— — — — — —
Tom realized he was starting to fight himself mentally. Half the things he did contradicted the other half.
Out of all the tasks he currently had going, the easiest ones to complete were the Inter-Academy Tournament and the Wizard Ranking project. As long as they drew enough attention and influence, the rewards would keep rising.
But lately, Andros and Grindelwald had been causing too much chaos. Everyone was focused on the Sun Chasers and the Acolytes' movements, and so the tournament's popularity had plummeted overnight.
Tom was getting seriously irritated.
Sure, he had been the one who told Andros to muddy the waters in the first place. But when had a boss ever been wrong? Obviously, the fault lay with the subordinate who failed to understand his "clear" intentions.
Looking at Andros's swollen pig-like face, Tom's mood finally improved a little.
The next step... was pulling everyone's attention back again.
"Old Grindy, come to Hogwarts tonight."
As soon as he spoke, the boy's figure dissolved like bubbles in the air. Grindelwald tapped the side of his own head, flashed Andros a wide grin, and slipped away as well.
Leaving Andros standing there alone, on the verge of tears.
Now he finally understood. Today had basically been Grindelwald using Tom's hand to beat the both of them into submission. And since Andros had been the one to stir up trouble first, while Grindelwald still had follow-up tasks to handle as the leader of the Acolytes, most of the blame had landed squarely on him.
He had suffered almost all the firepower today.
He'd lost so badly it was practically ancient Greek tragedy levels of suffering.
Andros had always been a lone wolf, someone who believed true power belonged to the individual alone. But now, for the first time, ambition sparked in him. He wanted to follow Grindelwald's example and build an "Acolytes" faction of his own.
...
..
Hogwarts—
At Friday's banquet, Grindelwald's sudden appearance instantly froze the lively atmosphere.
The noisy chatter throughout the hall vanished. Most people lowered their heads, too afraid to look at him, while many students shifted uneasily in their seats.
During the past few months, Grindelwald's unusually peaceful behavior had slowly made people forget that he was the Dark Lord.
But this week's bloody retaliation dragged every terrifying memory right back to the surface.
This was never some harmless handsome middle-aged man.
This was a monster capable of throwing the entire wizarding world into wartime chaos at a moment's notice.
If Dumbledore hadn't been standing beside him, some people probably would have fled the Great Hall already.
"Fontaine, what exactly are you hiding from?"
Ignoring everyone else's reactions, Grindelwald entered the hall shoulder to shoulder with Dumbledore. After casually sweeping his gaze across the room, his eyes locked directly onto Agilbert Fontaine.
"Hiding?"
Fontaine frowned. He clearly hadn't expected Grindelwald to come after him the second he arrived. But with so many people watching, he couldn't afford to back down.
He answered coldly, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Since the moment you walked in, have I moved at all?"
"Fontaine, your eyes are avoiding mine. Feeling guilty?"
Grindelwald stopped in front of the head table with his hands clasped behind his back. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Hmm... those Sun-Chasers claim to be followers of the Feathered Serpent God, Quetzalcoatl. And that Quetzalcoatl just happens to have suspiciously close ties to MACUSA. So tell me, are they your people?"
Countless heads snapped upward at once.
Everyone stared at the visibly stunned Fontaine with anticipation in their eyes, including Ilvermorny's own students.
A lot of people had already suspected there was a connection. But openly confronting Fontaine and laying everything bare like this? Only Grindelwald had the confidence and authority to do it.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Fontaine was both shocked and furious. He immediately put on an indignant expression, "I have absolutely nothing to do with the Sun-Chasers. Stop throwing baseless accusations around."
"Oh? But you're not denying that you're connected to the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl?" Grindelwald's eyes immediately lit up. "Looks like we really do need to put you under control."
Fontaine nearly exploded from anger.
Was this bastard seriously going this far?
"Dumbledore, are you just going to stand there and watch?"
Seeing that Grindelwald actually looked ready to make a move, Fontaine hurriedly shot Dumbledore a pleading look.
This is your territory. Are you really going to side with Grindelwald?
Dumbledore gave a slight nod and stepped forward, positioning himself between the two men.
"Grindelwald, you're free to have your suspicions. But Professor Fontaine is my guest, not a criminal you've captured."
"Heh. Still as hypocritical as ever." Grindelwald let out a mocking snort. Instead of returning to his seat, he turned and walked straight out of the Great Hall through the side entrance, as if he'd only shown up in the first place to question Fontaine.
Dumbledore smoothly shifted everyone's attention elsewhere.
"The fourth round of the competition will begin tomorrow at two-thirty in the afternoon. Any students wishing to attend must remain in the Great Hall before one-thirty, where professors will escort everyone to the venue together."
After making the announcement, Dumbledore returned to his seat and continued eating dinner with obvious enjoyment.
His calm, unconcerned attitude reassured quite a few people.
No matter what, as long as Dumbledore was here, Hogwarts wasn't a place where Grindelwald could simply do whatever he wanted.
Hadn't the confrontation just now proven exactly that?
...
"Do your best tomorrow."
Back in the common room, Tom rubbed Daphne's head affectionately. "Your current score isn't looking too good. If you still can't catch up in the next round, making it to the finals is going to be difficult."
"Then why don't you leak a little information to me?"
Daphne's eyes darted around before she put on an adorably pitiful expression, staring at him with expectation. "Onii-chan, you wouldn't want me to lose miserably, right? Your heart could handle that?"
"Stop learning from that fox Kamio." Tom pinched her nose lightly. "Alright, go get some rest already. Tomorrow's competition is definitely going to be even more exhausting than the Black Lake round."
In the end, Tom still couldn't resist dropping a tiny hint.
The Greengrass heiress's brain, which rarely operated at full speed, suddenly clicked into gear. She caught the hidden meaning instantly, and her eyes lit up.
...
Later that night, Tom quietly took Hermione out.
The two of them spent the entire night studying ancient runes… or rather, iCodex development research papers.
Other than Tom, Hermione was probably the person in the world who understood communication runes the best.
That wasn't just because of her hard work or the advantage of being personally guided by the creator himself. Her Muggle upbringing also played a huge role.
Once she grasped the core principles behind communication runes, Hermione immediately connected them to the rapidly developing world of computers and the internet. The idea fascinated her beyond measure.
Ever since entering fourth year, she had devoted nearly all her free time to researching the field, determined to turn communication runes into the wizarding world's equivalent of a programming language.
Tom genuinely hoped she would succeed.
If he had to single-handedly recreate every application, entertainment platform, and software system from his previous life, then he could forget about improving his strength altogether. The workload alone would kill him.
If Hermione really pulled it off, then maybe in the near future, he'd actually get to play magical versions of Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, or The Witcher 3..
.
.