Chapter 260 - 259. Thoughts.

It was not difficult to determine whose blood was on the artifact; after all, how could he fail to recognize his own blood?

Just in case, he also checked it with analytical charms, but the result remained the same.

From the inscription, he could say with certainty it had been written in haste: the strange rightward shift of the words and the sharp, hurried strokes gave it away. Usually, Severus wrote with extreme care, for runology did not forgive mistakes.

The slightest inaccuracy, and at best the artifact might simply fail to activate; at worst, it could blow up the entire laboratory.

But most importantly, its content could not help but alarm him, especially after his recent conversation with Flamel. His reaction to the Magical Jungle was certainly not without reason.

Another very unpleasant detail troubled him deeply: a dark aura very similar to that emitted by lesser Devils.

But how could they have ended up outside? Passing through the dome should have been impossible. He had visited and checked the barrier just over a month ago.

Recalling his trip to the jungle, only one thought came to mind: those very words spoken by the Higher Devil: "Sub...mit... or die..."

Yet Severus could say with certainty that he had sensed absolutely nothing from Nicholas and Perenelle. Not a trace of that cursed aura, which left him at a dead end.

*Could have written more specifically... damn. Only one thing is clear: they cannot be present during the ritual, but... the magic circle... could Nicholas have added something to it...?* Irritably squeezing the sword’s hilt, he put the artifact back into the pouch, and the flames surrounding him slowly began to fade.

When he lowered his gaze to the floor again, he saw the Time-Turner and the blood slowly beginning to disintegrate into gray fragments.

*After I saw this inscription, the future changed almost immediately, shifting to a timeline where I knew what would happen and wouldn’t let them observe the ritual, but...*

"...boy, magic really doesn’t like it when someone interferes with the flow of time, and the punishment for that can be truly terrible. You’d better think twice before doing something so foolish..." ihiros’s words echoed in his head, spoken when Severus had told him about his plans to resurrect his family.

Once, he had seen with his own eyes how magic punished such games: those inhuman, heart-rending screams full of despair and pain, and the metamorphoses occurring in that poor wretch’s body.

For years afterward, they haunted the thirty-year-old man’s worst nightmares.

For this reason, he always tried to use time magic with caution, to avoid sharing that man’s fate.

So Severus had tried to limit his influence on the outside world as much as possible. But now he realized one thing: this was impossible.

A Devil had appeared, one whose power was definitely above that of simple lesser specimens. Even now, it would be very difficult for him to cope with such creatures.

And if this monster had broken free, it could exert influence not only within the area he had sealed, but also beyond its borders.

Of course, it had only been seconds, a minute at most, but he did not want to attract any unnecessary attention.

Severus was not afraid of death: he had already died once, after all. But remembering what that person had gone through, he had no desire to die in a similar manner, nor to leave this world.

With a heavy sigh, he sank into the armchair and, gloomily tapping a finger on the table surface, stared at the translucent glass, pondering the entire situation.

"I’m sure there are no errors in the magic circle, but now... I’m not sure... damn it! I’m not sure about anything! But Nicholas and Perenelle don’t seem possessed, they behave completely normally. Perhaps they themselves know nothing, but then, that strange reaction..." Pressing his palm to his forehead and clenching his teeth, he struck the table hard. "And what do I do now?!"

But after a few seconds, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, trying to quell his anger and think more rationally, he rose from the table and headed toward the magic circle. Along the way, he drank an unknown potion, after which his eyes reddened slightly, and a badge appeared on his chest: a coat of arms with an eagle on a blue background, its wings spread wide.

When it flashed, all indignation vanished from his face, replaced by complete indifference.

"There is something to be said for complete suppression of emotions, but one should refrain from such things," Severus said in a colorless voice. Passing through the translucent glass, he stopped at the edge of the magic circle, and a shining dial appeared on his palm, flew to the center of the room, and hovered there. "It would be wonderful if I could use this spell constantly, but unfortunately, with my current level of power, it’s limited to a maximum of ten minutes. Still, that should be enough."

After a few seconds, a bell rang through the room, and on the magical clock, the large hand began to move, followed by the small one.

