Chapter 21

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a very epoch–making and respected personality, especially in the British Isles. And in the world, of course, he was revered as the winner of the last Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald, and still holds the position of president of the International Conference of Magicians. And this old man loved to pretend to be a kind grandfather, especially when it came to graduates and students of his school.

Actually, he behaved so benevolently and patronizingly with me, just like a real grandfather who instructs his grandson on the right path. And everything would be fine if it weren't for the careful attempts of this old man to probe my mental shields and mind… In Sumer, such behavior would be interpreted very unambiguously – as aggression and attacks on another magician. Here it could be considered blatant arrogance, but hardly anyone would have rushed with a wand at the ready…

I, realizing that I did not need unnecessary conflicts with the old man from the word at all, and his abilities were still not enough to penetrate into my mind, I preferred not to get excited at all once again. Threw, of course, a couple of frowns in the direction of the old man, but nothing more. I didn't even make a verbal remark to Tom, preferring to sort out our affairs as quickly as possible and end this meeting... preferably never meeting this old man again at all.

And all because of his aura… Hidden, but still clearly discernible aura of the master of magic. And this despite the fact that local magicians almost do not use any energy-intensive spells, which automatically made this old man almost a real archmage… And maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I definitely won't risk fighting with such an opponent yet. Traces of fire and holy magic are too clearly visible in his aura.

And I've only seen the holy aura from a couple of local priests and inquisitors, who still have a huge influence on both the magical world and the Muggle world.… And it is on their initiative that very, very many disciplines of magic are now banned. Well, the fact that the old man sitting in front of me possessed similar magic made me very worried. I just didn't understand what connection there was between him and the church and whether there was any connection at all.

It could also be that the old man just knew some specific magic of the local priests, which would not be so surprising. Moreover, among the current magicians there are quite a lot of believers in the biblical god, in whose honor, in one way or another, all the churches of this world are being built. Besides, in addition to fire magic and sacred magic, he definitely possessed transfiguration, and traces of other types of magic were also visible in his aura, which is why I did not particularly focus on the "holiness" in his aura.

I was much more bothered by the fact that such a wizard turned his attention to me. In the case of Voldemort, I had at least his horcrux on my hands, which, if anything, could really untie my hands in a fight with him. I had absolutely nothing against the headmaster of Hogwarts, because of which, if a fight happened between us, I would most likely lose. Although, my chances of winning are still not zero, which is why I was in no hurry to be afraid of this magician.

Fear in general is somewhat repugnant to me, especially since I met my death once anyway. But I didn't want to run into it once again, taking full advantage of the situation that had arisen and trying to buy off the mighty magician and his order in a banal way. Fortunately, Dumbledore himself was completely satisfied with such an outcome, which is why I didn't have to resort to any of the backup plans for this whole conversation. We quite decorously sat in a restaurant, talked about the affairs in the country, in conversations about which the old man hinted to me what exactly he needed from me.

And let the price of the "pay-off" was by no means small. Nevertheless, it is not so easy to establish a stable supply of some potions from Spain, and it is also very expensive, because I took on all the expenses in this matter ... Without forgetting to make substantial sums to the order's "general fund" every month, as well as provide Dumbledore with a kind of connection to hire mercenaries for the continent…

Yeah, no matter how you look at it, the old man brazenly robbed me, taking advantage of my willingness to meet him halfway. Which really pissed me off wildly, but still suited me… I really didn't want to join any orders, taking magical oaths almost out of the blue. So that they would leave me alone, I was ready to pay... Fortunately, businesses of my kind allowed me not to worry about money even with such embezzlement.

In this regard, Dumbledore clearly knew exactly what could be demanded from me. As a result, it turned out that I had to spend almost the entire annual income from my enterprises on the continent and in Britain to ensure his order. Which was unpleasant and generally did not add to my mood, but I was still ready to make such sacrifices in order to buy off the old master… Inwardly, however, starting to develop a plan to eliminate this old man.

I was too enraged by his behavior and the ease and cynicism with which he demanded from me what, in theory, he had no right to demand. Dumbledore clearly felt himself the master of the situation, greatly infuriating me and forcing me to restrain my own rage with difficulty. But I endured, calming myself with mental magic and thoughts of possible revenge…

Well, I also realized that while he is in power in Britain, I still won't be able to feel comfortable in this country. And I still don't want to leave Britain forever. There are too many assets of my family concentrated here, and you should not forget about the ancestral source. Therefore, ideally, I need to get rid of both Voldemort and Dumbledore right away. Which is still somewhat excessive for the current me. I doubt that my strength will be enough to kill such bison, and attempts to get rid of such figures with someone else's hands are unlikely to lead to anything good.

There are too few really strong magicians in this world who are ready to take on the murder of someone like Dumbledore. Well, if such magicians exist, then their search itself can attract too much attention to me, and I'm not talking about the fact that such specialists require quite extraordinary payment... But because, for now, it's really better for me to hide, taking advantage of the fact that at least one of the parties he won't be particularly hostile to me.

I did not want to be an enemy for two warring parties at once from the word at all. As a result, I will be the loser in any case… Well, as it is, I just designated my first target for destruction – Voldemort, which will be really easier to find justice for. Ideally, there is also some kind of Dumbledore's location to earn, just so that he expects a blow from me less…

It was with these thoughts that I left the company of the Hogwarts director, feeling anger and determination flaring up in my chest... A situation where your strength is simply not enough to ensure a quiet life for myself has shaken me in a previous life. Now this story repeats itself again, forcing me to bear huge financial losses and spend time fulfilling the requests of a magician, whom I personally would prefer to see in the form of a soul enclosed in my staff!

And again, this feeling of powerlessness, from which you don't even want to gnash your teeth… I just want to take and rush at my enemies in a completely suicidal attack. Just so that all the anger and discontent that accumulated in me throughout the conversation with the local master, finally got out, and I calmed down a little.

Yeah, I returned home that day in upset feelings, struggling with an acute desire to get drunk to unconsciousness. And I would even drink, but something in me was against this way of running away from problems. No, I decided to spend the rest of that day in the training hall, furiously bringing my body and soul to exhaustion, just to get rid of unnecessary emotions and thoughts. And then, after all, drunk, I could definitely decide on some absolutely stupid act…

However, the attack of rage and some kind of inner despair quickly faded away, the very next day being replaced by a cold determination to move on… To some extent, I was even grateful to Dumbledore, because meeting him was a good shake-up for me. She opened my eyes to some nuances that had previously escaped my gaze, and the motivation to develop further raged in me like never before.

And all because I didn't want to lose my own life once again or suffer serious inconveniences and losses due to my own weakness. At the same time, I even had ideas how exactly it was possible to strengthen myself in a fairly short time, even if these reinforcements would not be enough to radically change the situation… But it was still necessary to start with something. So, I started by finishing the creation of my own anti-demonic chain, preparing to summon one not too pleasant demon…

But it was this demon – the Scorpion Man, if you ask that question correctly, could lead me to some interesting spirit, which in theory could become my Guardian spirit.… A kind of familiar from the spirit world, which can greatly strengthen me in one of the aspects of great art. In the past world, I already had a Guardian – the spirit of life, which, as a result, was sacrificed by me along with the rest of my spirits before my first death.

And to be honest, before the Guardian spirit was really an indispensable being for me… In many ways, it is precisely because of this that I was in no hurry to look for a new spiritual partner and patron in my new life. The death of the previous Keeper was comparable to the loss of a piece of my own soul, and I don't really want to experience something like this again... or rather, I didn't want to say exactly until a recent meeting with an overly hypocritical old man.