Giovanni Zatara frowned, his eyes filled with confusion.
Gwen met his gaze with unusual composure, even looking as if she had the leisure to pick up a book.
Looking at his expression and considering Thomas Wayne's social standing, Zatara felt there was no need for him to lie.
After carefully choosing his words, he spoke, "Gwen, I'm truly curious, did you really learn Backwards Magic from my daughter? Could you demonstrate it?"
His tone carried a hint of anticipation.
After all, the most gifted person he knew in learning Backwards Magic was his own daughter, Zatanna.
Now, someone had appeared who learned it after only two viewings, so he was naturally a bit curious.
Gwen didn't speak, but nodded gently.
She took a deep breath, composed herself, then suddenly shouted, "Taht!"
As soon as her voice fell, gray smoke instantly surged in the laboratory, enveloping Gwen's hands in the blink of an eye.
Under Giovanni's eager gaze, the smoke slowly dissipated.
A black top hat appeared steadily in Gwen's hands.
And this top hat was identical to the one Zatanna frequently conjured.
Giovanni stood before Gwen, his expression slightly hesitant.
His lips moved a few times, but he stopped short of speaking.
Gwen noticed his unusual behavior and simply asked, "Mr. Zatara, is there something you wish to say to me?"
Giovanni took a deep breath, as if making a great decision, and slowly said, "Miss Gwen, your talent is truly rare in my lifetime. I had hoped to teach you magic, but I fear my own abilities are insufficient..."
Gwen was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then, with a polite smile, she earnestly said, "Mr. Zatara, your willingness to teach me is already an honor. Please do not be so modest; I am very eager to learn magic from you."
In reality, Gwen was ecstatic.
Learning magic wasn't like learning other things, where if one teacher didn't teach, another would.
What more could she ask for than to find a master of Giovanni's caliber?
Subsequently, under the organization of Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne, Gwen's apprenticeship ceremony with Giovanni Zatara concluded successfully.
Of course, whether it was for Thomas and Martha or the excuse given to guests, Giovanni and Gwen used the pretext of a magic teacher.
Although Thomas Wayne most likely guessed something, he feigned ignorance.
After all, he wasn't foolish; he knew how his eldest daughter came to be.
Zatanna could initially guide her junior sister, but Gwen quickly caught up to her progress.
Despite Zatanna's extraordinary talent, displaying abilities far beyond ordinary people in the realm of magic, she was, after all, just a normal human.
What was even more troublesome was that the braces she wore constantly interfered with her pronunciation, making her enunciation imprecise.
Gwen, on the other hand, was different.
According to the Ben 10 lore, Tian Xiao Min's Grandpa Grandpa Max's wife was an Anodite.
This is a being composed of pure energy, naturally possessing a high degree of control over the magic energy of the Ben 10 World.
In a sense, they are magical beings themselves.
Logically, when an Anodite interbreeds with other organisms, since Anodites are pure energy beings and theoretically lack DNA, their offspring's DNA should fully exhibit the characteristics of the other organism.
However, in the original work, Tian Xiao Min inexplicably inherited the powerful magic abilities of an Anodite, and even possessed the exclusive form of this alien race.
With all these advantages, Gwen's learning progress was naturally faster than Zatanna's.
However, because both Gwen and Zatanna were studying magic with Giovanni, the only one among the three girls who couldn't tell the difference between magic and stage magic, Brucey, felt left out.
Whenever Brucey excitedly came to Gwen's laboratory, thinking of happily playing with her sister and Zatanna, she would find the two of them busy as clockwork, their feet barely touching the ground.
At first, the little girl was patient, waiting for them to finish before playing together.
Later, she became so bored that she started to whine, pestering her sister to play with her.
Giovanni could do nothing when he saw this. To prevent Brucey from feeling that the two girls were deliberately bullying her, he simply took her to learn stage magic.
Yes, stage magic, not magic.
Don't forget that the Zatara Family were not only magicians but also renowned stage magicians.
However, what surprised Giovanni was how astonishingly nimble the Wayne Family's second daughter's hands were.
Perhaps it was because her father had once been a Doctor, passing on steady hands to the child.
This is a necessary condition for a stage magician.
If judged solely on stage magic requiring sleight of hand, Brucey Wayne's talent even surpassed his own daughter's.
Originally, it was just to prevent her from disturbing Gwen's studies, but now Giovanni genuinely wanted to teach Brucey his stage magic skills.
Time flew by, and several months passed in a flash. Giovanni received an invitation to perform in another city and had to leave Gotham City with Zatanna.
Before leaving, Giovanni seriously sought out Gwen, solemnly handed her a magic book he had annotated with key knowledge points, and earnestly urged her to study diligently.
In reality, besides Backwards Magic, this book also contained some other magic.
However, Gwen would have to research these slowly on her own.
After handing the book to Gwen, Giovanni then gave several tickets to Thomas Wayne, warmly inviting their family to watch his and Zatanna's final stage magic performance in Gotham.
When Thomas told his two daughters the news, their reactions were completely different.
Brucey's eyes instantly lit up like twinkling stars upon hearing it, and she excitedly bounced off the ground, jumping and cheering, "That's great! Stage magic! Teacher Giovanni's stage magic show!"
Gwen's reaction, however, was completely different.
Upon hearing the news, her expression hardened, and her delicate brows furrowed unconsciously.
"Father, where did Teacher Giovanni schedule this performance?"
Thomas glanced at the invitation in his hand: "Park Street Theater, is there a problem, Gwen?"
Gwen forced a smile and said, "No, nothing. Oh, by the way, Father, Mother, and Brucey, give me your bracelets."
The three of them bewilderedly handed the items to Gwen. Gwen took them and quickly rushed back to her laboratory.
About 10 minutes later, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she brought the items back and handed them to the three of them.
It wasn't that she was so nervous just hearing that her family was going out; it was mainly because... behind the Park Street Theater was a street called Park Row.
Of course, this street also had another name.
It was called Crime Alley.