The pitch to Professor Weasley happened the following week.
Rowan had chosen his timing deliberately. The school year was ending, his silver medal at the championship and the Prophet coverage were still fresh, and Weasley, as Deputy Headmistress, was already his legal point of contact with the Ministry. She'd signed his tournament permissions, handled his medical consents, managed every piece of official paperwork requiring an adult's signature since his first day. As an orphan with no magical family, she was the closest thing he had to a guardian in the wizarding world.
He requested a meeting after Transfiguration on a Wednesday afternoon. Weasley gestured him to a chair, folded her hands, and waited.
"Professor, I'd like to register a business with the Ministry of Magic. A company focused on practical magical devices. I have a working prototype and plans for a production facility in Diagon Alley over the summer."
Weasley studied him for a long moment. She'd taught Rowan Ashcroft for two years now. She knew what he was capable of, and she also knew what he was: twelve years old, parentless, Muggleborn, and possessed of the kind of certainty that could get a person into trouble when the world didn't arrange itself around their plans.
"You need a magical guardian to file the registration," she said.
"You've been fulfilling that role in every other capacity since I started at Hogwarts."
"Signing tournament permissions and incorporating a commercial enterprise are rather different things, Mr. Ashcroft."
"The legal mechanism is the same. A magical guardian acting on behalf of an underage ward." He pulled a folded parchment from his robes and placed it on her desk. "I've drafted the articles of incorporation."
Weasley unfolded it, read through the contents, and looked up. "You wrote this before asking me."
"I didn't want to waste your time with an incomplete proposal."
"You never do." She set the parchment aside, but didn't reach for her quill. "I'm going to be honest with you, Rowan. My instinct is to say no. You are a child. A remarkably capable one, but a child. The Ministry bureaucracy is unkind to adults. I have watched talented witches and wizards with decades of experience beaten down by it, and they had every advantage you don't. Family name. Connections. Pureblood."
She let that sit.
"I would rather help you and make sure you're doing this safely and legally than have you find a way to do it without me. Because you would. That's not a compliment. It's a concern."
"I understand."
"Tell me about the product."
He told her. The luminaire, the runic array, the transmutation process, the inscription device. Specific and practical, which was how Weasley preferred to receive information.
"I'll do it," Weasley said when he'd finished. "I'll register the company and handle the Ministry paperwork. Your championship record and academic standing should help address questions about capability."
"Thank you, Professor. There's one more thing. Over the years you've taught here, you must have had Muggleborn students who graduated and couldn't find work because of their blood status."
Weasley's expression shifted. "Yes. More than I'd like to count."
"I'll need employees this summer. Reliable people who won't be deterred by working for a Muggleborn-owned business. If you could put me in contact with any former students who might be interested, I'd be grateful."
Weasley was quiet for a long time. "I'll make inquiries. There are several former students who would benefit enormously from this kind of opportunity."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Running a business while attending Hogwarts will be harder than anything you've done so far." She stood, then paused. "I'm proud of you, Mr. Ashcroft. Whatever comes of this, you should know that."
He asked Iris that evening in the common room, the fire burning low and most students already gone to bed.
"I'm opening a shop in Diagon Alley this summer. Selling the luminaires. Lawrence is coming to help with the production work." He paused. "I'd like you to be there too, if you can. The business planning, the customer-facing work, the parts I'm terrible at."
Iris set down her quill. "When you asked me whether the luminaire would sell, this is what you were really asking."
"I wanted your honest opinion before I committed. I got it."
"And now you want me in Diagon Alley for the summer."
"Part of it, at least. Whatever you can manage."
"My parents are protective, Rowan. They've only just gotten used to me being away at Hogwarts most of the year. Asking them to let their daughter spend the summer in a shop is going to be a difficult conversation."
"I understand. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it mattered."
Iris was quiet, working through it in the careful, thorough way that meant she was taking it seriously. "I doubt they'll agree to the whole summer. But they might allow a week or two, especially if Weasley vouches for the arrangement." She reached for her quill. "Write me a proper business plan with numbers. My father is practical. If he sees structure and figures rather than just ambition, he's more likely to come around."