Wawerlett held the crystal bottle, a magnifying glass in his other hand, intently examining the gold dust inside. His brows were tightly furrowed, and he mumbled to himself.
Wade wondered what Wawerlett could possibly discern from it.
He had once placed the same substance under an optical microscope, but no matter how much he magnified it, all he saw was fine gold powder.
Wade even suspected that if he rented an electron microscope at a university lab, he would see the same thing.
Trying to study magic scientifically only led to the conclusion that "it's not scientific at all."
"Wade."
Grindelwald stood up, glanced at him, pointed a finger at the bottle of gold dust, and asked, "Have you ever seen anything like this?"
After a few days apart, Grindelwald seemed even more imposing. Perhaps it was due to the number of people he'd killed recently, or perhaps it was because his body, which had been depleted in prison, was slowly recovering and no longer looked so frail.
On the way here, the Polyjuice Potion had worn off, and Wade had reverted to his original appearance.
Grindelwald didn't comment on his oversized clothes and went straight to the point.
Seeing that he also didn't bring up their previous argument or offense, Wade breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded, then added, "I have seen something similar, but I'm not sure if it's the exact same thing."
Wawerlett's eyes lit up, and he looked over at him.
Grindelwald wasn't surprised. He waved his hand and said, "You come take a look too."
Wade pulled out his Wand and stepped forward, first casting several standard diagnostic Spells on the crystal bottle. Then, he took a coin from his pocket and, with a flick of his Wand, Transfigured it into a small white mouse.
Grindelwald watched his fluid and natural Transfiguration magic, his eyes momentarily unfocused before returning to normal.
The tiny white mouse blinked its bright black eyes, obediently resting on the wooden table.
Wade uncorked the crystal bottle. With a flick of his Wand, a subtle current of air lifted a few specks of gold dust, gently depositing them on the white mouse's body. He then poked its back with his finger.
The white mouse didn't move. It slowly rolled its eyeballs, its tail drooped, and then it suddenly collapsed.
The little creature wasn't dead, but it was breathing slowly and deeply, as if it had fallen into a profound sleep.
Wade then used the air current to put the gold dust back into the bottle and recorked it.
A moment later, the white mouse woke up, looked left and right, and scurried nimbly to the edge of the table. Then, the magic wore off, and it suddenly turned back into a coin.
Wawerlett looked at Wade's unsurprised expression and asked curiously, "What exactly is this?"
Wade thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure what exactly it is, but when it touches the skin, it causes a person's physiological functions to slow down significantly, their consciousness to become hazy, and then they fall into a deep sleep. The more you come into contact with it, the more pronounced the effect."
"However, this substance is harmless to the human body. Even if one sleeps for a long time under its influence without eating or drinking, they won't die of thirst or hunger, nor will their muscles atrophy. It's like…"
He recalled putting some gold dust on a white mouse once, and it stayed there for a full two months. When the white mouse woke up, it quickly resumed its previous activities—grabbing a dry ear of corn and starting to gnaw on it.
The two months of sleep seemed to have been deleted from its life and consciousness with a single click.
"It's like... the life form's time has been frozen," Wade said, observing the expressions of the others around him.
Grindelwald subtly raised an eyebrow, showing no further emotion.
Wawerlett, on the other hand, quickly shifted from shock to excitement, practically wanting to dive into the bottle to experience it firsthand.
Drayne's eyes widened abruptly, then he looked at the bottle and fell into thought.
And Morrow...
"So, if someone put this on themselves, wouldn't it mean they could live forever?" he asked eagerly.
Wade countered, "Even rocks can last forever. Would you let Medusa turn you into stone?"
Morrow immediately shook his head honestly.
"This thing can neither grant eternal life nor eternal youth; at most, it's just a form of hibernation."
Wade said, "Spending decades or centuries in sleep, and then waking up, the quality of life remains the same. Aging and death are still unavoidable."
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered the beautiful princess from the fairy tale who was cursed by a witch and slept for a hundred years.
The entire palace, including the animals, fell asleep with her, and after a hundred years, everything awakened simultaneously, becoming vibrant again, completely unaware that they had slept for a century.
