Grindelwald gave Wade three places for the visit to Azkaban.
In the end, Wade decided to bring Tom, Anne, and André, who was about to graduate.
The reason Wade had insisted on bringing people to Azkaban was to let those who had a chance of becoming core members see the consequences of failure with their own eyes.
Even if he could not bring everyone along, the Pensieve meant the others could experience their memories afterward. The effect would not be much different.
By observing their reactions, he could quickly weed out some of those whose resolve was not strong enough.
That did not mean the people who were filtered out were bad. They simply were not suitable yet, and they were not the kind of people Wade needed at this stage.
Every great undertaking was difficult at the beginning. At the start of his cause, Wade needed a group of brave people united around him.
As for everyone else, they could be evaluated gradually once things became more stable.
After deciding on the candidates, Wade quietly used the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement to travel to the goblin workshop.
Although he had not visited for a week, the goblins in the workshop had not been idle.
They were still researching and manufacturing various pieces of equipment according to Wade's instructions.
As for the dark wizards who had been enslaved by Miravia and were now under Wade's control, he had sent them out once again to search for ancient magical ruins. There was no point leaving them here with nothing to do.
When Wade appeared in the goblin workshop, he immediately noticed that the entire place felt different.
The ethereal white mist that had once drifted throughout the workshop had completely disappeared.
The small token Miravia had given him suddenly began to feel warm.
Wade took it out and saw that it was giving off a faint blue glow.
At the same time, every goblin and dark wizard in the workshop stopped what they were doing and turned to stare directly at Wade, as if memorising the face of a mortal enemy.
Five seconds later, the goblins and wizards resumed their work as though the pause had never happened.
Wade noticed that the token in his hand had lost its glow again, but some kind of connection now seemed to exist between him and it.
He suddenly had the distinct feeling that, with a single thought, he could kill any living creature inside the goblin workshop.
Wade knew this was not an illusion. It was the authority Miravia had transferred to him, the authority to enslave these people.
"Damn... I didn't expect nightmare magic could be used like this..." Wade muttered.
Still, it was not that surprising. Miravia had been trapped for so many years that she had probably spent her time studying things like this just to keep herself occupied.
Wade beckoned, and the nearest goblin walked over, bowed, and stood respectfully before him.
"Your orders," the goblin said woodenly.
"How is the ring modification going?" Wade asked.
"Eighty percent of the functions you requested have been completed," the goblin replied.
"Good..." Wade nodded in satisfaction.
The progress was indeed impressive. It seemed the master goblin craftsmen Miravia had enslaved were truly exceptional. As long as Wade gave them an idea, they could actually turn it into something real.
That was far faster than Wade researching everything himself day and night.
"What about the improvements to the enslavement collar?" Wade asked.
"That has already succeeded. For convenience and concealment, we altered the original collar into a small puppet. We have provisionally named them Enslavement Puppet Bugs."
The goblin gestured, and someone quickly brought over a small bottle.
Wade took it and saw an extremely tiny insect lying quietly inside. At first glance, it looked almost like a mosquito, but upon closer inspection, it was clearly an alchemical construct.
"You only need to release the insect and control it as it approaches the target. It can crawl into the brain of a human or animal through the nostrils, then rapidly enslave the target and force them to obey the controller directly. Unlike the collar, no additional torture is required," the goblin explained.
"What about creatures like Dementors?" Wade asked.
"The same applies, unless the target is an incorporeal ghost," the goblin replied.
"Not bad. Give me some," Wade said.
The goblin produced a small cylindrical metal container.
"This is the first batch of Enslavement Puppet Bugs we produced. There are fifty inside."
"Excellent."
Wade put the container away.
With this, whenever he encountered enemies who possessed useful abilities but would otherwise have to be killed, he now had another option.
As for using these things to rule the world directly?
That was certainly possible.
But if he ruled the world that way, everyone would lose their sense of self.
A world like that would be meaningless even if he controlled it completely.
Moreover, once everyone lost their individuality and began obeying the same will, the most important thing would gradually disappear as well: the ability to innovate. If that happened, it would become very difficult for the world to continue progressing.
"Has anything else been completed?"
