Chapter 498: The "Ghostly Thing" Hidden in the Shadows.

"You said earlier that you found something." Grindelwald adjusted his posture and looked intently at Wade. "I've finished explaining what I discovered. Now it's your turn."

"Do you remember the Scourer we saw in Azkaban?" Wade asked.

"Of course. You said he was close to death and that you strongly suspected he wasn't actually the same person," Grindelwald replied.

"Yes... close to death, with part of his memory deleted," Wade said. "But tonight I discovered that every one of the people we captured is in the same physical condition. They're all dying, and their magic is extremely weak..."

Grindelwald abruptly stood up and stared at Wade in shock.

"Are you sure?"

"I checked several of them. Every single one was the same. And what's even more interesting is that I found a few whose magic hadn't weakened yet, but was rapidly dropping. Before long, they became just as weak as the man in Azkaban."

Wade continued, "So, Director, I think my earlier conclusion was wrong. The man in Azkaban really was the same person after all."

Grindelwald turned toward one of the Alliance members beside him.

The man immediately understood, pushed open the door, and hurried away.

Wade knew Grindelwald had sent him to verify the situation.

Grindelwald sat back down with a troubled expression and said nothing.

Dumbledore spoke first.

"If that's the case... then perhaps they possess some method of temporarily increasing their magical power. Otherwise, if they were all as weak as the Scourer in Azkaban, there's no way tonight's attack would have met this much resistance."

Every member of Grindelwald's Alliance was powerful, and tonight he had brought out the elite among them.

Yet a group of elite Alliance members had struggled so much against supposedly weak opponents that Grindelwald and the others had to personally intervene before they could break through.

There was hardly any other explanation.

Grindelwald finally spoke again.

"In other words... it may be a method that temporarily boosts strength at the cost of enormous side effects. Once used, it consumes a great deal of life force. When the effect ends, their magic returns to its original level, leaving all of them on the verge of death."

"That's what it looks like for now," Wade said. "But to be thorough, you should still have Healers from St Mungo's examine them."

Grindelwald's expression became grim.

He trusted Wade's abilities.

This was almost certainly true.

And if it was true, then it proved one thing.

These people were all tools.

Which meant the "truth" Grindelwald was about to uncover was probably only what someone wanted him to see.

Even the pure-blood family heads who were about to be imprisoned were likely just unfortunate scapegoats pushed forward to take the blame.

Without a doubt, even if Veritaserum were used on those pure-bloods, the answer would still be the same.

They would insist that they had ordered everything.

Which meant all of Grindelwald's efforts over these past months had amounted to nothing more than being led around by the nose.

For a moment, Grindelwald nearly failed to suppress his anger.

Everyone in the room felt as though the temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees.

Miravia stopped wiping her wand and looked toward Grindelwald.

A chill ran down Grindelwald's back.

He turned and glanced at Miravia in confusion.

Then, just as suddenly, the cold sensation disappeared.

"Forget it. At this point... let's end the matter here for now. We'll give them what they want and let those pure-bloods take the blame. They weren't innocent to begin with," Grindelwald said slowly.

His words sounded as though he had given up.

But the cold look in his eyes told everyone present that this was far from over.

And if those people had come out once, they would surely come out again.

This time, Grindelwald would accept the loss.

But if they appeared again...

Grindelwald looked toward Wade as though he wanted to say something else.

But after noticing Dumbledore still sitting nearby, he held his tongue.

He walked to the door and opened it.

"Tonight's matter ends here for now. I have work to do. You can all go back. And of course, I won't forget the help you gave tonight. I'll represent the Ministry and make sure each of you receives an appropriate reward."

With that, Grindelwald closed the door behind him and left.

"Looks like someone's going to have a very bad night," Tom muttered.

Grindelwald was clearly forcing himself to suppress his anger.

Anyone unlucky enough to get in his way tonight would undoubtedly become his outlet and suffer badly for it.

"His temper has improved a lot," Wade said quietly. "If this had happened years ago, the entire town would probably have been swallowed by Fiendfyre."

"Mm..." Dumbledore stood up. "I won't let him do anything too extreme. You should all head back first."

Then he looked at Wade.

"And Wade... it would be best if you stayed inside for a while. Those people have been targeting you from the very beginning. What happened tonight seems to have been nothing more than cleanup after their original plan failed."

With that, Dumbledore also left the command post.

Wade sighed and stood up.

"Come on. Let's go back."

He had known for a long time that this world was far more complicated than the one he remembered.

It was practically a parallel world within a parallel world.

Who knew what else was still lurking in the shadows?

...

Returning to the moving castle was much easier.

After activating their rings, Wade and the others were transported directly back to the castle.

After exchanging goodnights, Wade returned to his own residence.

