[Bonus for Powerstones!♥]
○( ＾皿＾)っ Huge thanks to Wyat Frost for the patronage!♥♥
________
Ding! Detected that the host has caused minor mental distress to the bad kid Malfoy. Awarding 5 merit points.
Ding...
Ding! Detected that the host has caused massive mental distress to the evil brat Tom. Awarding 200 merit points.
Wade listened to the series of system notifications in his ear, completely unfazed.
There was no helping it—this system was just too useless. Other than the items that appeared when the shop first refreshed, hardly anything worthwhile had shown up since.
Those potion ingredients, alchemical materials, and such—Wade could buy them with Galleons directly. There was no need to spend merit points at all.
At the very least, it could offer something like phoenix tears!
Wade was so frustrated with the system he almost wanted to take a sip of Felix Felicis and wait for the next shop refresh.
But later, since he'd been spending every night studying with his senior, he stopped paying much attention to the system shop's midnight refresh, only glancing at it during the day.
Speaking of the system, it had barely given out any merit points when he used to mess with Tom—he'd thought maybe the kid was starting to behave.
Who would've guessed that today, Tom would serve up such a big reaction... The kid could really hold it in.
That was actually quite reasonable—how could someone like Tom possibly behave himself for long?
Still, that nightmare magic turned out to be surprisingly effective, kekeke~ thank you, senior!
…
The Hogwarts Express had already departed, and the scenery outside the window was rapidly streaming past.
Tom sat with his head down across from Wade.
Right now, he didn't even dare make eye contact, afraid Wade might suddenly decide to make him pay.
Even though Wade had said he believed his explanation... Tom didn't believe that for a second.
He had a feeling Wade was definitely going to get back at him—it was just a matter of when.
The thought made him even more anxious.
Suddenly, a few knocks at the compartment door broke the silence that had been making Tom so uneasy.
Wade looked up from his book and turned toward the door.
The compartment door slid open, and a very pretty girl leaned against the frame, asking politely, "May I sit here? There are no more seats outside."
Wade looked at the girl.
She seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place her at the moment.
"Of course, there's still space here," Wade said as he moved his book to the side of the table.
"Thank you! All the other compartments are full!" the girl said cheerfully as she walked in with her suitcase.
"Tom, don't just sit there like a block…"
Hearing that, Tom immediately understood and stood up, taking the suitcase from the girl and placing it on the luggage rack.
He had no choice—after the mess he'd caused earlier, he could only hope that behaving well now might soften the blow of Wade's inevitable revenge…
Sigh, who's had it worse than me…
Tom sat back down, looking miserable.
"Thanks…" the girl said a little shyly.
"Make yourself comfortable," Wade said with a warm smile.
"Alright…" The girl glanced at the expressionless Tom, then chose to sit beside the smiling and friendly Wade.
Wade smiled and said, "I'm Wade Reynolds, but you can just call me Wade. That's Tom—Tom Riddle. He might seem quiet, but he's actually a pretty decent guy. We're both first-years, just starting this year."
Tom lifted his head and forced a smile—it looked more like a twitch at the corner of his mouth…
"H-hello, I'm Anne Rozier. I'm a first-year too. You can just call me Anne. It's nice to meet you both," Anne said with a friendly smile.
"Rozier…" Wade's eyes lit up—he finally remembered who Anne resembled.
That woman who stood beside Grindelwald… Vinda Rozier.
Back in Godric's Hollow, that woman had been with Grindelwald.
At the time, all of Wade's focus had been on Grindelwald, while Vinda had been busy saving people, so he hadn't paid much attention to her.
That's why, only now upon hearing Anne's surname, did he finally recall who she reminded him of.
"Hmm? What is it?" Anne asked, noticing Wade's reaction.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just suddenly remembered that the Rozier family is one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight," Wade explained.
"Yes, the Rozier family is widely recognized as one of the purest of the Sacred Twenty-Eight," Anne said proudly. "By the way, are you two pure-bloods?"
"Yes, very pure," Wade replied firmly.
Actually, Wade wanted to be sorted into Slytherin.
And since Tom was a descendant of Slytherin, he would naturally be placed there as well.
In this era, non-pure-blood wizards who ended up in Slytherin had a rough time.
Being isolated and bullied was an everyday occurrence.
While Wade wasn't afraid of bullying, he didn't want the unnecessary trouble.
So, since no one could prove otherwise, whenever someone asked, he just claimed to be pure-blood.
That alone could solve at least eighty percent of the problems.
"I knew it!" Anne said excitedly.
