Out in the World, Your Status Is What You Make It!

Li Weide and Tom hid in a dark corner, watching a rather nice detached house not far ahead. It even had a lovely little garden out front.

It was safe to say that whoever lived here was definitely not short on money.

But according to the testimony, the other trapped children were locked inside.

Tom pulled his old jacket tighter around himself. "I still don't understand why we're delaying our trip to Diagon Alley for money!"

"I already told you, it's not for money." Li Weide said irritably.

He was doing this to earn Merit Points through good deeds. The whole black-on-black robbery thing was just incidental... Of course, there was no way to explain that to Tom.

"If it's not for money, then what is it for? Don't tell me you're really doing this to save people? I never thought you had such a kind heart."

"Be reasonable, Tom. Aside from being a bit strict with you, when have I ever not been kind-hearted toward anyone else?"

Tom fell silent. The bastard seemed to have a point...

It was just that Li Weide had always bullied only him, so Tom had developed the mistaken impression that Li Weide had never been a good person.

In fact, in everyone else's eyes, Li Weide, who had taught him—the bully—a lesson, was fucking well a good person!

"Forget it. I'll tell you the truth. You're not entirely wrong. Apart from saving people, part of my reason really is for money." Li Weide turned to look at Tom.

"The money Dumbledore gave us definitely isn't plentiful. It should only barely be enough for us to get by."

"That means we'll have to buy many things second-hand, and there will be plenty of things we can't afford at all."

"Are you really willing to use other people's old second-hand textbooks, wear second-hand robes others don't want anymore, and carry a Second-hand Wand someone else has worn out? Fine, those aren't even the most important things."

"What matters is... Dumbledore said we can only use second-hand textbooks. What does that mean? It means spellbooks must be expensive in the wizarding world..."

"We need knowledge, knowledge beyond the textbooks, Tom! Don't you want to become stronger?"

Tom's heart stirred when he heard those last two sentences.

Granted, he could endure a poor quality of life. After all, he had lived that way for years at the Orphanage.

But when it came to increasing his power, he could not settle for less! "Also, although we don't know much about Hogwarts, one thing is certain: everyone in that school has special abilities just like ours."

"In other words, we won't be the most special ones there. If we still look like a pair of poor nobodies... what do you think will happen?"

Tom's heart tightened at those words.

Putting himself in their shoes, as a seasoned bully, he understood the mentality of such people better than anyone.

Tom did not care in the slightest about being ostracized by ordinary people. It wasn't as if they could bully him anyway.

But that was a magic school!

The power he possessed was possessed by others too! Tom was not afraid of being bullied by ordinary people, but other Young Wizards...

After Li Weide's round of PUA, Tom, who had a severely inadequate understanding of his own strength, actually began to worry.

In fact, he was genuinely worried that all his classmates would be as formidable as Li Weide.

"When you're out in the world, your status is what you make it. So, we need money first." Li Weide continued pressing the point.

"But... Dumbledore said we can't use magic on ordinary people..."

Tom was still somewhat hesitant. There was no helping it—after being struck down repeatedly by both Li Weide and Dumbledore, Tom had become much more cautious and no longer had his former confidence.

Li Weide raised one finger. "First, they were planning to abduct and sell us, right?"

Tom nodded.

"So I say this is self-defense. Do you agree?"

Tom nodded again.

Li Weide raised a second finger. "Second, we learned from those people that other children are trapped inside too, right?"

Tom nodded once more. "So we're saving people. It has absolutely nothing to do with money!"

Li Weide said approvingly, "You've already learned to answer before being called on."

"You're right, Weide. And since we have the ability, why should we live such miserable lives?" Tom's eyes grew firm.

Li Weide patted Tom on the shoulder and said delightedly, "You've even learned to draw inferences from one example!"

A glint of red flashed through Tom's eyes. "Judging by Dumbledore's behavior, he should be an old softie. So even if he finds out what we did, considering those two points, he won't blame us. At most, he'll scold us for taking too much of a risk!"

Li Weide continued, "But we have no choice but to take risks, because those Human Traffickers even have Corrupt Cops covering for them. Calling the police is completely useless, so..."

"So... we can only do it ourselves." Tom nodded. "Our reasons are more than sufficient, so let's save the people first. As long as we save them, even if that Ministry of Magic Dumbledore mentioned finds out, we'll have something to say."

"And... those bastards actually planned to capture me and sell me for money? They have to pay the price!" A dangerous gleam flashed through Tom's eyes again.

In truth, Tom was a very vindictive person. He could not afford to provoke Li Weide, who had provoked him, but could he not afford to deal with this bunch of ordinary Muggles? "What are you planning to do?" Tom asked.

"First, I need to figure out exactly how many people are inside and whether they have weapons like guns." Li Weide said seriously.

Although he knew magic now, he was still extremely wary of guns, Muggles' deadly weapons. He could not just charge in directly.

After all, he had only been formally learning magic for a little over a week. He was not a powerful wizard like Dumbledore, and the methods available to him were actually quite limited.

"Tom... can't you control snakes?" Li Weide asked with a smile.

Tom's old face reddened. He really had used snakes before to investigate Li Weide's secret to becoming stronger.

"I understand..." As he spoke, Tom retreated into the corner, crouched down, and made hissing sounds.

Tom was a Parselmouth. Not only could he speak to snakes, but he could also command them.

In other words, many things humans found inconvenient to do could be handled by snakes instead.

Before long, Li Weide noticed green grass snakes constantly poking their heads out from the cracks in the wall. Mixed among them were many venomous snakes with deadly poison! The densely packed snake heads made one's hair stand on end. Yet Tom seemed accustomed to the sight.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Tom lowered his head and gave instructions to one of the Little Snakes on the ground. Then the Little Snake turned away, slithered through several twists and turns, and vanished into the shadows.