Chapter 122. Conversation and News.
After returning home, Nagini watched with curiosity as Severus smiled to himself in a way she couldn't quite read, sorting through parchments rolled into scrolls that he had pulled from the wallet he had "confiscated" from the Lestranges.
"Why are you smiling like that?" she asked, wrinkling her snout in confusion as she drew closer to peer at the contents.
"Title deeds for every shop in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, business holdings, various foreign assets, and quite a bit more besides..."
"Can't they get them back?"
"They can, but it's a tedious process, especially at a time like this. Do you really think the Ministry will go out of its way to help potential enemies?" He glanced at the thoughtful Nagini with a smirk, setting down the hundred-and-eighth parchment on the table. Those weren't even all of them. "The situation abroad is no different, and until they sort it all out, they won't be able to manage any of this properly. That means enormous losses and fines, if anyone finds out, of course..." A fresh parchment and an inked quill appeared before him.
"And he calls me the snake..." Nagini drawled, letting out a cold little laugh. "Why did he keep all of these on his person? Is he an idiot?"
"I won't argue with that, but they usually kept them up north, in a small Muggle village, along with another hundred thousand Galleons. It was a very good hiding place. No one would ever think to look there. But tomorrow there's an annual family gathering where everything gets checked, so he decided to bring it all with him in advance rather than make the journey tomorrow." When the quill finished writing, he rolled the parchment up and reached for a second one. "I've been thinking, we never did buy an owl. How are we supposed to send things?" He tilted his head, glancing at Nagini with a puzzled expression. "I don't want to reveal my identity, and the house-elf would be recognized immediately... so I'll have to go myself." With a grunt he got up, threw on the cloak draped nearby, took the parchment in hand, and vanished.
Not even ten seconds passed before Severus was already back. He shrugged off the cloak and sat down on the sofa.
"That was quick..."
"Harold wasn't in his office, so I left the letter and the black ledger on his desk. Let them have some entertainment at the Ministry." Severus returned to the documents, and Nagini decided not to interfere, simply settling down beside him.
The following day he devoted himself entirely to the house: replacing the core, as well as the invisible extension charms in the barrier, so that all the creatures could fit comfortably beneath the dome. Once everything was ready, he improved the empty clearing around the building, adding trees and varied vegetation. The moment he released the creatures, they divided the territory almost immediately into four sections, which left the hellhounds with nowhere to settle. They were not the others' equals, after all, so the Black Hound took them under its wing out of some mix of goodwill and laziness, and they did not mind, the alpha least of all, who was practically drooling over the she-wolf.
Severus was quite satisfied with this, and even pleased that they had not fought over territory. As for the wolves, he let them roam freely. The space was no small thing, nearly three kilometers across, and keeping track of everything was difficult enough as it was.
He was not about to simply lock the creatures inside four walls, of course. Their instincts and hunting skills would dull with nothing but inaction and peace. At some point he wanted to break through the barrier over the "Magic Jungles" and create a portal linking his home to that place, so the creatures could hunt properly at least once a week in genuinely dangerous conditions. He had the skills and resources to build an artifact capable of it.
For now, though, he set that aside until he could finally puzzle out the barrier. The magical creatures were enthusiastic when they heard his idea, with the sole exception of the Black Hound, whose laziness exceeded all conceivable and inconceivable limits.
That evening, having finished everything, he settled in for a short rest with the newspaper. The moment he opened it, he could not hold back a smile, because right there on the front page was a moving photograph of the Lestrange brothers trying to cover their faces, and beneath it, in enormous letters: "Swindlers!"
The following page carried a long, scathing piece on the brothers' various schemes: how they collected their tens of thousands of Galleons each month, how they laundered it, and how much they had accumulated by those means. The only question was where this Rita S. had obtained so much detail. Even Severus was curious. He doubted the Ministry had started releasing anything of this nature. They would much rather use it themselves, force the brothers to pay every last tax, and tack on another hundred or two hundred thousand Galleons on top, given how badly funding was needed at present. And yet because of this article they could genuinely face conviction, which was not part of his plans at all.
Apparently they were just unlucky. He had only wanted to teach those idiots a lesson, but no matter; it was their own fault. They should have kept such documents better hidden, or better yet, burned them immediately. Smirking, he continued reading, growing increasingly impressed by Rita's skill. Destroying someone's reputation so thoroughly and dragging their name through the mud took real craft. At the same time, he wondered whether she was immortal, because the Lestrange family was one of the wealthiest and most influential families in magical Britain. Silencing one loud journalist would hardly be difficult for them. How the article had made it into print at all was its own mystery. Perhaps it was a Ministry operation? No publication in its right mind would dare run something like this, not even with a hundred lives at stake. That was likely the case. Without official consent, it would never have seen daylight, and there were far too many precise details. What exactly were they trying to accomplish?
Just then his thoughts were interrupted by pulsing magical energy from his wallet. A moment later, a small mirror appeared in his hand. Its surface rippled, revealing a cool, strikingly beautiful face that made his smile widen.
"I never thought you'd be the one to call first, Squirrel." At the nickname, she snorted in irritation.
"How many more times must I tell you not to call me that?"
"I have no intention of stopping. 'Squirrel' suits you perfectly." A squirrel tail and ears appeared in his hand, which made Miss Black practically shoot lightning at him through the glass. "By the way, I brought you a souvenir from Brazil. I was hoping to meet tomorrow and give it to you."
"For an almost-married woman?"
"Almost? It's still at least a month away, isn't it?"
"Already a month," she answered evenly, watching him with suspicion. "Tell me... was this your doing?"
"Are you really so interested?"
"No, I don't care."
"But if you don't care, then you must have missed me all the same?" Another irritated tsk was her reply. "All right, all right, I'll drop it. How about meeting tomorrow in the park near your house? I can come and pick you up if you like."
"Don't," she said sharply. "We'll meet at the usual place."
"Can I still stop by?" he asked again, his grin entirely unrepentant, visibly enjoying her frown. Irritating her had always been one of his quiet pleasures. "All right, the park it is."
"Then..." But before she could finish, she noticed the familiar Nagini climbing up Severus's chest and coiling around his neck, staring at her with a hostile glint. She couldn't quite say why, perhaps it was simply female intuition, but she sensed jealousy in Nagini's gaze, which struck her as very odd.
Severus, for his part, was quietly amused. He stroked Nagini's head, offered a soft smile, and said, "Alright, then. Tomorrow at eleven, at our usual spot."
"Yes..." Miss Black nodded slowly, still watching Nagini with a peculiar expression while the snake refused to look away. After a few seconds, she shook her head and pushed the thought aside. The idea of an intelligent Nagini was far too strange, especially one so small. Though in the magical world anything was possible, it was surely nonsense, or perhaps not quite nonsense. She recalled the snake she had seen at Ichiro's that day. He could simply have been controlling it with a spell at the time.
"Miss Black?" No answer. "Miss Black?" Still nothing. "MISS BLACK!"
"Huh?" Only his shout broke through, and she even looked faintly embarrassed, which was oddly endearing. "I apologize. I was lost in thought."
"Think nothing of it. Apparently I need to catch you off guard more often." At his words, a telltale flush appeared on her face, and she moved to end the conversation as quickly as possible before she put herself in an even more awkward position.
"Until tomorrow, then..." Her image vanished from the mirror, which made him laugh with genuine warmth.
Setting the artifact aside, he glanced at Nagini, who was now studying the ceiling with great interest as though nothing at all had happened a moment ago.
"Come on then, my jealous one. Time to start your training." He patted the mortified Nagini on the head, rose to his feet, and headed upstairs toward his workspace.
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