Chapter 189

Ten minutes earlier. London.

The small office was filled with a rather gloomy atmosphere, Charles, the current commander of the "Steel" squad, and perhaps already the former one, was sitting silently at the table, staring at one point, his face was unnaturally pale, while occasionally, as if thinking about something, he pursed his lips and then bitting his finger, he sighed heavily.

This had been going on for more than one day, his brother had not contacted him after the failure of the operation, but he had no doubt that he already knew about it and most of all the man was afraid that Vitold might come to them, he simply did not know how to look him in the eyes after such a shameful defeat.

And, his self-confidence, arrogance and stupidity were to blame for this, because, instead of forgetting about the feud with Laurel and finishing the task, he decided to take revenge on him for the humiliation of ten years ago and the contempt with which the killer looked on him all this time.

Although, if he had sent him to the Minister of Magic then, and he himself would have taken on the noseless bastard, the wizard was sure that the mission would have been successfully completed.

And now, he simply did not know what to do, because they suffered huge losses: in addition to Laurel's squad, who simply left, while leaving a note that he would soon return for his head, which is why Charles had hardly closed his eyes lately, fearing for his life; also fifty well-trained wizards and Eugene, one of the captains, who took on Alastor Moody, and subsequently fell at the hands of Albus Dumbledore.

And so he just waited for someone from headquarters to contact him and tell him what to do next.

The squad leader understood that the mission to capture the country was a failure unless three or four subunits of the Almaz squad were sent to their rescue, which he highly doubted, and the rest were too busy.

Taking a small glass of amber liquid from the table, he drained it in one gulp, and then, without even blinking an eye, put it back and sighed again, but a moment later, Charles stirred and rose on shaky legs, with a heavy sigh approached the painting, which almost immediately moved aside, revealing to his gaze a mirror in which was the figure of Vitold and he looked completely indifferent.

Anyone else in his place, not knowing Alegria, would be happy to see that he was not angry and looked quite calm, but as a person who knew him from the cradle, he understood that this was just a mask and the man was angry.

But the wizard had already expected this, so his expression barely changed, and he looked into his older brother's eyes with a sad smile.

"Do you understand why I contacted you only now?" Vitold asked coldly.

"So as not to rush in here and kill me on the spot."

"I have already received your report and Laurus's report," Charles's face twisted at the mention of the latter, but Vitold ignored it and continued to look at his brother in silence, "What do you plan to do next?"

"Retreat, this battle is lost, I can't do anything with what's left of the Steel squad, and further attempts to continue the mission could lead to even greater losses."

"I'm glad you at least understand the situation you're in now, orders from the leader have come, you are to return to headquarters immediately with the remnants of the Steel squad, the mission to capture Britain has failed."

"Yes…" the wizard nodded, lowering his head, no longer daring to meet Vitold's gaze, because he had destroyed everything that his brother had spent so long building, and it was entirely possible that the squad, after returning, could simply be disbanded, because there were too few people left in it, only one hundred and forty-two wizards, one captain, and him.

"Forgive me…" But all he heard in response was a heavy sigh and just at that moment, Charles shuddered and sharply raised his gaze to the ceiling, from which Vitold, watching him, frowned.

"What is so …" but, before he could finish, he saw that the ceiling had become transparent, and behind it was an unnaturally bright blue sky, which was nothing more than a huge dome.

"And here is the punishment for my mistakes …" a wand appeared in his hand, waving which, nothing happened, from which his already strained smile became even more unnatural, even some saddened, "We can't get away from here …"

And, a few seconds later, someone began to knock furiously on the door of the office, and then the hurried voice of Robert, the last captain and chief analyst of the department, sounded.

"Commander! The building is completely surrounded! We can't say exactly how many of them are there, but by rough estimates, at least five hundred people, including both Aurors and Death Eaters! What should we do?! It is impossible to apparate because of the barrier! There is no way we can retreat!"

