Chapter 253

The Daily Prophet became a battlefield of debate, with similar articles published every day.

As the debate continued, Allen felt he was gradually becoming a target of pure-blood wizards’ attacks; students from Slytherin also treated him worse and worse, but Allen didn’t care—he simply became even more low-key.

The Ministry of Magic likely enjoyed this situation behind the scenes.

Yet the Ministry’s propaganda wasn’t entirely without benefit: Allen overheard Professor McGonagall say this year’s donations to Hogwarts were five times higher than the same period last year, showing the Ministry’s publicity had indeed helped Hogwarts.

Still, Allen stayed far away from all the commotion; he disliked the feeling of fame, turned down many interviews, because he knew his true foundation was his own strength—fame would come naturally when it was meant to be, and this current fame meant nothing to him.

Allen merely continued his research in quiet secrecy, collecting more parameters of magical creatures’ body parts during this time.

He also began designing new transfigured beasts, discovering he couldn’t arbitrarily swap body parts on them—for instance, a transfigured beast couldn’t simultaneously possess two Pokémon parts with opposing elemental properties; of course, these were merely the simplest rules, and many other rules remained unexplored.

Yodel’s cultivation of the Patronus’s intelligence was progressing steadily, but the pace of its advancement still fell short of expectations—perhaps Allen’s initial hopes had simply been too high.

Yet Allen wasn’t in a hurry, because his research hadn’t yet hit any blocking issues; he believed that with time, his progress would grow greater, and he still had plenty of time.

Time slipped into May, and public interest in Allen finally cooled, but Sirius Black still hadn’t appeared—he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Ron speculated that Sirius Black had gone to seek out Voldemort’s remaining soul fragments; Allen thought this theory had considerable merit.

As Allen's popularity declined, the Ministry of Magic's incompetence once again angered the public.

At this moment, the Ministry launched its second wave of publicity—it began promoting Allen as the youngest Animagus in history.

Allen had previously wondered why the Ministry hadn’t mentioned his Animagus status in the first wave of publicity; now he understood the reason.

The Ministry’s plan had clearly been meticulously crafted: they had anticipated Allen’s popularity would fade and that Sirius Black still hadn’t been captured, so they aimed to sustain his public attention.

Their strategy succeeded: Allen’s fading popularity surged back up.

Though people had grown somewhat numb to Allen’s achievements, the fact that he was the youngest Animagus still captured public interest—especially when they learned his Animagus form was a panda, which sent them into even greater frenzy.

And then Allen received an unexpected invitation...

The invitation was written on parchment in official document form—it was, in effect, an order commanding Allen to report to the Ministry of Magic one week later to register as an Animagus.

Allen took the document to Professor Dumbledore, who had no good solution; after all, Animagus registration was legally mandated, and he couldn’t block its enforcement.

In the end, Allen agreed to the Ministry’s invitation.

After learning of this, Ron suggested Allen seek help from his father, Mr. Weasley, who would surely assist him with the registration.

Allen unexpectedly received a letter from Mr. Weasley, congratulating him and urging him to prepare—he’d heard from colleagues that Allen’s registration would be a major event, followed by a series of publicity campaigns, and advised Allen to prepare for not returning to Hogwarts for some time.

Mr. Weasley’s letter left Allen exasperated; he developed a strong aversion to the Ministry trip, feeling it was pure waste of time—he was merely being used as a prop for Fudge to showcase his political achievements, and after all that publicity, the Ministry hadn’t even offered to reduce his debts.

This whole series of events would disrupt his research—this was Allen’s initial thought—until he suddenly realized that after his departure, Harry and Ron would lose a layer of protection; he’d been constantly accompanying Harry and Ron lately, and with his current combat power, he could certainly ensure Sirius Black would never leave alive.

Now he was about to leave Hogwarts for a while—what if Sirius Black had spies inside the castle? Would his absence create a vulnerability? Could Sirius Black strike while the defenses were down?

Yet upon careful reflection, Allen realized he was overestimating himself; the Ministry and Hogwarts had poured immense resources into capturing Sirius Black, and Sirius likely dared not approach Hogwarts.

Moreover, Sirius Black had been absent for far too long—Allen even suspected he’d abandoned Harry and Ron as targets.

So Allen began preparing for his Ministry trip with peace of mind; going to the Ministry wouldn’t hurt—it would be good for broadening his horizons.

But one event that night quickly changed his mind.

That evening, as usual, he sat at his desk reading, while Harry and Ron fretted over their Divination homework, unable to devise any newer ways to encounter misfortune.

“Look! What’s that at the edge of the Quidditch pitch? It looks like Hermione’s damned cat,” Ron suddenly said, staring out the window.

The night sky held no clouds; moonlight bathed the earth in clarity.

Allen followed Ron’s gaze and indeed saw a cat’s silhouette at the edge of the Quidditch pitch.

But the distance was too great—he still couldn’t confirm whether it was Crookshanks.

“It really does look like Crookshanks,” Harry said, puzzled. “Hermione said Crookshanks has been disappearing lately—why is it outside the castle?”

Allen’s eye color subtly shifted; his eyes had transformed into those of an eagle.

He and Crookshanks had shared a feeding trough... no—had jointly inhaled catnip together; he cared deeply about Crookshanks’s condition.

Distant objects sharpened instantly—the cat on the Quidditch pitch was indeed Crookshanks, slowly walking across the grass toward the Forbidden Forest.

Allen wondered why it had appeared on the Quidditch pitch at midnight.

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