#450 - Back to school

"Actually, I was wondering before-" Wade sighed and said, "One of the conditions for me to come back is that I can't disrupt the Wizard's Supreme Party's propaganda plan."

"I guessed it." Machioni said, "Actually, this is also a good thing for me. If all the voices that the entire magical world can hear come from the FMC, I'm worried that I won't live long."

"Then why are you holding back and not letting the various Ministries of Magic broadcast their own programs?"

Sirius asked unhappily, "I heard that many people are looking for you to negotiate, but the negotiations are very difficult. Do you know how many people are bombing Remus with messages every day, asking him to help lobby?"

"Look what you're saying!" Machioni said sternly, "How can you miss the opportunity to make big money for a little security problem?"

Sirius: "..."

He rolled his eyes and stopped paying attention to this guy who would risk his life for money.

However, Lupin himself, who was being harassed by information, could understand Machioni's approach better. He said, "If you give in easily, the other party will definitely push their luck. But don't hold on too tight..."

"I know." Wade said softly.

Machioni nodded to everyone and left in a hurry, as if he had come all this way just to see Wade and make sure he was safe and sound.

"This guy..." Sirius leaned crookedly on the sofa and frowned, "He's already very rich, why is he still so greedy? CanGalleons be brought into the coffin?"

"For him, money is the greatest pursuit, and making money is the supreme happiness, right?" Wade said, "Just like me, no matter how much magic I learn, I never feel like I've learned enough."

Sirius looked at him with squinted eyes, with a hint of teasing in his tone: "How old are you? When you reach fifty years old, I don't believe you'll still only know how to study stupidly."

Wade just smiled and didn't argue.

"I'm going to see Mabel." He said, "My mother made some snacks and asked me to bring them to her."

Although Fiona also saw the introduction about theObscurus in the newspaper, for her, the person who could travel thousands of kilometers to save Wade would never be a bad person.

Wade went upstairs and knocked on the door, and Mabel's voice came from inside: "Come in."

Pushing the door open, Mabel was standing in the center of the room. She didn't turn her head and focused on practicing spells.

On the table in front of her were five or six candles. The girl was holding a wand, pointing at the candles one by one, and whispering: "Incendio!"

No raging flames came out.

A thin flame was sprayed out of the wand with a "poof", lighting one of the candles.

Then the second, the third... until all the candles were lit, and the room was instantly filled with warm candlelight.

"Remus, I've learned the Fire-Making Spell!" Mabel said.

"Yes, very precise control." Wade's voice came from the door. He asked, "But aren't you worried about setting the table on fire?"

Hearing his voice, Mabel turned her head suddenly and said in surprise: "Wade!"

After a pause, she added a little cautiously: "...Mr. Grey."

"Just call me Wade." Wade walked over, his eyes fell on her right hand, and asked, "You have a wand?"

"Yes, Mr. Lupin took me to Diagon Alley to buy it." Mabel said softly with gratitude in her eyes, "I used the money you gave me, and the Polyjuice Potion."

"The pronunciation and gestures of the Fire-Making Spell are very standard." Wade said with a smile, with a hint of appreciation in his eyes: "You learn quickly, Mabel."

After a pause, he said again: "I'm going back to school today. Seeing that you're adapting well, I'm relieved."

"Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black are good people, they take good care of me."

Mabel smiled, and just as she was about to continue speaking, she hesitated and swallowed the words back.

Wade noticed her expression and asked, "Are you having any difficulties? Oh..."

He suddenly realized that Mabel looked young, but she was actually thirteen or fourteen years old, in her puberty, and may have some... special troubles that those two adult wizards could hardly notice and help with.

"Mrs. Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks is warm and kind. If you have any questions, you can also ask her for advice - she is a trustworthy person and will definitely give you some useful advice."

Wade said, "Hogwarts is nearby, so there is basically no need to worry about the safety of this village. You... um... you don't have to always hide in the house. You can occasionally go outside, buy something you like, and relax... This is an interesting place, you will like it."

