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Hermione exhaled slowly, rubbing her temples. "A week, huh?"
Nova smirked. "Yup. Seven days to weigh the life-changing consequences of turning into a hyper-intelligent fun-sized genius or.. a mind-reading psychic nightmare and.." Nova turns to Harry and continues," ofcourse, to be a thunder boy or a pervert gravity rock."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, thank you, Nova. Really elevating the conversation here."
Nova grinned. "I try." He turned back to Hermione. "So, Granger, how's it feel knowing that your choices boil down to either out-thinking the entire planet or hearing every single intrusive thought within a hundred-foot radius?"
Hermione exhaled sharply. "It feels horrifying, actually."
Harry smirked. "So what I'm hearing is… you haven't said no."
Nova waggled his eyebrows. "Oh yeah. She's tempted. The question is—does she want to be a smug little brainiac or a poor, unfortunate soul drowning in psychic puberty trauma?"
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. "I hate both of you."
Harry grinned. "Nah, you love us. Otherwise, you'd have hexed us by now."
Nova hummed. "Or maybe she just doesn't want to use magic on us. Maybe she's considering the, uh… alternative punishments."
Harry snorted. "Yeah, no. I don't think she's that kind of person."
Nova smirked at Hermione. "She could be, though. Imagine it, Granger. The sheer chaos you could cause with mind-reading. You'd never have to argue again—you'd already know everyone's losing position before they open their mouths."
Hermione crossed her arms. "And that's supposed to be tempting?"
Nova grinned. "Oh, come on. You know you like winning debates."
Harry chuckled. "Honestly? She'd have teachers terrified of her. Imagine McGonagall mid-lecture, suddenly realizing Hermione already knows the entire lesson because she skimmed it from her thoughts."
Nova snickered. "And don't even get me started on Snape."
Hermione's lips twitched, but she shook her head. "No. No way. I refuse to be responsible for knowing whatever is in Snape's head."
Nova smirked. "Oh, but what if—"
She held up a hand. "Stop. Don't make me picture it."
Harry grinned. "So, that's a no on that one, then?"
Hermione hesitated.
Nova gasped dramatically. "Oh my God, she's actually considering it!"
Harry shook his head. "This is bad. This is really bad."
Nova leaned in. "Granger, I'm warning you now—one step down the mind-reading path, and there's no going back. You'll know everything. Every secret. Every lie. Every—"
Hermione sighed. " If you keep talking non-sense, then I am going to close this trade session."
Nova raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright! No need for threats, Professor Granger. We're all just trying to help you make an educated decision."
Harry smirked. "Says the guy who just called me a pervert gravity rock."
Nova shrugged. "I call it as I see it." He turned back to Hermione," Well if you both don't have anything else to ask or trade, let me tell you another function of trade and contract function."
Nova leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head. "Alright, since you two stuck around, let's talk about the Trade and Contract function. This one's a bit different from direct trades. Think of it like a mercenary system—someone posts a job, offers a reward, and anyone willing to take on the challenge can accept."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So, it's a quest board?"
Nova snapped his fingers. "Exactly! You all or me, basically anybody who is my client can post quests, then Shop will decide the cost that and reward, as you know shop works of absolute fairness principle, the price will be equal to the quest."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So, it's basically a quest board?"
Nova snapped his fingers. "Bingo! You, me—anyone who's my client—can post quests. The system then evaluates the request and determines the appropriate cost and reward. Since the Shop operates on an absolute fairness principle, the price will always match the difficulty of the quest. No scams, no loopholes—just pure, balanced trade."
Harry crossed his arms. "So, let me get this straight. If I post a quest, I don't set the reward? The system does it for me?"
Nova smirked. "Oh, you can suggest a reward, but if it's too low, the Shop either rejects the quest or adjusts the price automatically. No one's getting away with 'Retrieve the Lost Crown of Atlantis for a single galleon.'"
Hermione hummed thoughtfully. "And what if someone tries to cheat the system? Like accepting a quest and not following through?"
Nova wagged a finger. "Ah, see, that's where things get fun. If someone accepts a quest and bails without a valid reason, they get hit with penalties—magic drain, item loss, reputation tanking, or worse."
Hermione nodded, then once again asked," What if the quest giver didn't give rewards after the quest is completed by someone?"
Nova smiled and leaned back. "You don't have to worry about that. The quest rewards are taken by the system the moment the quest is issued, so there's no chance of a quest giver running off without paying. Once the quest is completed, the system automatically delivers the reward to the contractor. No delays, no negotiations—just a clean transaction."
Harry hummed," That's fair and good.... So if I post a quest now?"
Nova smirked. "Then the system will analyze it, set the appropriate rank, and determine a fair reward. Simple as that."
But before Harry could speak, Nova leaned forward with a wicked grin. "Like, say… if you wanted a detailed schedule of every pair of panties in Hogwarts—"
"NOVA!!!" Hermione's outraged shriek practically shook the room.
Without hesitation, she slammed her hand down, forcefully terminating Trade Session #2.
The screen flickered out.
On Harry and Hermione's side, the holographic interface vanished, leaving only their reflections in the dim screen.
Harry blinked at the now-empty space where Nova's smug face had been. Then, slowly, he turned to Hermione, who sat rigid, arms crossed, her face still slightly red from anger and secondhand embarrassment.
Then, with all the casual innocence in the world, Harry said, "So… would the Slytherin knicker schedule have been a separate quest, or included in the main—"
Hermione whipped around, her glare hot enough to melt through solid steel. "Harry James Potter!"
Harry instantly threw up his hands. "I'm just asking for technical reasons!"
Hermione's nostrils flared. "Oh, technical reasons, huh?" She leaned in, voice dangerously low. "Would you like to technically explain exactly what you meant by that?"
Harry wisely leaned back. "You know what? Forget I said anything."
Hermione narrowed her eyes, clearly not convinced. "Mm-hmm."
Harry coughed. "So, uh, think Nova's mad?"
Hermione scoffed. "Oh, please. He's probably laughing his stupid head off right now."
Meanwhile, on Nova's side, the moment the session cut off, he was left staring at the dark screen, his own reflection smirking back at him.
He leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head. "Welp. That went well."
His AI assistant chimed in. "Trade session forcibly closed by client. Reason: 'Nova being Nova.'"
Nova snorted. "Rude, but accurate."
Then his grin widened.
"Oh, and next time? I'm going bigger."
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