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Chapter 1680: A War With No Victors (One Hundred Thirty)
Chapter 1680: A War With No Victors (One Hundred Thirty)
Ever since Voldemort's remnants were betrayed by their own and wiped out by the Ministry, peace had finally returned to the British magical community. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, their faces once again bearing long-lost smiles, and they felt a newfound sense of approval for the new Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt.
However, Kingsley himself had no time to spare worrying about public opinion. He realized that he, or rather, the Ministry, was facing a big problem.
With Voldemort's faction completely eradicated, the large number of Aurors recruited by the Ministry had lost their original purpose.
It wasn't that the British Ministry no longer needed Aurors, but rather, they no longer required such a massive force.
The main reason was that maintaining such a large number of Aurors was extremely costly, and the Ministry's meager funds couldn't withstand that level of expenditure; financial issues would surface easily.
As such, it was inevitable that the Auror Office would have to downsize its personnel.
But this was a troublesome and thankless task. The Aurors had worked tirelessly, burning the midnight oil for several months to bring peace to the British magical community. And now, after finally dealing with Voldemort's remnants, the reward they received was a dismissal notice from the Ministry?
That was enough to make anyone explode with rage.
Even if they truly wanted to dismiss the Aurors, they had to do it in a more considerate manner.
Of course, Kingsley wouldn't dare to do such a thing openly, unless he wanted to face a mutiny. He wasn't foolish enough to make such a blatantly stupid decision.
So, he needed a suitable excuse.
Fortunately, there were simply too many messes to clean up at the moment. The Reversal of Accidental Magic Incident Team and the Invisible Task Force were overwhelmed, so... Kingsley decided to redeploy some of the Aurors to lend a hand.
Although the Aurors might not be professionals in those specific areas, as the Ministry's most elite employees, they could generally handle most tasks.
Thus, the less elite Aurors were temporarily reassigned to the Crisis Response Team established by Scrimgeour to help the Ministry deal with the aftermath of Voldemort's remnants.
After a few months in those positions, the Aurors would then seamlessly transition to new roles or be assisted in transferring to positions of their choice.
Cedric found himself in a similar situation. This unlucky fellow had already received a heads-up from Albert and was now fretting over his next work arrangement.
He wasn't worried about losing his job, but after his tenure at Hogwarts ended next July, he would have to find a new job, and he faced the prospect of a pay cut.
It was common knowledge that Aurors earned significantly more than other regular employees of the Ministry, and this salary allowed him to live a comfortable life with Cho.
At the very least, they didn't have to scrimp and save.
This was one of the reasons Cedric had been willing to teach at Hogwarts.
It was also the main reason he didn't want to give up his job at the Ministry and had agreed to stay on as a professor at Hogwarts upon Professor McGonagall's request.
He had no other choice. The salaries of Hogwarts professors were indeed not very high, and with Cho currently unemployed, that meager income wouldn't be enough to support his family.
At least, they couldn't live comfortably.
Even though Albert had reassured him that he didn't have to worry about such problems, Cedric couldn't help but sigh, "Restoring peace to the British magical community isn't entirely a good thing."
"If anyone else heard you say that, they'd probably beat you up," Albert said with a smile as he looked at his gloomy friend. "Once the 'Dark Magic Defense Guide' is finished, you'll have an additional stable source of income."
"That's not a lot, especially since you're keeping the price low," Cedric said, still focused on his work.
"If you think it's too little, I can pay you the full amount upfront. It should be a hundred or a thousand galleons at least!"
"Don't do that," Cedric refused with a shake of his head. He didn't think his help was worth that much, and he didn't want his good friend to spend so much. To steer the conversation away from this topic, he hastily changed the subject.
"Ever since Kingsley became the Minister of Magic, he seems to have changed a lot."
"It's not easy for him to do what needs to be done in that position," Albert said, understanding the implication behind Cedric's words. "If he didn't have some tricks up his sleeve, he wouldn't be able to handle all these messes. But I must say, the way he betrayed his own people was rather despicable."
"I thought you hated him."
Cedric looked at Albert with surprise, curious about his assessment of Kingsley.
"I do dislike him, but that doesn't stop me from acknowledging his capabilities," Albert said, maintaining his sense of fairness.
Just then, the office door was knocked on, and Hermione entered, carrying several books.
After greeting the two of them, she placed the books she had borrowed from the library on the table and returned to her seat, resuming her work on the final proofreading task.
Once she finished the task at hand, Hermione put down the stack of parchment in her hands and brought up some recent gossip she had heard, "I heard that several couples in Avalon are planning to get engaged soon?"
"Yes, I suppose they can't wait to start their happy cohabiting lives!" Albert replied with a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"Cohabiting?"
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, and her expression turned peculiar.
"Yes, cohabiting," Cedric agreed with Albert's approach. "But it's probably a good idea to exercise some discretion in such matters."
"As far as I know, most of the ladies already have someone," Hermione said, winking at the two of them. "And many of them have already... cough, cough, of course, this is just what I've heard."
Within the Defense Association, the number of ladies was relatively small, and there weren't any particularly unattractive ones. After fighting side by side for so long, it wasn't unusual for them to find suitable partners.
"Speaking of which, you've become quite the gossip yourself," Albert said, looking at Hermione with a hint of exasperation. "And where did you hear all this?"
"The ladies' private conversations," Hermione said with a wink. "They even bet on whether or not you'll find another lover."
Cedric, sitting next to them, couldn't help but burst out laughing. With a look of schadenfreude, he said, "You're still as popular as ever with the ladies."
"Shut up," Albert glared at Cedric.
"Alright, alright!" Cedric shrugged, "It seems like you two really talk about everything."
"I guess it's because we're too bored," Hermione sighed. "Some of the ladies are actually bolder than you think. They don't hold back when they speak."
(End of Chapter)
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