Chapitre 71: Chapter 71
Severus Snape looked at the offered lemon drops sourly.
Why his boss preferred to play this joke on every visitor to that office was something he had no idea over. It would have made even less sense if the professor was told that the real reason for Albus's lemon drop fetish was the fact that it was a treat that Grindelwald enjoyed. But then again, that is a story that only Dumbledore knew, and would take to his grave.
In the meantime, he would convey the obscure warning his friend had given him and see if the headmaster could decipher what his friend was implying. Relying entirely on the vague sources that the Leader of the Light professed to maintain, the Headmaster had often reached conclusions that actually matched reality.
While he had not originally intended to share the cryptic warning, he was unsure if Lucius actually had a reason for running off like that. After all, even in the grip of the dark lords cruciatus, he had never seen his friend as troubled as in their last meeting.
"So Albus, what do you make of all this? Whatever the situation, Lucius would not relocate his family abroad unless he had absolute reason to believe that there was no safe location remaining in Britain. In other words this is something that threatens either the whole island or everyone of importance on it. And even then, he would choose France. To locate to the Americas like this is simply unthinkable, especially for someone with his commitments."
Dumbledore was long past his smile and eye twinkle stage. There was a threat out there and whatever it was, it was dangerous enough that it had scared a wizard of Lucius's caliber. Sure, he wasn't a Dumbledore or Voldemort, but there was a reason the man had ended the last war as a Dark Lords second in command.
The threat whatever it was had been named as a danger to Lucius and his family and Severus as well. Was this threat against former death eater's and their kin? Or was it something that was far more encompassing? Why was it that the Malfoy did not feel secure enough behind the family wards? As possibilities cycled through the mind of the centenarian, Severus was treated to the sight of Dumbledore with true steel in his eyes, something that he had last seen in the last war. It both awed and frightened him, because this was not the senile old coot who ran Hogwarts. This was the General who defeated a Dark Lord in one on one combat.
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In Kyoto, the chambers of Chiyo the seer remained as peaceful and quite as they always were. Even lunch was a very quiet affair, with a single attendant to feed the venerable woman. Today, the food in question was sushi, a dish that the lady enjoyed in moderation. With the latest news from the foreign agents, the staff were taking no chances in case of an assassination attempt. There would always be some people who knew of the oracle but kept quiet anyway. Despite the official figure of less than twelve for the last 150 years, as many as 50 could have known about her through one way or another, discovering the existence of the Empress's most loyal and hidden advisor. Consequently, as happens when too many eyes are pointed in only one particular direction (outside), nobody in the area, least of all the blind lady herself noticed when the attendant responsible for serving that particular platter of sushi sprinkled a little dust like powder on some of the individual pieces of sushi. A second powder was already in the water served alongside. Not that the attendant herself knew what it was supposed to do. That was what following orders meant, doing the job, even if you die right after.
Nobody had noticed her rather discrete practice of drugging the seer. Nobody had known that the attendant in question was responsible for a crime they were not aware had been committed. After all, nobody really suspects the empresses second cousin of treasonous behavior, suspicious fellows as they were. At least, nobody actually responsible for the seers safety.
The particular form of bipartite magical concoction being administered was known to quite a few magical researchers (and brain researchers) as a way to steer a persons dreams and to subject them to visions of your choice. The drug served as both anchor and beacon, using a ritual to insert the necessary visions into the required persons dreams. It was used to control nightmares. But a very small group of people knew of an alternate use of the otherwise ordinary concoction. The drug could also be used to subject those talented with abilities in divination with controllable false visions and prophesies.
True, it wasn't totally foolproof, because the truth often "leaked" into the fiction, and the combination of truth and lie added still odder visions. But still, a seer specific assault that eliminated any possibility of the seer being able to anticipate such activity? Priceless. Especially considering that the Empress had a rather unusual reliance on the seer in question. The idea that the non existent demon was SS class was just a bonus.
But then again, when has humanity ceased to exploit such a freely give advantage?
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In an unknown cave in an unknown place, a group of men moved with a purpose. Over them, casting a shadow from overhead lights was a vessel of such fantasy that no English wizard would have recognized it.
It was the child of a project so outlandish that most of its visionaries had, at one point or the other been considered eccentric dreamers in polite society. The members were what would have been called engineers. As such, they were called Craftsmen. They were all brought together and secreted away in this place by the same organization. Some were eager, men whose lives were finally been given direction. Some were dreamers, men who wished to prove that their vision would bear fruit. And some were coerced, unwilling participants to a madness they could only hope would leave them alive at its conclusion.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone