A thin letter, from Gringotts.
It listed his recent income, as well as an expenditure for a sum of Galleons withdrawn from the vault by his father, Ferdinand Gray. Wade glanced at the numbers, then casually put the letter away.
The package was from Marchioni, accompanied by a letter detailing recent sales of the Book of Friends, the income Wade should receive, and the next steps for its promotion—even though production couldn't keep up, Marchioni had already expanded the market into Asia and Africa.
In the letter, Marchioni also sketched out several new versions of the Book of Friends that would be launched soon, and "earnestly pleaded" with Wade, as the inventor of the Book of Friends, to "offer valuable suggestions" so that the new product launch could "achieve greater success."
Judging by Marchioni's sincere tone in the letter, it seemed as if this business tycoon was genuinely losing sleep over this, as if only Wade could guide his life.
Wade: …
He finally understood why Professor Murray would say, "Just let that guy help you make money with his abilities. If he bothers you often, just ignore him."
Professor Murray must have often received these kinds of Owls from Marchioni in the past.
But for Wade, Marchioni not only brought him a large sum of Galleons but also sent a whole package of Alchemy materials—though most were common, there were also rare materials like African tree snake skin, which were hard to buy even with money.
Wade still wrote a serious letter in return.
Of course, it wasn't about trivial matters like which design was more appealing. What Wade wrote about were some ideas he had recently developed while studying Alchemy, concerning improvements to the Book of Friends.
For example, pre-limiting it to connect only two or three people often made it inconvenient to use. He modified the Magic Rune Circuit, and now, with just a simple spell, multiple blank Books of Friends could be linked together.
Another example: a picture could be added to the bottom page of the new Book of Friends, listing various Emoticons that could express emotions with simple symbols—though not very useful, Wade knew such things were popular with young people. Some words that felt too cold written out could become humorous and cute when replaced with Emoticons or emojis, possibly stimulating another wave of consumption.
Additionally, some Books of Friends could be given special tracking functions, allowing the holder of the other person's Book of Friends to check their location at any time.
Wade thought for a moment, then added a paragraph to the letter—
"I believe this type of Book of Friends should prominently state its tracking function in the header, and its color and appearance should be distinctly different from ordinary Books of Friends—if a Book of Friends, originally for communication, can also track, it risks invading privacy, which ordinary people might find hard to accept. Its purchasers should be parents and children, or truly devoted lovers…"
He just wondered if his Book of Friends would inadvertently break up a few couples in the future.
Wade imagined the scene—
In the past, lovers would ask: "Do you love me—how much do you love me—swear it!"
In the future, the way lovers express loyalty would probably become: "Can we exchange tracking Books of Friends?"
Hmm…
The test arrived so unexpectedly.
Wade then thought about his own situation—he didn't mind his parents knowing his location. As for a non-existent lover… if he were to fall in love in the future, it would certainly be with the intention of marriage, and loyalty to the marriage would be a minimum requirement.
Moreover, Wade didn't plan to marry at such a young age—was magic not amazing enough? Or Alchemy not interesting enough? Dating? Love what love! It would only waste his precious time…
So, the arrow he released today would absolutely not boomerang back to him.
Wade confidently continued writing and quickly finished. He handed the letter to the Owl, which gripped it, along with the modified Book of Friends, and watched it fly away.
...
The Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, the Umbrella Room, the Library, the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch Pitch, the Ravenclaw common room, the dormitories…
Wade took photos in almost all the accessible, iconic places at school. When he ran into familiar students and professors, they would take pictures together too.
Although Wade had never been a parent, he had been a son for many years. Whenever he traveled, he used to love taking pictures of various unique buildings and natural landscapes, hoping his parents could share these beautiful sights. Later, he realized that his parents weren't interested in the scenery at all; they just wanted to see him in the scenery.
Therefore, now in his lens, no matter how wonderful the environment, the focus was always on people—in front of the greenhouse, he stood beside the kind-faced, gently smiling Professor Sprout; by the Black Lake, he and cheerful, lively classmates had their arms around each other's shoulders; inside the Umbrella Room, the SSC members sat together, chatting and laughing.
Fear often stems from the unknown, like walking in boundless darkness, hearing only your own heartbeat. If you had a lamp in your hand, illuminating the surroundings, allowing your eyes to clearly see the thorns and mud, even if the path remained rugged, fear would naturally dissipate.
...
The film cameras usable at Hogwarts were very classical, and the process of developing photos was originally tedious and long, but magic accelerated the process.
Wade turned the Room of Requirement into a darkroom for developing photos, then placed the negatives into the developing solution. After a series of processes including developing, stopping, washing, fixing, and printing, he finally got a stack of moving photos.
He moved to a brightly lit environment and flipped through them one by one.
The camera not only recorded their actions and scenes but also seemed to capture the mood during the photo session. The smiles of the people in the photos seemed even brighter than usual. Professor Sprout would occasionally pat his head, and Professor Flitwick would sometimes excitedly jump onto a stack of books, then jump back down.
Professor Murray was usually kind and gentle; Wade regarded him as a source of wisdom and a life mentor. Professor Murray in the photos initially had this image too, but after taking a sip of tea, his entire face suddenly wrinkled up, eyes tightly shut, eyebrows shifted, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as if he found it unbearably bitter.
—Was that tea… really that bitter? Could it have been Americano coffee put in there?
Wade tried to recall, but he hadn't noticed the tea at all at the time. Now, looking at Professor Murray in the photo, grimacing from the bitterness one moment, then curiously trying another sip, then grimacing again…
Wade burst into uncontrollable laughter.
He had to keep this photo private, otherwise, if Professor Murray saw it, it would surely be destroyed to dust for ruining his image, right?
Wade continued flipping through the photos, then suddenly his hand stilled, and his gaze instantly softened.
It was a simple family photo taken during Christmas, with them sitting on the sofa.
But now, the three people in the photo were very close, his parents leaning against him, their hands clasped. They gazed tenderly at each other, kissing occasionally; or they would bend down and gently kiss the forehead of Wade in the photo.
Leaning by the window, Wade gently caressed the photo, a smile spreading across his face, his eyes shining with warm light.
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