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Chapter 235

Winter holidays were very quickly replaced by everyday work. Returning to Hogwarts again became a kind of switch for me, after which I returned to my training and everyday problems. Although, it is somewhat incorrect to call the political and economic struggle with the Dark Lord and his followers everyday problems. Especially when it comes not just to hostile schoolchildren, but also to a very real struggle in the business sphere of the whole magical England.

However, most of my time was still occupied by training. I've already come to terms with the fact that I'll have to eliminate Tom with someone else's hands, but I'm not going to remain defenseless anyway. At least because Dumbledore is also looming on my horizon, and it seems that he is not going to disappear anywhere after the victory over the Dark Lord. And Tom himself, what the hell, has already managed to surprise me more than once, turning my plans against myself.

So yes, I'm more than seriously concerned about my own strength and survival. It's banal due to the fact that in a critical situation these two concepts will become inextricably linked, in the sense that without personal strength I'm in a direct clash with Tom, I can't even count on survival. And the risk of this collision has recently skymead up... And all because of the news that my spies brought me and the secret connection of the Order of the Phoenix.

And this news was very unambiguous - the Dark Lord became more active, starting to deal with some cases and problems on his own. Which is very, very bad, because if earlier he managed to do very, very much without personal intervention, now... I'm even scared. Moreover, quite a lot of suspicious personalities have recently started to hove near my houses. And if near the house on Grimmo such personalities still have any explanation, yet recently the criminal world in general has become more active, then the observers of Malfoy Manor... I'm very son.

Honestly, I even started thinking about sending my mother and her douther again somewhere abroad. And only the fact that such a journey in itself could be really dangerous stopped me from such a step. Still, in the protected manor, my two women will really be safer, especially since I personally transferred the manor to the siege regime, going to Hogwarts. And the protection at my house is like that... Even Tom will have to spend a lot of effort and time to do something with it.

So, so far I was calm about my family, even if I forbade anyone from moving outside the manor. Too obviously, the Dark Lord paid attention to our family, making me seriously so nervous... Which is possible and Tom's real goal. Still, the surveillance of my house is more than amateurish. As if this scum was sent on purpose to get on my nerves... But this doesn't mean that this scum won't be able to report it to Tom if they notice the movements from the house. And they can be tracked with the help of special artifacts. Transgression, you know, has long been learned to monitor, and I'm not talking about the fireplace network at all.

And killing these frames is not the best idea. If only because their place can be taken by much more professional guys, that in addition to observation, they will also examine the protection of the house unnoticed. In addition, such obvious aggression can provoke Tom himself. He's still not quite in his mind, which he's been reminded of more than once lately... he's hard to react to the death of his dogs.

So, well, it's better to really hide, not giving Tom an extra reason to attack my family. Moreover, the problem with this monster will still have to be solved in the next six months or a year. If this does not happen, it will really be safer for me to leave my native country, finally hide the manor, and go somewhere in China, Japan or even Russia. It will definitely be very difficult for Tom to reach these countries, despite the fact that this immigration can cost me a lot.

But let's not talk about sad things... I wanted to pull myself away until I received a sudden message from Dumbledore that he had decided to urgently collect his Order. I even had to ask for time off from the couples, knowing perfectly well that the director would not have made such a stir from scratch. Fortunately, Flitwick treated me quite favorably, considering me a more than diligent student, which made me not have any problems with him. And Snape, who at about the same time interrupted his own class in the second year, came in handy, taking me with him straight to the base of the Order of the Phoenix.

Fortunately, the mansion built with my money was not connected to the usual fireplace network, which is why hardly anyone could track our movement. And don't ask how it's even possible. I myself was surprised when the director brought me specialists from the ministry that they agreed to build our own fireplace network for us, and also to erase our memory after that... By the way, members of the order began to gather in the mansion itself at that moment, which caused a considerable commotion.

