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"!!!"
Anne stared at the silver sphere, completely stunned.
Wait—did we actually find something!?
No! It must be something unrelated to that kind of magical power!
Wade picked up the small sphere, examined it briefly, then handed it over to Tom.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be goblin metal," Wade said slowly. "I've read about this rare material in an alchemy book from my family—it's a special kind of metal produced by goblins. They once used it to craft weapons in their rebellions against wizards..."
"Goblin metal... does that mean magic doesn't work on it?" Tom suddenly asked.
"You can try it yourself," Wade said with a smile.
Just as Tom raised his wand, Anne couldn't hold back anymore and stepped forward eagerly.
Whoosh!
She cast a Levitation Charm on the small sphere.
But the ball didn't move at all, making Anne's casting motion look rather foolish.
"No wonder we couldn't use magic on that slab earlier—it must've been because of the goblin metal," Wade said with a look of realization. "I've heard that goblin metal is immune to magic and can even block it completely..."
That offhand remark from Wade hit Anne like a thunderclap.
If that small sphere really contained the magical power they were looking for...
Then even goblin-made instruments wouldn't be able to detect it!
Because goblin metal was extremely effective at blocking magic!
"That's it! That's it! How do we open this little sphere… Ahem, I mean, we shouldn't get too excited just yet. What if it's something else entirely?" Anne said, trying to mask her excitement.
If that goblin-metal sphere truly held the magical power in question… then she, Anne, would have scored a major achievement today!
"Oh, there's a small button here," Wade said, placing the small sphere into a shallow groove in the ground, then backing away a good distance.
Wade transfigured a leaf on the ground into a thin vine, then used it to press the button on the sphere.
But as the vine approached the goblin metal, it began to tremble violently.
The goblin metal's insulation was interfering with the magic itself.
Wade's Transfiguration skills were quite impressive.
The vine managed to press the button on the sphere just before it disintegrated.
Ding!
With a crisp metallic sound, the small sphere opened like a blooming flower.
Then, a cloud of mist—black tinged with red, and red laced with gray—slowly drifted out from inside the sphere.
Tom's eyes widened the moment he saw the mist.
If Wade hadn't already told him it was fake, he would've been completely unable to resist the urge to rush over and claim the magical power for himself!
There was no denying it—Wade truly had talent.
Creating a goblin-metal sphere was impressive enough, but he had even managed to replicate that legendary magical power so perfectly...
It even looked exactly like the descriptions in the manuscripts!
Clearly, during all those times Wade had mysteriously disappeared, he'd been secretly doing a great deal of work.
Meanwhile, Anne had fallen completely silent.
After all the effort the Alliance had poured into finding this power—after all the failures—Wade and Tom had somehow just… found it?!
For a moment, Anne began to doubt her so-called "extensive" field exploration experience.
But that wasn't the most important thing—what mattered was… they had actually found the magical power!
Wade and Tom naturally took full note of the expression on Anne's face.
"Excellent. At last, all my efforts these past days haven't been in vain," Wade said with a smile.
That single sentence held very different meanings for Tom and Anne.
Tom believed Wade was referring to all the hard work he had put into faking the magical power.
Anne, on the other hand, thought Wade was expressing relief that his time spent researching manuscripts and calculating the correct locations had finally paid off.
"So… what are we going to do with this magical power?" Tom asked, his gaze fixed greedily on the mist.
In that moment, he didn't even need to act—he truly did crave this power.
Unfortunately for him, Wade had already told him it was a counterfeit...
Wade smiled and said, "Ladies first. Anne, this power is yours."
"Me? Th–that's not right!" Anne said in surprise.
In truth, she felt that the magical power should go to Wade.
After all, setting aside her identity as a member of Sir Grindelwald's Party and looking only at the contributions made by the three of them on the surface—Wade had clearly done the most. By any measure, he was the one who deserved it.
Wade smiled and said, "If it weren't for you leading the way tonight, we might've gotten lost in the Forbidden Forest and never found this place. So this magical power should go to you. Don't worry, there are still many more locations, and those places likely have more of this magical power. We'll still need your help to find them."
Tom stared at Wade in shock—so that's why Wade had pretended not to understand the map earlier and roped him into the act too?
It had all been setup for this moment?
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying!
After hearing Wade's explanation, Anne didn't object any further.
