The bright moonlight spilled through the window, casting a soft glow on Tom's face.
Poke! Poke!
Wade poked his face with his hand, but Tom showed no reaction.
"Toby followed Master Wade's instructions and added a drop of Sleeping Draught to Master Tom's supper. He won't wake up until dawn," Toby's high-pitched voice came from behind.
The Living Hell Potion is an extremely potent sleeping potion, also known as the "Draught of Living Death." Just a single drop can put a wizard into an unshakable slumber.
Wade flipped open Tom's eyelid and checked his pupil. After confirming that Tom had fallen into a deep sleep, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Good, just the effect I wanted. Now... we can talk about some secrets that only the two of us know."
Toby nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "What does Master Wade wish to ask Toby?"
"Toby, could you tell me about the family you served before?" Wade asked.
Toby paused slightly when he heard the question.
"Toby... Toby's previous master's family was the Somnolen family. The last heir of the Somnolen family, Master Sofik... who was Toby's former master, died recently in a duel..."
Wade furrowed his brow.
Somnolen... a very unfamiliar surname.
He had never heard of this family before.
Wade couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. A family he had never heard of, and with its bloodline completely cut off, meant that this family likely had shallow roots.
He had originally thought that since Toby's former master was a dark wizard, and the entire family was gone, perhaps he could investigate. He wondered if he could find some books or notes that Dumbledore wouldn't allow him to see...
However, nothing is absolute. Generally speaking, a family with a house-elf serving them should have a fairly strong foundation.
"Toby, did your former master leave anything behind?" Wade quickly asked.
"Toby's former master had already seen the decline of the family while he was alive. They sold all the valuable things, and besides an old house, there is nothing else left..." Toby said sadly.
In fact, after losing his master, Toby should have stayed in the old house and quietly passed away. He would never have left to find a second master.
But for some unknown reason, that day, he just wanted to go out for a walk, a long walk, and reminisce about the past and the good times with his master.
Then, he became so absorbed in his memories that, without realizing it, he was hit by a carriage speeding through the night.
After being hit, he fell into a sharp fence nearby, suffering several puncture wounds in the process.
In the end, he struggled to crawl into an alley, preparing to face the end of his life.
After all, his master had already passed away, and there was no meaning in him living on.
However, when he opened his eyes again, he saw Wade. For some reason, the desire to have him as his master became incredibly strong...
And after that, Wade became his current master.
...
Wade's eyes lit up when he heard about the Somnolen family and the old house left behind.
"Who inherited your former master's old house?"
"No one... Lord Sofick was the last of the Somnolen bloodline, and there were no distant relatives," Toby said with a sad sob.
"So, you're saying that the old house is now unclaimed?"
"Yes... ever since Lord Sofick passed away in battle, the poor old house, just like poor Toby, has been left without an owner... Now that Toby has a new master, there's no way to go back and take care of the old house. The poor house can only be left to decay..."
Toby thought of the place where he had once lived, which would gradually become more desolate, and could not help but feel a deep sadness once again.
Wade waved his hand, stopping Toby's tears, and asked very seriously, "Can I become the new owner of the house?"
Toby's eyes widened in surprise. "Master Wade... You... You actually want to take over that old house? Of course, you can become the new owner of the house!"
"You seem quite eager for me to take over that house?" Wade asked, surprised as he looked at Toby.
"Yes... Since my previous master passed away, that old house holds Toby's most beautiful memories. Toby really doesn't want to see it fall into ruin day by day. If Master Wade is willing to take over, Toby will be able to return and take care of it again!"
"I see..."
Although Toby was a house-elf that Wade had purchased through the system, he was still an independent being.
He had his own past, and his own cherished memories, and those beautiful memories were tied to that old house.
Only if Wade took over that house could Toby, with a new owner, return to the old house in name and continue to maintain it.
However, for Wade, who had freed himself from the constraints of a guardian, this was a good thing.
He had originally planned to find a secret base for conducting the small experiments in his plans.
Now, this old house, one could say, came at just the right time.
"Can we go take a look now?" Wade was already eager to see it.
"Of course! Of course! But the old house is surrounded by some protective magic, so Master Wade needs to be careful..."
After Toby explained the method of entering the old house, he extended his hand.
"Please take hold of Toby's hand, and I will take Master Wade to the old house right now!"
...
Looking at the familiar castle in the distance, Wade couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.
The old house was actually located in the Scottish Highlands.
He could even see Hogwarts from afar...
From the distance and direction, it seemed that this old house was built on a highland deep within the Forbidden Forest.
However, this highland was surrounded by various protective magic, so much so that from the outside, one would not be able to notice the highland, or that there was an old house built on it.
Wade turned his head and examined the building in front of him, which was covered with green vines...
In fact, the old house that Toby had mentioned should actually be called a tower.
It was a tower that seemed to have five floors.
Creeeeak! Creeeeak!
At that moment, Toby, with a face full of excitement, opened the tower's large door.
"Master Wade, please come in!"
Most of the protective magic for the tower was on the outside.
Inside the tower, however, there were hardly any protective spells.
As soon as Wade stepped inside, he noticed that the space inside the tower was much larger than it appeared from the outside. It seemed that a spell like the Undetectable Extension Charm had been used to expand the space.
However, while the ground floor was spacious enough, it was completely empty.
The only thing in the center of the room was a dirty long table, covered with a jumble of empty bottles.
The shelves, which should have held various experimental materials, were completely empty, except for dust.
From the marks on the ground, Wade could tell that a lot of unknown equipment had once been stored here.
But now, all of it was gone.
...
"The ground floor is the laboratory, the 1st floor has the bedroom and dining area, the 2nd and 3rd floors are for the books, and the 4th floor is for stargazing... Since the family fell on hard times, after Lord Sofik inherited the mansion, he sold off anything valuable. Nothing of worth was left... At that time, Toby was too heartbroken to bother cleaning up the house, so that's why it looks so messy now..."
As soon as Toby entered, he began chattering on about the old house he spoke of.
But Wade immediately caught a key point from what he said.
"Wait, you just said the 2nd and 3rd floors are for the books? Were those books... sold too?"
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