After this wave of media coverage, Lewis could clearly feel his reputation rising at a visible rate.
One piece of evidence was the number of love letters he received.
Although he had already received plenty of letters from both girls and boys in the past, the number of love letters he received after this incident increased by an entire order of magnitude.
At the same time, he also received quite a few invitations from journals specializing in magical creatures and Transfiguration.
Even Professor McGonagall came to find Lewis. As a specially invited editor of Today's Transfiguration, she asked him to write an article explaining the principles behind magical Animagi.
Lewis naturally agreed without hesitation.
He had no intention of missing the opportunity to establish a reputation in the academic world.
As for the possibility that his research might teach others how to create magical Animagi—
Please.
In modern society, there were plenty of cases where people openly published papers and patents, yet others still failed to replicate the results.
Lewis could simply describe the general principles while withholding the critical procedures and arrays.
Moreover, when designing this method of transforming into a magical Animagus, Lewis had incorporated quite a few steps that could only be completed by mastering the corresponding Arcane spells.
Even if the wizards who read his paper were extraordinarily talented, could they really become talented enough to learn Arcane magic out of thin air?
They did not possess his heaven-defying comprehension.
Another consequence of Lewis's rising fame was that the number of young wizards applying to join the Society of Erudition began increasing dramatically.
This organization, which Lewis had single-handedly established, had already become the most attractive student society at Hogwarts—far more popular than Professor Slughorn's Slug Club in the original story.
The young wizards all believed that only the most outstanding wizards were worthy of becoming members of the Society of Erudition.
Even Percy Weasley and Draco Malfoy, who were about to graduate, privately expressed their desire to join Lewis's organization.
From Percy's hypocritical flattery, Lewis understood that he had probably learned about Lewis's relationship with Jaina and hoped to receive some assistance when working at the Ministry of Magic in the future.
As for Draco Malfoy, his application forced Lewis to marvel at the Malfoy family's innate ability to read the winds and change sides.
Of course, it was also possible that Draco had genuinely been attracted by the Society of Erudition after witnessing its influence.
Lewis naturally had no reason to reject their requests. There was no downside for him.
More importantly, with the exception of Ron, most of the Weasley family had always been friendly toward Lewis.
Mrs. Weasley had always been very warm toward him.
Arthur Weasley shared his interest in modifying Muggle technology.
The Weasley twins were among his beneficiaries.
Ginny was practically his biggest little fan, blindly supporting everything he did. Now, under Hermione's leadership, she was even working in the Society of Erudition's personnel department.
Although Lewis's intelligence had increased dramatically and the progress of The Book of All Laws had accelerated considerably, completing the recording of the second-circle spells in less than a week, the higher the level of the spells he recorded, the more time he had to spend writing the book.
Because of this, his free time became increasingly scarce, and the Society of Erudition's activities could only be handed over completely to the girls.
At present, besides completing their own revision, Shirela and Penelope also had to organize activities for the Society of Erudition.
Hermione had even less free time because she had taken too many elective classes.
Zhang Qiu had plenty of free time, but her magical ability was not yet sufficient to support the society's courses.
As for Luna, she would rather stay in the common room with Awu. Clearly, she was just as reluctant to deal with troublesome matters as Lewis was.
And now, because of Lewis's explosive increase in fame, the Society of Erudition was facing a huge problem.
Organizing activities had become an extremely difficult task.
Simply processing the application forms from young wizards who wanted to join the training sessions was enough to give anyone a headache.
Helpless, Lewis had no choice but to privately arrange a small meeting with the girls to discuss their workload.
The meeting was naturally held in the tower.
After it ended, Lewis hurried back to his workshop to continue his great undertaking.
Luna immediately picked up Awu and ran off as well.
That left Shirela, Penelope, Hermione, and Zhang Qiu behind. They planned to chat for a while before leaving separately.
Hermione studied Penelope's expression and suddenly spoke.
"Penelope, you're about to face your N.E.W.T.s. These exams will determine your future. I suggest that you devote yourself completely to your revision. I think that's the wisest choice."
Hermione held a stack of application forms in her hands, her eyes filled with concern as she looked at the somewhat exhausted Penelope.
Her words sounded like nothing more than genuine concern.
But Penelope immediately became wary.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, making it impossible to see what she was thinking.
Hermione, however, paid no attention to Penelope's reaction.
"Penelope, you're graduating soon, but Lewis needs someone to help him. I believe I'm sufficiently capable in every aspect to assist him in this regard. Moreover, I'm in the same year as him, so I can continue helping him manage the Society of Erudition until we graduate together. If I can take over and familiarize myself with the work ahead of time, it will be beneficial to you, to me, and to Lewis."
Hermione's eyes were firm as she stared at Penelope.
Everything she said came from her heart. She genuinely believed it was the most appropriate arrangement and had no ulterior motive.
The room suddenly fell silent.
Zhang Qiu covered her mouth slightly, staring in shock at what was happening before her.
She didn't understand how everyone had been chatting so happily just moments ago, only for things to suddenly become like this.
Shirela sat on a separate sofa, quietly wiping her Arcane Sword. Her gray-green eyes calmly observed the two girls, but she said nothing.
After a long while, Penelope finally forced herself to smile faintly, accepting Hermione's proposal.
Hermione's words were indeed flawless.
She was about to graduate, and Lewis genuinely needed someone to help him.
Although Penelope was somewhat unwilling, she had to admit that Hermione was the person Lewis trusted most for the position, and she was sufficiently capable.
