## 387. Metal Shielding
"Waaah…"
Rita Skeeter skillfully bit down on a piece of wood, trembling as she huddled on the small bed.
For the past few days, she had been hiding in this cell, subjected to this torture intermittently.
Sometimes it was every half hour, sometimes every two or three hours; the people on the island seemed convinced she was still there, launching sudden raids from time to time, and their search efforts never let up.
Rita had initially thought they might mistakenly believe she had escaped, giving her a chance to flee!
Later she realized—perhaps the message she sent to Wade Grey had exposed her situation.
A thousand times, she regretted not having brought the entire Book of Friends with her.
Fortunately, the children in this cell had been covering for her. They shared their food with Rita, let her sleep on the only bed in the room, and when she groaned from unbearable pain, the children would also cry out, masking her sounds.
When someone patrolled outside, Rita would even transform into a beetle to hide from the sight of the men in black.
After a few days, Rita had also discovered that some of the children in the cell were also wizards—or at least had magical abilities.
Whenever the humming sound started, they would shrink to the ground, motionless, showing expressions of pain but not uttering a sound, as if they had grown accustomed to it.
But Rita felt that no matter how many times, she could never get used to this torment.
Once she recovered from the pain, she would repeatedly tell these children, and herself—
"It'll be soon… they're coming soon… we'll definitely be saved…"
"Who are 'they'?" a girl named Hailey asked in a soft, thin voice.
She had light blonde hair, skin so pale it seemed translucent, and a pair of pure, innocent green eyes.
It was a pity that her appearance was quite plain, her teeth were an underbite, and her chin protruded significantly, making her look rather strange and ugly.
In this cell, besides a girl named Mabel, there were no pretty children; none of these children's appearances quite fit conventional beauty standards.
At first, Rita had secretly mocked their looks, instinctively crafting some sarcastic descriptions in her mind.
But after a few days of being together, she finally understood that one couldn't judge people by their appearance—these were the ugliest children she had ever seen, but also the kindest.
Rita thought for a moment, then said very seriously, "They are the most powerful wizards in this world… and the greatest Alchemist of the future."
"Wizards?" Hailey tilted her head, softly saying, "Wizards can't do anything about them… magic is useless here."
"It's different… they're different."
Rita Skeeter herself felt that her words were hollow and unconvincing, so she added, "A powerful wizard could burn this entire island to the ground with a single spell."
"Wouldn't we be burned to death too then?" Mabel, another older girl with brown hair, said coldly. "I hate magic. If it weren't for magic, how would I have ended up like this?"
She pulled up her sleeve, revealing layers of scars and countless needle marks on her arm.
Rita was speechless.
She had already realized that the children here were roughly divided into two types—those without magical abilities like Hailey, and those with magic like Mabel.
The latter's situation was far more tragic.
Aside from being occasionally taken for blood draws and examinations, Hailey and the others were simply confined. Their daily food wasn't delicious, but it was at least plentiful, so they didn't have to worry about hunger.
Mabel, and another boy named Luke, had a much more miserable existence. They were taken away almost every day, and when they were brought back, both would be very weak, with new injuries.
Sometimes they would suddenly vomit, convulse, or develop a fever in the middle of the night, and the other children would skillfully clean up the mess and care for them. The guards would even bring some symptomatic medication.
Luke always seemed terrified of being taken away, and Rita worried every day that he might betray them to improve his situation.
But to her surprise, no matter how scared the child was, he gritted his teeth and didn't say another word.
Mabel seemed to sense Rita's thoughts. One time, after her wounds were treated, she suddenly said to Rita, "Your worry is unnecessary."
Rita looked at her in surprise.
"Our value lies in the magic within us that cannot be removed," Mabel said expressionlessly, leaning against the wall. "Even if we betray you, it would just mean one more test subject. Our situation cannot be changed at all."
"Test subjects?" Rita reacted, then asked angrily, "These Muggles want to steal your magic?"
Mabel didn't say yes or no. Instead, she stared listlessly at the narrow window and murmured, "I wish it really could be stolen."
"How can that be?" Rita instinctively retorted. "If there's no magic… if there's no magic…"
—If there was no magic, how was it any different from a normal person suddenly becoming disabled?
But suddenly, Rita remembered Mabel's plight and couldn't bring herself to say anything more.
Suddenly, a jingling sound came from outside the cell door, like metal keys and bells clanging together with someone's footsteps.
Rita quickly transformed into a beetle and was about to burrow into a dirty pillow when she suddenly saw all the children in the cell jump up and rush to the side closest to the corridor.
They gripped the iron bars with both hands, seemingly trying to squeeze their faces through, desperately peering outside.
Rita hesitated, but curiosity compelled her to fly over and land on Mabel's hair.
Mabel shook her head in annoyance but didn't brush her off.
So Rita saw several burly, intimidating men walk past in the corridor.
The person at the front wore a mask, a string of gleaming silver keys hanging from their waist, and carried a stack of lists in their hand, making a constant jingling sound as they walked.
A few people passed by.
It wasn't just this cell; all the children in the prison cells were pressed against the bars, silent and unmoving, simply staring intently at the group.
Rita didn't understand their reaction and wanted to poke Mabel's face with her feelers to ask for an explanation, but then she suddenly heard the jingling sound grow from faint to loud.
That group had returned so quickly.
The difference was, this time there was a teenage boy among them.
The child was extremely gaunt, with deep despair and helplessness in his eyes, as if he had lost his own consciousness, his body merely moving forward mechanically.
The jingling sound drew closer, then suddenly stopped.
He stopped in front of Mabel and the others' cell, looked down at the list in his hand, and then said, "Hailey Cox."
Hailey's face instantly turned ashen, and she stood frozen in place, unmoving.