"Mr. Lupin also said that, I just..." Mabel's voice gradually lowered, and a hint of hesitation and unease appeared in her eyes.

She was silent for a long time, and finally said softly: "I want to know how Haley is doing. If possible, I want to see her."

The girl's voice trembled slightly, appearing particularly cautious.

"Of course!" Before Wade could speak, she added anxiously: "I know the Ministry of Magic may still be watching her, I won't meet her, I just want to... take a look from afar, make sure she's safe, and I'll be relieved."

Hearing this, Wade's eyes softened. He thought of the pale-faced little girl who was like a sister to Mabel, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart, making him very understanding of Mabel's mood at the moment.

He nodded and said gently: "I'll ask Dumbledore to arrange a meeting for you sometime... I think it shouldn't be difficult."

Hearing this, Mabel's slightly tense body relaxed instantly, and a relieved smile appeared on her face, and she said gratefully: "Thank you, Wade."

……

It was late at night when Wade returned to school.

Filch was holding a dim lamp, guarding the gate. When he saw Wade, a rare smile appeared on his normally mean face.

"Finally back." The caretaker tilted his body slightly and walked towards the castle with heavy steps, asking, "Have you taken care of everything at home?"

Wade was stunned for a moment, and then said vaguely: "Yes, everything is done... By the way, where is Mrs. Norris?"

"Oh, she's with those little guys!" Filch's smile deepened, and he said affectionately: "When the cleaning crabs are cleaning, they occasionally get stuck in the corners, and someone has to rescue them."

In his mouth, both Mrs. Norris and the cleaning crabs seemed like cute children.

"No more malfunctions recently?" Wade asked.

"No... oh, actually there was." Filch said: "But they fixed it themselves. These little guys are really getting smarter and smarter."

Wade nodded.

The cleaning crabs were his early works. At first, they were like low-level AI, only rigidly executing commands. But they also have simple learning abilities, and their intelligence naturally gradually increases over time.

At the entrance of the castle, Wade saw several figures swaying in the corridor from a distance, turned his head and asked Filch: "It should be curfew time now, right?"

"Of course." Filch also saw those figures, his face suddenly darkened, and he said angrily: "Some little cubs always try their best to violate the rules. I'll see how I deal with them when I catch them!"

Remembering that Wade was still by his side, he added: "Oh... you just came back, so it doesn't count. Hurry back to the common room!"

The caretaker quickened his pace and rushed into the castle, preparing to catch those students who violated the rules. At this moment, he ran very fast, not at all like an old man in his seventies.

Wade shook his head, raised his wand, and chanted the spell: "Accio Broom!"

Although Hogwarts may have hundreds of brooms, when Wade chanted the spell, there was only one clear image in his mind, and only that specific flying broom would be summoned.

"Whoosh—"

Accompanied by the sound of breaking through the wind, a slightly old but well-maintained broom flew over and jumped twice when it hovered beside Wade, as if it was also very happy.

"Feels like it's been a long time, buddy."

Wade chuckled softly, patted the broom handle gently, and then deftly mounted the broom.

He first flew around the castle and the Black Lake, and then sneaked into his bedroom through the window.

The house-elf had tidied everything up in an orderly manner. The room was warm and tidy, and everything remained as it was when he left last semester, as if time had stood still in this place.

Wade breathed out comfortably, and the moment he stepped on the ground, he couldn't help but compare this place with Grindelwald's gray castle.

The rooms there were not so warm, the bed was a bit hard, the bare walls lacked decoration, and the scenery outside the window seemed too monotonous. Most importantly, the house-elves there were not so considerate and would not tidy everything up just right.

——It's good to be back at Hogwarts.

Wade said this from the bottom of his heart, unfolded the closet space, and put all his things back in their places. When he was organizing the bookshelf, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." Wade said, looking up.

