Chapter 9 Disassembly, Control, and Surveillance charms.

At Hogwarts, I realized that it was very convenient to be the main prize and judge at the same time. Then, in fact, there is an opportunity to evaluate everything more fully and make a choice. I guess I had my own training program, like the one Dumbledore would be organizing for Potter, only I had a half-goblin program.

Returning to the shelter for the summer holidays was not very pleasant. Even though my "rose-colored glasses" and my view of the world of magic disappeared during my first year of school, Hogwarts turned out to be the wrong fairy tale. At Hogwarts, I drank the courage and justice of magicians, learned about their unity and mutual assistance, Davis showed me everything well. But the shelter was worse, boring and depressing on the one hand, and the constant intrigue with showdowns on different levels - on the other hand. It's almost like Hogwarts, but without magic.

In general, the society of magicians stands on the "three whales", as I understand it. The first and most important whale is the magic school. It is there that magicians find at least some commonality. Without the magic school, mages would be too disjointed to be considered a society, they would have nothing in common. Previously, this was the case, magicians lived with Muggles without separation, and instead of school, there was the practice of accepting them as personal students.

The second whale is the Ministry of Magic, which appeared after the adoption of the statute of secrecy. The law separated magicians into a separate community, separated them from the Muggle world. The Ministry began to monitor the implementation and adoption of laws, took over law enforcement duties. Also, the ministry took over all the previously existing advisory bodies, such as the Assembly of Lords.

The last whale, not surprisingly, was war. The need for collective defense required coordination of common actions and decisions. First, in the days of the Inquisition, when in fact there was no war as such, it was the settling of old scores and intrigues of magicians who actively involved Muggles in their showdowns, and then, after the adoption of the Statute of Secrecy, there were Goblin uprisings. An echo of these conflicts lives in the magicians of Britain to this day. It is from there that the oppression of the magical races and the hatred of Muggles stems. What is noteworthy, the goblins still won their place, maybe not the best,but not the worst.

The tripod, in contrast to mechanics, is a very unstable construction of the structure of society. It seems to me that the hatred of magicians for all sorts of other peoples is artificially maintained. But it was impossible to determine exactly whether this was the case. People are happy to feel special even without someone else's prompting, and to think of others as garbage.

I didn't need much company. Real people are almost always alone. But I had forgotten how to be a loner, so I needed a little communication. Yes, my peers were not very interesting to me, but someone older perceived me as a small fry, and the attitude was appropriate. I wasn't even going to approach Nymphadora Tonks at Hogwarts, I didn't notice any interest on her part. In the shelter, too, I had to look for friends among my peers.

Stacey Hopkins, the one who suffered from Tim's actions and the bias of the shelter's administration, became my friend. Outwardly, she was... not my type, as they say — an amateur. But she had positive qualities. She was brave and quite honest, with a painful sense of justice. With my support, she began to build her own gang around her, the purpose of which was not to oppress those who are weaker, but on the contrary, collective protection.

"Hi, Stacey," I greeted the girl, having decided on my intentions.

My choice of a friend fell on her, because it was easier for me to communicate with the girl, mental age plays a smaller role. I was uncomfortable with the boys, they annoyed me, especially when hierarchical games for supremacy began.

"Blair?" Hopkins asked. — What do you want?"

"Um —" I said, confused by her tone, " I wanted to be friends.

"You don't talk to anyone," the girl said with a weighty and precise definition of my habits. — Why would you want to be friends with someone?"

The maturity of my judgment and common sense made me think that I was not the only one who got caught here. Usually, when I approached children with such a proposal, I received consent, even if it was formal, but even such consent was a normal beginning. Immediately, I felt like a stupid child in front of an adult aunt. Children in the shelter grow up faster.

"Every group gets its own gang sooner or later," I decided to say bluntly, " so I decided that we should also organize our own.

"I'd hate to beat the sweets out of the little ones," Hopkins said after a moment's thought. "Actually, Blair, you're going back to your boarding school for the gifted in the fall. You won't be here.

— It's not necessary to take something away from someone, "I began to justify myself," it's more important not to let others take it away from us. As for training: yes, I will leave, but I will have to come back again in the summer. You'll be better off if everything's all right here. I've already noticed that some people in our group are starting to gain authority. Patrick Owen was already starting to pick a team, and he was one of Tim's backup singers. Would you be comfortable with him setting the tone in our group?

