Creeeeak!
The screech of brakes split the air.
The Knight Bus skidded to a stop at the side of the road, and Tom bolted out through the door, clutching a nearby lamppost as he vomited violently.
"You'll get used to it after a while." A wrinkled old wizard set Tom's trunk down beside him.
Tom had dashed off so quickly earlier that he hadn't even grabbed his luggage.
"Thank you for choosing the Knight Bus. We look forward to serving you again!"
With that, the wizard hopped back onto the bus.
"I'm your conductor—"
He didn't even finish before the bus roared back to life and shot away in a blur.
As for the conductor's name, Tom hadn't caught a single syllable.
"If I ever ride that blasted thing again, I'll give my family ring to a muggle!" Tom muttered, face pale. "Tch, tricked by that bastard Wade Reynolds again…"
After deciding to head for Newt's home to meet Wade, Tom had written him a letter, asking for the exact address.
That bastard Wade Reynolds had written back with the address and, in the same letter, enthusiastically recommended a so-called fast and convenient means of travel—the Knight Bus.
In his reply, Wade praised it to the skies, calling it unmatched, quick, and easy…
And so, unsurprisingly, Tom had been thoroughly duped.
If not for the fact that his Flight Charm could only last around thirty minutes at a time, he honestly would've preferred flying all the way there himself.
It seemed he really ought to buy a broomstick as a backup. After all, he'd already taken flying lessons at school and knew how to handle one now.
Glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, Tom pulled out the Invisibility Cloak, draped it over himself, and cast his still-clumsy Flight Charm, slowly heading toward the address written in the letter.
It wasn't long before he spotted two houses with yards by the edge of a lake.
With no other buildings anywhere around, they stood out rather abruptly.
Tom quickly descended, removed the cloak, and tucked it back into his trunk.
From a distance, he could already see Wade sitting idly by the gate of the yard, lost in thought.
The moment Tom laid eyes on him, the anger he'd been holding back surged hotly to the surface.
"Wade Reynolds! What's this? Feeling guilty, so you sit at the gate to welcome the great Lord Riddle?" Tom sneered.
Hearing Tom's voice, Wade finally snapped out of his daze.
"Well, if it isn't Tom. And why exactly should I feel guilty? Careful what you say."
"But you tricked me again!"
"I've tricked you plenty of times… which one are we talking about now?"
"You—how can you even say that? Do you get some kind of reward every time you mess with me? You do it every day!"
"I just love watching you all flustered and furious, yet unable to beat me. That alone gives me tremendous emotional value! Isn't that a reward in itself?" Wade said cheerfully, the gloomy look he'd worn earlier vanishing completely.
"I'm your toy, is that it? Bastard! Forget it, I'm not wasting breath on you!" Tom was so furious his chest hurt.
"Tom, it hasn't been that long since I last saw you, but what's happened? You look weak, pale as a ghost… don't tell me you haven't been eating enough at home?"
"And why do you think my face is so pale? Don't you know perfectly well?" Tom shot back angrily. "That Knight Bus! You went on and on in your letter, saying how quick and convenient it was—"
"I was telling the truth! Isn't the Knight Bus convenient?"
"Er…" Tom was left choking on the words.
Raising your wand at the roadside and it shows up—well, yes… that is convenient.
"So then, are you saying the Knight Bus isn't fast?"
"Mm…" Tom couldn't answer.
Thinking back to that deranged bus, that insane speeding…
How could you possibly say it wasn't fast?
"So you see! I didn't lie to you. It's both convenient and fast," Wade smiled. "But I never said it was comfortable."
Tom almost lost it at that, needing a good while to recover.
"Forget it… you always have something to say anyway!"
"I'm demonstrating wisdom for you. Remember this, Tom—whatever you do, always think of your way out first. Only then can you move forward and retreat freely."
"You… you really…" Tom thought back on Wade's usual methods. He did indeed always leave himself an escape.
Whether it was a reasonable excuse or a perfect clean-up afterwards…
"Before you think of advancing, think of retreat. Remember that." Wade said as he picked up Tom's suitcase. "Come with me. Newt already knows you're coming."
Tom looked thoughtfully at Wade's back.
"Is this guy really teaching me? Why does it all feel so forced…"
…
Newt's family, along with Jacob, warmly welcomed Tom.
However, Queenie had gone back to America for a while on some business—otherwise Wade would never have dared to let Tom come now.
