"Hey, you're finally willing to come out? I almost thought you were going to suffocate in the Map Chamber..."
William was somewhat surprised—because this old man has indeed been out of sight for a long time. After gaining the access to research the Secret Vault that William opened, Grindelwald seemed to have lit a "term" similar to a scientific madman. He had been shut in that dark chamber for about a month, even meals were exclusively delivered by the Little Elf—
On the other side, Grindelwald pushed the cup back to Dumbledore with disdain, gazing at William with sparkling eyes and undisguised excitement on his face, "Suffocate? That's called focus. You threw a mind-bending idea and a crazy thought at me. How can I justify your payment without squeezing every thought out of my head..."
"Wow, you're the kind of overachiever fueling those bastard capitalists' arrogance?"
William's tone was slightly exaggerated, but quickly, his emotions also got excited, drawing a puzzled look on Dumbledore's face as he watched the two of them. "So, did you really succeed?" William squinted, his expression becoming slightly serious, "Is it stable? I don't want the 'cornerstone' of a new world to be built on a flammable and explosive nuclear warhead—"
"..."
"So?"
William leaned forward, eyes flickering with anticipation, the previous fatigue seemingly wiped away, "Alright, Gellert, stop keeping us in suspense... what's the deal? Did it really succeed?"
"You should consider how much patent fee you owe me, William... Isn't that what those Muggles say?"
"If successful, as much as you want—"
"Excuse me, what exactly are you two talking about?"
Dumbledore raised his hand, feeling completely isolated as an elderly person who couldn't understand what the two were discussing. He frowned, "What 'new world'? What 'explosion'? You aren't researching something... wait, Gellert, you're going back to your old ways?" Actually, Old Dumbledore knew it was unlikely, so he still had a smile on his face.
After all, the former Black Wizard Grindelwald once boasted about creating a beautiful world.
"Rest assured, I have no intention of exterminating Muggles now—On the contrary, because their 'technology' develops so quickly, while the Wizarding World has been stagnant and closed for over a hundred years, the era is quickly leaving us relics behind—we need to learn from each other, otherwise, the downfall of the Wizarding World is only a matter of time."
Grindelwald's expression and tone grew more serious.
"Is it that severe?" Dumbledore, after all, was still a wizard.
"For Muggles now, to completely destroy a city like London only takes half a minute. Can we do that?" After defeat, this old man was probably not idle in prison. Besides doing some handicrafts, understanding the Muggle world became the period he worked most diligently over the years.
"I can."
William, who was munching on sunflower seeds on the side, raised his hand.
"...Ahem, you get out."
Grindelwald retorted, taking a deep breath, "So, you two coming with me?"
So, the two who barely warmed their seats stood up again, but there was no need to wander around the castle at midnight. The three directly passed through the fireplace in the Headmaster's Office, following the temporarily constructed Floo Powder network, and entered the Map Chamber located underneath the castle.
"...Did you redecorate this place for me?"
William looked at the chamber, which seemed almost unrecognizable since he hadn't visited in the past half-month. But in the next moment, a small green snake fell from the ceiling onto William's shoulder—seeing long-lost Mr. Green Pepper, William finally confirmed this was the Map Chamber.
Just that, the originally starry cliff walls around had been smoothed out considerably, the originally dark-colored floor had been replaced by white, and the previously mottled murals on the walls had been fully restored. Professor Percival (Guardian) was currently dozing in his high-backed chair.
"Just a little thing."
Grindelwald waved his hand, signaling such minor matters were nothing. He slowly walked to the center of the Map Chamber, raised his hand, and the originally smooth and tidy floor cracked a neat gap from the middle. Grindelwald's fingers seemed to pluck an invisible string, stirring up a slight "ripple" in the air.
In the next second, a sphere about the size of an adult curled up, emanating a warm silvery-white glow, rose slowly from the gap in the ground, floating about a meter above the center of the chamber.
The Secret Vault seemed unchanged, yet it seemed transformed.
Compared to the original core purely composed of Emotion Magic and flickering with hazardous lights, it now resembled a precise "machine." The smooth silvery-white shell, with faint golden Magic Patterns twinkling and jumping, seemed to suppress and sort the energy within.
"Gellert..."
Dumbledore's voice became somewhat dry due to shock. He stared tightly at the floating light sphere, then suddenly turned to Grindelwald, his gaze finally landing on the latter's newly raised, now naturally lowered hands, "You... just now?"
Yes, far more shocking to him than exploring the use of the light sphere was whether Grindelwald just cast a spell without a wand.
The old man believed he wasn't old enough to be losing his memory. He clearly remembered, the person in front of him had already lost the ability to cast magic alone due to years of imprisonment in Nimangard, but now...
It seemed something had changed.
"Surprised, Albus?"
Grindelwald's voice was low, yet it was filled with excitement that couldn't be suppressed, "Yes, Magic Power has started flowing within me again..." He slowly raised the hand that had just cast the spell, spreading his fingers slightly, pointing at William. In the next moment, the little Basilisk snuggling on the latter's shoulder directly flew up.
Poisonous Snake Green Pepper: "?"
The little green "worm" began twisting and struggling in mid-air but was still unable to escape the confines of magic power.
"All thanks to it."
Grindelwald raised his finger towards the Secret Vault floating before him, "I only spent a little time and transformed this magic power conglomerate, which could explode half the European Continent, into something capable of allowing non-magical Squibs to successfully cast magic... into a 'battery'."
He racked his brains for a suitable term.
"This..."
"Mr. Filch might be thrilled, but this wasn't our original goal, was it?"
William crossed his arms, seemingly unhappy with Grindelwald's "private usage" of resources, knowing this capability had nothing to do with their originally discussed content, "Wait, this effect... does it work for Muggles?"
"Don't rush, William, this is just some derivative capability... As for Muggles, I don't know, haven't tried."
Grindelwald shook his head.