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Since he couldn't exactly mention ancient magic or the system, it was best to credit everything to hard work and talent, right?
Besides, Tom wasn't cheating, and most of those people had been taken down by him.
So, saying the two of them were exceptionally talented wasn't wrong at all.
Tom, almost unconsciously, glanced at Wade again.
He had been obsessing over this for a while now, wondering why Wade was so strong.
He had even suspected that Wade was hiding some secret method to rapidly increase his strength.
But now it seemed… maybe it was simply the foundation of his family!
Yes, in fact, Tom had never really believed that what Wade said on the platform of Nine and Three-Quarters was a lie.
After dealing with all these pure-blood wizard families, Tom understood very well that while these people were pretty weak themselves, their families were steeped in the heritage of pure-blood lineages.
Almost every ancient pure-blood family possessed vast collections of magical knowledge, and some even had unique family magics of their own.
Tom thought that Wade's strength was entirely because he too came from one of those old pure-blood families!
With that kind of foundation, as long as Wade had even a shred of ambition, there was no way he would be starting on the same level as the rest of them!
In fact, the reason those pure-bloods he had knocked down were so weak was because they themselves lacked ambition and didn't cherish the resources their families had given them.
Thinking of it this way, their first encounter at the orphanage, where Wade had so easily crushed him, now made perfect sense!
With this thought, Tom suddenly felt a renewed hope of surpassing Wade!
Wade had just gotten a head start!
His own talent was no worse than Wade's. The gap between them would definitely grow smaller and smaller!
When I'm stronger than him, I'll make him call me Godfather!
Wade had no idea what was going on in Tom's mind, but he did notice that Tom's gaze felt a little strange.
"Tommy boy, why are you looking at your Godfather like that?"
"You damn assho—!"
…
The professor for Charms class was Eulalie Hicks, someone personally recruited by Dumbledore from Ilvermorny.
As an experienced professor, her teaching was thorough and patient.
According to the textbook, the first spell she taught the students was the Levitation Charm, the same one Professor Flitwick would teach in later years.
This alone showed how slowly the wizarding world developed.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Anne looked with satisfaction at the feather floating in front of her.
"Very good! Miss Rosier is the first to succeed! Five points to Slytherin! Let's see, who's next?"
At that moment, a feather from the Gryffindor side also floated up.
"Excellent, Miss McLaggen has also succeeded! Very good, such fluid spellcasting! Five points to Gryffindor!"
Hearing the points awarded, McLaggen, her hair in two braids, shot a provocative look at Tom and Wade.
Tom sneered dismissively. "What's there to be proud of?"
He then raised his wand and quietly uttered the incantation.
The next second, the feather in front of him floated up swiftly.
"Very precise pauses in the incantation! Excellent wand movement! Well done! Mr. Riddle has succeeded! Given his textbook-perfect spellcasting and pronunciation, five points to Slytherin!"
Seeing Tom succeed so effortlessly and even earn points, McLaggen let out a frustrated snort.
Beside Tom, Alphard and Henry, who were still struggling with failure, looked at him with envy.
Tom's every motion had matched the textbook perfectly, to an almost exaggerated degree, and he had succeeded on the very first try.
Meanwhile, no matter how hard they tried, the feather in front of them remained stubbornly still. At the moment, Wade was quietly whispering tips to them.
Charlie, a bit puzzled, watched them. Weren't these two from pure-blood families? How could they fail even at a simple Levitation Charm?
At this moment, the feather in front of Charlie wobbled and slowly floated up.
"Hmm, very good, Mr. Prince has succeeded as well... Mr. Reynolds?"
Professor Hicks turned her attention to Wade. In her impression, Wade's talent was no less than Tom's, so she had thought he would be the first to succeed.
But when she saw him helping his friends, she understood. So he hadn't even tried yet.
"Mr. Reynolds, why don't you demonstrate too?" Professor Hicks called out.
She was asking Wade to demonstrate, not merely to try.
Because she knew that such a simple Levitation Charm would hardly pose a challenge for him. After all, even before enrolling, Wade had already taken down several Grindelwald supporters.
Wade nodded, casually picked up his wand, and pointed at the feather in front of him.
Immediately, the feather rose smoothly into the air...
The noise in the classroom abruptly quieted.
"Did you hear him cast the spell just now?" McLaggen asked her classmates in shock.
"No... he didn't even move his lips..."
"A silent incantation! You've already mastered silent spellcasting!" Professor Hicks exclaimed in delight as she looked at Wade. "I've never seen an eleven-year-old wizard master silent spellcasting! Wade, you are the most gifted young wizard I've ever seen! Twenty points to Slytherin!"
The classroom was filled with gasps of astonishment.
No one felt any resentment, not even McLaggen, who usually had something to say about everything.
Tom, watching everyone's reactions from the side, couldn't help but curl his lip.
If only they knew Wade had learned silent spellcasting just because he thought saying incantations out loud was too embarrassing—what kind of expressions would they have then?
If it weren't for the fact that buying a wand had cost him some gold Galleons, he probably wouldn't even bother to use it...
Tsk, with a monster like that, can I really catch up with him, even with my talent?
Once again, Tom fell into self-doubt...
...
After the Charms class ended, everyone's gaze toward Wade noticeably changed.
Especially the Slytherin students.
Previously, they still harbored some doubts about Wade's strength and background.
But now, after witnessing him master silent spellcasting at such a young age, all their doubts vanished completely!
And along with it, a quiet seed of fear took root in their hearts.
This, of course, was exactly Wade's intention.
His purpose in revealing his skill was to intimidate his fellow Slytherins.
It was his way of announcing to the entire house: "I'm strong. Don't mess with me."
Of course, in the eyes of the Slytherin students, there was an additional unspoken line...
"...My family is also powerful. Yours can't afford to provoke me either!"
With this, at least many of the pure-blood students, who would have otherwise stayed out of the matter, would now think twice before making any rash moves.
This, one could say, was an unexpected success.
In their eyes, being suppressed by someone of pure-blood lineage—even if it was a pure-blood from another country—was something they could just about accept.
But if Wade had been Muggle-born, that would have been a completely different matter.
Even if they couldn't defeat Wade themselves, they would certainly have found ways to have their families teach him a lesson!
When it came to dealing with Muggle-born young wizards, pure-blood families had no shortage of methods!
At this moment, Wade and his small group followed the crowd toward the Great Hall.
It was already noon, and everyone was famished.
On the way, Alphard and Henry looked a bit dejected, since they hadn't managed to make their feathers float by the end of class.
Seeing their gloomy expressions, Charlie felt a little curious but, being tactful, wisely kept his questions to himself.
In the Great Hall, at the Slytherin table, Wade and his group sat at the very end of the table.
The other Slytherin students, whether pure-blood or not, instinctively kept a good distance away from them... as they should.
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