Since Wade completed his magical contract with Grindelwald, a week had quickly passed.
It was the weekend. Wade was holed up in the laboratory within the Slytherin common room, observing a snake egg inside an incubator.
"What a pity… out of ten eggs, only this one remains," Wade said helplessly.
"So this is the snake egg you produced using the Basilisk's flesh and blood?" Tom's voice came from behind him.
"It's not 'produced,' it's cloned. Of course, due to the Basilisk's unique nature, the cloned individual can never truly reach the same level of strength. Still, it's a fairly successful experiment," Wade replied, sounding quite pleased.
Tom neither agreed nor disagreed. "Anne mentioned that Grindelwald plans to announce on Monday that an additional exam will be introduced for all year levels at the end of the term…"
"Oh?" Wade raised an eyebrow in surprise. "It seems Grindelwald has become more cautious now…"
Given Grindelwald's original temperament, he would have directly implemented educational reforms at Hogwarts.
The trial-based training would certainly have been forcibly incorporated into the students' regular curriculum.
But now… Grindelwald had quietly placed this trial training into the end-of-term examinations instead.
In this way, the public and the students' parents, unaware of the details, would simply assume it was just another added exam, and naturally would not oppose it too strongly.
Still, when had Grindelwald's methods become so restrained?
"It seems his determination is even stronger than I imagined," Wade said with a sigh. "Even if it takes more time, he's willing to adopt a gentler approach that avoids offending others… it looks like Grindelwald truly wants to move forward."
"Isn't that the method you taught him?" Tom could not help but say.
"I didn't teach him that. I only showed him a path. Now it seems the current Grindelwald is even more dangerous." Wade smiled faintly. "Tom, do you know when a beast is most terrifying?"
"When?" Tom asked.
Wade's smile deepened. "When it learns to hide its claws and fangs."
Tom felt a slight chill at those words. After confirming that Wade did not seem to be directing the remark at him, he finally let out a quiet breath of relief.
"And that exam… are you planning to take part?" Tom asked.
"The trial stages were all designed by me. What would be the point of me participating?" Wade shifted his gaze back to the snake egg. "By the way, how are they doing now?"
Tom naturally knew who Wade was referring to and immediately replied, "Following your instructions, the club members train their combat skills whenever they have time. As for the first-years, the most outstanding are Filius and Alastor. Anne nearly lost to Filius because she was careless."
"Good. In that case, there's no need for anyone to worry about Grindelwald's exam. As for you… Tom, I want you to take the seventh-year trial."
"Seventh year?" Tom was startled. "That's the highest difficulty… I'm only in my second year!"
"Tom… do you think it's still appropriate for you to take the second-year trial?" Wade looked at him calmly, a faint smile on his face.
Under that gaze, which seemed to see straight through him, Tom grew visibly uneasy.
"It's not appropriate… fine, I'll take the seventh-year trial…"
"Very good. I'll inform the professors. When the time comes, you can go directly."
Wade turned back once more, looking at the snake egg.
Tom's mood also shifted from ease to tension.
The seventh-year trial was something even he would have to face with full concentration.
After all, no matter how talented he was, he was still young. Compared to seventh-year students, he held no advantage in magical power, and might even be at a disadvantage.
A challenge that even seventh-years would find difficult… to be honest, Tom did not have much confidence in himself.
After all, he was not like Wade, starting at full strength from the very beginning.
Suddenly, a crisp cracking sound came from the incubator ahead.
"Tom, it's about to hatch." Wade's delighted voice pulled Tom back to his senses.
Tom stepped forward and looked into the incubator.
Wade handed him a pair of alchemical glasses to put on.
After all, this was a clone of a Basilisk. Even if its eyes were not as powerful as the original, they still carried some degree of lethality.
At that moment, the cracks on the snake egg inside the incubator spread further.
In the next second, a piece of the shell fell away, and Wade and Tom saw a small snake head emerge…
…
Monday.
The students quickly noticed a new announcement on the school notice board.
All students, including the seventh-years about to graduate, were informed that an additional practical combat exam would be added at the end of the term.
At first, most students were rather displeased.
Exams were already exhausting, and now there was another one. Who would willingly accept that?
However, when they reached the end of the announcement, everyone became excited.
They discovered that the results of the practical exam could compensate for grades in other subjects.
For example, if a student failed Potions, they could use their practical exam score to make up for it, turning a failing grade into a pass.
And for those who had already passed all their subjects, the score could be converted into house points and added to their house, directly influencing the outcome of the House Cup at the end of the term.
As for the graduating seventh-years, if they passed this exam, it would be added to their academic record.
If they later wished to enter the Ministry of Magic or take the Auror examination, their performance in this test could even lower the entry requirements accordingly.
With that, the students' earlier resentment toward the added exam vanished, replaced instead by anticipation and determination.
The Gryffindor students were especially excited.
They shouted about claiming the House Cup this year while throwing themselves into extra training.
The Slytherin students, naturally unwilling to lose to their long-standing rivals, also began pushing themselves harder.
Even many Ravenclaw students who had not previously joined the SMASH club quickly submitted applications in recent days.
Ravenclaw would not fall behind anyone. Previously, they had felt that duelling had little to do with academic results, so they had shown little interest in the club.
But now… extra training was a must.
As a result, the number of members practising duelling in the club suddenly surged.
Seeing the club become lively once more, Wade had Tom approach Professor Slughorn to request several additional activity rooms.
At the same time, he subtly guided the direction of the students' training.
Otherwise, if they continued training aimlessly like this, it would be difficult for even a third of them to pass the challenge when the time came.
Naturally, Grindelwald was aware of Wade's little maneuvers, but he did not stop him.
After all, his goal was not only to temper the students' will, but also to give them the strength to defeat hypothetical enemies.
And who were those hypothetical enemies? Muggles, of course.
That was why Grindelwald did not oppose Wade replacing his dark creatures with humanoid puppets.
Because Wade's humanoid puppets fought exactly like Muggles.
Moreover, what Grindelwald appreciated most were the modified bullets.
To avoid enduring that kind of pain again, those little brats would surely become even more eager to grow stronger…
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