After some bargaining, Kyle managed to buy the Gillyweed for fifteen Galleons. Madam Pryor had initially insisted on seventeen, but when Kyle casually demonstrated the Bubble-Head Charm, she immediately lowered her price by two Galleons and even offered to throw in a bag of Dittany and Rue seeds. Sensing this was her final offer, Kyle accepted, completing the transaction with satisfaction.
Madam Pryor placed the Gillyweed in a clear box and sighed, saying, "I only did this because I could see your genuine interest in magical plants. For anyone else, they wouldn't have gotten such a steep discount... plus those seeds, I'm out ten Galleons."
Kyle simply smiled, keeping his thoughts to himself. Diagon Alley shopkeepers were all sharp-minded, and Madam Pryor wouldn't let herself lose too much; she certainly hadn't paid twenty Galleons for that Gillyweed. This was a tacit understanding between them, and he knew he'd managed to get a decent deal. Fifteen Galleons for Gillyweed wasn't a price you'd find elsewhere.
After leaving Madam Pryor's Magical Botanical Garden, Kyle carefully placed the small box in his Mokeskin pouch. His suitcase was still with Dumbledore, so for now, the pouch would have to do.
Kyle looked up at the sound of his name and saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron standing in the doorway of the neighboring bookshop, each holding a large cone of strawberry and peanut ice cream.
"The Magical Botanical Garden?" Harry said, surprised. "I thought you'd be off somewhere reading a book, like Percy."
"I've been reading for over a month; I had to try something else," Kyle replied.
"Ron told me you spent an entire month in Nicolas Flamel's private library," Hermione said enviously. "Six hundred years' worth of books... that must have been amazing."
"Not to brag," Kyle chuckled, "but I really learned a lot during that month."
"That sounds incredible..." Hermione looked even more envious. "I'd love to visit, even just for a glimpse."
"There'll be a chance," Kyle assured her.
"Hermione, isn't the school library enough for you?" Ron muttered. "There must be hundreds of bookshelves in there—I bet even Headmaster Dumbledore hasn't read all of them."
Hermione shot him a glare. Although he had a point, a private library was still different from a school library. And, well, the more books one could read, the better.
Sensing the conversation growing tense, Harry quickly changed the topic. "Kyle, we're about to go buy parchment and ink. Want to come along?"
"Sure, I need some too."
The four of them headed into the shop together. Once inside, Kyle went straight to the counter with the parchment and ink, pointed to the two bottom shelves, and asked, "Will this be enough for you?"
"More than enough," Harry said with a nod. "It's mostly for Hermione; Ron and I don't need much."
"Alright..." Kyle glanced at the shop assistant and then gestured toward the shelves. "Wrap up everything here, except for those two."
Clatter—Harry's ice cream dropped to the floor. He stared at Kyle in disbelief, wondering if he'd heard correctly.
"Kyle, did you just say you're buying all the parchment and ink in the store?"
"Yes, is that a problem?" Kyle asked. "Oh, if it's too much, I can buy a bit less."
Clatter—Ron's ice cream fell too.
"There must be at least 3,000 sheets of parchment here... all of it?" To Ron, this seemed absurd—surely, even if one ate parchment and drank ink, there was no way to use up that much in a school year.
But Kyle merely shrugged. Three thousand sheets of parchment would only be enough for around a hundred books... and even that might not last him.
Unlike Harry and Ron, the shop assistant took the situation in stride. After a brief moment of surprise, he quickly set about gathering all the parchment for Kyle.
"Oh, and by the way," Kyle added, "I'll take twenty sheets of gilded parchment as well."
The clerk hurried over to a delicate shelf behind the counter, carefully opening a glass cabinet to retrieve the requested parchment.
As the clerk was busy, Hermione leaned over and whispered, "Kyle, you're not buying all this parchment to make maps, are you?"
After a pause, she added, "If that's the case, I don't think you need quite so much. Actually, I noticed someone was already making those kinds of maps before the holidays, so you might not sell as many this year."
"Thanks for the heads-up, but don't worry about that," Kyle said, waving her concern away. "Our products aren't static; this year's map is definitely a new version you haven't seen before. And I'm not buying all this just for maps—there are other uses, too."
Although Hermione was curious, she held back from asking further questions. After thinking for a moment, she took some Galleons from her purse and bought the last few remaining sheets of parchment.
Harry looked at the now-empty shelves. "Hermione, what are we going to do?"
Without looking up, Hermione replied, "They should have more parchment in stock."
"Yes," the shop assistant said, finishing with the gilded parchment, then tapped the counter with his wand. More parchment and ink instantly appeared on the shelves, though in smaller quantities than before.
Because Kyle had made such a large purchase, Harry, Hermione, and Ron ended up getting a nice discount as well.
After they left the shop, Hermione glanced over at Kyle and asked, "That suitcase you just pulled out... it has the Undetectable Extension Charm, doesn't it?"
"Pretty obvious, isn't it?" Kyle nodded. "A normal suitcase wouldn't be able to hold over 3,000 sheets of parchment."
"So, on Halloween..." Hermione started, but then seemed to realize something and quickly stopped herself.
"What happened on Halloween?" Harry asked, turning around.
"Nothing," Hermione replied hastily. "I just remembered that Kyle used magic to decorate a pumpkin on Halloween, and I was going to ask him what charm he used."
"Oh..." Harry replied absently, not thinking much of it.
Hermione sighed in relief. While Harry and Ron started debating where to go next, she leaned closer to Kyle and whispered, "You used the Undetectable Extension Charm on the suitcase you used to carry the Troll on Halloween, didn't you?"
"You guessed it..." Kyle admitted. "But that was a different suitcase."