An hour later.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald met again outside the tent.
Grindelwald looked slightly weary as he said, "No dark creatures are missing. They're all still in the tent. Did you find anything?"
Dumbledore's brows were tightly knit. "The surrounding magical traces are extremely chaotic, and the aura of dark magic is especially dense. This was likely caused by gathering too many different types of dark creatures in one place. Aside from that, I haven't found anything unusual for now."
Dark creatures were inherently tied to dark magic. When large numbers gathered, the surrounding magic naturally became murky, like standing beside a foul ditch.
Grindelwald shook his head. "When dark creatures gather, of course this happens. I knew that from the start. But even if there's some dark magic in the area, it shouldn't be enough to make all of them hallucinate and see different things."
"We cannot jump to conclusions," Dumbledore said gravely. "In fact, you are the first person in history to gather so many different kinds of dark creatures at once. The magical field here is far too chaotic. Even in places where large numbers of Inferi gather, the magical field would not be this disordered, because that involves only one type of dark creature. But now… no one knows what kind of effects a mixture of multiple dark magical forces might have on people. Dark magic can affect the soul."
Grindelwald nodded thoughtfully. "You have a point. Each dark creature has different magical properties. Gathering them all together like this… no one has really done it before. No one knows what kind of effects it might produce."
"You should return these dark creatures to where they came from, and stop that so-called educational reform plan of yours," Dumbledore said sternly.
"No!" Grindelwald refused without hesitation.
Dumbledore sighed softly. "If you are unwilling to stop, then until this matter is resolved, no one should remain here. And let me warn you, Grindelwald. Until this is settled, I will not allow my students to participate in such an absurd trial."
However, Dumbledore's words caused a trace of suspicion to rise in Grindelwald's heart.
He narrowed his eyes and said, "It's still too early to draw conclusions, Dumbledore. We don't even know whether the hallucinations were caused by that. And… how do you know for certain that this was caused by dark magical energy? What if you were the ones behind it? After all, as long as something goes wrong here, you would be able to stop my plan, wouldn't you?"
"We did no such thing," Dumbledore said with a frown.
Grindelwald snorted coldly and said nothing more. Some things only needed to be said once.
In truth, Dumbledore had discovered something he had not told Grindelwald.
He had found that when these different types of dark magical energies collided with one another, they produced a completely new kind of magic.
This magic was chaotic and violent, filled with impurities, yet it felt strangely familiar to Dumbledore.
Because he had seen a purer version of similar magic before.
It had been on Wade Reynolds. It was the power of ancient magic.
...
"Ah-choo!"
Inside the Room of Requirement, Wade Reynolds let out a loud sneeze.
"I thought you wouldn't get sick," Tom said in surprise.
"Nonsense. Since when does sneezing mean you're sick? Maybe some girl is thinking about me," Wade said, rubbing his nose.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Wade added, "Oh, right! You said you'd find me a female secretary. What happened to that promise?"
"Cut the chatter and open it already. Let's see what good stuff is inside," Tom said impatiently, staring at the box on the table.
"But the female secretary…"
"Alright, alright. I'll go find one for you later. Honestly… you don't even stay in the club. What use would a female secretary be to you?" Tom said irritably.
Anne raised her hand. "I support finding more secretaries for you. No, any gender is fine. Just hurry and get more people to help me with the work. I've wanted to quit for ages!"
"Alright, alright…" Wade said cheerfully.
"Can you open the box now?" Tom asked.
"Of course, Comrade Riddle," Wade said as he tore open the oil paper wrapped around the box.
Anne was curious as well.
After all, the two of them had rushed straight to the Room of Requirement after class, not even stopping for dinner, just to look at some so-called treasure.
By now, Wade had already thrown aside the oil paper, revealing the metal box inside.
Wade tapped the lock on the metal box with his wand.
Click.
The lock fell off.
Wade opened the metal box.
Tom and Anne both leaned closer to look inside.
Inside the box lay two brand-new revolvers, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.
Each revolver was engraved with many complex runes, giving them an exquisite appearance.
"That's it? Pistols?" Tom looked deeply disappointed.
"Yeah… couldn't be helped. Originally I planned to have your father help me get a Thompson submachine gun… but considering the ammunition issue, there was no way," Wade said regretfully.
"What is a pistol? These two strange iron things are pistols?" Anne looked curiously at the two revolvers in the box. Having grown up in a wizarding family, she had never seen a gun before.
"They're Muggle weapons. You can think of them as modern Muggle hand crossbows," Tom explained impatiently.
"Oh… I see." Anne immediately lost interest.
In front of powerful wizards, Muggles were practically defenseless. How strong could Muggle weapons really be?
So Anne assumed Wade had only acquired these pistols as collectibles. After all, they did look quite exquisite.
But Wade appeared very excited. He picked up both revolvers and weighed them in his hands. "These are double-action .38s. They can fire continuously. Very handy."
"I still think wands are more useful. What kind of bullet could my Shield Charm not block?" Tom said indifferently as he sat back in his chair and casually picked up a book of spells.
Seeing Tom's dismissive attitude, Wade grew annoyed. If your ancestor hadn't been worried you'd suffer losses in the future and asked me to teach you his combat methods, I wouldn't bother with you at all.
"You don't seriously think I went through all that trouble just to get two toys, do you?" Wade carefully examined the runes engraved on the revolvers.
He had designed every one of those runes himself. After old Tom had bought the pistols, he had Toby help engrave them.
Now it seemed Toby's craftsmanship was excellent. The runes had indeed been carved with meticulous precision.
Hearing Wade's words, Tom could not help putting down the book and looking at the guns in Wade's hands again.
Could it be Wade really hadn't gotten them just for fun?
"Since you think these guns aren't as useful as a wand, why don't we test them," Wade said, pulling out a small box from the case.
The box had been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm. It looked small, but it contained a full five hundred rounds of ammunition.
Wade picked up a bullet and examined it. Both the tip and the casing were engraved with fine runes.
All of it was the result of Toby's hard work.
Wade opened the cylinder of one revolver and slowly loaded six rounds into it.
"Come on, stand over there and put up your Shield Charm. Don't move. I'll give you a shot…"
"No, no, no… I'm not doing that!" Tom immediately jumped to his feet.
If it were just an ordinary firearm, Tom was confident his current Shield Charm could stop the bullet.
But… this was a pistol Wade Reynolds had produced.
Tom didn't need to think hard to know it definitely wouldn't be simple.
Only a fool would volunteer to be the target.
"I'll try!" Anne said eagerly.
Well, there really was a fool…
"Are you crazy? You dare test something Wade brought out?"
Tom stopped Anne, then flicked his wand and moved over a wooden humanoid target used for spell practice.
"It can't be that serious, right?" Anne said, unconvinced.
Tom said nothing and simply cast a Shield Charm over the wooden target.
"Tom, you really don't want to try it yourself?" Wade said with some regret.
"No. Please begin your performance," Tom said, pointing at the distant target.
"Alright…"
Bang!
Wade casually raised the revolver and fired a shot.
___
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