Wade didn't know how many people were on their way to rescue him, and he didn't pin his hopes on anyone else.
To Wade, the most dangerous time was when he had just woken up—of course, it wasn't the cat that posed the threat, but rather Grindelwald's attitude.
If the dark wizard, who was said to have committed countless bloody deeds, thought that the easiest way to control him and seize the skills he now possessed was by using spells like the Imperius Curse, love potions, or memory alteration, Wade would have no choice but to resist with all his might.
But he also knew that his greatest value didn't lie in his magical ability, which was already impressive compared to others his age, but rather in his unique alchemy skills.
The magic or potions that manipulate the mind usually cause damage to intelligence, so as long as the other party had an ulterior motive, he was essentially safe.
He had already figured this out the last time he was kidnapped by the organization.
Alchemy, unlike most magical systems, required a wizard to maintain a clear mind and precise memory—just like scientists conducting experiments; one cannot do so with a muddled mind, nor can one do so while thinking only about a romantic partner.
Furthermore, unlike technological products that can be consistently produced with the right steps, even the most skilled alchemists frequently experience failures when performing alchemy.
Magic is closely tied to the mind and soul of the wizard, and alchemy is no different.
So, unless there is a willing cooperation, an alchemist would likely become a gold-consuming beast with huge costs and inefficient, useless results.
Since Grindelwald didn't use any control or threats when they first met, the more value Wade demonstrated, the less likely it was that Grindelwald would turn on him.
Unlike Voldemort, Grindelwald valued talent over bloodline; he adhered to elitism. For capable individuals, this famous dark wizard could be friendly and enthusiastic.
Therefore, when making the tool for infiltrating the Streaming Mirror, Wade didn't fake a failure to delay time. He spent two hours designing it, and once the materials arrived, he immediately began the work.
This time, he didn't rely on his unique vision ability but instead used the alchemy skills he had mastered.
Grindelwald also sent a gray-haired alchemist to assist him. The two of them worked together, discussing while working.
The alchemist praised Wade's proficiency with Transfiguration, solid magical foundation, and unique approach. Wade also learned some German wizard alchemy techniques from him.
After three failures, on the fourth attempt, they finally saw the light of success.
The alchemist named Wovilette brought a Streaming Mirror for testing, and they found that the image had indeed been successfully replaced. The transmission of sound and images was also clear and smooth.
"My goodness, I didn't think it would go so smoothly—at least not this quickly!" Wovilette marveled, looking at Wade. "I guess you had already considered this kind of thing, didn't you?"
Wade smiled but neither confirmed nor denied it.
Wovilette had already come to his own conclusion and wasn't bothered by Wade's silence. He circled the radio-like device a couple of times and said:
"This is your creation… How about naming this little thing?"
"Uh..." Wade thought for a moment and asked, "Zero-Day Squirrel, how about that?"
In the field of computing, "Zero-Day" typically refers to an undisclosed vulnerability that can be exploited to launch an attack.
As for the squirrel, it's a natural thief in the animal kingdom.
"—Zero-Day?" Wovilette didn't understand the meaning behind it, but it sounded good. He nodded and said, "Great, I hope this little squirrel will bring us more magical nuts."
The main structure of the Zero-Day Squirrel had already been completed, with only some finishing touches left to do.
"Mr. Wovilette, did you graduate from Durmstrang?"
Wade casually asked while working on a small part.
"Yes, I studied there," Wovilette smiled.
"Although Durmstrang has a bad reputation for allowing students to learn Dark Arts, the school is actually quite different from what most people imagine. The students are serious and focused, but on their days off, they dance and sing just like everyone else."
"Does Durmstrang teach the Unforgivable Curses?" Wade asked curiously. "Do students experiment with the Imperius Curse or Cruciatus Curse on each other?"
"Of course not!" Wovilette replied decisively. "Durmstrang's stance on certain spells is the same as other schools! Including..."
His voice abruptly stopped, and he cast a furtive glance at the door, wary of Grindelwald suddenly showing up.
Then he lowered his voice and whispered to Wade, "—Including Gellert. You know, he was expelled because his Dark Arts experiments were too dangerous. He was incredibly talented, but still, the school expelled him!"
—Really?
Wade didn't quite believe it.
