On a lazy, sun-drenched afternoon, Maurise stood in the cool shadows of the courtyard stone wall, engaged in a hushed business meeting with the Weasley twins.
"Take a look at this, Fred, George. I believe you two will be highly interested in my latest project."
Leaning casually against the ancient stone, Maurise held up a small, unassuming rock.
It was slightly smaller than a chicken egg, colored a dull, ashy grey, and completely lacked any sort of polish or shine. However, upon closer inspection, the entire surface was densely covered in intricate, winding runic carvings.
Fred and George leaned in from either side, examining the object closely for a full minute. Neither of them could deduce its purpose.
"Hold it in your hand and try it," Maurise suggested, tossing the stone to George.
George caught it, tossing it lightly in his palm to gauge its weight before bringing it closer to his eyes. Finally, he shook his head. "It honestly just looks like an ordinary river pebble, Maurise. I cannot sense anything special about it. Stop building the suspense and tell us what it does."
"I call it the Shadow Stone," Maurise announced smoothly.
Ever since his successful experiment with the bone-whip wand, Maurise had been actively trying to engrave the magical models from his Book of the Magi onto physical, everyday objects. This unassuming little stone was his final, perfected prototype. It contained the complete runic matrix for one of his most frequently utilized spells: Umbral Walk.
Fred and George simultaneously raised their eyebrows.
"Well, the name certainly sounds dramatic, but it doesn't exactly explain the function," Fred noted.
"Patience," Maurise turned to George, a distinctly wicked smile spreading across his face. "The activation method is incredibly simple. Grip the stone tightly in your fist, clear your mind, and mentally recite a specific incantation."
"What is the incantation?" George asked.
Maurise's smile widened. "I offer my highest reverence to Maurise Black."
George stared at the dull grey rock in his hand, then slowly looked back up at Maurise. "Is that genuinely the activation password?" His expression was a masterpiece of pure, unadulterated judgment.
"It absolutely is," Maurise nodded shamelessly.
Please, do not ask him why he programmed such an absurd password into the runic matrix. It was purely a spur-of-the-moment decision born from his own twisted sense of humor and a healthy dose of Ravenclaw ego. There was absolutely no deeper magical meaning behind it.
"Oh, just try it already," Fred urged, nudging his brother impatiently.
Looking highly skeptical, George gripped the stone tightly in his fist. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to mentally recite the ridiculous phrase. 'I offer my highest reverence to Maurise Black.'
The exact instant the mental incantation ended, George felt the stone vibrate violently in his palm.
A split second later, his entire field of vision plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness. A heavy, suffocating pressure surrounded him from all sides, making it incredibly difficult to draw a breath.
The sensation was not entirely unfamiliar. He had experienced something remarkably similar last year when Maurise had pulled him into the shadows to hide from the terrifying three-headed dog.
Meanwhile, back in the sunlit courtyard, Maurise watched George seamlessly melt into the shadows of the stone wall. He nodded in deep satisfaction.
The function of the Shadow Stone was incredibly straightforward. It temporarily granted the user the ability to enter and hide within the shadow dimension.
"Wicked. That is absolutely brilliant," Fred let out a low, impressed whistle, staring at the empty space where his twin had been standing mere seconds ago.
Roughly ten seconds later, George's grip on the stone naturally relaxed just a fraction of an inch.
That tiny lapse in physical contact was enough to sever the magical connection. The Shadow Concealment spell instantly deactivated, violently ejecting George from the shadow dimension. He stumbled forward, gasping for air, and landed squarely on his backside on the cobblestones.
"Whoa..." George panted heavily. He looked up at Maurise, his eyes shining with an intense, feverish excitement. "I just merged with the shadows, didn't I?"
"Exactly," Maurise nodded, reaching out a hand to haul the Gryffindor back to his feet. "How was the user experience?"
George eagerly dusted off his robes. "A bit claustrophobic, and the pressure is intense, but it is definitely manageable."
"Excellent." Maurise smiled warmly. "If you stay in there a bit longer, your body quickly adapts to the pressure. Eventually, you can even learn to walk around while completely concealed."
Eager for a turn, Fred snatched the stone and tested it himself. Upon popping back out of the shadows, he was equally ecstatic, showering the little grey rock with endless praise.
---
Maurise accepted the Shadow Stone back from Fred, tossing it lightly in the air. "Alright, let us talk business. Do you two believe there is a viable market for a product like this?"