Tom Cat was sleeping soundly beside a dish near the wall.

The dish did not contain his usual milk, but rather a nutrient solution for magical creatures.

Beside it, set into the wall, was a small arched door.

Behind it was the little room Wade had specially prepared for Jerry.

Wade sat back down at his desk, pulled over a sheet of parchment, and began drawing lines across it with a quill.

Countless twisting lines gradually combined into a complex pattern.

A method capable of causing someone's strength to rise dramatically...

Even if it required burning away their life force, Wade had no intention of ignoring it.

So while examining them, Wade had also drawn out the magical pathways left behind as their power dissipated.

"If I can eliminate the negative side effects, this might become another trump card..."

...

Early the next morning, Toby brought Wade breakfast, the newspaper, and a box sent in the name of the Ministry of Magic.

The front page of the Daily Prophet carried the news that the Hogwarts Express attack had finally been solved.

The culprits were several haggard, dispirited pure-blood wizards.

According to the newspaper, they had incited the remaining Scourers to attack the Hogwarts Express in an attempt to wipe out the next generation of British wizards.

Images from the previous night's battle had also been published, but Wade could not find himself or the others in any of the photographs.

Dumbledore had probably wanted them to keep a low profile.

After all, Wade and Tom were still students, and strictly speaking, they were not supposed to use magic during the holidays.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald could both turn a blind eye to it, but if outsiders saw them, things would become troublesome.

Wade put down the newspaper and opened the box from the Ministry.

Inside was a stack of magical manuscripts.

Clearly, this was Grindelwald's reward for Wade's help the previous night, sent under the Ministry's name.

He knew Wade was not short of money, so instead he had gathered several magical manuscripts for him.

If Wade guessed correctly, Tom and the others would each receive their own rewards as well.

Just as he was thinking that, his bedroom door opened.

Miravia walked in casually with an apple between her teeth and dropped straight onto Wade's specially made sofa.

"Shouldn't you knock before entering a boy's room?" Wade asked helplessly as he casually tidied his messy bed.

"Sorry, I forgot," Miravia replied. "You know... for the past few decades, I never needed to knock no matter where I went."

Wade was speechless.

She had only existed as a consciousness back then. Aside from that one door in the Department of Mysteries, there really had not been many doors capable of stopping her.

"Did you know I got promoted today?" Miravia handed him an elegant sheet of paper.

Wade took it and discovered that it was an official appointment letter.

More specifically, it appointed Miravia as Deputy Head of the Department of Mysteries.

"You arranged this yourself?" Wade asked.

"No. I haven't even gone to work in days. I only received this today." Miravia shook her head. "Besides, if I were arranging it myself, I would've made myself Head of the Department."

"Looks like this is Grindelwald's reward for you." Wade smiled. "Deputy Head is actually perfect. You can hold the title without doing any work and keep skipping whenever you want."

Wade studied the appointment letter thoughtfully.

At this point, even if Grindelwald had not completely taken control of the British Ministry of Magic, he was not far from it.

The battle the previous night, along with the large-scale arrests that followed, had clearly frightened a great many people.

Naturally, they would do whatever Grindelwald told them to do.

And Grindelwald's influence had become considerable.

He had actually discovered so quickly that Miravia was an Unspeakable.

More than that, he had probably already noticed the strange changes within the Department of Mysteries. Otherwise, he would not have casually handed Miravia the position of Deputy Head and let her do as she pleased.

In effect, he had directly legitimised Miravia's identity and erased any remaining flaws in her background.

On one hand, it demonstrated his ability.

On the other, it was an easy favour.

A witch as powerful as Miravia was naturally someone Grindelwald would want to win over. There was no reason not to offer a favour that cost him nothing.

After all, it was a Ministry position.

Grindelwald himself did not have to spend a single Galleon.

Click!

Wade's door was pushed open again.

"Wade! Grindelwald sent me this..." Tom rushed in excitedly.

"Seriously... does nobody here know how to knock before entering someone else's room?" Wade asked helplessly.

Tom replied unhappily, "Weren't you the one who said we're brothers? Then naturally I'm not going to be formal with you."

"All right, all right... What did Grindelwald send you?" Wade asked.

"A box full of memories."

Tom took out a box.

Inside were dozens of small bottles arranged neatly in rows.

Each bottle contained a memory that could be viewed in a Pensieve.

"He also left a letter saying these are combat memories from members of his Alliance. He told me to study them carefully," Tom said.

"That gift does suit you pretty well..." Wade paused, then continued, "But... we're going to need to buy a Pensieve. Tom, did you bring any money?"

"What? You're making me pay for it?" Tom complained. "What happened to us being comrades in arms?!"

"Exactly. Since we're comrades, how could you possibly expect me to pay for something you need?"

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