"Activate protocol #32. Prepare to defend, I'll be right out!" A tired but ironic smile flashed across his gloomy face, but his gaze became much more determined.

"The very ending that such an incompetent commander deserves, but I'm not going to give up so easily!"

"I see you've already resigned yourself to your fate?" Vitold asked him calmly, while a pleasant surprise flashed in his gaze, for the first time in his life seeing his brother so determined, and no matter how indifferent the wizard wanted to seem, but even for him, the loss of the only close person to whom, albeit with a stretch, he could trust his back, was not an easy one and he could not allow it.

"Forgive me for being such an idiot…"

"So you've already resigned yourself to it... I shouldn't have expected anything else from you, you always gave up too early, stupid little brother."

"Hey! You could have at least said something nice before I died! Damn it! I'll never hear even a nice word from you!"

"And do you think I'm to blame for this?" Still with the same indifference, he raised an eyebrow, which made Charles' eye twitch, and then added in a more serious voice, "If you can hold out for half an hour or an hour, three subunits of the "Diamond" squad will come to your aid, yesterday I sent them to Britain from Switzerland so that they would help you safely leave the country, I hope I don't need to explain how much this cost me, right?"

"Brother…" the man was deeply touched by the care of the eternally indifferent and emotionless Vitold, who always kept the line between them and treated him like everyone else, and this made him very angry and left a bitter taste in his mouth, but now, in order to help him, he was ready to risk his reputation and send three sub-units of the Almaz unit.

"How blind I was... I behaved like an idiot..." many moments popped into his head when it seemed to him that he was treated with prejudice, they did not believe in him and considered him only an extra.

Yes, he was scolded often, but now, after thinking a little, he realised,that it was almost always for the cause, Vitold never tried to belittle his merits, but only show him the right path and did not allow him to become too arrogant, he always cared about him, but did not show it, "Brother ... forgive me for everything, if I still survive today …"

"So that the day after tomorrow, at sixteen zero-zero be at headquarters and stand in my office, and do not dare to be late, I have already said everything." And, after the last words, ripples passed across the mirror and his reflection appeared in it again.

"They say the truth, that at the end of life, you realise a lot.…"Charles muttered with a peaceful smile, sniffing, "But, if I still survive, I will definitely ask for forgiveness for all the trouble I caused you…." a staff appeared in his hand, hitting the ground with it, a shock wave burst out from under it, smashing the communication device to pieces.

As soon as he left the room, he was immediately met by Robert, who immediately began reporting on the general situation and how dire it was...

___________

At the same time, outside, the last group of wizards, twenty-five in number, finally arrived.

Who immediately, like the other groups, stood in their previously agreed places, on the half belonging to the not so "good" wizards, so as not to accidentally get stabbed in the back by each other, right between the "Death Eaters" and the "Black Broomsticks".

The Minister of Magic, watching all this, had a rather complicated look, because he never in his life thought that the day would come when he would have to fight shoulder to shoulder with real criminals, and especially with a dark wizard like Voldemort, and Albus, standing next to him, completely shared his feelings and he also did not take his eyes off him.

Riddle himself met their gazes with mockery, as did the rest of the Death Eaters and gang members, because this union completely proved the incompetence of the government of Magical Britain, which had to ask for help from its enemies to cope with the threat hanging over all of England.

Which, at least a little, but raised their spirits after that day. The arrival of the last group marked the beginning of the operation to destroy the foreign invaders and taking out his wand, Harold made a circular motion in front of his face, in the centre of which a blue firefly appeared and he coughed twice into his fist, his voice echoed throughout the dome:

I, Harold Minchum, the thirtieth Minister of Magic of Great Britain, order the organisation "Black Star" to surrender, put down their wands and leave the building one by one with their hands behind their heads, otherwise, in ten seconds, the assault will begin and all aggressively minded wizards will be completely destroyed... ten... nine... the wizards listening to this, especially from the gangs, began to squeeze their wands with anticipation, "... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two…" the next moment, a barrier appeared around the building, "... one... Begin the assault!"

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