"You see? You're getting worked up again. I only said I'd take you there for a look. I never said I was sending you in," Wade said calmly.
"I don't believe you! Who in their right mind goes sightseeing at a place like Azkaban?" Tom flatly refused to fall for it.
"What about you two? Are you coming?" Wade turned and asked.
In the dormitory, Henry and Alphard both shook their heads repeatedly.
They had heard stories about how dark and terrifying Azkaban was since childhood. Neither of them had the slightest desire to see it for themselves.
No. Better if they never had any reason to go there at all.
"I want to go!" Lucifer eagerly raised its hand from inside the oil lamp on the table. "I heard Dementors all taste like ice cream! I want to try one!"
Lucifer stuck out its tongue and licked its lips. Sparks that looked suspiciously like drool fell onto Henry's homework and set half of it on fire.
"No! My Potions essay! I spent the entire morning writing that!" Henry wailed.
"All right, stop howling. With an essay like that, it'd be a miracle if you passed anyway! I'll write you another one..." Lucifer flipped open the lid, flew out, wrapped itself around a quill, dragged over a sheet of parchment, and began writing at high speed.
"If you don't want to go, then forget it. I'm definitely going. Grindelwald captured one of the people who attacked the Hogwarts Express, and I want to meet him," Wade explained.
Hearing that, Tom hesitated before asking, "You really aren't trying to send me to Azkaban?"
Wade smiled. "If you insist on staying there for a while, I suppose that can be arranged. After all, you were once known as the Little Prince of Azkaban. If you never actually visit Azkaban, the title feels a little undeserved."
By now, Tom had realised Wade genuinely had no intention of imprisoning him, so he was no longer as panicked as before.
"If we're only going for a visit... I suppose that's fine." Tom flicked his wand, and a wisp of white mist drifted from the tip. "I can cast the Patronus Charm. As long as they don't confiscate my wand, I'm not afraid of those Dementors at all!"
"Good. We'll ask the others later and see whether anyone else wants to visit Azkaban. It's not an opportunity you get every day," Wade said.
"Why do you want us to go with you anyway? You're definitely not trying to make us keep you company because you're scared, right?" Tom asked suspiciously.
Wade smiled. "I just want you to see Azkaban in advance. You know, what we plan to do in the future isn't guaranteed to go smoothly. One day, we might actually get thrown into Azkaban. It's always better to familiarise ourselves with the place beforehand."
Alphard shuddered. "I once ran into a few Dementors by accident... That feeling... urgg. It was like I'd never be happy again. And there are far more than just one of those monsters in Azkaban. I'm never going anywhere near that place again, no matter what!"
"All right. I won't force you," Wade said calmly.
This time, Tom only hesitated briefly before agreeing to go, completely unlike his initial reaction.
He had already figured it out.
The moment Alphard and the others showed such extreme fear of Azkaban, it meant they had little chance of ever becoming part of the organisation's inner circle.
If they feared Azkaban so much that they were unwilling even to visit, then there was also a possibility that they might betray their friends out of fear of being sent there.
Even if that possibility was only one percent, Wade would never trust them completely.
Still, that did not conflict with the way Wade chose people.
Alphard and Henry were members of pure-blood families, after all. In many situations, they simply could not empathise with certain things.
That alone was enough to ensure that, in the end, they could only ever become ordinary friends of Wade's.
Even if they eventually joined the organisation, they would never hold core positions.
Tom had no intention of being excluded from the inner circle in the future.
Given how generous Wade was, the benefits of becoming a core member later would be enormous.
Wade's decision to ask everyone's opinion this time was also a way of confirming who was truly trustworthy and who still carried inherent risks even after earning his trust.
Tom had no intention of losing this opportunity.
More than ten minutes passed while Tom went out to ask the others.
Lucifer tossed a sheet of parchment covered densely in writing toward Henry.
"Here. This is the essay I owe you."
"Damn.."
Henry had only read the beginning when he sucked in a sharp breath. "Wade, why can even these strange magical creations of yours help people with their homework? And... it's even in my handwriting! Most importantly... it's better than mine. Faster and better..."
Henry slumped into his chair, looking utterly defeated. A magical flame that was clearly an artificial creation had managed to write an essay in just over ten minutes that was better than the one he had spent the entire morning on.
