Chapter 119. Meeting with Malfoy.
Half an hour later, Shafiq finished his account. He looked even more dejected than before and still would not meet Severus's eyes, certain that blame was coming.
Severus paid little attention to the self-flagellation and fell into thought. Increasingly, he was leaning toward the idea that someone beyond the Ministry, Dumbledore's organization, and the Death Eaters had entered the picture, and had chosen to act on the Death Eaters' side. A shadow that moved between factions and cared nothing for casualties.
It was entirely possible that Voldemort had chosen this way to cut ties with him. That would not be surprising if they had found another supplier, from countries where the Ministry of Magic sold the bulk of its potions, for instance.
But at the same time, Severus could not understand why they would act so carelessly, knowing who supported him, because Tom was not a fool. Something of a madman, perhaps, but not a fool. Creating another enemy after clawing back the upper hand was either stupidity or excessive confidence.
So Severus formed a second theory: Tom had not been told about the attack, and the people who hit the shop simply had not known who stood behind it, assuming the potion shop was protected by the Ministry alone. It was also possible that the fourth side was independent of all three parties, and had extended a hand only to weaken the government and prevent it from gaining a decisive advantage in the civil war.
Even after half an hour, though, Severus could reach no firm conclusion. There were too many loose threads, and Shafiq still had nothing on the attackers that might narrow the possibilities.
"Enough, then. Keep working as you always do. I'll find the thieves myself." Severus rose from the table. A box materialized in his hand, and a moment later a man in dark clothes with shoulder-length hair appeared beside him, immediately fixing Severus with a glare. "He'll be working alongside you for now."
The "guest" shot forward, grabbed Severus by the cloak, and shook him.
"How could you shove me in with those monsters?! Damn you, I nearly went gray in there! Do you have any idea?! What if they had eaten me?"
"Then you shouldn't have pestered me while I was resting," Severus replied calmly, pulling free from his grip. He turned to Shafiq. "He'll watch the shop at night. If you need anything else, like tailing someone suspicious or fetching something, don't hesitate. You're free to give him orders."
"Hey! Could you at least give me a small break first?!"
"Sure. One day. But don't let anyone see you." Severus took pity on him, remembering a week in a tent, then another day fighting monsters. "Be here tomorrow, same time."
"One day?! Give me at least three!"
"Wouldn't that be a bit much? Perhaps none at all..." Severus began, but the man dissolved into shadow and shot away, cursing him in the foulest language imaginable.
"Um... who exactly is that?" Shafiq asked, staring after him.
"I found him in Brazil. An excellent shadow mage. He can take down a dozen Aurors in a straight fight, and with the element of surprise, several dozen, and still slip away without much trouble. More importantly, he can turn himself into pure darkness and hide inside any shadow."
"Such a powerful wizard..." Shafiq could not conceal his astonishment and looked at Severus with considerably more respect than before.
"All right, I won't distract you any further. Get back to work." Severus waved a hand and headed for the exit.
"Yes, Severus!" The moment the door swung shut behind him, Shafiq let out a long, drawn-out breath. He had braced himself for a reprimand at the very least, so the fact that Severus hadn't even raised his voice left him genuinely shaken. At the same time, his respect deepened even further. "I'll find those bastards who dared touch this shop," he hissed, his eyes blazing as he clenched his fist. "But on my own time." Just then, the door swung open and a young girl stepped inside, and Shafiq put on a professional smile. "Hello, can I help you with anything?"
Leaving the shop, Severus decided to make a longer circuit of Diagon Alley and stop by Knockturn Alley for information. He had enough contacts in both places.
After spending a couple of hours asking around, he learned very little, which surprised him. All anyone knew was that a new gang had appeared, operating in the shadows and leaving almost no trail. Beyond backing the Death Eaters in the last engagement and attempting to rob his shop, they had not shown themselves again. Even the most habitual gossips lowered their voices when the gang was mentioned.
