Chapter 94 – Conflicts on the Battlefield (2)
More and more people began to gather around, all looking at Asterion and Augusta with curious looks. Asterion presumed that Neville had indeed died from Augusta's reaction. This made him feel mixed emotions, of regret and sadness to be more exact.
He felt regret for not killing Neville earlier, and how he would have liked to have Neville on his dissection table. As for sadness, he felt sad for not seeing Neville's reaction when he destroyed the Longbottom House.
"Although I don't know the reason behind this attack, you have to face consequences, especially for attacking your Commander." Casually dusting off his shoulders due to the attack, Asterion spoke calmly, his red eyes staring directly into the eyes of Matriarch Longbottom.
A tense atmosphere spread among all those who were watching. No one spoke against Asterion's words, not because he was the strongest, but because he was right. There is no army in the world where a soldier can try to kill his commander and walk away without consequences.
"Lord Black." Seeing things getting increasingly tense, Filius intervened before things got even worse.
Asterion looked at his professor and nodded in greeting. "It pleases me to see you alive, Professor Flitwick."
"I appreciate your words, but please, do not punish Lady Augusta severely. She is suffering from the condition of her grandson, who is on the verge of death because of his fight with Bellatrix Lestrange." Filius spoke with a serious tone and looked at his brightest student with an almost pleading look.
Filius himself knew that it was impossible for Augusta to get out of this situation without consequences. After all, if such a thing were not punished, it would set a very wrong example to all the soldiers on the battlefield, who could break the rules and not suffer the proper consequences.
Listening to the words of the half-goblin, everyone around understood the root of the conflict. They looked at Augusta with pity, but no one spoke up to help her. After all, instead of attacking Bellatrix herself, Augusta attacked their commander.
Asterion had quite a bit of prestige in the army; just his presence on the battlefield made everyone feel safer because with Asterion present, Voldemort wouldn't attack the weaker soldiers on the battlefield. So everyone had a lot of respect for the thirteen-year-old.
With Filius's words, Asterion himself knew that Neville was alive, although still in critical condition. Remembering the grave state Bellatrix left Neville in, the Black heir felt it was a miracle Neville was still alive.
Dumbledore must have paid a hefty price to keep the young man alive, despite Neville having half of his organs due to Bellatrix's Maximum Bombarda.
Looking at Filius and then at the people around, Asterion pondered. Everyone could hear Filius's words, so if he were too harsh with the punishment, it would affect his image. Something he didn't want, especially after gaining so much prestige and gradually clearing the infamy of the Black House.
"Lady Augusta will have to go to the battlefield and prove her worth. If she refuses the assigned task, she will have to face the Tribunal with serious consequences for attacking the acting commander," Asterion spoke, after a brief silence, delivering the verdict. It wasn't a very severe punishment, but due to Augusta's advanced age, it was a particularly dangerous punishment.
When everyone heard, no one found it excessive, although Lady Longbottom's advanced age was a particularly serious issue, nothing that reinforcement magic couldn't help with.
Filius also relaxed with the words; in his mind, he was already prepared to hear Augusta's death sentence, but any reduction in punishment was a victory in his eyes.
Throughout the process, Augusta Longbottom never took her eyes off Asterion's figure, as if she wanted to engrave his image in the depths of her mind, so she would never forget him.
Asterion didn't care about her gaze; he wanted her to remember him, as he would be the last face she would see before Death came to reap her soul. That he would ensure happened with much pain and sadism.
"Good job," Aurelius, who had been beside Asterion the whole time, murmured with a look of satisfaction on his face. His son-in-law did an excellent job with Augusta, not letting anger cloud his judgment.
Although severely punishing Augusta would have a better impact on the Pureblood Faction, it would bring a certain infamy to Asterion. Even if small, it was such things that made people not trust you.
A stern and fair image was much more well-received than a cold and emotionless commander, which would greatly help his son-in-law's future and consequently Daphne's.
"Let's start pressing the battlefield, Lord Greengrass. If we continue in this stalemate, morale may begin to decline, especially when there is no significant victory," Asterion, walking towards the main tent of the camp, spoke to the man beside him.
Aurelius nodded. Asterion was right; this war had been going on for almost a month, during which time seeing the death of comrades had brought a tense and heavy atmosphere to the entire camp. They had to achieve a significant victory to boost army morale; otherwise, victory would be an uncertain factor in the future.
"I will speak with Dumbledore so that the Semi-Special Grade Wizards can enter the battlefield," Aurelius replied with a serious look. The Pureblood Faction didn't have many Semi-Special Grade Wizards compared to the Light Faction.
The Pureblood faction was only more powerful because of Arcturus, who was worth 3 or 4 Semi-Special Grade Wizards with his Cursed Spirits.
In comparison, Dumbledore could mobilize at least four semi-special grade wizards like Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Aberforth Dumbledore, and Alastor Moody, all prestigious wizards and witches in the British community.
Asterion nodded at his words and entered the tent. Inside, the space had been expanded with an expansion spell, making the interior of the tent as large as a mansion. Inside, almost all the wizards and witches working in logistics were working with a serious and concentrated look.
In the center of the tent was a rectangular table with dozens of chairs; of these dozens of chairs, at least half were occupied. Two main chairs were at the end of the table, and in one of them, Albus Dumbledore was sitting, calmly sipping tea.
Seeing Asterion sitting beside him, he spoke with a curious look. "It was very noisy outside."
Asterion rolled his eyes at the man's acting; it was obviously his fault, but he was acting all curious as if he didn't know anything. A truly hypocritical man, that was Albus Dumbledore.
"A grandmother saddened by the critical condition of her grandson," Asterion replied calmly, looking directly into the eyes of the Hogwarts Headmaster.
"A pity what happened to young Neville. Bellatrix Lestrange was extremely cruel and insidious," Dumbledore sighed sadly, his voice low and full of sorrow for Neville's cruel fate.
Asterion again rolled his eyes at the man's shameless words. Neville had been even crueler to Bellatrix, not only breaking hundreds of bones but also stabbing a dagger into his cousin and subordinate's neck.
If he hadn't arrived in time and used a rare healing potion made from Phoenix tears, Bellatrix would be dead by now.
"Will he survive?" Asterion asked after a brief silence. His gaze showed curiosity about Neville's condition. He didn't believe Dumbledore's words at all; the man owned a phoenix. It could be said that as long as you had a phoenix, you were practically immortal.
"Yes, but with serious sequelae," Dumbledore nodded with a serious and sorrowful expression.
Asterion internally scoffed at his words but remained silent. He turned his gaze to everyone sitting at the table and spoke calmly.
"Let's begin the strategic meeting."
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Next Chapter: Chapter 95 - The War Intensifies (1), Chapter 96 - The War Intensifies (2), Chapter 97 - The Death of Voldemort (1), Chapter 98 - The Death of Voldemort (2) And end of the first volume.
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 99 – Decision (1), Chapter 100 – Decision (2), Chapter 101 – Decision (3), Chapter 102 - The Black Sisters (1), Chapter 103 - The Black Sisters (2), Chapter 104 - Rose's Past (1), Chapter 105 - Arrival of Country Representatives (1), Chapter 106 - Arrival of Country Representatives (2), Chapter 107 - Arrival of Country Representatives (3), Chapter 108 – Party (1), Chapter 109 – Party (2), Chapter 110 - Back To Hogwarts (1), Chapter 111 - Back To Hogwarts (2), Chapter 112 – New Students (1), Chapter 113 – New Students (2), Chapter 114 – Ophelia (1), Chapter 115 – Ophelia (2).