o(*￣▽￣*)ブHuge thanks to Alex for becoming a member!♥🥰
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"Heh~" Wade pulled out a bottle of invigorating potion from his pocket. "Here, this one's on the house."
"Stop bluffing, Wade. I won't believe you anymore," Tom said, his face full of disappointment.
He had poured his heart and soul into managing the club.
But to his surprise, Wade seemed to not care about it at all…
This gave Tom a strong sense of betrayal…
Wade simply smiled and didn't explain further. He grabbed his toiletries and left the dormitory.
Facts spoke louder than words—saying more would just be a waste of time.
Watching Wade's departing back, Tom's expression darkened.
"Wade, even without you, I can still make the club thrive!"
…
Great Hall.
Slytherin table.
Wade was nearly finished with his breakfast when Tom finally arrived, wearing a gloomy expression.
He gave Wade a glance, then, uncharacteristically, chose a seat far away from him.
Wade didn't really mind. He knew Tom had simply misunderstood him for the time being.
Anne and the others looked at the two of them in confusion—no one knew what had happened.
After a while, Anne finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Wade, what's going on with you two? Did you have a falling out?"
"It's nothing. Tom just lacks a little bit of trust in me," Wade said with a smile.
"Lacks trust?" Anne looked puzzled by the answer.
At that moment, a large group of owls flew into the Great Hall.
Every morning, students' newspapers and letters were delivered at this time.
Tom cast a gloomy glance at the owls.
Abraxas would surely receive another letter from home today.
If his guess was right, once Abraxas received yet another letter from his father, scolding him for betraying pure-blood honor—
He would definitely lose all trust in the club and its leader…
Because Wade hadn't done what he had promised!
Tom glanced again at Wade, who was still calm and composed, and couldn't help but click his tongue.
Right now, he was filled with resentment toward Wade's irresponsibility.
Sure enough, a thick envelope dropped in front of Abraxas.
Holding the letter, Abraxas stared at his father's signature on the envelope, his hand trembling as he gripped it.
Given Wade's confident assurances yesterday, he was nervous, but also full of hope…
What if… Wade hadn't lied…
He opened the letter, habitually trying to skip over his father's usual "greetings" between the lines, and quickly skimmed through it.
But when he reached the end of the letter, his expression suddenly froze.
Then, he rubbed his eyes and looked back to the beginning of the letter again!
Seeing this, Tom was even more convinced that his suspicions were right.
Abraxas must have found it hard to believe… After Wade had made such a solemn promise yesterday, and yet—
Although Abraxas wouldn't openly defy the club now, if he secretly spread word about what had happened…
It might not heavily impact the club's regular operations, but using the club as a means to gather followers would become much more difficult.
Tom kept glancing at Abraxas from time to time. He had already made up his mind—he would give Abraxas a proper warning later!
If even half a bad word got out, he would…
Suddenly, Abraxas stood up abruptly!
Tom immediately had a bad feeling. He hadn't warned Abraxas yet—what if he went and exposed everything now?
Regret filled Tom's heart. He already wished he had stopped Abraxas earlier and issued his warning.
Just as Tom was thinking this, Abraxas had already run over to Wade.
"President!" Abraxas called out excitedly.
Everyone at the Slytherin table immediately turned their eyes toward the excited Abraxas.
"Abraxas, my friend, what is it?" Wade asked gently.
"Thank you, President!" Abraxas's eyes were slightly red. "What can I do to express the gratitude I feel in my heart?"
Just when he had prepared himself to be cursed and berated by his father again, he had instead received a letter of encouragement!
Yesterday, his father was still questioning why he had betrayed the honor of pure-bloods.
But today, he had suddenly changed his tune, telling him to do well in the club and even saying that pure-blood honor was nonsense!
If he didn't recognize his father's handwriting, and if the letter hadn't carried the Malfoy family's ancestral protective charms, he would've thought someone was impersonating his father!
Only Merlin knew the pressure he had been under recently!
And now, that pressure had vanished in an instant!
All of this was because of one promise Wade had made to him yesterday!
"Ahaha~ Abraxas, I promised you, didn't I? You're my friend… When you came to me as a friend with a request, I had to find a way to respond. As for thanks..." Wade paused. "It's not necessary for now. But if one day I have something to ask of you, or if another member comes to you with a request, I hope you won't forget what happened today—and that you'll be just as generous in lending a hand to your friends."
"Mm! I will, President! I definitely will..." Abraxas hadn't even finished his sentence when the letter in his hand was suddenly snatched away!
He turned around to see Tom quickly scanning through it, and soon, a look of disbelief spread across Tom's face!
"You… you actually did it?! But… how is that possible? How did you do it?" Tom was completely stunned after reading the letter.
He had watched Wade the entire night!
Even if Wade had forged the letter, there was no way he could have done it without Tom noticing!
"Tom, you must be really curious, right… about my secret?" Wade looked at him and spoke gently.
Tom felt a chill in his heart—Wade had worn that same smile the night he took down those goblins…
"No… as long as you don't tell me, I absolutely won't be curious..."
"Don't be nervous, Tom. I just wanted to let you know that anything I promise—I will make happen. Your lack of trust in me… is truly disappointing. Excuse me..."
With that, Wade stood up and calmly walked past Tom…
Watching Wade's back, Anne leaned over next to Tom and whispered, "Tom, you've really hurt Wade's feelings this time…"
...
Late at night.
Deep within the Forbidden Forest.
Wade stood in front of an abandoned building, using his wand to draw a large mass of silvery ancient magical energy into his body.
This was already the fifth ancient magic hotspot he had found tonight.
Just five strands of ancient magic had already significantly strengthened his mastery of it.
There was no denying that the growth in ancient magic had once again given his overall strength a noticeable boost.
At this point, even without actively channeling ancient magic,
its power could silently and automatically enhance his own magical energy.
Because of this, every spell he cast now carried more force than that of an ordinary wizard...
However, there were still far too few ancient magic hotspots.
He had originally thought that every location marked on the map Senior gave him would contain ancient magic.
But after visiting several sites in vain, he realized that her judgment wasn't entirely accurate either.
Wade couldn't help but feel a vague sense of worry.
If, after visiting all the locations marked by the Senior, his ancient magic still hadn't grown strong enough to save her…
Then he would have to rely on himself to search for other ancient magic hotspots elsewhere.
But to do that, he would need to fully understand the principles behind the formation of ancient magic hotspots, as well as… the reasons for their appearance.
Regarding this, Wade had also consulted the Senior specifically, but unfortunately, she didn't know much about it either.
Her method of locating ancient magic hotspots relied mostly on her own sensitivity to ancient magic—then running aimlessly around the Forbidden Forest...
Wade took out a pocket watch and checked the time.
It was getting late. He decided to head back for the night.
After all, he needed to leave some time each night for sleep in order to train his nightmare magic.
Otherwise, he might have stayed in the Forbidden Forest all night.
The growth in power—even without the assistance of "residue"—was already enough to make Wade deeply addicted.
Just as Wade was preparing to Apparate back to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and quietly sneak back into Hogwarts Castle—
Whoosh!
A dark green spell suddenly shot out from within the forest, heading straight for his back!
Boom!
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