On the spot, Alan received Minister Bagnold's approval, who agreed to arrange his trip to Azkaban a week later. Immediately after, the three of them left the Minister's office together, as they still had important business to attend to.
The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes is responsible for monitoring the state of the British magical world. Various monitoring magic circles are inscribed here; any spellcasting activity anywhere in Britain is detected by these arrays. While they can only detect the location and approximate strength of the magic rather than pinpointing individuals, the department also monitors the Trace and supervises underage spellcasting.
The employees here are, alongside Aurors, among the busiest in the Ministry. They handle major accidents and catastrophes caused by magic, though much of their work involves post-incident cleanup—casting Memory Charms, driving away Muggles, and restoring scenes. They are often teased by Moody and other Aurors as "the cleaners."
While many Aurors view this work as less important than their own life-or-death positions, Alan saw it as a department of high intrinsic worth. He believed the office combined the functions of police dispatch and emergency services, though the Ministry had developed it poorly. The hazard warning and dispatch roles were treated as peripheral positions under the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. Usually, only one wizard was assigned to watch over things—and mostly just to ensure the magic circles didn't malfunction, largely to save on costs.
In Alan's eyes, this was a waste of resources. When he, accompanied by Minister Bagnold, Amelia, and Cornelius Fudge—the Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes—entered the Alchemy Room, he knew he was standing in the most valuable room on the entire third level.
The Alchemy Room was simple in appearance. The floor and walls were constructed from natural, unpolished dark marble, forming a circular room slightly larger than a basketball court. Around the center, layers of low steps rose gradually toward a black pillar in the middle, which was as thick as two people embracing.
The pillar connected to the floor and extended straight into the ten-meter-high ceiling. Its color was completely different from the stone above, indicating it extended much higher. To Alan, the massive pillar rising from the center of the room looked like an oversized suona or perhaps a giant plunger. He shook the wandering thoughts from his head, ignored the high-ranking officials, and crouched down to gently stroke the floor. He looked as if he were caressing a graceful maiden.
To ordinary wizards, this was just a stone house with a pillar. In Alan's eyes, it was more captivating than the Ministry's ornate main hall. He could feel a faint magical fluctuation converging from the walls and floor, flowing along the circular steps to the pillar, and shooting through the ceiling.
"It absorbs and stores residual magic from the Ministry, passes it through the complex runes on the ground to transform it into detection charms, and then sends them into the pillar," Alan muttered to himself. "The pillar must be an amplifier, crucial for the charms to cover all of Britain. This entire room—the floor, the walls—it's all part of the magic circle."
His eyes lit up. He took out a portable magnifying glass and began to observe the floor closely.
"What... the material used to inscribe these runes is all goblin-wrought steel? That is far too extravagant! But steel isn't the best magic conductor... wait, there's mithril mixed in here! And judging by the magic flow, it might even be refined mithril!"
Alan was initially shocked by the complexity of the runic arrays, but the materials were even more remarkable. He roughly calculated that given the density of the runes, the floor and walls alone contained at least twenty pounds of goblin steel and five pounds of refined mithril. These were premium magic metals that money simply couldn't buy. The materials used for this magic circle alone were worth more than his entire net worth.
He swallowed hard. He actually felt a sudden urge to pry a piece off the floor and pocket it; he doubted the three officials behind him would even notice. He quickly suppressed the impulse, knowing the risk wasn't worth it.
He soon realized why such luxurious materials were used. The goblin steel provided long-term durability, allowing the magic circle to operate twenty-four hours a day without malfunctioning. The refined mithril ensured perfect conductivity, preventing magic waste. This allowed the array to be maintained entirely by the overflow of magic within the Ministry—it was energy-efficient, though incredibly expensive to build.
As Alan admired the craftsmanship, the three officials exchanged puzzled glances.
"Why did Alan just drop to the floor the moment he walked in? Is this alchemist you found actually reliable?" Fudge whispered to Minister Bagnold with doubt.
Bagnold felt a bit awkward under Fudge's gaze and proactively asked, "Alan, have you discovered anything? Can we start the inspection of the magic circle now?"
Alan, interrupted, stopped his research. He stood up, wiped the metaphorical drool from his mouth, and looked at them with confusion. "I am examining the magic circle. Is there a problem?"
"But isn't our department's monitoring circle over there?" Fudge asked, pointing to the large pillar in the center of the room.
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