With the graduation of the accelerated magic training program, the participants left the Castle and returned to their respective cities.
Hogsmeade, Bree, and Isengard suddenly became lively again.
Everyone knew that the more than five hundred people who had been selected and sent to the Lord's Castle had successfully become Wizards and remained there to study magic.
Now that these people had returned home, everyone was filled with anticipation and curiosity.
The first major change was the appearance of the Aurors. The Auror Headquarters was established in Hogsmeade, with Brog serving as the head of the Auror Corps, while branch offices were founded in Bree and Isengard.
The Aurors generally did not involve themselves in the daily affairs of ordinary people, nor were they under the jurisdiction of the mayors. Their main duties were to deal with attacks from dark creatures such as ghouls, orcs, and trolls, as well as to contain magical incidents and enforce laws regarding wizarding crimes.
Especially now, with the emergence of more than five hundred Wizards, and the potential for even more in the future, Sylas could not guarantee that none of them would ever break the law.
After all, where there are weapons, there is violence, and Wizards armed with magic and wands were no exception.
To prevent such individuals from acting recklessly, Sylas established the Auror Corps in advance, suspending a sword of Damocles over every Wizard's head.
In addition to the Aurors, Sylas also founded the Department of Magical Transportation.
The Department of Transportation was primarily responsible for constructing and maintaining the Floo Network, producing Floo Powder, and regulating Portkeys, essentially overseeing all magical modes of transportation.
The department was small, with only a dozen or so members, including those Sylas had personally trained in broomstick-making.
The headquarters of both the Department of Magical Transportation and the Auror Corps were located in Hogsmeade, within the same structure: a tall black tower standing beside the Black Lake.
This tower had been completed in a single day through the combined efforts of over five hundred Wizards.
During its construction, it went completely unnoticed by the citizens of Hogsmeade, concealed through layers of enchantments that rendered it invisible to non-magical eyes.
Only those with magical ability could see this tallest building in Hogsmeade, rising proudly along the shore of the Black Lake.
Sylas named this tower the Ministry of Magic, and its interior design was modeled after the Ministry of Magic of another magical world.
The first floor was the grand main hall, the Ministry's lobby and reception area, lined with numerous fireplaces, guarded entry points, and a great fountain.
At the center of the fountain stood a golden dragon statue, with Sylas himself depicted upon its back, wearing the Crown of Wisdom, a magnificent cloak, and holding a wand aloft.
The statue had been cast entirely from gold donated by the five hundred Wizards, as a tribute of gratitude to their Lord.
The second floor housed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Auror Headquarters and the judicial branch.
The third floor contained the Department of Magical Transportation, which oversaw the Floo Network Management Bureau, the Broom Regulatory Office, and the Portkey Control Division.
The fourth floor was the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, currently focused mainly on managing the dragons in the dragon farm.
The fifth floor held the Department of International Magical Cooperation, responsible for communication and collaboration with other nations and races, especially strengthening alliances with Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits, and Ents to jointly resist the dark forces of Sauron.
The sixth floor was the Department of Magical Sports, tasked with organizing Quidditch leagues and related events.
The seventh floor was the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, responsible for handling and responding to unexpected magical disasters.
The eighth floor served as the Courtroom, where criminal trials were held.
The ninth floor was the Department of Mysteries, dedicated to conducting magical research, delving into the nature of arcane phenomena, and performing advanced magical experiments.
The tenth and top floor of the tower was reserved by the Wizards specifically for Sylas, serving as the office of the Minister of Magic himself.
At present, the entire Ministry of Magic, apart from the Auror Department and the Department of Magical Transportation, remained largely empty.
However, Sylas was in no hurry. He could fill these vacancies gradually as the number of Wizards increased and the Ministry of Magic continued to grow and develop.
Meanwhile, with more than five hundred Wizards returning to their respective homes, the Department of Magical Transportation became the first to grow busy.
In addition to manufacturing Floo Powder, the Department's staff traveled to various regions to install dedicated fireplaces for Wizarding families who applied to connect to the Floo Network.
Once connected, Wizards could travel through their fireplaces simply by purchasing Floo Powder. Floo Powder could be bought directly from the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic, one silver coin would buy a large spoonful, enough to last a family for an entire month.
Speaking of currency, the different regions of Middle-earth each used their own systems.
Gondor's currency was called the Castar (also known as Canas), a type of silver coin. They also minted gold coins called Mírians, as well as brass and copper coins.
Rohan used a similar currency to Gondor's, while Elves and Dwarves both had their own unique coinage.
In Eriador, west of the Misty Mountains, the monetary system was even more chaotic, currencies from southern Gondor, the Dwarves, and the Elves were all in circulation.
Even in Bree, old coins once minted by the fallen Kingdom of Arnor were still commonly used.
The value of these coins varied greatly.
Dwarven silver coins, for instance, were worth far more than regular silver coins, sometimes even exceeding the value of ordinary gold coins, because they contained traces of mithril.
Elven coins, too, were valued higher than those of Gondor or Rohan due to their exquisite craftsmanship and high silver purity.
Meanwhile, the ancient coins of Arnor had become collectibles and could no longer be considered standard currency.
This chaotic monetary system circulated throughout Sylas's growing territories, especially after Hogsmeade and Bree prospered and the Vanishing Cabinets connected them with Isengard, near the borders of Rohan and Gondor.
Some common residents who still possessed Arnorian coins were unaware of their true worth, using them in everyday trade with traveling merchants and suffering heavy losses.
Merchants from Gondor and Rohan continued to use their own coins, but the differing values between regions complicated transactions, this issue was reported to Sylas by the two mayors, Luke and Greame.
Faced with this monetary chaos, Sylas simply instructed his Wizards to establish banks and to redesign and issue a unified currency.
He adopted the currency system of the Wizarding World, dividing money into Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts (or Knuckles).
However, Sylas deliberately abandoned the overly complex exchange rates of the Wizarding World, such as one Galleon equaling seventeen Sickles and one Sickle equaling twenty-nine Knuts, as such ratios were impractical for Middle-earth.
For example, Gondor's existing exchange rate was:
1 gold coin (Mírian) = 4 silver coins (Carnas),
1 silver coin = 4 Shanis,
1 Shanis = 4 copper pennies.
Of course, these coins had relatively low metal content, hence the small difference between values.
For convenience, and taking into account the diverse exchange rates of Middle-earth, Sylas ultimately set the unified rate as:
1 gold Galleon = 10 silver Sickles, and 1 silver Sickle = 10 copper Knuts.
These new Wizarding coins were minted using goblin-like forging techniques, making them exquisite, ornate, and magically enhanced.
They would never tarnish, remaining eternally lustrous, and could be instantly recognized as extraordinary currency.
Their distribution began in Hogsmeade, at a white marble building named Gringotts.
The newly issued Wizarding coins were soon warmly welcomed by the citizens of Hogsmeade and Bree alike.