Upon hearing his master's question, Barty Jr. immediately revealed everything he knew.
"I was captured by the Returners back then, but I didn't reveal anything about you—however, one of the Returners, who should have been an alchemist, used some method... to dig up part of my memories."
As he said this, Barty Jr.'s body trembled slightly, and pain appeared on his face. Even after so long, the torment he had suffered then remained unforgettable.
"After that, I was kept in some basement. I wasn't sure of the exact location, and I was transferred twice in between—the final transfer was extremely urgent. It seemed Grindelwald had come knocking."
"That alchemist used me for many experiments. Heh, I was probably his best test subject... He forcibly took me away and eventually hid me in some secret location."
"Because Grindelwald was hunting him down, only three people remained in that secret location: me, the alchemist named Philippus Hoenheim, and an unknown Potion Master."
The shadow Sean had created interrupted Barty Jr.'s recollection. "Philippus Hoenheim?"
Barty Jr. said in astonishment, "Yes, that's right. An old wizard with a garlic-shaped nose, completely mad."
For someone Barty Jr. considered completely mad, there had to be something seriously wrong with that man's head...
Sean frowned. He had interrupted Barty Jr. because of the alchemist's name.
Because, as he recalled, Grindelwald had once said that Dumbledore had sacrificed his life force for a contaminated soul. That contaminated soul had been one of the Returners, though perhaps an early "product," with little reason left and only a desire to kill.
That person was fairly well known, a historical figure who had appeared on a Chocolate Frog Card: Paracelsus, an alchemical genius. His full name was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, born in 1493.
And the alchemist who had