"A cooperative relationship?" Katerina repeated, then shook her head.
"To be precise, it's more about mutual exploitation. He has his objectives, and I have my needs."
Needs?
The young man's gaze instantly turned peculiar, his mind flashing through a series of scenes unsuitable for children.
It wasn't that his mind was in the gutter – it's just that Tom had a track record.
Hadn't he obtained Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's Cup all those years ago by seducing them from eighty-year-old ladies?
And in the end, he'd shamelessly finished off the old women.
Katerina didn't notice Wayne's expression and continued speaking on her own.
Otherwise, even if she couldn't win, she would definitely... have fought Wayne to the death.
"I'm someone who lived through that era and was exposed to those ideologies. I believed that was how the wizarding world should be, and like Mr Riddle, I even spent time studying among Muggles at a university."
"You truly believe he holds those ideals?" Wayne said in surprise. "Don't tell me you can't see through his motives. He's merely using those methods to achieve his own ambitions. All of you are just his tools."
"What if I can see through it?" Katerina continued without any emotional fluctuation. "My power alone could never change this world. Only wizards like you, Dumbledore, or Grindelwald could possibly turn things upside down."
"Isn't his goal just to become that unique supreme ruler? As long as we can overthrow the corrupt Ministry of Magic, having one more monarch isn't entirely unacceptable."
"As long as we can satisfy his needs, he can provide us with shelter too."
"Mr Riddle is aware of my objectives and has made his own promises."
Wayne understood her perspective now, but what was this supposed to be? A constitutional monarchy version of the hammer and sickle?
"Lawrence, I've said all I need to say. You can deal with me however you wish, but please don't involve others. They know nothing about my dealings with Mr Riddle."
"Are those pure-bloods still mining?" Wayne suddenly asked.
Katerina hesitated for a moment before answering, "Many have died. He felt the pressure you brought and used their blood to complete a Dark Magic ritual to accelerate his physical development."
"But the pure-blood families are deeply entrenched. They still have connections abroad, especially since your ideologies and actions have already drawn dissatisfaction from many countries, haven't they?"
"Katerina, without Tom now, how long do you think you can hold out?"
Katerina lowered her head in prolonged silence before finally looking at the young man. "Lawrence, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"If you can accept Tom ruling over you, then having me in that position shouldn't be much different, should it?" Wayne adjusted his sitting position, resting his hands on his knees in a relaxed manner. "You know me well enough, and you know I've never had any fondness for those pure-blood nobles."
"I can preserve what you've achieved, even allow continued expansion. But don't be too extreme – just make them understand they have nothing to be proud of."
"What are your conditions?"
A flash of surprise appeared in Katerina's eyes, though she maintained a composed facade."
"Some local specialities, and some labour." Wayne said with a smile, "I've been eyeing the resources in that snowfield for a long time. I need you to allocate ten groups of wizards to develop it for me."
"Additionally, Koldovstoretz will establish Alchemy courses, focusing particularly on materials science. You could say that in the future, half of your Russian wizards will be working for me, becoming my raw material supply base and processing factory."
"I'll pay reasonable compensation - I won't let you work for nothing."
The resources of the British Isles were so poor that even Wayne found them pitiful to look at. There wasn't even suitable land for raising dragons, let alone rare raw materials.
The Russian situation was precisely the opposite - over eighty percent of the entire country consisted of uninhabitable wastelands where humans could hardly survive. Nobody could say for sure how many treasures were buried beneath those lands.
The capitalist blood in his veins was beginning to stir again - it would be such a waste not to exploit this opportunity.
As for Koldovstoretz's reform requirements, the purpose was also to train a batch of qualified processing workers who could perform simple preliminary processing of materials, thereby saving him considerable time.
In today's wizarding world, Alchemy remained too luxurious for ordinary wizards.
He intended to change this situation and make Alchemy more widespread.
Unsurprisingly, Katerina had only one path to choose - acceptance.
That afternoon, Wayne inspected the wealth previously plundered from the pure-blood nobles, selected what interested him, and returned fully laden.
Over the following days, Wayne did nothing at all, leaving external affairs to Crouch and the others to handle while he spent a leisurely holiday with the women.
Although he was still thinking about the prophecy and felt some pressure, proper rest was necessary before proper work could be done—one or two days wouldn't make much difference.
On the final day, he went to the Hog's Head. Under Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire, Ariana easily regained her physical body.
However, what worried Dumbledore and the others was that a new Obscurus was already brewing within her.
The Obscurus was born from despairing magical power, and what determined magical power was a person's spirit and soul, having little to do with the physical body.
Although Ariana was now a sunny, cheerful young girl, her overall magical power leaned towards darkness. According to Wayne's estimation, her Dark Magic talent had reached SS grade, with all other attributes being at least S grade.
'Truly worthy of the Dumbledore name - not a single one of them is simple,' he thought.
"Professor, no need to look so worried." Wayne comforted with a smile.
