Professor Slughorn's office wasn't too far away.
But after being nagged by Wade the entire way there, Tom finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Wade, has anyone ever told you… you're really annoying when you talk so much?" Tom snapped irritably.
"Oh, well done, Tom. So now you think I'm annoyingtoo…" Wade replied, launching into another barrage of verbal attacks.
Tom was thoroughly fed up. He decided that once they got back, he was going to develop a spell specifically to block out Wade's voice.
Fortunately, he didn't have to endure it for too much longer—Professor Slughorn's office soon came into view.
When Professor McGonagall showed up unexpectedly, Slughorn was a little puzzled.
And when he saw the group of Slytherin students standing behind her, he looked even more confused.
"Minerva, what's all this about?"
So, Professor McGonagall explained everything that had happened, as well as the disciplinary measures she had taken.
"Minerva, you've handled this very reasonably. I have no objections whatsoever…" Professor Slughorn said, then turned to the group of troublemaking students with a stern expression.
After all, losing 180 house points on the very first day of school—no matter how much Slughorn normally downplayed such things—was something even he couldn't overlook.
Aside from Wade and Tom, who both looked completely unbothered, the rest of the students all lowered their heads, not daring to meet their Head of House's gaze.
Once Professor McGonagall had taken her leave, Slughorn turned fully to his Slytherins.
"You lot… really something, aren't you? Fighting is bad enough—but fighting your own housemates? And if that weren't enough, bullying someone younger? And if that weren't enough, ganging up eight-on-one? And even then, you still lost?! Am I supposed to be proud of you?!"
Andrei and the others turned beet red. Every sentence from Slughorn stabbed them straight in the chest. It was agonizing.
"Professor McGonagall's punishment was entirely fair… in fact, I wholeheartedly support it! If I had been there myself, I would've taken off fifty points each!"
"Disgraceful… absolutely disgraceful! If word of this gets out, how do you think others will see us? I can already imagine the looks on the other professors' faces when I sit down to dinner tonight!"
"Forget it… I'm too angry to even keep scolding you. I'm heading to the Headmaster's office… What for? To get scolded myself, of course! After all, raising students as embarrassing as you—clearly I've failed in my duties as Head of House!"
"Go! Get out! Just looking at you makes my blood pressure spike!"
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief and rushed toward the door.
Professor Slughorn's scolding had been painfully accurate…
They could already imagine the expressions of the other Slytherin students once they found out that the reason for losing 180 house points was because a group of older students ganged up on a younger one, still lost, and then got caught by a professor. The shame would be unbearable.
Wade, on the other hand, was in a great mood—especially after hearing Slughorn confirm that he would uphold Professor McGonagall's punishment.
That meant the detention in the Forbidden Forest was still on!
Just as Wade and a gloomy Tom were about to leave the office—
"You two, stay behind. Yes, Wade, Tom. I mean you two…"
Both Wade and Tom froze in place.
Wade immediately thought, Fuck!—don't tell me the detention is going to be revoked after all!
And Tom had the same bad feeling. What if Professor Slughorn plans to make Wade's punishment even harsher?
After all, Wade was shouldering the blame for his actions. If Slughorn figured that out, he might increase the punishment out of principle…
Slytherin's reputation had taken a massive hit—and it was undeniably tied to the two of them.
However, to Tom's surprise, after Professor Slughorn shut the door, he didn't reprimand them at all.
On the contrary, he very warmly invited Wade and Tom to sit down.
"Would you like some candied jackfruit? A cup of tea, perhaps?"
With a flick of his wand, two teacups and a teapot floated over and poured tea for each of them. Then, he pulled a dish of candied jackfruit from his drawer and set it in front of them.
Seeing the thick white sugar coating on top, even Wade couldn't help but suck in a breath.
That's a lethal dose of sugar…
"I've already gotten a very clear picture of what happened," Slughorn said, popping a piece of candied jackfruit into his mouth. "All those students trying to bully just the two of you—that's textbook bullying. So, your retaliation was entirely justified…"
"Minerva told me I could decide whether or not to uphold Wade's detention, and I've decided… to cancel it. As for the lost house points…"
Professor Slughorn smiled. "For standing up to bullies, showing both bravery and skill in fighting against the odds, I've decided to award the two of you fifty points each—for your courage and talent."
In truth, Professor Slughorn had always had a fondness for exceptional students.
Whether pure-blood or not, whether from Slytherin or any other house—so long as you were outstanding, he liked you.
And more than that, he especially enjoyed "collecting" such talented students into his little club, like adding stamps to a prized collection.
Wade and Tom, who had courageously fought back while outnumbered—and displayed excellent magical ability—had clearly caught Slughorn's eye.
That was why he was being so warm toward the two of them.
The more Tom listened, the better he felt. Professor Slughorn didn't believe they'd done anything wrong—in fact, not only had Wade's detention been canceled, but the points they'd lost had now been restored!
Which meant that even if other Slytherin students wanted to place blame later, they wouldn't be able to pin anything on them!
And just like that, of the 180 points Slytherin had lost, 100 were now recovered!
Sure, they were still down by 80—but that was a whole lot better than before.
Tom was quietly rejoicing… but beside him, Wade felt like the sky had collapsed.
