Minister Bagnold's expression darkened, while Amelia immediately interjected, "Alex, Sirius Black's guilt has been widely accepted for years. He betrayed the Potters, everyone knows that."
"But he never got a proper trial," Alex insisted carefully. "What if he's actually innocent? Doesn't he deserve at least a fair hearing?"
The two senior Ministry officials hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances. After a long silence, Minister Bagnold sighed deeply. "If you truly find proof that Sirius is innocent, then I promise to support you. But changing public opinion won't be easy."
"Even Dumbledore couldn't get through to him," Amelia reminded gently.
"Wait, Dumbledore spoke to Sirius?" Alex asked in surprise.
"Yes," Minister Bagnold replied. "You're not the only one who thought something might be wrong. Dumbledore tried to talk to Sirius, but Sirius refused to communicate. If you find proof, Alex, we'll reconsider this case seriously."
"Thank you, Minister," Alex answered firmly. "I promise I'll handle this carefully."
After their conversation, they left the office together, heading toward the Ministry's alchemy room. The Ministry's alchemical circle was indeed impressive and very complicated, something Alex had been eager to study.
"Let's go," Minister Bagnold smiled, "It's time for you to show us just how talented you really are."
As they walked together down the corridor, Alex silently wondered if the Ministry really trusted him, or if he was simply the most convenient option. Either way, he intended to use this opportunity fully.
***
As Alex lay on the ground carefully inspecting the room, Minister Bagnold, Amelia, and Fudge exchanged confused glances. The moment Alex entered, he'd crouched down, carefully examining the smooth, dark marble floor and walls, running his fingers over them with a fascinated expression, almost like he was appreciating a priceless work of art.
To Alex, the simple-looking room was astonishingly valuable. In the Ministry's eyes, this was merely a plain room, but to him, it was an alchemist's paradise, far more precious than the grand halls upstairs. The central feature of the room was a huge, black marble pillar that rose straight from the floor to the ceiling. It clearly extended beyond the ten-meter height, going upwards, probably into other parts of the Ministry building.
After observing carefully, Alex muttered thoughtfully, "So, the entire room itself, including the floor and walls, is actually one large alchemical device. The pillar at the center must be an amplifier that spreads the spell's coverage over all of Britain. The detection magic flows through intricate rune patterns engraved right into the stone surfaces here."
As he continued to analyze, Alex discovered something even more astonishing. His eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. Quickly, he took out a small inspection tool and confirmed his suspicion.
"Are you kidding me? The material used in these engravings is actually Ulim steel? Such an extravagant choice! Wait, no, it's even better than pure Ulim steel. There's refined mithril mixed in here as well! This craftsmanship is unbelievable."
Alex stood up, shaking his head in amazement. Just thinking about the sheer quantity of rare magical metals used made his heart race. By his rough estimation, the floor and walls alone must have used at least twenty pounds of Ulim steel and five pounds of refined mithril, two of the rarest and most precious magical materials available.
The value of this room alone easily surpassed all his wealth combined. For the first time, Alex felt he truly underestimated the Ministry's resources.
Of course, such expensive materials weren't just for show. They ensured the durability and stability of the magical monitoring system, capable of running nonstop for years without needing maintenance. It was practical, but still incredibly luxurious.
As Alex stood lost in admiration, the Ministry officials exchanged awkward looks again. Fudge finally couldn't help himself and whispered to Minister Bagnold, "Minister, are you sure he's a reliable alchemist? He just spent ten minutes crawling around on the floor. Is everything alright with him?"
Minister Bagnold also felt somewhat embarrassed by Alex's strange behavior, so she gently cleared her throat and asked, "Alex, is everything okay? Our surveillance circle is over there, connected to that central pillar."
"So, you think the pillar in the middle is the alchemy circle?" Alex glanced at Fudge, clearly unimpressed. Then something seemed to click in his mind. "Alright, but aside from maintaining the pillar, what about the surrounding floors and walls?"
"Floors? Walls?" Fudge blinked at him, confused. "We clean them regularly, of course, but what do they have to do with the magic circle?"
Alex rolled his eyes. These people were actually maintaining the wrong thing. They were focused on the pillar, which was just a support or enhancer, while completely ignoring the actual alchemy circle embedded in the room.
After a quick look around, he was almost certain: the pillar in the middle wasn't the core component at all. Sure, it looked expensive, but ironically, it was probably the cheapest part of the entire alchemy setup.
Did Dumbledore really not leave them any instructions when he helped put this place together? The more Alex thought about it, the more odd it seemed. With the strength and complexity of this magic circle, it should be durable enough to last even without regular maintenance, its cost alone was proof of that. But then again, maybe something else was going on. He gave Fudge a puzzled glance.
"How often is this room maintained and cleaned? And what does that process usually involve? Do you use it for anything else?"
Fudge hesitated. Alex's sudden questioning caught him off guard. After the whole incident with the smuggling case, Amelia had personally picked Alex out in her report, but Fudge wasn't too familiar with him. Compared to Minister Bagnold, he didn't really know where Alex stood, or how much information he was cleared to receive.
Glancing at Bagnold for reassurance, and receiving a small nod in return, Fudge finally answered, "Well, since the room is sealed off most of the year, we don't maintain it often. Usually, we do a general cleaning about twice a year."
"As for maintenance," he continued, "we bring in certified alchemists from the ministry to check the central pillar, make sure there's no damage or any blockages in the magic channels. If there's damage, they use reinforcement spells to patch it up."
He paused for a moment, as if something had just occurred to him. "Oh, right. After the fall of the Dark Lord, we confiscated a massive number of dark magic items from Death Eaters on the run. Our storage facilities were full at the time, so we used this room as a temporary warehouse."
Fudge quickly added, "But we were careful! We only stacked things around the edges, never touched the pillar itself. And we didn't leave them there long, we cleared out a proper storage room soon after and moved everything. There shouldn't have been any impact on the alchemy circle. The magic detection array still works just fine, doesn't it?"