A week passed in the blink of an eye after Wade returned to school.
Just as he had said, when he picked up his textbooks and began attending his elective classes, no one noticed that he had only just started showing up.
It was as though he had always been there among them.
During this period, Wade no longer came and went unpredictably as he had before. Instead, he unusually took an active role in the club's activities.
Every evening, he gathered the club's core members and personally trained their practical combat abilities.
Naturally, the training sessions Wade had originally held with Dumbledore also came to an end.
In truth, after seeing Wade fight a hundred opponents alone and then casually use nightmare magic to influence the entire school, Dumbledore already knew that Wade no longer needed his training.
With Wade around every day and personally handling club affairs, Tom suddenly found himself unusually free.
This was the kind of free time he had once dreamed of, but now that he actually had it, he found himself strangely unaccustomed to it.
Still, Tom was also puzzled.
Didn't Wade have a great many things waiting to be done?
For example, wasn't he supposed to hurry and rescue that Senior of his?
So why had he been staying at school and keeping himself busy lately?
Even the research work he had always loved seemed to have been completely set aside.
Could it be...
That evening, after training ended, everyone tidied up the area and left.
Wade, however, remained behind. He sat in his usual seat with a quill in hand, constantly writing something on a piece of parchment.
Tom walked over and glanced at it from beside him.
Only then did he realise that Wade was recording the problems each core member had shown during training, along with training methods to help them correct those weaknesses.
"Something's off..." Tom could not help saying.
"What's off?" Wade asked without looking up.
"Normally, you should be in some laboratory doing experiments, or lying in bed reading novels. Why have you been so active lately? Don't tell me the Wade Reynolds we've been seeing recently is fake?" Tom asked directly.
"This time I'm real. And didn't I already tell you? It's time for the plan to begin. We don't have time to waste. At the beginning of an organisation, combat strength is indispensable. So all of you need to become stronger, at the very least several levels stronger than others your age. Later, when the organisation expands and we have more members, the responsibility of training them will fall on your shoulders. Everything is difficult at the beginning. You'll be the first group of members, so naturally you'll have to work harder than those who join later."
As Wade spoke, he handed Tom a sheet of parchment.
"These are your problems. You may look like the strongest among them, but your weaknesses are also very obvious."
Tom took the parchment and glanced over it.
"Too limited a selection of spells, not enough variation... overly dependent on casting speed..."
Wade said, "Those were originally your strengths. They allowed you to defeat stronger opponents despite being weaker yourself. But as you've grown older and your magic has become stronger, that style has gradually stopped suiting you. Third year is a dividing line. After third year, many wizards begin to see their magical power increase, and you're the same. If you continue fighting the way you did before, you'll be at a serious disadvantage later."
"Is that so..." Tom frowned. "But I can cast faster this way, and it feels more natural."
"But your offensive power is low. In combat, you still need some powerful spells, especially when facing an evenly matched opponent. After all, not everyone is Dumbledore with magic as powerful as his. You need to change this habit now, or it'll be harder to correct later."
"Hm..."
"You used fewer powerful spells before because your magic wasn't strong enough, and casting them took too long. But as your magical power grows, even powerful spells can be cast quickly. So why keep limiting yourself to basic spells? You've already mastered Apparition. Those advanced spells you temporarily set aside before can be picked up again now."
"All right." Tom nodded.
When it came to combat theory, Tom rarely argued with Wade, because the bastard really was that strong.
And after Wade began personally training the core members, their strength had been visibly improving at an astonishing rate.
Wade paid particular attention to some of them as well. André, who was about to graduate, received the harshest training of all.
Anyone could see how highly Wade valued André.
André himself was equally diligent. Part of it was because he had sworn an Unbreakable Vow to remain loyal to Wade, and part of it was because of considerations concerning his family.
Like many pure-blood families that would eventually fade into history, André's Shafiq family had already begun to decline. Aligning themselves with Wade would undoubtedly bring enormous benefits to the Shafiq family.
Many pure-blood families outside Hogwarts now wanted to establish good relations with Wade but had no way to do so. André had been given such a valuable opportunity, and there was no chance he would let it slip away. Only by following Wade closely did the Shafiq family have any hope of rising again.
Strictly speaking, the Shafiq family had pledged itself to Wade far earlier than the Malfoy family.
In other words, André could currently be considered the person most loyal to Wade.
Having his most devoted follower establish a foundation outside first, then gradually expanding from there, was a very good strategy.
But...
Tom remembered that Wade had brought André under his control not long after they first entered Hogwarts.
