"Who was your wand fighting for.. For whom am I fighting… for whom does my wand strike…" Tom muttered, repeating Wade's words.
Wade didn't say anything more. He simply took out a floating teapot and teacup, then sat beside him, sipping his tea in silence.
He didn't pour a cup for Tom—because he knew Tom wouldn't be in the mood to drink it for a while.
No one knew how much time passed. By the time Wade felt like his stomach was sloshing with tea, and the Aurors had begun packing up, Tom finally snapped out of his thoughts.
Judging by the system panel, where the merit points were bouncing steadily upward, something in Tom's mind must've shifted—though perhaps even he wasn't aware of it.
Tom turned his head and asked, "So… Dumbledore wasn't lying to us after all. This… is the magic of love?"
Wade nearly spat out his tea. Voldemort was giving up his Dark Arts research… to ask him about the magic of love?
Had the noseless one betrayed the revolution too!?
"Maybe," Wade replied half-heartedly. "I didn't go through what you just did, so I can't really say what's changed inside you…"
"But… what is love, exactly? Why didn't I ever feel it before… even now, I still don't. I just cast the spell the way I usually do, but… it suddenly felt different. I even cast it silently," Tom frowned. "At that moment, it felt like I could've done magic even without a wand. I… I don't know what that feeling was."
"That's a very profound question, Tom... I believe everyone has a different answer, because everyone desires a different kind of happiness. Even if you asked Professor Dumbledore, he could only tell you what he personally feels—he couldn't generalize it for everyone. And maybe it's not that you never felt love, but that you overlooked the feeling when it was there."
Tom looked a bit disappointed upon hearing this. He felt as though he had been on the verge of grasping something—a key insight he'd long yearned to catch when practicing spells. But now, that feeling seemed to be slipping away again.
Seeing Tom's disappointment, Wade paused for a moment, then continued bullshitting with a more thoughtful tone:
"Personally, I think love… is when you suddenly have something you care about. And I mean something besides yourself. Then, because you care, your thoughts start revolving around it. You feel joy because of it, sadness because of it… And most importantly, you won't let anyone hurt it. If someone tries to hurt it, then… that's when you pick up your wand. I think all the emotions you feel toward that thing—that's what love is."
As Wade spoke, Tom's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"I... I think I feel it again… that… that feeling… the feeling I had just now! Yes… I understand now! What did I care about most just then? What did I least want to lose? Family? Kinship? And then…"
As he spoke, Tom stretched out his hand. In his palm was a dead twig he had just picked up from the ground.
But in the next second, the twig slowly transformed into an exquisitely delicate flower.
The flower bloomed brilliantly in Tom's palm…
But even Wade, who had once been a biologist, couldn't recognize what kind of flower it was.
Because this flower didn't exist in the world to begin with—it was something Tom had transfigured freely at will!
Wade was absolutely certain that before tonight, Tom's Transfiguration was nowhere near this level. Even with a talent several times stronger than his peers, at his age, he should at most be able to turn a mouse into a goblet.
But now… he could conjure a completely nonexistent flower, without even using a wand, entirely by will!
So… you've had an epiphany, too, huh? Just like Dumbledore?
Wade felt a chill run through him.
Merlin help him, he'd only been spouting nonsense just now! He was just trying to stay in character and casually bluff Tom a bit!
He never expected Tom would actually take it seriously! And even more than that…
When is someone finally going to talk me into an epiphany like this?
Wait a second! Wasn't Tom's so-called epiphany just now related to the magic of love?Isn't there something off about that?
Wade quickly glanced at his Merit Points balance—and saw that the total was still steadily ticking upward…
This time, even the system seemed to need time to process it. Instead of a lump sum, the points were being added bit by bit!
This showed just how deeply tonight's events had affected Tom.
As everyone knows, someone like Tom—who would one day have a profound impact on the future—would only influence it more deeply the more he himself was affected…
Wade finally looked away from his merit point balance. The system clearly couldn't process it all at once, and staring at the fluctuating numbers was starting to give him eye strain.
He could only silently pray it wouldn't crash… The thing was half-baked to begin with—if it broke down now…
"Thank you, Wade…" Tom looked at the flower in his hand and, for the first time in his life, sincerely thanked Wade.
"No need…" Wade replied weakly.
Tom glanced at the flower in his hand, looking like he wanted to say something.
Wade jumped to his feet immediately. "If you dare try to hand me that flower, I swear I'll shove it up your nose!"