Because he remembered during the Triwizard Tournament, the Durmstrang participant, Krum, under the Imperius Curse, tortured Cedric with the Cruciatus Curse.
The Imperius Curse could control the cursed person, but it couldn't force them to use spells they hadn't mastered.
Wade didn't refute Wovilette's statement, but Wovilette seemed to have been stirred by the topic.
"Sigh... Gellert was truly charismatic when he was younger. I was a few years behind him, but when I was studying, I wanted to follow him..."
Wovilette said with a dreamy expression. "He might have been obsessed with dangerous magic and made some mistakes... but his original intention was to create an ideal wizarding world, thinking about the welfare of the wizarding community..."
"Your headmaster, Dumbledore, doesn't want to sacrifice any innocent lives. The wizarding world has elevated him to the status of a saint, which I think is hypocritical...
Don't frown, child... If you read more history books—I mean Muggle history books—you'll see that no revolution is without bloodshed..."
"Dumbledore is too weak, only Gellert—only his ideas could truly change the situation of wizards hiding away. Even if he failed, I still believe in him... I'll always believe in him..."
"Thank you, John, thank you for your trust and admiration," Grindelwald said, walking in through the door. Seeing the relaxed expressions on their faces, he smiled and said, "Looks like the thing I asked for will be finished soon?"
"Actually, the Zero-Day Squirrel is already done!"
John Wovilette patted the machine next to him, the "Squirrel," and praised with a smile, "It's truly a brilliant design! Now we're just adding an extra layer of protection to prevent it from being easily damaged during use."
Grindelwald's eyes lit up, clearly delighted, and he said, "Wonderful! I think our plan can be completed a few days ahead of schedule... John, you can finish the rest of the work by yourself, right?"
"Of course..." Wovilette suddenly realized something, glanced at Wade with concern, and quickly changed his words. "But there are still some parts I'm not quite clear on, and I really need Mr. Grey's wisdom to help..."
"Then I'll borrow Wade for now," Grindelwald interrupted, placing his hand on Wade's shoulder and affectionately calling the boy's name. "We have a few things to discuss."
"Gellert, Mr. Grey is truly an outstanding alchemist. I've never seen a child of his age possess such profound knowledge..."
Wovilette's face paled slightly as he summoned the courage to say, "He's still young. Even if you two don't agree on something, please... please don't..."
"Hahaha, where are you going with this, John?" Grindelwald laughed. "We're really just going to 'talk,' literally!"
Wovilette breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the three of them leave the room, then sighed in worry.
Though he had chosen to follow Grindelwald, when Grindelwald is ruthless, he is truly frightening!
And Wovilette knew very well that Grindelwald's temper could be impulsive, capricious, and he could turn on you in an instant... What if the young and hot-headed Wade Grey spoke out against him? Then...
The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became. Wovilette decided to set down his wand and paced around the room, waiting for the outcome of the "talk."
…
In Wovilette's imagination, when Grindelwald saw Wade's potential, he would likely try to coerce him into joining the Dark Wizard faction.
But Wade clearly held a great admiration for Dumbledore and had a strong sense of belonging to Hogwarts. Such trust couldn't be easily broken by just a few words.
If rejected, Grindelwald would likely resort to using a few Cruciatus Curses to "convince" Wade. Most people would yield to direct violence, but some might be spurred into even stronger resistance...
However, the reality was different from Wovilette's imagined scenario. What Grindelwald wanted to discuss had nothing to do with submission or anything like that.
He comfortably sat in an armchair, signaled Delaine to pour a cup of tea for Wade, and then asked, "Child, do you know your heritage?"
Wade was momentarily stunned, then replied, "I naturally know who my parents are."
"No, I'm not talking about your parents," Grindelwald said. "I'm talking about your grandparents, your maternal grandmother, and even your great-grandparents."
Wade fell silent for a moment.
Although Wade had heard his parents mention a few things, there was no family tree or any similar records in the house, nor were there any photographs of those people. Wade had never been curious enough to ask about them.
To him, during the chaotic times, sending two children with no magical abilities away and then never checking on them again felt like abandonment.
Even though this was a tradition in the wizarding world — the Weasley family followed the same practice — as parents, there was no doubt that they had neglected their responsibility.
Wade had never thought about finding his relatives or anything like that. At school, he always claimed to come from a non-magical family.
