Chapter 45

After examining the two unfortunate thieves and having wiped their memories, Severus handed them over to the Aurors, who, like flies on a spoiled pie, began to flock to Diagon Alley. 

Of course, the Archmage did not kill them, because the thieves themselves were not going to stoop to such an extreme, they were just going to knock out Karner and rob. 

And well.....he could not kill someone right in front of Nagini and his worker. 

As for Karner himself, who the very next day found out about the horror that happened last night, Severus simply told him about the good relationship between himself and Malfoy, who helped to sort out all the problems.

Karner, of course, was not a fool and understood that Snape was not saying something, and he only found out about the problems of the store after returning to Diagon Alley, and for the rest of the day he almost did not leave the store, not counting the evening for a couple of hours, during which it was simply impossible to deal with those gangs, numbering around thirty people and located in almost different parts of the city. 

And even the Malfoys, no matter how rich they were, would not have been able to deal with everyone in three hours, and even that terrifying flame that could not be extinguished for a long time was not enough of a deterrent.

It was all too weird. He, of course, had one guess, but… Karner still did not bother himself with this - it's none of his business, and he doesn't need extra problems, because "the less you know, the better you sleep." 

You can say that this phrase accurately describes the attitude of a man to such muddy matters. 

And the salary with the "bonus" that Severus gave him was quite enough to discourage him from all thoughts about the evening incident. 

The next day, the Archmage spent half of the day in the store and the second half of the day walking around Diagon Alley, buying ingredients and observing the situation in general.

Snape also wanted to look into Knockturn Alley, but because of the Aurors scurrying around here and there, he decided not to draw too much attention to himself and abandoned the idea. 

Also, in addition to the ingredients, the young man bought ten more shops, spending forty-two thousand galleons, which he had in abundance. 

Of course, if it were the will of the Archmage, he would have bought the entire Lutny Lane, but this is impossible for the reason that most of the shops belong to the ministry and other noble families. 

The government and the families did not use them, but simply rented them out, which Severus himself intended to do as well. 

He found them by simply visiting these shops and chatting with their owners, and with the help of Legilimency and persuasion, he ransomed them. 

After returning back, he watched everything for some more time and issued several new instructions for Karner, one of them was to recognize and buy out all the shops, of course, only if the price is not too high. 

Also, the Archmage did not forget about security, hiring several wizards for protection, of course he first checked them and signed a magical contract. 

And when it was close to 9'o clock, Snape handed Karner a bag filled with fifty thousand gallons and left the Diagon Alley to return back to Hogwarts.

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The situation in the magical world of Britain was not the best. 

With each passing day, the war only flared up with renewed vigour, the Death Eaters, led by Voldemort, openly hunted the Muggle-wizards right in front of the Ministry. 

And the news that they were joined, in addition to people, by magical creatures like werewolves and giants, caused even more shock and panic among ordinary wizards, who had not decided which side they should be on. 

The general situation in the world could be understood simply by looking at Diagon Alley, which after the first of September returned to its usual gloomy appearance: most of the buildings had boarded up windows and doors, and the owners themselves had long since left them and fled as far as possible from the epicentre of the war; the storefronts that used to hold glittering and mesmerising merchandise were plastered with posters of many Death Eaters. 

The only people to still move around the streets were those who had confidence in their abilities and even then they were in companies of 2 or 3 people. 

Of course, there were also working shops, but they survived thanks to patronage from various bigwigs and the ministry.

Severus didn't have anything like that, so after a short investigation, everyone immediately targeted him, and if it weren't for his strength, then by tomorrow there would be nothing left of the store, and the Archmage would have been tortured somewhere in the basement in order to knock out recipes. 

And the new law passed by Barry Crouch who was recently promoted to become the head of the law enforcement department on increasing the rights of aurors.

According to the law, now the aurors could capture any suspicious wizard/witch and use unforgivable spells on them for interrogation. caused even more panic among wizards, and an even greater number of wizards left the country or moved to the very outskirts. 

There was real devastation in the country, and the war was only gaining momentum and there was only one place which was protected from all this gloom and that was Hogwarts and the reason it was still standing was all because of Headmaster Dumbledore.

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[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.]