So Severus returned home with almost nothing to show for it, and the situation was beginning to irritate him. For the second time, things were slipping out of his control: first because of the devils at the center of the Magical Jungle, and now because of a fourth party meddling here at home. If they had simply left him alone, that would have been one thing. But no, they had to reach for his little shop as well. He had no desire to involve himself in the war and had every intention of staying out of it, but someone, or whatever force stood behind them, seemed determined to drag him in.
When he arrived home, the cheerful house-elf and Eileen's phantom were there to meet him. The phantom fed from the house's core and could almost be said to govern it. Severus did not release the creatures from the box immediately. First, he needed to fence off the territory and add a new magical source: the crystal he had taken from the treasury, which was dozens of times more efficient at gathering and storing magic than anything he had made before.
That work would take time, so he set it aside for tomorrow. Today he already had an appointment. Approaching the house, he spotted the familiar Malfoy owl with an envelope in its beak. The letter contained only a meeting place in the Muggle world, with a note: without a tail.
So, after resting for about an hour and leaving Nagini at home at her own insistence (she disliked Lucius for his slippery nature), Severus Apparated alone to the park where he had once dealt with the Lestrange brothers and two other Death Eaters.
As he approached the meeting place, he spotted a man in a dark coat from some distance away. Long silver hair, a cane in hand, and notice-me-not charms around the lamppost.
"I thought you disliked the Muggle world, yet you're arranging meetings in a crowded park," Severus said with a smile as he drew closer. Lucius gave a cold snort.
"For meetings like this, it's ideal."
"Can't argue with that. Who would think one of the foremost Muggle-haters would choose to meet someone here?" Severus nodded, ran a quick scanning charm, and checked the nearest hundred meters as a precaution. He found no one beyond two subordinates, Crabbe and Goyle. He kept his hands in his pockets and his wand loose at his side, refusing to let his guard down for even a second. "So, what did you want to discuss? I just got back from Brazil today, and I could really use some rest."
"It's about your shop. We had nothing to do with it."
Severus only nodded. He had expected as much. Making another enemy when they already had the Ministry and Dumbledore against them was not in their interest.
He believed him. The seal inside the aristocrat's body was nearly impossible to fool, unless you were an Archmage, and Lucius was not.
"Glad to hear it. But you didn't arrange this meeting just to say that, did you?" Severus asked calmly, admiring the large fountain at the center of the park where children were playing.
"Be careful. We don't know who they are or why they chose to act on our side, but there are a great many of them. That day, more than forty joined us, and every one of them had skills as good as our best."
"Any idea where they came from?"
"We assume another country has decided to interfere in our war. Those wizards were too coordinated and relied on the same spells, even though they tried to disguise the fact by casting them in varying orders and nonverbally as well," Lucius replied irritably.
"Suspicious. I take it you don't know why they attacked my shop?" Lucius simply shook his head. "Understood. Thank you for the warning."
"And the potions?" Lucius asked, checking his watch for the second time as though he were in a hurry.
"As usual. By the way, how is Bella? I was going to visit her tomorrow." Lucius flinched, and Severus grew alert. He had been observing Bellatrix through the seal and nothing seemed amiss. She had been drilling her combat magic for most of each day, as she always did. "Did something happen?"
"Well... nothing particularly..."
"More specifically?" Severus's gaze sharpened, and Lucius swallowed. For a fleeting moment it felt as though he were standing before the Dark Lord, and an exceptionally angry one at that.
"The wedding date has been moved..." Malfoy admitted. He knew about Severus's feelings for Bellatrix, and more than anything, he had dreaded being the one to deliver this news, which was why he had been trying to end the conversation, but...
"And why frighten me like that?" Severus drawled, clearly relieved, which caught the aristocrat entirely off guard. He had braced himself for anything, even an Unforgivable curse. That Severus responded with such composure baffled him. "All right, thank you for telling me. And one more thing: have a black tailcoat ready. I think you'll be needing it soon. And pass on to your lord that playing with other people's feelings is a bad habit."
Lucius was about to say, "What do you mean?" but Severus vanished before he could finish. It took a few seconds for the meaning of his words to sink in, and a nervous smile crept onto Malfoy's face.
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