At present, if Wade wanted to keep strengthening himself, the best way was to continue searching for ancient magic sites and steadily improve his mastery of ancient magic.
However, after spending so much time at Hogwarts, Wade had already secretly visited every ancient magic site his senior had given him.
In other words, all the ancient magic power that could be found around Hogwarts had already been fully tapped.
And waiting for those ancient magical energies to recover was not something that could be done overnight.
So unless he went elsewhere to continue searching for ancient magic ruins like looking for a needle in a haystack, his only remaining options were to pin his hopes on benign residues, or resort to more radical human experimentation.
"Don't rush. Never seek quick success," Wade reminded himself.
He was only about twelve years old in physical age. There was plenty of time ahead to continue growing stronger and breaking the limits of wizards.
There was no need to take excessive risks right now, like Voldemort had done, engaging in self-targeted human experiments or Dark Magic transformations. That kind of path was far too dangerous.
After sorting through his current situation, Wade didn't stay up late that night. Instead, he went straight back to the safe house and lay down on the bed.
Before midnight arrived and before the system shop could refresh, Wade had already fallen into a deep sleep…
…
Early the next morning.
Riddle Manor welcomed two unusual visitors.
Fortunately, Mr. Riddle recognized one of the visitors.
"Professor Dumbledore, Merry Christmas," Mr. Riddle said with a smile.
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Riddle. Many thanks for the pocket watch. I truly like it. I must say, among all the Christmas gifts I received this year, yours can certainly be counted among the most precious," Dumbledore said with sincere appreciation.
"And I'm very grateful for the books you sent me, Professor. They've helped me better understand the wizarding world," Mr. Riddle said, turning his gaze to the other elderly man beside him.
To be honest, Mr. Riddle had never seen anyone so old before.
Perhaps he had, but only on hospital beds.
Someone like the man before him, so aged yet still full of vitality, was truly a first.
"This is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dippet," Dumbledore introduced.
"Hello, Headmaster," Mr. Riddle said in surprise as he reached out and shook hands with Headmaster Dippet.
"And greetings to you as well. You must be Tom's grandfather. I rarely see parents as open-minded as you, especially after everything you've been through, and yet you still hold such goodwill toward the wizarding world," Headmaster Dippet said with a smile.
In Muggle legends, wizards were almost always portrayed as evil.
That was precisely why Muggle society saw witch hunts during the Middle Ages.
So for Mr. Riddle to still hold no obvious prejudice against wizards after having nearly lost his entire family to a Dark wizard truly surprised Headmaster Dippet.
"Perhaps that's because the ones who saved us were also wizards," Mr. Riddle said with a smile. "All right then, please come in. We can't very well stand talking at the door."
After they entered the sitting room and took their seats, Dumbledore explained why they had come today and why they needed Tom's help.
Even though Mr. Riddle wasn't very familiar with the wizarding world, he quickly grasped the urgency of the matter.
He immediately led the two Hogwarts professors to the edge of the woods where Tom stayed.
"I built a house for him in this forest. Normally, we don't approach it on our own. You understand, our household often has many outsiders coming and going. Tom doesn't want too many people to know he's a wizard. He's worried it might bring unnecessary trouble to our family," Mr. Riddle explained.
Dumbledore nodded. Given the reputation of wizards among Muggles and the constraints of the International Statute of Secrecy, he found the explanation reasonable.
If word spread that the Riddle family had a wizard in it, life would be difficult for them, and even their business could be affected.
"All right, it seems you'll have to go in by yourselves," Mr. Riddle said. "The child appears to have placed some magic around the area. We can't get any closer."
"Alright, thank you for the trouble," Headmaster Dippet said as he looked at the forest ahead, a trace of approval flashing in his eyes. "This Muggle-Repelling Charm is done quite properly. Tom is only twelve this year, isn't he…"
"Yes," Dumbledore said with a sigh of admiration as well.
The two of them tacitly ignored the fact that Tom was using magic outside school. It had to be said, this was a privilege reserved exclusively for outstanding students…
"I never expected Hogwarts to produce two geniuses like you in the same era. The future of the wizarding world looks like it will be quite something. I just don't know if I'll still be around to see it," Headmaster Dippet sighed.
"Armando, you're still young. Why start talking like that?" Dumbledore said seriously.
"Hah, you little rascal. Your tongue is still as sweet as it was back then. I really am old now, Albus," Headmaster Dippet said, striding into the forest.
For no reason at all, Dumbledore felt his heart grow heavy as well.
Seeing Headmaster Dippet enter the woods, he hurried to follow.
After watching them go in, Mr. Riddle also sighed, then turned and left.
That world was never truly his…
Whoosh!
A streak of white light flashed past Headmaster Dippet's eyes, then darted back toward a wooden cabin deeper in the forest.
"Patronus Charm?" Dumbledore looked at the streak of white with delight. It had moved too fast just now, though, for him to see clearly what kind of Patronus it was.
