Wovilette held the crystal bottle in one hand, a magnifying glass in the other, and was intently studying the golden dust inside the bottle. His brows were tightly furrowed, and he was muttering something under his breath.
Wade didn't know what Wovilette could possibly discern by doing this.
Because he had once put the same substance under an optical microscope, but no matter how much he magnified it, all he saw were tiny specks of golden dust.
Wade even suspected that even if he rented an electron microscope from a university lab, he would see the same image.
Trying to study magic through scientific methods only leads to the conclusion that "this is not scientific at all."
"Wade."
Grindelwald stood up, glanced at him, pointed at the bottle of golden dust, and asked, "Have you ever seen something like this before?"
After a few days apart, Grindelwald appeared even more imposing—perhaps because he had killed quite a few people recently, or perhaps because his body, which had been drained to exhaustion in prison, was now slowly recovering and no longer looked so frail.
On the way here, the effects of the Polyjuice Potion had already worn off, and Wade had returned to his original appearance.
Grindelwald did not ask about his slightly oversized clothes and went straight to the point.
Seeing that Grindelwald didn't mention their previous argument or Wade's offense, Wade breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and added, "I have indeed seen something similar, but I'm not sure if it's exactly the same."
Wovilette's eyes lit up and he looked over at him.
Grindelwald was not surprised; he waved his hand and said, "Come and take a look."
Wade drew his wand and stepped forward. He first casted several standard detection spells on the crystal bottle, then pulled a coin from his pocket. With a flick of his wand, he transformed it into a little white mouse.
Grindelwald's eyes flickered slightly as he watched the smooth and natural transfiguration magic, but he quickly returned to normal.
The little white mouse blinked its shiny black eyes and obediently crouched on the wooden table.
Wade opened the crystal bottle's stopper, waved his wand, and a thin stream of air carried a few specks of golden dust gently onto the white mouse's body. He then prodded its back with his finger.
The white mouse didn't react much—it slowly rolled its eyes, its tail drooped, and then it suddenly collapsed.
The little creature wasn't dead; it was breathing slowly and deeply, as if it had fallen into a deep sleep.
Wade then directed the airflow to sweep the golden dust back into the bottle and sealed it with the stopper.
A moment later, the white mouse woke up, looked around nimbly, and scampered toward the edge of the table. Then, as the magic wore off, it suddenly turned back into a coin.
Wovilette watched Wade's calm demeanor and curiously asked, "What exactly is this?"
Wade thought for a moment before answering:
"I'm not sure exactly what it is, but when it comes into contact with the skin, it causes the body's physiological functions to slow down dramatically, dulls consciousness, and eventually induces sleep. The more one is contaminated with it, the stronger the effect."
"But this substance is harmless to the human body. Under its effect, one can sleep for a very long time without eating or drinking, yet they won't die of thirst or starvation, and their muscles won't atrophy. It's as if..."
He recalled once sprinkling the golden dust onto a little white mouse and leaving it there for a full two months before removing it. After waking up, the little mouse quickly resumed its previous activities—grabbing a dried corn kernel and gnawing on it.
It was as if the two months of sleep had been completely erased from its life and consciousness.
"It's as if... time for the living creature is frozen," Wade said, observing the expressions of the people around him.
Grindelwald raised his eyebrows slightly but showed no other emotion.
Wovilette quickly shifted from shock to excitement, looking as if he couldn't wait to dive into the bottle and experience it himself.
Delaine's eyes widened suddenly, and then he stared at the bottle, deep in thought.
As for Moreau...
"So if someone keeps this on them, wouldn't that be equivalent to achieving immortality?" he asked enthusiastically.
Wade retorted, "A stone can also last forever. Would you like Medusa to turn you into stone?"
Moreau immediately shook his head honestly.
"This stuff can neither grant immortality nor prevent aging. At best, it's just a form of hibernation."
Wade explained, "Even if someone sleeps through decades or centuries, when they wake up, their lifespan in terms of quality remains the same. Aging and death are still inevitable."
As he spoke, he suddenly thought of the fairy tale—the beautiful princess cursed by a witch to sleep for a hundred years.
The entire palace, including the animals, fell asleep, and after a century, everything awakened together, full of life again, completely unaware that a hundred years had passed.
