In the blink of an eye, the first week after the Christmas break had already passed.
Since Dumbledore had not sent Wade any messages that week, the promised special training never began.
Later, Dumbledore explained the reason to Wade. Grindelwald had raised many new demands, forcing Dumbledore to spend time preparing things for him, so Wade's special training had to be postponed.
After hearing this, Wade recalled what Anne had told him earlier about Grindelwald's education reform.
Could he be preparing things for the test?
…
On the weekend, Tom came to the Room of Requirement, planning to call Wade along to attend the weekend club activities.
"You go ahead. I won't be coming today. I've got a piece of research here that's reached a critical stage," Wade said.
At the moment, Wade was wearing a pair of alchemical goggles with built-in magnification, holding a strange metal stylus, bent over the table and completely focused as he engraved something onto a small bead.
"What are you researching this time?" Tom asked.
"Something that can strengthen us, Tom," Wade said, letting out a breath before setting the stylus down, removing the goggles, and rubbing his eyes.
"It feels like ever since I met you, aside from reading and studying, all you do is endless research and experiments," Tom said in confusion. "Is this really necessary? Your magic is already strong enough, strong enough to easily master many powerful spells. So shouldn't you be continuing to strengthen yourself? Why spend so much energy researching new things instead?"
In Tom's view, the existing body of knowledge already required enormous effort to master. If he were in Wade Reynolds's place, he would devote himself entirely to those things, rather than waste time on research.
"Because it helps our cause, Comrade Riddle," Wade said seriously.
"Does it?" Tom asked. "But do these things actually help increase your own strength?"
"For me, the effect isn't very obvious," Wade replied with a smile. "But for others, it's a different matter."
Tom looked puzzled. "Others? What do other people have to do with this?"
As he spoke, Tom pulled over a chair and sat down. To him, what Wade was doing was a complete waste of time and effort, so today he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
"Tom, do you think that for our great revolutionary cause to succeed, we need strong power?" Wade asked.
"Of course we do! That's exactly why I want you to strengthen yourself and spend less time tinkering with things that don't really help you grow stronger," Tom said with a frown.
"It seems there's a significant difference in how we understand this," Wade said with a smile. "When you talk about strong power, you mean that I, as the leader, must be strong. But I think that view is far too narrow."
Tom said nothing and continued listening.
Wade went on, "To me, strong power doesn't refer only to myself. It refers to the combined strength of everyone who stands with us!"
"In an undertaking as world-changing as this, no matter how powerful I am personally, it would still be woefully insufficient."
"I'm only one person," Wade Reynolds continued. "Once our territory grows large enough, there will always be places I can't personally cover. When a situation becomes critical and I'm tied up elsewhere, what should we do then?"
"That's why I need all of our comrades to grow strong, strong enough to stand on their own even when I'm not there."
"The reason Grindelwald can still inspire fear to this day, to the point that even the Minister for Magic cannot refuse his demands, lies not only in his personal power, but also in the powerful and ever-present faction beneath him, heh~ his Acolytes, akin to the Knights of Walpurgis in that fairy tale we read in the orphanage.."
"Think about it. If all of his followers were useless, struggling even to complete the most basic tasks, could he have taken control of the American Magical Congress by himself?"
"Without any support at all, would he have dared to attend that public trial? Think about it. What gave him that kind of courage?"
"Of course, it was the strength of the Knights of Walpurgis under his command!"
"So I must also ensure that my comrades possess at least power no weaker than theirs."
"And to achieve all of this, aside from their own efforts, the only thing I can provide them with is external support!"
As he spoke, Wade placed the bead in his hand into the head of a wooden knight puppet on the table.
The moment the bead was inserted, the knight puppet came to life, patrolling the tabletop with a wooden sword in hand.
"That's why I need to develop powerful new combat puppets, devastating new spells, and potent healing potions…"
"These things may not significantly increase my own personal strength, but they can make our entire team far stronger!"
"Tom… don't forget, the spells and casting techniques I taught you, the things that made you stronger, didn't come out of nowhere."
Tom looked at Wade Reynolds in surprise. He finally understood what Wade meant.
