Li Weide: Seriously, Tom? You Actually Believed Him?

Although Tom did not want to stay with Li Weide, he was equally unwilling to have some so-called guardian watching over him all the time.

In fact, Tom and Li Weide were the same kind of person.

They were both bound to have many little secrets in the future that they would not want anyone else to know.

The reason he wanted to be alone was actually the same as Li Weide's.

In the end, Li Weide agreed to Tom's proposal. They would work together to escape Dumbledore's "watchful eye."

Once they were free, the two of them would go their separate ways.

Li Weide had no objections to this. Even if he wanted to earn Merit Points from Tom, there was no need to stay together all day.

After all, they would be attending the same school in the future—perhaps even the same house. There would be no shortage of opportunities to earn Merit Points from him.

Besides, just like Tom, he had many secrets that could not be known by anyone.

So, living alone was the best choice.

After reaching an agreement, the two of them went back to doing their own things.

After half an hour of working without disturbing each other, Tom suddenly asked, "Why didn't you accept Grindelwald's invitation?"

Li Weide set down the Complete Guide to Transfiguration in his hands. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought again about what Grindelwald said last night. Don't you think... he actually made a lot of sense?"

Tom picked up a handkerchief and carefully wiped his wand as he spoke. "And if we had accepted Grindelwald's invitation last night, wouldn't we have gained our freedom directly? We wouldn't have to rack our brains trying to move out on our own like we are now..."

Li Weide smiled. "You think he made sense? I think you were drawn in by the so-called 'knowledge and power' he promised. You don't exactly seem like someone who worries about the country and its people."

With his inner thoughts exposed so directly, Tom could not help blushing.

But he quickly recovered. "Setting aside what he promised us, the things he said really did make sense!"

"Look, we possess great power, while those Muggles are so weak before us. Why should we be the ones hiding and afraid of being discovered by Muggles?"

"If you ask me, it is only natural for the strong to rule the weak! We should stand at the very top of the world!"

"I truly don't understand why Dumbledore wants to stop him."

Li Weide looked at Tom in surprise. "Seriously, Tom? You actually believed what Grindelwald said?"

Tom frowned. "Doesn't it make perfect sense? Why shouldn't I believe it?"

Li Weide sighed and said helplessly, "The only reason you think he made sense is because he told you exactly what you wanted to hear."

"What we wanted to hear?" Tom frowned.

"Haven't you always thought you were special?" Li Weide asked.

"Of course!" Tom said proudly.

Leaning against his pillow, Li Weide said leisurely, "A great many wizards think the same way you do. They believe that because they possess magic, they are nobler than Muggles. So Grindelwald seizes on that and starts praising your supposed uniqueness..."

"'Magic blooms only in the souls of a select few.' What moving words..."

"When you heard that, didn't it feel exhilarating? Didn't you feel that you belonged to the most special group? Didn't you feel that you ought to stand above all ordinary people? Didn't you feel like you were chosen by fate?"

"The moment you start thinking that way, you've fallen into his trap. Because then you'll feel that breaking the Statute of Secrecy is only natural, and if you want to break it, then naturally you have to join Grindelwald's ranks... and that is his true purpose."

"When he invited us to join last night, did he mention any of his ideological views? No!"

"What did he say? He told us that as long as we joined his camp, he could provide us with the power we craved!"

"Why did he only tell us we could gain power, rather than talk about anything else? Because he knew that you and I are still young. We have no concept of changing the world or anything like that. We're only interested in power."

"So he only talked to us about power in order to lure us into joining... which means that none of the views and ideals Grindelwald spouts actually reflect reality. He simply says whatever suits the person he is talking to."

"His true purpose is only to find more supporters, gain more loyal followers, and then use them to help him climb to the top of the world."

"As for what happens to the world, to other wizards, or to other Muggles, he does not care in the slightest."

"In truth, he is not a revolutionary who sincerely wants to change the world. He is merely an ambitious man using revolution as a pretext to achieve his own goals."

Tom felt his head buzzing. "Will his ideas really never come to pass?"

As far as Tom was concerned, what the world would become later had nothing to do with him either. He only cared whether what Grindelwald advocated could truly be achieved in the end.

If wizards really could rule the entire world in the end, Tom would not mind at all, so long as he was among those standing above the clouds.

"It can't be achieved. And even if it somehow were achieved in the end, it could never last."

"Just as I said, he is indifferent to the world and to everyone else. That means his ideals cannot make the world better. They would only make it more chaotic! More terrible!"

"So once people of insight realize that, they will certainly step forward to stop him. For example... Dumbledore."

"And besides the resistance of those people of insight... do you think Muggles would not resist if it really came to war?"

"Never think that Muggles are all weak and helpless, that they are merely ants and not worth worrying about..."

"Do you know how many wizards there are in this world, and how many Muggles?"

"No matter how powerful you are, how many Muggles can you kill? And do you really think the Muggle forces of violence are nothing more than farmers waving pitchforks?"

"Don't forget: the purpose of the International Statute of Secrecy was not to protect Muggles... it was to protect wizards from Muggles!"

"Believe me, if the ambitious people among Muggles learned that wizards existed, what they would do would be ten thousand times more terrifying than anything Grindelwald intends to do!"

"So, Grindelwald's final fate would either be to be ended by clear-sighted people like Dumbledore, or to drag the entire Wizarding World down with him..."

After hearing Li Weide's analysis, Tom fell completely silent.

Even though he looked down on Muggles, he knew that everything Li Weide had said was true.

In truth, no matter how formidable a wizard might be in individual combat, they were not invulnerable superhumans.

What was more, not every wizard was powerful... most wizards, in fact, were not skilled at fighting.

If wizards truly went to war with Muggles, then mutual destruction would already be the best possible outcome.

The most likely outcome was that the wizards would have their wands confiscated, be reduced to Muggle test subjects, and then thrown into laboratories to be dissected and studied...

For most wizards, what difference was there between losing their wands and being ordinary people?

It could almost be said that the moment war began, the wizards' miserable ending had already been sealed...