"Sob...sob..."
Rita Skeeter skillfully bit down on a piece of wood, curling up and trembling on the small bed.
These past few days, she hid in this prison cell, frequently suffering this kind of torture.
Sometimes it was every half hour, sometimes every two or three hours. The people on the island seemed convinced she was still here, occasionally ambushing and never relaxing their searches.
Originally, Rita hoped they would mistakenly think she had already escaped, thus giving her a chance to flee!
Later, she realized—perhaps the messages exchanged with Vid Gray had exposed her position.
She regretted for the thousandth time not bringing all of her Friendship Book with her.
Fortunately, the children in this cell were continuously covering for her, sharing their food with Rita, letting her sleep on the only bed in the room. When she couldn't bear the pain and moaned, the children would also scream to cover her voice.
When someone patrolled outside, Rita would transform into a beetle to avoid the dark-clad men's attention.
After a few days, Rita had already discovered that among the children in the cell, some were also wizards—at least possessed some magic ability.
Every time the humming sound rang, they would shrink to the ground without moving, showing painful expressions but remained silent, as if they had already gotten used to it.
But Rita thought that no matter how many times, she could never get used to this torment.
Once she relieved herself from the pain, she repeatedly told the children, and also herself—
"Soon...they are coming...we will definitely be rescued..."
"Who are they?"
A girl named Hayley asked softly.
She had light golden hair, skin so pale it seemed translucent, and a pair of green eyes that were pure and innocent.
Unfortunately, her appearance was quite ordinary, with an underbite and a protruding chin, making her look bizarre and ugly.
In this cell, apart from a girl named Mabel, there weren't any good-looking children; most of the kids looked far from conventional beauty.
At first, Rita used to mock their appearance inwardly, composing some sarcastic descriptions in her mind.
But after a few days of interaction, she finally understood not to judge people by appearances—these were the ugliest children she had ever seen, but also the kindest ones.
Rita thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "The most powerful wizard in this world...and the future most powerful alchemist."
"Wizard?" Hayley tilted her head and softly said, "A wizard is powerless against them... Magic is useless here."
"This is different... They are different."
Even Rita Skeeter felt that her words were empty and unconvincing, so she added, "A powerful wizard could make the whole island burn with a single spell."
"Wouldn't we also get burned to death then?" another older brown-haired girl, Mabel, said coldly, "I hate magic. If it weren't for magic, how could I have ended up like this?"
She rolled up her sleeves, revealing layers of scars and countless pinpricks on her arms.
Rita was speechless.
She already knew that the children here were roughly divided into two types—those like Hayley without magic ability, and those like Mabel who had magic.
The situation for the latter was much worse.
Hayley and the others were only occasionally taken for blood tests and check-ups; other times they were merely held captive. Their daily food wasn't gourmet, but at least it was ample enough to avoid hunger.
Mabel and another boy named Luke were in much more dire straits. Almost daily, they were taken away and returned weak, with fresh wounds on their bodies.
Sometimes they would suddenly vomit, convulse, or have fevers at night, and the other children would skillfully clean up and care for them. The guards would even send some medicine to help.
Luke always showed extreme fear about being taken away, and Rita worried every day that he would betray her to improve his situation.
But to her surprise, no matter how terrified the boy was, he gritted his teeth and didn't say an extra word.
Mabel seemed to notice Rita's thoughts, and after handling her wounds once, she suddenly said to Rita, "Your worry is unnecessary."
Rita looked at her in surprise.
"Our value lies in the inescapable magic power within us." Mabel leaned against the wall and said expressionlessly, "Betraying you would only mean one more test subject. Our situation can't change at all."
"Test subject?" Rita reacted and angrily asked, "Do these Muggles want to steal the magic power from you?"
Mabel didn't say yes or no, but instead stared blankly at the small window and murmured, "If only it could be taken away."
"How could that be?" Rita instinctively retorted, "Without magic...without magic..."
—Wouldn't losing magic be like a normal person suddenly becoming disabled?
But suddenly, Rita thought of Mabel's experiences and couldn't bring herself to say it.
Suddenly, there was a jingling sound outside the cell door, as if with each step someone took, metal keys and a bell clinked continuously.
Rita quickly turned into a beetle and was about to burrow into the dirty pillow when she saw all the children in the cell jump up and rush to the side closest to the corridor.
They grabbed the iron bars with both hands, trying hard to squeeze their faces out, desperately looking outside.