Chapter 258: Allen

“These Poké Balls are to avoid waste,” Allen patiently explained.

“The three magical scrolls’ transformed beasts are powerful, but that also means the cost to create these scrolls is very high… very high…” Allen emphasized with added weight.

“I’m nearly bankrupt because of this!” Allen said helplessly.

Hearing Allen’s words, Harry and the others exhaled in relief.

“That’s good then! It shouldn’t cost many Jin Jialong—let me cover the cost for making the scrolls!” Harry declared grandly.

Allen, who held two of the three “tall-rich-handsome” traits, stared at Harry, who held only one, momentarily speechless.

“You’re serious?” Allen finally said after a long pause.

“I’m serious! Everyone knows your financial situation—you didn’t go bankrupt, only nearly so, after making these scrolls, which proves they didn’t cost much.” Harry laid out his meticulous reasoning.

Ron and Hermione nodded approvingly.

Allen was left speechless by Harry’s logic—he hadn’t expected his knees to be pierced at this moment by an arrow named poverty…

“Making these scrolls cost me nearly seven hundred Jin Jialong…” Allen gritted out through clenched teeth.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sucked in a sharp breath—they knew Allen wouldn’t lie about this, and they all understood the purchasing power of seven hundred Jin Jialong: Mr. Wei Silai’s prize money from the annual Yuyan Jiri Award over the summer had been exactly seven hundred Jin Jialong, enough for the entire Wei family to travel to Egypt for a long time.

Ron stared at the three scrolls and involuntarily swallowed hard. “Seven hundred Jin Jialong is a huge pile—do these scrolls actually made of gold?”

“Though I don’t know how you managed to gather seven hundred Jin Jialong, I’m sure it was an extremely difficult process. If the cost truly reached seven hundred Jin Jialong, then I absolutely cannot accept these three scrolls.” Harry suddenly spoke—seven hundred Jin Jialong was also a massive sum to him.

A warm surge unexpectedly rose in Allen’s heart—he never expected Harry to react this way; in an instant, he felt all his week’s hard work was entirely worth it.

“Don’t dwell on this—I’ve already made them, and in my eyes, you are far more valuable than seven hundred Jin Jialong.” Allen smiled. “Besides, if Sirius Black doesn’t appear during my absence, these scrolls won’t be used, and the seven hundred Jin Jialong won’t be spent at all.”

Harry was momentarily convinced by Allen’s words and didn’t know what to say.

“Allen, you just said these Poké Balls are to avoid waste—what did you mean?” Hermione, sensing the awkwardness, quickly stepped in to lighten the mood.

“The beasts summoned by these scrolls can last over thirty hours, but defeating Sirius Black won’t take half an hour—so the remaining thirty-plus hours would be wasted. These Poké Balls contain a permanent Expand-and-Contract Charm that can seal the beasts inside; once sealed, the beasts’ duration is ‘frozen.’ You can release them again whenever needed to protect yourselves.”

“This way, the duration of the beasts summoned by the scrolls is maximized—that’s what I mean by avoiding waste,” Allen explained patiently.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn’t know how many times they’d been stunned today; though they didn’t know how Allen had made these Poké Balls, they were again amazed by his thoughtfulness and thoroughness.

In truth, the cost of these Poké Balls was low—he’d only spent a few dozen Jin Jialong to customize three spherical containers with the Expand-and-Contract Charm in Diagon Alley, since the internal space of these Poké Balls was far smaller than Allen’s own.

“The usage of these three Poké Balls is simple: when you want to capture the beast, just throw the Poké Ball onto its head. When you want to release the beast again, simply throw the Poké Ball onto the ground—”

“The Poké Ball will automatically open and release the beast. These Poké Balls are very durable—don’t worry about breaking them by dropping them,” Allen continued explaining.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione carefully examined the Poké Balls in their hands, finding them utterly novel.

“Actually, summoning beasts with Poké Balls is far more convenient than using scrolls to transform them. Logically, I should have had you use up the scrolls entirely and just capture the beasts directly with Poké Balls—then using them next time would be effortless.”

“But considering Sirius Black won’t be suspicious of your scroll-handling movements—he simply couldn’t imagine these scrolls have such miraculous effects.”

“And if Sirius Black doesn’t appear and the scrolls remain unused, I can recover some of the magical materials. That’s why I didn’t have you use the scrolls right away.”

“But when real danger arises, don’t hesitate to use the scrolls,” Allen said with a shrug and a light tone.

“Allen, you’ve already done too much for us,” Harry said, touched.

“Enough. Who else would I do this for if not a friend? Now I’ll go over some important precautions.” Allen’s expression suddenly turned serious.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up straight and listened attentively.

“You must use these scrolls secretly and command the beasts in secret—don’t let anyone suspect you’re connected to them. Using a scroll is essentially casting a Transfiguration Charm. You know that if the caster dies, the spell’s effect vanishes instantly—you are the weakest link in this chain. Concealing this connection is your greatest protection.”

“It’s also protection for me. If you don’t reveal your link to the beasts, no one can connect them back to me—and my secrets remain safer.”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded quickly, vowing to pay close attention.

Allen thought again and realized he’d covered everything he needed to say.

He then distributed the scrolls one by one to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Ron received the black scroll, Hermione the blue scroll, and Harry the white scroll.

Then Allen remembered something else—his mischievous streak kicked in: “If you face a powerful enemy the beasts can’t handle, you can shout at them, ‘Hold on!’ or ‘Dodge!’—who knows, maybe a miracle will happen…”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared blankly again…

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