But this did not prevent me and my godfather from taking our seats with him at the table, not really paying attention to the soothing and excitedly talking wizards. Among whom the Weasley couple stood out especially strongly, who, in all truths and untruths, wanted to know what was so terrible happened, since Dumbledore so suddenly announced an emergency collection, snatching decent magicians from their work... Although, this issue in this room interested very, very many people.

Actually, the dean and I also closely followed the surrounding galdezh, trying to catch at least a grain of valuable information. And even if not immediately, but we succeeded, fortunately among the Auroras there were several wizards who are not very good at restraining their own emotions. It was by their sour mines that we were actually able to understand that the disaster that had happened was somehow connected with their department. It's not for nothing that the local Auroras are all gloomy and serious. And they were a little delayed, coming only a couple of minutes before the director himself...

There are obvious problems at work... I thought before the director personally denied my thoughts. Although, how did he refute it? I just added, noting that the problems now are not only with the Auroras, but also with the whole magical world, and Britain in particular. Still, the largest escape from Azkaban in the entire history of this prison is not a khuhry-muhry for you. Moreover, all the guards of Azkaban were either killed or simply disappeared... At the same time, the latter refers mainly to dementors who disappeared from their posts without a trace.

And if in the rest of the magical world they still wondered who and how could make something like this, because the criminals themselves were unlikely to be able to do it, then the Order of the Phoenix... There was simply no person in the Order who would question the main culprit of everything that happened - the Dark Lord. After all, no one has doubted its revival here for a long time, and there were no more candidates for such a "feat"...

However, the unambiguity of what happened did not make anyone feel better. Many, on the contrary, would rather remain in the dark than to realize that the former elite of the Death Eaters is now at large, and will very soon recover and begin to commit all kinds of atrocities again in the name of its master... Especially such faces are imprinted on the faces of the old guard of the Order, which even during the last war with Tom managed to personally experience the spells and curses of escaped criminals.

- Dumbledore... - Alistair Groom turned to the head of the order, getting up from his. - We must deal with the fugitives... We must definitely figure it out before they have time to recover and regain their strength. - Smiltly shaking with rage, but with absolute confidence in his voice, said the Terrible Eye. - I know it's not your style, but this time we must immediately... - The combat pensioner began to push his speech, but Dumbledore interrupted him, getting up from his seat on his seat on his own.

- You're right, Alister... And you don't need to persuade me. Not this time. - The old man said, swelling heavily. - In this situation, we really have to make our move first... Until the enemy recovers and becomes even more powerful. - Literally squeezing out his words, the old man said, bypassing the magicians with his cloudy and tired look... With a look that even my blood made me boil in the veins.

Chapter 236

You know, I honestly don't know how Dumbledore does it at all, but by the end of the meeting of his order, this very order was ready to storm the current shelter of the Dark Lord right now. At the same time, this company has even a dozen plans to storm the Ancestral estate of the Notts, in which Tom now lives, has formed... And what is most surprising, these plans even have the right to life, all the director personally agreed to take part in this whole adventure, and there are not so few really literate and experienced Auroras and Inexpressible people in our ranks.

In general, yes, the speed of events really surprised me. Especially in light of the fact that this whole combat operation was discussed not in terms of "maybe someday we will do it", but with an absolute willingness to implement such grandiose plans right now... Which was really shocking, because I have such determination and aggression in my head in the execution of the Order of the Phoenix seemed somewhat unnatural. As if these people were bewitched by turning them from not the most confident in the future into magicians ready for anything to achieve their goal... Well, or something like that.

And no, there was no mental influence from Dumbledore. He really made people go crazy in this way with his own appearance, his willingness to act decisively, and some kind of very wild charisma... Although, they still did not hurry with the implementation of the operation. We had little strength to attack Tom under any situation, and the ministry is unlikely to approve of our actions, even if the whole world would become aware of the revival of the Dark Lord.

