The minister from the Lighthouse Country frowned. "You mean, this person may have been at Hogwarts? And might even still be there?"
"This is just one possibility," Dumbledore said, not ruling out any possibility entirely, "But we need to consider all the options."
The minister from Gaul leaned forward slightly. "So, what information do we currently have?"
"I suggest we first organize all the clues and see if we can find anything we've overlooked."
The secretary-general nodded and tapped twice on the surface of the stone table.
The patterns in the center of the desktop began to glow, forming a three-dimensional projection screen displaying a series of information.
"This is all the clues we've gathered so far." The secretary-general stood up and walked to the projector.
"First, the name Allen Wayne first appeared last September, along with the first part of the first Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."
Prior to this, there were no records of this person.
"Secondly, all manuscripts were submitted in the same way, anonymously placed on the desks of the Great Britain Muggle Publishing House, Bloomsbury Publishing."
"No one has ever seen the submitter, and no monitoring or protective magic has captured the delivery process."
"Third, the only contact address listed is 13 Baker Street. However, after on-site investigation and map comparison, there is no address at 13 Baker Street."
The text on the projection scrolled to the next line.
"Fourth, about a few months ago, an unusual magical fluctuation was observed near Baker Street in London."
"This incident was recorded in a third-rate Muggle newspaper with the headline 'Mysterious pillar of light appears over London.'"
"According to the subsequent investigation by the Great Britain Ministry of Magic, at least dozens of Muggle witnesses in the vicinity claimed to have seen a silvery-white beam of light shooting straight into the sky."
"But the personnel sent to the scene by the Ministry of Magic did not detect any residual magical traces."
The Secretary-General continued, "Fifth, that third-rate newspaper mentioned Baker Street, and the timing was very close to when the first book appeared."
"We have reason to believe that there may be some connection between this 'mysterious pillar of light' incident and Allen Wayne."
"Therefore," the minister from the Lighthouse Country continued, "If we're looking for the most likely location, Baker Street should be the first choice."
"Yes," the Secretary General nodded, "But the problem is, the Great Britain Ministry of Magic has already searched the entire Baker Street, and found nothing."
Fudge finally spoke. He sat up straight and said in a tone that tried to convey as much information as possible:
"We did search, more than once. Each time it was a full-coverage search, and there were no traces of magic, no suspicious buildings, no hidden doors or spaces."
" Baker Street is a very ordinary Muggle street, and every building along it is a registered, legitimate property."
"The address 13 does not exist in the existing address sequence on Baker Street."
There was a few seconds of silence in the conference room. Then an aged voice came from the corner of the conference table.
" Cornelius." The speaker was an elderly wizard with a full head of silver hair, wearing a dark green robe. He had a gaunt face and was the former Minister of Kangaroo Country Ministry of Magic. He had long since retired but was still a senior advisor to the International Confederation of Wizards.
He spoke slowly, "Have you ever considered that perhaps that building is actually there, but your detection methods simply can't find it?"
Fudge froze for a moment. "You mean...?"
"I've heard that Mr. Scamander. Newt Scamander has an old leather trunk that looks like an ordinary briefcase from the outside, but inside it contains a whole space that can hold dozens of magical creatures."
The old wizard paused, as if recalling something, then slowly added.
"What if someone named Allen Wayne happens to possess something similar?"
The breathing in the conference room became a little quieter.
The minister from the Lighthouse Country was the first to react. "You mean he himself might be hiding in that kind of space, and that thing is placed in some corner of Baker Street?"
"I'm merely suggesting a possibility," the old wizard said, spreading his hands. "After all, we're dealing with someone capable of writing such a book; his spellcasting abilities are clearly extraordinary."
"If he does indeed possess a similar spatial expansion magical item, then all our previous search methods have been rendered ineffective."
"Because to ordinary wizards, those things look like ordinary objects and wouldn't attract any attention at all."
The minister from Maple Leaf Country adjusted his glasses. "But if he really is hiding in such a space, how will he live? He still needs to eat, right? He still needs to go out, right?"
"And how did the manuscript for the second part get sent to the publisher? It's impossible for it to remain unpublished forever."
"This means," the minister from Gaul continued, "That if we keep an eye on that publishing house, or on the area around Baker Street, we'll always have a chance to catch him in the act."
Fudge frowned. "You want to send people to stake out the area?"
"What other options are there?" the minister from the Lighthouse Country retorted. "We can't just keep waiting for him to write the third and fourth books, waiting for him to expose the entire Wizarding World's secrets before we figure out what to do, can we?"
"Furthermore, based on the current situation, the second half of the second part should be released soon."
"He'll likely reappear around that time. That's our best chance."
The voices in the conference room gradually coalesced into a consensus.
The secretary-general cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to himself:
"In that case, I propose that the International Confederation of Wizards organize a joint operation."
Objective: Locate Allen Wayne's hiding place without alerting the Muggle world.
We will organize five international Auror Squad.
"Three teams headed to Baker Street, with two teams positioned at either end of the street, maintaining concealment but with sufficient visibility to cover all directions of entry and exit."
"Another team was positioned directly in the middle of the street, disguised as Muggle pedestrians, weaving between shops and residences."
"The fourth team will set up a post near Bloomsbury Publishing to keep an eye on anyone who might go there to submit a manuscript."
The fifth team then went to the top floor of the tallest building in central London to have a comprehensive view of the area and coordinate information exchange between the teams.
"If any unusual spatial fluctuations occur near Baker Street or the publishing house, immediately send a signal to the other four teams."
The Secretary-General paused, then glanced around at everyone present. "Each International Auror team consists of six people, for a total of thirty. All actions will be subject to the International Confederation of Wizards's instructions."
Do you agree?
The meeting room was quiet for a moment, then the ministers from various countries nodded in agreement.
The minister from the Lighthouse Country was the first to speak, "Agreed."
"Agreed," the Maple Leaf Country minister followed.
"Agreed," the Gaul minister also said.
"Agree."
"Agree."
Fudge hesitated for a second, but finally nodded. "Agreed."
Finally, all eyes fell on Dumbledore.
Dumbledore sat in his seat, his blue eyes behind his Half-moon Spectacles calmly scanning the room, then he nodded slightly.
"Agree."
The secretary-general turned his gaze back and scanned the conference room again. "Since everyone agrees, I will give the order immediately."
"All thirty International Auror will arrive in London and be in position by tonight."
He tapped the table, and the projection instantly changed, revealing the figure of a man in a black trench coat with a fox-faced mask.
The secretary-general narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the figure:
Mission codename: Fox Hunt.