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Chapter 1674: A War with No Victors (One Hundred and Twenty-Four)
Chapter 1674: A War with No Victors (One Hundred and Twenty-Four)
"Looks like there's more here than we expected."
Sana picked up the bag of coins that Albert nonchalantly pushed towards her, weighing it in her palm before uncinching the bag and pouring out the stack of Galleons in front of Percy.
"What do you plan to do with this bounty?" she asked.
"Let them decide," Albert replied without hesitation.
While the bag contained a substantial amount of Galleons, there were also quite a few people involved in the werewolf-hunting operation that night. This bag of Galleons could only be considered an encouragement award.
If he were to divide the bounty equally among everyone, each person would only receive one or two Galleons at most, which would surely leave them dissatisfied. It would be better to let them decide how to use it.
With their own choices, he believed they wouldn't have much to complain about.
After Sana took the bag of Galleons and left, Albert suddenly asked, "What about the results of the werewolf interrogation?"
The efficiency of the Ministry of Magic had never been high, especially when it came to matters involving money. The fact that Percy had brought the bounty for capturing the werewolves so quickly obviously meant that he had something else to discuss with Albert, and delivering the small bag of Galleons was just a side task.
"The result is that there is no result," Percy sighed helplessly. "The Aurors searched the memories of those werewolves but found nothing useful. They don't even know what happened."
"Is it the same for all the werewolves?" Albert had already guessed that this might be the case.
"Yes, it's the same for all of them. I think their memories were deliberately erased; there's absolutely nothing useful there," Percy replied, his expression grim. He knew that such an answer would not be satisfying.
The entire British wizarding community was shocked by the large number of werewolves that appeared during the full moon. Everyone was waiting for the Ministry to uncover the mastermind behind this incident, and they wouldn't be appeased by Kingsley coming up with some flimsy excuse.
"Wasn't this the expected outcome?" Albert was not surprised by this development. He looked calmly at Percy and said, "Memories can be altered, but not completely erased. A skilled Legilimens could uncover those hidden memories. I just wanted them to die peacefully, without suffering too much pain."
Percy had already anticipated this outcome before coming to see Albert. Even before he arrived, Kingsley had prepared a backup plan.
If they could get answers from the werewolves, that would be ideal. But if not, they would create their own answers.
As Albert had suggested, they delved deep into the memories of those werewolves and found what they were looking for.
Now that they had suspects, they couldn't let them off easily. Percy's visit was to update Albert on the situation and also to confirm the feasibility of their next steps.
Of course, the Ministry wouldn't go on a rampant arrest spree of pure-blood wizards. Instead, they would adopt a more subtle approach and invite certain pure-blood wizards for a "chat."
Yes, a chat, not an interrogation.
"Before we have solid evidence, the Ministry will not rashly arrest any wizard and throw them in prison. That would be irresponsible," Gawain Robards, the Head of the Auror Office, candidly shared with the press.
"Due to certain reasons, we must invite them to assist in the investigation so that we can clear their names as soon as possible. The entire process will take no more than two days, and they will only need to answer a few simple questions."
Despite the euphemism of "assisting in the investigation," everyone understood the implication—those pure-blood wizards invited for a chat were highly likely to be the culprits behind the werewolf incident.
As for the so-called "assisting in the investigation" instead of an interrogation, it was a polite way of putting it. The Ministry was giving them a chance to prove their innocence while also saving face for the pure-blood families.
Of course, this was also the result of the ancient wizarding families making their stance known.
The large-scale werewolf attack during the full moon had frightened everyone, and there was a genuine fear that the Death Eaters would strike again on a larger scale.
Therefore, it was imperative to uncover the perpetrators.
For many pure-blood families, as long as they weren't the ones under scrutiny, they didn't mind. Besides, the suspects were those who had initially supported Voldemort, so it was only natural that they were under suspicion. After all, they had brought this upon themselves by supporting the Dark Lord.
However, the first interrogation took an unexpected turn.
One unfortunate suspect suddenly died during the questioning.
Upon examination, it was discovered that he had died due to an Unbreakable Vow, bringing the entire situation to a standstill.
Without gaining any useful intelligence, they had ended up killing a pure-blood wizard. Even though the man was highly suspicious and had all but admitted his guilt, the fact that he died before he could say much of anything left everyone involved feeling uneasy.
"So, what's the Ministry's next move? Will they continue the investigation?"
Albert was curious if Kingsley had the courage to persist, even knowing that they wouldn't uncover anything useful.
"If they've all taken an Unbreakable Vow, then capturing more of them would be pointless," Cedric sighed. "Well, not entirely pointless, at least the mastermind is dead."
But now, the biggest problem was that if they couldn't bring all the culprits to justice, the next werewolf disaster would undoubtedly be even more catastrophic.
Voldemort's remnants wouldn't simply let this go; they would surely seek revenge.
"What will Kingsley do now?" Hermione asked, fearing that the next full moon would bring even greater chaos. Those beasts had created over a hundred werewolves, and they undoubtedly had the means to create even more, which would plunge all of Britain into chaos.
"Kingsley will feign compromise," Albert said, knowing exactly how the Minister would respond. In fact, any Minister for Magic would find it hard to compromise in such a situation.
At the very least, they wouldn't compromise openly, but Kingsley had other options.
"Will those fanatics compromise?" Hermione's expression was complex, as she, too, had never imagined Kingsley compromising, especially not before he became the Minister for Magic.
This, perhaps, was what Albert had meant when he said that politics was all about compromise.
"Yes, I believe many of them would want to jump ship before it sinks," Cedric said, turning to Albert. "Now, the biggest challenge is how to get around the Unbreakable Vow and get both sides to sit down and talk to resolve this issue once and for all."
"It's quite simple, really," Albert said, providing Kingsley with the answer he sought. "The Ministry can privately invite their families for a chat."
Albert's suggestion was something Kingsley had overlooked in his haste. After all, who would know their family members better than they themselves?
"What did you mean earlier when you said Kingsley would feign compromise?" Hermione asked after Cedric had hastily departed.
"He just wants to pass the buck," Albert replied, looking at the now-closed door. "Perhaps the Ministry's laws can't punish them, but there's nothing stopping avengers from paying them a visit."
"This… is a deal!"
(End of Chapter)
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