Ivan stopped in his tracks, a look of astonishment in his eyes.
Grindelwald trying to turn Muggles into wizards?
'Why?'
Yvonne was confused at first, but she soon came up with a theory about the situation.
Grindelwald had wanted to create a wizarding world ever since his resurrection, but given the sheer number of Muggles and their technological prowess, it would have been impossible to do so by force alone, making it necessary to resort to unorthodox means.
If he could develop a potion that would turn Muggles into wizards, Grindelwald would gain the support and approval of the majority of Muggle high-ranking officials, turning his worst enemy into an easy ally.
While some of Grindelwald's ideas were too extreme for Ivan's liking, it is foreseeable that the invention of this potion would go a long way towards easing the tensions between wizards and Muggles.
Because then the growth of the wizarding community would not be dependent solely on blood heritage and chance within the Muggle community, but on a power available to all!
At this thought, Ivan asked eagerly, "And did he succeed?"
Flan hesitated, unsure how to respond, and then another voice spoke.
"Actually, we're halfway there…"
Ivan turned to see a fat, bald old man with a good-natured smile on his face leading a group of a dozen men out of the room that marked the entrance to the research lab.
"Horace Slughorn?!" Yvonne searched through Dumbledore's memories and soon realised who he was — one of the few potion masters in Britain, Horace Slughorn, who had been Harry's Potions Professor in his sixth year.
"Ah, what an honour! I didn't think the President would recognise me…" Slughorn was both surprised and pleasantly surprised that Ivan recognised him at once. He had not expected to be so famous in Britain that even the newly-appointed President of the League knew about him.
Of course, it was also possible that Ivan had read about the captured members, but Slughorn was so vain that he ignored the possibility.
It seemed to him that Ivan must have heard the news and come to the rescue of the French Ministry of Magic with so many Aurors.
The remaining potioneers apparently agreed and expressed their gratitude to Ivan.
It was Ivan's turn to be embarrassed, as the objective of this operation was to destroy the Horcruxes and kill Grindelwald, and he had not expected Horace Slughorn and the others to be imprisoned here.
Fortunately, after so many years of hard work, Ivan had long since developed the ability to speak to everyone and accept everyone's gratitude without blushing. He then hypocritically expressed that he had wasted a lot of time gathering information and strategizing, so he had dragged it out until now.
Horace Slughorn expressed his understanding.
They had learned from Flan that nearly half of the wizards who had tried to save their lives had been killed, and that Grindelwald had secretly captured and imprisoned them at the French Ministry of Magic.
Ivan made some small talk, not daring to dwell on the subject for fear of giving it away, then turned to the Muggles lying in their beds, wailing, and asked, "Tell me, what was that potion about?"
"It all started six months ago, when we were attacked…" Horace Slughorn paused for a moment, then slowly began to explain. It was around the beginning of the year, when he returned home in high spirits after having confirmed Voldemort's death, only to be attacked by a group of Saints.
When they woke up, they were met with many of their fellow wizards, who had also been tied up, and Grindelwald ordered them to perform various cruel potion experiments in an attempt to create a potion that would turn Muggles into wizards.
"We did not hesitate to refuse Grindelwald's offer, but he tortured us for the next month, even going so far as to kill the most rebellious of the three, Master Goode, and threatened his family with their lives, forcing us to do his bidding…" Horace Slughorn recounted his bitter experiences during his imprisonment, stressing that he had been forced to join this insane potion-making experiment.
Ivan examined the potioneers suspiciously. They did not seem to have been mistreated.
Also, he had the impression that Slughorn was definitely not that noble, or he would not have touched upon forbidden knowledge of Horcruxes.
However, since Grindelwald had chosen to place them under house arrest in the research lab, it meant that they were not entirely on the side of the Saints, and given their status as Master Potioneers, Ivan hesitated for a moment before making his decision.
"I know what you mean, Master Slughorn. Grindelwald was the real murderer, and you were among the victims…"
With Ivan's assurance, Slughorn and the others were finally able to relax, and they proceeded to introduce Ivan to their research.
After thousands of human experiments, they were able to develop a potion that could give Muggles low-risk access to magic, although it was not very effective.
Ivan didn't seem to care. The fact that they'd been able to produce results in just six months was proof that this was a viable option. All they lacked was a lot of research and experimentation.
"What's the success rate of the experiment?" Ivan asked bluntly, keeping his voice low. Grindelwald's research was cruel, but Ivan was not going to waste the results.
Slughorn looked at Ivan in surprise, but quickly realised that Ivan was not as evil-hating as the Daily Prophet claimed, so he dropped the pretense of being a righteous man and said excitedly, "About seventy percent. If you have a witch or wizard who can heal, your success rate will increase to one hundred percent, and you will not fail."