After a brief pause, Wade continued, "Its greatest use would be to allow those who are severely injured or suffering from terminal illnesses to wait for a chance to be healed... It could also be used to extend the shelf life of magical potions."
For example, in Wade's wardrobe space, he had stored many potions, some of which would expire in just a month or two. But tossing in a couple of specks of golden dust would keep them fresh even after a year or more.
Thinking about his wardrobe space, Wade couldn't help but sigh, feeling nostalgic for those convenient days.
"But..." Delaine frowned and slowly asked, "How could Muggles grasp the power of time? Even among wizards, no one has ever achieved anything like this."
"That's too absolute," Moreau argued. "The legendary Merlin might have been able to."
Delaine looked displeased at his colleague, who seemed determined to argue for the sake of arguing, and said, "Use your brain! If that organization had someone like 'Merlin,' would they still need to conduct those clumsy modification experiments?"
Moreau waved his finger and clicked his tongue mockingly, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Günther, your thinking is way too rigid!"
"Of course they don't have a 'Merlin,' but stumbling across one or two alchemical artifacts from ancient wizards isn't impossible!"
"Just like the legendary Deathly Hallows given by Death to the three brothers—ordinary-looking items that possess incredible power and can be used by anyone without choosing a master."
Delaine thought about it and found the argument somewhat convincing. He turned to Wade and asked, "Wade, is this golden dust some kind of alchemical creation?"
Wade cautiously replied, "The power it carries is indeed somewhat similar to a Time-Turner, but... apart from the gods of legend, I really don't know what kind of alchemy could create such a miraculous thing."
"This is because it is not purely an alchemical creation," Grindelwald suddenly said.
Everyone turned to look at him, and then Delaine bowed slightly and asked, "Sir, have you already seen through the origin of this golden dust?"
Grindelwald sat in the armchair and gestured for the others to sit down as well. With a wave of his hand, the crystal bottle flew into his grasp.
Wovilette's gaze followed it as if glued to it.
Grindelwald gently shook the crystal bottle and watched the golden dust inside ripple like flowing water. After a moment, he said:
"Seemingly absurd fairy tales often have some basis in reality. The story of the Deathly Hallows and the tale of Sleeping Beauty both correspond to forces we cannot understand, but that undeniably exist."
"These forces are a kind of innate magic—difficult to explain, difficult to control. The Ministry of Magic has long been researching these mysterious powers. They've made some progress, but the more they study, the more unknowns they discover—unknowns so profound they inspire indescribable fear."
"You mean—" Delaine said, "those things the Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries are researching?"
"Exactly," Grindelwald said. "Thought, life, death, love, time, space, future, elements... These are all domains of the mysterious magic they are studying."
He looked at Wade and said, "I heard you were Hogwarts' top student and took every elective course. You must have been given a Time-Turner too?"
"Yes," Wade replied. When Wovilette turned to him with sparkling eyes, he added, "But the school took it back before the holidays."
Wovilette's hopeful expression immediately drooped. After thinking for a while, he stammered, "Um... Gellert, speaking of which... in a few days Wade should be going back to school..."
—Once school starts, he could return to Hogwarts, and once back, he could reclaim the Time-Turner, and once he has it, he could lend it to me for study...
The eager desire was practically written all over Wovilette's face.
The three wizards watched him wordlessly, and even Wade didn't know what to say.
After a moment, everyone collectively ignored Wovilette's comment, and Grindelwald continued, "The Ministry of Magic once claimed that the Time-Turner was created by casting a time-reversal charm on an hourglass. In truth, that was an outright lie."
"They merely borrowed the power of time magic and used the golden timer to achieve a crude form of control. This kind of magical power exists innately, which is why the Time-Turner doesn't require the user to supply magical energy, nor does it require any incantations."
"I'm sure you've all heard the story of Eloise Mintumble?" Grindelwald asked.
Everyone nodded.
The British Ministry of Magic had once conducted a very daring time experiment.
In 1899, a witch named Eloise Mintumble reversed time and traveled back to the year 1402, where she stayed for five days.
When she returned, her body had aged five centuries, and she soon passed away at St. Mungo's.