"Hi, Wade!"

After Michael entered the door, he first used his eyes to find Wade's location, and then the excitement slowly floated into his eyes.

"I just heard the sound of the flying broom passing through the window, and I thought you were probably back... Sure enough!"

Michael walked over quickly and said with relief.

"Long time no see, Michael." Wade put down the book in his hand, greeted him, and smiled: "Actually, it hasn't been long... It shouldn't be less than a month?"

"You've been gone for twenty-three days, buddy!"

Michael grabbed Wade's arm and looked him up and down, his eyes showing concern, but he didn't dare to ask directly, and asked vaguely:

"You were there... uh, what did you encounter? Do you have anything you want to confide in? I promise to be a very good listener."

"It's not as bad as you think, I just went to deal with a little... technical problem."

Wade closed the door, then sat down and briefly told him about his previous experience.

"Weird... too weird..."

Michael supported his chin with one hand, his face showing a thoughtful expression.

"Seriously, if you got beat up, I would think it's normal. But... judging from the previous news, Grindelwald is not a kind and reasonable person, right?"

"Since the mysterious man called himself the Dark Lord, most wizards in Europe think he can only be regarded as the second generation, and the first generation Dark Lord should be Grindelwald."

"This kind of person is polite to you..."

Thinking about it, Michael suddenly shivered, as if a cold wind had blown behind him.

"Wade..."

He called out faintly.

"What's wrong?" Wade, who was making tea, asked strangely.

"Death Eaters have the Dark Mark on their arms." Michael said slowly: "The Wizard's Supreme Party didn't leave you a... weird symbol like a triangle set in a circle, right?"

His eyes were fixed on Wade, as if he wanted to see some strange expression on his face.

However, Wade was only slightly stunned, and then put down the kettle and said frankly: "If I really joined the Wizard's Supreme Party, I would no longer return to school - you don't think that with my alchemy, the Wizard's Supreme Party would send me to Hogwarts to be a mere spy, right?"

"Ah... it seems so."

Michael scratched his head awkwardly and said embarrassedly: "Sorry, I seem to have misunderstood."

"Actually, your idea can't be completely wrong."

Wade pushed the fragrant teacup over and said calmly: "Indeed, some people wanted me to join the Wizard's Supreme Party, but Grindelwald didn't take any coercive measures, and it can even be said that he took the initiative to let me and Professor Dumbledore leave."

"He would be so kind?" Michael asked suspiciously.

"Kind? No, it should be said to be demeanor, right? As a leader, he still has the minimum of mind and demeanor—"

Thinking of how Grindelwald pretended to be an ordinary old man passing by in the supermarket to attack him, Wade added: "——Although sometimes he is indeed not not play by the rules."

Seeing this, Michael couldn't help laughing.

Ten thousand explanations are not as good as Wade's natural complain to prove one thing - he was indeed not abused and controlled by the Wizard's Supreme Party.

Michael only felt a huge stone slowly fall to the ground in his heart.

It's not just Lupin who is tormented day and night by a sense of responsibility, guilt, and disappointment in himself when a friend is taken away. Michael and Harry also find it difficult to forgive themselves.

At this time, Wade finally came back safely, and he felt that he was also freed from the cage.

"Michael, besides you, do other people know why I didn't come to school on time?" Wade asked.

"No, Professor Flitwick told everyone that you took a few days off because of some family matters... By the way, this is your schedule."

Michael suddenly remembered that he had another task, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, looked at the densely packed list of courses on it, and said with lingering fear:

"There are five classes tomorrow morning... I wrote down all the homework from last week, but can you finish it in time?"

“Oh, I’m sorry to disappoint you.” Wade said calmly, “Before coming to school, I communicated with the professors. They said that since I have already mastered the basic knowledge, it’s okay if I don’t do last week’s assignment.”

Wade flicked the parchment and smiled, “And right now… the one thing I have plenty of is time.”