So yes, despite the wild desire of some personalities right now to start cursing, without a clear plan the order did not dare to act. To begin with, Dumbledore decided to gather all our forces for a single attack, to attract mercenaries and curse destroyers to our side, which will help us overcome the protection of the Ancestral estate of Nott. Still, the manor of the ancient family of magicians is the manor of the ancient family of magicians. Storming such a place is another problem, especially when there is not a modest number of combat magicians inside. You can't do without training and very narrow specialists.

Fortunately, our director had the necessary connections with such specialists, and Bill Weasley is just the destroyer of curses, so the order will somehow cope with this problem. Another thing is the ministry, which is still very skeptical about the resurrection of the Dark Lord. And he will most likely find out our fees, understanding them somewhat incorrectly. And this is a real problem, because the ministry can prevent very, very many of our plans. And many members of the order work in the ministry or in institutions under its control... And something had to be solved with this.

Fortunately, Tom hasn't had much influence on the ministry so far. So, we could quite force ourselves to close our eyes to some things that are happening right under their noses. And when I say "we", I mean myself paired with Delphina, who took on such a difficult task... It's banal because none of us was going to take part in the upcoming battle. Lady Gringrass has not fully recovered from her last meeting with the Dark Lord, well, no one was going to drag me to war because of my age.

Fortunately, I didn't really strive there myself, despite the understanding that my abilities can do a very good job in this adventure. And the personal benefit of participating in all this mess could be very, very significant. And now I'm not even talking about simple combat experience, but about the connections that I will find with the rest of the members of the order fighting with them "shoulder to shoulder" against the Dark Lord... Still, such events, as a rule, are not forgotten, which is why in the future I could definitely count on the loyalty of not the last people in the country...

But no, the risk of meeting the Dark Lord himself is too high... With the same Dark Lord who wants to get to me since his stay in the form of a homunculus, when I just wanted to guess him through Peter. And I'm not sure that in a personal meeting on the battlefield, Tom won't deiger to spend some of his time on me, especially if you remember the madness of the highest lich, which is Tom. And Dumbledore, it's not a fact at all that he will decide to prevent Tom from reprasing him...

Of course, he's unlikely to leave me for slaughter, but something doesn't make me trust our director. He himself is not quite unambiguous, and in the light of his recent actions... To be honest, I'm a little scared of the determination with which Dumbledore, who has been passive in his actions, is preparing the magicians around him for battle... Something has changed in the director, and I never like it. Although, the benefits of such changes are difficult to underestimate.

Everything would be much worse if the director continued his policy of slow build-up of forces and influence, because it would definitely lead his supporters to collapse... And Dumbledore chose a very successful time for activation, just when Tom's influence is not too great yet, and British society is frightened by the mass escape from Azkaban and the disappearance of dementors. In this light, the fight against the Dark Lord will really be difficult to condemn... Even if the ministry does not believe in his resurrection. And the fugitives from Azkaban themselves should not have recovered yet, which is why they do not pose a particular danger, being rather a ballast for Tom's army.

So yes, the director chose the very right time for the return move, threatening to bring down many and many plans of the Dark Lord with this move. Still, most likely, he also does not expect such cruel and active actions from the director's faction... It's banal because Dumbledore always opposed such methods. And I honestly don't know what has changed right now. I only suspect that the changes in the director began after communicating with my mother-in-law - Amito Patil... But that's not accurate.

So, for now, we choose an observation position, focusing on the affairs of the ministry. Moreover, it was me and Delphine who were instructed to distract the attention of the entire leadership of this organization... Well, the hiring of mercenaries was to some extent placed on our shoulders. Still, our birth had some connections, and there were no problems with money... It's even strange that Dumbledore didn't ask us for additional funding, to be honest, I expected this from him. Although, maybe he will ask for something similar already in a personal conversation. I'm sure it will happen in the near future anyway.

