Chapter 895
A Cup of Black Tea
Chapter 895 A Cup of Black Tea
Wade shook his wand, and a stream of clear water washed over the teacup.
Dumbledore has left, but the room seems to still have a faint scent of lemon Olaf.
A soft rustling sound came from under the pillow. The snail puppet slowly poked its body out, then confidently crawled out of its shell, its compound eyes quietly turning towards Vader.
Wade put down his teacup, which was still damp with water, and stretched out his palm. The snail crawled up to him as if on cue.
It doesn't have the mucus secreted by real snails; when it lands on your hand, it only has a cool, smooth feel.
Wade stroked its spiral-shaped shell and chuckled, "You're afraid of Professor Dumbledore? But he seems to like you a lot."
The snail's antennae twitched, and it whispered, "He's angry... It's scary... Isn't the owner afraid?"
Wade paused in his stroking motion.
Yes... since when... he stopped worrying that Dumbledore might object or even get angry?
While Wade was lost in thought, there was another knock on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The knocking continued with an extremely regular rhythm, making one wonder if Dumbledore had returned.
Wade got up and opened the door.
The silver-haired old man stood in the doorway, lean and sharp, with a habitual hint of mockery and weariness at the corners of his mouth. His gaze as he looked at Wade was also complex.
Amidst the pickiness, consideration, and even disdain, there was also a subtle hint of satisfaction.
Without exchanging pleasantries, he walked straight to the center of the room, surveyed the shabby surroundings of the hotel room, and changed the subject he was about to say:
"You live in a place like this? The UMNO party has quite a few businesses in the United States, why didn't Antoine arrange a better place for you?"
Wade: "..."
Even the cheapest motel is still better than the prison cells in Nurmengard, right?
Grindelwald never complained about the terrible conditions while in prison, but after his escape, he ate the best food and lived in the best accommodations, never depriving himself of anything.
Of course, he only muttered these words to himself.
After a brief pause, Vede said, "This is the place I chose myself—the best way to hide is to live in the city center without attracting anyone's attention. There will always be UMNO members watching the UMNO's properties."
In other words, he has no intention of revealing his relationship with UMNO at this time.
Upon hearing this, Grindelwald let out a soft snort, a hint of displeasure flashing across his face, but within that displeasure was also a sense of knowing "as expected."
His critical gaze fell on Wade's face, observing his overly calm expression, before he sat down in the only armchair in the room and chuckled softly.
"Have you had any nightmares these past few days, Wade?"
He asked in a whispered tone.
Wade looked up at him and said, "No."
Then, he rolled up his sleeves and poured Grindelwald a cup of the remaining half-pot of black tea.
Upon hearing this, the old man's smile widened immediately. He toyed with the teacup in his hand and chuckled:
"Admit it, Vader! You and I are exactly the same! You may have learned from Dumbledore how to wear chains and imitate mercy, but that cannot change our true nature!"
He drank the black tea in one gulp, and as he put down the cup, he felt a chill on the back of his fingers.
He bumped into a teacup that still had water droplets on it. Grindelwald looked at the cup in his hand, then at the half-full cup of tea in front of Wade, and finally his gaze settled on the porcelain cup that had clearly just been washed.
He sniffed and faintly smelled the sweet scent of candy in the air.
Beside him, Wade lowered his gaze, holding the snail that had once again shrunk back to his side, and said:
“I don’t think I’m like you, Mr. Grindelwald. I never enjoy chaos… On the contrary, I seek order and justice.”
"Of course I won't lose sleep over eliminating a few cancerous tumors, because I know I did the right thing, and more importantly, it will save many more lives!"
He raised his eyes, looked directly at Grindelwald, and said, "If you've investigated my actions, you'll know... I haven't implicated any innocent people, even those who themselves have criminal blood!"
"Oh?" Grindelwald leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow. "Then do you know that your act of sending your little toy to rescue people has already aroused suspicion?"
Wade frowned: "Did someone realize that the animal that saved the people was a puppet?"
“No disguise is foolproof, Vader.”
Grindelwald's tone softened somewhat as he said, "Someone is asking Hogwarts whether our brilliant alchemists are really sitting in classrooms, attending classes peacefully."
Your classmate was completely unsuspecting, and his answer was—
He paused deliberately, and seeing that Wade showed no sign of tension, he finally gave up his wicked expectations with a sense of boredom.
"[Wade is always elusive at school; you only occasionally bump into him during mealtimes. He probably needs a lot of time to study alchemy... I've heard that the professors at the school teach him some unusual things in private...]"
"—This is the answer your classmate gave, which proves that you have been in school all along."
Grindelwald said, "It seems the person who cooperated with you and covered for you was a smart guy. He didn't let his classmates around him notice anything unusual at all."
"Of course, this is also thanks to your completely different style from ordinary students. When I was in school, I would never skip classes so openly as you do!"
Wade couldn't help but chuckle and said, "We are Eagle School after all, and most of my classmates don't trespass on other people's private space."
Calling it indifference wouldn't be a problem at all. Most Ravenclaw friendships are a bit more "fake" than those of the other houses.
But for Wade, this indifference was a more comfortable way to get along than being "passionate" or "thoughtful."
Grindelwald smiled slightly: "Then do you know who the classmate who leaked your whereabouts to others is?"
His grey-blue eyes were fixed on Wade, as if trying to see through his inner flaws, before he softly revealed the answer:
“Anthony Goldstein…I heard you recommended him for prefecture?”
Wade was taken aback: "Really? Anthony?"
He then said, "When I get back, I should find a way to thank him... The person who asked him was probably Salina Goldstein, right?"
When they first met, he privately wondered if they were related because of the familiar surname.
Although "Goldstein" is not a rare surname, it is an obvious link in the sparsely populated magical world.
“Thank you for telling me this,” Wade said sincerely. “This is very useful information for me, and I will also tell the people over there to be careful.”
Grindelwald's expectations were dashed once again, but he wasn't disappointed—he was probably used to it by now.
"It's good that you know what you're doing. I'm waiting to see what surprises you have in store next."
Grindelwald got up to leave, but just as he was about to go out, he suddenly turned back and asked, "Dumbledore was just here?"
(End of this chapter)