"Yes," another person said respectfully, "both the Friendship Book and the recent Flow Mirror are his inventions... I've contacted him before, and I can confirm it's him."
If it weren't for the golden flakes sticking to his palm that made Vid's reactions much slower, he would surely have shown flaws at this moment.
This voice... he had just heard it a few days ago!
Will from Aslan Magic Workshop.
So this was his real purpose?
Not some potion testing... but to invade this private gathering and kidnap alchemists?
The man who had been asking earlier chuckled and said, "That Friendship Book is nothing, just a parchment version of a pager. But the Flow Mirror is truly remarkable... the leader values it greatly."
"But the most important thing is still the poppets."
The counter lady approached and snorted coldly, "Wizards actually treat them as pets, how foolish! These things can easily be transformed into war machines!"
"That's why we need more alchemists... but most importantly, we need Vid Gray."
The man bent down to take Vid's magic wand, then lifted him up and said, "But it's really unimaginable! The inventor is actually a teenager."
"Geniuses are never lacking, Mozart could play a complete piano piece at the age of six." His companion said.
"Be careful!" The counter lady suddenly said dissatisfied, "Do you know how important his head is? If you damage it, you won't be able to compensate even if you take off your own head."
"Understood."
The man muttered, simply picking Vid up, even taking special care to protect his head from hitting the wall.
As he approached, Vid noticed that these people were all wearing tight suits similar to diving suits under their clothes, wearing gloves, and masks on their heads, with what seemed like a layer of a breathing apparatus inside the masks.
He had a vague realization— these guys didn't dare to directly touch those golden flakes themselves.
The person carrying him entered a narrow passage behind the painting, and the light immediately became very dim, Vid quietly wiped off the flakes from his hand and squinted to look around.
The passage was damp and cold, the ground uneven, the walls full of excavation marks, with a dim small lamp every dozen meters.
These people seemed to have good eyesight, able to move steadily even in such light.
Professor Morry was not far behind, also being dragged by the arms, his feet stumbling over the ground, fortunately, the kidnappers also cared about his head, not letting him hit anything hard.
Vid temporarily relaxed, closing his eyes to pretend to be unconscious.
The power of those flakes was strange and potent; at first, it seemed nothing special, but the effects gradually increased over time.
Even though Vid had now rubbed off all the flakes, he hadn't recovered yet, only feeling as if his blood flow had slowed down.
After a while, one end of the passage became very bright. The man paused, waited for his eyes to adjust, then carried Vid out.
"Huh?" The person receiving him exclaimed in surprise, "Is this...?"
"Yes, it's him."
"Did you really get him?"
The receiver clicked their tongue, "I heard he's under Dumbledore's protection, the leader didn't hold much hope, didn't expect to actually catch him this time..."
"And none of our people were injured," Will, who followed out of the passage, smiled and said, "This thing is just too powerful! With this, what do wizards have to fear?"
"Don't be careless, this is still the United Kingdom," the receiver reminded, "We need to hurry and get everyone out before Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic react."
Vid felt himself being stuffed into a vehicle, pressed closely against another person.
"Shouldn't they be tied up?" someone said worriedly, "Wizards have unfathomable methods, and there's no spell on this vehicle to prevent Apparition."
"No need, as long as the gold powder is still on them, they won't wake up... even if they do, handcuffs and ropes might be useless. Just take their magic wands and let's go!"
A group of people moved swiftly, stuffing the remaining few people into the vehicle, then clanked the door shut.
In a short while, Vid just felt a jolt as the vehicle started.
He quietly opened one eye, looking around.
It was a box truck, with a layer of foul-smelling mats spread on the floor, the alchemists lying side by side on the mats, like a group of corpses ready for burial.
Surprisingly, there was no one else in the truck, probably those guys feared the gold powder and were confident in its power, so they didn't get in.
This actually made things easier for Vid.
He reached into his pocket, took out a small pencil case— the pocket itself had The Undetectable Extension Charm, not very large, but enough to fit a pencil case.
The pencil case fell to the floor, shook, then quickly unfolded and expanded into the shape of a wardrobe.
The truck's ceiling was high enough to accommodate its expansion.
Then Vid took out a spare magic wand, gently waved it, and the alchemists on the floor floated into the wardrobe space.
He hesitated for a moment, not immediately removing the gold powder from everyone, but first used a small whirlwind to collect the powder from Professor Morry into a crystal bottle.
From Vid's own experience, he knew Professor Morry would probably take a while to wake up.
The poppets within the wardrobe space all gathered around Vid affectionately, some curiously prodding the people lying on the grass.
Then, a small cat that had been hopping on Orlando suddenly froze, then fell over with a thud.
The other poppets were startled, quickly distancing themselves from the crowd on the ground, simultaneously casting accusatory glances at Vid, wordlessly blaming him for bringing the dangerous "things" in.
The commotion caught the attention of Firebird Mikhail, it flew over, tilting its head curiously at the scene.
A drifting gold flake landed on it, not burning away but instead adding a small embellishment.
Vid's gaze shifted slightly.
He pinched a small flake with his fingertip, murmuring to himself, "Even Fiendfyre can't burn it... what is this?"
Mikhail leaned in uncomprehendingly, suddenly opening its mouth, stretching its head as if yawning.
Vid waved his wand, removing the gold powder from it, smiled and said, "Mikhail, are you bored staying here?"
Mikhail looked at him, letting out a soft chirp.
"We'll go out for some activity later," Vid said, "and our enthusiastic little friends might also need a bigger space to move around."
His gaze shifted to a few Acromantulas that had been locked up for a long time, now fighting amongst themselves.