Could Wade have already planned this far ahead back then?
It would not be surprising if he had.
Tom had long since grown accustomed to Wade's seemingly wild yet far-reaching plans.
"Tom? Why are you spacing out? If you're tired, go back and rest. Take this with you and think it over slowly," Wade said.
"Oh..." Tom put the parchment away.
"One more thing. I can give you a suggestion. You can divide your combat style into two sets, one non-lethal and one lethal. I don't need to explain the non-lethal one. As for the lethal set, you can include the dangerous offensive spells you already know, along with the ones your ancestor taught you. Of course, you normally won't have much reason to use that set. Once you've worked out what belongs in each category, your attacks will flow much more smoothly in actual combat."
It was somewhat like arranging skill shortcuts in a game. Prepare two sets, each containing several spells you were most proficient with. After enough practice, they would become part of your own fighting style, and in a real battle, those spells could be used almost instinctively.
Tom was highly perceptive and immediately understood what Wade meant.
"That's a good method, but... my foundation isn't as deep as yours, so I don't know that many spells..." As Tom spoke, he looked at Wade.
His meaning could not have been more obvious.
He was asking Wade for new spells.
Wade said irritably, "Your foundation isn't deep enough? Is there any student in all of Hogwarts with a deeper foundation than yours? Not everyone has a legendary ancestor standing around ready to spoon-feed them knowledge. And whenever you've gone to ask Dumbledore for advice, when has he ever failed to teach you properly?"
Tom sucked in a breath.
Come to think of it...
Slytherin might have become a ghost, but all his knowledge was still intact, and he was always willing to teach Tom.
Then there was Dumbledore, who now placed considerable importance on him.
Damn...
When had his own foundation become this ridiculous without him even noticing?
"Get out, get out! You don't know how lucky you are. Just looking at you annoys me." Wade drove Tom away.
With an ancient powerhouse like Slytherin right there, Tom did not think to constantly ask him for guidance and instead spent every day coveting Wade's limited stock of knowledge.
If Wade were in Tom's place, he would have emptied Slytherin's entire store of knowledge long ago.
As for Wade himself...
He certainly had not spared Slytherin either. After draining him of knowledge, Wade even made him work for him.
After sending Tom away, Wade remained in the club room for a while longer. Only after finishing all his notes did he close the room and leave.
He did not return to the dormitory immediately. Instead, he went to the Room of Requirement where things were hidden.
After returning to Hogwarts, he had placed one Vanishing Cabinet inside the Room of Requirement, while the other had been moved from Knockturn Alley to the Senior's workshop.
Wade drew his wand and lightly tapped the Vanishing Cabinet.
Click.
The specially made lock on the cabinet opened.
Wade opened the door and climbed inside.
When he emerged again, he was already in the goblin workshop.
He beckoned to one of the goblins. The goblin walked over and bowed respectfully to Wade.
Wade took out a blueprint and handed it over. "Help me make this."
"How many would you like us to produce?"
"Just make one prototype for now."
The goblin accepted the blueprint, bowed slightly, then left.
After giving his instructions, Wade was about to head back when he turned around and found the Senior staring at him resentfully.
"You've been back for quite a while now, haven't you? Are you going to let me out or not? Just give me a straight answer..."
"I am. I promised you I would, so of course I'll keep my word." Wade nodded.
His straightforward answer caught the Senior off guard. She had thought Wade would need more time to consider it.
"You trust me now?"
"I trust you." Wade smiled.
"You're lying again..."
"You only need to know that I'm not lying about letting you out."
"Then when are you going to do it?" The Senior's eyes lit up.
"Give me a little more time. I need to make some preparations." Wade took out a notebook and glanced at it. "Almost done."
"What kind of preparations? Oh... I know. You're preparing precautions against me, aren't you? Go ahead. I can understand that." The Senior's voice became somewhat subdued.
"No..." Wade shook his head.
He really was not making preparations to guard against the Senior.
Because those preparations had already been made.
"Then what are you preparing?"
"I'm arranging what happens after my death," Wade said calmly.
The Senior: "?"
"If I fail while releasing you and lose my life, then someone will have to inherit the things I've left behind, along with everything I've been trying to accomplish."
"I don't believe you'll die." The Senior shook her head. "You're only saying this to win my sympathy again, aren't you?"
"You can take it that way. So, do you feel a little more sorry for me now? Maybe enough to give me a few more benefits?"
"Get lost! Just looking at you annoys me..."
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69