— — — — — —
Now that Tom had uncovered the truth behind the Greengrass family, he stopped holding back.
He asked Lady Greengrass for some extra materials. Doing alchemy experiments at school was a hassle—he had to rely on owl deliveries from Diagon Alley for most supplies. And because alchemy wasn't exactly popular in Britain, the alchemy shops in Diagon Alley were rare and low on stock.
It was more of a niche hobby for rich wizards than anything else. They didn't practice it to make powerful magical artifacts—they just liked showing off that they could.
Once Lady Greengrass got Tom's request, she left the castle to make arrangements.
Meanwhile, Tom headed back to his room for a nap.
...
When he woke up, the two Greengrass sisters were already enjoying afternoon tea in the drawing room.
"Tom! Come here—today's menu has smoked salmon with cream cheese. The salmon is super fresh!"
Daphne eagerly waved him over to share her favorite snack.
Astoria, more quietly, nudged a plate of Earl Grey chocolate mousse his way, clearly waiting for his reaction.
"Um, Astoria," Daphne said with a slight wince, "Tom's not a huge fan of overly sweet things."
"Oh!"
The little girl quickly swapped out the mousse for baked lobster.
Tom tried a bite and nodded. "Not bad. Pala's cooking is getting better and better."
"Hehe, that's all thanks to Mrs. Abbott's teaching," Daphne grinned.
At this point, Daphne was closer to Hannah than she was to her own roommates. The two of them—and sometimes Susan Bones too—often snuck off for a second lunch after class.
Daphne didn't mind the extra snacks since she had Tom's training every week to stay in shape. Her figure was still in check.
Hannah and Bones weren't as lucky. They were going to need clothes two sizes up by the end of the vacation.
...
After tea, the three of them left the castle.
Tom let all three unicorns out to stretch their legs—the grounds were spacious enough for the little ones to run wild. As soon as they appeared, the unicorns rubbed up affectionately against Tom before giving a few soft calls toward Daphne.
Back at school, Daphne had started joining Tom more often during his trips to the Forbidden Forest, so the unicorns had gotten used to her too.
"If you like them, you can get closer," Tom said with a smile, noticing Astoria hesitating.
"Unicorns are gentle. As long as you don't have any bad intentions, you can even pet them—it's perfectly safe."
With Tom's encouragement, Astoria gathered her courage and inched forward toward her sister. Under the sunlight, her silver hair looked dull, even a little dry.
Yes, silver hair.
The Greengrass family was known for its blond hair. Daphne's hair was so radiant that looked more like polished gold than anything else. Tom figured Astoria's color had to be an effect of the blood curse. He wondered—if she ever got cured, would her hair go back to blonde?
Honestly, though, Tom kind of hoped it wouldn't.
Every real otaku knows—silver hair and red eyes are the ultimate combo. Sure, Astoria had those bright blue eyes like every other Greengrass, but she was still ridiculously cute.
"...H-Hi?!"
Astoria made her way to the smallest unicorn—Nova. Its white fur was beautiful, spotless, and it had chubby pink cheeks.
No girl could resist that kind of cuteness.
At first, Astoria was super cautious. She just stood to the side, watching her sister interact with the unicorn. But then, their eyes met—hers and Nova's. The unicorn blinked slowly and walked right up to her, nuzzling her waist.
Astoria froze in surprise, overwhelmed and a little flustered.
Daphne folded her arms and acted jealous. "Wow. Nova, I fed you for two whole weeks before I could touch you. Astoria shows up and you're already cozying up to her? You really do pick favorites by looks, huh?"
"Big sis…"
Astoria let out a quiet, embarrassed whine, but her hands were already stroking the unicorn's neck, her eyes squinting in pure joy.
Tom watched the two sisters and the three unicorns playing together, a faint smile on his lips. His mood lifted naturally.
Maybe someday, when all his goals were achieved, he could build a castle somewhere secluded and peaceful—by a mountain, maybe a lake—and spend his days there with his future wife…
...or wives.
"That's the dream." Tom looked delighted.
The air rang with the laughter of the happy girls, echoing through the grounds. Even Usaki, curious about the fun, popped out to join them.
They played around for a while, until Astoria started panting heavily. That was when Tom waved his hand, letting the unicorns (Blaze, Storm, and Nova) roam free and explore their future home.
While Usaki was tucked back into Tom's pouch, he'd need to feed her later, after all.
And just to be safe, Tom asked, "What about those two mountains behind the estate? Any magical creatures around there that could be dangerous to unicorns?"
Daphne shook her head without hesitation. "There are definitely magical beasts back there, but nothing too powerful or dangerous. Our house-elf, Tupp, does regular checks for materials and reports anything suspicious. And if something serious shows up, the Ministry takes care of it."
"Nice."
Satisfied, Tom followed the sisters to the outpost where the supply warehouse was located.
...
The entire basement of the Greengrass estate had been converted into a storeroom, divided into several sections: a vault for Galleons, a treasure room for gems and precious metals, a storehouse for magical creature parts, and another for magical plants.
As for the meteors Tom wanted, they were in the miscellaneous section.
The moment they walked in, Usaki darted straight to a dusty pile in the corner where three crates full of meteorites, barely noticeable at first glance. Together, they probably weighed a few hundred pounds.
Usaki immediately grabbed a piece and started munching.
Tom collected the rest, then began checking the other sections to see if there was anything else useful.
He took his time browsing, grabbing a few things here and there. By the time he finished going through the place, the entire afternoon had slipped by.
Out of curiosity, he peeked into the gold vault. Yep—nothing but mountains of Galleons. Just a gold vault being... a gold vault.