"A market? You actually want to sell these?" George caught on immediately.
"Precisely," Maurise stated candidly. "I have streamlined the runic engraving process. I can mass-produce these stones relatively easily. Do you think the student body would actually pay Galleons for them?"
Fred and George locked eyes. Simultaneously, identical, brilliantly wicked smiles stretched across their faces.
"Are you joking? It would be a total goldmine!" Fred exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I guarantee you, there is not a single student in this castle who could resist the allure of an artifact that grants total invisibility! You have to remember, Maurise, the Disillusionment Charm is incredibly advanced. Only a tiny fraction of upper-year students can cast it, and most of them are absolutely rubbish at it."
George eagerly backed him up. "This stone is the ultimate solution for anyone wanting to sneak out after curfew without getting caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris!"
'Naturally, the very first application these two thought of was breaking curfew.'
Maurise nodded inwardly. He had anticipated that exact response.
Fred's mind was already racing at a mile a minute. "How much are you planning to charge per unit? George and I could easily secure a dozen buyers by dinner time. Hmm... Chambers from fifth year would definitely buy one. Oh, and Lee Jordan! His Disillusionment Charms always leave him looking like a blurry, floating head..."
Maurise held up a hand to pause the rapid-fire brainstorming. He didn't answer the pricing question immediately.
Instead, he turned to his heavy leather briefcase resting on a nearby stone planter. He snapped the brass latches open, revealing the contents to the twins.
Resting neatly on velvet lining were ten identical-looking grey stones. The only discernible difference was a slight variation in the darkness of the grey hue.
Clearly, these were all Shadow Stones.
"You already manufactured a whole batch?" Fred asked, slightly taken aback by the efficiency.
"It is a bit more complicated than that," Maurise explained, adopting the tone of a seasoned salesman. "Every single stone in this case possesses slightly different specifications."
"The prototype you two just tested is the Basic Edition. Upon activation, the user can remain concealed in the shadows for a maximum of three minutes. Furthermore, it only contains enough magical charge for exactly twenty uses. Once the twentieth charge is expended, the stone will shatter into useless dust."
"However, the stones in this case are vastly superior." Maurise pointed gracefully to a slightly darker stone in the top left corner. "This is the Advanced Edition. It boasts a maximum concealment duration of five minutes, and it holds double the charges of the Basic Edition."
"But wait, there is more. I also have the Pro Edition, the Extended Duration Edition, the Rapid-Cast Edition, the Focus Edition, and the highly exclusive Advanced-Pro Max Edition."
Fred and George stared at the briefcase in absolute, bewildered silence.
"Hold on a second, Maurise," Fred finally asked, scratching his head. "Why on earth would you intentionally manufacture so many confusing variations of the exact same product?"
"Yeah, doesn't the core function remain exactly the same across the board?" George added, genuinely struggling to comprehend the logic.
Maurise let out a soft, highly disappointed sigh.
It seemed the twins, despite their natural entrepreneurial flair, still had much to learn about the beautiful, ruthless art of capitalism.
"To maximize our profit margins, obviously," Maurise explained, as if it were the most natural concept in the world. "I fully intend to release a brand new, slightly upgraded version of the Shadow Stone every few months. Think about the broomstick industry. Nimbus releases a new racing broom every single year. The consumers who feel dissatisfied or restricted by their older models will naturally be more than willing to hand over their Galleons for the latest upgrade."
He fully understood the brilliant, highly lucrative strategy of planned obsolescence and drip-feed marketing.
Fred slowly began a slow clap, a look of profound respect dawning on his face. "That is incredibly devious. But how exactly are we going to operate this? What is the retail price for the Basic Edition? And what is the exact timeline for the next product launch?"
"That is exactly why I called this meeting," Maurise said, his expression turning serious. "I simply do not have the time to sit around peddling trinkets to second-years. I also completely lack the patience to haggle over prices or answer mind-numbing customer service questions. Therefore, I am in desperate need of highly competent, reliable business partners to handle the distribution and retail side of the operation."
Fred and George understood instantly.
"An incredibly wise decision," Fred grinned, exposing all of his teeth. "Recruiting us as your exclusive distributors is undeniably the smartest move you have ever made, Maurise."
For the next two hours, Maurise and the Weasley twins sat in the shadows of the courtyard, meticulously hammering out the pricing tiers, marketing strategies, and profit-sharing margins for their brand new, highly illegal contraband empire.