Although Hermione's own studies were also extremely demanding, she could use her Time-Turner to devote more time to organizing and developing the Society's activities.
And that was exactly what she did.
In order to free up more time, Hermione even gave up Professor Trelawney's Divination class.
The girls never mentioned this change in their division of responsibilities to Lewis, but he saw everything.
As an intelligent man, Lewis did not interfere with their decision.
He didn't even mention it, avoiding unnecessary trouble.
The day after this happened, Lewis received news from Jaina.
The incident at the Improper Use of Magic Office had finally reached its conclusion.
The female Ministry official who had caused Lewis trouble, Mafalda Hopkirk, was indeed one of Crouch's people.
Because she had deliberately made things difficult for Lewis without authorization, Fudge's faction seized upon the opportunity.
Fudge escalated the matter from poor service to damaging the Ministry of Magic's image and used that as the reason to fire her.
Although Hopkirk's actions had been incredibly foolish, Crouch, as the leader of his faction, still tried desperately to protect her position in front of Fudge.
However, Fudge told Crouch with the attitude of a victor that if he insisted on protecting Hopkirk, Fudge would tell the reporters the truth—that Hopkirk had escaped punishment only because Crouch had personally intervened on her behalf.
If that really happened, the speculation made by the Daily Prophet would become a confirmed fact, and Crouch's reputation would be thoroughly damaged.
For the sake of his own reputation, Crouch could only swallow this bitter pill and abandon Hopkirk.
Meanwhile, many Ministry officials who had originally belonged to Crouch's faction saw that he could not even protect his own subordinate.
They immediately changed sides, one after another throwing their support behind Fudge and Jaina.
After hearing all this, Lewis secretly applauded Jaina.
Ever since the incident involving Sirius's exoneration, Jaina's faction had suffered a full-scale counterattack from Crouch's faction and had found itself in a somewhat difficult position within the Ministry.
But she had seized this opportunity perfectly.
By following the momentum, she had successfully transformed the conflict between herself and Crouch into a confrontation between Fudge and Jaina's alliance and Crouch.
During the confrontation between Fudge and Crouch, Jaina had not only taken the opportunity to eliminate the lingering consequences of Sirius's exoneration, but had also substantially expanded her own influence.
Lewis predicted that tomorrow's media coverage would explode like a volcano.
The Ministry's dismissal of Hopkirk would probably become a feast for the reporters.
Crouch's influence would certainly be weakened.
Fudge would never miss such an opportunity, and naturally, neither would Jaina.
Of course, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse.
Even after this setback, Jaina could not expect to completely crush Crouch's faction.
A century-old political family had deeply rooted connections throughout the entire Ministry of Magic. It would not be so easy to uproot them.
As for Jaina, she currently had another problem.
If the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was the core department of the Ministry of Magic, then the Auror Office was the core of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
As the department that concentrated the most elite members of the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Aurors could obtain excellent positions in other departments whether they transferred away from the Auror Office or simply ended their service.
The current head of the Auror Office, Rufus Scrimgeour, was a pure Auror.
He focused on fighting Dark wizards and rarely involved himself in politics.
But he was, after all, the nominal leader of the Aurors.
If Jaina wanted to control this crucial department, she would have to place enough people loyal to her inside it.
And therefore, the additional manpower provided by the Society of Erudition would become extremely important.
In fact, as Lewis's influence exploded, his close relationship with Jaina, the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, gradually spread.
The results were immediate.
Many graduating students, such as Percy Weasley, began approaching him, hoping to enter the Ministry of Magic.
In their eyes, the Society of Erudition was not merely an academic gathering where they could learn advanced magic.
It was also a shortcut to gaining the support of an influential Ministry official.
Anyone with eyes could see that Jaina's momentum within the Ministry of Magic was growing stronger by the day.
Lewis also began evaluating every graduate who intended to join the Ministry of Magic.
He assessed them from multiple angles, including magical ability, combat capability, interpersonal skills, personality, loyalty, and more, selecting a group of outstanding candidates to recommend to Jaina.
No matter how capable Hermione was, she could not complete this task.
So Lewis handed it over to Shirela and Penelope.
These people would eventually work under the two girls, and many of them would join the Auror Office and work alongside them.
Naturally, the two of them needed to put in some effort themselves.
Lewis also thought of something else.
During the Quidditch World Cup in the summer, Death Eaters would appear.
For them, this was both a challenge and an opportunity.
Tonks, as a squad leader and an elite Auror, could proactively apply to participate in the World Cup's security operation.
This was an opportunity to earn merit that absolutely could not be missed.
If everything was handled properly, the new Aurors could obtain an enormous achievement immediately after joining the Ministry.
Thinking of this, Lewis immediately wrote all this information down on a sheet of parchment.
Then he attached one of the feathers from his phoenix form to the letter.
A flash of fire appeared.
The feather and parchment vanished completely, reappearing on Jaina's desk.
Thinking about the chaos caused by the Death Eaters at the World Cup, Lewis couldn't help feeling worried.
Although Shirela's strength was considerable, most of the others—including Penelope—were only at the level of newly graduated students.
If they encountered ruthless Death Eaters, would they truly be able to display their full strength and avoid suffering any unexpected injuries?
The more Lewis thought about it, the more he felt that he needed to make more thorough preparations.
He wanted to design a standardized uniform and equipment set for the Aurors.
He could manufacture the first batch for Tonks and the others—his own people—to use.
Once Tonks replaced Scrimgeour and took control of the entire Auror Office, the equipment could immediately become the standard gear for all Aurors.
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