---
Over the next few days, Tom settled into a routine. Every morning, he practiced the two flight spells.
He had been focusing on precision lately. With Andros's flight spell, his top speed in a straight line was 280 km/h (kilometers per hour).
But in his Turbo mode—where his control over magic was drastically enhanced—he could push it up to 350. Still a ways off from the Thunderbird's insane speeds, but progress regardless.
Grindelwald's flight spell, by comparison, maxed out at around 200 km/h. But it had far better agility, thanks to its clever use of air flow. When it came to turning, dodging, or doing tight maneuvers, it definitely had the edge.
Tom was now trying to merge the two spells. His idea was to use magical repulsion to generate thrust (using Newton's third law), then amplify it with the air flow boost from the wings.
A solid theory—but fusing a black magic spell with a white magic spell? Yeah, not exactly a walk in the park.
Every day, Tom entered the meditation room, activated his Turbo mode, and worked on the fusion. He'd share his insights with his two professors afterward, then get their feedback and suggestions. Rinse and repeat.
The cycle helped him make steady progress.
— — —
Of course, he didn't stay in the study space all day.
His afternoons, for example, were split—some time with the Greengrass sisters, some time reading.
The Greengrass family's private library alone was impressive, full of rare magical texts and handwritten notes from prominent wizards. And thanks to Lady Greengrass's tireless efforts, even more valuable resources had started pouring in.
She already brought back copied collections from the Notts, the Rosiers, the Malfoys, and even the Lestranges.
"Lestrange?" Tom raised an eyebrow. "Aren't they all locked up in Azkaban?"
Lady Greengrass pointed eastward. "French Lestranges. Their collections differ a bit from the British branch, but up until the 18th century, they shared the same lineage. Most of the foundational knowledge is still intact."
Tom nodded in understanding.
"Tom!"
Suddenly, Daphne's voice rang out from outside, bubbling with excitement. She dashed into the library, clutching a stack of magazines, her cheeks flushed from running.
"Tom! Your paper finally got published! It's the main header!"
She held up the July edition of Brewed Glory magazine.
To note: the Extraordinary Society of Potioneers lived by the motto: 'Brew glory. Defy death.' And so the monthly magazine was named after it.
Tom waved his hand, summoning a glass of water for Daphne before taking the magazine. He skimmed through it—not to read the article (he'd written it, after all), but to check what title they'd given him.
Perfect—he was listed as a full-fledged member of the Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, not just a temporary one.
Joining the Potioneers Society was no joke. To become a temporary member, you had to brew a successful vial of Felix Felicis under a certified member's supervision. Only then would you be allowed in as a probationary member.
But to gain full access to the organisation's inner resources, you had to pass the infamous final trial— held only at the Swiss headquarters.
The trial? Drinking seven types of poison and brewing the antidotes under a strict time limit.
If you succeeded, you earned full membership. If you failed...
Well, let's just say they didn't hand out participation trophies.
Fortunately for Tom, he'd skipped the whole ordeal. Thanks to the Silver Cauldron Medal and Snape's behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
Seeing his official title printed in black and white, Tom finally let out a breath of relief.
Full membership came with real perks—most importantly, the ability to trade Extraordinary Points for rare ingredients, potion formulas, and advanced techniques. For Tom, this was a massive win.
[Ding!]
Just then, the system chimed.
[Academic publication detected.]
[Reward: 1,000 credits and 100 achievement points]
[Evaluating impact level…]
[Evaluation complete: Medium impact.]
[Monthly bonus: +100 credits until being replaced by a higher-level paper.]
Tom: "..."
So this was how you were supposed to use the student system.
If he hadn't been so fixated on stopping Dumbledore from stealing his House Cup points, he might've thought of this sooner. Up until now, he'd just been grinding house points.
Still, better late than never. First year was just the warm-up. Time to start going all-in.
Tom closed the magazine and gently patted Daphne's head. "You really are my lucky star."
"Heehee~"
She didn't know why he was suddenly so happy, but just giggled in response, her eyes bright.
A little while later, Astoria showed up too, carefully offering her congratulations. The personality difference between the two sisters really couldn't be more obvious.
Lady Greengrass chuckled. "This is something to celebrate. The Extraordinary Society of Potioneers is full of old geezers, and for someone your age to earn full membership? That's unheard of. We'll have a feast tonight!"
Tom twitched slightly at that.
Every night was a feast lately. But Daphne didn't notice that and immediately started listing off dishes like always.
That evening, back in his room, Tom started reworking his daily schedule. He moved part of his flight training to the evening and dedicated the freed-up time to alchemy studies.
Lady Greengrass had finally gathered all the materials he'd asked for. Now that publishing papers clearly yielded system rewards, Tom began to wonder—if he invented some new magical tech the wizarding world had never seen before, would he get even better bonuses?
He already had a few ideas.
Wizarding communication was way behind. Besides expensive magical mirrors, most people still relied on owl mail, which was practically Stone Age tech.
This was the perfect chance to modernize things. Honestly, waiting a whole week just to exchange letters with Fleur was getting ridiculous.
Just as Tom was deep in thought, the door creaked open.
"Tom, are you still awake?" came Daphne's voice, deliberately hushed. It drifted through the sitting room that separated their bedrooms, almost too soft to hear.
"Daphne?" Tom called out, puzzled. "What's going on?"
"Hehe, nothing really. I just can't sleep… thought maybe you could tell me a bedtime story."
Just like this, she bounced happily into the room—completely unaware that behind her, Astoria was standing frozen in the doorway, staring in utter shock.
.
.
.
PS: Don't forgot to drop some stones here