In truth, all the discussion between Professor Slughorn and Wade rested on one crucial premise.
That was that Wade could breed basilisks.
And not merely breed one or two, but raise them in large numbers.
Only large-scale raising could truly be called an industry.
Yet Professor Slughorn had not asked Wade a single question about this aspect.
By now, he had come to understand that if Wade sought him out over a matter, it meant Wade had already considered every angle of it.
If there were any part that could not be carried out, Wade would not have come to discuss it at all.
As a result, Professor Slughorn did not even bother to ask.
However, even though Professor Slughorn did not ask, Wade voluntarily shared some of his ideas.
For example, for the sake of safety, basilisks could be kept in a constant state of slumber until the moment they were killed and their materials harvested.
Or alternatively, basilisks could be raised directly in containment vessels and sustained with nutrient potions.
In short, as long as they could not escape, the whole matter would become very safe.
Of course, the goblin collar and Tom's presence served as the final layer of safety.
…
After returning to the dormitory, Wade told Tom about his plans.
After listening, Tom stared at Wade as if he were looking at some sort of deity.
"Professor Slughorn… just trusted you like that? When you did not even produce anything tangible and relied purely on words?"
Wade smiled. "That is the benefit of building trust early on."
"But why did you tell Professor Slughorn about this at all?" Tom asked.
"Tom, did I not tell you before? If we want to accomplish anything, relying solely on our own strength is not enough. We need to unite every force that can be united. At the very least, sending me to Africa to negotiate with Ministers of Magic there is impossible. At my age, no one would trust me. So we need Professor Slughorn's help. As long as he is willing to assist, his network of connections becomes available to us."
Tom chuckled twice before saying, "And if something goes wrong, you can have the professor take the blame, right? After all, no one would believe such an idea came from the mouth of a twelve-year-old student…"
"Tom… you are thinking far too badly of me," Wade said firmly, rejecting that notion outright.
"Ah yes, of course, of course…" Tom could not be bothered to argue with him. "Honestly, it is baffling. Your heart is pitch-black. How did you even manage to learn the Patronus Charm?"
"Does that not prove you have misunderstood me, Tom?"
Tom frowned deeply. He was now beginning to suspect that the faint white figure he had seen back then might not have been a Patronus at all, but an illusion Wade had created for him.
After all, Wade seemed exceptionally skilled at making others see exactly what he wanted them to see.
Tom continued, "Helping you deal with basilisks is not out of the question, but… I still do not quite understand. You are not exactly short on money now, are you? Those beauty potions of yours earn you dividends every month. And you have done some business with my family as well. Even by Muggle standards, you are already wealthy. Why go to all this trouble to set up basilisk breeding? If it is just for research, surely quietly raising a single basilisk would be enough…"
Wade rubbed his forehead. "True. If it were only for personal spending, I would indeed be considered quite wealthy. But… do not forget that our cause requires enormous funding. We need many industries capable of generating vast profits. Basilisk breeding is merely one of them. We will need to keep expanding our sources of income."
Tom looked at Wade in astonishment. "Do you plan to amass the capital for a future rebellion before even graduating?"
"What rebellion? That sounds awful. This is a revolution," Wade corrected him.
Tom spread his hands. "Fine. Honestly speaking, I am just a twelve-year-old wizard. Much of what you say goes straight over my head. I will focus on becoming stronger, and on pushing our people to become stronger as well. As for the rest… I do not understand it. Not at all."
The shrewd Tom decided to stop thinking about it and simply carry out the tasks Wade assigned him. Wade's thinking leapt too far ahead; there was no way he could keep up.
"You really should talk more with your old man, Tom," Wade said, expressing genuine regret.
…
And so, the days passed one by one.
Aside from his daytime classes, Wade spent his nights sparring with Dumbledore.
Only when his coursework was not too heavy would he make time to go down to the Chamber of Secrets and conduct research with Slytherin.
What infuriated Slytherin was that Wade had somehow procured more than a dozen chicks from who knows where and started raising them inside the Chamber.
And every single one of those chicks was a rooster.
"I am the greatest of the Four Founders! And now you have me looking after chickens?!"
On the day Wade brought the chicks back, Slytherin's furious roar echoed throughout the entire Chamber of Secrets.
During this period, Professor Slughorn used his network of connections to send people to investigate the small countries Wade had mentioned.
