"I'll admit there was some acting involved. But Mr Malfoy's dragon pox really wasn't my doing," Wade said.
"I know you didn't do it," Tom replied with great seriousness. "But perhaps your dragon did."
Wade clenched his fist.
"It wasn't my dragon either."
"Then why were you putting on such a performance today? It looked to me like you'd come fully prepared." Tom frowned.
"Is adapting to the situation really that difficult for you?" Wade asked, looking at Tom with open disdain.
For a moment, Tom was speechless.
You call that improvisation?
"Don't forget why we went to the Malfoys with such an extravagant display in the first place," Wade reminded him.
"To give the Malfoys a small shock, get them to attach themselves to you willingly, and eventually persuade them to provide funding," Tom muttered.
"And didn't we accomplish exactly that today?" Wade asked. "In fact, the outcome was far better than we originally expected. Although I didn't cause the dragon pox, it certainly brought me even greater benefits."
"But that only works if you can actually cure dragon pox!" Tom pointed out.
A faint smile appeared on Wade's face.
"As it happens, I know a certain potion recipe..."
"How do you know so many potion recipes?" Tom asked numbly.
Wade merely smiled without answering.
He possessed an encyclopaedia of potion recipes that recorded countless so-called "low-level" potions.
Back then, he had thought the system had sold it at an outrageously high price.
Now, he only felt that the system had sold it far too cheaply.
"Let's wait a few days," Wade said with a smile. "Then I'll have Professor Slughorn send a potion recipe to St Mungo's."
"Why through Professor Slughorn?"
"Are you stupid? If we send it directly, will the people at St Mungo's believe it? But if it's authenticated by a Potions master like Professor Slughorn, there won't be any unnecessary complications. Besides, how could I possibly hand over a revolutionary dragon pox cure for free?"
"That's true..." Tom sighed. "You're Professor Slughorn's favourite student. If he knew you had a recipe like that, he'd definitely do everything he could to secure the maximum benefit for you. You wouldn't even have to think about it yourself."
"Exactly. That's why I've always told you to make as many friends as possible. That way, when you really need help, you can always find the most suitable person and achieve twice the result with half the effort. Just wait. The benefits this recipe brings me will extend far beyond the Malfoy family."
...
"This recipe is worth an Order of Merlin, First Class!"
At Hogwarts, Professor Slughorn stared at the sheet of parchment in his hand, his expression full of excitement.
In his professional opinion, there was a ninety-nine percent chance that this recipe could cure dragon pox.
Anyone who could permanently cure a disease like dragon pox unquestionably deserved an Order of Merlin, First Class.
Yet the letter Wade had sent him stated that the person who had provided the recipe wished to remain anonymous.
As a result, the Order of Merlin could not be awarded.
Still, that didn't stop Professor Slughorn from arriving at a perfectly reasonable conclusion.
No one would casually hand over such a valuable recipe to a stranger.
Unless that stranger was their own child.
Professor Slughorn wasn't the only one who thought so.
The Malfoy family had reached the same conclusion.
When Professor Slughorn personally delivered the recipe to St Mungo's, the entire hospital was shaken.
After troubling the wizarding world for so many years, dragon pox now had a potion capable of curing it completely.
And yet the inventor of such a miraculous potion refused to reveal their identity.
However, thanks to information leaked by Mr Malfoy and Miss Guinness, more and more people began to learn that the recipe had come through Wade.
He had obtained it from his family.
Before long, everyone knew that Wade Reynolds came from a family with an extraordinarily deep and powerful heritage.
Wade made no effort to stop the spread of those rumours.
After all, he needed them to gain the support of more pure-blood families.
These families occupied most of the influential positions in the wizarding world, making them extremely useful to the current Wade.
Moreover, Wade felt not the slightest bit guilty about the rumours.
Although he did not have such a prestigious family behind him, he possessed resources equivalent to the heritage of one.
The encyclopaedia of potion recipes alone was enough to qualify as a family legacy.
If Wade ever founded a family of his own, that book alone would be enough to establish it as a great Potions family.
The potion proved highly effective. After Mr Malfoy's condition improved significantly, Abraxas and his mother personally visited Riddle Manor, hoping to see Wade and thank him properly.
However, Tom informed them that Wade had left Riddle Manor long ago, and that he had not been in a particularly good mood when he left. Perhaps obtaining that recipe had cost him something unknown.
In the end, although the Malfoys failed to meet Wade, they left Riddle Manor feeling even more grateful towards him.
After seeing them off, Tom watched their departing figures and sighed.
