Morning, the Great Hall.
"Potatoes… potatoes… nothing but potatoes."
Wade looked at the food in front of him with little appetite.
Because he had stayed up late doing experiments and drunk too much Invigoration Potion the night before, Wade was still highly stimulated.
"You can have some oatmeal," Tom said, pushing a bowl toward him.
"To be honest, I'm starting to think about giving the house-elves in the kitchen a cookbook," Wade said helplessly as he accepted the oatmeal.
"Better not…" Tom replied without even looking up as he dealt with the fried egg in front of him.
"Why not? At least then we wouldn't have to keep eating this English 'cuisine.' I mean, we could at least get something French once in a while… Henry, pass me a sausage," Wade said.
"Because I already gave them one," Tom said wearily.
"Hm? And then?"
"And then? You should know what they're like," Tom said irritably. "The moment I handed over the cookbook, I regretted it. Have you ever seen over a hundred house-elves crying their eyes out?"
"Actually, I've only seen Tobey cry like that," Wade replied.
"Then you're pretty lucky," Tom said resentfully. "The way those guys think is always bizarre. They actually believed I was dissatisfied with their cooking. The house-elves on duty that day were so upset they nearly smashed the stove with their heads."
"…That does sound like something house-elves would do," Wade said, stroking his chin. "Though, to be fair, part of the blame is definitely yours."
"What blame do I have?" Tom said unhappily.
Wade shook his head. "You definitely said the wrong thing. Sometimes the art of language can avoid a lot of bad outcomes. What exactly did you say to them back then?"
"Me? I told them everyone was getting tired of eating the same few dishes and asked them to try some new recipes… How was I supposed to know they'd react so strongly?" Tom said, tugging at his hair.
"If you said that to your family's cook, it would be fine. But to house-elves, it's basically the end of the world. Since you already know how their minds work, you should have phrased it differently. You know how I've even shown them Gordon's recipes and gotten away with it, earning us all some much-needed cuisine in last year's banquet, right? You should have asked the expert~" Wade said lazily, biting into a sausage.
"Then what would you have said?" Tom asked.
"First, praise their cooking. Tell them everyone loves the food they make. What do you think their reaction would be?" Wade asked.
"Overjoyed? Deeply grateful?" Tom said with a look of distaste.
"Exactly. Then you bring out the cookbook and tell them that since their skills are so excellent, they'll definitely master even more dishes with ease. So you brought them this cookbook as a gift…"
Tom's eyes widened despite himself.
Thinking about the personalities of those house-elves, if he had said it Wade's way, they would definitely have accepted the cookbook happily. They might even have tried making new dishes on the spot and asked him to taste them.
"The art of language means saying the right thing to the right audience… Nick, that new beard style of yours looks great!"
At that moment, the Gryffindor ghost passing by the Slytherin table, Nearly Headless Nick, immediately beamed with delight when he heard that.
"Ha! You're the first young wizard to notice my new beard style! Even if you are a Slytherin, I must say, you have excellent taste!"
Tom stared as if he had seen a ghost, watching Wade strike up a lively rapport with Nick at astonishing speed, despite never having spoken to him before.
All because Wade had noticed and casually complimented the man's beard.
No wonder this guy was liked by all the professors… impossible… truly impossible to learn…
Tom could only turn back and focus on dealing with his breakfast.
As he looked up, Tom saw his owl, Dawn, flying in through the Great Hall's skylight.
This was the owl Tom had left with his cheap father. Under normal circumstances, it would not be delivering letters to him.
Tom quickly noticed that, besides the letter in its beak, Dawn was also clutching a box in its talons.
He pushed aside his breakfast just as the owl swooped down.
After feeding the owl a few biscuits, Tom opened the letter and began to read.
The contents were simple. Aside from a few brief lines of concern, it mainly mentioned the box the owl had delivered.
"This box is for Wade Reynolds?" Tom asked, looking at Wade in confusion.
At that moment, Wade was staring at the box with great interest.
When he noticed Tom looking over, Wade asked, "Your father sent this to me?"
"Yes…" Tom replied.
"Ha, I knew it." Wade happily picked up the box and stuffed it into his coat pocket.
Tom stared speechlessly as such a large box vanished into Wade's pocket.
"What exactly did you have my father send you?"
"Something very interesting. But… it can't be seen by others right now," Wade said mysteriously.