I put pressure on the most painful things, but I avoided rudeness. Since from the first phrases in Hopkins felt a serious adult attitude, then I decided to speak seriously.

"I don't like Owen," Hopkins said, her eyes narrowing angrily. But what can we do?

"We already?" I said.

"Yes," Stacey agreed, " I accept your offer. So will you answer the question?

"Don't worry," I assured Hopkins, " as long as Owen doesn't gain strength and authority, I can easily break him. Without his friend Tim, he's nothing.

"By the way," Stacy said, " do you know what happened to the Warrens?"

"Hopkins —" I said reproachfully, " everyone knows that, there was a gas explosion, they were hurt.

"I know that theory," Stacey said, " but we even have electric stoves in the kitchen at the shelter. Where did the gas come from, and not in the basement or on the first floor, but on the second?

"I don't know anything," I said. — If you really need gas, the Warrens must have done it themselves, because they were naturally very frightened.

My translation of the topic as a joke, well, or an attempt, did nothing, Stacey was not so easy to confuse.

"Yeah," Hopkins said, " and they were scared of you!"

— What makes you think I am?" I wondered at her logic.

"Owen told everyone who wanted to hear that you were going to get hurt," Stacey told me — " because Tim's mother is going to deal with you. You went missing that day, and Tim and his mother went to the hospital. A delusional version of the gas explosion spread around the shelter, which for some reason everyone believed. What do you say to that?

— I'll tell you that you'd better not dig in that direction — "I said seriously —" everyone believed this version, just because it suits everyone. If you keep digging, you may get into trouble, and the gas version will be corrected.

"Trouble," Hopkins said, surprised and angry, " are you threatening me, Blair?" It was after talking to you that the Warrens went to the hospital. After a while, you came back, and everyone took it as normal. None of the teachers and tutors bother you once again, and the boys from the older groups do not offend. How do you do that?

"Stacey," I said, " you'd better stay out of this. I can only say that I'm not threatening you. I'll be in trouble myself if you keep digging and ask these questions to everyone. Let's drop the subject? Just accept the fact that this world is more complex than it seems, it has its own secrets, and not all secrets should be revealed.

Hopkins frowned, but said nothing, thinking hard about my words.

"All right, Blair," the girl agreed, giving me an adult look, " I'll trust you this time. Let's organize your gang! But first, you break Owen's authority, and I'll see how you do it.

I managed to break Patrick Owen very easily. I went over and explained to him that Tim was no longer in the shelter, that no one would support the kind of outrage he was promoting and spreading under his command. And if someone does not understand that times have changed, then I can explain it in another way.

It was like this:

"Hey, Owen," I called out to the guy in my group.

We found Owen not far from the boys ' bedrooms. Hopkins sat nearby and watched. Patrick wasn't a daredevil or a strong-willed person, he was affected by my aura like most Muggles.

"What do you want, Blair?" Owen asked warily and defiantly, but he came over anyway.

"I wanted to warn you," I said, making a dismissive face, " if you start putting things in order in our group that I don't like, you'll regret it. Am I making myself clear?

I spoke loudly so that the couple of buddies that managed to make It, heard it, and took the situation under advisement.

"What's your business, Blair?" - Aries began to be indignant — -I do not touch you, so you do not meddle in my affairs.

He seemed to answer boldly, but in fact, I already knew that he would give up if I pressed him a little more. But I was even more afraid than Owen. My attempt to put pressure on this child woke up my obscurus. As soon as I turned to the dark side of my soul and magic, they responded with alacrity.

Fear kills the mind, I reminded myself. "The beast can only destroy, but what can it destroy while inside me? You just need to keep your mind, then the beast will leave, and I will stay."

In my words, which I pressed on Owen, I myself felt the magic that increased the degree of persuasion, caused fear and the desire to obey. The dark Lord must have felt something like that when he gave out orders. My obscurus liked power, that's for sure. The beast was pleased. But I also knew that the delusion would pass, that my mind was safe. I can stop the pressure at any time.

Looking at Hopkins, I realized that my actions had scared her, too.