Wade: Heh~
To her, someone with Wade and Tom's presence and bearing could only be pure-bloods!
"Oh? You have a snake as a pet?" Anne noticed Nagini coiled in front of the book. "You're definitely going to be sorted into Slytherin."
Of course—Slytherins were known for their love of snakes. And now Wade had one too...
"What about you? Which house do you want to be in?" Wade asked casually.
"Of course, Slytherin! Everyone in my family has been in Slytherin—no exceptions!" Anne said excitedly.
"Ah… I see…"
Though Wade chatted idly with Anne, appearing friendly and relaxed, his guard was already at its highest.
Vinda Rozier was Grindelwald's most trusted follower.
And now, not long after both he and Tom had caught Grindelwald's attention, a Rozier suddenly showed up and approached them.
There was no way Wade could believe this was just a coincidence.
He strongly suspected that Anne had been sent to observe him and Tom.
The only thing he didn't know was whether this was on Grindelwald's orders, or if it came from Vinda Rozier herself.
Sure enough, it didn't take long before Anne began steering the conversation toward the backgrounds of Wade and Tom's families.
But Tom remained silent the whole time, and Wade, being incredibly sharp, kept dodging around her questions, never giving a straight answer.
Wade found the whole exchange far more entertaining than reading.
By the time even Tom began to sense that something was off about Anne, the Hogwarts Express's arrival announcement began to play through the train.
Anne felt utterly defeated.
It seemed like she'd had a long conversation with Wade, but somehow... also nothing at all.
Over six hours! Her mouth was dry from talking, and yet she hadn't gotten a single useful piece of information!
"Anne, you should go change," Wade said as he and Tom stepped out of the compartment.
For a moment, Anne was left alone in the compartment.
She silently pulled the curtain shut on the door.
When she turned back around, the smile on her face had vanished completely.
"I don't believe this…"
Anne frowned, muttering softly to herself.
What she didn't notice was that Nagini, curled on the table, was staring at her intently…
…
"I'm Ogg, Hogwarts gamekeeper and keeper of the keys! Everyone off the train in an orderly fashion! First-years, this way! Leave your luggage on the train—it'll be taken care of!"
A bald wizard stood on a raised platform, holding up an oil lamp and shouting loudly.
Students poured off the train, and the platform quickly became crowded.
Taking advantage of the moment when Anne was pushed to the other side by the crowd, Tom leaned over and whispered to Wade, "That woman's suspicious."
"I know," Wade nodded.
"You know?" Tom looked at him in surprise.
"The person Grindelwald trusts most… her name is Vinda Rozier."
Tom's eyes widened even more. "So that means… she was sent by him?"
Wade shrugged. "Not sure. Probably."
"Then… then why did you let her stay in our compartment if you already knew she was a problem?" Tom asked, confused.
Wade grinned. "People like that can be surprisingly useful sometimes… There's no need for us to expose her."
Tom was about to say something else, but Anne had already squeezed her way back through the crowd to their side. Tom shut his mouth and returned to his usual quiet demeanor.
The first-years followed Ogg for quite a long walk, eventually arriving at the edge of the Black Lake.
Wade looked at the silhouette of Hogwarts Castle in the distance and couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.
"Alright, four to a boat," Ogg called out, starting to direct the students aboard.
Wade and Tom were the first to step into one of the small boats, with Anne following right after.
Soon, another boy stepped in, filling the last spot.
The boy looked up with a smile, about to greet the others on the boat.
But the moment he saw Wade, his face froze.
At the same time, Wade and Tom recognized him too—it was the younger of the two Black siblings.
"..."
The boat had already begun to glide forward. Even if the boy wanted to switch boats now, it was too late. All he could do was sit back down awkwardly.
"Hey, you from the Black family—what's your name?" Wade suddenly asked.
"Me?" the boy asked, surprised, pointing to his own nose.
"Of course. Is there another Black on this boat?"
"Oh, right… I'm… I'm Alphard Black…"
"Nice to meet you, Alphard," Wade said warmly, reaching out to shake his hand.
His easygoing attitude actually helped put Alphard a little more at ease.
"Hi… I remember your name's Wade Reynolds, right?"
"Just call me Wade," Wade replied.
"I'm Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle," Tom said coolly.
Honestly, after everything that had happened today, Tom had already let go of his rose-colored view of pure-blood families.
"I'm Anne Rozier," Anne added, introducing herself as well.
"Mm… nice to meet you all," Alphard said, looking a bit unsure of himself.
Before long, the small boats reached the shore.
Ogg led the first-years off the boats and up a long flight of stone steps, bringing them to the castle's grand entrance.
