"Good day, Principal Dumbledore. Please, have a seat," Fudge responded politely.
"If I remember correctly, this is your first time visiting my office. Seems like today is a good day for it," Alex said with a smile as he looked at the elderly man before him.
With a snap of his fingers, a bottle of wine and several glasses floated out from an elegant wine cabinet nearby.
The glasses filled one by one midair and then gently landed in front of everyone.
"This is peach sherry, a gift from the Spanish Minister of Magic. It's quite delicious. Since you're both here today, I thought we could enjoy it together."
After speaking, Alex made another inviting gesture.
Dumbledore politely lifted his glass, returned the toast, and took a sip.
The sweetness was unmistakable.
Then, turning his gaze to Bagnold thoughtfully, he asked, "By the way, Millicent, how have you been since retiring?"
"Not bad," Bagnold replied with a nod. "I took a full year off, but just now I got an invitation from Alex. Seems he wants me to put my remaining energy to good use."
Bagnold then pouted playfully at Alex, who was busy listening to Shalltear's report.
"Master," Shalltear began softly, "Minister Andre from Germany sent another letter. He mentioned that Kuller, the director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, is soon retiring. He wants to know if you would consider taking over the position, or if not, if you have a suitable candidate to recommend."
"Also, Principal Karkaroff from Durmstrang Academy sent a request. They'd like you to send a wizard to help them start a 'Training' course."
Shalltear produced two letters as she spoke.
"For Andre, just reply that, as before, you're not interested in politics. As for the successor, Yasha Berry, deputy director of the Department of Magical Transportation, would be an excellent choice. She has a good reputation and handles her duties seriously. She'd be well-suited for the Department of Magical Cooperation."
"Regarding Durmstrang, you can send a letter to the French branch and ask Azalea to take care of it."
For the time being, the affairs on the French side would be managed by her sister, Anais.
Although she had only recently graduated, Alex was confident in her abilities and believed she could handle the responsibilities well.
He conveyed this to Shalltear in a straightforward manner.
Hearing Alex casually decide on someone to lead the Ministry of Magic in a European country and oversee a magical school left Dumbledore and the others exchanging surprised glances.
Could Alex's influence really have grown that much?
After wrapping up the minor details, Alex turned to Dumbledore with a smile.
"Sorry, Principal Dumbledore, I need to discuss something with Bagnold and Fudge.
Could you please wait for a moment?"
"It's fine. I have personal matters to discuss with you anyway. You should talk about business first," he said, waving it off calmly.
He then sat quietly beside them, taking on the role of an observer.
Fudge, who had seemed a bit distant before, immediately became attentive when Alex was about to get serious.
"Mr. Wilson, you specifically invited Bagnold and me here today. Is there something important you need to discuss?" Fudge's tone was respectful, fully aware that the young man before him was the greatest benefactor of the Ministry of Magic and the undisputed leader of Britain's magical community.
Before Fudge became Minister of Magic, Bagnold had even taken him to meet Alex.
For Fudge, that meeting had felt more like an interview; his position seemed to depend entirely on Alex's approval.
It was only with that blessing that he could hold his role firmly.
"It's nothing major," Alex began, picking up a stack of documents from the coffee table beside him. "I've recently developed some small alchemy gadgets, and I'd like to get some support from the Ministry of Magic. Of course, this would also benefit the Ministry itself."
He handed out several identical copies to the people around him, including Dumbledore, who was quietly listening on the side.
Fudge glanced down at the title on the top document: "Full-Coverage Magic Real-Time Communication System."
He frowned in confusion.
"Full-coverage magic real-time communication system?" he repeated, sounding puzzled. "I don't understand much about alchemy. I know the words, but put together like this, it's hard to grasp."
Alex smiled and nodded.
"That's right.
This is a set of alchemical systems I've recently put together. It's already passed preliminary testing, and the results look very promising."
Fudge flipped through the pages, clearly overwhelmed.
"Uh… Mr. Wilson, could you explain this to us in simpler terms?
The details here are pretty confusing."
"Yeah, don't make us alchemists look bad. Can you break it down so we actually understand?" Dumbledore agreed.
"Sorry for being so technical," Alex said apologetically. "Let me explain. The 'full-coverage magic real-time communication system' is basically a network that allows real-time communication over a wide area. It consists of three main parts: the Alchemy Transit Base Station, the Quick Response Alarm Module, and the Communication Terminal."
He glanced at Fudge and Bagnold, but their expressions showed they still weren't quite following.
"Let me give you a simple example. You're both familiar with the communication amulets sold at the Wilson's Arcane Alchemica, right?"
Both men nodded immediately.
They knew those talismans had saved the Ministry a lot of trouble by making communication easier.
At that moment, Fudge was even holding several such amulets, using them to coordinate with different departments.
"While these communication amulets work well, they have clear limitations and drawbacks."
Alex pulled a talisman from his pocket and explained, "Even though these communication amulets allow many-to-many connections, each one can only communicate with up to ten others at a time. Usually, multiple amulets are used to stay in touch, but someone always has to carry the main amulet.
If that main one stops working, the entire network goes down."
He continued, "My 'real-time communication system' is designed around a large main amulet that links all the others in a chain. Each of the smaller sub-talismans gets assigned a unique number.
As long as the person holding the main amulet knows the number of the other party's talisman, they can communicate instantly without juggling multiple amulets."
Alex glanced at Dumbledore beside him.
"Headmaster, you probably understand what this means."
Dumbledore was also a skilled alchemist.
He quickly grasped the idea.
"If what you say is true," Dumbledore replied, "then anyone holding one of these communication amulets within the large main amulet's range can easily talk to each other. But setting this up sounds like a huge task. Are you referring to the 'Alchemy Transit Base Station' you mentioned earlier?"
"Exactly," Alex smiled. "The 'Alchemy Transit Base Station' is basically an alchemy lab similar to the one in the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters, capable of monitoring magical fluctuations in real time.
Its job is to create a communication network that connects all the 'communication terminals'."