Chapter 276 - 275. The Gang.

London. Hackney area.

For the next few days after his return to Gloucestershire, Severus had to deal with problems related to his business in the Muggle world.

He had gathered all available information about the gang two weeks earlier. They had begun pressuring him and were actively expanding, having already seized a third of London. Strangely, the gang had no name, only a symbol: a bullet flying toward its target.

The leader was unknown, as was his inner circle. The organization had simply appeared out of nowhere and begun taking over the city, absorbing other gangs.

Naturally, this aroused Severus’s suspicions. Everything was progressing too smoothly, advancing by leaps and bounds. Where others would need years for such a feat, this gang had managed it in just a year and a half.

That could mean only one thing: either they had an incredibly lucky and intelligent leader who had been preparing for decades, having studied every scrap of information about his opponents, or magic was involved.

Except that the latter seemed impossible, given that the Ministry of Magic had already conducted an investigation some time ago and found no traces of magical interference in the group’s affairs. But knowing what fine people headed the government, this result could safely be thrown in the trash. And he did not particularly trust the inspectors, either.

The unit dealing with this consisted entirely of aristocrats who, for their own benefit, were capable of turning a blind eye to such things. Severus had plenty of enemies among them; for instance, the nephew of the Head Healer of Mungo’s, who was the deputy head.

So he had to dig a little into this gang and the commission members, read their full report, and simultaneously send Shadows to watch every base inside and outside London. But aside from a couple of inaccuracies in the report, almost as if intentionally planted, it otherwise had no holes, and any point could be immediately verified.

Still, Severus had long been accustomed to trusting his instincts, and they were telling him that something was definitely wrong with this matter.

By the time he arrived, the Shadows had been unable to discover anything, just as he had done after receiving the report and verifying several points, and the following few days proved equally fruitless.

But one old, disembodied creature helped him solve the mystery while he studied photographs of a Muggle supposedly leading the gang...

So, having hired a couple of tough guys and five Muggles, mainly for status, Severus appeared the next day at one of the largest locations where the supposed leader operated. It was a rather luxurious five-story building on the outskirts of the area, guarded by a hundred Muggles, some armed with pistols, others with automatic rifles.

Compared to them, his group looked small, especially after entering the hall where armed men stood at almost every corner. As soon as he introduced himself to the receptionist, she was clearly surprised by his arrival and immediately led him to the third floor, toward the conference hall. Meanwhile, his own guards felt increasingly uncomfortable, for no one had warned them they were walking into a veritable wolf’s den.

Just a few minutes later, Severus sat opposite a small group of Muggles led by a plump man in his forties with a bald spot on his crown.

"Mr. Severus, have you finally decided to accept our proposition?" the leader asked, casting mocking, disdainful glances at him.

"No, it doesn’t interest me. I wanted to meet with you for another reason," Severus replied, shaking his head with a slight smile.

"Hmm? What reason? And speak quickly. We have other business."

"Oh, I apologize if I’m distracting you. Just a trifle. What’s it like using magic in Muggle conflicts?" he asked coldly, folding his hands in front of him.

Everyone in the room froze for a few seconds, and then...

"Pfft..." The room filled with unrestrained laughter from the gang members, while his guards found nothing to laugh about: they’d signed a contract with an idiot.

"Boy, if you came here to play wizard, let me call my secretary and ask her to keep you company," the leader said, looking at Severus as if he were a dim-witted child. He snapped his fingers, and the next moment the doors burst open as a group of Muggles with automatic rifles rushed in, their weapons trained on a completely calm Severus. "And now, since you decided to come to us yourself, be so kind as to assist us in a small matter." A sheet of paper was placed in front of him, along with a pen and a very familiar seal, or rather a copy of his own. "After that, you can keep playing wizard."

"Curious," Severus chuckled after scanning the contents. "By the way, I wanted to offer you the same thing." His smile grew into a devilish grin as he pulled out another sheet and handed it to a pale mercenary. "Take this to Mr. Butch."

Gritting his teeth, the mercenary took it and carried it to the leader, cursing the damn employer who had set them up. But right now he simply had no choice, and all hope of getting out of here alive lay with Severus, and his calm was somehow reassuring.

Snatching the sheet from the mercenary’s hand, the leader quickly scanned it and, unable to contain himself, laughed again.

"Oh, I’m definitely going to burst a blood vessel soon. You want me to reimburse your losses, get out of London, and hand over ten locations with the highest traffic?" At this, all the Muggles looked at Severus as if he were insane.

"Yes, there’s more at the end you didn’t read," Severus smirked, leaning back in his chair.

"So... ’walk naked across London Bridge in Lake Havasu City...’" The smile evaporated from the leader’s lips, and a vein bulged on his forehead. "Are you tired of living?!" he roared, jumping up, tearing the sheet apart, and slamming his palms on the table.

"No, I’m perfectly serious. And also... you have beautiful cufflinks. Could you tell me where you bought them?" That offhand remark made the leader’s gaze falter. "I read about them in an interesting book: it said that whoever wears them gains the power to peer into people’s minds and see someone, someone no one could possibly know about..."

"Kid, watch your words!"

"Do you want another hole in your head?"

"Did I say something bad? I merely complimented your leader’s good taste." Severus looked rather offended at the two men standing behind the leader, who were clearly high-ranking members of the gang.

"Shut up, both of you! And you...!" The leader pointed at Severus. "Follow me, and no funny business!" This turn of events took the people gathered in the office by surprise, but...

"Oh, why go anywhere?"

