[Bonus for Powerstones!♥]
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In front of Wade, Tom was actually quite a good listener.
After Wade's analysis, Tom gave up the idea of joining the Pureblood faction.
Whether Grindelwald would succeed was another matter, but at Tom's age and with his current limited abilities, if he really followed that group, he might not even have the chance to grow up...
As a result, Tom, who had fully realized his lack of strength because of Wade, was now very self-aware.
Thus, the two of them temporarily stayed at the Hog's Head Inn, waiting for school to start, while practicing magic on their own.
During this time, Dumbledore came personally once, seemingly to repair the protective magic that had been broken in the attic.
After finishing, he hurriedly left Hogsmeade Village without taking the time to check in on Wade and Tom.
Clearly, the war with Grindelwald had escalated to a boiling point, and it was already a great effort for Dumbledore to take time to come over.
Especially since Grindelwald was now in the UK, making the British Ministry of Magic very tense.
Because Dumbledore had repelled Grindelwald years ago, his abilities had gained the attention of the British Ministry of Magic.
Thus, the British Ministry of Magic could hardly operate without Dumbledore's help.
In fact, Dumbledore had proven his importance.
As long as he was present, Grindelwald's faction could not gain the upper hand.
As a result, Dumbledore's reputation in the wizarding world grew higher and higher...
To understand the development of the situation, Wade and Tom both subscribed to a copy of the Daily Prophet.
According to the reports from the Daily Prophet, Grindelwald's group and the Aurors led by Dumbledore had experienced seven or eight battles, big and small, in the UK within just two weeks.
Both sides suffered significant losses, but what was strange was that, although many were injured, very few had died.
It was as if both sides didn't go all out during the battles.
Finally, after two weeks, Grindelwald, who couldn't gain any advantage against Dumbledore, led his followers out of the UK and disappeared without a trace.
People speculated that he had returned to Austria, to Nurmengard, to regroup.
Although no decisive victory had been achieved, Grindelwald's departure still allowed the wizards of the British wizarding world to breathe a huge sigh of relief.
...
"Stupify!"
Thud!
"Too slow, intentions too obvious... Your spell hasn't even been cast, and I already predicted where it's going. How do you expect to hit me? Come on, keep going!"
In the woods near Hogsmeade Village, Tom finally gathered the courage to launch his first official challenge against Wade.
After more than two weeks of hard practice, Tom felt it was time to get revenge on Wade.
In his mind, after all the hard work, his abilities had surely caught up with lazy, relaxed Wade!
So, new and old grievances would be settled today!
Unfortunately... things didn't seem to be going in the direction Tom had hoped...
Despite practicing diligently every day, Tom couldn't lay a finger on the lazy, casually strolling Wade, who spent more time wandering than studying!
To be precise, his spells couldn't even touch the corner of Wade's robes!
Throughout it all, Wade didn't even take his wand hand out from behind his back...
In other words, Wade didn't even bother to defend himself, while Tom couldn't do anything to him!
And on top of that, Wade dodged the spells while casually pointing out flaws in Tom's movements!
Tom's frustration grew stronger the more he attacked.
"Your steps are too slow. If I attacked now, you'd never make it to cover in time."
Wade's constant commentary nearly shattered Tom's resolve.
"Why don't you fight back?! Stop nagging, it's so annoying!" Tom's frustration and defeat transformed into an angry roar.
"Is that so?~" As Wade spoke, Tom suddenly found his wand flying out of his hand.
By the time Tom realized what had happened, he was already tied up and hanging from a tree...
At that moment, the expression on Tom's face was priceless, filled with anger, confusion, and shock...
He hadn't even seen what happened, and he had already been defeated!
"You... how did you do that..." Looking at Wade slowly walking toward him, Tom couldn't help but ask.
"I already told you, the speed of casting spells needs to be quick. If you mumble through your incantations, your attacks don't pose any threat."
Wade stood beneath the tree, tilting his head and looking up at Tom, who was pitifully dangling from the tree.
"You... you've already learned the Silent Casting? That's why your attacks were so fast?" Tom stared at him in shock.
"Your surprise is a bit baffling, Tom. The Silent Casting isn't the main point! On the first day we met, when I knocked you down, did I even utter an incantation?"
Tom was momentarily stunned by Wade's question.
Before Tom could respond, Wade continued, "When you knocked out those two traffickers in the alley, did you say any incantations? No right? But you still knocked them down. What you did that day was use the Stupify spell silently without even knowing about it."
"Why, before you learned spells, were your attacks so quick and decisive, but after learning spells, your attacks became so slow and sluggish?"
"I really don't want to say this, but... Tom, you've been working so hard lately, but not only have you not improved, you've actually regressed a lot..."
These words were like a thunderclap for Tom.
Before learning magic, the Stupify spell came easily, but now that he had learned it, he couldn't even cast the stupify spell silently anymore... was this not regression?
"Why... why is this happening?" Tom couldn't help but continue asking the person he had once hated most.
Wade shook his head. "Because before you learned spells, you didn't overthink your attacks, your intent was pure, you only focused on bringing the opponent down. That aligned perfectly with the essence of magic, and it met the conditions for casting the Stupify spell..."
"But once you started learning spells, you began to overthink things. Every syllable of the incantation, every arc of your wand, all had to be strictly according to the book..."
"Because of that, your spells are indeed beautifully cast, but they lack the purity you had when casting them before. Along with that, the power and speed of your attacks have regressed significantly."
Tom slumped. "Is that why you don't read much or study spells? Am I.. Am I wrong for studying them?"
Wade shook his head. "No, Tom. I never said studying spells is wrong. In fact, you should continue researching and studying spells."
"And you should study them thoroughly. Only by understanding the basic principles of these spells can you use them freely, without being bound by the techniques and incantation syllables."
"Your previous stupify spell attacks were simply an accidental use of a certain magic. In reality, if we were fully aware of the magic when using the desired spell, you would find the power to be much stronger than before."
"As for how much stronger... you experienced my Disarming Charm earlier. You should understand."
Hanging from the tree, Tom furrowed his brows and fell into deep thought.
After a moment, Tom suddenly asked, "You're telling me all this, aren't you afraid that I'll catch up to you and eventually defeat you?"
Wade's face remained with a gentle smile. "Allowing you to think you could challenge me was my mistake. But don't worry, you'll soon stop having that illusion."
Tom glared at Wade, his face darkened.
He now strongly suspected that this bastard would truly die if he didn't act arrogant!
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