"Ariana's magical power is very strong - the Obscurus will probably form quite quickly." Dumbledore's expression grew increasingly grave after careful assessment.
"If even Voldemort could control it, shouldn't you and Grindelwald be able to research a solution?" Wayne said lightly, ruffling Ariana's small head. "Don't worry, if they can't manage it, there's still me. It's just an Obscurus, after all."
"Mm." The young girl nodded vigorously, responding with a brilliant smile.
The current Ariana trusted Wayne unconditionally - if he could even bring her back from death, what was there to fear?
"I'll help, Dumbledore." Grindelwald hurriedly pledged his loyalty. "I had considerable understanding of Obscurials back in the day, and Voldemort has provided much inspiration, too."
Aberforth snorted coldly but didn't retort - nobody could deny Grindelwald's accomplishments in Dark Magic.
"First, take care of that matter for me," Wayne reminded.
Grindelwald's mouth twitched violently. "Are you that fond of Mahoutokoro's property?"
"That's warm jade—letting them use it is such a waste, it pains me," Wayne said with heartfelt distress. "Such a fine thing is surely destined for me. I'm merely reclaiming what rightfully belongs to me."
"You're supposed to be of noble birth, yet you're nothing but a thief," Grindelwald couldn't help but retort.
The young man sneered. "What do you think the British nobility are? Every one of them started out as thieves."
"So-called gentlemanly manners are just for show. The benefits you actually grasp are the real gold and silver."
Grindelwald had no reply.
"Are you going or not? If not, I'll send old Dumbledore instead. He's free lately anyway."
"Fine, I'll go myself in a few days," Grindelwald said gloomily. Having his identity take the blame was worse than doing it himself—at least this way, he could vent some frustration.
Aberforth secretly gave Wayne a thumbs-up.
He loved seeing Grindelwald taken down a peg.
"By the way, Ariana, which year are you planning to start in?" Wayne turned to the young girl.
Ariana tilted her head. "Fifth year."
"Can you keep up with the pace?" Wayne knew she was only fourteen this year and should start in third or fourth year—he hadn't expected her to choose fifth year directly.
"I've been teaching Ariana magic all along," Aberforth spoke up. "She should manage fifth-year studies fine. Wayne, please look after her at school."
"Sure, no problem. I'll take her back for the Sorting Ceremony first. We can buy her wand and textbooks tomorrow."
...
When Wayne returned to the castle with an excited yet nervous Ariana, the young wizards who had gone home were arriving in the Great Hall.
Seeing him holding hands with an unfamiliar girl, many looked on with curiosity.
"Professor McGonagall, could you fetch the Sorting Hat from the office?" Wayne said as he approached the staff table.
Professor McGonagall nodded, offering Ariana a smile before rising to leave.
Wayne had her sit beside him for the meal.
When Professor McGonagall returned with the familiar three-legged stool and flamboyant Sorting Hat, Wayne stood to address everyone:
"This is Ariana Percival, a new transfer student joining fifth year. We'll now hold her Sorting Ceremony. Whichever house she's sorted into, I hope you'll all welcome our new classmate and help her catch up with the curriculum quickly."
Ariana rose shyly and gave a slight bow.
Using a pseudonym to enter school was her own request—Ariana didn't want excessive attention for being Dumbledore's sister.
Moreover, their significant age difference would easily raise suspicions and expose Wayne's secret.
Though young, Ariana now maintained a guarded attitude toward all outsiders.
Students and professors offered welcoming applause, feeling both novelty and curiosity.
In all their years, they had never heard of Hogwarts accepting transfer students.
"Ariana, over here." Professor McGonagall beckoned to her. Ariana hurried over and sat on the stool.
The moment the Sorting Hat touched her golden hair, it announced the house name:
"Gryffindor!"
The little lions of Gryffindor excitedly banged their tables, with some boys making strange noises, like those two attention-seekers, the twins.
Ariana put down the sorting hat, thanked Professor McGonagall, and walked towards the Gryffindor table where Hermione had been waving at her.
Hermione, of course, knew her true identity, and having someone familiar nearby made Ariana feel much more relaxed.
"There's still one empty bed in our dormitory, Ariana. Would you prefer a single room or to stay with us?"
"Together is fine," the little girl replied with a sweet smile.
Wayne, however, was feeling somewhat mentally disoriented.
Fifth year, transfer student, and particularly skilled in Dark Magic...
Why did this style feel strangely familiar?
Shaking his head, Wayne collected his thoughts. He waited until the Gryffindor side had calmed down and the food on the plates had been cleared away before speaking.
"The holidays have ended, and there are no external threats to disturb you. From now on, I ask all students to focus seriously on revision. In just one week's time, we'll have the end-of-term examinations."
Suddenly, countless people felt like they'd fallen from heaven straight into hell.
Exams?
They'd been having so much fun these past few days, who even remembered anything about exams!