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"Sigh, I wonder when I'll get to learn a thing or two from Professor Dumbledore," Wade said with a touch of longing.
Aside from the first class, where Dumbledore had taught some dueling techniques, the rest of the course had gone back to the regular curriculum.
It was as if that first class had been specifically arranged for Wade and Tom.
In other words, their current Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons mostly focused on how to deal with common or uncommon dark creatures.
As for actual dueling, based on the syllabus, they wouldn't get to that until at least third year.
"With your relationship with Professor Dumbledore, why don't you just ask him directly?" Tom said enviously.
In truth, Tom knew his own standing quite well.
Professor Dumbledore wasn't particularly fond of him.
Although he performed better than most students, Dumbledore still looked at him with suspicion.
But it was completely different with Wade.
That guy was even darker than him, and yet Dumbledore insisted on believing he was a good person.
There really was no justice in the world!
Although Wade also wanted to pick up a trick or two from Dumbledore, he still shook his head and said, "He's too busy. I'd better not bother him."
Even though having the senior student as a guide was nice, it was still Dumbledore. If he could learn some more combat techniques or powerful spells from him, that would be amazing.
But with Grindelwald still wreaking havoc, at the very least, until Grindelwald was dealt with, Dumbledore wouldn't have much time to spare.
In fact, the fact that he could still manage to teach classes with everything going on already made him something of a time management master.
"All right, you two keep practicing. I'm heading out," Wade said, turning and stepping down from the dueling platform set up for club members to practice on.
An idea sparked in Anne's mind. "Where are you going?"
"Obviously, to continue my investigation. Did you forget what happened last night?" Wade replied as he headed for the door.
Anne's eyes flickered. She assumed Wade was going to search the castle for a passage leading to the Forbidden Forest.
Knowing his capability, he might really find one soon.
So she decided she had to act fast...
She had to claim as much of the magical power as she could—before Wade found the passage.
Tom knew the truth. He knew that now that Wade had left, he would definitely return to his elusive, unpredictable state.
He still had to prepare the drug-laced dungbombs, set up traps, and who knows what else...
It might actually be even busier than when he was just poring over research material.
But… at this point, Tom couldn't be happier to see that bastard get busy.
That way, he'd have no time to pay attention to him.
Tom suddenly felt that he'd been ridiculously masochistic before—seriously, how nice would it have been if Wade had just ignored him and kept his distance?
But no—he just had to talk to him…
Which almost got him killed!
Now that Wade seemed ready to get busy again, Tom immediately felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Haah!"
As soon as Wade left the clubroom, Tom flopped down flat on the floor.
Even Anne was startled, thinking for a moment that one of her spells had left some kind of aftereffect on him.
Tom lay comfortably on the floor and let out a long sigh. "Finally… away from Wade Reynolds. Peace of mind and body… I've survived another day!"
Anne looked at him speechlessly. "He treats you so well, and this is how you talk about him behind his back?"
"W-What!? He treats me well? Huh? Do you even know what you're saying!" Tom almost jumped up from how furious he was.
"Doesn't he? If he hadn't asked me to help you, you probably still wouldn't have mastered that full Shield Charm. I know for a fact most of your dueling skills came from learning with Wade…"
"You… you're absolutely right," Tom said sarcastically. "If only his 'good intentions' didn't constantly put my life at risk."
Even Anne, a member of Grindelwald's camp, found his attitude a bit hard to watch.
"Hmph, when I was dueling with Wade just now, you saw what he was capable of. If things had really gotten dangerous, do you think he wouldn't have saved you? Do you really think he'd leave you to die? Aren't you his best friend? What good would it do him to get you killed? He even said you were his closest friend!"
Tom gave Anne a sideways glance. Did she really not feel a shred of guilt saying this? Wasn't she the one planning to secretly hoard all that magical power for herself?
Still… thinking it over now, maybe what Anne said wasn't completely wrong.
Wade might screw him over all the time, but… he always somehow ended up benefiting from it in the end.
Thinking that, Tom felt just a twinge of regret for what he'd said earlier.
Maybe… this guy's methods were a little strange, but… he really did treat me as a friend…
After all, even something as secretive as his plan to trick Grindelwald—he only discussed it with me…
Wait, no! Why am I thinking like this? Am I really that pathetic?
But… am I wrong to think this way? He does treat me as his best friend…
No! Something about this still feels off!
Conflicting thoughts were warring in Tom's mind. He scratched at his head, feeling like his brain was itching—as if it were about to grow…
Watching Tom furiously scratching his head from the side, Anne couldn't help but say, "…maybe… go wash your hair?"
"..."
…
The principle behind a dungbomb was actually very simple.
In Wade's opinion, it was kind of like those snap-poppers he used to play with as a kid.
As long as it exploded, the stench inside would be released.
So, making one wasn't particularly difficult for Wade.
After instructing his house-elf Toby, to go buy the potion ingredients, Wade headed alone into a secret passage.
However, the end of this secret passage had already been completely buried under rubble.
This was the place where Senior had once fought her final battle with Ranrok—the same place where Professor Morganach had originally stored the "residue."
But after that battle, the passage had almost completely collapsed.
According to what Senior had told him, though, only the passage itself had caved in.
The inner chamber was still intact, and with a bit of repair, it could be restored to its original form.
Following the memories Senior had shared, Wade reinforced his Repair Charm with ancient magic and began attempting to restore the passage.
Very quickly, the tightly sealed tunnel started to shift—so much so that even the ground began to tremble.
Wade immediately stopped casting.
With a commotion that loud, there was no way people in Hogwarts wouldn't notice!
Clearly, simply using a Repair Charm wasn't the right solution.
Wade quickly disappeared from the passage and returned to the surface.
Sure enough, the sudden tremor had left the young wizards of Hogwarts confused and alarmed.
The professors, meanwhile, were anxiously searching everywhere for the source of the tremor.
If Wade hadn't stopped in time, they might have assumed the Grindelwald's followers had invaded the castle.
Even Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet personally went to investigate the general area where the tremor had originated.
With the safety of so many students at stake, no one dared take it lightly.
Wade looked a bit troubled—if forcibly using the Repair Charm caused such a massive disturbance, then he would need to find another method.
Otherwise, Grindelwald might not even arrive before Dumbledore and the others discovered the hidden passage first.
That would be no good for Wade's plan...
Is there a way to clear the passage without making any noise? Wade fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, he smacked his forehead.
"Wait a second… Who said I have to go inside?"
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