https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-431-The-Wizard-Purity-Party-s-Banquet/13685450/
Chapter 432: MysteryMagic
Wovilet clutched the Crystal Vial in one hand, a magnifying lens in the other, his brow furrowed in deep concentration as he stared at the golden powder inside. He muttered to himself, lost in thought.
Wade didn’t know what Wovilet hoped to detect. He’d once placed the same substance under an Optical Microscope—no matter how much he magnified it, he’d only seen fine, shimmering golden dust. He even doubted that renting an electron microscope from a university lab would yield anything different. Trying to study magic through science only ever led to the conclusion: This makes no sense at all.
"Wade," Gellert Grindelwald said, rising from his seat. He glanced at him, then pointed to the vial. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"
Days had passed since their last meeting, and Gellert now carried an even greater aura of authority—perhaps from the lives he’d taken, or perhaps because his once-parched prison body was slowly regaining strength, no longer looking so gaunt.
On the way here, the effects of the Polyjuice Potion had worn off. Wade had returned to his true form. Gellert didn’t ask about the oversized clothes. He went straight to the matter at hand.
And though he didn’t bring up their previous argument or the offense, Wade exhaled in relief. He nodded. "I’ve seen something similar, but I’m not sure if it’s the same thing."
Wovilet’s eyes lit up instantly, turning to him with sudden interest.
Gellert Grindelwald wasn’t surprised. He waved a hand. "Come and take a look."
Wade drew his wand and stepped forward. He first cast a few standard testing charms on the Crystal Vial, then pulled out a coin from his pocket. With a flick of his wand, it transformed into a tiny white mouse.
Gellert watched the smooth, effortless Transfiguration with a brief daze in his eyes—then quickly recovered.
The small mouse blinked its dark, shiny eyes and sat calmly on the wooden table.
Wade opened the vial’s stopper. With a wave of his wand, a gentle stream of air lifted a few grains of gold powder and floated them onto the mouse’s back. He tapped its spine lightly with a finger.
The mouse didn’t react. It slowly turned its head, its tail drooping. Then it collapsed—still alive, but utterly still, breathing in slow, deep rhythms, as if in deep slumber.
Wade summoned the air to pull the powder back into the vial, then sealed it shut.
After a moment, the mouse stirred. It blinked, looked around, then scampered to the edge of the table. The magic wore off, and it suddenly reverted to a coin.
Wovilet, watching Wade’s calm expression, asked curiously, "What exactly is this?"
Wade paused, considering. "I’m not certain what it is precisely. But when it touches the skin, it drastically slows down the body’s biological functions. Consciousness fades, and the person slips into deep sleep. The more it’s absorbed, the deeper the sleep."
"Yet it’s completely harmless. Even after sleeping for months—without food or water—they wouldn’t starve or die. Muscles wouldn’t atrophy. It’s as if..." He recalled the time he’d placed the powder on a mouse and left it for up to two months. When he finally removed it, the mouse had awakened, immediately started gnawing on a dried corn cob, and resumed its normal life as if nothing had happened.
The two months of sleep had been erased from its memory and existence.
"It’s as if time itself has been frozen for the living body."
He glanced at the others, gauging their reactions.
Gellert Grindelwald raised one eyebrow slightly—no more. Wovilet, however, went from shock to intense excitement, nearly desperate to dive into the vial and experience it firsthand.
Dreian’s eyes widened, then narrowed as he stared at the vial, lost in thought.
And Mor…
"What if someone carried this inside them?" Mor asked, eyes gleaming. "Wouldn’t that mean immortality?"
Wade countered, "Stone can preserve life. Would you willingly let Medusa turn you into stone?"
Mor shook his head honestly.
"This isn’t immortality," Wade said. "It’s not even longevity. It’s just a deep, controlled hibernation. You could sleep for decades, even centuries—wake up, and your life span would still be the same. Aging and death remain unavoidable."
As he spoke, a memory surfaced—of the fairy tale about the princess cursed to sleep for a hundred years. The entire palace, even the animals, fell into slumber. When she awoke, everything resumed as if no time had passed. No one remembered the century-long sleep.
After a pause, Wade added, "Its greatest use? Giving critically injured or terminally ill patients time to be saved. Or extending the shelf life of potions."
He thought of his own Closet Space—filled with potions that would spoil in a month or two. But if he added just a few grains of this powder, they’d remain fresh for over a year.
Thinking of that hidden space, Wade sighed inwardly. He missed those days—those small comforts.
"But..." Dreian frowned. "How could Muggles master time? Even wizards haven’t achieved anything like this."
"Overstatement," Mor shot back. "Merlin himself might have."
Dreian gave him a look of annoyance. "Use your brain. If that organization had someone like Merlin, why would they resort to clumsy experiments?"
Mor waved a finger, clicking his tongue. "Tsk, tsk, Gunter. Your thinking’s too rigid!"
"Of course they don’t have Merlin. But finding one or two ancient alchemical artifacts from a forgotten wizard? Not impossible," Mor said. "Like the legend of the three brothers and the Deathly Hallows—ordinary objects, yet imbued with immense power. No master required. Anyone could use them."
Dreian paused, then slowly nodded. "You’re right. Wade… is this gold powder an alchemical creation?"
Wade hesitated. "The power it carries is similar to a Time-Turner, but… aside from divine beings, I can’t imagine what alchemical technique could produce something like this."
"Because it’s not purely alchemical," Gellert Grindelwald suddenly said.
All eyes turned to him. Dreian leaned forward. "Master, have you uncovered its origin?"
Gellert Grindelwald remained seated in his armchair, then gestured for the others to sit as well. With a flick of his hand, the Crystal Vial floated into his palm. Wovilet’s gaze followed it like it was magnetized.
