Wade estimated they were close to the edge of the area covered by the Marauder's Map he had made, and then stopped.
If they went any farther, his concealment spell would fail, and Dumbledore would be able to see their names.
"Sigh… I finally have a night without special training, and I end up coming into the Forbidden Forest with you…" Tom complained.
He had originally planned to rest properly tonight, but instead he had already walked several kilometers through the forest.
Walking that distance over thick layers of fallen leaves had drained a great deal of his stamina.
At least in terms of physical exertion, it wasn't much easier than sparring with Dumbledore.
"Tired?" Wade asked.
"Of course! How are you not tired?"
"If you were tired, you should have said so earlier… we could have just flown here," Wade said with a smile.
"..."
Tom froze. "We can fly?"
"Why not? It's not like you haven't learned the Flying Charm."
"No… I thought you chose to walk because there was some deeper meaning behind it!" Tom said in exasperation.
"What deeper meaning could there be? I'm walking to give the cat some exercise… if you didn't want to walk, you could've flown. Just fly slowly and wait for us. At least you wouldn't be this tired," Wade said, blinking.
Tom was instantly speechless.
After a long pause, he finally said something to save face. "Flying consumes magic… using magic is tiring too…"
Wade smiled. "You should've said so earlier… actually, I brought a broom."
"...."
Tom watched as Wade pulled a flying broom out of his pocket, veins bulging on his forehead…
After a moment, he said word by word, "Next time… I'll try... to say it... earlier…"
"All right, this spot will do. Use your Parseltongue and summon the snakes," Wade said cheerfully.
At the same time, Tom the cat, who had been following behind them, took out a sack from his backpack.
It was an actual snakeskin sack, made from leftover basilisk hide, enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, perfect for holding snakes.
Tom cleared his throat, preparing to summon the snakes with Parseltongue.
Just as he opened his mouth, Wade suddenly covered it with his hand.
"Are you out of your mind!"
Of course, Tom didn't actually shout it. One reason was that his mouth was covered, and the other was that he had just noticed a group of people appearing in the distance, stopping him from swearing.
They were cloaked in black, their wands raised, with large crates floating behind them.
Tom patted Wade's hand, signaling that he could let go.
Wade released him, then wiped his hand on Tom's clothes with clear disdain.
Tom was annoyed but didn't dare say anything. The group in the distance was already heading their way…
Wade waved his hand, and the two of them, along with the cat, silently retreated.
At that moment, moonlight fell upon the face of the man leading the group.
Wade narrowed his eyes. What was Grindelwald doing in the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
"Shouldn't we leave quickly…" Tom said nervously.
Someone like Grindelwald coming into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night was definitely not up to anything good.
If he discovered them, there would be nothing pleasant waiting for them.
So the best choice was to slip away quietly before he noticed them.
A Slytherin would never put himself in unnecessary danger.
However, Wade was clearly an exception, an oddity among Slytherins…
"If we leave now without finding out what he's up to, I won't even be able to sleep tonight," Wade muttered.
Tom almost laughed in exasperation. "No wonder Dumbledore likes you so much, Wade. The way you do things is completely Gryffindor."
"Shh!" Wade hushed him softly.
Tom had wanted to say more, but he obediently shut his mouth.
Grindelwald and his group were already less than fifty meters away.
Wade was about to continue retreating, but Grindelwald's group suddenly stopped.
Both Wade and Tom held their breath, watching them with curiosity.
Tom had said they should run, but his actions told a different story as he stayed right there with Wade.
Tom the cat quickly put the snakeskin sack away again and crouched beside Wade, ready to run at any moment.
At that moment, Grindelwald glanced around, then had his men stack all the large crates together…
Wade looked at those crates and suddenly drew in a sharp breath.
He saw that familiar multicolored vortex again.
That meant the crates were filled with Dark creatures.
Wade was puzzled. Why was Grindelwald deliberately gathering these Dark creatures together again? Hadn't he already explained the possible consequences of connecting to a parallel world?
Then Wade saw Grindelwald directing his followers to form a battle formation.
Wade took another sharp breath. Now he completely understood what Grindelwald was planning…
He was doing this on purpose, trying to connect to a parallel world.
And forming a battle formation… he was preparing to attack his counterpart from that world?
But why would he want to attack his parallel self?
What benefit would that bring him?
As Wade watched Grindelwald's focused expression, he suddenly recalled the brief confrontation Grindelwald once had with his counterpart from another world.
And that other Grindelwald had been holding the Elder Wand…
"Sss… is this old man trying to take the Elder Wand back from his counterpart in a parallel world?! As expected of you… even scheming against yourself!"
Wade felt a numb sensation. If his guess was right, then Grindelwald had truly gone mad.
There were far too many uncertainties in parallel worlds.
What if the other Grindelwald could only remain for a few seconds? What if that version didn't even have the Elder Wand? What if something went wrong and they ended up switching places, sending him into another parallel world? What if the world he connected to didn't even have a Grindelwald?
This kind of move was nothing short of a gamble.
Even setting aside the uncertainties of parallel worlds, just in terms of strength…
Where did he get the confidence to believe he could defeat himself wielding the Elder Wand?
Last time, if the connection to the parallel world hadn't suddenly vanished, he might not have been able to defeat his other self at all…
Still, looking at Grindelwald's expression, Wade could somewhat understand his thinking.
Someone like Grindelwald craved power more than anyone.
And losing the Elder Wand had undoubtedly weakened him.
Although he had now chosen a different path and no longer relied as heavily on sheer personal strength, he must still be deeply unwilling to accept the loss of the Elder Wand and the weakening of his power.
But still… everything had been fine before. Why was he suddenly taking such a risk tonight?
What on earth had set this old man off?
___
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