"Yes... There are also the bullets you requested." As the goblin spoke, he had someone bring over a small case. "This contains the ammunition and new weapons you asked us to manufacture. Everything has passed inspection and can be used normally."
Wade happily accepted the case.
"Anything else?"
"The former master left a letter for you in your laboratory," the goblin replied.
Wade entered the laboratory and immediately noticed the probability glasses and a stack of manuscripts lying on the workbench.
The letter had been pinned beneath the glasses on top of the manuscripts. Wade moved the glasses aside and opened it.
[Thank you for the glasses and wand. However, Helora has already cured my nearsightedness, so I can return the glasses to you.
As for the wand I borrowed... you already have a new wand, and this one likes me so much, so I'm not giving it back...
I gave you so many good things. Surely you're not petty enough to refuse me a single wand?
Anyway, if you want to find me, you can write to me at any time. Owls can find me now.
(❁´◡`❁)
~Miravia.]
"Sigh... My wand..." Wade put away the letter, then curiously picked up the manuscripts underneath.
After flipping through only a few pages, his eyes lit up.
The manuscripts contained blueprints for an improved version of the probability glasses, along with the principles behind the modifications.
That was exactly what Wade had originally intended to work on himself.
"Eh, it's just a wand. No big deal!"
In less than two seconds, Wade had completely changed his attitude.
...
Early the next morning, Wade brought Tom, Anne, and André to Dumbledore's office.
By the time they arrived, Grindelwald was already sitting there drinking tea.
Of course, Dumbledore had not prepared any hot tea for him. Grindelwald had brought his own.
When Wade and the others entered, Dumbledore was still repeatedly reminding Grindelwald of various precautions, clearly worried that his students might come to harm.
Grindelwald simply sat there quietly drinking his tea, listening to Dumbledore without offering even a single impatient retort.
"Hm? Why are all of you here?" Dumbledore asked in surprise when he saw the people beside Wade.
He had assumed Wade would be going alone.
"Uh... They're coming with me..."
Before Wade could finish, Dumbledore turned on Grindelwald.
"It was bad enough letting Wade go with you. How could you bring other students as well? Do you not know what kind of place Azkaban is?"
"Of course I do, Dumbledore," Grindelwald replied unhurriedly. "It is a prison for criminals, and the conditions there are harsh. Which is exactly why I believe that, at this critical stage of the educational reform, it is necessary to send student representatives to visit Azkaban. Wade is going anyway, so I allowed him to bring several student representatives along."
"Hm?"
Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald suspiciously.
"You know as well as I do, Professor Dumbledore," Grindelwald continued with complete seriousness, "that with your educational ability, many students will likely see a considerable increase in strength as the reform continues. But as their strength increases, these youngsters may become arrogant and overestimate themselves. In the future, they might rely on their abilities to break the law.
"So allowing them to witness the misery of Azkaban firsthand could serve as a constant warning. If they ever consider doing something illegal in the future, remembering what Azkaban is like might make them stop before it is too late.
"In my opinion, this is highly educational.
"Oh, and once the student representatives return, I may need to borrow your Pensieve so that the students who did not visit Azkaban can experience what that place is like as well."
Dumbledore stared at Grindelwald in astonishment.
He had already felt that Grindelwald was acting strangely today.
Not only was this old bastard unusually well behaved, but the reasons he gave actually made sense.
More importantly, he was genuinely trying to reason with him.
Properly.
Instead of using the twisted arguments he normally relied on.
Wade could not help glancing at Grindelwald as well.
Well, well...
He had only explained this approach to him yesterday, and Grindelwald was already putting it into practice today.
And...
Wasn't that supposed to be my line?
Wasn't manipulating Dumbledore supposed to be my job?
Grindelwald, however, ignored the strange looks everyone was giving him and continued staring at Dumbledore with an upright, righteous expression.
If everyone present had not already known exactly what kind of person he was, they might genuinely have believed he was an honest, conscientious educator devoted to his responsibilities.
"Sss..."
Dumbledore was beginning to wonder whether someone had impersonated Grindelwald today.
Seeing that righteous expression on the man's face felt deeply unnatural.
Couldn't he just... go back to normal?
______
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69