If Queenie had been there, Tom, who hadn't yet mastered Occlumency, would have been laid bare in an instant…
And Wade himself might have been stripped clean right along with him!
Although Newt and the others seemed friendly enough, Tom still keenly noticed their mood wasn't very high. Their smiles felt a bit forced.
Thinking it over, there seemed to be only one possible reason.
"Wade, did something go wrong with Nagini's treatment plan?" Tom asked as soon as he sat down.
"About Nagini, Tom… there's good news and bad news," Wade said helplessly.
Tom frowned. "What happened to her? Just tell me both the good and the bad."
"The bad news is that the recovery plan we came up with for her… completely failed. The good news is… I can still keep her as she is, long enough for us to find another way to cure her."
Wade and Newt then shared with Tom the series of recovery plans they had previously tried.
"Your idea actually makes a lot of sense… but you overlooked the fact that the body itself can also nourish the soul…" Tom muttered, then suddenly asked, "Then is there a way to separate her soul? There must be magic like that! We could ask Professor Dumbledore!"
"I thought of that too, but… unfortunately, it's not that simple," Wade said helplessly.
He had already considered that possibility and had gone to ask the Senior about it that very night, but…
She had immediately pointed out a new flaw in his idea.
That is, the blood curse carried by the Maledictuses—Their curse is inherited through bloodline!
For a Maledictus, the blood curse itself is the true root cause.
The beast soul only emerges as a "complication" brought about by the blood curse…
In other words, if the curse in Nagini's blood cannot be purified, then even if Wade found a way to remove Nagini's beast soul, it would only be treating the symptom, not the root.
Before long, a new beast soul would form again.
Seeing Tom still puzzled, Newt explained, "We need to find a way to purify the curse hidden in her bloodline first. Otherwise, there's no way to cure her completely."
"Bloodline curse, huh… should we ask Professor Dumbledore?" Tom suggested.
Unknowingly, Tom's reliance on Dumbledore had already surpassed Wade's, though he himself hadn't realized it. Perhaps it was because Dumbledore no longer watched him like a thief?
Newt nodded. "Indeed… back then, Professor Dumbledore once went away on his own for a period of time, specifically for Nagini. None of us knew what he was looking for… perhaps he saw this problem even then and went searching for a solution."
"He didn't find one?" Tom asked.
"At the time, Grindelwald launched a surprise attack on the Austrian Ministry of Magic… Dumbledore's trip was interrupted. By the time he was done dealing with everything… Nagini had already disappeared," Newt said with a sigh.
Maledictuses, once they fell asleep at night, would uncontrollably transform into their animal form, only regaining their human body when they woke.
That was why Nagini had disliked sleeping at night back then.
And precisely because of that, the worsening of a Maledictus's condition always came without warning.
It was entirely possible to fall asleep one night, and upon waking, already have the beast's consciousness…
"Grindelwald again…" Tom muttered, finding this man endlessly detestable.
"Before you came, we already wrote to Professor Dumbledore," said Newt.
Wade shrugged. "I even wrote a letter to that old man Grindelwald to ask his opinion…"
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized everyone in the room was staring at him.
Wade explained, "Look, in this world, he seems to be the one with the deepest research into Dark Magic. While he's still wearing the skin of a good man, not squeezing some benefits out of him would be a waste."
Tina said angrily, "You shouldn't have gone to Grindelwald. If anyone were to do it… it should've been Newt writing the letter."
"Huh?" Newt gave Tina a startled look. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to write to Grindelwald either!
Tina said firmly, "Dumbledore warned us—Grindelwald might have hidden motives for you. You'd better not get involved with him at all!"
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking it through," Wade admitted, instantly backing down.
But Tom saw right through Wade's act.
In his view, Wade was clearly planning to snatch away Grindelwald's hard-earned prize someday! How could he not get involved with him?
From Tom's deduction, Wade might be preparing to start approaching Grindelwald within the next few years.
Perhaps… using Nagini's situation as a pretext to write for his help was already part of that plan?
Tom remembered what Wade had said before: "Before thinking of advancing, think first of retreat."
So Nagini's condition… was one of his fallback plans?
Tom couldn't help rubbing his forehead.
Before he met Wade, he'd just been a bully, finding ways to torment weaker kids for fun—that was already "using his brain."
But after meeting Wade…
The things he had to consider were already far beyond the limits of someone his age.
Damn Wade! I've only just turned twelve!
What kind of twelve-year-old has to think about things like this!?
_________
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