After a pause, Wade continued, "Its greatest use should be to give seriously injured or terminally ill patients a chance for treatment... and also to extend the shelf life of Potions."
For example, Wade had many Potions in his Wardrobe Space, some of which would expire in a month or two. But if he put two specks of gold dust in, they'd be fresh even a year and a half later.
Thinking of his Wardrobe Space, Wade couldn't help but sigh, feeling a deep nostalgia for those convenient days.
"But..." Drayne frowned, slowly asking, "How can a Muggle wield the power of time? Even Wizards can't do something like this."
"That's too absolute," Morrow retorted. "The legendary Merlin might have been able to do it."
Drayne glared unhappily at his colleague, who was arguing just for the sake of arguing, and said, "Use your brain! If The Organization had someone like 'Merlin,' would they need to conduct those crude modification experiments?"
Morrow wagged his finger, making a "tsk tsk tsk" sound, and scoffed, "Günther, your thinking is too rigid!"
"Of course they don't have 'Merlin,' but it's not impossible for them to accidentally obtain one or two ancient Wizard Alchemy artifacts!"
"Just like the Hallows that Death supposedly gave to the three brothers, they look like ordinary objects but possess immense Magical Power, and they don't pick their owner; anyone can use them."
Drayne thought about it and realized there might be some truth to it. He turned to Wade and asked, "Wade, is this gold dust an Alchemy creation?"
Wade cautiously said, "The Magical Power on it is indeed somewhat similar to a Time-Turner, but... aside from legendary deities, I don't know what kind of Alchemy technique could create something so miraculous."
"That's because it's not a purely Alchemical product," Grindelwald suddenly said.
Everyone looked at him, then Drayne leaned in and asked, "Sir, have you figured out the origin of this gold dust?"
Grindelwald sat in the armchair and gestured for the others to sit as well. With a flick of his hand, the crystal vial flew into his grasp.
Wawerlett's gaze followed it, as if glued to its path.
Grindelwald gently swirled the crystal vial, watching the gold dust inside slosh like water, and after a moment, he spoke:
"It seems absurd fairy tales always have some basis in reality. Whether it's the Tale of the Three Brothers or Sleeping Beauty, they actually correspond to powers we can't comprehend but that truly exist."
"These powers are a kind of innate magic, difficult to explain, difficult to control. The Ministry of Magic has been researching these mysterious powers, and they've made some progress, but the more they research, the more unknowns they discover, leading to an indescribable dread."
"You mean—" Drayne said, "the things the Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries are researching?"
"Precisely," Grindelwald said. "Thought, life, death, emotion, time, the universe, the future, elements… these are all the mysterious magics they are studying."
He looked at Wade and said, "I hear you were Hogwarts' top student, taking every course. So you must have gotten a Time-Turner as well?"
"Yes," Wade said, and as Wawerlett looked at him with shining eyes, he added, "but the school took it back before the holidays."
Wawerlett's eyebrows drooped in disappointment. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly stammered, "Um… Gellert, speaking of which… Wade's school term starts again in a few days…"
—If he goes back to school, he can get the Time-Turner back. Once he has it, he can lend it to me for research…
Blatant desire was written all over Wawerlett's eyes.
The three Alliance members looked at him speechlessly. Even Wade didn't know what to say.
After a moment, they all ignored Wawerlett's comment, and Grindelwald continued, "The Ministry of Magic once claimed that the reason they could create Time-Turners was by casting a time-reversal Spell on an hourglass. This, in fact, is a complete lie."
"They merely harnessed the power of time magic, using a golden timer for crude control. This Magical Power exists naturally, so a Time-Turner doesn't require the user to provide Magical Power, nor does it require any Spell."
"I imagine 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 to 1402 and stayed there for five days.
When she returned, her body had aged five centuries, and she passed away shortly after at St. Mungo's.
This witch's brief time travel interfered with the life trajectories of countless people, some becoming as if they had never been born. It also caused severe disruption to real time; Tuesday lasted two and a half days, and Thursday became only four hours long.
