"Could his mental breakdown after being imprisoned in Azkaban have caused his magical strength to decline? As for his physical condition... perhaps he was already in poor health, and after being tormented in a place like this for so long, his body finally gave out..." Grindelwald said hesitantly.
Come to think of it, a severe mental collapse really could cause a wizard's magical power to drop dramatically.
In this world, wizards could almost be called spiritual beings.
Emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and other subjective factors could all strengthen or weaken a wizard's magic.
Tom's mother had died helplessly outside the orphanage largely because her mind had already been on the verge of collapse. At that time, she no longer wanted to use the magic that had brought her so much pain.
When a witch or wizard could no longer even think of using magic, their magic would no longer respond to them.
Wade said, "A mental breakdown causing a sudden decline in magical strength is certainly possible. But the collapse of his bodily functions is different. Unless he was poisoned or injured, a healthy body couldn't deteriorate to this extent in such a short time. Besides... the organ failure and deterioration in his body have clearly been going on for quite a while."
"So... this isn't the same person you saw before?" Grindelwald finally understood.
"By all logic, he isn't. But at the same time... he definitely is. That's why I said it's so strange," Wade said with a frown.
"You're sure you didn't make a mistake, Wade?" Grindelwald asked.
"I didn't. I have no idea why something this absurd would happen either, but this is what I'm seeing." Wade shrugged.
The conclusion left all three of them with a strange sense of absurdity.
It was like someone telling you that one plus one equalled three. You would naturally assume they were wrong, only to open the answer book and discover that the correct answer really was three.
Dumbledore frowned. "I trust your judgement, Wade, but without evidence, it will be difficult to proceed with many things."
Wade's conclusion was based entirely on his own judgement. There was no evidence to prove it.
If this Scourer was not actually a genuine Scourer, but merely a scapegoat deliberately thrown out by the people behind the incident, then there was a good chance the investigation would end here.
In the end, the entire matter might simply fade away unresolved.
"For some things, sufficient suspicion is enough. Not everything requires evidence," Grindelwald said in a low voice.
Wade looked at the pale Scourer in front of him.
"What's your name?"
The Scourer merely stared blankly at the floor, as though he had not heard Wade at all.
"I know you can hear me. I'm curious. What exactly is worth sacrificing your own life to protect?" Wade continued.
The Scourer remained expressionless.
Grindelwald frowned. "There's no point saying that. His memories contain nothing about any of this, so he won't react to your questions."
Wade ignored him and continued speaking to the Scourer.
"In this world, there really are people who fight to the death for their beliefs and ideals. Heroes who sacrifice everything until the very end. What they do is remembered because the ultimate purpose of their convictions is to make life better for the people, to make the world itself better. Those people are heroes.
"But what about you? Do you think you're a hero? Because I don't see anything in your beliefs worth holding on to. Other people persevere to become heroes, while you persevere only to act as a dog for villains who slaughter the innocent.
"Your convictions are worthless. Lower than dirt.
"No one will remember your name, just as no one remembers a napkin they casually threw away.
"Don't believe me? We will drag out every filthy thing hiding behind you and make everything you sacrificed completely meaningless.
"Oh, and when we do, I'll tell them that you were the one who betrayed them."
"Ahhh!"
The Scourer suddenly lunged at Wade.
His body had barely moved before an invisible force of magic froze him in place.
All he could do was glare furiously at Wade.
Wade quietly watched him rage without even blinking.
He had only been testing him. He had not expected the man to be so much less composed than he had imagined.
Clearly, after spending this much time in Azkaban, the collapse of his will was probably not entirely an act.
Grindelwald stared at the Scourer with a dark expression.
There was no doubt about it now. From the man's reaction alone, it was obvious that he had actually deceived Grindelwald.
He was hiding memories Grindelwald had never seen.
Remembering how confidently he had claimed to have seen through every one of the man's memories, Grindelwald felt as though someone had slapped him across the face.
Legilimency could be defended against with Occlumency.
Clearly, Grindelwald's excessive confidence had caused him to overlook that possibility.
"I was careless," Grindelwald said in a low voice.
"It wasn't entirely your fault. I made the same mistake just now," Wade explained. "We were both so focused on checking whether his memories had been altered that we instinctively overlooked the possibility that he might simply be hiding some of them."
Grindelwald raised his wand and stared at the wide-eyed Scourer, preparing to perform a deeper Legilimency probe.
Dumbledore merely stood to the side and watched. He made no attempt to stop him.
Dumbledore might be compassionate, but he was not the sort of person who showed blind mercy toward criminals for no reason.
"Wait." Wade stopped Grindelwald.
"What is it?" Grindelwald looked at him in confusion, not understanding why he was interfering.
"Let me do it," Wade said.
Grindelwald was obviously furious right now. Using Legilimency while angry on someone whose body was already close to complete collapse would probably be more than the man could endure.
If he died on the spot, then whatever memories he had hidden would be lost forever.
Wade drew his wand and lightly touched it to the vicious-looking Scourer.
White mist slowly flowed from the wand and entered through the man's eyes, nose, and mouth.
The next second, the Scourer slowly closed his eyes and collapsed weakly back onto the bed.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69