Gellert gently swirled the vial, watching the gold powder shift like liquid gold. After a long silence, he said:
"Even the most absurd fairy tales often have roots in reality. The story of the three brothers, the tale of the Sleeping Beauty—these aren’t just myths. They reflect powers that exist, though we cannot comprehend or control them."
"Such powers are innate magic—born of the world itself. Unexplainable, uncontrollable. The Ministry of Magic has studied them for years. They’ve made progress, but the deeper they go, the more unknowns they uncover. The fear… it’s almost indescribable."
"You mean—" Dreian said. "The Department of Mysteries… the Silent Ones… they’re researching these?"
"Exactly," Gellert said. "Thought, life, death, emotion, time, the universe, the future, elements—these are all mysteries they’re probing."
He turned to Wade. "I’ve heard you’re Hogwarts’ finest student, having taken every course. You must have used a Time-Turner."
"Yes," Wade replied. Wovilet’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. "But it was taken back by the school before the holidays."
Wovilet’s expression fell. He thought for a moment, then suddenly stammered, "Um… Coverton… I mean, Gellert… Wade’s going back to school in a few days…"
Back to school. Back to school. He can get his Time-Turner back. Then he can lend it to me…
Wovilet’s eyes burned with unspoken desire.
The three members of the Wizard Purity Party stared at him in silence. Even Wade didn’t know what to say.
After a moment, they all ignored Wovilet’s plea.
Gellert continued. "The Ministry claimed they created Time-Turners by casting a time-reversal spell on an hourglass. That’s a complete lie."
"They only tapped into the inherent power of Time-Magic, using a Golden Timer to achieve basic control. This power exists naturally. That’s why the Time-Turner doesn’t require a wizard’s magic or any spell to function."
"Have you heard of Eloise Mitrump?"
They all nodded.
In 1899, a witch named Eloise Mitrump traveled back in time to 1402, spending five days there. When she returned, her body had aged five centuries. She died shortly afterward at St. Mungo’s.
Her brief journey disrupted countless lives—some people never existed. Time itself became unstable: Tuesday lasted two and a half days, Thursday shrank to just four hours.
Fortunately, time has a strange self-healing property. Within days, the distortions faded. Normal time flow gradually returned.
After that, every wizarding ministry imposed strict laws and harsh penalties on time travel.
"That story is the clearest proof of Time-Magic," Gellert said. "If Britain’s Ministry had continued, they might have uncovered time’s true nature. But more likely, the entire world would have been destroyed by chaotic time."
"Humanity can’t afford that cost. So the Ministry chose to ban radical experiments. The key isn’t using time magic—but observing and containing it."
"So, Wovilet," Gellert added, "Wade’s Time-Turner is only for trivial time management—like writing essays. It can’t be used for anything truly important. No endless reversals. No changing the past or future. No real transcendence of time."
Wovilet looked disappointed.
Wade, hearing even Gellert Grindelwald say this, felt a pang of guilt.
But then he remembered—his last use of the Time-Turner hadn’t changed the past. He hadn’t stopped Mabel from becoming a Silent Shadow. Haley’s survival was already determined before he rewound time. His actions were part of history, not a deviation.
So he hadn’t altered the timeline. He’d only fulfilled it.
"Anyway," Gellert said, "MysteryMagic isn’t something wizards can simply create. Long ago, these powers appeared suddenly—causing massive chaos and disaster. That’s why the Ministry was founded: to study, surveil, and contain them."
"Today, every nation’s Ministry of Magic holds a few such mysteries deep underground. What they focus on—what powers they control—remains absolute secret."
He placed the Crystal Vial back on the table. With a light tap of his finger, the vial rang out like glass, and a few grains of powder trembled slightly before settling.
"But if this powder truly can freeze time… then it must be a form of Time-Magic, just like the Time-Turner."
The others exchanged glances, lost in thought.
Dreian said slowly, "So either they discovered a new source of Time-Magic and extracted the powder from it… or they’ve taken control of a Ministry of Magic."
"Control a Ministry?" Mor asked, stunned. "Is that even possible?"
"Impossible in big nations like Britain, France, or Germany," Dreian explained. "But in smaller countries, the entire wizarding community might number fewer than ten people. The Ministry is just a mentor and a few apprentices. Their magic is often weak. Some even sell potions on the street to survive."
Mor muttered, "...So either bribed by money or forced by violence, they could sell their secrets. Become tools for Muggle nobles."
Dreian nodded gravely.
"Don’t worry," Gellert said. "Even if they’ve compromised some wizards, the numbers are too small. I’ll peel back their layers—until even the heart of their core is exposed."
"Be patient, children. If such a centuries-old institution were destroyed so easily, I’d be disappointed."
"This time was a surprise. We weren’t prepared. Wade—"
He looked at the young wizard’s clear gray eyes. "You’ve explored this before. Do you have any way to counter it?"
Wade said, "The simplest method is wearing protective gear. Muggle hospitals have ready-made suits. As long as the powder doesn’t touch the skin, it won’t work."
But wizards use wands—protective clothing is cumbersome. Even adding gloves can interfere with magic for some.
After a pause, Wade added, "Most spells have no effect on the powder. But it’s constrained by its container and affected by physical forces. I’ve seen them use something like a vacuum cleaner to collect it."
A spark lit in his mind.
"I could build a portable, self-suction dust collector. It should neutralize the danger."
"Excellent," Gellert finally smiled. "With Wovilet’s help, how long would it take?"
"Um…" Wade thought for a moment, then said modestly, "I could have the prototype ready tonight."
(End of Chapter)
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