"One against eight, and not falling behind—just as I expected from someone I've taken an interest in."
As Wade passed by Tom, he casually reached through the Shield Charm surrounding him and gave his shoulder a firm pat with his left hand.
"Thank God you are here—um, I-I mean—What are you doing here?" Tom asked, face still stiff.
"Mm… I just happened to be walking by and sensed a pretty intense magical fluctuation. So I couldn't help but come take a look… Hey, nice use of Levicorpus."
Wade spoke as he glanced around with interest at the scattered and groaning bodies on the ground.
"Where's Anne?" Tom noticed Wade had come alone and couldn't help but ask.
It was obvious Anne had something suspicious about her, and her target seemed to be Wade—Tom had figured that out too.
So naturally, he was curious why she wasn't stuck to Wade like usual.
"Ah… when we passed by a staircase, it just so happened to move, and she just so happened to miss the step. So, we've temporarily gone our separate ways," Wade said casually.
Tom, knowing full well what Wade was capable of, figured Anne had most likely been ditched somewhere along the way without even realizing it.
As expected, any concern he'd felt earlier was unnecessary. Disaster always lingers—there was no way this guy would go down so easily.
"You two… are you treating us like we're not even here?" the upperclassman said coldly.
He had already tolerated these two bastards for long enough. If it hadn't been for that Shield Charm Wade casually cast—which made him hesitate a little—he would've already launched a barrage of hexes at them.
"Um.. And who are you?" Wade asked.
"Andrei Shafiq," the upperclassman replied proudly.
"Oh, from the Shafiq family…" Wade nodded, then smiled. "Lasting this long against Tom means you're not bad. How about it—want to team up with me?"
"W-What the.." Tom gave Wade a bewildered look. I thought you came to rescue me, but you're here recruiting underlings?!
Andrei sneered at Wade. "You? Seriously?"
"Yes. Me."
Andrei's grin froze on his face—because that voice came from behind him!
The Wade who had just been standing in front of him was somehow now right at his back—he had no idea when he moved!
Only now did Andrei start to understand why Abraxas, a third-year, would ask fifth-years like them to help deal with a first-year. This guy really is trouble!
Without hesitation, Andrei spun around and fired off a Stunning Spell.
Bang!
The sound of a spell hitting flesh rang out.
But Andrei's pupils suddenly contracted.
Because only now did he realize—the person standing behind him wasn't Wade at all, but the unlucky first-year who had been behind him the entire time.
That student was now unconscious, felled by his own Stunning Spell.
And Wade… was still calmly standing beside Tom, as if he'd never moved at all. As if everything Andrei had just seen had been a complete illusion.
"Th-This… how is this possible? What did you do?!" Andrei stared at Wade, his eyes full of fear.
If this guy could manipulate his senses like that, then that meant—he could take Andrei down at any moment… or even control him into doing things he'd never do under normal circumstances!
The more Andrei thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
At this very moment, he felt an overwhelming pressure from Wade that he had never experienced before.
Wow...
Tom, too, was staring in shock.
Even though he'd seen this mysterious magic more than once now, he still couldn't get used to how terrifying Wade's nameless spells were.
Wade hadn't even moved, and yet Andrei had fallen straight into an illusion. This kind of ability was simply unbeatable!
Because of this, Tom became even more certain—those clumsy little schemes he'd pulled against Wade in the past had probably never even registered as a threat.
Otherwise, there's no way he'd still be standing here in one piece today…
At that moment, just as Andrei began to crack under the pressure and seemed ready to back down—
"Merlin's beard! What in world happened here?!"
From the other end of the corridor, the young Professor McGonagall came hurrying over.
When Tom saw a professor approaching, his face immediately turned pale.
Back when Dumbledore had visited him at the orphanage, he had made it very clear: Tom was not allowed to recklessly use magic to attack others.
From that day on, Dumbledore had been keeping a close watch on him, afraid he'd stray again and abuse the magic he'd learned.
And while today's events had a reason behind them, the fact remained—he'd knocked down several classmates on his very first day at school.
It wasn't the punishment that scared him.
What Tom feared most… was that this would cause Dumbledore to tighten his scrutiny on him even more.
If Dumbledore ended up changing his mind and decided Tom needed a guardian or some kind of supervision… that would be a disaster.
But what Tom feared most… was that Dumbledore might expel him from Hogwarts because of this!
At this point, Tom didn't fully understand Dumbledore's character. All he knew was that Dumbledore had been strict with him—so the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.
"You lot… really impressive! First day of school and you're already brawling—with your own housemates, no less! If you're all so full of energy, then you can spend the next month in detention! Perfect timing too—Mr. Ogg has been complaining that he's short-staffed for Forbidden Forest patrols!"
Professor McGonagall's eyes had never tolerated even a speck of nonsense, let alone a full-on brawl between students… and especially Slytherins—she had even less reason to go easy on them!
The students who had just been revived all froze in horror at the mention of detention in the Forbidden Forest.
Slytherins, as a rule, had a very practical understanding of danger—they believed a wise man stays away from unstable walls.
So when it came to the Forbidden Forest, a place rumored to be crawling with dark creatures at night, they always kept their distance.
They weren'tthose braindead Gryffindors, after all!
Thus, the idea of being sent into that dangerous place for a whole month left them all speechless and trembling.
Wade, however, lit up at the words.
He'd been to the Forbidden Forest before—and he was deeply interested in it.
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I didn't get to Gold IV.. I deleted the fking game! I'll probably re-install it tomorrow tho.. ehm.
ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃRead ahead: P^treon: Captain69
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