At this mont, Mundungus felt his thoughts, which had just started to beco clear, as if they were drenched by a pot of scorching sizzling honey syrup.
Instantly becoming sticky and tangled.
"Sir, you are..."
"Fishing."
William said the obvious nonsense. Mundungus was not particularly smart, but he could clearly see that he was fishing.
But why here? Why now? Why you? — The ti, place, and person just didn’t make any sense.
Who would dive into a magically expanded cupboard wearing a helt to fish?!
...Oh right, speaking of helts?
"...You an this?"
Upon hearing the question, William lifted his hand and knocked on the helt, producing a clanging sound, "I’m afraid of soone sneaking up on . Besides, who fishes without a helt?" It was at this mont, following William’s gesture, Mundungus noticed that on the other side of the pond, there was a more comfortable folding chair with a figure sitting on it—
The little old man wore round sunglasses, and his balding head glead with a light of having seen through worldly matters. He also held a fishing rod, with the line dipping into the sa water. His posture appeared much more relaxed than William’s, but there was a bit of boredom in the eyes staring at the float...
If you feel useless, just take a look at the umbrella over his head which provides shade with no sun overhead.
Grindelwald sat up slightly, his gaze sweeping over William’s outfit beneath the sunglasses, his tone indifferent, "Please don’t bla for your delusions of persecution, and allow to remind you once again that this is yet another ’fishing plan’... even the bait is the sa ’fish’ that almost bent your fishing rod last ti."
The bait he ntioned was, of course, Athena, "The hook isn’t set deeply either. Do you truly think so ’foolish fish’ will bite? — I’ve been wasting nearly an afternoon here with you, but alas, not even a flake of fish scale in sight."
"Impatience is how so people are, but fishing requires technique. You must calm yourself and wait—"
As he spoke, William forcefully pulled the fishing rod in his hand. The line imrsed in the pond instantly tightened, and the next mont, a massive black fish leapt from the water surface, then automatically disassembled in mid-air, its at sliced and dropping into the boiling hotpot alongside William’s motions— at which point William conjured three sets of tableware from nowhere and looked at the other two—
"What do you say, want so?"
Right at this instant, above the tranquil pond, the air suddenly shimred and distorted as if a pebble was thrown onto the water’s surface. The next mont, a semi-transparent screen, seemingly made of light and mist, slowly unfolded before the trio, presenting a sowhat twisted, shaky scene.
The perspective on the screen was extrely unstable, like capturing footage in a rapidly moving tunnel, the background nearly filled with fast-flowing light and shadows; facing the screen was Mundungus’s new "acquaintance," or rather, soone he had just said goodbye to— precisely Charlie Weasley.
At this mont, the man had his eyes closed and brows furrowed, his expression suggesting he wasn’t feeling well.
Traveling by portkey isn’t truly instant movent, and its journey ti often correlates with the distance.
And this portkey’s distance was from London directly to the depths of Africa, a journey long enough to leave travelers hanging in the space rip created by magic for quite a long ti, which is why most wizards dislike using portkeys for long-distance travel—
Being trapped in this chaotic, distorted rip, feeling the tug and squeeze of spatial laws upon oneself, is not a pleasant experience.
Though one might pass out midway, even if you sleep and then get tossed in a washing machine for a spin— you won’t feel good when waking up.
Yet, the ten black-robed wizards convened by Mundungus, even in such an environnt, remained highly disciplined despite passing out, forming a circle to protect Charlie and the screen’s perspective owner at the center, their magic power faintly linking, creating a stable defensive formation—
Accidents during long-distance travel by portkey are not few, they are naturally alert.
Upon seeing this, Mundungus understood; now the screen’s perspective owner had no other options left.
"Sir, so were you prepared all along?"
Mundungus wasn’t an idiot. Or if he truly was, he wouldn’t have climbed to his current position; after overcoming ntal issues and understanding so inside stories he wasn’t aware of before, he easily pieced together the truth—
He was likely just William’s "bait," the net to throw the bait into the pond.
"Sir, please give a heads-up next ti, my heart can’t take it..."
Understanding this point, Mundungus, who recently trembled with fear for his mistakes, imdiately relaxed. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow due to anxiety, speaking with helplessness and slight resentnt, though maintaining a good sense of distance.
"That woman’s mind-reading is sothing you can’t resist, so it’s better if you don’t know anything to appear natural."
William gestured with his chopsticks, swallowing a large mouthful of rice with the hot and spicy fish fillet, "That’s why I’ve always encouraged you to practice Occluncy, but apparently you didn’t take it seriously."
"Ahem, sir, I’ve just never been good at learning magic since school..."
Upon hearing this, Mundungus hurried to "argue" back, though the feeble words made even himself want to laugh.
"However, that person has probably already guessed your strategy."
At this point, Grindelwald shifted his gaze from the screen and began grabbing at with chopsticks alongside William, "After all, she isn’t a fool— quite the contrary, she is very clever, and it’s only a matter of ti before she realizes everything you’ve done is too deliberate—"
"No, in fact she realized it long ago."
William waved his hand, seizing a large handful of fish slices while Grindelwald was caught off guard.
"Then isn’t this releasing the tiger back into the wild?"
Grindelwald attempted to stop William’s chopsticks but clearly lacked skill, which was futile, and he instead spoke with slight shock.
"Certainly not..."
William mumbled, swallowing the food in his mouth, then leisurely continued, "I know that person is very afraid of , so I believe she’ll make the correct, intelligent choice."
"...Believing is enough?"
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