If someone had entered the room at that moment, they would certainly have been surprised to see the speed at which he moved along the magic circle. At times, it even seemed that he wasn’t moving at all, but simply teleporting: disappearing and reappearing tens of centimeters ahead.

Not to mention his eyes: the pupils left a residual trail behind them, which spoke to the incredible speed with which he was studying the magic circle...

---

Exactly eleven minutes passed, after which, with a crack, the clock hanging almost at the very center of the magic circle shattered into pieces.

Severus, falling to his knees, began gasping for air like a fish tossed onto the shore. Clutching his chest, he felt a sharp pain in his core from using a high-level spell for slightly longer than he could safely sustain.

Although, in his case, even nine minutes would have been excessive.

But with a clear head, he had easily calculated just enough time to minimize the harm to get the job done.

By the eleventh minute, he had finished studying the magic circle, but:

*Nothing. There is nothing in it that could have led to the appearance of that creature.*

*Then only one possibility remains: either one or both of them are out of control, or perhaps they are being used as carriers of magical parasites. That would explain why I found no traces of those creatures in them.*

"But this is only an assumption; otherwise, it could be anything else." When the pain finally lessened slightly, he rose to his feet and headed to the table. "...but what could have attracted them to this ritual?"

That last question troubled him deeply, but the worst part was that if his assumption about parasitism turned out to be correct, there was a good chance those creatures had been watching him all along. Even though he hadn’t revealed anything important, it was still unpleasant.

Sitting back in the armchair, he waved his hand toward the door. In the next moment, the door flew off its hinges, sailed several meters, and landed in front of his table. A very large snake slithered into the room, and upon seeing Severus brooding but unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief and, right before his eyes, began to shrink and slither toward him, radiating displeasure.

"Are you all right? And what was that?" She stopped before him and asked with concern.

"Nothing serious," he answered, his voice tired. He leaned back in the armchair and closed his eyes, concentrating on restoring his depleted magic.

"Severus, I’m not a fool. Do you think I didn’t feel that magic?"

"That’s why it’s nothing serious. All of this happened in the future, not now." He removed the artifact Ravenclaw had given him and put it back in the pouch.

"So... nothing worked out?"

"That’s not the point. Someone just interfered with the ritual... and so here we are..." Under her bewildered gaze, a notebook appeared in his hand. He took out a folded white sheet. When he opened it, two worried faces appeared inside.

"Mr. Prince, I’ve been trying to reach you for ten minutes now! The portal wasn’t working! You’re not answering! I didn’t even know what to think! What happened?!"

"Ran into some minor difficulties."

"Perhaps you need our help? Just say the word..."

"No, no, everything’s fine. I’ll handle it myself, don’t worry," Severus replied in his usual manner, as if nothing had happened. "But for now, we’ll have to postpone the ritual until my teacher returns. I’m sorry you had to waste your time for nothing..." He lowered his head, looking guilty and embarrassed.

"Oh, not at all. It was a joy for us to leave our home for a while." Then, slightly narrowing his eyes, Flamel added, "Is everything definitely all right? You don’t need our help?"

"No, everything is fine, thank you. I’ll write to my teacher. I think he’ll be able to return by the end of the week, and then we can try the ritual again." Nagini was slightly upset to hear that she wouldn’t finally be able to remove the curse that had been tormenting her for so long—not today.

But she tried to hide her disappointment. She was more relieved that he was all right, anyway. There was nothing wrong with waiting another week.

"Good, then we won’t distract you anymore." At the mention of the teacher, Nicholas and Perenelle perked up a little.

"You’re not distracting me at all..."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they ended the conversation, and Severus folded the sheet again, placed it in the book, leaned back in the armchair, and closed his eyes.

"So, in a week...?"

"Hmm? What makes you think that?"

"...?" Nagini looked up at him, puzzled, not understanding what he meant.

"Once I recover, in about an hour, we’ll begin."

"Huh? But you..."

"I say a lot of things, and that information was meant for the Flamels. No eavesdropping while your grown-up uncle is talking." With a playful smirk, he winked at her, and she stared at him in amazement. She wanted to both kiss and bite this scoundrel, who had been playing with her feelings, especially since she had already resigned herself to waiting another week.

"When I become human, I’ll bite you, damn ’grown-up uncle’!"

"I can’t wait for that moment..."

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