Hogwarts: This Dark Lord is Good?

"No thanks. I don't need a wand right now," Tom said.

"Huh? You're not planning to practice magic anymore?" Wade asked in surprise.

"Not unless you teach me how to block the Trace. Otherwise, I don't dare 'practice' magic during the holidays."

Tsk! Kid's gotten smart.

"Ah… I almost forgot about that again. You see, Tom, if you wanted something, you really should've said so earlier! If you don't say it, how would I ever know what you want? You've got to say it loudly, clearly—how can you act like some shy little girl, too embarrassed to ask? Is that it? Were you too shy to ask? Ah, I get it, I really do. Next time, remember to be bolder, alright? You know, we're closest friends, practically family—what's there to be embarrassed about between us? I have so many things to deal with!"

Wade feigned sadness and continued, 

"With my terrible memory and tragically low emotional intelligence, if you don't remind me, what if I forget? Or misunderstand? Wouldn't that be bad? I—"

"Stop!" Tom cut him off, his head already buzzing from the endless rambling—even though he thought he was mentally prepared for this. "If you don't want to teach me, just say it. I can handle it."

"Oh, look at you, talking like that. Come on, I'll teach you how to block it… Don't worry, we're in the safehouse. This area is full of wizarding homes, so the Ministry's Trace won't detect any magic here anyway."

In truth, blocking the Trace was remarkably simple.

Wade had stumbled upon it while studying how the Marauder's Map worked.

The map relied heavily on a form of Naming Magic—magic that directly acted upon names.

It's the same kind of magic that lets owls deliver letters so precisely to the right person.

While the Trace wasn't exactly the same as Naming Magic, the identification mechanisms were quite similar.

So, by reversing the process a bit… since Wade had figured out how to hide his own name from the Marauder's Map using interference techniques…

Naturally, that meant there was also a way to block the "signal" emitted by the Trace.

The Trace itself still existed; what Wade's method did was essentially shove both himself and his wand into a sort of magical dead zone—like being inside a shielded room.

Tom had always been talented. After Wade explained the method just once, he picked it up immediately.

"This is honestly a brilliant trick…" Tom said, clearly pleased.

With a way to block the Trace, he could freely use his own wand to practice magic without worry.

Truth be told, compared to using those battered second-hand wands, he much preferred practicing with his own wand.

Of course… when it came to practicing the more unsavory kinds of magic, he would still need a separate wand.

Even with the Trace blocked, if Dumbledore ever decided to pull a Flashback Charm on his wand like he did today… straight to Azkaban he'd go, no questions asked.

With that in mind, Tom picked out two wands from Wade's pile.

One was "clean"—safe for any potential checks.

The other… well, it didn't matter whether it was clean or not. That one was for… less legitimate purposes.

As for how to check if a wand was clean? Simple. Just cast a Flashback Charm to confirm that the previous owner hadn't done anything too questionable with it.

While Wade was still testing a few wands, Tom suddenly asked, "Do you seriously need some kind of award from the Ministry right now? What exactly are you scheming?"

"What?"

"You told Dumbledore about that flying spell, didn't you? There's no way you went through all that trouble just to mess with me. Knowing you, screwing me over was just a side quest. You've definitely got a bigger plan, haven't you?"

"Tom, you're overthinking it. Really."

"Oh? Overthinking? So what you're saying is… you were just messing with me for fun?"

"How can you say that? Messing with you? Come on, we're best friends! For us, words like that are practically meaningless."

"Doesn't matter…" Tom narrowed his eyes. "Wade… if it were me, I'd have kept that spell hidden as a secret trump card. You know better than anyone how much of an advantage it is to suddenly take flight mid-duel when no one expects it."

Wade frowned, rubbing his chin.

Truth be told, he really had just wanted to mess with Tom for a bit, gain some points, and snag a shiny award.. and maybe some prize money on the side…

The reality was, Wade had never planned to treat the Flight Charm as some kind of battle trump card.

Sure, it was great for surprise maneuvers in a fight, but flying didn't make you invincible. If anything, hovering midair made you an easy target.

It's better to just show it off in front of Dumbledore, snag a bit of credit, mess with Tom for some extra merit points, and then swing by the Ministry for some prize money or something…

That said, Wade knew that if he told Tom the truth, Tom absolutely wouldn't believe him.

Tom always overthought things. His mind was way too sharp and prone to spinning things into complicated webs.

Thinking about that, a mischievous grin tugged at Wade's lips. Without hesitation, he leaned into it and said, "Alright, Tom… you've really grown. In that case, why don't you try guessing—what do you think my real purpose is for doing all this?"

Just as expected, Tom immediately lowered his head, deep in thought.

The awards from the Ministry came with some recognition… and a bit of prize money.

No. No way it's that simple.

Wade wouldn't possibly give up such a powerful trump card just for some Ministry reward money!

Scratch that theory.

Then… was it really just to screw with me?

Even less likely. Sure, Wade loved messing with him, but that couldn't possibly be the real motive.

It's not like Wade gets bonus points every time he bullies me, heh, that would be absurd.

With both of the "reasonable" answers ruled out, Tom's mind raced back through the recent string of major events. Suddenly, something clicked.

Grindelwald!

That's it. It has to be related to Grindelwald.

Dumbledore took the Flight Charm not just to help argue his case and get Tom's expulsion revoked. Realistically, nobody was targeting Tom the way they did Harry in the future. For Tom, this kind of disciplinary threat didn't even require a formal hearing. With peak Dumbledore's current influence, it could be dismissed easily.

Which meant—the Flight Charm itself was far more valuable than some expulsion notice.

More than the Ministry, there was someone else who had been watching Wade closely: Grindelwald.

Think about it. If Grindelwald saw how incredible this Flight Charm was—and realized it was something Wade had developed as a first-year—what would he think?

Grindelwald had never hidden how much he admired and valued Wade.

Back when they first crossed paths, Wade had left a lasting impression on Grindelwald with magical prowess far beyond his peers.

And now… now Wade was showing that he wasn't just powerful—he was a creator of magic itself.

That's it… unless…

Tom's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "I get it now. You don't actually not want to join the Grindelwald camp—you just don't want to be one of his lackeys!

"What you really want is power equal to his... no, wait... even more than that—right! Of course! You don't want to be his equal, you want to shape the Grindelwald movement into your ideal version of it, mold the entire organization... and then, when the time is right, take the fruits of his victory for yourself and replace him!"

Wade stared at him, eyes wide. Huh?

Is that what I was thinking...?

Wait a minute... What sort of dark lord world domination plan is this!?

But... now that I think about it... it's actually... not the worst idea...

Putting on a serious face, Wade nodded. "Tom, you're really brilliant. That's exactly what I was thinking."

Read 12 chaps ahead: P^treon: Captain69