morning."