"Professor Dumbledore? Headmaster Dippet?" Tom looked at the two of them in surprise, then said instinctively, "Wade isn't here."
From Tom's experience, whenever these two appeared together, it was always because of Wade, not him.
But this time, he had guessed wrong.
"We're here for you, Tom," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"For me?" Tom asked in astonishment.
As his attention wavered, the Patronus had already dissipated.
"To master the Patronus Charm at such a young age… a true prodigy. It seems I underestimated your talent after all, Tom," Headmaster Dippet said happily.
"Tom, when did you learn the Patronus Charm?" Dumbledore asked.
"Uh… well…" Tom didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Practising the Patronus Charm using a Dementor was illegal no matter how you looked at it.
Merlin knew where Wade's Dementor had even come from.
It wasn't that he was deliberately covering for Wade Reynolds. He just didn't want to get dragged down by that guy.
Yes, that was it. He simply didn't want to be implicated!
"Just these past few days. I followed the instructions in the book, practiced accordingly, and then I learned it," Tom said.
What he said wasn't exactly a lie. He had simply left out the part about the Dementor.
As Wade had said, the most perfect lie was one that told only part of the truth.
Because of that, even Dumbledore didn't notice anything amiss.
And Wade had also said that if you didn't want people to dwell on your lie, the best approach was to quickly change the subject.
So Tom immediately asked, "Professor, I'm not sure why, but no matter how hard I try, I can't clearly see the true form of my Patronus."
"Oh? Why don't you summon it again and let us have a look?" Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet's attention was indeed diverted.
Tom let out a quiet sigh of relief, gathered his emotions, and once more cast a perfect Patronus Charm.
An extremely indistinct Patronus floated quietly in the space between the three of them.
"Ha! What did I say?" Headmaster Dippet said happily. "This is a genius youth just like you were back then, Dumbledore!"
"No. I can't compare to Tom. When I was his age, I hadn't yet learned the Patronus Charm," Dumbledore said, equally delighted.
"Uh… what's actually going on here?" Tom asked in surprise.
Judging by their reactions, the fact that his Patronus was blurry didn't seem to be a problem at all.
"Tom, since you've learned the Patronus Charm, you should naturally know what Patronuses usually look like," Headmaster Dippet said with a smile.
"Mm… generally, they're all kinds of animals," Tom nodded. "I thought my Patronus would be a snake."
"Yes, under normal circumstances they are animals, and mind you, ordinary animals. However, there is another case," Headmaster Dippet said, turning to look at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore smiled faintly, raised his wand, and gave it a light sweep through the air. A pure white phoenix flew out from the tip of his wand.
"A phoenix? A magical creature? But how is that possible? Wait… this white phoenix… it's your Patronus?" Tom stared at the phoenix in shock.
"Yes… a phoenix. As far as I know, aside from Albus, I've never heard of anyone else whose Patronus is a magical creature," Dippet said with emotion.
"You mean… my Patronus is one too?" Tom said in disbelief.
"From its current state, that does seem to be the case," Dumbledore nodded. "When I first mastered the Patronus Charm, mine was blurred for a period of time as well."
"But… why is that?" Tom asked, both delighted and confused.
"Tom, besides postnatal training, bloodline is also an important factor in a wizard's magic. I don't particularly like putting it this way, but… some people are simply born with stronger talent than others."
Dumbledore said seriously.
"Of course, such gaps can be closed through later training. But it's also a fact that having an advantageous bloodline means starting from a higher point. Some things are simply carried within the blood."
"Albus's ancestors had a connection with phoenixes, so whenever the Dumbledore family has need, a phoenix will come to their aid. You know this as well, Albus has a phoenix of his own. That makes him the one in the Dumbledore family who is closest to phoenixes," Headmaster Dippet said. "That's why his Patronus takes the form of a phoenix."
"Then what about me? Which magical creature would my bloodline be closest to?" Tom asked excitedly.
Dumbledore and Dippet exchanged a glance, then both shook their heads.
"It seems you'll need to wait a while. It will eventually take shape," Headmaster Dippet said.
"Tom, your situation may be somewhat special. As far as I know, there are no records regarding the Patronuses of Slytherin's descendants, so we have nothing to reference," Dumbledore said.
Tom immediately understood. Very few of Slytherin's descendants ever learned the Patronus Charm, so naturally there was little to no documentation.
Just look at the Gaunt family. After so many generations, how many of them weren't Dark wizards?
Even those few who were somewhat kinder probably wouldn't dare learn the Patronus Charm, just in case.
After all, some things are carried within the blood.
Only he, Tom Riddle, had been bold enough to dare learn the Patronus Charm.
Of course, that was also because of that damn Wade Reynolds egging him on!
So perhaps he, Tom Riddle, would become the only Slytherin descendant to ever master the Patronus Charm.
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