At that moment, a few students in the group, upon seeing Wade, immediately shrank away in fear.
Wade glanced at them and chuckled. "Tom, aren't those your good friends?"
"Nope. Not at all. Don't say that…" Tom quickly denied it three times in a row.
…
Ten minutes later.
The first-years filed into the Great Hall, now filled with noise and chatter, and gathered before an old, tattered hat placed on a low stool.
Wade glanced toward the staff table and immediately spotted several familiar faces.
Dumbledore sat beside an old man with a white beard, smiling at Wade.
Wade guessed that the white-bearded man was likely the current headmaster of Hogwarts—Armando Dippet.
Seated on Dumbledore's other side was Professor Hicks.
As for the other professors, aside from the young Professor McGonagall and the portly Professor Slughorn, Wade didn't recognize any of them.
Still, it was his first time seeing a young version of Professor McGonagall, which was interesting in itself.
While Wade's thoughts wandered, the Sorting Hat suddenly began to sing a strange, slightly off-tune song, describing the traits of the four houses.
When the song ended, Dumbledore stood up, holding a scroll, and walked to the low stool.
In this era, that task still belonged to Dumbledore.
"When I call your name, please come forward, sit on the stool, and put on the Sorting Hat…"
"Henry Avery!"
The first nervous boy stepped forward and was sorted into Slytherin.
The Sorting Ceremony had officially begun.
As the list grew shorter, Wade noticed Alphard beside him growing increasingly nervous.
Tom, on the other hand, managed to stay calm on the surface—but Wade caught sight of his clenched fists, knuckles turning pale.
Still just an eleven-year-old kid, after all...
"Wade Reynolds!"
Dumbledore's voice pulled Wade out of his thoughts.
"So soon?" Wade was a little surprised—it was already his turn.
He quickly walked forward and sat down on the low stool.
"No need to be nervous, Wade. Just relax," Dumbledore said with a smile as he placed the Sorting Hat onto Wade's head.
The hat was a bit too large for Wade.
The moment it was on, it slid down and covered his eyes completely.
Then, Wade heard a faint voice speaking in his mind.
"Hm... how strange. You don't seem to have a particular place you want to go? How can that be?"
Wade figured it must be because he'd locked his thoughts up too tightly with Occlumency.
So, Wade quickly activated his Occlumency, fabricating a few scenes in his mind.
Sure enough, the voice spoke again.
"Ah! There it is… I see now… Brave, clever, ambitious… ah, and a heart that genuinely values friendship!"
Dumbledore, who had been waiting beside him the whole time, couldn't help but smile at that line.
Wade truly was a good kid…
"Oh dear, this is quite tricky. It seems you fit all four houses rather well! So… where would you like to go?"
Faced with the thoughts and memories Wade had deliberately conjured, even the Sorting Hat was having a hard time deciding.
'Slytherin, then,' Wade said silently in his mind.
Only in Slytherin would it be easy for him to earn merit points—even if the system was a bit useless…
"Ah, I see. If that's what you wish… then SLYTHERIN!"
When Dumbledore heard that Wade had seemingly chosen Slytherin of his own accord, he blinked in surprise.
He hadn't expected Wade to choose Slytherin.
But when Dumbledore glanced at the line of students and saw Tom standing just behind Wade, he suddenly understood—so it was for Tom.
Dumbledore didn't even need the Sorting Hat to tell him; after learning about Tom's behavior at the orphanage, he already knew Tom was definitely a Slytherin.
And of course, someone like Wade, who valued friendship so deeply, would want to be sorted into the same house as his friend… That made perfect sense.
Wade smiled as he handed the Sorting Hat back to Dumbledore, then walked toward the thunderously applauding Slytherin table.
No one noticed the faint, subtle flash of white light that flickered across Wade's fingers as he held the Sorting Hat…
"Tom Riddle!"
Tom nervously stepped forward and placed the Sorting Hat on his head.
For a student like Tom, with such a clearly defined nature, the Sorting Hat didn't have much to deliberate over.
But just as it was about to announce the house, the word "Slytherin" turned into—"AZKABAN!"
Tom: "?!!!"
(2452 Words)
__________
(Ugh... Bro, I'm so exhausted. These weekly goals are going to be the end of me. I've been posting three chapters a day every single day, and now the chapters are getting larger and larger. Also, there's only one more review left, and I'll have to upload again! I'm also grinding League of Legends. 😭)
Read ahead: P^treon: Captain69
__________
Every 200 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter
Every 6 Reviews = 1 extra chapter