Malfoy's face was flushed with anger, but he was utterly speechless. His past actions spoke for themselves; no one believed he hadn't meant to do it.
"Pauper families only produce pauper tricks!"
Malfoy sneered, beckoned to his son, and the two quickly left.
"You shouldn't bother with him, Arthur. That fellow is rotten to the core..."
Hagrid said, smoothing Mr. Weasley's robes.
Ginny Weasley, who had tumbled, quickly bent down to pick up the scattered books, among them a set of books Harry had given her—
The complete set of Lockhart's published books, impossibly expensive, far beyond what the Weasley family's vault could afford even for a single volume.
The Weasley brothers and Harry all helped her pick up the books, and soon they were all gathered. Then, an unfamiliar hand offered her an old textbook, asking, "Is this the last one?"
"Should be... thank you."
Ginny quickly took it, feeling a pang of sadness that she could only use such old things.
She suddenly realized the voice was unfamiliar. Looking up, she saw an unfamiliar boy.
"You are..."
"Wade?" Harry said happily. "Are you here to buy books today too?"
"Yeah," Wade said naturally. "I heard it's Lockhart's new book signing today; I'm a bit curious about this adventurer."
"Adventurer, my foot," Ron scoffed. "He's just a puffed-up peacock!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Hermione immediately retorted. "Have you read his books? Gilderoy Lockhart often goes adventuring in desolate places and deals with the most dangerous creatures!"
Ron's mouth slowly opened, looking at Hermione, who was practically a spitting image of his mother, as if he'd just seen a dragon dance.
"Wake up, Hermione. You can tell at a glance, can't you? He's just a pretty boy!" Ron yelled incredulously.
His words made the numerous Lockhart fans around them glare furiously. If he weren't a child, he'd surely be mobbed.
Hermione was also furious: "Don't slander him! Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart is a very brave man! He can even defeat werewolves single-handedly!"
At the mention of "werewolves," Harry's expression became a little unnatural. He quickly interjected, "Alright, don't argue about this. Wade, have you bought all your books?"
"Yes, I'm heading back now," Wade waved. "See you at school."
Steven dropped Wade off at home before leaving. Wade opened the door to find the house empty, not a soul in sight.
He knew the Grays had organized their company employees to work overtime today to complete an urgent order, so he wasn't surprised to find no one home.
Returning to his bedroom, Wade took out his pen case and gently tapped it with his wand.
This level of usage wouldn't trigger the Ministry of Magic's Trace monitoring.
The pen case unfolded layer by layer, then transformed into a suitcase.
Wade opened it. At the bottom of the case were several boxes of varying sizes; at present, only one of them contained anything.
He opened a flat box and took out a black notebook.
It was a very old diary, the faded date on its cover already fifty years old. Turning to the first page, a blurred name was visible:
Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Above the diary, in his vision, the same name appeared.
Wade picked up a pen and wrote a line of text:
[It is not our talents that matter in the world's progress, but how we use them.]
The text shimmered on the paper, then was absorbed and vanished without a trace.
Subsequently, new text appeared on the paper:
[It has been a long time since I met someone who shared my thoughts. I assume you must be a brilliant young wizard.]
The text flickered, then disappeared, followed by a new line appearing on the paper:
[It's just that people like us often aren't understood or accepted. I used to be very lonely; are you the same?]
—Sorry, I have no intention of confiding in you.
Wade unhesitatingly shoWade the diary into the box.
As the lid closed, runic chains began to crawl over it, coiling round and round, forming a vine-like pattern that eventually settled.
He placed the diary as far as possible from the diadem.
Even though both Horcruxes were tightly sealed in magic-shielding boxes, Wade still felt a sense of urgency.
—It's time to figure out how to deal with the Horcruxes... at least one of them first...
To prevent them from influencing each other, creating some kind of magical resonance, and escaping containment.
At six in the evening, the Grays finally returned, bringing two boxes of pizza from a nearby restaurant.
"Rush orders are such a hassle; if he weren't an old client, I wouldn't pay him this overtime fee."
Ferdinand said, unbuttoning his tie, "Wade, have you been waiting long? Why didn't you watch some TV?"
"I read a bit; I bought new textbooks in Diagon Alley today."
Wade helped his mother take her coat and hung it on the rack.
Ferdinand placed a briefcase on the table and said, "This is what you wanted... Wade, use it well, and don't put yourself in danger."
"I understand, Dad," Wade said.
"What is it?" Fiona asked curiously. "I asked your father on the way, but he wouldn't tell me."
Wade smiled and said, "It's magical ingredients required by the school, like fly eyes or toad eggs. Do you want to see them?"
He pretended to open the case, and Fiona immediately jumped behind her husband, closing her eyes and exclaiming:
"No, no, no, don't open it! I'll have nightmares if I see them!"
Ferdinand tapped his son's head, and Wade smiled cunningly.
After dinner, back in his bedroom, he finally opened the briefcase.
The small case was filled with personal résumés, featuring photos, names, personalities, family members, and other basic information. Tucked inside was also a transparent specimen collection bag containing three or four strands of hair.
These were the "magical ingredients" Ferdinand had collected for him, mostly from prison inmates. Some looked very dangerous just from their appearance, while others seemed harmless.
Some also came from barber shops or hospitals; the people in the photos included men and women, old and young.
Collecting hair was easy, but gathering information about the hair's owner was not, especially since he couldn't hire others to do this crucial task.
Ferdinand had spent a long time, little by little, collecting so much. As for the Polyjuice Potion, Wade had already brewed a large cauldron of it last semester.
When someone used Polyjuice Potion, even Dumbledore couldn't tell the difference, as Barty Crouch had already proven to him.
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