— You're either mad or an idiot. — The voice was magically distorted, and I immediately recognized the source and turned my gaze to the speaker. — But it's even better: we'll eliminate the main problem right now, and the rest will be much easier to deal with. — Despite the distortion, I could clearly hear a chuckle in his voice.
— If you're so sure of victory, why the masquerade? — I nodded in her direction. — I won't tell anyone anyway... — I wonder if they'll fall for it, or if they'll keep pretending to be movie "supervillains"?
— How primitive! — Again the chuckle in my voice. — But you're right, strangely enough. All the more reason for me to let you know who punished you.
Am I the only one who thought that these subordinates were too conceited and that they took a little too much theatricality from their master? Why show off when there's always a chance of failure? While I was pondering, the remaining five wizards and a strange low figure threw off their hoods and masks, revealing to me those I had expected, but I had not expected the "newcomer" to be a frankly ancient woman with white blind eyes.
A very repulsive looking old woman with sparse gray hair, a toothless mouth, many pigment spots on waxy, translucent skin, and eyes without pupils. Well, not really white, more like yellowish gray. The whole picture of this old woman looks very much like a corpse.....
— The best people in the nation, — I commented aloud on the 'faces' I'd discovered. — Messrs. Nott, Yaxley, Rowley, Foley and Malfoy. — I smiled affectionately at the last one, with a hint of a smile.
For a few seconds there was silence. The 'important' gentlemen were 'posing', but it was unclear for whom, though I assumed it was for each other. I thought Lucius was a bitch, a real bitch, a traitor. Oh, how he shuddered and his eyes glistened as he realized what these new sensations, though still the first warnings, meant.
He's not happy, Slippery, but at the same time he's smug and triumphant. He thinks he'll soon be rid of me and no longer have to endure my power over him and his kind. Naive traitor. I shuddered again, a hint of impatience in my eyes. Is he so ignorant as to think that his treachery (oh, how he twitched, making me smile at him again) would be washed away by my death?
The naive English boy decided he was smarter than that and the oath would disappear. Blood traitor. Yes, yes, his blood, his family owes me a huge debt, and I can demand his wife as my mistress or even concubine right in front of him, and he won't even be able to do anything about it! And this is far from "berries". I saved his family from death, and usually you get paid a lot more for that. But Slippery has decided to sneak away again, just like before. Well, I'm going to sprinkle him with salt, the best remedy for slippery slugs.
— Mr. Malfoy.
— Lord Malfoy! — Lucius jumped in, chin up, acting like a king among the rabble.
— Did you know that there is more than one 'evil' ritual in which a member of the family is chosen upon whom the head of the family can cast the family curse, and the more valuable that member is, — I grinned. — The more valuable that member is, the more curses can be cast on them? And it's just a coincidence that I know two ways to do it. Amazing coincidence, isn't it? — Another broad smile that practically broke the snail's composure.
— Was that all you had to say before Lady Gloria finished with you? — Yaxley asked arrogantly, his manner as arrogant as Lucius'.
— Don't you have the guts? Or do the calluses from your handiwork prevent you from holding your wand properly?
— Do you really think that such primitive insults will have any effect on a true aristocracy like us? — Yaxley said mockingly, with a look as if he were studying a cockroach. — But how would a filth like you know what a normal upbringing is? Apparently, whatever corner you crawled out of has forgotten how to address a true Pureblood gentleman. But that's okay, you'll be taught by someone who has raised generations of true wizards and witches. Lady Gloria, you may continue. — With these words, the grey-haired man, unnoticed by the others but not by me, touched an old-fashioned ring on which a dirty-green wave ran and quickly disappeared.
At the same moment, the old woman somehow cheered up, more confidently catching her beak, which actually turned out to be a natural staff — this was subtly hinted at by the crystal, as well as the lines of the same dirty green light on the wood, repeating the pattern of natural channels of sap circulation. A moment later, a wave appeared. The old woman chewed her toothless lips and blinked slightly as she examined me.
— What a curious specimen... yes... — her croaky, hoarse voice cut through my hearing. — Quite curious... let's see what you have in your head... useful...