Fortunately, time has a peculiar self-healing property, and after a few days, the interference became minimal, and the flow of time gradually returned to normal.
Since then, Ministries of Magic worldwide have established various strict legal regulations and penalties regarding time travel.
"This story is the most obvious manifestation of time magic. If the British Ministry of Magic had continued its experiments, perhaps it might have discovered the true nature of time, but it's more likely that the entire world would have been destroyed by chaotic time."
Grindelwald said, "Humanity cannot bear that cost. The Ministry of Magic could only choose to prohibit those radical experiments. The focus is on observation and control, not utilization."
"So, Wawerlett, Wade's Time-Turner can only be used to solve some trivial time management issues—for example, he can have more time to write essays—but it cannot be used to solve truly critical matters. It cannot be reversed endlessly, cannot change the past or the future, and certainly cannot truly transcend the limits of time."
"Oh, I see…" Wawerlett sounded somewhat disappointed.
Wade felt a pang of guilt when he heard even Grindelwald say this.
Then he remembered that his last use of the Time-Turner hadn't changed the past—he hadn't been able to prevent Mabel from becoming an Obscurus, and Hailey's rescue was a fact already determined before he flowed back in time.
So he hadn't changed history—his actions themselves were part of history.
"I've strayed… what I mean to say is, mysterious magic is not a power that Wizards can simply create at will."
Grindelwald continued:
"A long, long time ago, they suddenly appeared somewhere in the world, bringing immense chaos and disaster to the local area. The original purpose of establishing the Ministry of Magic was for ancient Wizards to research, monitor, and restrict these powers."
"Today, deep beneath the ground of Ministries of Magic worldwide, each possesses several types of mysterious magic. What aspects these magics focus on are absolute secrets, unknowable to outsiders."
Grindelwald placed the crystal vial on the table and flicked it lightly with his finger. The vial made a crisp sound, and some of the gold dust inside vibrated slightly before slowly settling.
"But… if these things can truly stop time, then like time reversal, it must be a utilization of time magic."
Everyone's eyes flickered as they pondered.
Drayne slowly said, "So… either those people discovered a newly emergent source of time magic and found a way to extract this gold dust from it; or they controlled a Ministry of Magic."
"—Control a Ministry of Magic?" Moro asked incredulously. "Is that possible?"
"Naturally, it's impossible for Ministries of Magic in countries like Britain, France, or Germany, but some smaller countries have fewer than ten Wizards in total."
Drayne explained, "What's called a Ministry of Magic there is just one mentor with a few apprentices. Their magical ability is usually not great, and some even have to set up stalls on the street to make a living."
Moro murmured, "…So whether swayed by money or forced by violence, they could potentially betray the secrets of magic and become lackeys driven by Muggle magnates."
Drayne nodded heavily.
"Don't worry," Grindelwald said. "Even if they control some Wizards, their numbers won't be too large. I will peel away their layers, one by one, until the innermost heart is forced to reveal itself."
"Be patient, children. If an organization that has existed for hundreds of years were easily uprooted by us, I would be disappointed."
"This time, it was just because we weren't prepared for this kind of thing that we suffered a great loss. Wade—"
He looked into the young Wizard's clear gray eyes and asked, "Since you've researched this before, do you have any countermeasures?"
Wade said, "The simplest method is to wear protective suits. Muggle hospitals have ready-made equipment. If it doesn't touch the skin, the gold dust can't have an effect."
However, for Wizards using Wands, wearing protective suits is very inconvenient. Even just wearing an extra pair of gloves can affect some people's magic.
Wade thought for a moment, then added, "Most Spells don't work on the gold dust, but it is limited by containers and objectively affected by force—I've seen people use vacuum-like devices to suck up this gold dust."
Recalling the scene, a thought flashed in his mind, and he said, "I can make a portable, self-contained dust collector; that should eliminate the effects of this stuff."
"Excellent." Grindelwald finally smiled and asked, "If Wawerlett assists, how much time will you need to get it ready?"
"Uh…" Wade thought for a moment, then humbly said, "You can see the finished product tonight."
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