Since Dumbledore had not yet found a suitable house for the kids, Wade and Tom had to temporarily stay in Hogsmeade before school started.
Both Wade and Tom were patient about this.
Especially when, this morning, they received several dozen books sent by Dumbledore.
However, unlike Tom's excitement, Wade appeared much calmer.
For Wade, who had already inherited a massive collection of dark magic books, these books sent by Dumbledore, while quite good, no longer sparked any emotional reaction from him.
On the other hand, Tom, unaware of the situation, compared his own excited reaction with Wade's calm demeanor, and immediately felt somewhat ashamed of himself.
He felt that he should always be in this calm and composed state, no matter where he was or who he was with.
Otherwise, constantly overreacting would make him no different from other ordinary fools.
'I, Tom, no matter where I am or who I'm around, even if I'm constantly overshadowed by Wade, I must be the most extraordinary one under his influence!'
Tom looked at the freshly unpacked books and was about to pick a few, but after glancing at Wade, he pulled his hand back.
"Tom, what's wrong? Haven't you been eager to read these books?" Wade asked, puzzled by Tom's behavior.
"You choose first," Tom said calmly.
Wade was a bit surprised and said, "This is rare, you're actually being so polite today."
"I'm not being polite, it's just... you're stronger than I am, so when there are good things, you naturally have the right to choose first," Tom said with a calm expression. "If one day I become stronger than you, I won't be polite with you!"
Wade could tell that Tom was being completely honest this time.
It could only be said that... Tom was truly a Slytherin. Although proud, he also had the typical Slytherin trait — admiration for the strong.
They consider themselves to be strong, and therefore, they also respect those who are stronger than themselves.
Even Tom, who would eventually become the infamous Voldemort, could not shake his admiration for strength when he encountered someone stronger than himself.
After understanding this, Wade didn't refuse but directly picked a book from the pile — Outsmarting Dark Magic.
"I'll read this one first. Alright, I've chosen. You can take the rest," Wade said.
Upon hearing Wade's words, Tom then carefully selected several books that interested him the most.
Wade took a glance and noticed that the books Tom chose were: Basic Spells and Counterspells, Self-Defense Spellbook, Practical Defensive Magic and Its Countermeasures Against Dark Magic...
Most of them were books recommended by Dumbledore, specifically about Defense Against the Dark Arts.
There was no doubt that Tom's primary concern was how to quickly become stronger...
Suddenly, Wade placed the book Outsmarting Dark Magic in front of Tom.
"What's up?"
"I just remembered I have something to do today. You can read this book first, and I'll take it back when I return," Wade said.
"Where are you going?" Tom asked, slightly puzzled.
"I'm going to Diagon Alley with Toby. We're going to buy some things," Wade replied.
"Oh? What are you buying? Um.. Didn't we already buy everything we needed?" Tom tilted his head in confusion.
Logically, all the things they needed had already been bought. If they had forgotten anything, most things could be found in Hogsmeade village.
Even if something was unavailable there, Wade could just have Toby go buy it for him. There was no need for him to go personally...
Why waste time that could be spent studying?
"I'm planning to buy a few more second-hand wands. I need to be there in person to choose the ones that are most suitable for me," Wade said, not hiding anything.
"We already have wands, don't we? Did you lose yours?" Tom looked at Wade in surprise.
"Of course not... Actually, I've recently discovered a spell called the Prior-Use Spell called Priori Incantatem. It can make the wand recall the most recent magic it released..." Wade quietly stared at Tom, his black pupils becoming deeper. "And I, don't really want others to know what magic I've cast recently just by using my wand."
At this point, Tom completely understood, and in fact, he agreed with this.
Tom immediately put down the book he was holding and said, "I'll go too... I also need another wand as a backup. I heard that newly made wands have a spell called Tracking Threads which traces its use..."
"This is a magic used by the Ministry to monitor students' use of magic outside school. We're not supposed to use wands during our holidays."
"What a stupid policy! I don't want to just look at my wand in frustration during the holidays."
Wade nodded. "Since that's the case, let's go together..."
...
Toby should have had no trouble Apparating the two young wizards to Diagon Alley.
However, since Wade's magical strength was as powerful as an adult wizard's, Toby had to make two trips to get them to Diagon Alley.
Toby said, "The junk shop, you can find almost anything second-hand there. Although most of it is junk, sometimes you can find some good stuff."
He was very familiar with the junk shop.
Back in the day, his previous master used to visit there quite often...
Without lingering anywhere else, the two of them, along with the house-elf guiding them, reached the junk shop's door in just a few minutes.
"Alright, Toby, I have this list. Please go buy everything on it and wait for us at the spot where we appeared earlier."
Wade took out a piece of paper and a bag of gold galleons and handed them to Toby.
"Understood, Master Wade!" Toby respectfully took the items and disappeared in an instant.
"You know... when do you think we'll be able to learn this kind of... magic that lets us vanish with a snap?" Tom looked enviously at the spot where Toby had disappeared.
"This magic seems to be called Apparition, but a house-elf's Apparition is different from a wizard's. At our current age, we probably still can't learn it."
Although Wade said that, he, just like Tom, was definitely tempted.
Tom was still young, and his magic was only at the level of an underage wizard, so he wasn't yet ready to learn Apparition.
However, Wade was different. He already had the magical power equivalent to an adult wizard, so after practicing many advanced spells, he was able to cast them.
In other words, he could learn Apparition at any time now.
But, learning Apparition carried a very high risk. A small mistake could easily result in splinching—leaving body parts behind.
Usually, when wizards first learn this magic, they need an experienced teacher by their side.
In case they splinch, the teacher could help reassemble the separated parts of their body.
Wade quietly considered who he could ask to be his "protector" if he wanted to learn Apparition.
Practicing alone was definitely not an option.
He certainly didn't want his head in one place and his body in another... Ughzzz.. Wade shivered just from thinking about it.
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