Good or bad, does it matter?

On the second floor, in front of an ordinary wooden door with patterns, there were eight people standing, two at the stairs, two more in front of the door itself and two on the sides, and not to mention those who were dispersed throughout the entire floor. 

Of course, these were not all the people there, there were many more of them in the mansion and using Detection magic, Severus counted sixty-two wizards, about a dozen of whom were hiding in the rooms using masking charms. 

No, they weren't afraid of Snape, yes, maybe he's a little stronger than a Hogwarts graduate, but so what? And just for the sake of his elimination or capture, Witold would not have gathered so many people in one place, the reason was different, the leader feared that his teacher might follow "Severus" or that the "boy" would ask the Ministry of Magic to provide support in this matter , but besides this, he also pursued another goal, to show the strength of the organisation that they are in no way inferior to the Death Eaters and the Ministry, since they are able to so easily mobilise so many wizards, while also fighting on two fronts.

Although Severus's such display, instead of the expected trepidation, caused boredom, nothing more, he still had to show a bit of surprise and nervousness on his face, because he was playing the role of a very gifted, but young man who had not yet graduated from school. 

And seeing the Prince's reaction, Charles nodded, barely noticeably, but with satisfaction. 

"Don't worry, they are only guarding this place and will not harm you." 

"I'm not worried about you," Severus shook his head, smiling slightly. 

"Of course," watching how he occasionally cast wary glances at the wizards inside, the Black Star member grinned, while still maintaining a good-natured expression on his face.

"Come in," a rather calm but menacing voice sounded from the room, and the two wizards standing in front of her quickly moved aside and the door slowly began to open…

"They should not have become bandits, but actors, and they would have become famous throughout the world..." with difficulty holding back his laughter, he looked at the man sitting in the chair, who, although he looked menacing, but at the same time his gaze exuded "warmth".

'Does he really think that I couldn't break through that weak defense of the mind? Naive…' 

"Come in," the "guide" pushed him with a hint of fun in his voice, and then, bowing, he followed him and stood behind Witold. 

Severus himself looked at the man with a bit of embarrassment, and after coughing several times into his fist, he straightened up and "tried" to restore confidence on his face. 

"In the letter there is one person, but when we meet, it's completely different..." Alegria snorted, although on the outside his face had not changed at all, still calmly studying the "boy" standing in front of him. 

"Charles, bring it."

"Yes, leader," he went to the closet and pulled out a suitcase from there using the magic of levitation, lifting objects in the air, an analogue of Wingardium Leviosa, which is taught at Hogwarts and mainly used in Britain.

"How heavy..." he drawled displeased, directing it towards Severus and as soon as he stopped in front of him, he sharply fell to the floor with a loud, dull sound that spread throughout the entire office and almost immediately it opened, and Snape's gaze was met with a picture that would have made any goblin in Gringotts choke on his drool.

There were several hundred stacks of gold coins and the suitcase was not simple, but with the enchantment of the Invisible Expansion, so they went very deep down and at the moment the wizards had two hundred thousand galleons in front of them, the same amount that he asked for Laurus. 

And after looking at them, Severus silently nodded and put it in his wallet. "Well, thank you," and after touching his chest, the next moment eleven bound and gagged people appeared on the floor, on top of each other, "And here they are." 

Noticing that Laurus was under all the wizards with a red face, and looking at the two brothers with five-kopeck eyes, their attitude towards "Severus" became much better. 

"Good... very good…" Witold said nodding, with a real smile, giving a hand signal to his deputy to remove the people lying on the ground, "Sit down,I think Charles explained to you that I invited you not only because of them," with a wave of his hand, he pulled the chair standing in the corner directly to the table and motioned to sit down.

"Thank you," his tone already sounded more friendly, so Snape "relaxed" and sat down.

"I've been watching you for a long time and I'm sure that a great future awaits you..."

"I think so too," the smile on the man's face faltered from Snape's straightforward answer, "But let's get to the point, I have a date today, I didn't want to be late and I hope that it won't end like that time." 

"That time, it was a mistake…"

"Twice?" Raising his eyebrow, with a bit of scepticism in his gaze, he measured the leader of the unit and his smile was already completely sour.

"Yes, just a coincidence."

 "I'll trust you, you don't seem like a liar, so what did you want to discuss?" Severus calmly asked, folding his hands in front of his face, taking the lead in these negotiations.

