The flames in the fireplace flickered gently, casting a dim yellow glow.
Dumbledore stood before the hearth, quietly watching the fire.
"Long time no see! Esteemed! Magnificent! Lord Wade!"
The cute Halloween Lantern's shrill voice came from outside the door.
Dumbledore immediately knew Wade had arrived.
"Come in," Dumbledore said.
Wade pushed open the door and entered amid a long stream of fawning compliments from Little Lantern.
"Professor... how can you stand it?"
Even as Little Lantern's creator, Wade could barely tolerate its incessant chatter.
"I rather like it," Dumbledore said with a smile. "At the very least, it warns me whenever certain unwelcome individuals approach."
Wade understood. There was only one man at Hogwarts whom Dumbledore would describe as unwelcome.
"Your nightmare magic is astonishing. Even Headmaster Dippet nearly failed to recognise the illusion," Dumbledore praised.
"It was only a minor trick, hardly worth mentioning," Wade replied.
"Your senior would be unhappy to hear you describe it that way," Dumbledore said.
Wade couldn't help shuddering.
Dumbledore turned and handed him a small dish containing Floo Powder.
Leaving the school through the Floo Network would allow him to avoid many watchful eyes.
"The feast hasn't ended yet. Are you certain you don't want to finish eating before you leave?"
"No. The sooner I go, the sooner I'll return." Wade shook his head.
"I've asked Slytherin to wait for you on the other side," Dumbledore said. "To be safe, you should take him with you."
"That works. At least I'll have someone to talk to on the journey, so it won't be too dull," Wade agreed.
As Wade took the dish, Dumbledore hesitated before saying, "Wade... regarding your senior, do you truly believe she is completely trustworthy? What if she's merely using you?"
Dumbledore's meaning was clear. He still had reservations about her.
It was true that she had never harmed Wade and had even given him many benefits, but all of that was based on her desire to use him to regain her freedom.
No one could guarantee what she would do after escaping. They could not even be certain that she would not kill Wade immediately afterward.
Ancient magic was a powerful and dangerous talent. Many ambitious people believed there should only ever be one person capable of wielding such power.
Wade smiled. "She wants to escape, so of course she's using me. I'm fully aware of that. As for whether she's trustworthy... Professor, you've heard about what she did in the past. Do you think she's a bad person?"
Dumbledore wanted to say that people could change, but when he saw Wade's certainty, he closed his mouth again.
Even so, he remained puzzled.
From what he knew of Wade, the boy should not have trusted anyone so completely.
Even with Dumbledore himself, Wade still maintained a degree of caution.
Dumbledore sometimes had the absurd impression that Wade was wary of the entire world.
"It'll be fine, Professor," Wade said with certainty.
After he spoke, an inconspicuous wisp of white mist beside the window behind Dumbledore quietly dispersed.
Wade took a handful of Floo Powder and tossed it into the fireplace.
The dim yellow flames instantly turned emerald green, and their intense heat rapidly faded.
Wade stepped into the hearth, clearly feeling the gentle warmth of the green flames licking against his body.
His gaze swept discreetly towards the window before he quietly named his destination.
"Transit Station."
Whoosh!
The green flames surged upwards, and Wade disappeared.
No one noticed that the mist outside the window had suddenly become much thinner.
...
"Tom, can Wade come to the society tomorrow and help us practise our duelling skills?"
In the Great Hall, Flitwick hurried over to the neighbouring Slytherin table and asked cheerfully.
Tom replied without thinking, "I'll ask him when I get back to the dormitory."
"All right!"
Flitwick happily returned to the Ravenclaw table.
Neither of them realised that Wade had already left.
Flitwick wanted to ask whether Wade would come to the society the next day, yet he only asked Tom and never thought to ask Wade himself.
Tom, meanwhile, completely failed to realise that Wade should have been sitting beside him at dinner.
The magic was working just fine!
...
Wade emerged from a dilapidated fireplace.
He stepped out and looked around, discovering that the transit station was nothing more than a small wooden cabin.
Opposite the fireplace, a wizard wearing a pointed hat sat dozing on a stool with his head lowered.
