There are fools in this world, but don't treat everyone as fools.
Wayne admitted he'd somewhat underestimated Fudge. Though the man was power-hungry, when faced with irrefutable evidence, he'd sobered up enough to plan an exit strategy.
Even if Fudge still refused to acknowledge Voldemort's return openly, he'd privately accepted the truth.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have spoken so candidly with Wayne or sought to retire with dignity and reputation intact.
The conditions weren't unreasonable, and Wayne fancied seeing how this would play out, so he agreed readily.
As for Fudge's desired dignified exit...
Simple. Since you're already the scapegoat, just find someone else to share the blame.
No need for complex dragon-slaying tactics or imperial strategies—the man wouldn't understand them anyway. A couple of simple suggestions would suffice.
Seeing Fudge deep in thought, Wayne took some souvenirs and left.
No contracts were signed, only verbal promises exchanged. Wayne wasn't worried about betrayal.
Fudge's decision to bring Wayne alone to his home today demonstrated sincerity—the unspoken message being 'If I renege, you can make sure I meet my maker by sundown.'
Both men understood the tacit agreement:
Overturning the table was also part of the game rules.
"Uncle, what brings you here?"
Having Apparated home and intending to continue his 'human creation project' research with Nagini, Wayne was surprised to find Humphrey visiting.
Nagini sat primly, engaged in conversation with Humphrey.
Spotting Wayne, Humphrey frowned slightly. "The train arrived hours ago. Why so late?"
"I had dinner with the Minister for Magic. Had I known you were coming, I'd have cancelled."
"Give me a moment." Wayne went upstairs to change into casual clothes before rejoining them, sitting beside Nagini.
When Nagini moved to give them privacy, Humphrey stopped her. "Nagini mentioned there's been trouble—even the Minister went missing for a time?
"And that... 'You-Know-Who' person? Is that actually someone's name?"
Humphrey regarded Wayne with concern.
The Daily Prophet worked fast. Recent events at Hogwarts and Crouch's arrest had dominated headlines, with Fudge's disappearance sparking countless conspiracy theories.
Today's front page had dropped the bombshell of Dumbledore's speech from yesterday, which Nagini must have seen.
Humphrey had questioned Nagini about recent developments in the magical world, and her partial disclosures had clearly worried him.
"More dangerous than last year's escaped convict, but it won't affect me," Wayne said truthfully. "Think terrorist... no, more like a mafia boss with plenty of enforcers."
Nagini's expression turned peculiar at Wayne's unconventional description of Voldemort.
It felt wrong... yet oddly accurate...
Humphrey's frown deepened. "Is the magical world's defence as useless as our British military? All show and no substance?"
Wayne: "..."
His uncle certainly didn't mince words with that painfully accurate observation.
Wayne spread his hands helplessly. "Fudge has started using fourth-tier tactics now. I can't be bothered to intervene, so don't worry about my safety. Absolutely no issues."
"Reached that stage already?" Humphrey asked. Wayne held up a single finger, leaving him momentarily speechless.
"Seems wizards aren't so different from us after all."
"There are still some differences. In certain aspects, their blame-shifting skills are far poorer."
Humphrey nodded slightly, smugly adjusting his suit. "Naturally. This is expertise honed over centuries of British bureaucracy. How could a bunch of eccentrics possibly master it?"
"Let's not dwell on that." Wayne snapped his fingers, conjuring a cup of black tea before him. "You must have other business coming here?"
"Two matters." Humphrey produced an invitation from his briefcase. "From Buckingham Palace. That individual wishes to dine with you privately."
The corners of Humphrey's mouth were harder to suppress than an AK-47, his face brimming with unconcealed pride.
Even in this constitutional monarchy where Buckingham Palace held no real power, its influence remained deeply entrenched.
A private dinner invitation for Wayne signified that the Lawrence family now held sway over Britain's foundations. Despite Wayne being underage, they clearly took him seriously.
Humphrey swelled with pride at having such an outstanding nephew.
Accepting the invitation and noting the date—the eleventh of next month—Wayne pondered briefly before nodding. "Alright, I'll attend.
"Uncle, will you be joining?"
"I shan't. The invitation is solely for you. But do be cautious—don't get hoodwinked. Certain... foundations mustn't be disclosed."
Humphrey's warning was veiled. He knew Wayne had employed some wizarding methods during his expansion—matters best kept from public scrutiny to avoid panic.
Both societies had maintained a policy of mutual non-interference. There was no need to broadcast minor transgressions.
"I know my limits," Wayne chuckled.
"Second matter."
Humphrey sat straighter, expression turning grave. "You'll graduate from that place in a few years. University considerations should begin now."
Wayne grimaced. "You're joking, right?"
"You want me at university after I've already graduated? Didn't you tell me the point was to reduce unemployment rates?"
"What's that got to do with me?"
"Entirely different," Humphrey said testily. "Graduating from your school barely counts as secondary education. It'd embarrass the Lawrence name."
"Even coasting through, you must secure a Balliol College diploma."
"What if I fancied Trinity?" Wayne teased.
Humphrey's face darkened. "No way!"
Seeing his severity, Wayne laughed. "Just winding you up. Don't take it so seriously."
"Coasting for a diploma? Fine, I'll do it."
Wayne knew full well his uncle's disdain for Cambridge—even LSE outranked it in his eyes.
