Glanwhite picked up the photo, casually placing it aside, while Carrel reached over to take a look.
"I heard them say this guy named Will might already be dead. Why are we still searching for him?" Carrel asked.
"Who can be sure he's truly dead?"
Glanwhite said, "If he's alive and fell into the hands of the enemy, we have to decide whether to rescue or silence him. If Dar and their failure was due to Will leaking information, we must make him pay with blood."
"So either way, he's going to die, right?" Carrel said nonchalantly, tossing the photo down. "I hope I get to encounter him—this place is too boring."
"Your task isn't that. You need to find a way to get close to Vid Gray, and if there's a chance..."
"Got it, got it! You've nagged me several times already!"
Carrel interrupted him impatiently and, seeing the Flow Mirror's screen unchanged, turned on the TV in the guest room.
He sat cross-legged barefoot on the bed, like a mischievous child. But his good looks prevented this appearance from being unpleasant.
Glanwhite cursed under his breath, ignoring him, and began writing on paper himself.
Judging by the handmade parchment binder, it was evidently a Friendship Book.
Vid smacked his lips outside the window.
The downside of technological innovation is that—even for the inventor—it's impossible to make his creation only benefit those around him and not others, especially enemies.
If it were a phone, he might figure out a way to install a monitoring app.
But the Friendship Book is just paper, Vid can't hide a surveillance spell inside without anyone noticing, especially with wizards like Dumbledore in the world, whose mastery of spells is unknown.
Naturally, Vid wouldn't foolishly challenge those who've studied wizardry for a lifetime with just a couple of years of magical experience.
Thus, each page of Friendship Book he made is clean, without hidden surveillance or bombs.
This is why Glanwhite chose to use the Friendship Book even after entering Muggle Town—Muggle phones can be easily monitored, but not the Friendship Book.
Thus, Vid, the inventor, could only gaze through the glass anxiously, unaware of what was being written on the paper.
—Perhaps waiting is unnecessary.
Vid glanced at Carrel, silently withdrew from the group of three birds, and glided toward a nearby narrow alley.
He needed to return to human form to use magic or Magic Potion and take down the two people in the room.
Vid had no warm feelings for Carrel; he merely hoped to give this seemingly crooked boy a beating, allowing his poor father to reunite with his son, and then ask Dumbledore or the Elite Auror to investigate the truth.
Carrel's act against Lupin was appalling, but he was under 14, and Muggle law couldn't hold him criminally responsible.
But in the Magic World, even thirteen or fourteen-year-olds sometimes have to pay for their actions.
Vid pondered what method to use to catch the two unsuspecting people in the room when he suddenly heard strange wing-flapping sounds.
He turned sharply, seeing two large bats fall from the sky, directly onto the guest room window glass.
"Who's there?"
With a thud, Glanwhite hurried to the window, then saw the two bats.
"Nile, Krami? You're not continuing surveillance?"
"Hmm."
The two bats transformed into human form, a man and a woman; the woman was one half of the previous couple, and the man's face seemed familiar.
Vid thought hard, then remembered—the man seemed to have been in the tavern before, an inconspicuous figure partly shielded by greenery.
"Dumbledore has arrived, but he's temporarily held up by the injured. I suspect staying longer might lead to capture by him," Krami explained.
Glanwhite first frowned, then nodded: "You're right... where's the photo?"
"Right here." The man Nile gestured to the camera in his hand: "Not developed yet."
Glanwhite nodded: "As soon as possible! Best if it hits tomorrow's newspaper front page headline."
"Got it." The man, fiddling with the camera, replied.
Glanwhite didn't mind his attitude, coldly laughing with pure malice:
"Wizards around here are too weak; even werewolves and vampires aren't showing much promise. All thanks to that Standard—"
"The Non-Wizard Half-human Treatment Standards," Carrel suddenly interjected: "I vaguely remember it's called that."
Glanwhite paused, then countered: "You never pay attention in class, do you?"
"Please, I don't sleep all the time, do I?" Carrel said, exasperated: "Besides, sometimes I do flip through books."
Glanwhite felt blocked, choosing to ignore him, and continued speaking to the other two:
"Once this news hits, it'll surely stir up a frenzy, making those werewolves' situation even tougher. Then, when we reconnect, they'll know who's truly their kin!"
Carrel suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, mumbling silently.
Nile and Krami both nodded; Krami smirked and said, "Then I'll report Claire as a werewolf! Let her taste the bitterness of betrayal by trusted ones!"
"Shame no one's dead," Nile suddenly said, "otherwise, the news would stir more conflict."
"No worries, find a good journalist." Glanwhite suggested: "Like that Rita Skeeter..."
"She's been keeping quiet recently," Krami said, "seems she had to flee abroad after revealing a high-ranking official's true identity from the Ministry of Magic and getting targeted."
"Then find Cuff, I recall he's an editor now."
"Understood."
"Coo coo."
Two voices sounded almost simultaneously.
Nile suddenly turned, staring at the owl outside the window. After some watching, he leisurely pulled out a Magic Wand, suddenly flicking it towards the window!
A beam of black light struck the hooting owl, which plummeted down.
Soon after, the second owl barely flew two meters away before meeting its companion's fate.
Vid crouched at the alley corner, watching the man pick the corpses of the two owls off the ground, alertly scanning the surroundings, then returning to the hotel room.
"What happened? Using magic suddenly," Glanwhite reprimanded, "be careful not to expose us."
"You were too careless!" Nile frowned, criticized: "Owls outside—why not chase them off? Don't you know wizards can transform into animals?"