"That's great." Vid breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Has Professor Snape figured out a solution? What exactly is forcing Remus to transform?"
"That's the bad news—let me think about where to start."
Dumbledore took another bite of pie, as if organizing his thoughts, or pondering which part to tell him.
"Professor." Before he could speak, Vid reminded him, "If you're unwilling to tell me the truth, I can find a way to investigate myself."
"Alright, you'll find out soon enough..."
Dumbledore said vaguely, then continued, "You know, Vid, the Magic World and the Muggle World, though they live on the same land, are completely isolated worlds."
"We wizards do our utmost to hide ourselves, and any violation of the Confidentiality Law is severely punished, which protects both us and the Muggles."
"Many have always believed that aside from a few Muggles, most are completely unaware of our world—perhaps this is true in the United Kingdom, but across the ocean in another country, that's not the case."
Vid frowned, "Are you saying...the United States?"
"Indeed, the United States—the place where Ilvermorny Magic School is located."
Dumbledore had forgotten about his dessert, his brow furrowed, and he said solemnly, "In the 18th century, the United States experienced a very serious breach of secrecy."
As Dumbledore began his story, a piece of Magic History completely unknown to Vid unfolded before him.
When this new continent of the United States was "discovered," many Muggles and wizards from different countries flocked to the land.
Because there were no laws or enforcement agencies at the time, incidents occurred frequently, and bounty hunters emerged as a result.
A group of wizard mercenaries hunted any target that could be exchanged for money, including trafficking wizards or selling innocent Muggles as witches to the Puritans, later being punished and hunted by the Magic Congress.
These people were the earliest Scourers.
They knew of the Magic World's existence yet harbored hatred for wizards. It is even said that if their own children possessed Magic Ability, they would be abandoned or abused.
In the 18th century, a Scourer descendant named Bartholomew Barrybon met a witch, marking the beginning of tragedy.
Witch Dorcas Twelvetrees became infatuated with Bartholomew Barrybon and divulged a great deal of information about the Magic World, including the locations of Ilvermorny and the American Magic Congress.
Subsequently, Bartholomew Barrybon stole Dorcas Twelvetrees' Magic Wand and publicly displayed it to journalists, printed pamphlets promoting the existence and secret locations of the "evil" Magic World, and gathered armed individuals to launch a witch hunt.
This was the most severe breach of secrecy in Magic History.
Afterward, Bartholomew Barrybon was imprisoned for attacking innocent Muggles "suspected of being wizards."
The American Magic Congress did its best to mitigate the damage, defining the entire secrecy breach as Bartholomew Barrybon's delusional fantasy, and cast the Forgetfulness Spell on those who knew secret information.
However, because news had spread too far before the Magic World discovered it, the American Magic Congress could never confirm whether they had erased the memories of everyone who had learned about the breach.
It turns out the answer was—they had not.
For over two centuries, a mysterious force has secretly researched magic in the United States.
They knew of the Magic World's prohibition and thus remained extremely covert, without even an official name, merely calling themselves "the Organization."
The initial research was absurd and baseless, built on myths and human imagination, easily recognizable as falsehoods.
Some left in disappointment, others joined with hope, some exhausted their fortunes, and others strived to become billionaires to gain membership.
They persisted for over two hundred years.
Vid could empathize most with this persistence—those with Magic Ability often value magic less than ordinary people do.
While knowing one lives in a world of wondrous powers yet never gains access, always tormented by aging, illness, and imperfections, this disparity could drive one mad.
The most important thing is—this world truly possesses magic.
So their efforts were not completely in vain.
Of course, to the Magic World, this isn't effort; it's an obsession akin to madness.
And Magic Ability is something you either have or you don't. Human technology has never unraveled its mysteries and cannot enable ordinary people to wield magic.
But some things don't require any special talent to obtain.
Such as—werewolves and vampires.
In the Magic World, these are actually two incurable conditions, spread through blood and saliva, each with severe side effects.
Werewolves lose their rationality and attack indiscriminately, while vampires, though seemingly perfect, are essentially akin to the undead and face many natural foes, with changes to their diet being their least significant flaw.
Moreover, whether werewolf or vampire transformation, the mortality rate is exceedingly high for Muggles.
Therefore, the Organization has conducted numerous experiments, attempting to find a stable and effective method of transformation.
Vid dared not imagine how many died in the process.
The experiment survivors, after brainwashing, became members of the Organization, operating globally—
Raising funds, capturing wizards and Magical Creatures, kidnapping underage wizards, deceiving ordinary people into becoming experimental fodder, infiltrating Magic Schools to steal magic knowledge, cultivating backup forces.
For certain reasons (Vid suspected Dumbledore's deterrent influence), the Organization rarely infiltrated the British Magic World in recent decades, merely gathering information and occasionally abducting a few individuals.
But in the past year or two, the Organization's claws finally reached into Britain (this time Vid was sure it was caused by his own butterfly effect), werewolves, vampires, and some wizards they trained infiltrated Britain.
Creating chaos, instigating conflicts, and inciting wars are their usual tactics.
In the three days Dumbledore was gone, not only did he capture those vampires who attacked Lupin, but he also "visited" two of the Organization's secret bases with their "help," obtaining crucial intelligence.
Unfortunately, the individuals sent to Britain held limited information, with even their memories altered, succumbing only to Dumbledore's magic.
After hearing all this, Vid was speechless for a while, surprisingly not too surprised in his heart.
Even true fairy tales have their share of blood and darkness, let alone this seemingly fairy-tale-like real world.
"I have one more thing to tell you," Dumbledore finally said, "I brought someone back."
Vid was startled for a moment, then realized, "—Carrel?"