However, after waiting so long, just when Wade finally seemed to have found where the power was hidden, he lightly gave away this extremely important secret to Grindelwald!
On this point, Tom simply couldn't understand it no matter what!
The prize was already in their hands! And he just threw it away like that? Was he playing a joke?!
Faced with Tom's blunt questioning, Wade remained perfectly calm.
Because Tom didn't know the full truth.
If Wade had been in Tom's position, he would have been furious with himself too.
"Heheh~ The reason is simple, Tom... that magical power is already gone," Wade answered with a sly smile.
Tom's expression froze instantly.
His emotions, which had been burning like a roaring fire,
now felt like they had been doused with a bucket of ice-cold water...
"But... but... those manuscripts you gave her... are they fake too?" Tom stammered.
Tom was so stunned by the news that it took him a long time to recover, and even then he couldn't speak smoothly.
That was the magical power he had been dreaming of, the one that could make him stronger in the fastest possible way!
And now you're telling me it's gone?
How was he supposed to surpass Wade and get his revenge now?
Oh, and all of this was coming from Wade's mouth?
Like hell I'm going to believe that!
"The manuscripts I gave Anne are real," Wade said, holding the candle in his left hand and pulling a few charred scraps of paper from his pocket with his right.
"Because that magical power truly did exist."
Tom grabbed the burnt scraps and started reading.
They seemed to be pages from someone's diary, but the diary had been partially burned, leaving much of the information missing.
Even so, Tom managed to spot some critical information among the fragments.
For example, it was recorded that this magical power had been created by Professor Morganach through some rather questionable, possibly illegal methods.
Moreover, Professor Morganach had been killed because of these powers.
In the end, most of that magical power had been absorbed by the goblin Ranrok.
The last relatively intact page of the diary fragments described Ranrok's final battle...
"...The magical power that had been absorbed by Ranrok dissipated into the air along with his death..."
Reading up to this point, Tom completely froze.
"Yes, it dissipated," Wade said calmly.
With Wade's confirmation, the light in Tom's eyes also dimmed...
In truth, those manuscripts and diary fragments were real—personally handed to Wade by the Senior.
Among them, the diary fragments were also from the Senior's own diary.
Wade had simply torn out a few pages and deliberately burned away the critical parts.
For example, after the sentence, "...the magical power dissipated into the air along with Ranrok's death," there had actually been another line, which was burned away.
That missing line was, "...then I gathered it all together again..."
Yes, the magic had dissipated—but the Senior had gathered it back up and absorbed it herself...
From that perspective, Wade hadn't completely lied to Tom—after all, once it was absorbed, it was just as good as gone.
"I don't believe it... you're a wicked one..." Tom muttered.
Wade frowned slightly. "Tom, no matter how great that magical power was, it was still just an external force. Do you really think that without such external powers, you can't become strong? If your desire to grow stronger is that fragile, it would truly disappoint me."
Hearing this, it felt like Tom had been doused with another bucket of cold water.
Only this time, it didn't extinguish his passion—it made him completely sober.
Yes... I, Tom, have never been weaker than anyone!
Even facing the so-called great Wade Reynolds, I still have the confidence that one day I'll defeat him!
How could I, over losing a mere external force, hang my head in defeat?
"Hmph... Who's fragile! I just... felt it was a bit of a pity, that's all!" Tom's eyes once again lit up with determination.
"...That's the Tom I know... It's just external power. If Professor Morganach could create it, are we saying we can't?" Wade said with a smile.
"Exactly! We can definitely create it too!" Tom completely pulled himself out of his earlier despair.
It had to be said—aside from valuing his own life, his obsession with becoming stronger surpassed everything else.
"Now you can probably understand why I had to tell Anne about all this," Wade said.
Tom handed the diary fragments back to Wade.
"Yeah, I get it... Actually, when you started talking to Anne, I was already guessing—you must be planning something against Nurmengard..."
Now fully clear-headed after snapping out of his slump, Tom's sharp intellect returned to the forefront.
Wade nodded approvingly. "Tom, that old fool Grindelwald didn't just attack us—he even burned down our house... Now it's time to show him some real retaliation."
"You're planning to use that magical power as bait, right?" Tom asked.
"Exactly. And you, Tom—if it were you, what would you do?" Wade asked in return.
"I'd figure out a way to dig them a grave... and then make them walk right into it themselves! But..." Tom frowned slightly, "...That magical power is already gone. How are we going to make them believe it still exists?"
"Tom, just leave that part to me. I haven't spent all this time just reading through manuscripts. I've already made some fakes based on the descriptions... It might not be enough to fool Grindelwald, but tricking Anne with it... won't be a problem," Wade said with a smile.
"You actually managed to make something like that?" Tom looked at Wade suspiciously.
If the fake could really enhance someone's power, then it wouldn't be a fake anymore!
"It's simple. Just invest a bit—mix some body-strengthening potions with euphoria potions, then use Transfiguration to turn the potion into a mist-like gas. I tried it myself before, and it worked really well..."
"After all, Grindelwald must have recruited her by telling her how exceptional and talented she is at such a young age, and people with talent often have the wrong impression that things will go as they think. So, as long as Anne absorbs the mist, under the influence of her expectations, once she notices her body and spirit feeling better, she'll naturally assume she's become stronger," Wade explained in a chilling tone.
"Damn!" Hearing this, Tom gave him a thumbs-up. "No wonder you're you, Wade—you're such a bastard!"
"Tom, I have a feeling you're insulting me."
"Is that even something that needs to be questioned, Wade?"
...
Even though helping someone apply for detention sounded a bit ridiculous, Professor Slughorn didn't refuse Wade's request.
After all, it wasn't the first time Wade had done something like this.
Last time, he had simply applied for detention for himself.
Besides, Wade was one of his favorite students.
Whenever it came to his favorite students, Slughorn was always extremely indulgent.
With the right timing, he could even reveal dark and forbidden magic like Horcruxes to his students...
It was precisely because of this that Wade had been completely confident he could get Anne's detention approved through Professor Slughorn.
…
Time quickly passed until nine o'clock at night.
Wade and Tom didn't have to wait long at the castle gates before they saw Anne approaching from a distance.
Seeing Anne's forced smile, Wade chuckled.
"See, Anne looks absolutely thrilled!"
Tom glanced at Anne's expression and casually echoed, "Yeah, she's thrilled. She looks so happy she could bite you."
"That's not a nice joke, Tom. Anne's a lady; she wouldn't go around biting people like you," Wade said.
"Huh? When have I ever gone around biting people?"
_________
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