At least because many of the nuances of the upcoming operation have not been agreed. Banally, there was not enough time for everything at once. The Order was already dispersing well after midnight, still continuing excited conversations now in separate groups in the order. At that moment, I was only thinking about how to return to Hog, without being alone with the director... Fortunately, Snape immediately understood my difficulties, moving me with him through the fireplace in his own rooms. Otherwise, all the fireplaces at the school are turned off at night, and only the principal and four deans, respectively, have access to them. So, the godfather's help was not even superfluous... And I didn't mind talking about what happened to him, even if he was a rather muddy person - a double spy. In addition, Snape himself expressed a desire to talk to me in private...

Of course, we talked to each other almost all evening, not just sitting almost next door. But some issues were still not quite correct to discuss in the presence of extra ears... The same Dumbledore seriously strains our couple with his presence alone. Moreover, I personally had something to say and ask about him personally. Which I did as soon as such an opportunity appeared...

Chapter 237

- This old man will definitely drive me crazy someday. - After a few minutes of analysis and discussion of the last meeting, I stretched out, massaging the eyelids of tired eyes. Today exhausted me much more than any other day, despite the fact that I didn't have any training today. - Sometimes his actions seem insanely logical to me... And sometimes he completely breaks my idea of his personality. - I added, noticing Snape's slight nod from the corner of my eye. As far as I knew, Tom also had fun with such a boss.

- Well, you're not the only one who has some problems with this, Draco... But in this case, everything is quite clear. - The man smiled stingily, clearly understanding what exactly I'm teing to. Fortunately, he did not refuse me, really deciding to share information about what was happening. And in particular, about why the director so abruptly changed his own policy of fighting the Dark Lord... But he didn't answer right away, forcing me to hypnotize myself with a look. He inflated the situation, such a creep.

- Recently, the director had some health problems... So far, my potions help to contain this problem, but there are by no means zero chances that Dumbledore will not be able to cope with it. - Somehow even dreamily looking in the direction of his own closet, Snape began to explain. Although I already understood everything... - Most likely, the director decided to banally hurry up the development of events, wanting to deal with the Dark Lord, while nothing prevents him from doing it... Although, I also did not really expect such decisive actions from him. It's not his style at all. - The man continued a little thoughtfully, not paying attention to that explosion of emotions that almost reflected on my face.

Still, the news about our director's "health problems" is still happiness for me... And this is another problem. After all, in the event of the death of one of the strongest magicians, who had previously very effectively restrained Tom's influence and created opposition to him, there can be a lot of problems. At the same time, it is far from a fact that I will cope with these problems. And the director himself, being on the verge of death, can throw anything away. At least because he will no longer be able to postpone some things and plans for later, which means that he will act really decisively in some moments... And now I think that I may well become such a moment.

- Is this accurate information? Maybe Dumbledore is leaking false information to the Dark Lord through you in this way? - Still, I clarified, coping with my own emotions and not going to fully trust Snape's words. Still, our director is not a simple wizard to go to the forefathers from some disease or even a curse. And he has so many connections that finding the right specialist for healing would not be a problem... And you should not forget about the friendship of our director with one of the most famous wizards in the world. Flamel would hardly refuse to help his student if he had asked for it well.

- I'm not sure. With Dumbledore, you can't be sure of anything at all, but so far this... health problem explains the director's recent behavior very well. - Immediately understanding my suspicions, slightly doubting his own words, Snapereplied. - And it's hard for me to find another explanation for the old man's sudden activity... - Plunging more and more into his own thoughts, the man said. Apparently, my suspicions made Snape himself think about this whole situation again.

- Okay, godfather, I'll go. Today, the night duty remains on Pansy... Well, I still have something to think about. - Trying to magic to regain some cheerfulness, I told Snape, intending to leave his rooms. He didn't stop me, clearly reading some tiredness and even exhaustion on my face... And all because the active use of mental magic for so long exhausted me much more than any other training in magic. It's a pity, though, it won't end there.