Tom glanced at the letter again. It also specifically mentioned not opening the box in front of anyone else.
"Let me take a look later?"
"Of course. Actually, I prepared a share of what's inside for you too."
Tom's curiosity was completely hooked. He no longer had any interest in breakfast.
"Tom! Wade!" Anne Rosier suddenly hurried over from the distance.
"Good morning, Anne. You're a bit late today," Wade Reynolds said warmly.
As soon as Anne sat down, she spoke somewhat urgently. "Wade, I have some news to…"
Wade cut her off. "Eat breakfast first."
"Uh…" Anne had no choice but to accept the large plate of mashed potatoes Wade pushed toward her.
Then Anne heard a faint voice in her ear.
"Don't panic, it's me. Just keep eating your breakfast. I'll teach you a spell that lets you convey meaning without speaking…"
Anne was surprised inwardly, but her expression did not change.
After Wade taught her the Whispering Charm, Anne finally understood why Wade and Tom would sometimes exchange glances for no apparent reason.
So they had been communicating in secret.
No wonder… back then, the two of them had been able to set her up so easily.
If they could conspire face to face at any time, how was she supposed to deal with two people by herself?
Not to mention, she could not outmaneuver either of them individually.
Anne's talent was also quite high. After a brief attempt, she successfully mastered the Whispering Charm.
"You can tell me the news now," Wade said.
At present, Grindelwald already knew Wade's true identity but had not yet discovered that Anne had defected to Wade's side.
Because the Rosier family was closely tied to Grindelwald, he would not easily suspect anyone from the Rosier family of switching allegiance.
That was why Wade had chosen to remain cautious.
"I found out that man is preparing some kind of assessment for us…" Anne said urgently, though on the surface she kept her head down, eating breakfast as if nothing were wrong.
With the Whispering Charm, the three of them no longer needed to find a secluded place to conspire.
"What kind of assessment?" Tom asked through the Whispering Charm as well.
"He set up a large tent in the Forbidden Forest. Inside, it's divided into many zones. In each zone, he's placed dark creatures of varying strength. Of course, there are also quite a few magical creatures, and they're all highly aggressive ones. Our assessment is to enter these zones by year and come out safely…" Anne explained quickly.
"How did you learn about this?" Wade asked.
"To help me pass the assessment more easily, he took me to see it. He even told me which zones are relatively safer… and even now, quite a few dark creatures haven't been moved in yet," Anne said.
Wade nodded. "This should be part of Grindelwald's educational reforms. No wonder Dumbledore and the others reacted so strongly earlier. Having students face dark creatures really is too dangerous. To deal with these assessments, Hogwarts's curriculum will probably shift more toward practical combat… Grindelwald is training students the way one would train elite Aurors."
Wade guessed that before long, many new school regulations would also be issued.
The relaxed and cheerful atmosphere at Hogwarts might soon disappear.
Military-style management. The phrase surfaced in Wade Reynolds's mind.
It probably would not be as outrageous as Umbridge, but it certainly would not be easygoing either.
Whether the environment was relaxed or not did not matter much to Wade. What he cared about was that once the castle adopted military-style management, he might not have as much time to conduct his more interesting research.
Wade could only hope Grindelwald knew his limits and would not go too far.
However… since it was Grindelwald's plan, causing him a bit of trouble could be considered an act of justice, right? Heheheh~~!!
"You're saying… he's gathered a lot of dark creatures?" Wade asked, licking his lips.
Anne said, "Yes… I even saw Inferi and female wraiths. He also told me that if not for the high infectivity and lack of control of werewolves, he would have caught a few, used Dark Magic to force them into permanent transformation, and then thrown them in as well…"
"Completely unhinged… but I like it," Wade said with a grin.
"W-What are you planning now?" Tom felt a chill for no reason when he saw Wade's smile.
"I've recently become quite interested in dark creatures, Tom," Wade said with a smile.
Hearing this, Tom recalled the Dementor Wade had forcibly tamed before.
"You're not thinking of…"
"Let's borrow a few dark creatures. He's got plenty over there anyway," Wade said cheerfully.
"I knew it…" Tom pressed a hand to his forehead. "But what do you even want dark creatures for? If you were stealing magical creatures, I could at least understand…"
"What do you mean stealing? That sounds awful. I'm borrowing."
___
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