Chapter 1553: A War Without Victors (III)
Chapter 1553: A War Without Victors (III)
The trio didn't delve into too many topics as Professor McGonagall looked exhausted. The joy of a great victory couldn't completely dispel their fatigue. What they needed most now was to lie down, rest their bodies and minds, and recover from the toll of the fierce battle last night, instead of consuming copious amounts of strong tea to force themselves to deal with the mess left over from the war.
Professor McGonagall had no choice in the matter; being the deputy headmistress and the likely next headmistress, the decision would probably be made in the next few days.
While the damage caused to the castle by the battle could be set aside for now, the massive number of corpses left over from the war needed immediate attention, or it could turn into a terrible catastrophe.
Moreover, there were more pressing issues for Professor McGonagall to deal with besides the corpses. In the following days and possibly for an extended period, she would have to expend a lot of energy cleaning up the aftermath.
This was also the main reason why Professor McGonagall wanted to find Albert—she hoped to have someone to share the burden with her. But it seemed that her wish was destined to be disappointed.
Fortunately, Albert didn't completely leave her to her own devices. Instead, he offered what help he could, providing useful suggestions and outlining crisis management ideas for her reference, which was far more reliable than anything the exhausted professor could come up with on her own.
The only problem was that the more Albert pointed out the issues that needed addressing, the more headaches he caused for Professor McGonagall, who now had to face these problems head-on.
Even if she chose to ignore these issues, they would still be there, waiting to be tackled eventually, taking up valuable time and resources.
Thankfully, Albert offered solutions as well.
"You've been a great help, Mr. Anderson. But for some matters, I'll need to discuss with the others before making a decision."
After finishing her cup of tea, Professor McGonagall started tidying up the parchments in front of her and spoke about the next steps.
Most of Albert's proposals were accepted by Professor McGonagall, except for a slight disagreement on how to deal with the Dark Wizard corpses. Even Professor McGonagall admitted that Albert's suggestion of a mass grave was an efficient way to dispose of the hundreds of bodies, but she understood that not everyone would agree with this method, so she temporarily set this idea aside.
Another matter was the decision to erect a memorial pillar in the school to mourn the fallen companions and whether to bury the deceased at Hogwarts, which would require further discussion with the rest of the staff.
Moreover, repairing the damage inflicted on Hogwarts Castle during the battle was also a huge challenge. While using the Repair Spell could solve many problems, there were limits to the magic, and it couldn't fix everything.
The entire British wizarding world had just gone through a Wizarding War, and it was unlikely that the Hogwarts governors would be able to allocate a large sum of Galleons to renovate the ancient castle.
As for relying on the Ministry of Magic, that was even more impossible. During the time that the Death Eaters had controlled the Ministry, they would not have given up their opportunity to plunder its wealth.
The Ministry's coffers were likely already empty.
Most of the Dark Wizards who had joined forces with Voldemort had done so in pursuit of power and wealth. Unfortunately, those at the bottom of the hierarchy had gained nothing and had instead sacrificed their lives.
Professor McGonagall might not have realized this earlier, but with Albert's reminder, she became aware that this was yet another mess to deal with, and she imagined that Kingsley would be facing similar challenges.
In fact, there was a simpler solution.
Albert could use the power of the Elder Wand to restore the castle to its former glory in one go. However, Albert had no intention of doing something so ostentatious. Not only would it be an unpopular move that invited trouble, but it would also draw unwanted attention and potentially attract power-hungry individuals who coveted the wand.
"It's truly a difficult time for Professor McGonagall," Shanna sighed softly.
"At least you and I didn't just abandon the mess and go to sleep," Albert replied.
In truth, Albert also felt that others should be responsible for cleaning up this mess, but some things were just not that easy to deal with.
Fortunately, he had a Time-Turner, which could forcibly create enough time for him to rest, something the others couldn't afford.
Not only had they just gone through a deadly battle, but they also had to stay up all night, which was truly disastrous.
The two parted ways at the staircase, each heading to their respective tasks.
In addition to keeping an eye on things during the professors' discussion, Shanna also needed to meet with Lee Jordan to discuss how to use the wizarding lookout station to broadcast the latest news to everyone.
Albert, on the other hand, intended to find Professor Slughorn to see if there had been any significant discoveries. As he passed through the entrance hall, he encountered Harry and Ginny sharing an intimate kiss.
When they heard footsteps, they separated and looked at Albert, then threw him grateful glances, expressing their hope that he would attend their wedding in a few months.
Yes, Harry and Ginny were getting married.
Although the news took Albert by surprise, he soon seemed to realize something, quickly understanding why the couple was in a hurry to get married. He readily agreed to attend their wedding.
After bidding farewell to Harry, Albert soon found Professor Slughorn, who, surprisingly, had a rare smile on his face.
It was clear that Professor Slughorn had made a significant discovery.
However, he reminded Albert that it would be challenging to quickly monetize the materials obtained from the Acromantula.
After all, the rarer something was, the more valuable it became. If a large quantity of Acromantula materials suddenly flooded the market, it would cause their selling price to drop significantly.
Albert didn't mind, and his intention in giving the Acromantula remains to Professor Slughorn was simply to adhere to the principle of not wasting resources.
After all, it was he who had dragged everyone into this damn Wizarding War, so it wouldn't be right for him to just walk away and leave the mess for others to clean up after the war had ended.
Therefore, he planned to set up a fund.
If he couldn't claim the 100,000-Galleon bounty on Voldemort, he would have to find other ways to make up for it.
Professor Slughorn was also aware of the situation and expressed his support, as he could also move to the wizarding village to live with everyone else after retiring from the school.
Old people often feared loneliness, but having familiar faces around made a big difference.
"Hagrid is very angry about it and had a big argument with Ragnok," George told Albert about the earlier incident.
"Where is he now?" Albert asked with a frown.
"He went into the Forbidden Forest with Firenze. I think he's looking for the centaurs. Maybe you should talk to him," George suggested, feeling that Hagrid's actions were unreasonable. After all, this group of Acromantulas had taken the lives of quite a few of their companions.
This also meant that many people harbored hatred towards the Acromantulas, and if they found out about Hagrid's actions, no one knew how much of that resentment would be directed at him.
As Albert was about to leave, Fred suddenly approached him and brought up the subject of the Inferi, casually mentioning that they had taken some of the Acromantula materials.
"There were just too many of those giant spiders, and we thought we'd take some of the less valuable remains for research as a form of payment for helping to deal with them," Fred explained.
Professor Slughorn didn't mind this either, and as Fred said, there were simply too many Acromantula corpses. Aside from extracting the most valuable venom, they had no use for the rest of the remains.
They were aware that Albert wouldn't be pleased about this, but they felt it was only right to mention it, especially since they also knew that Albert was doing this not for his own benefit.
(End of Chapter)
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