I definitely won't be able to sleep tonight. I'm still waiting for the continuation of negotiations and discussions, now with Delphine and Narcissus. Fortunately, I have long learned to maintain a mental connection with these women and I will quite cope with having a conversation with two sorceresses at once. Moreover, I don't have any other option. Delfina directly asked me to contact her at the earliest opportunity, to discuss what happened and to draw up a plan to distract the attention of our valiant ministry.

In this case, you shouldn't have forgotten about Narcissus either. Still, most of the care for my birth still lay on my mother's shoulders. Fortunately, after the birth of Ilia, she had quite a lot of free time in connection with her "confinement" in the manor. It's over, she still paid a lot of attention to our darly, but she definitely had a few free hours a day for such a job... Especially since the family home workers helped her cope with almost everything you can imagine. The staff of Malfoy's servants was more than decent.

In general, yes, I was simply obliged to enlighten my mother in everything that was happening. She somehow represents the current possibilities of my family much better, and she is a very good adviser. So, it won't be superfluous to involve another blonde head in our discussion with Delphina. Well, the fact that after a whole night of maintaining a stable mental channel with two women at once, my head stopped thinking about anything at all is not so scary.

A couple of potions from my first aid kit allowed me to meet a new day relatively calmly, especially since my body was not tired in general. Of course, I wanted to sleep a bit, but getting rid of mental fatigue, albeit with the help of potions, it was not difficult to ignore this desire... However, I still couldn't concentrate on the lessons. The information spinning in my head, dozens of plans and hundreds of nuances literally did not allow me to focus on reality, which is why I even forgot about buying an essay on Zoti. I had to listen to Umbridge's angry scares, which didn't add to my mood either.

In general, I had a pretty hard day. Fortunately, at least the girls perfectly understood my condition, silently supporting me and not bothering me with unnecessary questions... Which in the end did not prevent them from telling them anyway, yet they have long earned my trust. And I don't want to produce unnecessary secrets between my family, especially since the new information concerned all of us at once...

However, I still did not tell the topics about my mother's small request... The fewer people know about the upcoming adventure, which I agreed to, the safer it will be for me and my loved ones. Still, the kidnapping of my mother's older sister right from under the nose of the Dark Lord is such an adventure, even if I can quickly rid her of Tom's cursed mark... Damn, I don't know how I agreed to something like this, especially when I really don't have time to prepare for the operation.

But what has been done is done, especially since killing one of the few carriers of pure blood Black is still not the best idea. And I really didn't want to offend my mother with a refusal, especially when it came to her own sister. For me, Bellatrix Lestrange is just another of Tom's shawka, albeit with an unusual pedigree. For Narcissus, Bella is first of all the sister with whom she grew up, and only then everything else.

So, I really couldn't refuse Narcissa's request... Even though I eventually shived the hiring of the necessary specialists to take up this case, Narcissa herself. I don't have much time for that. I have a grand intrigue to distract the attention of the entire leadership of the ministry... Although I never cease to be tormented by one small question: what to do with Bella, even if we manage to steal her successfully? That's another mystery that even Narcissus couldn't give an unambiguous answer yet.

Chapter 238

Due to the need to communicate quite closely with my subordinates who worked for my family, working in the field of business and politics, I had to leave Hogwarts quite often for personal meetings and negotiations in a large company. Fortunately, the principal calmly arranged such an opportunity for me by connecting the fireplace in my room to the common fireplace network of the school. So now I could quite quietly leave the school, fulfilling the task set by the director - to sabotage the work of the ministry... But I wouldn't say that I liked this layout too much.

Of course, it's better than making Narcissus work for me, but I didn't feel much joy from performing someone else's task, even though everything that happens is primarily in my own interests. And in general, I don't like to dance to someone else's tune and that's it. Moreover, I perfectly understand how, why and with the help of what tools Dumbledore made me actually work for myself, giving nothing in return. I myself have forced people to do something for themselves more than once, with the only reason for them that they themselves need it...

