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Chapter 1558: A War with No Victors (Part Eight)
Chapter 1558: A War with No Victors (Part Eight)
After parting ways with Harry and the others, Albert discreetly made his way to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, using a Disillusionment Charm to conceal himself.
As he pushed open the door and stepped inside, several people rose from the sofas on the right and waved at him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Albert said as he took a seat that they had kindly left vacant for him.
"Where were you earlier? We've been waiting for ages!" came the familiar chorus of complaints from those around him.
"Just had some personal matters to attend to," Albert replied with a smile, paying little mind to the grumbles. He was certain that no one truly minded the brief wait, and they were likely just teasing him about his usually punctual nature.
"So, why have you gathered us all here?" Cedric asked, feigning ignorance.
"Yes, there is something I'd like to discuss," Albert said, raising his hand to quiet the room. He then proceeded to explain the primary reason for calling everyone together.
"Now that Voldemort is truly gone and the war is over, it's time to disband the Defense Association."
"So soon?"
Most members of the group had developed a strong sense of belonging to the Defense Association that Albert had formed.
"I wanted to give you all a heads-up so that you can be prepared," Albert continued.
He felt a sense of warmth seeing how reluctant everyone was to disband the group, but he had made up his mind.
Just like the Order of the Phoenix, they had come together to oppose Voldemort, and now that he was defeated, it was time to part ways.
Forcing it to continue would only lead to its eventual dissolution anyway, so it was better to end it on a high note, leaving everyone with fond memories and setting the stage for something else.
Without keeping them in suspense for too long, Albert brought up the other matter.
"Oh, right, as I've mentioned before, I plan to build a wizarding village."
The group exchanged glances, and soon, whispers filled the room.
"A village like Hogsmeade?"
"Are we going to rebuild Hogsmeade?"
"That sounds amazing!"
… "Ahem," Albert cleared his throat softly. "The village will be built on the site of the former headquarters of the Defense Association."
"Won't it be difficult to build a village near the headquarters?"
"He just said it's a site, which means it was probably destroyed by Voldemort and his followers!" Kenneth rolled his eyes at the person who asked the question.
"If any of you wish to settle in the new village, you can sign up with Hannah. But you'll have to lend a hand during the construction," Albert said, not delving into the details and instead leaving the matter to Hannah to handle. The management of the village would also fall to her once it was built.
At Albert's gesture, Hannah stood up from the sofa and led the group over to a blackboard, where she began explaining the various aspects of building the village.
"You certainly know how to put people to work," Fred commented.
"If you two weren't already married, I'd suspect there was something going on between you," George added, always curious about how Albert had managed to convince Hannah to be his right-hand person.
Cedric, watching the crowd gather around Hannah, asked, "I wonder how many people will want to settle in the village?"
Kenneth rolled his eyes at what he considered a foolish question. "Who wouldn't want to? Only a fool would turn down this opportunity. It's clearly Albert's way of providing for those who joined the Association and fought against Voldemort."
"Who knows? Those who want to stay can, and those who don't, won't be forced. I'm not too concerned about it," Albert replied nonchalantly.
"To be honest, I'm more worried that we won't have enough pounds saved up," George suddenly said.
Albert raised an eyebrow. "How much do we have this time?"
"Well, it's a lot less than we expected. According to Hannah's estimate, excluding the small change and jewelry, we have about 130,000 pounds."
George had no real concept of how much 130,000 pounds was, but it was clear from Hannah's demeanor that it was a disappointing amount.
It fell far short of their expectations.
"I've seen Hannah's records, and with the amount of money we have in pounds, forget about building a village, we won't even have enough to buy the raw materials for construction," Zhang Qiu added, furrowing his brows in concern.
"That's to be expected," Albert said calmly. "Most Muggles keep their money in bank accounts and don't carry large amounts of cash. It's the same for wizards; no one walks around with a bag full of Galleons. Don't worry about the money; the point of collecting pounds was to give everyone a sense of contribution."
Only through shared hardship and effort would the village be truly cherished by its inhabitants.
"Can't we do something about those bank cards?" Kenneth asked, his brow furrowed as he tried to wrap his head around the finances involved in building a village.
"Even if we had the bank cards, without knowing the passwords, they'd be useless pieces of plastic," Albert explained, giving them a basic understanding of how bank cards worked.
In truth, even if they had the opportunity to access the funds in those accounts, Albert wouldn't consider it, as it was a morally ambiguous act that could potentially cause problems down the line.
