Chapter 1387: Raring to Go
Chapter 1387: Raring to Go
Albert had long been aware of the reason behind the Death Eaters' mass production of Inferi through his inside sources. While it was related to Snape's suggestion to the Death Eaters about accumulating strength, it wasn't fair to place all the blame on him.
Snape was not a professional scapegoat, after all.
The new headmaster of Hogwarts merely wanted to prevent a head-on collision between the Death Eaters and the anti-Voldemort forces, keeping Hogwarts out of this confrontation. He had promised Dumbledore that he would ensure the safety of the students to the best of his ability.
No one could have anticipated that the Death Eaters would interpret Snape's advice to accumulate strength in such a manner.
In truth, the Death Eaters didn't particularly want to accumulate strength in this way, but they had no choice and were forced to do so.
Ever since the previous incident in Hogsmeade, the Death Eaters had learned their lesson and dared not continue recruiting other Dark creatures recklessly.
Without the Dark Lord's suppression, continuing to recruit those Dark creatures or Dark wizards would only bring them more trouble.
What about organizing the Dark wizards for collective training, like the Defense Association?
That was even more impossible.
Even the Dark Lord would likely struggle to achieve that. Otherwise, those Dark wizards wouldn't be mere Dark wizards—they would be well-trained Aurors.
Once the Death Eaters gave up on the idea of relying on those Dark wizards, they quickly discovered that creating Inferi was indeed a good alternative. While the Inferi were weak against light and fire, ordinary wizards would still need to put in some effort to destroy them, even if they were aware of their weaknesses.
When the number of Inferi increased, most wizards would have no choice but to flee, even if they knew their weaknesses.
Even if members of the Defense Association and the Order of the Phoenix came to cause trouble, the Death Eaters could let them wear themselves out. After all, Muggle corpses were as common as grass on the ground; if they needed more, they could just go out and get some more.
Yes, both Yaxley and Macnair felt that instead of letting their enemies trouble them, they might as well let them deal with the Inferi. They would figure out how to deal with them once the Dark Lord returned to Britain.
When Albert learned of this news from the Death Eaters, he was stunned by their way of thinking.
If the Death Eaters went through with this plan, he really wouldn't have a good solution. Unless he directly killed them, he couldn't stop them from continuing to harm ordinary people. However, killing the Death Eaters now wasn't a good idea, as their goal was to kill Voldemort. If all the Death Eaters died, Voldemort would definitely be scared into hiding, so he could only continue to patiently wait for the right opportunity.
However, since he couldn't stop the Death Eaters from mass-producing Inferi, he didn't mind using them as training tools for the association members.
For the Defense Association members who had already undergone half a year of combat training, the Inferi were indeed excellent training tools. They could effectively improve their combat experience and courage, which would benefit the association members when facing Dark wizards in the future, encouraging them to bravely wield their wands and face their enemies, even if that enemy was Voldemort.
As Albert had expected, the news that the Death Eaters were mass-producing Inferi quickly spread within the Defense Association. Soon after, the Order of the Phoenix also became aware of this matter, but what surprised everyone was that they seemed indifferent to it.
Apparently, the Order of the Phoenix was also unable to solve the problem of Inferi, otherwise, during the First Wizarding War, when Dumbledore was still alive, there wouldn't have been so many Inferi.
Upon realizing that they couldn't rely on the Order of the Phoenix, the members of the Defense Association hastily convened a meeting to discuss how to destroy the Inferi.
Everyone unanimously agreed that as long as they were careful, the Inferi would be even more suitable as tools for practical combat training than Dementors.
There was no other way; people were too eager for battle.
The most frustrating thing about mastering magic was not having a place to put it to use.
When practicing with teammates, everyone would naturally hold back, focusing more on accumulating experience in dueling other wizards and improving their own reactions.
Whenever they went out on missions, Albert, for safety reasons, would basically not bring along members with lower levels of defense against the Dark Arts.
This directly led to a polarization in the abilities of the association members.
After repeatedly confirming that Albert approved of their plan, everyone began to practice various fire-based spells, which became the priority for most of the association members.
They all knew that before the return of the mysterious man to Britain, this would likely be one of their few opportunities to fight against Dark creatures.
"I know you are all raring to go," Albert said calmly as he gathered everyone at the headquarters to discuss the matter. "But your enemies are not only the Inferi; you may also encounter Death Eaters or Dark wizards along the way. If they launch a pincer attack with the Inferi, it will become extremely deadly."
After pouring cold water on everyone's enthusiasm, Albert began to explain how to deal with the Inferi and the precautions they should take.
These corpses resurrected by Dark magic were not difficult to deal with, but once their numbers increased, they would become a big problem because they were hard to completely destroy.
In the 'Self-Defense Guide', Albert had mentioned a method to deal with Inferi: the Fire-Making Spell.
When most wizards used the Fire-Making Spell, they would, at most, shoot some flames from their wands, which might temporarily drive away the Inferi but couldn't completely destroy them.
Therefore, Albert was here to teach them how to make the Fire-Making Spell lethal, as not everyone could effectively deal with Inferi, and this spell would be a good solution for them.
"I know that some of you may have already mastered some powerful fire spells, but today I want to talk about how to use the Fire-Making Spell to defeat your enemies. I'm sure you're all already familiar with this spell..."
As Albert explained, he demonstrated how to make the Fire-Making Spell powerful enough to injure enemies.
With a blast-like sound, an orange fireball directly blew up the target and set it ablaze.
"This is somewhat similar to the Blast-Ended Skrewt spell, but the latter can only blast the Inferi away, while this one can set them on fire at the same time.
Of course, its real value lies in its ability to ignite Inferi from a distance. It would be unwise to face a large group of Inferi up close..."
"The Death Eaters have created a lot of Inferi?" someone asked after Albert paused.
"A lot," Albert replied, looking at the Hufflepuff girl. "Hundreds, thousands, or even more. Never try to guess the lower limit of a Dark wizard. As far as I know, the Death Eaters are hiding hundreds of Inferi in two secret locations, and one of those locations will be your next target."
"You found it?"
"Yes, but you're not ready yet."
Albert continued to explain and demonstrate various techniques for using the Fire-Making Spell, leaving many members who thought they already understood the spell dumbfounded. Some even felt like they had only just begun to learn it.
After a simple attempt, the situation turned out to be just as Albert had predicted—it wasn't difficult to master some of the techniques for using the Fire-Making Spell. They had just never thought that the spell could be used for anything other than creating fire.
After some reminders, everyone understood why Albert was teaching them to use the Fire-Making Spell to deal with the Inferi.
It was simple, familiar, quick, and effective.
Even if they were faced with a large number of Inferi, they didn't have to worry; they could reasonably create walls of fire to completely enclose and separate the Inferi.
(End of Chapter)
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