It's unpleasant in general. And all this red tap takes a lot of time, forcing you to somewhat limit the time of your training and communication with girls. And if I could still deal with the first one by simply increasing the intensity of training and returning to the old practice of training during regular classes in Hog, then here is the lack of time to communicate with girls... At some point, it began to seriously piss me off. Because of this, I eventually decided to take a rather serious step, having arranged a large-scale rearrangement in my room and in a sense even a repair, inviting the girls to live in my room...

And even though they lived in my abode of debauchery almost every day before, but I still did not allow full-fledged cohelvence. My personal space and rights to privacy were still dear to me. But in connection with new problems, I had an acute lack of time for all my girls, which is why it promised to swoll up a lot of conflicts in my family soon. In order to avoid this, I allowed the girls to actually settle in my room... Although the only thing that changed was that we were now sleeping in a place on a permanent basis. And no, now it's not even so much about sex, which was already enough, but just about a joint sleep.

But let's not talk about it, I still somehow figured out this problem, even though I had to sacrifice my personal space for this. Not such a big loss against the background of sudden problems with Snape... Well, or it would be more correct to say that Snape, whom the director still forced to do occlumence with Potter. But Snape's problems in this case turned out to be my problems too, because due to the increased load, the godfather was forced to seriously reduce the time and number of our sparring.

Very useful, I must say, sparring. After all, it was with such a rival as Snape that I managed to progress the fastest. And periodic classes on potions in his performance allowed me to take a good breath, resting from the main trainings... Still, the ancestral gift of the potion mater sometimes made itself felt, giving me almost a natural withdrawal on some difficult task in the field of potions.

In general, I was much more dissatisfied with this situation as a lack of time... Especially since Potter really learned from Snape, even if the latter treated him. But because of this, I still had a feeling that my time with my godfather was trivially stolen... Quite a strange feeling that pushes me somewhere deep into childhood, but that's how it is. So the level of my discontent gradually accumulated. However, I had nowhere to vent this discontent, which is why I just preferred to focus on work.

And as I said, there was a lot of work. After all, the ministry is really a huge organization, created only to monitor and manage the magical world... And I, in fact, had to take away one of these functions from this organization - observational, to be a little more specific. And it's not so easy to do, especially since I had to shut up not one or even a dozen people... The number of defendants in my case was rather close to five hundred, if I wanted to do everything qualitatively and for sure.

And, quite naturally, it is quite natural that to sift such a number of people with simple bribes is not that expensive, it is simply physically impossible. There will definitely be someone who accidentally or not very well spread unwanted information. And indeed, there are also enough principled officials in the ministry, which further complicates the matter. So, I definitely won't achieve anything with banal bribes in this case. Of course, they will also be needed, but they will be occupied by Delphina, as a more free and simply well-known person in ministerial circles.

I'll have to focus on distracting the people who bother us to something else. So that no one even thinks of looking in the direction of the machinations of the Order of the Phoenix once again. And this despite the fact that suspicious activity can be noticed by almost a dozen unrelated departments, each of which I had to do something... So I came up with a suitable occupation for each department. Fortunately, I could have put a lot of problems on the same department for the control of emigration of wizards, or the department for the control of the fireplace network... Not without problems, but I could.

Another thing is that some department responsible for controlling illegal movements around the world was not so easy to surprise or occupy with something for a long time. Something really large-scale is already needed here, so that this department does not notice the rather large-scale hiring of mercenaries from abroad... Yes, that's another task, which almost two dozen wizards under my subordination had to think about. And this despite the fact that I was also engaged in other departments in parallel, starting to prepare for "distracting maneuvers"...

It was not easy and very expensive. In Attempts to create maximum mess in some departments, I even started preparing several attempts on rather dangerous personalities for my plans... And even on people who are quite useful to me. Just so that no one thinks that I am the one behind the murders, and these attempts will bring additional chaos to the situation. Moreover, these attempts should not have a single handwriting, not to mention the fact that most of them should still end in failure... I don't want to provoke Dumbledore once again, who does not approve of unnecessary murders.

