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After this encounter, Edward did stay long at Hogwarts before leaving. He did not even alert Headmistress Minerva but contacted his family to announce his return.
As soon as he returned to his castle, he saw Hermione waiting for him. She jumped into his arm and hugged him tightly, almost squeezing him to death.
"I'm fine. I don't even have a scratch on me," said Edward as he caressed her long hair. Soon afterward, everybody else arrived to give him a long hug.
A few minutes later, Edward was having dinner with all his family. His mother, father, wives, Amelia, and even Susan closed her art exhibition to come to participate in the dinner.
"Son, you're finally back," said his mother.
"What do you mean? My experiment has just finished," lied Edward smoothly and effortlessly.
"Oh, I know you way better than you can imagine. Do you think I could not tell that the person that was talking to me for the past five years was nothing but a programmed hologram," replied Johana.
(AN: In the early chapter, I said that Edward's mother's name was Johana, then I forgot and said that her name was Morgana. Now, I decided that Morgana is her first name while Johana is her middle name. To disguise from the little elf Morgana, she will be referred to as Johana from now on.)
"Plus, your father cannot keep a secret."
Edward just glanced at his father without saying anything. Before leaving, he left a hologram to talk to his mother to not worry her. At first, he wanted to leave a clone.
However, he was worried that the clone would go rogue in his absence. With how much power he has in the Empire, a rogue clone could do too much damage. Plus, he did not want Herpo to take advantage of the clone to do something sneaky.
"Well, all that matters is that our son is back safe and sound," said Edgar Bones.
"That's true. Son, where is my new daughter-in-law?"
"Excuse me?"
"There is no need to play coy," said Johana. "If I know you, you must have brought one or a few new wives from your voyage. So, where are they?"
Edward could feel many dangerous eyes staring at him, she coughed slightly: "She's still in cryosleep; she needs time to adjust to this world. Alright, let's not talk about this. How has everything been during my absence?"
Although Johana wanted to know more, she was wise enough to know that this was not the time.
So, the family had a long dinner as Edward briefly explained the things he experienced during his travels. Once everything was over, he was left alone with his five wives.
The joyous mood on his face instantly disappeared once he was alone. With a frown on his face, he asked: "What's going on?"
"What do you mean?" asked Rowena.
"I could feel some alienation between all of you. So, something must have happened."
During the dinner, he could feel that all of them seemed to be separated into two groups: One with Rowena and Bellatrix. The second with Hermione, Luna, and Fleur.
"While you were gone, we had a little disagreement," said Rowena calmly. "I guess it's not that little since it also divided the Illuminati Members as well."
"In that case, let's assemble and deal with the issue once for all."
Soon, all the other members were called for a meeting. Snape, Lily Potter, Grindelwald, Professor Flitwick, Amelia, and the Flamel. As soon as they arrived, Edward could feel the tension between them.
So, he asked someone to tell him what happened, then a file was sent to him. After using Skynet to watch, he understood the gist of what was going on.
A Rebellion.
Three years after his departure, news of his absence was leaked. A group of people–using the information that the so-called Dementor Invasion that was the foundation of the Arcane Empire's establishment was a lie created by the Emperor–rebelled and took over a few major cities all over the world.
After reading up to here, Edward was calmed. He expected long ago that the information about the Invasion would not remain a secret forever. So, he was prepared long ago.
He disseminated the truth to the web so that all the people of the Empire would hear about it at least once. That way, over time, after constantly hearing this "conspiracy theory", the majority of people became desensitized to this kind of information.
No one actually believes it to be true, and when other people talk about this theory, they are labeled as conspiracy theorists.
What led to the conflict amongst the members was not the rebellion, but the actions taken to deal with the situation. They were divided in what course of action to take.
People like Hermione and Luna advocated for a peaceful solution, while Rowena, Bellatrix, and Snape advocated for a more military or forceful approach.
However, before they could come up with a decision, Grindelwald took matters into his own hands. Using his power as the commander of the Ghost Squad, he led his legion to massacre the rebels.
And he broadcasted the entire thing to the world.
"Your Majesty, I'm willing to accept punishment," said Grindelwald. "But I still believe that I did the right thing."
"You indeed did the right thing," said Edward.
These words made Grindelwald relieved. His only dream in his life was to see wizards prosper. Now, this dream has been accomplished, so he will not allow anyone to destroy the current prosperity of wizardkind.
Whoever tries to do so, he will kill them with no hesitation.
Edward looked at the fuming peaceful group and said: "I understand why you want to use a peaceful approach. However, despite how prosperous the Empire currently looks, there are too many problems.
"So, we cannot tolerate any form of rebellion. Grindelwald's action will not only serve as a warning to those people who have these thoughts but also serve as a precedent for how to deal with rebellion in the future–especially when our territory spawns countless solar systems and even galaxies.
"Rebellion in any shape or form cannot be tolerated. Otherwise, the Empire will slowly crumble once we begin to expand our territories."
Hermione, Luna, Fleur, Lily, and Flitwick sighed after hearing his words. Although they did not like it, they understood that sometimes, force and violence is the best way to solve some problems.
Rowena, Bellatrix, Snape, and Grindelwald did not rob their victories to the other side. After all, they knew that these people wanted the best for the Empire.
As for the Flamel, they remained neutral during the entire controversy.
After appeasing these people, Edward made one phone call: it was to Dolores Umbridge. After this incident, she took the blame for Grindelwald's actions.
After talking to her and promising her that she will be reinstated in her position after a few years of laying low, Edward hung up the phone. As an Emperor, he was adept at politics and knew how to appease the people that worked for him.
Even though he did not like Dolores, she was very capable in her work and did what she was told without complaining.
After that, Edward made another call. This time it was to Lucius Malfoy. As the commander of the Earth Defense Force, he actually allowed a rebellion to occur under his watch.
So, Edward reprimanded him while also telling him that his power will be reduced. On account of his loyalty, he can keep his position, but the power he holds will drastically decrease.
Of course, Edward also knew that part of the fault was on the Auror Department and the Intelligence Department. But, he would deal with these people later.
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Title: New Projects
