"The Vanishing Cabinet is a type of magical alchemy equipment that uses powerful space magic," Alex explained. "It comes as a pair, two cabinets that can connect directly, no matter how far apart they are. It's truly remarkable."
He continued, "I've never seen one in person before, only read about them in some rare alchemy tomes. They were invented by an unknown wizard centuries ago.
But because they require rare materials and a complicated crafting process, very few were ever made. Over time, the knowledge to create them was lost, and I thought they'd vanished entirely. I never expected to see one here." Alex's fascination with these magical devices was clear, and he couldn't hide his excitement at seeing a real Vanishing Cabinet.
"So Claremont used the cabinet to connect to the breeding base. Does that mean the other two Silver Wand bases might have their own Vanishing Cabinets, too?" Fang asked.
"No," Alex shook his head. "I can't say that for sure. The rarity of these cabinets is beyond what you can imagine. It's impossible for the Silver Wand to have many of them, and this one might not even belong to Claremont officially."
Fang looked puzzled. "You mean this Vanishing Cabinet might be Claremont's personal property?"
"It's a strong possibility," Alex said thoughtfully. "If the Silver Wand had a tool as useful as a Vanishing Cabinet, it would open up many possibilities, like smuggling across borders, for example." Alex smiled as he caught on to the potential. "Ah?" Fang murmured, intrigued.
"How could so many things fit into such a small, broken cabinet? Even a few of those magical animals wouldn't fit," Fang said, clearly skeptical. "You," Alex replied, looking at Fang in disbelief. "This is the wizarding world, things don't have to be big. Didn't you know you can just shrink them? You forgot you can shrink yourself, too."
"I'm not entirely sure how the Disappearing Cabinet works or if there's a limit to how far it can connect," Alex continued. "But from what I've read, the range is almost unlimited. The Silver Wand only needs to send one cabinet all the way to America. Then, whenever they need to smuggle magical animals over there, they just shrink them down and pass them through."
Fang's eyes widened as he finally understood. Even if the cabinet couldn't connect as far as America, connecting to other European countries wouldn't be a problem. With the Disappearing Cabinet, smuggling becomes much more efficient, and there's no need to go through such risky places. After all, if someone inside the breeding base is willing to open the door, it's not that hard to get in. The real challenge for Alex and the others was sneaking past the outer shield without alerting anyone.
"So, it looks like Claremont isn't completely loyal to the Silver Wand. He actually hid something this valuable," Fang said, covering his mouth with a smile as the realization dawned on him.
"Of course. You've probably heard his conversation with the Golden Snidget. Claremont has always wanted to become an official member of the Silver Wand. He must have kept this powerful tool hidden for when he officially joins," Alex said with a cold smile.
"Wow, from what you're saying, this old guy is really ambitious. With his resources and this kind of smuggling weapon, if Claremont joins the club, he could easily be promoted to head within two years," Fang said, clearly impressed.
"Exactly. That's probably why Golden Snidget has been hesitant to let him join so quickly. The supply of elixirs in the Silver Wand is already tight. Adding another member right now would only make things more complicated," Alex concluded.
Alex glanced with a hint of mockery at Claremont in the picture. Thanks to Claremont's perspective, Alex could finally get a glimpse of what was happening inside the central spire. The entire core hub was divided into two levels.
The lower floor served as a small storage room, piled high with various materials, everything from everyday supplies to products derived from magical creatures. There were jars of insect honey produced by Billywigs, Ashwinder eggs and shed skins, fragments of dragon eggshells and scales, horns from bicorns and Graphorn, and even jars filled with Erumpent horn explosives.
Wait a minute, there were clearly many by-products from magical animals stored here, which probably helped offset some of the park's operating costs. The inconspicuous disappearing cabinet was also tucked away on this floor.
Once Claremont reached the spire, he immediately headed up to the second floor, which was the heart of the park's magic circle. Though called the second floor, its roof was almost invisible, and the space resembled the Alchemy Room at the British Ministry of Magic. It was a large, square chamber, with countless spells inscribed on the floor and walls.
At the center stood a slender stone pillar stretching straight upward through a hollow shaft all the way to the top. Alex suspected even the very tip of the spire was part of this pillar.
When Claremont arrived there, he took out his wand and began a routine inspection of the pillar. Often he would place his hand on the stone, checking for something, and occasionally cast faint spells with his wand, but his gaze rarely left the pillar itself. He seemed to pay little attention to the magical inscriptions on the ground and walls. Even watching closely through the screen, Alex couldn't glean much more information.
"How's it looking, Master? Did you find anything?" Fang asked after noticing Alex switching the video feed back and forth.
"The findings aren't much," Alex replied. "That stone pillar in the middle is similar to the one in the British Ministry of Magic's Alchemy Room. Its role seems to be that of an amplifier. Claremont's inspection is mainly to ensure that this amplification function is working properly and that the flow of magical energy isn't interrupted."
Alex shook his head helplessly. "The main spells that power the protective circle are basically etched into the ground, but this guy doesn't seem to care about maintaining that part at all. I'm not sure if Claremont even knows about this."
"That's very possible," Fang said thoughtfully. "Even though he runs a magic supply shop, he's not a professional alchemist. There's no way the Silver Wand could have destroyed the entire blueprint for the core hub. Maybe the ground enchantments are made from high-quality materials, so if the craftsmanship is good, we can feel confident about their durability."
"And that makes sense," Alex added, nodding at Fang's insight. "The Silver Wand clearly wants to turn the breding zone into a permanent base, so it's likely they invested a lot to build a strong core magic circle."
"No wonder the shield is so powerful," Fang said. "I've tried sneaking in several times, but I couldn't break through. Trying to force our way in from outside might be a bit naive. But it's fine, we've luckily found another passage we can use to get inside."
"Are we planning to go straight from Claremont's place into the base?" Fang asked cautiously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, what about the other two breeding area? If they're not connected to this interior passage, we'll be stuck."