London. Black Star.
A large owl tapped on the window of a perfectly ordinary-looking three-story Muggle building. A special letter tube was tied to its leg. It looked thoroughly annoyed, since a drizzle was falling outside and it had been tapping for about ten minutes with no answer. The bird had even started to suspect its master had mixed up the address and sent it to the wrong place. But just as it was about to fly off and wait out the weather somewhere else, the window cracked open. A hand shot out, grabbed the startled predator, and hauled it inside.
The owl squeezed its eyes shut, already preparing to meet its maker. Then it felt a sudden lightness where the letter tube had been. Opening its eyes, it saw a frowning man in a black and green leather suit, parchment in hand. The man had already released it and placed it on the table.
He turned the letter over in his hand. Finding no identifying marks, he unfolded it and quickly scanned the contents. The next instant, his eyes went wide with shock.
"This is impossible."
"What's there?" Another wizard approached him. But to everyone's amazement, the first man, his face pale, simply bolted from the room. The other wizards in the cramped space exchanged startled glances. His reaction alone told them something significant had arrived.
"What do you think could be in there?" a short young man who barely looked twenty asked with interest.
"The less you know, the better you sleep." Another one chuckled, adjusting his black gloves and glancing down at the owl. "Can't say what's in there, but I'll tell you a story. A guy worked here before you." He pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a small flame conjured on his fingertip. "Same thing happened to him. Some urgent letter came, and he ran to report it too. And."
"And?" the newcomer asked, swallowing hard. The others just sighed heavily and exchanged knowing looks.
"Never came back. We were told he was transferred to headquarters, but he wasn't there. I asked my buddies and found out from them that he's listed as dead from the very day that unmarked letter arrived. So in our line of work, the less you know, the longer you live. This profession is very dangerous." Baring his teeth, he blew a stream of smoke directly into the recruit's face. "Thought you could get that kind of money for nothing?"
"Ron, that's enough scaring the lad." Another man with a short beard said with a smirk, lightly tapping the young man's shoulder with his palm. "Nothing will happen to you. That idiot was on night duty and didn't see the red cross on the letter. So he got what he deserved for his carelessness. Just be more careful, and nothing will happen to you."
"Damn! Ruined all the fun!" Ron grumbled in displeasure, stubbing out his cigarette. Then he continued, more seriously. "But still, this reaction is definitely not good. I'm afraid that..."
"Shut up. We saw nothing, and this is no longer our business," the bearded man said in a low voice. "Break's over. Back to work. We still need to sort through all those papers from yesterday. More carefully this time. I have a bad feeling."
The others nodded grimly in response. The pale youth bobbed his head frantically and dashed to the work table, where he began filling out documents with particular care. In his heart, he regretted ever deciding to join the third group of the Steel Division. How could he have known that such seemingly easy, safe work would turn out so dangerous?
At the same time, the nervous man who had earlier run from the room now stood before Vitold. Vitold calmly read the letter sent by a certain Severus. He looked completely calm and even smiled, barely perceptibly.
Not bad. Everything went even better than I wanted, you self-confident cretin. Though it's a pity they didn't just kill him. Now I have to pay a ransom as well. But I achieved the main goal. I think the leader won't be angry about this. Having a new arm sewn on isn't such a big problem. To him, the other wizards were nothing more than cannon fodder. Dozens more like them could be raised in a couple of months. The loss of over forty, if he managed to turn the boy to his side, would be simply negligible. The vacated spot in the upper ranks of the Diamond division would definitely belong to him after this.
Taking out an A4 sheet of paper and a pen, Vitold wrote a reply fairly quickly. Despite wanting Lavr dead, he couldn't allow it if it were possible to save him. The loss of the eighth strongest member and one of the best assassins in the organization would definitely not be forgiven.
The letter was nothing special: apologies for the idiot's actions, agreement to pay the ransom, the address where they would meet next Saturday, and a request to take good care of his subordinate.
Folding the letter in half, he placed it in an envelope and pressed his seal, the silver letter 'S', onto it. Then he handed it to the nervous subordinate.
"Send it with the same owl," Vitold ordered indifferently. The man gave a timid nod and accepted the letter with both hands.
"Y-yes! Perm."
"Go."
"Yes!" As soon as he left the office, he flew toward his workplace like he'd been scalded, almost crying with happiness that everything had worked out and they wouldn't silence him.
Gloucestershire. Several dozen kilometers from the settlement.
In a dark room, in front of a transparent screen displaying a green-haired man, Severus sat with a satisfied expression. He stroked a gray kitten on his lap. The kitten looked at him with displeasure.
"You agreed to four fish dishes yourself. So endure it," Severus said with a smirk. He simply couldn't suppress a smile at the sight of this unfortunate face.
"Mmmmeow."
"Ten more minutes. We agreed on an hour." Ignoring the pitiful meowing, he raised his gaze to the screen. He watched Vitold, who after the subordinate's departure gathered the letter from the table and approached the wall. Then, after knocking on the bricks in a certain sequence, they began moving apart. Too predictable.
The man entered the secret passage and approached a mirror covered with runes around its frame. When he pressed his palm to the empty space between the symbols, they lit up instantly. Ripples spread across his reflection, replacing it with the image of a man in a white mask with red patterns. At the sight, the hand stroking the little beast froze.
"Faceless Mask." An artifact at the peak of Archmage rank. No wonder no one managed to find out what he looked like. With such an artifact, you could lead the whole world by the nose, constantly changing your appearance. "You lucky bastard," Severus muttered with a grimace, not taking his eyes off this artifact, with which, in his world, one could deceive even Grand Archimagi of a lower rank. Now he wanted to meet him even more. Though he wanted to obtain this artifact, he needed information about where the leader had found it far more.
The Faceless Mask wasn't just a simple artifact that changed your face. It was far more impressive, capable of restructuring the entire body and even altering one's magical signature. Severus didn't want it primarily for personal use; he wanted it for protection. As things stood, there was no way he could identify someone using one of these masks to disguise themselves and get close enough to kill him. These masks were primarily used by the Assassins' Guild, and only by core members, since the manufacturing method was kept under the strictest secrecy. Though many had tried to learn this secret over several thousand years, no one had succeeded. Severus didn't even consider attempting it; given his abilities, it was simply impossible.
He continued stroking the kitten, focusing on what was happening on the screen.
"Not bad. You worked well. If you manage to pull him into the organization, I'll overlook your mistakes from yesterday. The place in Diamond is yours, and your brother will become the leader of the Steel Division. So work well and don't let me down, Vitold."
"Yes, thank you. I'll carry out your order!" Vitold babbled quickly, barely containing his excitement. Then he added, "Even if he refuses, I have a backup plan ready. He'll have no choice."
"Do what you want. But if you fail the task." A single grim voice and an unspoken threat were enough to make the proud, arrogant man tremble with fear.
"I won't let you down!"
"You'd better." And the image of the man in the mask dissolved.
Severus's hand moved to the kitten's ears. From all the petting, the little one was in pure bliss. The remaining ten minutes had long since passed.
He's not very talkative. But the main thing is, I learned nothing new. When Severus touched its ears, the little beast began purring contentedly. Best stress relief. Killing a certain green-haired one doesn't feel so tempting anymore.
On the screen, Vitold left the secret room and sank into the chair. Despite his fatigue, his face wore a satisfied grin. Today, his winning streak was beginning. He was one hundred percent sure of his plan, without realizing that with each second this streak was becoming darker. By Saturday, it threatened to match the darkness from the very abyss.
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Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 262
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 183
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 263
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 110
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