If they knew that Wade was currently fishing by a lake with a shameless old ghost, how would they feel?
Meanwhile, beside a lake not far from Riddle Manor, Wade and Slytherin were fishing together.
"Got one!" Wade exclaimed happily as he reeled in another large fish.
"You're not secretly cheating with magic, are you?" Slytherin asked irritably.
Several hours had passed. Wade's bucket was overflowing with fish, while Slytherin had yet to catch a single one.
"I just happen to have a high affinity for animals, so fish like biting my bait. Natural talent doesn't count as cheating, does it?" Wade said cheerfully.
It seemed that even a wizard as powerful as Slytherin could end up spending an entire day fishing without a catch.
"Hmph! This isn't fun at all!" Slytherin threw down his fishing rod and sat off to one side sulking.
"Why are you acting like an old child?" Wade asked in exasperation.
"Nonsense! I am Slytherin! The greatest of the four founders!"
"Then tell me, if Gryffindor saw you like this, do you think he'd laugh his teeth out?"
"If it were that brute, he wouldn't have the patience to fish at all," Slytherin said, a trace of nostalgia appearing in his eyes. "He'd stick his sword into the lake and cast a weather charm. Then every fish and shrimp in the water would float up belly-first."
"Oh, right." Slytherin turned to look at him again. "That recipe of yours... it wasn't an ordinary potion recipe. Could it be that you really do have a powerful family behind you?"
"You tell me." Wade smiled as he lifted the bucket full of fish and released them all back into the lake.
Slytherin said nothing more.
There was no need to guess.
It had to be true.
Otherwise, where could Wade possibly have obtained such a potion recipe?
Up to now, Wade had produced far too many astonishing things. No matter how talented he was, it was impossible that he had invented all of them himself.
The only explanation was that a powerful family stood behind him.
At the same time, the well-informed Grindelwald had also received the news and immediately dispatched his people, hoping to discover which family was backing Wade.
If he could establish a partnership with them...
Grindelwald's eyes gleamed brightly.
After receiving the same information, Dumbledore also became alarmed. He began closely monitoring Grindelwald's subordinates.
How could he possibly allow Grindelwald to make contact with the family behind Wade?
For a time, the entire wizarding world was thrown into turmoil by a single potion recipe from Wade.
Half a month passed quickly.
Grindelwald remained unable to uncover the force behind Wade.
However, he did receive one particularly unusual piece of information.
"Sir, there are indeed some remnants of the Reynolds in Canada, but I think that family is too mysterious. I've contacted the Blacks, and Welburga told us that Wade's family is one of the forefounders of Canada, which previously resided in China. And I have another news regarding that..."
Oh? A Chinese wizard named Rey Nolds had officially joined the Ministry of Magic.
"Rey Nolds Chang? That's obviously a fake name!" Grindelwald declared with absolute certainty.
Meanwhile, after successfully passing the Ministry examinations, Ren Chang promptly found himself a good house and settled down.
However, on that very day, his new home received an unexpected visitor.
Ren found this rather strange because he had only just arrived in Britain and, strictly speaking, had not yet made any friends.
"Do you know Wade Reynolds?" the visitor asked directly.
"Wade? Ah! Of course I know him!" Ren replied with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the visitor immediately put on an expression of "just as I thought" before hastily departing.
This left Ren completely baffled.
Very soon, Grindelwald received the news.
"I knew it! There's no way this man is really called Ren Olds Chang! He must be someone from the family behind Wade!" Grindelwald declared excitedly. "Has anyone found out where in China he came from? Or how he got to Britain?"
The long-absent Vinda replied, "We haven't been able to determine where in China he came from. It seems someone deliberately concealed their activities there. However, we did discover that both he and Wade were in the Soviet Union a month ago..."
Grindelwald slapped his palm triumphantly.
"You see? I told you so!"
...
"Achoo!"
Ren was reading a newspaper in his new home when he suddenly sneezed.
"What on earth...? Why do I suddenly feel like some powerful wizard is talking about me?"
Knock, knock, knock.
The door to his new home was knocked on once again.
When Ren opened it, he found himself face to face with a tall, slender, handsome man who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties.
"Hello. May I ask if you know Wade Reynolds?"
"What?" Ren snapped irritably. "Are you people ever going to stop? I've been asked that question eight times already this month!"
Dumbledore paused in surprise.
But he quickly realised who those previous visitors must have been.
If they were not Grindelwald's people, then they had to be members of pure-blood families trying to investigate Wade's background.
____
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69