"I warned you, Owen," I said, to reinforce the effect. "Do you understand me?"

"I-understand," the boy said, his face pale.

"Good," I said, smiling, and suppressed the dark power that was amplifying the effect.

Owen breathed a sigh of relief as I turned away.

Hopkins was impressed by the show of force.

"I don't know how you did it, Blair," Hopkins said to me, " but it scared me. Once, I wanted to pet a yard dog, but it was not in the mood to accept the caress of a little girl, it guarded the bone and perceived anyone as a threat. Well, her snarl didn't scare me as much as your calm words did.

After a couple of days, we found a couple more guys for our gang, choosing first of all not by strength or authority, but by moral qualities. The core was to consist of those people who would not betray and would not use their position for their own benefit, but would do the right thing.

Owen, after a couple of weeks, moved away from my influence and tried to regain his authority, and along the way to start active activities, starting with our group. So he decided to challenge me.

The challenge was stupid on his part, no matter how hard he tried. There were already four people in our gang, even if Stacey was a girl, but in a fight she would have given a light to many of the guys, so there was no discount on her gender. And Owen's authority was already severely undermined, he had already conceded once under my pressure…

"Patrick, my friend —" I said unnecessarily happily, walking up to my opponent, " you're the one I've been looking for.

My cheerful tone did not deceive Owen, he immediately knew that trouble was coming. Patrick's backup singers moved closer to him, showing support. My companions were also here, behind me.

"Owen, I thought you understood me last time we talked," I said calmly. — I was hoping you wouldn't be a problem."

"What's the problem, Blair?" As if he didn't understand what he was talking about, Patrick spread his hands and tried to smile.

I shook my head from side to side in a negative gesture, condemning the activities of my opponent. — I warned you not to do anything like that.

"Actually, you were talking about the kids," Patrick corrected me. And to be clear, it's none of your business.

Patrick was going to escalate, which I didn't understand. What for? He wasn't a daredevil. But he clearly understood that I would approach him, that the conflict was inevitable, that he was in a losing situation. But it was going to escalate. Why?

I decided to re-apply my powers of persuasion. Obscurus might frighten me, but what else could I do? I turned back to my dark side.

— You'll have to return everything you've already taken, — I said to Patrick, letting my dark aura out. It wasn't obscuri, that dark smoke didn't manifest in the material world, but if a wizard were here, he would surely sense a specific danger, the use of magic, or something. The first time I'd worked on Patrick, I'd expected Aurors or a warning from the ministry, but none of that had come. Either there wasn't enough magic, or the surge was blamed on something specific.

— Why should I?" Patrick pretended to be surprised. — What I took was the protection fee, it's all fair.

— I said you'd return what you took, "I repeated, and added," and apologize."

With that, I looked hard at Patrick's backup singers.

"Ricker and Wise, do you want trouble?" I pressed the boys. — I have a conversation with Owen — "I pressed on," and it's none of your business. But you can listen if you want.

"I'll step back for a few minutes," Ricker said, stepping back but not turning his back on me like he was facing a dangerous animal.

Wise also took a couple of steps back, but didn't leave.

"Don't get me wrong, Owen," I said, " I can get you into serious trouble. Some supplies might be missing from the warehouse. Most likely, it will be candy. You like candy, don't you? The trail will lead to you. Traces of chocolate on the sheet, hidden candy wrappers, everything will confirm that you committed a theft from the warehouse. The police won't take long to sort it out. You will be placed on a special account and transferred to another shelter.

"I'll have an alibi," Owen said, trying to resist the suggestion. His whole body was shaking with fear, and his speech was confused, his voice frankly gave a rooster.

— What fucking alibi?" I laughed, the laugh of a dark lord. I was clearly carried away. "You'll have chocolate all over your face."

Owen started to step back in fear, and when he turned around, he saw Riker on a trailer pulling John Hill, who was the leader of the moderate gang among the older groups.

On the part of Owen it would be more effective to appeal to the dick that was headed by a more radical group. But apparently he didn't dare go to Dick. He could demand something outrageous for his help.

But now I knew what Owen was hoping for. It was all planned. Hill was waiting somewhere nearby. Ricker ran to get him to give Patrick some support.

