Wade couldn't help but feel emotional—he never expected the bald version of Tom to arrive decades ahead of schedule...

"What the fucked up day in this fucking hell! What weird thing did you mess with this time in the name of Merlin's balls!? My hair… don't tell me it won't grow back?" Tom reached up and touched the right side of his scalp, which still stung from the corrosion.

"Relax, it's just venom from the Venomous Geranium. Yeah, it's a stronger version, but I can still neutralize it," Wade said.

Hearing that his hair could grow back, Tom let out a sigh of relief.

Though he always claimed not to care about his appearance, if only half of his head could grow hair in the future...

Seriously, Tom could live with being ugly—but he absolutely couldn't accept being ridiculous!

Besides, he could accept being ugly only if it meant gaining great power in return!

Getting screwed over for nothing? Who the hell would be okay with that?!

"So why do you always end up creating these weird-ass things?" Tom demanded. "Other people keep cats, you keep a cat too—but yours is just short of talking! Other people grow herbs, you grow herbs too—but the stuff you grow is bloody unnatural!"

"Ahem… Tom, it was just an accident… Like I've said before—one beautiful coincidence! A miracle of life born from chance! Isn't that magical?"

"That's only because you're not the one who got screwed! That's the only reason you can say crap like that!" Tom snapped.

"You can't completely blame me! Who told you to come along that time?" Wade looked aggrieved.

He'd been busy tending to his plants, and Tom had never shown the slightest interest before—who knew he'd suddenly decide to tag along today?

"Oh, so now it's my fault? I'm the victim here! If you hadn't grown that freaky plant, how would I have ended up like this?!"

"I told you, it was an accident… How was I supposed to know it brought the wrong nutrient solution?"

"You let a cat carry your nutrient solution… That's your idea of scientific rigor? Is this the great experimental spirit you're always so proud of?"

"So what? My cat can even brew potions! He's way more useful than some people..." Wade muttered.

"I'm writing to Dumbledore!" Tom didn't bother arguing anymore and went straight for the nuclear option—tattling.

He might not be able to beat Wade, but not every problem needed to be solved with violence!

He just needed to find someone who could keep Wade in check!

Hmm… this tactic he actually picked up from Grindelwald.

Oh, right—Grindelwald probably learned it from Wade too.

So, in conclusion, this method still ended up being something he'd learned from Wade.

"Wait, mate... when did you start tattling?"

Wade was stunned. He'd thought Tom would do what he always did—grab his wand and try to duel him.

"Grindelwald said in the newspaper that the era of violence and bloodshed is over… I'm learning, Wade…" Tom said as he turned to head back to his room to write the letter.

Wade suddenly felt like he'd just shot himself in the foot...

"I'll stop you from sending that letter. You should know, without enough power to back it up, even knowing the right method won't help you!"

"Whatever. It's not like Professor Dumbledore won't come visit us. When he does, I'll just tell him in person."

"I'll teach you a Dark spell!" Wade held up a finger. "Just promise you won't snitch, and I'll teach you one powerful Dark spell!"

"Two!"

"Deal!" Wade sneered. "And don't you dare try anything sneaky—learn the Dark magic and then still go rat me out! If you even try, I've got a full set of Obliviate spells ready to go!"

"Hmph, I don't have such rotten character like you," Tom said with disdain.

Wade's eyes went wide. He began to wonder if he was still dreaming.

He never imagined there would come a day when Voldemort would accuse him of having worse morals.

"Oh? So I have terrible morals, huh? Fine then, I won't pretend anymore. Since I'm such a bad person, I'll just go ahead and use my full memory-wiping spell! Why bother trading it for Dark magic?" Wade said with a wicked grin.

The smug look on Tom's face vanished instantly. "I mean, we can talk this through... Two Dark spells is a bit much. How about just one?"

"You said it yourself, I have terrible morals..."

"No, I was just joking! Everyone in Godric's Hollow knows how upstanding you are!"

"Hmm, maybe I should be a little more morally bankrupt. Having zero integrity does sound a bit more fun. Thanks for the suggestion, Tom. I'll try to go easy on you."

"Damn it... I let my guard down..."

…

Wizard Tower.

Wade was currently casting the Undetectable Extension Charm inside the newly built greenhouse.

Toby could build the structure, but he hadn't yet mastered the Extension Charm.

So this part had to be handled by Wade himself.

Only after expanding the interior space to a satisfactory size did Wade walk over to the corner where a curtain was hanging.

Behind that curtain was the mutated Venomous Geranium.

After having a heartfelt "chat" with Tom yesterday, Wade had transplanted the Venomous Geranium to the wizard tower.

After all, the thing was genuinely dangerous...

Even regular Venomous Geraniums had fangs with venom potent enough to be fatal to humans.

Let alone this mutated version, which now acted like a magical Peashooter.

Although it was now impossible to know how it would've grown if it had continued along its original path, its current state still seemed quite promising.

This mutated Venomous Geranium had extremely aggressive behavior, and its venom could even corrode a wizard's Shield Charm!

If he could improve the venom just a bit more, and optimize its friend-or-foe recognition system, its offensive potential might even surpass that of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage.

Pouring magical creature nutrient solution on a magical plant? What a genius idea!

Next, Wade planned to take some samples and thoroughly test what changes had occurred in the medicinal properties of this mutated Venomous Geranium.

After all, aside from their offensive uses, magical plants were also important ingredients in potion-making.

The emergence of a new medicinal herb meant the birth of entirely new potion recipes.

After that, Wade needed to test whether this thing had developed any form of consciousness.

If it did—and if that consciousness was similar to that of an animal—then wouldn't that mean it might be possible to tame it?

If it didn't have consciousness, and all its dangerous behavior was simply instinctual plant reactions, then he'd have to research how to avoid its attacks and figure out how to control it.

Then came the matter of enhancing its toxicity...

In the days that followed, Wade once again became busy.

…

Ministry of Magic.

Inside Grindelwald's new office.

"These textbooks are completely outdated! And this teaching method..."

"With such a relaxed approach to education, how can anyone expect to produce good students?"

"No wonder the newly recruited Aurors are so weak! Some of them haven't even fully mastered the Shield Charm! And these are the so-called top students with five Outstandings?"

"With an education policy like this, the fact that someone like Wade came out of it is nothing short of a miracle!"

Grindelwald muttered as he flipped through Hogwarts' curriculum with clear dissatisfaction.

This thing hadn't been updated in nearly a century!

"Reform! It needs a thorough overhaul!" Grindelwald tossed the dust-covered book into the corner of his office like it was trash.

Knock knock knock...

Just then, the door was knocked.

"Come in," Grindelwald said.

Dumbledore strode in.

"Oh? I thought I'd be speaking with Headmaster Dippet. I didn't expect it to be you," Grindelwald said, a faint smile returning to his face.

"Headmaster Dippet isn't feeling well—he was attacked by some 'bastard' a month ago. I'm currently serving as Deputy Headmaster, and for now, I'm handling all of Hogwarts' affairs," Dumbledore said calmly.

Grindelwald was completely unfazed by Dumbledore's veiled accusation. "That's a real shame. I would've liked to see him again. He's a headmaster worthy of respect."

"Cut the nonsense. What do you want to talk about?" Dumbledore asked coldly.

"Reform. The education policy needs reform, Dumbledore! The current system only produces incompetents! It's a waste of young wizards' potential!"

"You're certainly blunt, aren't you… Grindelwald… Department Head?"

______

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