A single pure-blood family might not seem particularly powerful, but several of them working together would be a different matter.
They possessed enormous wealth.
With enough money, they could hire plenty of people to act on their behalf.
The power of capital could often be formidable.
"It's a shame the prisoners escaped," Wade said regretfully.
This time, his regret was genuine.
Who would have expected enemies to be hiding among their own people? The captives had already been caught, yet someone from their side had still released them.
But no one could truly be blamed.
The Hogwarts Express had just been attacked, and everyone was focused on understanding what had happened and determining the number of casualties.
Even Grindelwald had been actively investigating because he did not want the blame placed on him.
Who could have expected the enemy to act within barely ten minutes?
There had simply been no opportunity to interrogate the prisoners immediately.
Still, if the people behind this really were an alliance of the wealthiest pure-blood families, then even having prisoners might not have been enough to do anything to them.
"Does that mean the Bulstrode family must be part of the alliance?" Wade asked.
"No. I don't believe any of them would willingly step forward to take the blame," Dumbledore said incisively.
Could anyone truly expect such reckless criminals to sacrifice themselves selflessly in order to protect their accomplices?
Even a fool would know that whoever released the prisoners would face intense scrutiny.
So there was a very high chance Bulstrode really had been under the Imperius Curse.
Wade thought for a moment. "Then one of the people who accompanied you during the rescue must have been an enemy. They secretly placed Bulstrode under the Imperius Curse."
"That is highly possible. It would not be surprising if they had people inside the Ministry. That is why I want you to trust no one," Dumbledore said.
Wade hesitated. "At present, the only people who seem especially interested in me are the pure-blood families. So..."
"It was almost certainly them. We simply don't know which families were involved. When you chose to work through the Malfoys, many people must have been displeased. Those who follow the rules would approach the Malfoy family and negotiate cooperation with you. But to some people, being forced to seek cooperation would feel like an insult. Rather than lowering themselves to beg for a partnership and receive only a small share of the profits, stealing everything would be faster. They would gain far more that way."
"That does sound very pure-blood," Wade said, scratching his head. "Fortunately, there aren't many extremely wealthy pure-blood families, so we should be able to narrow them down through elimination..."
"How do you know only British pure-blood families are interested in you?" Dumbledore asked gravely. "That Dragon Pox potion formula was like a drop of blood falling into an ocean filled with sharks. Certain people have an exceptionally keen sense for profitable opportunities."
Wade drew a sharp breath. "I only released one potion formula. How could they know I possess anything else of value?"
"They don't need to know. They only need to take the chance," Dumbledore said seriously. "If that formula is all you have, they can simply take it and divide it among themselves. That would still compensate them for the manpower and resources they invested. But if you happen to possess other valuable things, then they stand to gain enormously."
Wade felt numb.
Wasn't this simply taking a few swings at a tree, whether or not there was any fruit?
"So that's why they began by testing me. Once they saw that I was capable, they became even more convinced that I possessed an extraordinary background."
"We will protect you, but you must also remain cautious," Dumbledore said. "You should continue staying in that safe house during the holidays."
Dumbledore had never expected that the safe house originally prepared as protection against Grindelwald would become useful under completely different circumstances.
...
Dumbledore and Wade spoke for a long time.
By the time Wade emerged from the small room, the start-of-term feast had already ended early.
The Great Hall was empty, illuminated only by the bright glow of thousands of candles floating beneath the enchanted ceiling.
Wade walked through the quiet corridors towards the Slytherin common room.
By now, the unease Wade had shown in front of Dumbledore had completely disappeared.
The corners of his lips slowly curved into a smile.
During his conversation with Dumbledore, he had learned a great deal.
In truth, Wade had already anticipated that certain pure-blood families might ignore the rules and join forces against him when he released the Dragon Pox potion formula.
Once enough people began acting unscrupulously, the waters would become thoroughly muddied, and Wade had intended to take advantage of that chaos to set a few plans in motion.
What he had not expected was for them to act so quickly or adopt such a reckless plan.
They had actually dared to attack the Hogwarts Express. Unless something unusual had happened, some of their own children were probably aboard the train as well.
Of course, to desperate men who valued profit above all else, that was hardly important. The interests of the family came before everything.
Combining everything he had learned that day, Wade gradually formed a clear picture of what had happened.
