Wade and Tom spent quite a bit of time in the wand shop.
Because of Wade's performance, Ollivander was inspired by something only he could understand.
The man was so overjoyed, depressed, and elated at the same time that he didn't even charge Wade and Tom for the wands...
Standing at the door of the wand shop, Tom's eyes flashed with a hint of confusion.
"What's going on? Now that we have money, we can't even spend it?"
"If you want to spend money... you can help me buy what's on my list," Wade happily handed over his shopping list.
"Buy your own stuff!" Tom said, then turned and walked away quickly, as if something dirty was chasing him.
Wade shook his head helplessly, "When a kid has money, their wings get strong."
After some reflection, Wade followed his shopping list and started walking through Diagon Alley step by step.
It was already 3:00 in the afternoon, and it was getting late. They still had to make it back to the Wool's Orphanage before dark.
Wade was moving quickly. Before long, he had a large bag of things and arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.
This was the last stop for his shopping today, and also the one he had been looking forward to the most.
Of course... it was also the stop Tom had been most excited about.
Wade had already spotted him. Tom, at this moment, was engrossed in looking at various spellbooks.
However, Wade didn't approach him to disturb him, as he still had his own things to do.
Glancing at the time, he felt it was still early.
Wade handed the list of textbooks to the shop assistant, asking them to bring over the books he needed.
The shop assistant skillfully went to gather the books for Wade.
Meanwhile, Wade himself walked alone into the towering bookshelves. After searching for a while, he pulled out a book and opened it to begin reading.
Wade felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Tom.
At that moment, the last rays of the setting sun filtered into the bookstore through the door, and it was already quite late.
Wade quickly finished reading the last few pages of the book in his hand, then, together with Tom, they made their way to the counter.
Their textbooks had already been packed and were waiting there.
Next to Tom's pile of textbooks, there was a stack of other books, which were likely the additional books he planned to buy.
"..I think I selected too much."
Tom frowned at the large pile of books and various bags, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
"Could you help us send these books to our place?" Wade asked politely. "There's too much for us to carry."
"Of course. Please write down your address," the shop assistant smiled as they handed over a pen and paper.
"Can you send all of these together?" Wade asked, presenting the rest of their items to the shop assistant.
"Sure, but since these aren't from our store, there will be a small handling fee."
"That's fine." Wade readily agreed, as the small fee was nothing to worry about.
After writing down their address, the two of them walked out of the Leighton Bookstore empty-handed.
Apart from their wands, everything they had purchased today was being sent to them.
"Didn't you buy any other books?" Tom asked, looking at Wade with confusion.
He had noticed earlier that, aside from the required school textbooks, Wade hadn't bought any other books.
Tom was well aware of Wade's character—just like him, Wade was extremely eager for power.
How could he possibly skip buying books on spells to enhance his abilities?
"I bought a lot of magic automatic sketch pens. And a lot of parchment," Wade said cheerfully.
"Why would you buy those things?" Tom asked, still puzzled.
"Heh heh heh~" Wade raised an eyebrow and asked in return, "I've already memorized the books I'm interested in. I can just transcribe them when I get back. Why would I need to buy them?" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ nοvelfire.net
"Ha..." Tom didn't believe a single word Wade said, not even the punctuation.
What Tom didn't know was that Wade wasn't exaggerating—he really did have the ability to memorize everything he saw.
Wade glanced at the clock in a nearby shop, then sighed. "Instead of obsessing over this, maybe you should think about how you're going to explain this to Mrs. Cole. We've been missing for a whole twelve hours..."
Tom's face instantly changed at those words. "You... You're not planning to tell her that I dragged you out for a whole day of fun, are you?"
Wade blinked. "Isn't that so? You were the one who suggested sneaking out this morning. And, I'm a 'good' kid, you know… do you think Mrs. Cole will believe you or believe me?"
"Dammit! If you hadn't tried to play dirty, we would have been back already!"
"So what? Didn't you spend the money we earned? Those books you bought in Flourish and Blotts were one or two Galleons each. If you hadn't come with me, would you have bought so many?"
"You... you bastard!"
"Honestly, you've gotten all these benefits. Shouldn't you take a little responsibility and take the blame? You can't just eat for free, right?"
"Eat for free? You... didn't I do anything? When we raided the human traffickers' hideout, who brought the snakes?"
"Ah, right, right, and then you brought Nagini, almost losing your life, right?"
"Are you shameless? That was your plan in the first place!"
"I don't care about that... I was dragged out by you to sneak off."
"You... you don't actually think I'm scared of that old cat, do you?"
"Then take the blame!"
"Then.. heh~ aren't you afraid of me?"
"You... fine, you're ruthless!"
The two of them bickered and walked back. By the time they reached the orphanage, it was completely dark outside.
After walking so far, Tom felt like his legs didn't belong to him anymore...
However, Wade, walking beside him, didn't seem tired at all.
They had walked several kilometers, and yet Wade still looked full of energy.
"How come you're not tired at all?" Tom panted, he had never walked such a long distance in one go before!
"Well, I bought some temporary strength-enhancing potions... you know what potions are, right? They're the kind of... "
"I know what they are!" Tom replied irritably, "Why didn't you remind me so I could buy some too?"
"Seems like someone didn't want to walk with me, so how could I ask? I had to buy it myself."
"You..." Tom felt like his lungs were about to explode with frustration. He actually wanted to retort, but he was in the wrong, and he couldn't argue back at all...
Just as he was about to draw his wand, thinking of taking out his frustration on Wade, a familiar voice suddenly came from the shadows.
"It seems... you two have been busy today," the voice said.
Both Wade and Tom stopped talking, as if they were hit by a silence spell.
Dumbledore slowly emerged from the shadows, his scrutinizing gaze falling on the two children.
Tom felt a chill run through his veins... he truly hated this feeling!
"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore. What a coincidence, running into you here..." Wade broke the silence.
He glanced at the orphanage gate behind Dumbledore. Clearly, this wasn't a coincidence... Dumbledore had definitely been waiting for them here.