68. Escape

It's raining heavily!

Under the pouring rain, Six Thestrals pulled the dark prison carriage.

The accompanying Aurors were wearing cloaks and riding on broomsticks.

Picquery led the others away after settling a matter on his mind. Abernathy, with an indifferent expression, walked toward the passage where the prison van had just left.

The strong wind blew the corners of his clothes. His cold and proud eyes looked at the prison car speeding eastward as he took out his wand——

It was a dark wood wand, very long at a full fifteen inches. Its interesting shape resembled a sugar cane, with one section after another and every other section with a ball-shaped section. It had densely packed concave holes.

With a tap of the wand, Abernathy suddenly disappeared—disapparated!

In the prison car, Rudolph did not look at Grindelwald opposite him. Although it was extremely exciting to be in the same room with the most dangerous dark wizard in the world, he knew Grindelwald's limitations.

He had no desire to communicate. After all, someone without a tongue can't talk about the boring life of imprisonment.

Without his tongue, Grindelwald could not speak or recite spells.

Without a magic wand, one cannot recite a spell.

Most of Grindelwald's abilities were crippled. The once dangerous dark wizard was now worse than a lamb.

On the contrary, Rudolph was more intrigued by the gadgets found on Grindelwald.

A decoration? That's impossible!

Even if Grindelwald wanted to decorate, he would only use weird geometric patterns. This has been a well-known symbol of Grindelwald since his school days and later became the symbol of his witchcraft party.

But no one knows that this logo is not original to Grindelwald.

The simple triangle, circle, and vertical line represent the three legendary magic props made by the God of Death - the legendary Deathly Hallows!

Maybe Dumbledore knew, but he didn't go around saying it. He still felt nostalgic for his old friendship and wouldn't go telling everyone that Grindelwald, the dark wizard who terrified most of Europe, was a loyal fan of fairy tales.

That's interesting. What is this small bottle that Grindelwald treasures so much, or the red liquid in it?

He held the silver chain of the pendant and looked at it. Suddenly, the pendant emitted a gleaming light.

Rudolph was startled and subconsciously looked up at Grindelwald, who was being pointed at with a wand by two Aurors. He instinctively felt that Grindelwald was trying to cause trouble. But upon seeing Grindelwald, he still appeared half-dead and depressed, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. It was a false alarm. Rudolph's performance was even laughed at, as at this point, what power could Grindelwald have to resist?

"Can you still argue with a silver tongue? Huh?" Rudolph laughed and teased Grindelwald, attempting to cover up his cowardice. Without a tongue, Grindelwald still had a chance to refute?

However, things didn't go as expected. Suddenly, Grindelwald in the carriage displayed a painful expression. His face twitched uncontrollably, his skin spasmed, visibly twisting and deforming. His messy long hair began to shorten, and his stubble receded.

This sudden transformation left Rudolph and the two escorting Aurors bewildered. But when Grindelwald raised his head and revealed a mocking smile, they were stunned!

Where was Grindelwald? In front of them sat the person they were escorting, Abernathy, the assistant to the Security Minister of the Magical Congress of America. It was Abernathy who had handed Grindelwald's wand and pendant to him soon after they had separated.

Abernathy had been taken away by them?! Then...

Meanwhile, under the hood of the prison car, the indifferent Abernathy wore a smug smile. Despite the rain pouring down on him, he seemed to relish it. The water trickled down his cheeks as he basked in the moment. The human body transformation technique dissolved, revealing Grindelwald's true appearance.

It was Grindelwald who should have been sitting in the prison van. He seemed confined, but exuded a terrifying aura, as if he were the king of the world.

Picquery was right. Grindelwald possessed an unparalleled power of incitement. Abernathy had become his follower, willing to endure the painful punishment of having his tongue cut out on Grindelwald's behalf, and even taking his place in the prison car heading to Europe. All in the hopes that Grindelwald would reveal his true identity.

In a flash, Grindelwald appeared on the roof of the prison car. With a flick of his wand, the whips held by the two driving Aurors transformed into two giant pythons. The pythons rolled the Aurors out of the prison car, causing them to scream as they fell to the ground.

Many of the Aurors escorting him were frightened and pursued him on their broomsticks.

The chaos outside the car and the sudden turn of events within made Rudolph feel uneasy. But just as they instinctively reached for their wands to protect themselves, their wands were swiftly taken away and pointed back at them!

The prison van jolted violently.

An indifferent and slightly proud face appeared at the window, leaving Rudolph with no hope.

- Grindelwald managed to escape from prison himself!

'Damn it!' Rudolph abruptly opened the wand that had just been given to him by Abernathy, and an ugly sheep-eating beast leaped out of the box and attacked his face. 

Rudolph finally caught the beast and threw it to the ground. Abernathy, who had been trustworthy throughout the ordeal, suddenly erupted and charged forward. 

Abernathy, with his hands tied, screamed and struck Rudolph in the stomach. The pain was excruciating, causing Rudolph to drop the pendant he was holding. 

Abernathy tumbled about, desperately clutching the pendant in his mouth. 

Rudolph wrestled with him. He grabbed the necklace with his hands, attempting to regain possession of the pendant, but Abernathy refused to let go. 

The two Aurors also joined the struggle, pressing Abernathy against the rear window. The pendant, which had finally been retrieved, was snatched away once again. 

Grindelwald sped across the Hudson River in his carriage, hoping to use the cover of the bridge to shake off the pursuing Aurors. 

But why would an Auror give up? 

The heavy rain impaired their visibility, and up until now, they hadn't realized that the person who had hijacked the prison van was none other than Grindelwald himself!