Vorvillet was holding the Crystal Bottle and a magnifying glass, focused on the gold powder inside, his brows tightly furrowed, muttering something under his breath.
Vid didn't know what Vorvillet expected to discover this way.
Because he had previously placed the same substance under an optical microscope, but no matter how much magnification was applied, it was always finely fragmented gold powder.
Vid even suspected that if he rented an electron microscope at the university laboratory, the image would be the same.
Using scientific methods to study Magic would only lead to the conclusion: "This is not scientific at all."
"Vid."
Grindelwald stood up, glanced at him, pointed at the gold powder bottle with his finger, and asked, "Have you seen anything like this?"
It's been a few days, and Grindelwald seemed more imposing, perhaps because he had killed quite a few people recently, or maybe because the body, depleted to exhaustion in prison, was slowly recovering and looking less frail.
On the way here, the effect of the Polyjuice Potion had worn off, and Vid had returned to his original appearance.
Grindelwald did not inquire about his slightly oversized clothes but instead went straight to the point.
Seeing that he hadn't mentioned the last argument and offense, Vid breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and added, "I have seen something similar, but I'm not sure if it's the same thing."
Vorvillet's eyes lit up as he looked over.
Grindelwald was not surprised; he waved his hand and said, "You take a look too."
Vid pulled out his Magic Wand and moved forward, cast several conventional Detection Spells on the Crystal Bottle, then took out a coin from his pocket, tapped it with his wand, and turned it into a little white mouse.
Grindelwald watched his fluent and natural Transfiguration Technique, his expression fleetingly dazed but quickly restored to normal.
The little white mouse blinked its shiny black eyes, lying obediently on the wooden table.
Vid opened the stopper of the Crystal Bottle, flicked his Magic Wand, a subtle air current carried a few specks of gold powder, gently landing them on the little white mouse, then poked its back with his finger.
The white mouse didn't move, it slowly rolled its eyes, its tail drooped, and suddenly it toppled over.
The little creature wasn't dead; it was breathing slowly and elongated, as if in deep sleep.
Vid then had the airflow return those few specks of gold powder back to the bottle and closed the stopper.
Moments later, the white mouse awoke, looked around, nimbly ran to the edge of the table, and then the magic expired; it suddenly transformed back into a coin.
Vorvillet watched Vid's unsurprised expression and curiously asked, "What exactly is this?"
Vid pondered for a moment before saying, "I'm not precisely sure what it is, but when it comes into contact with the skin, it slows down physiological functions tremendously, fogs consciousness, and leads to sleep. The more you come in contact with, the more pronounced the effect."
"But this thing is harmless to the human body. Even if you sleep under its effects for a long time without eating or drinking, it won't cause death from thirst or starvation, nor will muscles atrophy. It's as if..."
He remembered he once placed gold powder on a little white mouse, leaving it there for two whole months before removing it. After waking up, the mouse quickly resumed its activities—grabbing dried corn to gnaw on.
Two months asleep seemed to have been deleted from its life and consciousness with a single button.
"It's as if... the time of the organism was paused." Vid said, observing the expressions of the few people around him.
Grindelwald slightly raised an eyebrow, showing no further expression.
Vorvillet quickly shifted from shock to excitement, eager to dive into the bottle for personal experience.
Delaine suddenly widened his eyes, then stared at the bottle in deep thought.
As for Moro...
"So if someone were to keep this on themselves, wouldn't that mean they could achieve immortality?" He asked enthusiastically.
Vid retorted, "Stones can also live forever; are you willing to let Medusa turn you into stone?"
Moro honestly shook his head immediately.
"This thing can neither grant immortality nor prevent aging; at most, it offers hibernation."
Vid said, "Spending decades, hundreds of years in sleep will not change the substantial length of a life when you wake up; aging and death are still unavoidable."
While speaking, he suddenly remembered the fairy tale of the beautiful princess who slept for one hundred years because of a Witch's Curse.
The entire palace, including the animals, fell asleep, and all awoke a hundred years later, becoming vibrant once again, entirely unaware of the hundred years they had slept through.
After a pause, Vid added, "Its greatest use might be to allow patients with severe injuries or terminal illnesses to wait for treatment... and it can extend the shelf life of Magic Potions."
For instance, Vid's wardrobe space contained many Magic Potions, some of which lose efficacy in a month or two. But if two specks of gold powder are added, they can be taken out a year and a half later, still fresh.
Thinking of his wardrobe space, Vid couldn't help but sigh, deeply reminiscing about those convenient days.
"But..." Delaine frowned and slowly asked, "How can Muggles master the power of time? Even Wizards can't achieve such a degree."
"That's too absolute." Moro retorted, "The mythical Merlin might be able to."
Delaine, displeased, looked at this colleague who refuted just for the sake of refuting, and said: "Use your brain! If that organization had someone like 'Merlin', would they need to conduct those clumsy modification experiments?"