"It's just the heritage of the sect."
William waved his hand, indicating that the all-day unlimited supply of Polyjuice Potion was just a trivial matter—after all, there was a period of nearly a year and a half during which the two rows of cauldrons in the Room of Requirement were continuously brewing Polyjuice Potion 24/7. Now, it was instead the Hair Growth Potion that was running low.
Because—he was still a professor at Hogwarts, busy with "cleaning up" tasks, there had to be a permanent "William" presence in the school.
Although with the help of Portkeys and Apparition, he could still ensure his attendance at every class, but outside of that, William's face needed to appear more frequently in the castle. Otherwise, sooner or later, Dumbledore would connect these matters to him.
Yes, no matter what, these things have to be kept a bit from Dumbledore.
——After all, that old man is still a thoroughly positive character, with his own set of moral standards. He probably wouldn't oppose William killing bad guys; after all, he knows that an existence like Voldemort left alive is a menace and not responsible for the safety of others' lives——
But, things like what William is doing now, these somewhat "crazy" and "eliminating the roots" good deeds, somewhat go beyond the old man's moral boundary.
To keep his ears quiet and not waste words, William chose the simplest way.
Fortunately, Grindelwald seems somewhat gifted at playing William; after all, they both have a certain… very subtle aura.
"With so many countries' Ministry of Magic, was there not one that ambushed you in advance?"
Grindelwald took William's hair and stuffed it into the kettle filled with liquid. The next moment, a faint golden light emitted from the mouth of the kettle, "…Also, I've been meaning to ask, why does your Polyjuice Potion glow?" The old man lowered his head, full of confusion.
He did know that the clearer the mind of the transformation target, the better the potion's appearance and taste.
But glowing mango juice—wouldn't that be a bit too bizarre?
He seriously suspected that William had done something to it.
"Because I'm a good person."
William smiled, arms slightly open, in a posture that suggested a loving heart, "Cold in the Desolate Valley..."
Wait, what kind of love is that?!
"...Ahem, let's go back to the previous topic."
Grindelwald waved his hand with a look of speechlessness, tightening the lid on the kettle, out of sight, out of mind, "So, does the other Ministry of Magic have any movements?"
"Of course they do. Poachers couldn't have reached their current position being a completely grassroots organization."
William tugged at the corner of his mouth, indicating that the captured werewolf soldiers had been taken care of and should leave first. He tossed the pouch filled with Golden Galleons in his hand, "Pure-Blood Clans, Ministry of Magic officials…there are many who collude with poachers, feeling threatened naturally they'd lash out at me…then..."
"...Alright, I roughly know how you deal with trouble."
"Don't worry, I never leave survivors."
"What's the reassuring point in that?"
Grindelwald's mouth twitched. Although he was once the "Dark Lord," lately, whenever listening to William talk about these things, he always felt as if he were a rookie fresh out of training.
"Scale, mind your scale, Gellert."
William smiled as he opened the pouch to confirm its weight, and took out a few to share with Kabuda, who's been waiting patiently on his shoulder, "I'm clearing the obstacles and laying the foundation for the peaceful and stable future of the Magic Realm. Removing pests certainly brings pain, but for a brighter future..."
"Save those words for Albus, he will know all of this sooner or later."
"When he finds out, our celebration banquet would probably be over, the aftermath won't compare to the impact of being caught on site—"
As the two continued their strategic discussion (strikeout) on this snow-covered field, the air around them suddenly emitted a dense and subtle "crackling" sound, and dozens of figures in black robes emerged from the air.
Among them, the leading individual stepped forward quickly, their hood falling away to reveal Lucius Malfoy's face emerging from the darkness. Since he no longer needed to work undercover, this guy's legs didn't hurt, his back wasn't sore, and he seemed to have energy for everything. The man's face shed the fear and unease from the time at Mount Olympus, now showing sternness with a certain air of power.
It has to be said, as long as there's enough pressure and benefits, this guy is quite a competent subordinate—
Lucius approached William, offering a flawless bow with a respectful tone, "Sir."
William nodded slightly in acknowledgment, "How is the situation, Lucius?"
"Following your instructions, we performed a secondary sweep of the 'nest' periphery, then..."
Lucius paused, his tone taking on an air of self-congratulation, "We've caught a 'fish'—he's a member of the Ashwinder, alive."
"Oh?"
William's interest was piqued, after all, "Alive? That's rather lucky—" Yes, there was some kind of strange custom—these inexplicably revived members of the Ashwinder would decisively choose to "bite their tongues and end themselves" when realizing escape was impossible—
Of course, simply biting the tongue William could save them, but once they bit their tongue, a rune hidden beneath the tongue would be activated. Scorching magical flames would consume their bodies in an instant, leaving only a pile of smoldering ashes moments later.
It fits the definition of "Ash·Winder" quite well.
Clearly at this moment, William seemed to have selectively forgotten—
During his cleansings of the Ashwinder dozens of years ago, to locate their next hideout, he went through their members performing "Soul Search," hence later on when the members of Ashwinder learned to pre-emptively commit suicide to avoid revealing others' locations, this self-immolation method likely evolved from that time.
"Yes, sir."
Lucius nodded quickly to explain, "This time successfully capturing him is thanks to your prior reminders; he didn't notice our approach when we captured him, and we directly cut off his... tongue, preventing him from catching fire—"
On the side, Grindelwald also showed interest.
Ashwinder, a name he had heard detailed in William's introductions—a group wiped out a century ago could rise again within the seemingly unrelated "poacher" organization, indicating someone formidable might be guiding them.