He hoped to identify the most suitable nations for basilisk breeding.
Once a shortlist of candidate countries was finalised, people would then be sent to discreetly probe the attitudes of those countries' Ministries of Magic.
This would take some time.
Professor Slughorn, in the meantime, hoped that Wade could resolve the difficulties surrounding basilisk hatching and reproduction.
Of course, there was no strict time limit. After all, those countries' Ministries of Magic could afford to wait.
If it truly proved impossible to overcome, then so be it. In any case, there would be no real loss.
On the contrary, investigating those countries was equivalent to opening up a new path.
Even if basilisks did not work out, there were still other, less-than-legal ventures to pursue…
…
Grindelwald had been in a fairly good mood lately.
His series of reform measures could no longer be stopped by Dumbledore or Headmaster Dippet.
Grindelwald was confident that through these reforms, students would gradually and subconsciously absorb his ideology.
After that, Grindelwald began paying close attention to Professor Slughorn's Moral Education classes.
Because once he realised that Wade had played him, Grindelwald finally understood.
This so-called Moral Education class had not been established by Wade for Grindelwald's cause at all.
That brat was using Grindelwald, using the Moral Education class as a way to develop his own followers.
Using it to counter indoctrination by instilling "correct" ideas into his classmates?
How perfectly justified that was.
Dumbledore and the others would never suspect a thing…
As for why this boy wanted to instil ideas into his classmates, did that even need to be said?
Whenever Grindelwald thought of this, he could not help feeling a sense of belated clarity. He should have seen it long ago.
Regardless of whether Wade had some powerful figure advising him from behind the scenes, someone who could harbour such thoughts at the age of twelve would never be willing to remain under another's thumb so easily.
Of course, Grindelwald still believed his own prophecy was accurate. Even if Wade was unwilling to follow him, that did not mean Grindelwald could not make use of his abilities to further his own cause.
At the very least, after listening to Wade's advice, the path he was now walking had become far smoother.
Otherwise, judging by his previous methods, he would have been able to hold on for only a few more years at most before heading toward failure.
What puzzled Grindelwald, however, was that quite some time had passed since Wade had rescued the Obscurial and been carried back.
Yet the content of Professor Slughorn's Moral Education classes had not changed at all.
This meant that Wade had not made a move yet.
But why was that? By all logic, since Wade knew that Grindelwald had seen through the truth, he should have intervened earlier.
Since there had been no change in Professor Slughorn's class content even now, it could only mean that someone had temporarily prevented Wade from interfering.
Grindelwald suddenly recalled something. He had once overheard students discussing how, every evening, Professor Dumbledore would pull Wade aside for private tutoring.
Grindelwald understood at once. In other words… Dumbledore wanted Wade to wait until he was confident he could face Grindelwald directly before allowing Wade's revisions to appear in the Moral Education curriculum.
"Hmph… that really is your way of doing things, Dumbledore. Still meddling in everything as always," Grindelwald sneered at Dumbledore's actions.
With how slippery that boy Wade was, did he really need such excessive concern?
Hah. Go on, keep nurturing that little schemer. The next time that boy loses control, without my help, I would like to see how you plan to subdue him.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door of Grindelwald's office.
"Come in," Grindelwald said, composing himself and speaking in as gentle a tone as possible.
Here, he hoped to reshape his image in the eyes of the students.
However, the person who entered was not a student, but Mr. Ogg, Hogwarts' gamekeeper.
"Director… the things you ordered have arrived," Mr. Ogg said nervously.
"Oh?" At those words, the trace of displeasure on Grindelwald's face vanished instantly. "Take me to see them."
Grindelwald stood up, then paused again. "Wait a moment. I need to send a letter first…"
Grindelwald turned around, wrote a letter, and only after having the office owl deliver it did he follow Mr. Ogg out of the office.
At the same time, in the Headmaster's office, both Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet wore grave expressions.
"Albus, why don't you just become Minister instead… Once you deal with Grindelwald, you can come back and take over my position as Headmaster. I rather think I could remain Headmaster for a few more decades yet," Headmaster Dippet said helplessly.
"Armando… please do not say that. You know me," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "If I truly became Minister… I might never return to Hogwarts."
"Alright, alright… then what do you plan to do?" Headmaster Dippet asked. "Grindelwald has already moved all his little treasures into the Forbidden Forest!"
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