After Alan sent Aseria back to her residence, he reminded her of a few more details, as the woman was truly an amateur when it came to acting. To be honest, Alan didn't have high expectations for how much she could help; he only hoped to rely on her to eventually find Thunderbird's location.
The next day, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic invited Alan to the Ministry, partly to get a detailed account of the events on the coast for their official reports. The other reason was to discuss the procurement of alchemy tools. Minister Bagnold had promised that if he helped the Ministry track down the Silver Spears, they would increase their equipment order. The outcome had exceeded expectations; Alan had not only led the Ministry to the target but had orchestrated an almost perfect encirclement.
"Alan, I heard about your decision from Mr. Scamander. On behalf of the Order of Merlin, I thank you for your strong support." In her office, Minister Bagnold looked at Alan with satisfaction.
This meeting was more intimate than usual. Besides Minister Bagnold and Alan, only Amelia Bones was present; even Moody was absent.
"You are too kind, Minister. It is my duty to fight against such elements, as their existence also threatens my own safety." Alan politely shook his head, then added, "By the way, I have already worked through the night to create a monitoring device. As soon as it detects Thunderbird appearing again, it will send an alert to the Ministry."
"He likely possesses Portkey technology, so you still need to be careful. You've witnessed the destruction he can cause."
Bagnold nodded, then exchanged a bitter smile with Amelia.
"Speaking of that, we might need your help again," Amelia said. "The Ministry's monitoring array could originally detect Portkeys, but we shut it down after the situation stabilized years ago. Now, due to disrepair, it can no longer be activated or operate normally. Dumbledore helped set up that array originally, and now we want to ask for your help to see if there's a way to repair it."
"There's no help for it," Minister Bagnold shook her head helplessly. "There are very few alchemists left in Britain who can maintain such large-scale alchemy arrays. Inviting someone specifically from Egypt is too costly, and Dumbledore is quite busy, so..."
*So you want me to work for free?* Alan thought. *What do you mean you don't want to bother Dumbledore? To put it bluntly, the Ministry wants to save money and maintain face without appearing weak.*
On the surface, however, he looked agreeable. "No problem. To be honest, I haven't seen the Ministry's national-level alchemy array before. It's a good opportunity to broaden my horizons. However, since I've never handled it before, I can't give you a direct guarantee."
"That's natural. You try it first. If it really doesn't work, we'll find another way. How about we go now?" Minister Bagnold said, standing up. She then thought of something else. "Of course, if you can truly repair this large-scale array, we will pay you for it, and I would like to hire you as an alchemy consultant for the Ministry, responsible for the maintenance of arrays here in the future."
Alan was immediately overjoyed. This was an excellent position. Not only would he be able to openly study the Ministry's arrays—something he had long been interested in—but he would also get paid for it. It was killing two birds with one stone. Minister Bagnold was indeed a generous person.
Immediately after, Alan thought of something. "Thank you for your kindness, but let this repair be my contribution. I just want to ask for two favors later."
"What favors?" Minister Bagnold asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Firstly, the pouch that was confiscated from the battle scene—the one that summoned the Inferi—can I borrow it for research?" Alan revealed his goal.
"That alchemy tool?" Minister Bagnold exchanged glances with Amelia. Amelia added, "That is a very evil and dangerous Dark Arts artifact. Why do you want to research that?"
After retrieving the item, they had stored it in the Department of Mysteries. Such equipment was classified as ultra-hazardous, and they wouldn't dare hand it over without knowing his purpose.
"It is precisely because it is dangerous that we need to find a way to counter it," Alan smiled slightly. "No one can be sure that the Silver Spears doesn't have another one. If we can find its weakness through research, it could prevent significant losses in the future. It's like studying counter-spells. If we encounter dangerous things and only know how to bury them, we will still be defenseless when we meet them again."
After hearing Alan's explanation, Minister Bagnold pondered for a moment before nodding. "Alright, but the entire research process must be completed within the Ministry. It cannot be taken away, and our people must be present to observe. The research results must also be shared with us."
"Those are reasonable conditions," Alan replied. *Share the results? Even if I give them to you, would you really understand them?* he chuckled inwardly.
"What's the other favor? Is it also about alchemy tools? We've already finalized the previous procurement terms, and with your newly released tactical map and Security Gate, our budget is already stretched quite thin."
Amelia looked at Alan with caution. This time, the Ministry had truly spent a fortune, nearly another ten thousand Galleons, mostly because the equipment Alan supplied was simply too effective. The two officials, who initially only intended to make compensatory purchases, had ended up buying much more. This time, it wasn't just tactical equipment; a lot of civilian equipment was also procured. Amelia had even secretly added a top-grade magic phonograph to her own office, as had the Minister.
"As for the second matter, it doesn't involve any money. For the Ministry, it's actually just a small favor," Alan chuckled. "It's about Sirius Black."
"Sirius Black?" Minister Bagnold's expression immediately turned serious, her eyes sharp. "Why do you suddenly bring up that name? He is the culprit who indirectly caused the death of the Potter couple, a traitor to the Order of the Phoenix. I advise you to have as little to do with him as possible."