*Chapter 362: Past Events*
Wade glanced at the bread in Carlyle's hand and asked, "Can you eat that?"
The surrounding students thought they were discussing the differences between the foods of their two countries, but Carlyle understood immediately—Wade knew he was now a Vampire.
He said in surprise, "I heard the Headmaster thinks highly of you; turns out it's true!"
Then he shook the bread in his hand and said, "Don't worry, while this isn't quite to my taste, it's enough to fill my stomach. Dumbledore also said the kitchen would prepare a special meal for me."
"Why him?" Michael said indignantly, almost shouting.
Wade and Carlyle looked at him in unison, then turned their gaze away.
"What about accommodation?" Wade asked.
"That, I don't know... How many people are in your dorm? Can I join you?" Carlyle asked.
"No way," Michael said. "You're Gryffindor, you'll live in Gryffindor Tower."
Carlyle looked at him, then made to stand up. "Then I'll go ask the Headmaster if he can make another exception for me."
"That's impossible," Wade also said. "According to school rules, you do have to live in Gryffindor Tower."
"Alright," Carlyle sat back down, smiling. "I hope there aren't too many people... It'll be really uncomfortable if it's too crowded."
Although Vampires can feed on animal blood or blood stored in hospital refrigerators, what they crave most is always fresh, warm human blood.
Wade felt that there probably wasn't a more lenient professor in the world than Dumbledore. First, he brought a Werewolf into the school, and now a Vampire.
He said, "The third-year Gryffindors have filled up both boys' dorms, so the school should arrange a single room for you."
"That's good... Oh, right, tomorrow I have Muggle Studies, Transfiguration Class, and Potions Class. What are the professors like for those classes? Are they easy to get along with...?"
The two casually discussed attending Hogwarts, looking no different from ordinary friends.
The people around them were initially startled by Carlyle's actions, but seeing that he and Wade were old acquaintances, they understood and gradually stopped paying attention.
Only Michael frowned slightly.
No one noticed that Luna Lovegood, diagonally across the long table, suddenly picked up her plate after Carlyle sat down and silently walked like a small shadow from behind everyone to the furthest point from Carlyle.
Unlike the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall didn't speak after dinner. Students dispersed in twos and threes.
"Carlyle Johnson." Percy walked over again and said, "Come with me, I'll take you to the dorm."
"Does it have to be now?" Carlyle countered. "Curfew isn't for a few more hours, is it?"
"Huh?" Percy was stunned. Aside from his younger brothers, he had never encountered a younger student who openly contradicted him.
This year, he was the Head Boy of Hogwarts, often managing the students on behalf of the professors. He had even less experience with students challenging his authority.
—Of course, the Weasley Twins were still an exception.
Before Percy could get angry, he heard Carlyle say, "I'm sorry, I transferred from America and I'm not very familiar with this school's rules."
His words extinguished Percy's anger before it could even flare up.
"—Can I come find you at eleven? I heard Gryffindor has a Common Room... Before then, I'd like to catch up with a long-lost friend."
Carlyle glanced at the badge on Percy's chest and said, "I hope my humble request can be granted, Mr. Head Boy."
Percy's eyebrows twitched slightly. He puffed out his chest and said magnanimously, "Alright... Eleven o'clock, don't be late."
As Percy left, Carlyle turned his head, blinked, and grinned triumphantly. "Done!"
...
It wasn't dark yet when dinner ended.
Carlyle wanted to tour the school. Wade had originally planned to show him the route for tomorrow's classes, but Carlyle suggested seeing outside the castle first.
"We can see the classrooms anytime, but it'll be dark soon," Carlyle said.
Wade couldn't understand. "Can't you see the lawns outside anytime too?"
Despite saying that, Carlyle insisted, so he still got up from his seat.
By now, the setting sun was hanging over the distant mountaintops, and the entire Forbidden Forest was shrouded in deep shadow. The maze also looked even larger, with a long queue at its entrance.
Wade suddenly remembered that he himself hadn't been to the maze in a long time.
"Wade, did your Headmaster give you a task? Like taking care of me, a new student?"
Carlyle suddenly said, "I always feel like you're not very eager to deal with me."
Wade had thought he was too carefree to notice, so he paused before saying, "As long as you don't suddenly go crazy and try to jump off the tower, I think everything else is fine."
Hearing this, Carlyle froze, then suddenly burst into laughter, tears almost welling up in his eyes. His stomach hurt from laughing, so he simply sat down on the grass.
"Hahahaha... So that's how you've always seen me... Hahahahahahaha..."
Wade stood by, patiently waiting for him to finish laughing, and asked, "Is it that funny? You're thirteen now; you should know that jumping from a twenty-meter tower will kill you."
He couldn't understand. "You're dragging me to my death and you still find it funny?"
Carlyle wiped his tears, looked up, and said, "Ordinary people might die... but we're Wizards!"
Wade paused, frowning silently.
Carlyle ran a hand over his face. "It's my fault too... The broken leg must have hurt so much I forgot to explain it to you."
"When I was seven... I almost got hit by a car once, and when I came to, I was already on top of a church."
"Of course, back then I didn't know what magic was—I thought I had superpowers and could fly—and I wanted to show you."
"When I went to find you, do you know what I saw? You were reading, and you wanted to grab the water glass next to you... The cup was at least a foot away, but as soon as you reached out, it slid right over by itself..."
Wade racked his brain, but he couldn't recall any such incident.
He only remembered that before he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter, he had never shown any special abilities, nor did he even know magic existed.
Carlyle seemed to know what he was thinking and chuckled, "You don't know, do you? Because you did it unconsciously."
"When I saw that, I thought you and I were both superheroes. But when I told you, you thought I'd watched too many hero comics and even told me there were no superpowers in the real world..."
"I wanted to prove it to you, but I couldn't make my powers appear no matter what... Later, I thought maybe superpowers only show up when your life is in danger..."
This was a lesson he'd learned from hero comics.
Carlyle was a typical man of action; if he thought it, he did it immediately.
"So you dragged me to jump off a lighthouse? To activate our powers?" Wade said coldly, "Didn't it occur to you what would happen if we fell and died?"
"It did! I put down a lot of straw..."
Carlyle sighed. "After you left, I planned to fly down first, so by the time you reached the bottom of the tower, you'd see me standing there coolly, and then you'd believe me."
"But instead, I broke my leg... Haha, I was such a failure..."
One more update.
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