Wade spent three days completing the improvement of the gender-changing potion formula recorded in the book.
This formula should have come from the wizarding world of the future, because it required many synthetic ingredients. So-called synthetic ingredients were materials created by processing other potion ingredients to form substances with entirely new effects.
However, several of the synthetic ingredients listed in the formula could actually be replaced by materials that already existed in the present era. If ready substitutes were available, yet extra effort was still required to create synthetic ones, that alone proved that those original materials no longer existed in the era when the formula was developed.
There was only one explanation for this situation: the formula came from the future.
Then again, thinking about a certain point in the future when Western Muggles would begin to popularize gender diversity, when gender-reassignment surgery became widespread, it no longer seemed strange that the wizarding world would develop a gender-changing potion as well.
So it really was a matter of social conditions.
After deliberately improving the formula, Wade not only reduced the cost but also changed the originally permanent transformation effect into one with a time limit.
After all, once a rooster transformed into a hen and laid an egg, he would need the potion to wear off and turn it back before retrieving the egg. Only then could it truly be considered a rooster's egg.
"I hope a rooster's egg produced this way with a potion will actually work."
Wade muttered to himself as he sent out a list of required materials.
With the materials list in hand, the house-elf Tobby would help him gather everything.
Looking at the Gringotts account statement Tobby had sent earlier, Wade could not help frowning.
Research really burned through money… maybe he should just rob Gringotts instead?
…
Inside Grindelwald's temporary office.
"I have prepared everything you asked for, exactly as you required. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now," Dumbledore said coldly, then turned to go.
Grindelwald smiled. "Why the rush? How about we chat a little longer?"
"There's nothing for us to talk about. Besides, I have many things to attend to. I'm not as idle as you," Dumbledore replied without restraint.
"Busy? Busy grooming a powerful enemy for your future self, Dumbledore?" Grindelwald sneered.
"Heh." Dumbledore let out a cold laugh and ignored him, opening the office door.
"I know you plan to train that boy, to turn him into a weapon against me. But that boy isn't as simple as you think. You're nurturing him like this. Aren't you afraid that one day he'll turn around and come after you instead?"
"Your attempts at sowing discord are very crude," Dumbledore said. Without pausing, he shut the office door with force and left Grindelwald's office directly.
Grindelwald sat down, suddenly feeling an itch on his back again.
He picked up a back scratcher and scratched it, then sneered. "That boy really is impressive… to make someone as suspicious as Dumbledore trust him so completely… but then again, am I not also forced to trust him? Tsk tsk. This young man is truly remarkable."
…
That evening, while Wade was eating in the Great Hall, a senior student suddenly came over and handed him a note.
The note bore Dumbledore's familiar looping handwriting.
"I am waiting for you in the Room of Requirement. Think of a place to practice dueling three times to enter."
After reading it, Wade glanced toward the teachers' table.
Dumbledore's seat was empty.
It seemed that the training plan Dumbledore had mentioned, specially designed for him, was finally going to be put into action tonight.
Which meant that everything Grindelwald had asked him to prepare was already finished?
For a moment, Wade developed a strong interest in Grindelwald's so-called educational reform.
If Grindelwald's reforms turned out to be interesting… perhaps he could find a way to continue profiting from them as well.
After hurriedly finishing his meal, Wade left the Great Hall and made his way to the Room of Requirement.
Dumbledore had originally intended to request a room for practicing dueling.
But Wade felt that perhaps the Room of Requirement had misunderstood Dumbledore's request, turning a room meant for dueling practice into a room designed for dueling itself.
That was why the dueling arena created by the Room of Requirement was so vast and empty.
Dumbledore was already standing at the center, waiting for Wade.
When he saw Wade arrive, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Are you ready? If you are, then we can begin."
"Uh, Professor, I'm not quite sure what your training plan is…" Wade reminded him tactfully.
"My training plan is very simple, Wade," Dumbledore said as he drew the Elder Wand. "Your magical power and magical knowledge are already sufficient. What you lack is practical combat experience."
The smile on Wade' face gradually stiffened. "So… you intend to duel with me?"
Dumbledore smiled. "A lack of experience is no problem. As long as you fight a few more times, you will gain it."
Wade' expression grew solemn. Dumbledore's strength had never been limited to his raw magical power alone, but also lay in his spellcraft and his combat experience.
Most importantly, there was his conviction.
What was more, Wade did not believe his own magical power could compare to Dumbledore's at all.
After all, this was not the hundred-year-old Dumbledore of decades later, but Dumbledore at his peak.
A peak Dumbledore who had even been strengthened by the Epiphany from the Resurrection Stone incident.
Plus, he had the Elder Wand too.
Was this what it meant to lift a stone only to drop it on his own foot?
"Alright… then let's begin." Wade slowly walked to stand opposite Dumbledore, his Yew wand already in hand.
This was the first time he had ever faced Dumbledore in a true combat state.
He had barely taken his position when he sensed something wrong.
Pressure. Immense pressure.
The air in front of him seemed to have solidified.
Only by truly standing before Dumbledore could one understand just how terrifying that overwhelming pressure really was.
Wade suddenly felt his mouth go dry. In the cold of winter, he could actually feel sweat sliding down his forehead. That alone proved that the usually confident and composed him was starting to feel nervous.
This… was Dumbledore really holding nothing back when facing him?
The change in Wade' expression naturally did not escape Dumbledore's notice.
In truth, applying pressure to Wade without restraint made Dumbledore feel a bit pained as well.
But still… it was better to endure some pressure now than to be beaten to death by Grindelwald later.
With that thought, Dumbledore steeled his heart and raised his hand, firing off a Disarming Charm.
It might not sound like anything special. Just a Disarming Charm, right?
But the Disarming Charm Dumbledore cast looked completely different in Wade' eyes.
Who had ever seen a Disarming Charm with a spell beam as thick as a bucket?
Wade had no time to think. He dodged sharply to the side, and the Disarming Charm slammed into the floor behind him, blasting out a pitch-black hole.
Fortunately, this was a dueling room created by the Room of Requirement. If it had been an ordinary classroom, that single strike would have punched straight through the floor.
At this moment, even Dumbledore could not help letting out a soft sound of surprise, because just as the spell was about to hit Wade, he had already prepared to divert it aside.
Yet before he could do so, that Disarming Charm veered off in a bizarre way on its own.
Dumbledore's eyes lit up slightly. So that was it. No wonder Wade had been able to hold out against Grindelwald's attacks until he returned.
Since you have the ability to protect yourself… then I can rest easy.
Do not blame me for being ruthless, child. This is all for your own good.
_________
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