Fred and Fiona are my parents in this life and raised me with care. Only they are my true family.
As for anyone else, just because they share blood ties, do they think they could become shackles around my neck?
That is impossible.
Grindelwald, not sure how to interpret Wade's silence, casually continued with the findings from his subordinates:
"I originally thought your parents were both Muggles, but it turns out that while you were attending Hogwarts, they both visited Diagon Alley."
Wade's expression suddenly sharpened, and he gazed at Grindelwald coldly.
"Don't worry, I don't intend to use them to threaten you," Grindelwald said, stroking the rim of his cup with a smile on his face. "I just realized, they can see the Leaky Cauldron but have no magical ability... Your parents must be Squibs, right?"
"And then my people investigated your grandparents. It wasn't easy to find the information, but luckily, a helpful young man at the Ministry of Magic gave us a hand..."
He looked into Wade's gray eyes and said:
"Your maternal grandmother is Rosie Black, her father was Marius Black. I heard you visited the Black family estate before, but you probably didn't see this name — Marius Black was a Squib and was disowned by the Black family long ago."
Wade's eyes flickered slightly, but he wasn't surprised.
Despite the Black family's dwindling numbers now, it had once been as large as the Weasley family.
He had seen the Black family tapestry, and many of the famous wizarding families — the Potters, the Weasleys, the Malfoys, the Crabbes, the Longbottoms, and others — had alliances with the Blacks.
And Wade had noticed long ago... he bore some resemblance to Sirius Black, but their blood relation was quite distant — perhaps the kind that would be listed at the very edges of the family tree.
"Then there's your great-grandfather," Grindelwald continued.
"His name was Joseph Bones, your grandfather was Andrew, and your grandmother was Carla.
The Bones family produced quite a number of excellent wizards — do you know Amelia Bones? She's currently the head of the British Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and she's your distant aunt."
Wade leaned back slightly, stared at Grindelwald and asked, "So? What's your point? Are you trying to help me recognize a few relatives?"
Grindelwald rested his chin on his hand, smiling. "I would love to help you form more connections in the wizarding world, but unfortunately..."
The Dark Wizard sighed softly. "Both your grandparents and your maternal grandmother's family were murdered by Voldemort or his Death Eaters."
"Originally, when you were accepted into Hogwarts, you should have returned to the Bones family. But since your grandparents were already deceased, you were left in the Muggle world. Amelia Bones doesn't even know that her Squib cousin is still alive."
As Grindelwald spoke, he keenly observed the expression on the young wizard's face.
Generally speaking, most people would display noticeable emotional fluctuations after hearing news about relatives they have never met — joy, regret, resentment, sadness, longing... Whatever the emotion, it would be understandable.
But Wade Grey was different.
It was as if he was listening to a story about a stranger, and did not even show the slightest sign of emotional change in his expression.
Grindelwald could tell that he wasn't pretending to be calm — he truly didn't care, didn't mind. It was as if the fate of his former family, whether it was prosperous or fallen, had nothing to do with him.
A faint smile appeared in the depths of Grindelwald's eyes.
"It's probably better not to know. I'm used to the surname Grey, and I have no intention of changing it," Wade shifted his sitting posture and said. "Thanks for the information, though I didn't really want to know any of this."
Grindelwald lightly tapped the armrest of his chair with his fingers, thinking deeply, and said:
"But I do want to know — someone like you, who should have grown up in the wizarding world but ended up living in the Muggle world by chance, has a deep understanding of both sides — what do you think about the current relationship between wizards and Muggles?"
Wade's expression shifted, and he raised his eyes to look at Grindelwald.
He realized that this was the real question the man wanted to ask.
If Wade were purely from a Muggle background, there wouldn't be this issue... but with blood ties to two famous magical families, this question had a different significance.
Even his parents couldn't exactly be considered non-magical.
Squibs, though at the bottom of the wizarding world's social hierarchy, were still a part of it.
After a moment of silence, Wade spoke: "There's one fact I don't know if you've noticed — I'm thirteen this year."
Age was his disadvantage, but age was also his shield.
Grindelwald smiled.
"Right, I was too hasty."
He stood up and said with a tone of leaving no room for disagreement, "Go rest. You'll probably have a lot of thoughts tonight, but you still need to sleep early... Tomorrow we might need to go out for a walk, and you'll come along too."
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