"That's more like it." Humphrey's expression softened at Wayne's acquiescence. "It's late. Get some rest—I'll take my leave."
"Let me see you out."
Rising, Wayne escorted Humphrey outside before Apparating them directly to his uncle's doorstep.
Before parting, Wayne took out another pile of accessories and handed them to Humphrey, explaining their uses, then produced a wand.
"If anyone from the magical world comes looking for you, point this wand at them and give it a firm flick to cast a spell."
Humphrey perked up. "Does that make me a wizard then?"
"Afraid not." Wayne shook his head. "You'll only be able to use a few attack-type spells, and just the same handful repeatedly."
"That's more than enough." Humphrey happily tucked the wand into his trouser pocket.
The prototype was originally the practice wands used for Harry and Malfoy's training. After Wayne's repeated improvements, with Philosopher's Stone fragments as the core, even ordinary people could wield magic with it—one of the safety measures he'd prepared for Humphrey.
Though judging by Humphrey's expression, it would likely end up as a toy.
Men remain boys at heart until death, and even this nation's chief civil servant was no exception.
Returning home, Wayne discussed rapid casting of Hardening and Softening Charms with Nagini, who'd been starved for his attention.
Afterwards, as Nagini sank into a deep sleep, Wayne began summarising the year's events.
Without doubt, this had been a bountiful year.
He couldn't speak for Durmstrang, but students from other schools had left with both reluctance and financial pain.
A rumour circulated among them: 'No one leaves Hogwarts with their pocket money intact.'
Between games and prank items popular with boys, and skincare products and stylish stationery favoured by girls, countless students had written home begging for funds this year.
Wayne's point earnings had been equally staggering.
[Point Balance: 22,380]
During term, he'd drawn the pseudo-divine tier reward—unsurprisingly, another 1% of the dragon king's inheritance.
Though currently unusable, accumulation might someday yield the complete version.
The bulk came from Celia Store, but a significant portion derived from later sending Fudge to Voldemort and 'turning' young Barty for mischief points.
After consideration, Wayne spent 100 draws at once.
Now, only legendary-tier rewards held appeal; ordinary epic-tier barely registered.
Skipping blue and white cards, Wayne opened the purple ones.
Beyond an Unyielding talent, nothing noteworthy appeared.
Many spells had reached their ceiling, prompting research into variants.
Take the Legilimency Spell—this lie-detector during conversations was notoriously difficult to master, even for prodigies.
At the height of Grindelwald's influence, he'd relied on Queenie's natural Legilimency to gauge wizards' loyalty.
Voldemort, meanwhile, had been thoroughly deceived by Snape's Occlumency.
Through correspondence with Queenie, Wayne refined the subtlety and precision of his Legilimency.
His unconscious use during discussions with Fudge ensured truthful responses.
After these lacklustre draws, Wayne opened his first gold card.
As golden light shattered, the prize was revealed.
"...Eh?"
Wayne froze.
It wasn't because Nagini had kicked off the blankets and revealed the large mounds, but because a book had appeared in his hand.
[Tome of Amplification: Increases the spell power of the wielder, with a maximum limit of legendary tier.]
[Note: This equipment is a basic item and can be synthesised into higher-tier treasures.]
So you could get equipment too?
He'd already drawn over a dozen or two gold cards by now, along with quite a few critical hit packages, but this was the first time he'd obtained equipment.
After some thought, he tucked the blankets back around Nagini and then slipped into the suitcase's miniature world.
Holding the Tome of Amplification in one hand and his wand in the other.
"Expelliarmus!"
An unfortunate rock was blasted into fragments.
Pondering this, Wayne tossed the book aside and selected an even more unfortunate rock.
"Expelliarmus!"
Bang!
Once again, it shattered into pieces.
Wayne: '...'
No good, the reference object wasn't right—the rocks were too brittle.
He then produced two steel plates and conducted another comparison, ultimately discovering...
There was indeed amplification, but not much.
"Gardevoir," Wayne called softly, and the ever-dutiful little maid was summoned over even while still asleep.
Seeing those dazed big eyes, Wayne felt rather embarrassed.
"Sorry, I forgot how late it is now."
"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir gently shook her head to indicate it was fine.
Since she was already up, Wayne didn't send her back to bed. Instead, he handed her the book to test as well.
Sure enough, the Tome of Amplification wasn't the issue—it was him.
When Gardevoir held it, her magical power increased by about twenty per cent, a quite significant boost.
The problem was that his own magic power was already too large. Going from one thousand to one thousand and twenty naturally didn't feel as noticeable as from a hundred to one hundred and twenty.
"You can keep this book for now. I'll take it back if I need it later."
Gardevoir nodded happily, and Wayne ruffled her little head before sending her back to sleep.
A single Tome of Amplification meant little to him, but if he could draw more equipment later and synthesise a Void Staff... now that would be a real windfall.
Directly ignoring defences to deal damage—it would practically be a divine artefact for fighting above one's tier.
The Rabadon's Deathcap wouldn't be bad either, with its high magic power and percentage-based amplification, truly a peerless divine item in its time.
But right now, all he had was a single book, so there was no point thinking that far ahead.
Shaking his head, Wayne initiated another hundred-draw. This time was even worse—not a single talent appeared. He didn't even glance at the purple cards, directly shattering the golden light...