Well, you can give Patrick a top grade for planning. But with the assessment of the situation, he miscalculated. Even the same Dick could not look to intervene in the conflict, immediately starting a fight, then Hill was too reasonable and get involved in no one knows what, he will not.

John came up to me and stared into my eyes. I didn't look away. Our silent struggle continued for a couple of minutes, after which John said to Owen::

"You'll have to solve your own problems, Patrick, I'm sorry. In seven months, I will leave the shelter as an adult, and I don't need any problems.

John Hill turned and walked away, leaving us to solve our own problems.

"I'll pay you back," Owen said quickly.

"And apologize to the guys," I pressed.

"And I'll apologize," Patrick agreed again.

Patrick's eyes almost filled with tears when he asked to join our "gang".

— I'm not sure you're right for us, "I reasoned aloud," we organized just to keep people out of our way, not to take candy from others."

"I won't do it again," Owen said, " it's just the easiest way to rally the team and show strength. But, you've already shown your strength. If the leader chose not to contact you with the group leader, then I don't even know what to think…

"You'll report to Hopkins," I said, setting a spot for Owen. "Rikers," I said to Owen's former associate, "you'll be under my direct command, Wise, you'll still be on the same page as everyone else," I said to the remaining guy in the hierarchy, " you'll be under Hopkins on a general basis. Is everything clear to everyone? I asked the question.

"Yes, boss," the boys said.

In the evening, the Aurors did show up. Clearly, no one else saw them. After walking around a bit here and there, they came up to me.

We're from Aurorath — " Auror said, not bothering with the formalities of introducing himself, asking my name, talking about the weather. - Come on, boy, tell me what happened here —

- Nothing happened, - I answered honestly. — Who are you?"

"Muggle-born," said the second Auror, " it's different with them. And turning to me, " You go to Hogwarts, don't you?"

"Yes, sir," I said hastily, for the Auror had already drawn his wand, " I am the best student in my class.

"Smart, then," Auror said, either praising me or laughing at me. "Well, the control spell has detected the use of magic in this area, for the second time in a short time. We were sent to investigate what was going on here. Spit it out, boy!

"Well, it wasn't anything like that, — I said, telling the truth," it was just…

"Just what?" — interested in Aurora.

"There was a little conflict," I explained, " it's a common thing here at the shelter.

"Well?" said Auror. "Don't pull it, boy, what's wrong?"

"The boys say I can be persuasive,"I said.

"How convincing is that?" Auror asked.

"I seem to be getting very scary, but nothing changes outwardly —" I confessed, and tried to justify myself immediately. There was no point in lying and fooling around, the Aurors would have found out the truth anyway.

"Looks like some kind of ancestral gift," Auror said to his partner. — We'll need to file a report to have the surveillance spell reconfigured to suit the specifics. I don't want to have a trial for every child's fight.

"Try not to get involved in conflicts," Auror suggested, " the surveillance spell is responding to your magic outbursts. A warning may come from the ministry about the use of magic by minors. This is a very serious violation.

"But I can't control it completely, sir," I said, trying to appeal to my sanity.

"The surveillance spell will be reconfigured," Auror grimaced, " and such emissions as were before will not be taken into account. We checked everyone, no one noticed anything. But if there is something serious, then blame yourself. We warned you!

With a final suggestion, the Aurors apparated, leaving me alone.

Of course, I expected the problems to continue. While I was alone, I might not have been noticed by the older boys, but now that I had organized my own gang, the same Dick should have noticed me. Oddly enough, Dick didn't bother me. Our society was growing, and Dick never tried to push me. And in general, Dick himself became more cultured in his relations with the"small fry".

I was at a loss to guess: what's happening? The time of my departure for Hogwarts was approaching, and the matter remained unresolved. I was about to provoke a conflict with Dick myself, but it was not necessary, Dick came to me himself.

It turned out that John Hill gave Dick the position of "lookout", and explained that it is not necessary to go too far if there is no desire to become a criminal. He explained some nuances of cooperation with the shelter administration and advised "not to spoil the water", more than allowed. And about me, John warned his successor as senior pupil in particular. Dick assured me that there would be no problems in my absence. I went to Hogwarts with a calm soul, leaving the leadership of the "gang" to Hopkins.