"Do ghosts need to sleep too?" Wade asked with a smile.
Slytherin raised his head, revealing his pale face.
"Ghosts don't need sleep, but they all miss the feeling of sleeping. Besides, you said it yourself. I'm not an ordinary ghost," Slytherin replied irritably.
"Sorry. That joke may have been a little inappropriate."
"Forget it. I'm used to it. You speak pleasantly to everyone else, but when it comes to me, every word out of your mouth is unbearable."
"People only let down their guard around those they know best. They don't keep flattering them as they would outsiders," Wade said with a smile.
"Hah! Now that sounds nice. If I didn't know how full of tricks you were, I might actually have been moved," Slytherin sneered.
"Ahem. All right, we should get going."
Wade pushed open the door and stepped outside.
After looking around, he realised that the cabin appeared to be deep within the Forbidden Forest.
Slytherin floated out after him.
Once they had both left, the wooden cabin behind them suddenly began to move.
After trembling for a moment, it sank into the ground.
"Dumbledore specially prepared this place for you. When you return, you can come here and use the fireplace to go straight back to the school," Slytherin said. He paused before adding, "The fireplace is connected to his office. He wants to see you immediately and make sure you're unharmed."
"I'll be fine," Wade said as he began pulling a broomstick from the bag he carried with him.
"Don't assume your professor is worrying for no reason. No matter how strong you are, you still need to remain cautious. I was once a professor too, so I understand Dumbledore's feelings. In truth, a student like you is probably the finest student any professor could encounter in their entire career. How could he not worry about you, especially now that you're at the centre of so much attention?"
Wade sighed. "Of course I understand. But with the abilities I possess, I'm destined not to remain obediently inside the school forever."
"True. Otherwise, wouldn't your talent go to waste? Dumbledore had already considered that. Why else would I be here? Hmph. He begged me for quite some time before I agreed to accompany you."
"Really? I have the feeling you're even more restless than I am. Given the chance to leave, there's no way you'd want to remain at Hogwarts."
"Enough. Are we leaving or not?" Slytherin said irritably. "Of course I'm restless. If you were trapped in the Chamber of Secrets all day, could you endure it?"
"I could. I still have plenty of research to do."
"Don't mention that wretched research of yours! Damn it, I can't even understand the alchemical formulae you've written down. How did you come up with those things?"
"I couldn't have thought of them all by myself, but I've maintained regular contact with the greatest legendary alchemist of this century. You know how it is. Some things are impossible to work out alone, but after enough discussion, sparks of inspiration begin to fly."
Slytherin considered this. "That makes sense. I worked alone behind closed doors back then. Perhaps that was a mistake."
Wade put on a helmet.
It resembled the fully enclosed motorcycle helmets of later generations and even had a windproof visor.
When Wade mounted his broom and rose into the air, a small map appeared within his field of vision.
During the lunch break that day, he had used alchemy to integrate the maps his senior had given him into the helmet.
He had even linked it to the watch she had provided.
The direction indicated by the watch would be marked clearly on the map.
"Hold on," Wade said after confirming their direction.
Slytherin floated down behind him and placed one bony hand on Wade's shoulder.
"Couldn't we travel by carriage or something? A broomstick is terribly undignified."
Whoosh!
"Ah! You little brat, you startled me!"
...
Recently, Tom had been experiencing a strange feeling.
Two weeks had passed since the start of term.
He constantly felt as though he had forgotten something important.
Yet whenever he came close to remembering, some other thought would involuntarily distract him, leaving him unable to recall anything.
"Forget it. I'll go back and ask Wade. He should be in the dormitory by now."
With that thought, Tom packed up his books and left the library alone.
Wade did not need to complete homework, so Tom had grown accustomed to coming and going from the library by himself.
It was already half past eight in the evening.
After returning to the dormitory, Tom set his schoolbag aside, then turned as though about to say something.
"Hm... What was I going to do? Forget it. I should just sleep."
He ignored the empty bed opposite him and lay down comfortably on his own.
After quite some time, however, Tom abruptly sat up again, his face twisted with frustration.
"No. I've definitely forgotten something!"
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69