The surrounding children stared at her in shock.
Mabel instinctively cried out loudly, "No—why Hailey? She's still so young!"
The masked man looked up at her, smiling, and said, "Ah, it's Mabel... Let's teach her a lesson."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the person behind him suddenly pulled out a round, plump gun and aimed it at Mabel.
Mabel's eyes widened abruptly.
Luke, who was beside her, lunged forward, "Mabel!"
He tackled the girl, and Rita also felt her vision spin. She instinctively tried to fly up, but Luke pressed her down with one hand.
The boy whispered in a trembling, frightened voice, "Don't move!"
Rita froze, then lost her chance to fly away, being directly pressed down by the two of them—
Luke's palm pressed her to the floor, then Mabel's body, and on top of that was Luke's body.
The two of them twitched and trembled, letting out hoarse, painful screams, like two wounded beasts.
Rita was stunned.
She vaguely felt that pain again, as if all the magic in her body was rebelling, but because she was covered by the two children, she only felt a slight tingling.
It was Mabel and Luke who faced the attack head-on. The two who usually made no sound when the humming started were now wailing incessantly.
Rita tried to peer through Luke's fingers and saw that the cell door had been opened. Hailey stood rigidly, then was lifted out by a man like a chicken.
The jingling sound receded, followed by the sound of locking. Only then did the children seem to break free from a Stunner, beginning to move.
The cells where no one had been taken were all very relieved and began to whisper and move around. In this cell, the other children swarmed forward, helping Mabel and Luke lie down on the bed.
"You were too reckless, Mabel—and you, Luke," a child said fearfully. "I almost thought you two would be taken too."
"I won't be," Mabel said satirically, staring at the ceiling. "We're valuable test subjects."
Luke hung his head, his body still trembling, and said nothing.
"Rita, are you okay?" A child also came to check on Rita Skeeter, whispering, "I was so afraid you'd change back just now."
They all knew that when the humming sound started, Rita Skeeter would uncontrollably transform back to her original form.
Rita changed back, shaking her head and saying, "I'm fine... They blocked it for me."
She looked at the children's silent and sorrowful faces and asked, "Hailey... what will happen to her?"
"I don't know," Mabel said, her eyes vacant. "But the children taken by those people... have never returned."
No one would believe that these demons would kindly release people, so the answer seemed obvious.
Rita Skeeter clenched the parchment in her hand tightly, and a deep despair welled up in her heart.
She knew it hadn't been long since she'd contacted Wade, but she silently urged him in her heart—
Please, hurry... faster...
Hurry and find this place...
...
At the edge of the forest, Wade suddenly looked up and saw a spider weaving a web between the leaves.
Unlike the regular, symmetrical structure of a typical spiderweb, this one was incomplete, as if a part of it was missing during its weaving.
It seemed that even insects were negatively affected in this place.
Wade withdrew his gaze and looked forward—Dumbledore was waving his wand, and silver and copper wires intertwined like a spiderweb, forming a woven Metal Cloak.
He had always known that magic could interfere with electromagnetic signals, which was why no electronic devices could function properly at Hogwarts. Even when a powerful wizard experienced intense emotional fluctuations, they would unconsciously interfere with nearby lights, televisions, and radios.
But Wade hadn't expected that ordinary people without magic had already mastered a way to deal with wizards so early—
If magic could interfere with electromagnetic signals, then conversely, sufficiently strong electromagnetic signals could also interfere with magic.
If wizards, completely isolated from the Muggle world, encountered such an attack, they would naturally be at a loss. Even Dumbledore might fall victim if he wasn't careful.
But Wade knew how to block this interference.
The current technological level of this world wasn't beyond his comprehension.
As an Alchemist, Wade always carried various alchemical materials in his pen case space, no matter where he went.
And as a master of Transfiguration, Dumbledore could easily transform raw materials into any shape they needed.
In short order, two Electromagnetic Shielding Metal Cloaks were produced. Dumbledore had even ingeniously woven the Hogwarts crest pattern onto them.
—For the Headmaster, perhaps this was simply the manifestation of a thought.
Wade put on his cloak; it was a perfect fit.
"Even the Weaving Charm is so skillfully done—Headmaster, is there anything you can't do?" Wade couldn't help but ask.
"I just happen to be very interested in knitting sweaters—it's a wonderful pastime, you should try it too."
Dumbledore also donned his Metal Cloak, calmly walking ahead of Wade, treating the cameras along the roadside as if they didn't exist.
"If I had lived as long as you, I might also find interesting things to pass the time," Wade tactfully declined.
"There's no end to things that need doing," Dumbledore said. "You push yourself too hard, Wade."
"Seeing what happened to Rita Skeeter, I feel like I still have too much room for improvement," Wade said.
Dumbledore thought for a moment, then surprisingly nodded in agreement. "You're right—you must first protect your own life before you can talk about anything else."
The two walked along the cement path through the jungle, seemingly aimlessly. In reality, they were following the trail left by "magic."
The cameras on either side were silent like black stones. On their lenses, there was no reflection of the two figures.
"So this can… shield that kind of magnetic field?" Dumbledore asked.
"Complete shielding is impossible, but it should be weakened to a level we can withstand."
Wade said, "Copper and silver both have high conductivity, so they're quite effective at shielding high-frequency magnetic fields. But for complete shielding, superconducting materials might be needed, so it's best to cut off the power."
"Superconducting materials?" Dumbledore asked curiously. "What are those? How are they made?"
Wade was speechless. "That's beyond my knowledge, Professor. I'm just a student right now."
Dumbledore smiled. "Wade, I believe the knowledge you possess already surpasses that of most ordinary people. I know some professors at Muggle schools, and they might not know as much as you do—ah, we're here."
Before them appeared an extremely tall wall.
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