Her brief journey through time disrupted the life paths of countless people—some were never even born. It also caused severe interference with real-world time: Tuesday lasted two and a half days, while Thursday was reduced to just four hours.
Fortunately, time possessed a strange self-healing ability. A few days later, the disruptions became almost negligible, and the flow of time gradually returned to normal.
Since then, wizarding governments around the world have established strict laws and penalties concerning time travel.
"This story is the clearest demonstration of time magic. If the British Ministry of Magic had continued their experiments, they might have uncovered the true nature of time—but far more likely, the entire world would have been destroyed by the chaos."
Grindelwald said, "Humanity cannot afford such a cost. Thus, the Ministry had no choice but to ban radical experiments, focusing instead on observation and control, not exploitation."
"So, Wovilette, Wade's Time-Turner can only be used to solve trivial time management issues—like giving him more hours to write essays—but it cannot be used to fix truly critical matters. It cannot be used for endless reversals, cannot change the past or the future, and certainly cannot truly transcend the limitations of time."
"I see..." Wovilette sounded a bit disappointed at this.
Wade, hearing even Grindelwald say so, suddenly felt a little guilty.
Then he thought back and realized that when he last used the Time-Turner, he hadn't actually changed the past—he hadn't been able to stop Mabel from becoming an Obscurial, and Haley's survival had already been determined before he even traveled back.
Thus, he didn't alter history—his actions simply were part of history itself.
"We've strayed from the point... What I'm trying to say is that mysterious magic is not something that wizards can simply create at will," Grindelwald continued.
"A very long time ago, these forces suddenly appeared somewhere in the world, bringing great chaos and disaster to the local area. The original purpose of the Ministry of Magic's founding was so that ancient wizards could research, monitor, and contain these forces."
"Today, deep beneath each nation's Ministry of Magic, they still safeguard various forms of mysterious magic. Which types they possess and focus on are top secrets, completely unknown to outsiders."
Grindelwald placed the crystal bottle on the table and gave it a light flick with his finger. The bottle rang out with a crisp sound, and the golden dust inside trembled slightly before gently settling back down.
"But... if these things really can make time stand still, then just like time reversal, they must be a form of utilizing time magic."
Everyone's expressions flickered as they each fell into thought.
Delaine said slowly, "So... either those people discovered a newly emerged source of time magic and found a way to extract this golden powder from it, or they have taken control of a Ministry of Magic."
"—Control a Ministry of Magic?" Moreau asked in disbelief. "Is that even possible?"
"For countries like Britain, France, or Germany, of course not," Delaine explained. "But in some small countries, the total number of wizards might not even exceed ten."
He continued, "In such places, a 'Ministry of Magic' might just be a mentor leading a few apprentices. Their magical skills are often mediocre—some even have to set up stalls on the street just to make a living."
Moreau muttered, "...So whether lured by money or forced by violence, they could betray the secrets of magic and become lapdogs for Muggle elites."
Delaine nodded heavily.
"There's no need to worry," Grindelwald said. "Even if they have gained control over some wizards, their numbers won't be large. I will peel away their layers, one by one, until even their deepest core is forced into the light."
"Be patient, children. If an organization that's existed for hundreds of years could be uprooted by us so easily, I would actually be disappointed."
"This time we suffered a major loss only because we were unprepared for this kind of thing. Wade—"
He turned his gaze toward the young wizard's clear gray eyes and asked, "Since you've studied this before, do you have any countermeasures?"
Wade said, "The simplest way is to wear protective gear. Muggle hospitals already have ready-made equipment. As long as the skin doesn't come into contact, the golden powder cannot take effect."
However, it was inconvenient for wizards to use their wands while wearing full protective suits—even just wearing an extra pair of gloves could affect some people's spellcasting.
After thinking for a moment, Wade added, "Most spells have no effect on the golden powder, but it is restricted by physical containers and objectively subject to the force of motion—I have seen people use something like a vacuum cleaner to suck up the powder."
Recalling that scene, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and he said, "I can make a portable self-suction dust collector. It should be able to neutralize the effect of this stuff."
"Very good," Grindelwald finally smiled and asked, "If Wovilette assists you, how long do you think it would take to complete it?"
"Uh..." Wade thought for a moment, then modestly said, "The finished product should be ready by tonight."
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +235 Chapters
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