After all, without her guidance, Wade and Tom really might have gotten lost.
And besides, she did deeply desire this power...
"Since you've said so… then I'll accept it," Anne said, stepping forward and gently tapping the mist with her wand.
Then, just as the manuscript described, Anne used her wand to guide the magical mist toward her nose.
The mist instantly transformed into thin strands of black vapor and was inhaled by Anne…
Moments later, her eyes snapped open—deep within her pupils, a flash of red light flickered!
Tom asked nervously, "Well? Did it work?"
No wonder he was anxious—if Anne saw through the fake, then everything they had staged up until now would've been for nothing.
What Tom didn't know was… there was no fake.
That magical mist was genuine residual essence.
Wade simply hadn't told Tom the truth.
As always—things obtained too easily are never truly treasured.
Wade didn't want Tom to gain this kind of power so effortlessly.
This way, when Tom finally obtained the power after countless hardships, after struggling to earn it from Wade himself… He would be much more likely to feel genuine gratitude.
Since ancient times, deep affection fails to win hearts—only careful scheming truly moves people...
But because of that, out of everyone who knew about this magical power… only Tom was still foolishly convinced it was fake…
Poor Tom, being toyed with completely, without the slightest awareness…
"Aaahh~~ I.. I feeeelll… amaaazing!" Anne exclaimed, thrilled as she felt the changes within her.
The amount of residual magic Wade had sealed inside the goblin-metal sphere wasn't much—just enough to make Anne clearly feel stronger.
"Confringo!"
Anne raised her wand and aimed at a nearby tree.
Boom!
The unfortunate tree exploded instantly, splintering into fragments.
"Haah.. This is incredible! I couldn't cast this spell before at all! And now, not only did I manage it—the effect was way beyond what I expected!" Anne said excitedly.
Tom didn't doubt her reaction at all—on the contrary, he felt relieved that she didn't suspect a thing!
After all, Wade had already planted that seed of misdirection in his mind from the start.
It's just a potion that boosts physical and mental energy! With improved stamina and focus, a temporary spike in combat ability isn't strange at all!
"Excellent! It's getting late. Let's set aside the other locations for another time," Wade suggested.
"Alright..." Anne was still caught up in her excitement and didn't notice that, as they left, Wade quietly pocketed the small goblin-metal sphere.
He had no choice… He didn't have much goblin metal left. The few scraps he did have came from digging up the collar of the troll that had attacked him back when he finalized this plan.
Even now, just thinking about how disgusting that process had been made Wade feel nauseated...
On the way back, Anne couldn't stop practicing Transfiguration, reshaping a single leaf in her hand into all sorts of intricate forms.
It only made her more excited.
Because before tonight, she absolutely couldn't cast such refined Transfiguration!
In just one night, Anne had not only learned how to truly search for this magical power—but had also become stronger than ever before!
She decided she would report all of this to Nurmengard tonight!
"This power… it's best if only the three of us know about it," Wade suddenly said.
"It has endless potential—the more you absorb, the stronger you become. Even if the secret eventually leaks out, we should make sure we've gathered as much as possible before then!"
Wade's sudden words struck a chord deep in Anne's heart.
Since no one else had managed to find this magical power yet… what if she waited until she'd absorbed enough of it before reporting to Nurmengard?
That way, she could grow stronger and still take credit for a major contribution...
Wait—what if she didn't report it at all? Wouldn't that be even better?
In that moment, a seed of ambition—one Anne hadn't even realized was within her—began to sprout, all thanks to Wade's seemingly casual remark.
After all, in the face of absolute power, no loyalty is truly unshakable.
And even more so… when that loyalty belongs to a Slytherin.
One spark of rebellion, and suddenly the world feels limitless!
Yes—that's it! They hadn't found anything on their own, and they had no idea that we already had.
Luckily… I still remember most of what was written in that notebook! As long as I quietly...
At that thought, Anne's palms began to sweat.
Whether it was from excitement or the anxiety of potentially betraying Grindelwald, Anne herself couldn't tell—but her palms were damp with sweat.
Wade glanced at Anne's expression, the corner of his mouth curling upward ever so slightly. Ke ke ke~
Tom, watching from the side, felt a chill run down his spine...
So effortlessly, Wade had led Anne right to the edge of the abyss—and she was already taking her first steps in.
This guy is so scary!
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