Wade was personally training and equipping a team that belonged entirely to him.
And the people in that team included Tom himself.
That was why he had been able to continuously learn new spells and dueling techniques from Wade.
To be precise, Tom was the earliest member of this team, even if he had been forced into it at the beginning.
Which meant that when Wade had said back then that he needed Tom's strength, he had not been speaking casually at all.
"So that's how it is… I understand now." Tom admitted his narrow view without hesitation.
After all, he had been the first beneficiary of Wade's research. In that case, it was better for Wade to keep researching. Who would ever complain about having too many good things?
"I'm glad you asked me directly when you didn't understand something, Tom," Wade said, returning his attention to the small puppet on the table. "Communication is the most important thing in a team."
"You're recreating those combat puppets from the trial that appeared in Slytherin's study that day?" Tom immediately recognized the memorable constructs.
That night, he had nearly died under the blades of those two puppets.
"Yes… I've just successfully restored it." Speaking of this, Wade Reynolds instantly perked up.
He took another knight puppet out of the drawer and placed a new bead into the puppet's head.
Under Wade's control, the two knight puppets suddenly crashed into each other and began to fight.
Tom stared in shock at the movements of the two wooden knights. Their speed was terrifyingly fast, instantly bringing back memories of the fear he had felt that night when he was dominated by the combat puppets.
"This… you actually managed to recreate them completely!"
"Right? It was just luck," Wade said. This was not false modesty, but the truth.
If he had relied solely on his own research, it would have taken a great deal of time to work out the precise magical flow from those depleted cores.
But these things had originally been created by Slytherin, so Wade had simply gone to him to restore them.
And Slytherin's appearance itself had been an accident, so calling the whole matter a stroke of luck was perfectly reasonable.
Tom watched the two combat puppets trading blows on the table, fighting with great intensity, and imagined them being deployed on the battlefield in the future…
How many wizards would be able to react in time when faced with attacks from combat puppets moving at such incredible speed?
"If you can really make these puppets the same size as a human, like the ones from that night, then they truly would enhance our strength," Tom said with a sigh.
"It's still not strong enough, Tom. Still not enough…" Wade said as he carefully observed the combat puppets' movements.
"This still isn't strong enough? Their speed is already terrifying…"
"No matter how terrifying the speed is, it's still cold-weapon combat. It's far too outdated. This is a product from a thousand years ago and seriously lacks long-range capabilities," Wade said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
Tom hesitated and asked, "Then… give them all crossbows? In that case…"
"Crossbows? Tom, did you time-travel here from the Middle Ages?" Wade mocked his suggestion without mercy.
Tom bristled. "Then what? Are you saying you're going to give them guns or something?"
Suddenly, Tom's expression changed. "Wait. You're not seriously thinking that, are you?"
A wicked smile spread across Wade's face. "What do you think about equipping them with Thompson submachine guns? No… that's still too stingy. What was the name of that new machine gun the Germans recently came out with? Never mind. Let's just give each of them two machine guns! And then carve some anti-magic runes onto the guns so wizards can't just destroy them with spells…"
Although Tom had never seen a machine gun in person, he had seen the guards at Riddle Manor practice with rifles, so he understood the power of Muggle firearms.
And he had a basic understanding of what a machine gun was: a firearm capable of continuous fire.
Just imagining such devastating weapons firing continuously, mounted on combat puppets that were highly resistant to magic…
"Sss…"
At the thought of it, Tom could not help but suck in a sharp breath.
If Wade really could create puppets like that, he would not need many. Even ten of them would be enough to make any opposing wizards suffer dearly…
"In the Muggle world, conflicts between nations always hinge on one crucial factor: the arms race. Every country's top minds are constantly researching weapons, afraid of falling behind others. Because falling behind means getting beaten."
"The Muggle world works this way, and our wizarding world is no different! We need the most advanced equipment, the most powerful spells, and the most effective potions. That way, even if our numbers are small, we can still hold an overwhelming advantage. This is the wizarding world's arms race!"
As he spoke, a different kind of brilliance shone in Wade's eyes…
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