Rising Fame, Growing Troubles

The second semester of second grade has begun.

After returning to Hogwarts Castle from the Hog's Head, Xiwen resumed his leisurely life of attending classes during the day, practicing Combined Spellcasting at night, and petting cats in his spare time.

In just over a year, the Little Cat had grown into a big cat without her even realizing it. Xiwen still remembered that when she brought her back from the Magical Menagerie, she was only about the size of one of Xiwen's hands, but now she had become a big creature that required two hands to pick up.

I don't know if Xiwen provided such good food or if she secretly ate extra meals while patrolling the area...

When the Little Cat was young, Xiwen and the staff at the Magical Menagerie thought she must have British Shorthair silver shaded ancestry. However, as the Little Cat grew older, she looked less and less like a silver shaded cat. Instead, she gradually lost her silver markings, and her fur became pure white and soft.

In addition, unlike those domestic cats that tend to puff out their cheeks and become round and chubby, this Little Cat has a slender and graceful figure, and every step she takes exudes an elegance from the inside out.

However, all this elegance will vanish when the Little Cat returns from playing all day...

The Rogue cat still loved to frolic in the various islands and woods around Hogwarts. Every time it returned to its cage, it was covered in dust, completely transformed from a clean white cat into a gray one.

Xiwen both loved and was annoyed by her, but he still had to diligently use Cleaning Charm to clean her fur every day. Then he would hold this naughty Little Cat in his arms, brushing her fur and massaging her head. The Little Cat enjoyed the comfort of the massage, Xiwen enjoyed the pleasure of petting the cat. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, each getting what they wanted!

After two peaceful months of focusing on classes, studying, and petting his cat, Dumbledore happily brought Xiwen the good news— Nagini had also successfully learned Animagus Transformation and tamed the Maledictus Blood Curse within him.

Nagini's Animagus form is also a viper, remarkably similar to her Maledictus form. Or rather, decades of Maledictus Transformation subtly influenced her, making the animal form that best suits her naturally a viper.

After the two were combined, Nagini's fused form became a seven-foot-long viper. Although not as huge as the previous Maledictus form, it was still about twice the length of a normal-sized viper.

This is the second successful case of taming Blood Curse, besides Xiwen. This case almost proves that this method of dealing with the Maledictus Blood Curse is indeed feasible!

After consulting with Xiwen and understanding his ideas, Dumbledore and Xiwen jointly wrote an academic paper on the two cases and their corresponding solutions, which was published in the magazines "Transfiguration Today" and "Bloodline Wizard".

Dumbledore's academic paper caused an instant sensation in the Wizarding World upon its publication.

Although the number of wizards in the Maledictus is extremely small, just like in the Animagus, Dumbledore's fame is simply too great—he is the only top wizard who can rival the Dark Lord Grindelwald, the one chosen by the Qilin who can lead the Wizarding World forward!

Furthermore, since becoming the head of Gryffindor, Dumbledore has rarely published academic research articles to the outside world.

This time, amidst escalating tensions around the world, he suddenly published a meticulously researched paper with two detailed case studies, drawing the attention of much of the Wizarding World.

Moreover, Dumbledore's paper this time deals with the problem of the Maledictus Blood Curse, which wizards have been unable to solve in the past. This paper not only helps to solve the Maledictus Blood Curse, but also has great reference value for the research of Bloodline Magic.

As a result, Shivn Xiwen, the second author of the paper, experienced a surge in fame in a short period of time, which also led to a small boost in the Rosier family's business performance. While people in the Wizarding World might not know the wizard named Xiwen Rozier, they certainly recognized the well-known surname Rozier!

In the period following the publication of Dumbledore and Xiwen's papers, numerous letters, carried by owls, flooded towards Xiwen.

Many renowned scholars expressed their interest in academic exchange with him, which made Xiwen very gratified.

However, the majority of the letters came from wizards who wanted to curry favor with the Rosier family, as well as wizards who were dissatisfied with Xiwen being the second author of Dumbledore's academic papers.

Those wizards were either too busy spouting flattering and sycophantic words to try and get a share of the Rosier family's profits, or they were too arrogant and thought the entire Wizarding World should listen to their ideas, completely disregarding what Xiwen actually wrote and launching a tirade against him over any random sentence.

Even worse, there are some "pseudo-experts" who have little real ability but are adept at using other people's fame to boost their own. They attacked Xiwen's specific analysis using himself as an example, actually just trying to use Xiwen's recent fame to make their presence felt in the Wizarding World.

After all, those people were all bullies who preyed on the weak. They didn't dare question Dumbledore's work at all, only daring to find fault with the second author. Even if the paper didn't clearly define the content of each author's writing, that wasn't a problem, as long as Dumbledore wasn't mentioned!

How could someone so busy fighting the Dark Lord have time to pay attention to their doubts about the second author? Even if they did, why would the kind-hearted person chosen by the Qilin personally go and cause them trouble?

These messy letters annoyed Xiwen to no end. He even considered disregarding the wishes of the knowledgeable experts and scholars to communicate and simply use Masking Spell to hide himself, thus preventing the owl from finding him.

The first author of the paper, Dumbledore, noticed Xiwen's troubles in time. So he called Xiwen to the Transfiguration Professor's Office and had a long talk with Xiwen.

"Xiwen, did putting your name as the second author cause you any trouble?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

"It's not really a problem." Xiwen was exhausted from receiving so many letters lately, so he forced a smile and shook his head.

"I'm incredibly grateful that you've put me as the second author! Because of this paper, many learned seniors in the Wizarding World have been willing to give me guidance, so I'm actually very happy."

"It's a bit difficult to find the senior members' letters among all those random emails, and their comments are indeed quite annoying..."

"In fact, I've encountered similar situations before," Dumbledore said earnestly, patting Xiwen on the shoulder. "Perhaps not as severe as yours, but I did publish some articles during my school years and gained a certain degree of recognition."

"Because of that fame, I've also encountered criticism and questioning."

Dumbledore looked somewhat nostalgic and smiled as he spoke. In his eyes, the criticisms and doubts seemed to amount to nothing at all.

"So, how did you solve it?" Xiwen couldn't help but ask.

Dumbledore gave a mysterious smile, a slight upturn of his lips—

"Of course, we'll solve it with strength!"