For a moment, Henry suddenly felt that life had lost all meaning.
"Boy! Who are you calling a strange magical creation!?" Lucifer roared angrily. "I have a name! I am Lucifer! Lucifer Morningstar!"
...
After confirming how many people wanted to visit Azkaban, Wade submitted the application to Grindelwald after lunch.
Grindelwald looked at the long list of names, and his expression immediately darkened.
"You're going to Azkaban to check whether there's anything wrong with that Scourer! You're not actually going there for sightseeing! What is this?" Grindelwald tossed the application back at him.
As it turned out, quite a few students were willing to accompany Wade.
Aside from Flitwick and a handful of Hufflepuff and Slytherin students, most of them were naturally those brave, adventure-loving Gryffindors.
"They're only going to take a look and come straight back. They won't interfere with anyone's work," Wade said.
"Take a look and come straight back? Do you have any idea how many names you wrote down here?" Grindelwald said irritably. "How about this. I'll allow you to bring one or two classmates at most. Everyone else stays at Hogwarts. When you return, they can use Dumbledore's Pensieve to experience your memories for themselves. That can count as seeing Azkaban too."
"I see... What a shame," Wade said dejectedly.
"I'm already being generous by letting you bring two! If I let you take everyone on this list to Azkaban, Dumbledore would absolutely refuse the moment he found out. I'm exhausted enough dealing with this educational reform. I really don't want to keep fighting with him over everything..."
Grindelwald rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily. "Tell me, what exactly is wrong with my educational reform? I just want these inexperienced students to learn more while they're still at school, so that once they graduate, they at least have some ability to protect themselves instead of being captured by Muggles and burned on a cross because their magic is too pathetic!"
Wade suddenly smiled.
"That's because even though you've chosen a different path, the way you handle things still makes people suspicious. You're still using your old way of thinking and doing things. Take this educational reform, for example. Your first instinct was still to make everyone learn Dark Magic. Yes, Dark Magic can make students much stronger in a short period of time, but you should also know that Dumbledore could never tolerate that."
"Then what am I supposed to do? No matter what I do, that old fool only knows how to oppose me! Oppose me!" Grindelwald complained.
"Director, have you ever tried doing things Dumbledore's way? If, from the very beginning, you had simply emphasised teaching students more powerful spells, giving them more practical combat experience, and improving their ability to protect themselves, without mentioning Dark Magic at all... I think that even if Professor Dumbledore still suspected your motives, he wouldn't have fought you as fiercely as he did before.
"Professor Dumbledore is a good teacher. He has never refused something that genuinely benefits the students. He might even offer to help. Speaking of which... have you never considered that one day, Professor Dumbledore might actually work alongside you toward the same goal?"
Grindelwald's eyes flickered.
He truly had never imagined that such a day might come.
"All right... I think I understand." After thinking for a moment, a look of realisation crossed Grindelwald's face. "Use his methods to achieve my goals... instead of using my methods to achieve my goals."
"Exactly. Looks like I don't need to say anything more." Wade clapped his hands.
"Excellent! You may bring one more person to Azkaban!" Grindelwald said cheerfully.
...
After leaving Grindelwald's office, Wade could not help laughing.
When Dumbledore eventually saw Grindelwald speaking and acting more and more like him, his expression would probably be priceless.
And if Grindelwald kept imitating Dumbledore's behaviour...
Given enough time, Dumbledore might genuinely start believing that Grindelwald had turned over a new leaf. Perhaps the two of them might even end up working toward the same goal again.
By then, Wade wondered whether Grindelwald would still be willing to throw away that hard-won relationship and reveal his true nature once more.
Grindelwald would probably be incredibly conflicted and miserable.
Of course, if Grindelwald truly did change...
That would make things even more interesting.
Dumbledore had always worried that once Wade came into contact with power, he might become another Grindelwald, leaving the wizarding world to face two ambitious Grindelwalds.
But he had never considered the possibility that Grindelwald might become another Dumbledore.
If, in the future, the wizarding world ended up with two Dumbledores...
Wade was already looking forward to seeing that day.
It was a pity that the system's merit-point calculation had malfunctioned. Otherwise, if that day really came, he would have loved to see just how many merit points he would gain.
______
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69