Well, the fact that they will still be quite decent can be dumped on Tom's intervention, almost honestly stating that I order only "failed" assassination attempts. In general, yes, I approach my work with all possible creativity, even if I don't like it. Well, the fact that I often use methods that are very much like those of young Tom is not so scary. In my situation, it's even a plus, allowing me to dump a lot on the Dark Lord himself. Well, in extreme cases, you can always say that I use my enemy's weapon. I think someone from the order will even appreciate it.

Although, of course, this is a very extreme case, I still don't want anything to connect me with Wolandemort. I already look too much like him. The learned experience of this magician still makes itself felt, even if I try to develop my strengths. But, I must admit, there are not so many of them. It's banal due to the fact that the personalities of my two donors are quite similar in themselves. And there were really few bright differences in worldview and way of thinking between the former Draco and young Tom.

So yes, sometimes I really feel like I'm just an imitator of the Dark Lord, especially when it comes to combat and magical skills. Still, my main base of spells and skills is based on the memory and experience of young Tom... And I wouldn't say it's such a problem. Still, Tom is really not the worst role model. And I still have some advantage over him... After all, I know this magician better than anyone, despite the fact that he has long gone crazy, having stopped being the very Tom I know...

Chapter 239

Throughout January, I had to leave Hogwarts almost every day, preparing and implementing a very extensive company to distract the ministry. You could even say that this activity took up most of my time, forcing me to seriously strain and mobilize some reserves. Fortunately, the director's connections helped me a little in such a difficult task, and Delphina's natural wit allowed me to speed up my preparation a little by adjusting the plan.

However, this help from the supporters of our director had a reverse side. Still, the ministry is now almost openly discrediting Dumbledore, criticizing any of his words. And such trends did not make things easier for me in any way, because the director and his affairs were now paid too much attention from the very top of the ministry... But I coped, very successfully spreading the mess and chaos in many departments of the ministry and dissipating their attention with many quite serious, and sometimes not so, violations.

Bribes, coupled with threats and demonstrative attempts to eliminate some employees of the ministry, only accelerated my work, allowing me to shut up very, very many mouths. And the additional chaos in the ministry continued to grow because of all these machinations. As a result, preparations for the assault of one unremarkable Manor Nottov progressed at a very brisk pace, while remaining unnoticed by the top of the ministry.

And even if such terrorist activity in my performance had several rather serious disadvantages. And the weakening and chaos in the ministry is bad in itself, trivialdue to the fact that it will be easier for Tom to seize this ministry in the future. And if my things eventually become public, I may well turn not just into a criminal in an instant, but a real champion of the Dark Lord... Perhaps Dumbledore initially entrusted such a task to me and Delphine because of such risks.

But I understood the risks when I agreed to perform Dumbledore's task together with Delphine. Fortunately, I've already laid myself straws anyway, and it's not so easy to accuse me of anything. I myself believe that I didn't get involved in all this, just like Delphina... Maxim, we can be declared sponsors of all this mess, but even then we can actually disavow everything, because even goblins will not be able to track our financial manipulations now, even if the latter still have a chance to do so.

But not the point, the main thing is that the risks are minimal, and the benefit is already quite significant. And when I talk about profit, I mean not only preparing for an attack on the lair of one dark magician. No, this, of course, is still the main goal of our entire operation to distract the ministry's attention... Well, it's not for nothing that we hired a whole bunch of wizards and werewolves to make some riots all over the country... But during the organization of all this mess, I really got a lot.

Even one experience of organizing something like this can already be considered valuable. I also had a whole bunch of connections, even if most of them belong to the underworld of Britain. The main thing is that the exit to quite useful and even interesting people now was quite calm. And even if this exit was through third hands, and in general it has nothing to do with me... But it was still a good plus to the original goal.