"What do you plan to do now?"
Zhang Qiu was curious to hear Albert's solution to their financial shortfall. If they were to build houses according to Albert's proposed designs, their current reserves of pounds wouldn't be nearly enough.
"As far as I know, the Death Eaters have slaughtered many Muggle villages, and we should still be able to obtain a large amount of... pounds," Cedric offered, thinking he had guessed Albert's plan. "The Ministry of Magic will eventually need to clean up the remaining Inferi, and we will still have more pounds coming in."
"Don't be silly, Cedric. That small amount of pounds won't even make a dent. Otherwise, Hannah wouldn't be complaining about the lack of funds all the time," George retorted.
Zhang Qiu, who didn't live exclusively in the magical world, had a better grasp of their current situation than most people in the room.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We'll definitely have enough time to build the village," Albert said, putting a stop to the discussion.
By this time, Hannah had finished explaining the details to the group. As they lined up to register their names, they grumbled about Albert only informing them now.
"Albert mentioned it a long time ago, but you guys never paid attention," Lee Jordan said, twitching his lips as if he wanted to argue further. However, he didn't get the chance as Albert raised his hand to silence those who were still intending to say something.
Then, in full view of everyone, Albert waved his wand and conjured a whole table of delicious food.
But that wasn't all.
With another casual wave of his wand, the Room of Requirement expanded, and small, quaint tables and chairs appeared along the walls, giving everyone the feeling that they were attending a grand banquet.
"Now that we've finally achieved victory, I think we should at least take some time to be happy and joyfully celebrate this great triumph," Albert said, stating the third reason he had gathered them all there.
As he waved his wand once more, soft music filled the room.
Everyone was surprised by the sudden celebration, but no one would refuse such a well-deserved feast.
Moreover, Albert thoughtfully provided an abundance of delightful treats, candies, and butterbeer to lift everyone's spirits and address their lack of appetite.
"A toast to our fallen comrades," Albert said, raising his glass to honor those who had perished in the recent battle.
"A toast to our fallen comrades," everyone echoed, standing up to join Albert in his tribute.
In truth, they weren't overly grief-stricken. During the final battle, everyone had steeled themselves for the possibility of death.
Albert understood the immense psychological pressure they had endured after the Felix Felicis wore off, so indulging in a hearty feast to relax their taut nerves was much needed.
That was why he had asked the house-elves to help prepare this private celebration, complete with an abundance of treats, candies, and butterbeer to fill their bellies.
As he had intended, this celebration surpassed any other they had ever had.
"Aren't you going to dance? The ladies are all waiting for you to ask them for a dance," Hannah said as she sat down next to Albert, holding a cup of butterbeer.
Albert looked at the people dancing in the ballroom and said softly, "I'm not the star of tonight's show."
"We're all the stars tonight, right!" Hannah smiled at Albert and continued, "To be honest, you've done a great job. At least most of us made it out alive."
"I'm not as fragile as you think," Albert said, feeling a bit amused.
"No, I'm just stating the truth. Thank you for leading us to victory," Hannah said sincerely, not caring if her words were sentimental. This was how she truly felt.
In the world ruled by Voldemort, she saw no future for herself.
Albert smiled and clinked his glass with Hannah's, finishing his butterbeer in one swig before changing the subject.
"Don't let them carry on too long. We have other matters to attend to tomorrow!"
"You're leaving?"
Cedric, holding hands with Qiu, had just stepped off the dance floor when he overheard this.
"Yes, I need to head home," Albert replied, checking his pocket watch. "In an hour, we'll call it a night. After all, we have a whole bunch of messes to sort out tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow, then!"
"Is he leaving already?"
Fred, hand in hand with Angelina, walked over and watched Albert's departing figure, unable to resist commenting, "Is that what happens after you're married?"
"I guess so," George replied.
"Marriage is scary!"
"Then don't get married!"
Angelina shot Fred a look, still undecided about accepting his marriage proposal.
"Oh, so you agreed to it?" Fred suddenly realized.
"Maybe later," Angelina hedged, reluctant to give up her Quidditch career.
"You two can get engaged first," Cedric chimed in with a smile, offering his assistance. "Once we're done with all this, Qiu and I plan to get engaged first."
"That's a good idea."
Fred turned to Angelina, intending to seal the deal.
(End of Chapter)
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