Looking at the anticipation shining in Hermione's eyes, Arthur immediately understood what the little witch was thinking.
He gently rubbed her head.
"Don't worry."
"If there's an opportunity, I'll definitely take you there."
"But not this time."
This trip would involve entering the Underworld and potentially slaying a god.
Bringing Hermione along would only complicate matters.
Fortunately, Hermione understood that as well.
She obediently nodded and accepted Arthur's decision.
At that moment, Dumbledore stepped forward.
"Before we discuss what comes next…"
"Shouldn't we handle the aftermath first?"
Although the entire battlefield existed within a temporary space Arthur had created, the effects on the outside world had only been delayed—not erased.
Dumbledore could tell that Arthur's method was essentially an enormous temporary Extension Charm.
The surrounding space had been expanded while simultaneously isolated from reality.
That was why the battle had been so intense, yet none of the nearby Muggle residents had noticed anything.
However, the spell would not last forever.
Once Arthur's spatial manipulation ended, everything that happened here would reassert itself upon reality.
If they left things as they were—
Britain would probably wake up tomorrow convinced aliens had invaded Earth.
Arthur shrugged.
"Cleanup?"
"That's easy."
He lightly tapped the ground with the Death Staff.
Immediately, the earth softened into mud.
Huge earthen hands emerged from the ground and grabbed every remaining Death Eater on the battlefield.
One by one, they were dragged beneath the surface.
Moments later—
not a single Death Eater remained visible.
Even the enormous craters created during the battle were filled in as the earth shifted and settled.
Arthur gestured toward the restored landscape.
"There."
"All done."
Dumbledore stared in silence.
The cleanup really had been simple.
And brutal.
The battlefield now looked as though nothing had ever happened.
It was almost unnaturally clean.
Originally, Dumbledore had intentionally spared several Death Eaters.
He planned to interrogate them afterward.
Now all of them had been buried.
Completely.
Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly complain.
Arthur had solved the problem perfectly.
Besides, those Death Eaters had probably already suffocated underground by now.
There was little point discussing them anymore.
"An extraordinary Transfiguration," Dumbledore said at last.
"If we were at Hogwarts, I'd award twenty points for that."
Arthur snorted.
"That's not really your concern anymore."
Then he added,
"You should be thinking about how to deal with the problems waiting for you at the Ministry, Minister."
Dumbledore froze.
Only now did he remember that he was no longer the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
He was the Minister for Magic.
And unfortunately—
a certain pink toad still worked at the Ministry.
For a brief moment, Dumbledore genuinely regretted allowing Arthur to bury the surviving Death Eaters.
The Ministry still refused to fully acknowledge Voldemort's return.
If those captured Death Eaters had been presented before Ministry officials and interrogated under Veritaserum—
surely nobody could continue denying the truth.
Sadly, it was too late now.
The witnesses were gone.
What a waste.
Then suddenly—
an idea struck him.
Just because Dumbledore found Umbridge troublesome didn't mean Arthur would.
Considering Arthur's countless strange abilities, Dumbledore quickly formed a plan.
He turned toward Arthur.
"By the way…"
"The disc you gave Harry earlier."
"That was some form of curse, wasn't it?"
After decades immersed in magic, Dumbledore could recognize something like that.
Arthur nodded.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Dumbledore waved a hand.
"Nothing serious."
"I was simply wondering how skilled you are in curses."
"I'd like to commission something."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
That was unexpected.
Strictly speaking, cursed objects generally fell into the category of Dark Artefacts.
And here was the Minister for Magic requesting one.
If Arthur didn't know Dumbledore's character so well, he might have suspected this was some elaborate entrapment scheme.
Arthur chuckled.
"I'd say I'm fairly good with curses."
"What exactly do you need?"
Truthfully, he was curious.
What did Dumbledore want a cursed object for?
If the request wasn't overly complicated, Arthur didn't mind helping.
Dumbledore considered the matter briefly.
"It doesn't need to be anything particularly sophisticated."
"As long as it can make someone suffer a streak of bad luck for a while."
Arthur immediately nodded.
"That's easy."
"Give me a moment."
For him, Dumbledore's request was almost laughably simple.
With a thought, Arthur gathered five branches from trees growing within the Zen Garden.
Willow.
Pagoda tree.
Mulberry.
Poplar.
And Chinaberry.
In ancient Eastern traditions, these five trees were collectively known as the Five Ghost Trees.
All possessed strongly yin-aligned properties.
They also happened to be excellent materials for carrying curses.
Dark curse power flowed through Arthur's hands and engulfed the branches.
Under its influence, the wood melted into a single mass of liquid.
Arthur casually shaped it with his fingers.
Soon, a small wooden doll appeared.
After finishing, Arthur dispersed the curse power and tossed the doll to Dumbledore.
"You can call it a Curse Doll."
"If you write someone's name on it…"
"They'll experience an extended period of terrible luck."
Dumbledore caught the doll and stared at it.
For a moment, he genuinely didn't know what to say.
He had expected the process to take days.
Possibly weeks.
Instead, Arthur had created the finished product on the spot.
Using nothing more than a few tree branches.
And this was what Arthur considered merely "fairly good" at curses?
Perhaps Dumbledore fundamentally misunderstood the meaning of those words.
After all—
he had clearly seen the curse power Arthur manipulated moments ago.
Even Dumbledore himself wouldn't casually touch something like that.
Yet Arthur had handled it as casually as a child playing with clay.
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