The attack on the Hogwarts Express had been meant to conceal their true objective.
By attacking a large group of people, no one would know who they had really come for.
If Wade had been no stronger than an ordinary third-year student, they would undoubtedly have abducted several students after the attack and openly demanded a ransom from the Ministry.
Naturally, Wade would have been among them.
That way, almost no one would have realised that their true goal was the secrets in Wade's mind.
By the time the Ministry gathered the ransom and secured their release, the valuable knowledge in Wade's head would already have been extracted without his knowledge.
That would not have been difficult.
Veritaserum, the Imperius Curse, Legilimency, and many other methods could accomplish it.
Before releasing him, they could cast a Memory Charm and erase part of his memory. Unless someone conducted a careful examination, it would be almost impossible to notice.
And even if it were discovered, it would not matter, because no one would know which memories Wade had lost.
In that way, everything valuable in Wade's mind would quietly become theirs, while Wade himself would forget that he had ever possessed it.
Of course, they could also choose the simpler option and kill him outright.
A hostage dying at the hands of kidnappers would hardly be unusual.
It was a well-designed plan.
Unfortunately for them, Wade's fighting ability had exceeded everyone's expectations.
Not only had their forces failed to capture him, but he had captured them instead.
"My, how interesting. I wonder whose idea this was. The waters are even muddier now. It would be a waste not to use this opportunity to do something significant after they worked so hard to create it for me."
Wade suddenly found himself growing excited.
"Tch. Why am I getting excited over something like this? It's not as though I'm some kind of villain."
...
The Slytherin common room.
A small group of people were still gathered around the fireplace instead of resting in their dormitories.
The moment the stone door opened and Wade entered, they immediately surrounded him.
It was Tom, Anne, and the others.
To Wade's surprise, Yelena was there as well.
"Hm? You were Sorted into Slytherin?" Wade asked in surprise.
He had assumed that such a courageous girl would be placed in Gryffindor.
Yelena shrugged. "The Hat said I could go to either Slytherin or Gryffindor, then asked which one I preferred. I knew you were in Slytherin, so..."
"Oh..."
Everyone looked thoughtfully at Yelena.
Anne narrowed her eyes and stared intently at her, biting her lip.
"Don't misunderstand. I... I simply don't know anyone in the other Houses," Yelena hurriedly explained.
Tom clearly had no interest in the subject. The moment he spoke, he brought the conversation back to the matter at hand.
"Did Dumbledore discover who was responsible?"
"No. It was a wasted effort. That unfortunate Mr Bulstrode was apparently under the Imperius Curse."
"He really was?" Tom sounded doubtful.
"Would those people otherwise be selfless enough to sacrifice one of their own?"
"Fair point." Tom nodded.
No one understood pure-blood families better than he did.
The disgraceful behaviour of the Gaunt family had long shown him just how ugly and decayed those old pure-blood families could be.
Wade then gave them a general account of his conversation with Dumbledore.
He placed particular emphasis on the possibility that someone was after his secrets.
After hearing his explanation, everyone looked at Wade with concern.
"I think Professor Dumbledore is right," Anne said. "You can't trust anyone. So don't tell us anything about your secrets either. If one of us were captured and someone searched our memories with Legilimency, that would be disastrous."
Everyone agreed with her.
After a while, they wished Wade good night and returned to their respective dormitories.
They had already been exhausted. The only reason they had forced themselves to stay awake and wait for Wade was because they were worried about him.
On the way back to the dormitory, Tom silently moved beside Wade.
"It's rather amusing. They're actually worried about your safety."
"Is that funny?" Wade asked.
Tom replied leisurely, "Instead of worrying about someone capable of effortlessly defeating over a hundred Dark wizards, I think I'd be better off worrying about my own safety. From the look of things, being your friend is more dangerous than being you."
"Honestly, Tom, you're becoming less entertaining by the day."
"Is that because I've grown smarter and you can't fool me as easily anymore?" Tom sneered.
"Perhaps. But you still consider yourself my friend, don't you?"
"Stop flattering yourself! One day, I'm going to defeat you!" Tom snapped, embarrassed and furious.
"My, I truly look forward to it," Wade said with a smile.
"Tch!"
Tom strode past Wade in frustration and returned to the dormitory.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69