And in terms of money, this whole event was not to say that it was too expensive. Still, I hired mostly all kinds of scum from the lute and other cereal places, and not real masters of their craft. And bribes, within my budget, looked very modest, even if it was not small at all. Narcissus, as far as I know, to hire twelve magicians who will have to kidnap Bella from the battlefield in the upcoming brawl, spent almost a quarter of the amount that I let in for bribes, so my expenses were really reasonable... Well, or it was the mother who didn't really stingy for hiring the best specialists, which is also true.

But let's not focus our attention on some money. Especially since in the end all the expenses will pay for themselves in any case, if I manage to defeat the Dark Lord consider that by someone else's hands, using only my money and brains... Yes, it will be my victory anyway, even if Tom himself on his deathbed does not even think in my direction... So, I must admit, it will be even better, yet posthumous curses are an extremely unpleasant thing, especially performed by really strong magicians. Well, not everyone is capable of such witchcraft, otherwise the wizards would have died out a few centuries ago. Which does not cancel the fact that Tom is most likely capable of this magic.

Such filth, you know, is quite in his style, and, to remember, he was interested in this topic in his youth. So, in my old age, I could have come to know something about it, even despite my really pathological fear of death... In general, yes, it would be better for me not to catch his eyes during his final death. I'd rather not catch my eyes at all, even if in the end I still take some part in the upcoming assault.

And all because of the fact that time is not working for us now, while we are preparing here, the recent prisoners are fully recovering, according to Snape. Fortunately, at least Tom himself is busy now, seriously focusing his attention on the set of former influence and power. You can say that a man... well, to be more precise, a lich restores former connections and alliances. And let in general it's a shitty trend, but in our case, this situation is still in our favor. There is a real chance that during the storming of someone else's manor, Tom will simply not be in place...

But we will still need to be able to take advantage of these chances when he does appear. After all, if you don't approach this whole assault without proper preparation, you can storm an empty manor, waiting for an attack in the back from Tom... A very delicate moment. I'll tell you, especially since there are not many wizards gathered in that estate. And by joint efforts, they will be able to break through almost any barrier that cuts off communication with the outside world.What the hell, the forces gathered at the Notts are quite possible to break through the anti-apparatory barrier... And the only way to prevent such a development of events is to pour more strength into the barriers.

Fortunately, from a technical point of view, it's not so difficult to do it. You don't need a lot of intelligence to charge artifacts at all... You just need strength. The power that will not be felt in the main battle and breaking through the defense of the family manor. And I, what a miracle, quite fit this description, which is why some members of the order had a quite sane idea to ask me to work with a battery, along with a dozen more wizards... Well, to be more precise, sorceress.

In general, yes, somewhere near the battlefield I will have to spin in any case, especially since I myself agreed to such a plan. After all, some supervision of what is happening will not hurt me, well, I do know the necessary spells for far vision... In addition, my beloved cousin will cover my ass anyway... And I'm already familiar with a couple of bodyguard-combat magician and a werewolf-murderer, who for a separate surcharge have already arrived to visit me from Germany. So in a last resort, I'll have time to get out of the scene of the slaughter. Such pros will definitely gain me a couple of seconds to activate an improved port key. And I'll probably have time to take Nymphadora with me in this situation.

So yes, I have no particular fears about this little adventure. Although maybe it would have been worth it. Still, Tom is not blind and stupid, even if he is crazy. His pawns should have detected some stirs in Dumbledore's camp a long time ago. And Snape, as far as I know, still drains some info on Tom, albeit with quite significant censorship... And in general, the potion cooker is now in disgrace in the director's camp, so a lot of information passes him by and he has nothing to do with it at all. Somehow everything happens, according to the memory of one of the spies.

I really don't really believe it, even if the spy doesn't realize that he's a spy. A very cunning combination of potions "to maintain male strength" makes the no longer a young wizard suffer selective failures in memory "because of binge"... Which still does not give a one hundred percent guarantee in relation to the Dark Lord and Snape. Both are masters of mental magic, and they understand potions no worse than my specialists.