His carefully-earned, professor-guided exploration of the Forbidden Forest—gone!
Inside his heart, a little version of himself was screaming in frustration.
Tom, this is all your fault! How are you going to pay me back for this?!
What made it worse was that Tom even raised his eyebrows smugly at Wade—clearly proud that it was his earlier words that had swayed Professor McGonagall into handing the punishment decision over to Slughorn.
He had no idea Wade was moments away from grinding his own teeth into powder.
"Professor, thank you so much. Your insight and fairness are truly remarkable…" Tom began, slipping easily into flattery.
But before he could finish, Wade stood up.
"Professor, I really appreciate your kindness. But… I did take part in the fight, which means I really did break school rules. I think, at the very least, the detention shouldn't be canceled."
Tom looked at him in utter disbelief. Has this guy been kicked in the head by a hippogriff?!
Professor Slughorn was just as surprised.
"You… you're sure? The Forbidden Forest is a dangerous place—even with Mr. Ogg accompanying you, there's no guarantee you'll be completely safe!" Slughorn said seriously.
"I'm sure," Wade replied without hesitation.
"You… sigh. Why put yourself through this?"
"Professor, you've already awarded me points—if you also cancel my punishment, people will start talking. After all, I did break school rules."
"Sigh… you little rascal, honestly," Slughorn leaned back comfortably in his chair.
Then he suddenly smiled slyly. "Actually, you just want to go play in the Forbidden Forest, don't you?"
"Ahem… no, I don't, absolutely not," Wade quickly denied—twice.
But of course, a double denial usually means a guilty conscience.
"Heh, no need to deny it, Wade. There's nothing shameful about being curious about the Forbidden Forest. Sometimes, I head in there myself to collect potion ingredients."
"Uh… alright, you've seen right through me again, Professor," Wade admitted, then suddenly his eyes lit up. "Wait—if that's the case, then you must be really familiar with the Forbidden Forest?"
"Well… saying I know it like the back of my hand would be a stretch, but if you're asking where specific potion ingredients grow, I'm very well acquainted," Slughorn said with a smile.
Over the years, gathering ingredients from the forest had saved him a small fortune on supplies, so of course he was extremely familiar with the terrain.
"Professor, do you need any ingredients right now? I can collect them for you while I'm in the Forbidden Forest. Since we'll have Mr. Ogg with us, it'll be perfectly safe. No sense letting a trip into the forest go to waste, right?"
"Haha, you clever little thing… I appreciate the offer, Wade, truly—but I can't in good conscience send a first-year into danger to collect ingredients for me."
"It's not dangerous at all, Professor!"
Seeing how eager Wade was, Professor Slughorn hesitated for a moment. "You really want to go into the Forbidden Forest that badly?"
"Mm… I really do. After all, students aren't usually allowed inside. This is a rare legitimate reason to go!" Wade replied earnestly.
Since Wade had taken the blame for Tom, the credit for the earlier "battle" had fallen onto him as well. So, in Slughorn's eyes, Wade was a prodigy—someone who, even as a first-year, could take on multiple older students and win.
And for students like that, Slughorn never held back his support.
"Alright, alright… you can go. I won't even set a deadline. When you've had enough, just let me know. Oh, and—" Slughorn turned and grabbed two thick notebooks from the bookshelf behind him, handing them to Wade.
"These contain notes I've taken on the locations of various potion ingredients in the Forbidden Forest, along with their appearances. Memorize as much as you can. When you spot any of these herbs, be sure not to miss them—as long as it's safe to collect them, of course."
"And this one," he continued, handing over the second notebook, "lists the habitats of various dangerous magical creatures and dark beings in the forest. Make sure you avoid those areas."
Wade gratefully accepted the professor's generosity.
With these two notebooks, he didn't even need to fish for information from Mr. Ogg anymore! Heheheh~
As they left Slughorn's office, Tom walked beside him, flipping through the notebooks as they went.
"Too dangerous... So many dark creatures, and all those aggressive magical beasts... What if they leave their habitats and you run into one?" Tom frowned.
"You're thinking too small, Tom. Too small!" Wade said excitedly. "Danger? Dark creatures? To me, they're all shining Galleons!"
"You've gone money-mad? You're willing to risk your life for a few coins?" Tom asked, his brow twitching.
"It's not my fault, Tom... Do you have any idea how expensive it is to develop new spells and conduct magical experiments? Right now, I'm in desperate need of Galleons!"
"So... you're saying you've spent a lot of money researching those new spells?" Tom asked suspiciously.
"Exactly! And you've been using those new spells pretty smoothly yourself, haven't you? I spent real Galleons to develop them!"
"…Wait a second. You didn't touch the money we put in Gringotts, did you?"
"Ah... what a lovely day it is today..."
"You didn't touch my share too, did you?!" Tom's voice rose sharply.
"Tom... if a true and sincere friendship and a single Galleon were both placed in front of you, which would you choose?"
"Galleon!" Tom answered without hesitation.
"Pfft—cough! Tom, you've changed... When did you become so materialistic?! What happened to the Tom who used to chase knowledge and power? When did you become a dog for money?"
"How dare you say that!"
(2000 Words)
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