HP: Spirit Talker

As far as I was concerned, my lands had officially become a magical settlement, with a special status like Hogwarts. Getting these papers would be unrealistic if it were not for the permanent chaos in the Ministry. Someone was bribed with gold, someone got a long-awaited and necessary gift, and someone was simply intercepted on the street, kicked, and that was enough to make me officially recognize the land as magical in an accelerated rhythm, against all wishes and procedures.

However, the scheme for obtaining such papers is quite old, as are the forms printed for the purpose (mine had the publisher's date of printing "1874"), and there is an obligatory condition in them: the construction of a muggle-repelling dome to preserve the Statute. That was already in my plans, even more so, so no problem.

Now back to Bellatrix. This she-wolf has had her claws sharpened for a long time on the chief strategist at His Lordship's court, the head of the Nott family, Lionel Jacob Nott. She never admitted what had happened in the past that made Bellatrix snarl at the mention of this citizen, but she did demand that if such a thing were to happen, she should get her hands on him alive and with a healthy memory.

Seeing no particular problem, I agreed and then began to learn the details of this next "Lord". Well, to make a long story short, the Nott family, though more of a family (in terms of numbers), is part of the "Sacred 28", and from the very beginning fervently supported Voldemort's ideas, funding his organization with money and using personal influence to spread the ideology among the magical population.

What happened to Lionel's father is not known, but his wife died in childbirth, leaving the man an heir, Theodore. On the "Hogwarts line" managed to learn the character of the heir, although it was difficult: secretive, patient, very cunning and calculating, unscrupulous and cruel — an exact copy of his father, only without years of experience of intrigues in high society, but the boy began to make confident steps in this direction.

Lionel's interrogation completed the picture of the attack on Draco. Nott, Malfoy, Yaxley, and a few other names own the lion's share of the business in Britain, and when Lucius began to "spin" something (communicating with me and Greengrass, drafting reforms, plus a new sector of the market where funds could go), Nott decided that it was possible to "move" Lucius.

The Malfoys' business began to be attacked, pressure was applied from all sides — just to tear off a piece. The fight gradually gained momentum, Lucius couldn't understand who was playing against him, but he "held his ground", and Nott was getting nowhere, only wasting resources, including human resources (there were clashes between the fighters).

And then there was a rumor that a certain "Mudblood" had acquired a patron on whom several influential clans had already formed "teeth", and Nott decided to play on it, as a true Slytherin he developed a cunning multi-trick in which the "insolent upstart" would be put in his place, and Lucius would be firmly grabbed and his "throne" would be shaken.

He and his son had performed the ritual to create a powerful family curse on the family stone, which strengthened it considerably, and it wasn't difficult to plant the cursed carrier thing on Theodore — they lived in the same "house" after all — he just put it under his pillow, and Draco would spin around in his sleep.

The alarm, by the way, was raised by Vincent Crabbe, who was a sensitive sleeper — he came from a family of hereditary hunters, after all. Also a very curious family with interesting gifts, "gray" or "neutral", but due to curses the "spectrum" is not so pronounced and constantly shifts to the "dark sector". But not the Crabbe's, who, like the Goyles, kept Lucius out of their dark business, for which he was grateful.

Frankly, after learning all the circumstances of the case, I didn't care about the head of the family and his heir — they'd sort it out without me, so I wanted to give Lionel to Bellatrix and tell Narcissa the full story, so Draco could thank his "comrade" thoroughly and tastefully. But the last "grain of sand on the scales" was revealed: the Nott Gifts: "Numerical Magic" and "Steady Mind" were completely neutral gifts.

And this despite the fact that the Notts, one of the few, did not neglect to perform clan rituals, they did it secretly, kept it a secret from everyone, and those who found out (brides or grooms) had to take an Unbreakable Vow. Surprised? I was surprised too, and I was shocked to learn that the Notts only had a few curses that they would have put on Theodore's children.

I didn't learn it all easily, in fact it was really hard, and without Fleur's help I would have either failed or burned the Lord's brains out, and even then we only got the information I was directly interested in, about the rest, i.e. any information close to associative chains remained hidden.

As Fleur explained, if Vale's gift is to influence the mind, then the Nott's gift of "Steady Mind" is the opposite, aimed at protection from outside influence and efficiency of the brain. We decided not to involve Appolin in this matter, and the girl promised me not to tell her mother about this work, even offered to give me a vow, but I refused such a measure, on the other hand, I put a spirit on the girl to report to me if she still speaks out. As they say, "trust but verify".

I want to make sure that Fleur will be loyal to me and not to the Delacour family, although there is little doubt about that — Fleur is a natural "mistress" and in her family she will be the mistress, not someone's mother or someone else, she is the Alpha. At least that was my impression of her.

And back to the Notts. After I found out about these hiders, I thought hard: my goal is to restore the balance, which doesn't mean to create this balance from scratch, although this is possible, but still, why recreate something that shouldn't be touched at all, just a little "plastered"? I mean, I definitely need such "gray" types, but such bastards as the Notts — no, and what to do?

No, I could just wave goodbye, give them (father and son) to the black sisters and forget about them like a pebble in a shoe. The easy way, the easier and quicker way, especially since I can do to them what I did to Snape and Prince, but the problem is, where can I find normal people, cultured people I can trust? The Patils are my luck, yes, with a capital L, but there are no other families like them on the horizon, and looking for them on purpose is long and problematic, plus the expense. Or I could do something else, in fact I decided to stop at that "something else".