The eyes without pupils and irises shone, and the grandmother caught my gaze professionally, although I didn't even think of averting it. Just in case, I have a mental shield artifact to ward off suspicion of my natural, now mental magic resistance. For a few seconds, the grandmother burned me with her gaze, even intensifying the glow of her eyes a few times, but to no avail, especially since she did not even penetrate my artifact.
An expensive artifact consisting of a two-centimeter amber ball surrounded by an intricate network of silver wire. I called it the "Midday Sun" because for those who try to read my mind, get inside my head, or otherwise influence my mind, there is a certain effect: those who try to get inside my head to learn something, the "Sun" blinds with an unbearable glow, and those who try to influence, the same light also burns.
This artifact was a creative reworking of an ancient dagger made especially for the Emperor of China, it had a similar functionality and idea, but the work was "raw" in my opinion, so I finished it.
— What a powerful artifact! — The old woman genuinely admired me, her parchment lips curling into an ugly smile. — Korban, my dear, today our family treasury will be enriched with a new jewel!
— Lady Gloria, I don't think we should give the filthy Mudbloods any more time than they already have: destroy this abomination, and we'll take care of the rest.
— You young people are always in a hurry, in a hurry... — the old woman shook her head. — And you're right. But I want to keep this material and do some experiments with it.
— As you wish. — The elderly head of the family nodded condescendingly.
— Well, let's get started.
Why did I wait for them to speak, why did I do nothing? Because I was preparing myself. The spirit cage distorts my perception considerably, and until I got closer, I couldn't get a good look at the old woman. Now, knowing that the old woman is very strong and connected to the ancestral altar, plus the abundance of amulets and artifacts that make her shine like a garland in my spiritual vision, I decided to get even more serious.
The disarmed group, each one of them, had acquired a seal, and they were now also walled in by a powerful barrier. I wanted to put seals on the walls for a magic suppression circuit, but the talismans just burned out because of the cage. I also put on my shields, with a good amount of reserve, activated several disposable protective amulets for different occasions, hid my wand, instead of which I printed one of the captured battle scepters, as well as a concentrator ring — my latest experiment, an attempt to reduce a crystal wand to the size of a ring or bracelet. The experiment was successful. Retrieving blades or other weapons is a matter of moments, so keep them in reserve. It'll be a surprise.
The grandmother simply tapped her staff on the stone floor, and outwardly nothing else seemed to happen, but I threw the talisman in front of me, and it split into five, surrounding me in an equal ring and flashing brightly. The shadow tentacles that had silently crept toward me were blown away by the wind like light dust.
— Hmm, — the grandmother grinned wickedly. — Does the boy know a trick or two? How about this?
Another blow to the ground, and a few clouds of dirty dark green smoke somehow lazily separated from the staff. Puffing, they moved in my direction. They were met by a pair of universal seals. The paper completely absorbed the dark smoke upon impact, but immediately disintegrated into black dust. I, who still did not move from my previous position, expressed skepticism and even irony with my whole appearance. But it was only outwardly, inwardly I was extremely focused and ready for any surprises, in the sense of reacting to them, to surprises.
— Avada Kedavra! — shouted two voices behind the old woman, and two green clumps with long tails, creating the effect of a ray, flew at me.
BOM! BOM!
The artifact instantly summoned simple flat shields that stopped the deadly spells. After a moment, the shields dissipated, and I felt the skin of my wrist warm as the artifact warmed slightly.
Another attempt to weave me with shadow tentacles, though I wasn't at all sure they were just shadows, but much more cautious, also failed. Then a dozen "standard" dark combat spells like "Blood Boil" or "Dark Bone Crusher" (not to be confused with "Bone Crusher") were sent at me. I dodged some of the spells with my usual Protego and sent out Trial Confringo, Baubillious, Glacius, AquaEructo, and Expulso in response. The test of exploding fire, lightning, freezing, water, and the energy disturbance that created the blast and jolt should have revealed weaknesses, vulnerabilities, predispositions. But all I got from this test was a vague hunch.
— Stellalumen! — A silver light burst from the ring, bright but not blinding, beautiful, mesmerizing in its, strange as it sounds, coolness and detachment.
This time, the old woman used a completely different defense. Her shield was like a faceted gem that bounced off spells, but this time it was a thick cloud of foul smoke whose energy made the air tremble, but I saw what I suspected.