Chapter 130. The Black Star.
Half an hour later, Severus checked on Nagini again and noticed that almost nothing remained of the fruit's rind. He pulled out his gold pocket watch with the House insignia and the small gold vial of Felix Felicis, met the anxious snake's eyes with steady confidence, and gave her a firm nod.
"One minute." He uncorked the vial, tipped the contents into her mouth, and ran his palm gently along her snout. "Don't worry. It will work." After taking the potion, Nagini's nervousness began to dissolve.
"Yes!" She hissed with resolve, closing her eyes and focusing inward, trying to feel the fruit inside her body.
At last, when the time had nearly elapsed, the shell encasing the fruit dissolved, and enormous torrents of magic burst forth from it, flooding every part of her body in an instant. This surprised Severus somewhat, since the effect had been considerably weaker and less abrupt in previous cases, and so he had to focus all his concentration on the strange phenomenon.
Gradually, he began to notice how she was changing from within. It was most visible in the venom sac near her fangs: the magic there was growing denser and the sac itself was enlarging. But beyond that, he also felt magic beginning to concentrate slowly within her skin, which could only please him. The direction the evolution had taken was a very promising one: it resembled that of the Basilisk.
When he opened his eyes, he could see her scales growing coarser by degrees, while Nagini's overall size increased almost imperceptibly. One thing did disappoint him: she had not been able to inherit the Basilisk's petrifying ability. But it was not so grave a matter, as she had laid a strong foundation by concentrating on speed, venom, and defense, all of which were very good.
The entire evolution lasted roughly half an hour. By the end of it, her length had grown from ten to fifteen meters, and her coloring had become even more vivid. But what was most striking besides her size was her scales: they stood out slightly, with a faint steel sheen, and there was not the smallest gap between them through which even the thinnest needle could have passed.
As soon as Nagini came back to herself, she let out a happy hiss and began examining her own body with excited curiosity, like a child who had just received the one gift she wanted most.
"Congratulations. You have almost matched the Basilisk in strength, and in length you're even a few centimeters longer."
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" In an instant, Nagini shrank back to her usual size, darted toward him, wound herself rapidly up his body, and coiled around his neck, then pressed her snout affectionately against his cheek.
"Settle down." Severus smiled with quiet warmth and stroked the top of her head with one finger. "You did well."
"I did exactly what you said!"
"Hm?"
"You said it would be good to focus on the venom and the scales, and when that strange magic swept through my body, I felt as though I could direct it, guide it wherever I wanted." Nagini rattled it off quickly, her eyes bright, and this surprised him again.
"Is that so? Strange. When I asked the Black Hound about her experience, she told me she simply lost consciousness at that moment." He stroked his chin in thought, trying to understand how this had been possible, since the Black Hound had certainly not lied to him.
"Perhaps I'm special?"
"Most likely you are," he said, nodding gently and stroking her again. Perhaps her having once been human played no small part in this; her mind may have allowed her to consciously direct the entire process. Worth studying later. Pushing the thought aside, he moved toward the desk. "Right. Let's start by checking your condition. I need to make sure everything went smoothly, and I'll also need a small sample of your venom to determine how much more potent it has become. Otherwise, you might bite me one day and I'll end up kicking the bucket." He added the last part with a smirk, which flustered her somewhat.
He sat down at the desk. Nagini slid off him, and he began his analysis of the changes in his companion.
Organization "Black Star." Steel Division.
The next two days were remarkably quiet, which was highly unnatural for Magical Britain, where minor skirmishes between Death Eaters and the Ministry, along with the deaths of Muggle-born wizards, took place almost daily. The silence unsettled ordinary witches and wizards, who simply didn't know what to expect, and even the aristocrats observing everything from nearly the front row couldn't make sense of what was happening.
In a modest three-story house in London, not far from the entrance to Diagon Alley and practically under the noses of both opposing factions and every wizard in Britain, sat the temporary base of the Black Star. At this moment, on the top floor of the building, in a small room furnished with stark simplicity and no luxuries, five wizards were seated around a round table. Had Severus seen them, he would have recognized each one almost immediately: they were all in Nestor's memories.
The scowling man at the head of the table, with green hair and the appearance of someone in his forties, was the leader of the Steel Division: Vitold Alegría. The others were group captains, just as Nestor had been.
At this moment, a dead silence hung over the windowless room, lit only by a small lamp. Not one of the four captains dared meet Vitold's eyes.
"So you're telling me he betrayed us and went over to that boy's side?" Irritation colored his voice, and all four captains flinched nearly in unison. "Understood."
"He also passed word that we should," the wizard with the black eye patch said, swallowing hard, "leave, if we want to survive."
"Those were his exact words?" Vitold's tone became calmer, though distinctly more attentive. He was thinking of Nestor's cautious nature: Nestor would never in his life have made an enemy of the Black Star by choice. Of all people, Nestor knew exactly how vengeful the organization was and how it treated traitors. That could mean only one thing: whatever stood behind the boy was considerably more dangerous than the Black Star itself, if Nestor had switched sides so openly and without any apparent fear.
"Yes."
"Did he say anything else?" The captain with the eye patch shook his head. "Any trace of the others?"
"We can't track them through the marks. Most likely they're dead." The captain with the short beard said with evident gloom.
"Understood. Leave him alone for now. The rumors about a powerful mage standing behind him were evidently not exaggerated. Spencer." Vitold's gaze shifted to the captain with the grim appearance, whose clothing, entirely in dark tones, matched his appearance. "Your group will handle intelligence gathering. You have permission to be forceful."
"Yes, Leader." Spencer answered in a monotone, and in the next instant, a dark aura engulfed his body, and when it dispersed, he was gone.
"What about the infiltration?" Vitold looked to the next captain, a man with a gleaming shaved head and glasses.
Everything is going smoothly. They have no idea. Although...
"What is it?"
"There's another recruitment round tomorrow. One for the Aurors, where we have no people yet, and another for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's administrative office. It's making me uneasy. It's all a bit too convenient. Our people haven't noticed anything concrete, but..." He removed his round glasses, shook his head with a frown, pulled out a cloth, and began nervously polishing the lenses. "Our people went missing only recently, and now this, all of a sudden. I have no proof, but I would suggest sending only a small number, or ignoring this recruitment entirely."
"Do what you think is best. I've always trusted your instincts." The bald captain was sometimes overly cautious, but more often than not, that same quality kept them out of traps.
"Thank you, Leader. Then let ten people go: those with an aura diameter of no more than twenty centimeters. If it does turn out to be a trap, their loss won't significantly affect our overall combat strength."
"Good." Vitold's gaze moved at last to the final captain, the one who looked the youngest, with green hair and facial features that strongly resembled Vitold's, making it clear he was close to the leader. "What about the Death Eaters?"
"Completely sealed off. No way to plant a spy among them." The answer was grim, though it didn't greatly surprise Vitold. Voldemort, unlike the Ministry, turned out to be far more cautious than expected. That came as a surprise; they had considered him the easiest target.
"Understood. Take over Nestor's responsibilities and continue suppressing the gangs. I'll deal with the Death Eaters myself."
"Yes, bro, I mean, Leader." The youngest captain corrected himself with a guilty look; Vitold didn't pay any particular attention to the slip.
"That concludes today's meeting. Dismissed." Vitold rose and made the announcement. The others bowed in silence and filed out of the room. Vitold crossed to a small cabinet and drew out a folder with only two words on its cover: Severus Snape. An interested smile spread across his face.
I'm quite curious to find out what kind of monster managed to frighten our Nestor so thoroughly that he betrayed the organization and crossed to the other side.
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