On the way back, unlike Tom, whose face was as cold as water, Wade seemed quite cheerful.
Because after the "interrogation" he just gave Tom, and the occasional strikes over the past two weeks, his merit points finally reached 500.
Just enough to redeem the Felix Felicis that had been locked for over two weeks.
Without any delay, Wade redeemed the luck potion while on the road.
A small glass bottle appeared in his palm.
The potion inside the bottle emitted an incredibly alluring glow...
Wade carefully put the bottle away. Something like the luck potion would eventually come in handy.
At this point, the Hog's Head Inn was like two completely different places compared to before.
It was spotless, not a speck of dust anywhere...
Even when Dumbledore visited last time, he almost thought he had entered the wrong place.
All of this was, of course, thanks to the house-elf, Toby.
As an experienced house-elf, any slight hint of dirt in his master's living space was a great insult to him!
If it weren't for Aberforth's strong opposition, Toby would have almost thrown out the filthy pig's head hanging above the bar...
As soon as Wade and Tom entered the door, Aberforth greeted them, his face looking somewhat grim.
"My pretentious brother is here, waiting for you in your room."
Having long since grown accustomed to their peculiar brotherly relationship, Wade and Tom nodded and headed upstairs to their room.
As soon as they entered the room, Wade noticed that Dumbledore was sitting by his bed, quietly reading the book Oliver Twist.
And to Wade's surprise, Professor Hicks was also there, sitting in a chair and smiling at Wade and Tom as they entered.
Wade glanced at Oliver Twist, but he wasn't nervous. After all, the true content of the book was hidden.
Only he could see the real content, while everyone else could only view the disguised surface.
At that moment, Dumbledore wiped his eyes and looked up, just as he saw Wade and Tom.
"Ah... sorry, it's just that the content of this novel is so captivating... no wonder you like it so much, Wade." Dumbledore smiled as he put the book aside.
Thank god.. or should I say Merlin..?
"Professor Dumbledore, Professor Hicks, it's been a while."
"It really has been a while... How are you both settling in here?" Professor Hicks asked.
"Very well, Mr. Aberforth has been taking good care of us."
Dumbledore sized them up, smiling as he said, "I can tell my brother is doing his best... and it seems like your skills have also improved a lot during this time."
Tom raised an eyebrow slightly. Dumbledore could tell whether his skills had improved?
Dumbledore pointed to the spellbook laid open on Tom's desk and smiled, "This is second-year material..."
Tom immediately relaxed. It was just because Dumbledore saw the book he was reading. For a moment, he had thought Dumbledore could see through him right away...
Dumbledore turned to Wade and asked, "Tom is studying spells, so what about you, Wade? What have you been doing recently?"
"I've been studying Transfiguration," Wade answered truthfully.
Indeed, over the past while, he had been focused on Transfiguration. Thanks to A Complete Guide to Transfiguration, he felt his Transfiguration skills had improved significantly.
"Transfiguration? That's wonderful, I happen to have some insights on Transfiguration as well. May I see?" Dumbledore asked with great interest.
Hicks also smiled, "Wade, Professor Dumbledore is a very skilled master of Transfiguration."
"Ah... you're making me blush, Eulalie," Dumbledore quickly waved his hand.
"Then I'll give it a try."
Wade didn't refuse. He had indeed been studying Transfiguration for some time and was curious to see how much he had improved.
He drew out his wand, stood in front of Dumbledore, and pointed it at his empty desk.
Swish!
A cream cake immediately appeared on the desk.
According to the first rule of Gamp's Basic Laws of Transfiguration, a wizard can't conjure food out of thin air, but if they know where food is, they can summon it.
The pumpkin juice Dumbledore had given to Wade and Tom at the Orphanage was summoned in this way...
Tom stared at the cake and couldn't help but look at Wade.
"You have this skill... and yet, every night when you want a midnight snack, you wake me up and make me go to the kitchen to get food for you? Damn it! You're doing this on purpose to make me look bad, Wade!"
At this moment, Wade prodded the cream cake with his wand.
The next second, the cake began to rapidly transform, eventually turning into a goblet.
Dumbledore looked at the beautifully patterned goblet with admiration. To have a goblet created so intricately by Transfiguration was something that would typically be expected of a fifth-year student!
And for Wade, at his age, to be able to use Transfiguration so skillfully...
Dumbledore realized that he might have underestimated Wade's talent, especially his talent for Transfiguration!
Just as Dumbledore was about to speak, Wade waved his wand again, and the goblet rapidly transformed once more.
From an exquisitely crafted golden goblet, it changed into a very cute little kitten!
Dumbledore paused for a moment, unable to resist reaching out and picking up the little cat.
The soft, fluffy texture, the warm body temperature... The kitten extended its tongue and gently licked Dumbledore's hand.
When Dumbledore looked up again to meet Wade's gaze, his eyes were filled with shock.
At Hogwarts, students capable of doing such transformations weren't completely unheard of.
But those were at least excellent students from the fifth or sixth year, and all were members of the Transfiguration Club.
And now, Wade hasn't even started school yet, and yet, with just basic self-study from books, he's already reached this level!
How could this not shock him? This kind of talent... is even far greater than Dumbledore's own when he was young!
In fact, while Wade's talent wasn't bad, it wasn't as high as Dumbledore thought it to be.
In just two weeks, Wade had managed to advance his Transfiguration skills to this level, not only due to his adult wizard's magical strength but also because of the book Complete Guide to Transfiguration that he had been using.
This book contains the insights and experiences of all the Transfiguration masters throughout history!
Any difficulties Wade encountered while practicing Transfiguration could be found in this book!
It's almost like having hundreds of highly skilled Transfiguration masters teaching Wade, with even Dumbledore himself unknowingly being one of them.
Plus, Wade has strong memory skills to assist with his learning.
So it's no surprise that he's reached this level.
"Professor.. this kid is a.."
At this moment, Professor Hicks also looked at Dumbledore in shock. She, too, knew how difficult it was to master Transfiguration to this degree at such a young age.
Dumbledore sighed and placed the little cat back on the table. "Wade, you've given me another huge surprise... your Transfiguration skills are already far better than many adult wizards. And you've achieved this all through self-study... I would say it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call you a once-in-a-hundred-years Transfiguration genius!"
"Huh?" Wade was a little confused.
In fact, Wade really didn't know how advanced his Transfiguration skills were.
Because based on his memories from before he traveled, it seemed that by third or fourth year, young wizards were already able to turn inanimate objects into living ones.
So, he didn't think that turning a little cat into reality was all that impressive.
After all, he was only trying to reveal a tiny bit of his talent in front of Dumbledore.
But now, it seemed like he had overdone it?
Ugh! This is troublesome!
He hadn't planned on being labeled too much in Dumbledore's eyes...
A Transfiguration genius?
I really am not one!
"Is... it really that impressive? I thought a lot of people could do this..." Wade stubbornly asked.
"Not at all, Wade. Many lower-year students can eventually turn inanimate objects into living ones with diligent practice."
"But to be able to use Transfiguration to turn a living creature into something so detailed and perfect at your age... among all the Hogwarts students I've seen, it seems you're the only one capable of it."
At this moment, Tom, who was standing by, was dumbfounded.
Could it be that what Wade said in the forest earlier wasn't completely him showing off?
The gap between him and Wade... is it really this big?
It turns out... my feeling that I could challenge him was really just an illusion...
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P^treon: Captain69