A more optimistic wizard sitting beside him leaned in and whispered, "You better not say things like that where the guards can hear. It's safer to complain quietly. Besides, you saw, they didn't walk away; they just vanished."
Jimmy wanted to argue but knew the other wizard was right. Their fate was in the hands of these guards, and causing trouble would only make things worse. So he held his tongue.
But then, his eyes caught another wizard nearby, one of the two who had given him trouble the night before and had just fired at the Silver Wands. They were clearly on the same side, loyal to the Silver Wand.
Angry, Jimmy stared at the man, who shot back with a glare and snapped, "What are you looking at?"
At that moment, the wizard spotted Jimmy and stepped forward, muttering a low curse under his breath. "Listen, you'd better be honest here. You just heard the Silver Wand say I'm not like you guys. I still have to get out of here someday. If you cross me, see if I don't make you regret it later!"
After throwing out those harsh words, he casually grabbed a few pieces of potatoes from the wooden basin and went back to sit on the Chase bunk beside him.
Jimmy was hot-headed by nature and felt like exploding after being threatened so blatantly. But before he could react, he felt a firm grip on his shoulders.
Turning his head, he saw his old captain Nathan holding him back, silently shaking his head, clearly trying to stop him from doing something foolish.
"Captain, just look at that guy's disgusting attitude," Jimmy whispered, still annoyed. "He's a prisoner too, yet he's causing a scene. And now we're the ones caught up in this mess. They're just as responsible for this!"
Even though Jimmy had left the place, he still instinctively called Nathan "captain." Nathan clearly didn't want him to act on impulse, but Jimmy couldn't help muttering his complaints.
Nathan sighed. "I know that guy's awful, but if you rush up to pick a fight and provoke the guards, won't that just make him look better? You really shouldn't act recklessly."
"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked, confused.
Nathan explained, "The Silver Wand gun only fired twice after it showed up, once at the guy trying to escape, and once at the troublemaker who started all this with the patrol team. It didn't matter if they were part of the club or not.
The guards only punish the person who starts the trouble. So that guy's all talk; he wouldn't dare step out of line, because then he'd be the one in trouble."
He glanced over at the wizard sitting quietly in the corner. "I'm pretty sure that guy was just trying to provoke you on purpose. If you ran up to argue or fight, you'd definitely end up getting hit with the Silver Wand."
Jimmy nodded slowly. "So that's how it is."
Jimmy was still a bit simple-minded and hadn't thought things through deeply. But when he realized how cruel the others were being, he couldn't help but glare at the wizard again, though he didn't do anything out of the ordinary.
Seeing that Jimmy had calmed down, Nathan felt relieved. Then, as if he had just remembered something, Nathan turned and walked over to the fence next to the cell.
"My friend, how's your injury? It doesn't look too serious," he asked the wizard who had been hurt by the Silver Wand earlier.
The injured wizard moved closer to the edge of the cell and casually rubbed his chest. "Just a small wound, thanks for asking. By the way, I'm Bob. I used to work in East German place. What about you?"
"You can just call me Nathan. I worked in West Germany," Nathan replied, feeling a good impression of Bob, someone who stood up for everyone.
"Thanks for sticking up for us earlier. If you ever need help, just say the word."
Bob chuckled dryly. "Heh, right now, we're all just caged birds. How bad could it get, really?"
Then he leaned in closer to the bars and lowered his voice. "I saw you standing up for your friends. Are you not afraid of those patrols?"
Nathan leaned forward, lowering his voice as well. "I don't know about your place, but no one liked those guys where I worked, especially now. It's like prisoners have become our jailers."
"Sounds like we're in the same boat, just different places," Bob sneered.
Then, glancing around carefully to make sure no one was listening, he spoke quietly. "Nathan, we can't keep going like this. Those Silver Wand guys don't see us as human."
"Oh?" Nathan looked around cautiously and then covered his mouth to speak naturally. "What are you saying?"
"We have to escape," Bob said firmly, though his voice was low. "Are you willing to take that risk with me?"
"What?" Nathan asked, surprised.
Nathan was taken aback by Bob's words but quickly responded with urgency.
"Bob, don't do anything reckless. You've seen how those Silver Wands operate, they could be lurking anywhere nearby.
Where exactly is this place? How do we avoid the guards? Have you thought about how to stay hidden? Running off without a plan is way too risky."
Bob's voice was low but carried a determined edge as he replied, "I know the risks, and yes, if I fail, it could cost me my life. But I'd rather take that chance than keep living under someone else's control. Do you want to spend your life as a slave to those people?"
Nathan fell silent, caught off guard. He wasn't naive, even if he usually trusted others.
His earlier attitude toward the Silver Wands was much like how they treated magical creatures, passive and resigned. But maybe just accepting their fate was worse than risking everything.
"So what do you want to do? Do you have a plan?" Nathan asked, clearly affected but still cautious.
"I don't have a solid plan yet," Bob admitted with a shake of his head.
"But we can't just sit here and wait. From what I saw earlier, this place seems completely sealed off.
The ceiling and walls leave no obvious exits, and I can't even find a door. I'm guessing there might be some kind of magical passage, like a hidden fireplace. If we can figure out how to keep it hidden from the guards, we might still have a real chance to escape."
Nathan's eyes brightened as he asked, "You're saying there's a Floo network here that connects to the outside world?"
But then he hesitated. "Still, even if there's a fireplace, the place doesn't look well-guarded, but I know it's actually surrounded by invisible Silver Wands. How would we get through safely?"