Nurmengard.
In the spartan cell at the very top, two old men sat opposite each other across a battered little table.
The plates had already been cleared away, leaving only two cups of cold tea and a dish of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans that had barely been touched.
At that moment, the two old men, whose combined ages exceeded two hundred years, both had their heads lowered, fingers scribbling across the thin booklets like children playing with new toys.
Grindelwald sent several messages, all meaningless phrases, as though testing whether the device could really transmit them without error:
"Good evening."
"Have you eaten?"
"What are you doing?"
...
Dumbledore didn't brush him off and replied to each message seriously.
Every time the words appeared almost immediately on the opposite booklet, Grindelwald's interest deepened a little more.
He stroked the untidy beard on his chin, a glint of amusement flashing in his mismatched eyes.
"Quite an interesting alchemical item." His voice carried a rare trace of pure curiosity. "I didn't expect that boy to be so talented in alchemy as well. He's willing to study and delve into every field, just like you..."
He paused, looked up at Dumbledore, and asked a crucial question.
"The effective range of this 'Instant-Speak' can't be too short, can it? Otherwise, if it only works face-to-face, it would be rather useless."
Dumbledore set down the Instant-Speak in his hand and took a sip of the cold tea.
The temperature was far from ideal, but he didn't seem to care.
"According to Lucien, to ensure timely transmission of images and videos, the current maximum effective range is roughly the size of a county."
Grindelwald had already been slightly surprised to hear that the alchemical item could transmit images and videos and had been about to ask how those functions worked.
But when he heard "one county", his pale brows shot upward.
"Then what if you only transmit text? What's the limit?"
Dumbledore continued writing with his head lowered, his tone leisurely, as though discussing something trivial.
"If it's only text, cross-border transmission is possible. For example, from Hogwarts to Beauxbatons, the delay would be no more than a few seconds."
In that instant, Grindelwald understood the significance of the thin booklet in his hand.
Fast.
Far too fast.
The transmission of information was simply too fast.
Wizards normally relied on owls to send letters.
From sending a message to receiving a reply, it would take at least half a day and often several days.
If the recipient lived somewhere remote or bad weather interfered, waiting ten days or even half a month was perfectly normal.
In ordinary life, that was merely inconvenient.
In a crisis, however, every hour could matter.
In an emergency, messages could perhaps be transmitted more quickly through the Floo Network.
But the Floo Network required access points.
Not every location had a fireplace connected to it, and not every connected fireplace was safe or available at all times.
And during wartime, the Floo Network was often cut off depending on whether one's own side or the enemy controlled the network.
Other methods of communication had their own disadvantages as well.
As a result, wizards were often restricted by various conditions and unable to send or receive information in time.
Sometimes an entire front line could collapse simply because an order failed to arrive quickly enough.
And now...
Grindelwald stared at the thin booklet in his hand.
With its size and thickness, it could easily be slipped into a pocket.
Portable.
Compact.
It didn't rely on any external nodes, didn't require fireplaces or relays, and didn't need anyone's permission.
As long as two people possessed the device and were within range, information could move between them almost immediately.
Grindelwald didn't care in the slightest about what effect Instant-Speak might have on the everyday lives of wizards.
Whether owls would lose their jobs, whether messages of longing could be delivered in seconds, or whether young people would spend all day clutching these booklets and giggling...
What Grindelwald was thinking about was something entirely different.
How much of a difference could communication this timely make during a war?
Orders could be issued more efficiently, and the Acolytes could receive instructions far more quickly without waiting for owls or Floo Network relays.
Likewise, the front lines could immediately report changes in the battle situation, allowing those in the rear to adjust their plans much faster.
If a squad came under attack, headquarters could receive the news within seconds.
If a stronghold was breached, a retreat order could be issued immediately.
If the enemy changed direction, nearby forces could be warned before walking into an ambush.
A commander could direct several squads at once while keeping track of the progress of every unit.
The operational efficiency of the entire organisation would improve dramatically.
Occupied territories could also be controlled more tightly, since messages from each garrison could be transmitted back in real time instead of arriving hours or days later.
Improving the speed of intelligence and communication would undoubtedly be invaluable in wartime.
During the previous Wizarding War, the forces led by Grindelwald had once occupied much of the European continent.
But as their territory expanded, fatal weaknesses became increasingly obvious.
There were too few wizards, and communication was too slow.
The front lines stretched too far, and orders were constantly delayed.
Often, the fighting in one place would already be over while reinforcements elsewhere hadn't even received the news.
A squad would be surrounded and send out a request for assistance, only for the battlefield to have changed hands by the time reinforcements finally arrived.
Sometimes the delay wasn't caused by incompetence at all.
The message had simply taken too long to travel.
By the time information reached headquarters, a decision was made, and new orders were sent back, the situation on the ground might already be completely different.
If Instant-Speak had existed back then...
Even a few minutes of saved time could have changed the outcome of certain engagements.
A few hours could have changed entire campaigns.
Grindelwald's fingers unconsciously tightened around the booklet.
A complicated light flashed in his mismatched eyes.
Such an important alchemical creation had actually been invented by a young wizard?
And if that young wizard had been born...
________
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