He began, "What..." but broke off as everyone in the room froze. "So, a wizard... what do you want?" the leader asked, glowering at Severus as he slumped back into his chair.

"I already wrote down why I came." Severus pointed at the sheet with a smile.

"Hmph! Don’t think you can intimidate me so easily! I’m backed by people whose boots you aren’t fit to lick! Get out of here, and I’ll leave your company alone."

"To be so openly rude to me... apparently your masters haven’t told you about me?" Severus’s playful expression sent a chill down the leader’s spine. "You know, for me, the Muggle world is where I relax and fight without magic, honestly, so to speak. But when self-important aristocratic runts start crawling into my sandbox, it angers me..."

The gang leader shot up from his chair and, a moment later, froze before Severus, eyes wide with panic, but still clinging to the hope that he wouldn’t be killed as long as those people stood behind him.

"And when I get angry, usually not even ash remains. Now listen carefully..." Severus continued, steel in his voice, but suddenly he froze, and then simply vanished, leaving the leader hanging in midair in extreme shock at everything that was happening.

---

Castle Combe. Southwest England. Several minutes earlier.

Mortis observed his target with curiosity: a dark-haired girl performing rather unusual exercises. To his surprise, he had to admit their effectiveness in developing wandless magic and increasing overall magical control.

*Ah... the more I observe this, the more I want to see what else is hidden in this lovely little head...* He kept his eyes fixed on Bellatrix, a mad, twisted smile on his face. *Apparently he values her highly, given how many gnats are watching her...* It wasn’t difficult for him to detect the Shadows left by Severus to watch over this place and Bellatrix in particular. *I wonder if I kill a few of them, will he show up? Then I won’t have to worry about revenge from this ihiros. After all, they’re just servants, and such mediocre ones at that, except for one... this country is full of surprises, no wonder I decided to leave prison...* With those thoughts, he drifted toward her, gradually materializing.

But before Mortis could even finish materializing, a massive stream of flame rushed toward him, and at the sight of it, his grin widened even further.

"What a curious spell..." After calmly moving aside, he thought he had dodged the fire, but at that moment, as if alive, it curved and rushed after him. "Very curious..." With a lively gleam in his eyes, he raised his hand and surrounded himself with a dome only to be engulfed moments later by wild tongues of flame...

At the same time, Bellatrix lowered her wand and frowned, peering at the spot where the spell had hit.

"You shouldn’t appear so abruptly in this place, Mr. Mortis," she said. She had almost automatically attacked the new source of magic that appeared from nowhere within her sensory range, a sense she now almost never turned off.

"Miss Black, that was very rude..." came a mock-indignant elderly voice. The flame dissipated, leaving only scorched earth at the impact site and a completely unharmed Mortis, who began to clap with a much more welcoming smile. "Magnificent spell. If it were a bit stronger, I would certainly have been in trouble. Won’t you tell me who taught it to you?"

"And what makes you think someone taught it to me?" she replied, giving him an indifferent look. "What if I created it myself?"

"That was rude of me. I apologize."

"Why did you come?"

"Out of curiosity. You’ve intrigued me greatly. You have real talent. So I wanted to offer you an apprenticeship, but also to scatter some gnats..." With those last words, a wave of dark magic burst from beneath his feet, rushing in all directions.

That forced Bellatrix to retreat hastily, casting a weight-reduction charm on herself and then using wind magic to soar upward.

"What are you doing, you old bastard?!" she snapped, looking at the smirking wizard.

"That was very rude. Have you forgotten your lord’s order that you must treat me the same as him?"

"I don’t give a damn who you are if you dare attack me."

"Argh!" A scream of pain rang out across the empty clearing, to Bellatrix’s mild surprise. When she saw about a dozen wizards appear outside Mortis’s spell area, she simply didn’t know what to make of it.

But what shocked her most was that she hadn’t sensed them the whole time. She had thought she had finally matched Severus in sensory abilities.

One of the guests in a black robe lay motionless on the ground, while the others, clutching wands and daggers, kept their eyes fixed on Mortis.

"You have decent skills. I thought I’d be able to kill at least three..." He examined them, stroking his chin thoughtfully, until another mage finally appeared, his face no longer hidden behind a mask. He had rather pleasant features, accentuated by a short beard, mustache, and dark hair falling to his neck.

"Who are you? If possible, we would like to avoid a fight. We are only protecting the Lady," José said gloomily. He really didn’t want to fight Mortis, sensing his overwhelming power. *I need to contact Severus. I can’t defeat this old fart...*

"Lady?" Bellatrix raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"Is that so... but... from what I can see, Miss Black knows nothing about you. What if you’re lying?" With those words, darkness wrapped around Mortis’s entire body.

"Then remove the barrier and let us contact the Master."

"What if you escape?"

*Bastard, you never intended to let us go from the start...* José realized with a grimace, looking at Mortis’s kind face.

"Are you Prince’s servants?" Bellatrix clarified with a frown, keeping her distance.

"Yes, we—"

"They could be lying, so it would be simpler to just kill them..."

"Really? Or maybe I should kill you?" An emotionless voice came from directly behind Mortis, causing him to instantly teleport aside and look around frantically.

Bellatrix, like the others, recognized the familiar voice almost immediately, much to the guards’ relief, while she herself only grew grimmer.

Slap... Mortis was sent flying like a cannonball, a red mark appearing on the back of his head.

"Why are you running? You wanted to meet me so badly..." In the very spot where Mortis had been a moment earlier, Severus himself finally appeared, very angry.

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