 Approaching the main entrance, Severus glanced with slight surprise at the scarlet bird the size of a swan, with a long golden tail, golden claws and beak. 

It stood on a statue in the form of an eagle, in the beak of which was a large lamp, illuminating two massive gates painted with various patterns. 

'The phoenix of that old man….apparently, he is waiting for someone…' and as soon as this thought flashed through his mind, the bird looked directly into his eyes, and then dived down and landed on the Severus' shoulder.

"And what do you want? I have no food," the Archmage asked with a smile, stroking the bird's back. "Surprisingly soft ..." Snape mumbled as he stroked the bird.

"Maybe the Headmaster is calling you, since instead of that nasty old woman he sent his Phoenix." Nagini hissed, glancing at the "chicken" with displeasure. 

"Hmm, you're right, right?" Looking into the eyes of the bird, in which Severus easily saw the mind, he asked aloud.

Phoenix, oddly enough, was not afraid of the snake that crawled out from under Severus' robe.

As if understanding him, the bird only nodded timidly, emitting a pleasant warmth that surrounded the Archmage, while it did not resist Snape' caresses, feeling some kind of kinship with Snape. "Let's go then, and you, get inside." FlickingNagini on the forehead, Snape went to the gate, which slowly began to open ...

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They didn't run into anyone along the way, thanks to Peter, and made it to the very top floor, which was adjacent to one of the small towers where the Headmaster's office was located, without any problems. 

And standing in front of the statue of the Gargoyle, Severus said with a smile: "Lemon slice," and, like the last time, the eyes of the statue lit up with a crimson light, and it stepped aside, opening a wooden spiral staircase, which, as soon as the wizard stepped on it, began to go up. 

And after a few seconds, Severus's gaze appeared to the Headmaster's office and Dumbledore was standing in front of the table and looking at the Archmage with interest. 

"Good evening, Headmaster," Severus greeted him without changing his face, and Phoenix, rubbing his head a little against the hand of archmage, flew to his place near the old man's table.

"Good evening, my boy. As I can see, Fawkes liked you very much," the old man drawled with a good-natured smile, looking at his pet with warmth.

"Phoenixes are very sensitive to human emotions and easily understand whether a person in front of them is a good person or not."

"Slytherin and 'good' in one sentence is a little funny. I just love animals and they usually do the same for me, that's all." Severus said shaking his head.

"Don't talk about yourself like this: it's not the houseor this hat that decides what kind of person you are, but only your choice."

"I'll remember that, so why did you summon me Headmaster?" the mage asked with an innocent smile.

"First of all, congratulations on the title of "Master". I wanted to congratulate you even earlier, but there was too much to do," the old man sighed tiredly, taking a lemon slice from the plate and putting it in his mouth, squinted contentedly. "Lemon Slice?" Dumbledore asked Severus with a lemon slice in his hand.

"No thanks, I've already eaten." 

"Is that so… well," the headmaster continued cheerfully, as if energised.

"But you didn't call me just for that, did you?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This is true. I'm going to have one rather selfish request of you, but if you refuse, I'll understand." 

"Does this have anything to do with my small business?" 

"Yes, but not only that," stroking his beard, Dumbledore went to the closet and took out a cube very familiar to Severus. 

"Mr Macmillan told you?" asked the archmage again without changing his expression, for he already realised that Dumbledore knew who the creator of the artifact was. 

"No, he didn't tell me anything, but I'll apologise to him later for using Legilimency, because I really needed to meet the creator of this artifact, you won't be able to guess how surprise I was when I found out that the creator of this artifact was you, Severus." 

"I see, I should have guessed…" In fact, Severus understood that this could very well happen even at the moment when he offered Macmillan a deal, but he thought it would happen much later. 

Apparently, the artifacts Legilimency blocking shield could not withstand the power of the old Man, and the Archmage was sure that somewhere in Dumbledore's storerooms there might well be an artifact that enhances mental strength.

"Don't blame him, my boy, he…" 

"Headmaster, let's get down to business." Severus said shaking his head, cutting off Dumbledore's sentence.

"Okay, I want to invite you to join the Order of the Phoenix, a group that fights Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Severus, my boy, we really need your help…"