"…Alright, yeah, that would be kind of weird," Tom frowned.
Two straight guys exchanging flowers? Yeah, that's not happening.
"But still… I really did grow stronger because of your words…"
"Yeah, you really did get stronger, Tom… Honestly, I'm starting to think I've got a real talent for teaching. Maybe I should apply for a teaching post after I graduate?" Wade muttered helplessly.
Just a few casual words, and now everyone's having some sudden epiphany—what is this, a shity cultivation world?
Maybe I really should consider becoming a professor.
If only I could have a moment of sudden enlightenment too…
Hmph. Magic really is all about mindset.
"Wade, of course you can apply for a teaching position. I've never seen a student with such a talent for teaching. If I'm still at Hogwarts by the time you graduate, I'll be more than happy to welcome you! How about teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts? I have a strange feeling that post will always be… in high demand," Dumbledore suddenly appeared before the two of them.
Knowing the old man, Wade was certain he'd been eavesdropping for quite a while already.
Frantically replaying everything he had just said to check if there was anything incriminating, Wade didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Tom, meanwhile, guiltily tossed the flower into the flowerbed…
Clearly, he thought the same.
All that talk with Wade just now probably revealed the fact that he had used some rather questionable magic earlier.
If Dumbledore had overheard…
How could he not feel guilty?
Suddenly, another voice came from the side.
"Such a beautiful flower—just tossing it away like that would be a real shame, don't you think?"
Dumbledore's cheerful expression instantly vanished, because the person who had arrived was none other than ...Grindelwald!
With a casual wave of his hand, the dazzling flower on the ground floated into his palm.
"What are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked, clearly displeased.
"If a school professor like you can come, why can't I—an actual high-ranking official from the Ministry of Magic?"
Grindelwald lowered his head and sniffed the flower in his hand, then turned to look at Tom with a smile, as if he were gazing at a dusty gem that had suddenly begun to shine.
"If I remember correctly, you're only the head of the Department of Magical Education. What happened tonight falls under the jurisdiction of the Auror Office. What excuse do you have to be here?" Dumbledore said, annoyed.
Grindelwald tucked the flower neatly into the breast pocket of his suit and replied with a smile, "As you said, I'm the Head of the Education Department. Overseeing education is my job. And here we have two underclassmen from Hogwarts—one of whom is a victim! Isn't it my responsibility to check in on their mental well-being? If they were traumatized and it affected their studies, wouldn't that fall under my purview?"
Wade said with mock admiration, "Wow, the way you put it actually sounds… pretty reasonable."
"Wade, don't pick up bad habits from him," Dumbledore said quickly. "You two should stay far away from him."
"Pick up bad habits?" Grindelwald looked at him in surprise, then glanced down at his own expensive suit. "I'm a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Magic now! If he learns from me, how could that be considered picking up bad habits? With Wade's talent for education, he might even succeed me one day as Head of the Department of Magical Education!"
"Is that so, Director?" Dumbledore retorted sharply. "I thought you were trying to have him succeed something else entirely..."
"I, on the other hand, believe both of them will far surpass me in the future—in 'every' respect," Grindelwald said meaningfully.
Worried Wade might pick up his bad habits? What a joke!
Everything Grindelwald had changed about himself to get to where he was today—the new approach, the better image—it had all come from learning from Wade!
Hearing Grindelwald's words, Wade and Tom both gasped. This old man had actually dared to say that in front of Dumbledore!
Wasn't he just tossing the two of them straight into the fire?
Dumbledore had only just not brought up the matter of using Dark magic! And now Grindelwald goes and says something like that, reminding him of everything?
This old fox... was seriously devious!
"If you hadn't pushed for your so-called educational reform, I'm quite confident they'd still grow up just fine," Dumbledore countered, his tone dry and laced with sarcasm.
"Educational reform? What's that?" Wade immediately latched onto the topic, jumping in with a question.
If he didn't divert the conversation now, when else could he?
"Oh! Speaking of educational reform!" Grindelwald said with a smile, "I plan to include the study of Dark Arts in the standard curriculum. That way, you won't have to sneak around to learn it anymore! You'll have professors guiding you. Even if you're learning dangerous spells, you won't have to worry about making mistakes…"
"..."
"..."
Wade and Tom were both stunned.
Weren't they explicitly not supposed to bring up the Dark Arts?
And what was with this blatant insinuation that they were learning Dark Arts? Was he trying to get them caught?
Had this old man always been this subtly wicked?!
~~~~~~~~
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