Slytherin Traits

Since Dumbledore had yet to find a suitable house, Li Weide and Tom could only remain in Hogsmeade until the school term began.

Li Weide and Tom were both patient enough about it.

Especially after they received dozens of books from Dumbledore that morning.

However, unlike the excited Tom, Li Weide was much calmer.

Having already inherited an enormous collection of Dark Magic books, Li Weide found Dumbledore's books quite good, but they were no longer enough to stir any emotional reaction from him.

Yet the unaware Tom, seeing Li Weide's unruffled demeanor and comparing it with his own immense excitement, immediately felt somewhat ashamed of himself.

He felt that he, too, ought to remain this calm and composed at all times.

Otherwise, if he was always making such a fuss over things, how would he be any different from all those ordinary fools? No matter where I am or who I'm among, even if Li Weide always stays one step ahead of me, I, Tom, must still be the most exceptional person beneath Li Weide!

Tom looked at the newly unwrapped books. He had originally intended to pick out a few right away, but after glancing at Li Weide, he withdrew his hand.

"Tom, what's wrong? Haven't you been longing for these books?" Li Weide found Tom's behavior rather strange.

"You choose first," Tom said calmly.

Li Weide said in surprise, "That's rare. You're being so polite today."

"I'm not being polite. It's just... you're stronger than me, so when there's something good, you naturally have the right to choose first." Tom's expression remained calm. "If one day I become stronger than you, I won't be polite with you!"

Li Weide could tell that Tom was actually speaking the truth this time.

All he could say was... Tom truly was a Slytherin. Though arrogant, he also possessed a Slytherin trait—admiration for strength.

They considered themselves strong, and thus they also admired those stronger than themselves.

Even Tom, who would one day become the infamous Voldemort, could not change this tendency to admire strength after discovering that someone stronger than him existed.

Having understood this, Li Weide did not refuse. He simply picked out a copy of "Outsmarting Dark Magic" from the pile.

"Then I'll read this one first. All right, I'm done choosing. Go ahead and take yours."

Only after hearing Li Weide did Tom carefully select several books that interested him most from the pile.

Li Weide glanced at them and found that the books Tom had chosen were "Ordinary Spells and Counter-Spells," "Collection of Self-Defense Spells," "Practical Defensive Magic and Its Countermeasures Against Dark Magic"...

Almost all of them were books on Defense Against the Dark Arts recommended by Dumbledore.

Without a doubt, what Tom had on his mind was still how to grow stronger as quickly as possible...

Suddenly, Li Weide placed "Outsmarting Dark Magic" in front of Tom.

"What is it?"

"I just remembered I have something to do today. You can read this book first, then return it to me when I get back," Li Weide said.

"Where are you going?" Tom was slightly taken aback.

"I'm going to Diagon Alley with Toby. To buy a few things."

"What do you need to buy? Haven't we already bought everything we need?" Tom found this very strange.

Logically, they had already bought everything they needed. Even if they had forgotten something, most things could be bought in Hogsmeade.

And even if Hogsmeade did not have it, Li Weide could have Toby buy it for him. There was absolutely no need to go himself...

Why waste time that could be spent studying?

"I'm planning to buy a few more Second-hand Wands. I need to be there in person to choose the ones most suitable for me," Li Weide said without concealing anything.

"Don't we already have wands? Did you lose yours?" Tom looked at Li Weide in surprise.

"Of course not... In fact, I recently discovered a spell called the Flashback Curse. It can replay the magic a wand has cast recently..." Li Weide looked quietly at Tom, his black eyes growing a little deeper. "And I don't particularly want others to find out what magic I've used recently through my wand."

Tom fully understood now. In fact, he agreed with this point as well!

Tom immediately put down the book in his hands. "I'm coming too..."

"I also need another wand as a backup. I heard that new students' wands carry a kind of magic called the Trace..."

"It's used by the Ministry of Magic to monitor students casting spells outside school, because we aren't allowed to use wands during the holidays."

"What a stupid policy! I don't want to spend holidays only staring anxiously at my wand."

Li Weide nodded. "In that case, let's go together..."

It should have been effortless for Toby to Apparate with two Young Wizards.

But Li Weide's magical strength was no different from that of an adult wizard, so Toby had no choice but to take them to Diagon Alley in two trips.

Toby said, "The Junk Shop has almost every kind of second-hand item. Most of it is junk, of course, but sometimes people do find some good things there."

He was extremely familiar with the Junk Shop.

Back then, his former master had visited this place quite often...

Without stopping anywhere else, the two of them and the House-elf leading the way arrived at the entrance of the Junk Shop in just a few minutes.

"All right, Toby. I have another list here. Help me buy everything on it, then wait for us at the place where we appeared earlier."

Li Weide took out a sheet of paper and a bag of Galleons, handing them to Toby.

"Yes, Young Master Weide!" Toby said respectfully as he took it, then vanished from the spot.

"Tell me... when will we be able to learn that magic where you disappear with a pop?" Tom gazed enviously at the spot where Toby had vanished.

"That magic seems to be called Apparation. But House-elf Apparation is a little different from a wizard's. At our age, we probably can't learn it yet."

Though Li Weide said so, he was just as tempted as Tom.

Tom was still young, and his magic was only at the level of an underage wizard. It really was not yet time for him to learn Apparation.

But Li Weide was different. He already possessed the magical strength of an adult wizard. After some practice, he could cast many relatively advanced spells as well.

In other words, he could learn Apparation whenever he wanted.

However, learning Apparation carried extremely high risks. One careless mistake could easily result in splinching.

When wizards first learned this magic, they generally needed an experienced teacher watching nearby.

Should splinching occur, the teacher could help reattach the separated body parts.

Li Weide quietly considered whom he should ask to "stand guard" for him if he truly wanted to learn Apparation.

Practicing by himself was absolutely out of the question.

He had no desire to have his head in one place and his body somewhere else...