'You think you can talk to me like that, since you realised that we need you?' all the previously good impressions of the "boy" sitting in front of him quickly disappeared and irritation began to grow in him, but still Witold tried to restrain himself and his brother standing on the left also shared his feelings, "We are very interested in your skills and wanted to invite to our organisation, our leader is even ready to appoint you as the commander of the "Medi" unit in a year, as soon as he is convinced of your loyalty, I think that you should have collected information about us from that day and understood that this is a very important position, with this, you will have access to all the resources of the organisation," and he did not lie, these were indeed the words of the leader of the organization, although Alegria still could not understand what it was about this "boy" that the boss was ready to give him such an important position.

"Hmm... it's true, my teacher has indeed collected a lot of information about you, and I more or less understand how your organisation works, but... I would like to think a little, give me at least half an hour, because this is a very important decision that can influence my whole life…"

 "Okay," Witold looked up at the clock hanging above the door, "I won't distract you."

 "Thank you," Severus nodded gloomily, "thinking deeply," although there was no need to think about the answer, it was just for show, so as not to arouse much suspicion, because he was going to join this organisation anyway. 

There were several reasons: the first and most important, to get to the leader of the organisation and if he receives a means of communication like that mirror, then Severus can easily find him; the second, also no less important, are the resources they have collected over more than three hundred years of existence, among which it may be possible to find the last ingredient for Nagini's potion; third, these are, of course, books and all the research related to ancient ruins that they have carried out over these centuries.

Although he had the idea of capturing the Black Star from the inside, Severus still refused it, because he had much more important things to do than manage something so huge and useless,especially when he reaches the rank of "Archmage".

 But Severus was not going to destroy it either, because it would be much easier to simply subjugate the leader and turn him into his puppet, of course without depriving him of his mind, and then, when he needs to find something, for example, he can use the organisation. 

The Prince had previously thought about doing the same with Voldemort, the Minister of Magic and Dumbledore, but in the end he changed his mind and it was because the workings of both the organisations were not in line with his thoughts, and he did not wanted to become a part of a group with a label of good or bad.

 And there was also one more fact, which is that he liked to watch the confrontation between the two groups.

He was still going to remain in the shadow of his "teacher" and be just an ordinary spectator of this civil war.

---

Half an hour passed quite quickly and when the last minute remained, a tired sigh escaped Snape's lips.

"I'll join, I think the teacher won't mind, because he himself said that I should decide for myself what I want to do next in my life," Severus began unsurely at first, but by the end, his voice became firm, and his eyes lit up with determination, "Will I be allowed to use potion ingredients and other materials, as well as study the library?" with burning eyes, he looked at the involuntarily smiling Witold, who was slightly amused by the "boy's" reaction, and Charles relaxed a little, because his brother told him what they would receive if the negotiations were successful. 

"Yes, for now you will take the place of deputy in the unit, and in a year, when you gain experience, you will take the place of commander," Witold answered with a grin, already looking forward to his transfer to the Almaz department and revenge on the damn, arrogant bastards from Zoloto , but he was brought out of his thoughts by the hesitant voice of the "boy." 

"But…"

"What is it?" Witold asked, frowning. 

"If you want recipes, then I won't be able to give them to you," Severus embarrassedly pulled back his sleeve and showed a sign of flame, "I signed a magical contract and if I divulge the recipe, I'll simply burn alive." 

"Oh, you don't have to think about that, our leader already expected something like this," the man weakly waved it off, because this was one of the reasons why he was ordered to introduce a person into the Department of Mysteries, because that's where they make potions.

" And also…"

"Well?" Witold asked with a bit of irritation.

 "I can't leave the country until I graduate from Hogwarts and pass the teacher's exam." 

"Just that?! It's okay, they will send you written material about your responsibilities, and your unit does not have a specific location, you can work from here, but only while you are in the position of deputy, when you take the place of commander, you will still have to move to headquarters or visit it at least once a week with a report."

 "I understand, but isn't there some way to contact the leader if I suddenly can't come to headquarters?" 

"If you need to discuss anything with the leader, contact my brother," Charles smiled cheerfully in response, winked and nodded to him, because how could he not be happy about the upcoming promotion? 

"What if I have something personal?"

Dissatisfied, as befits a young man of his age, he added. "I'll contact the leader and ask him," and then he looked at his deputy, who silently took out a small, white seal with the sign of the "Black Star" and walked up to Severus, "Open your chest..."

---

And after discussing some more additional issues, as well as signing several magical contracts, Severus finally left the room, leaving two members of the organization alone in the office. "Why did our leader just surrender to this boy?" Charles muttered with irritation, sitting down on the table.

 "We still don't understand what our boss is thinking about, and even now we have to finish the last task before I'm transferred from here to headquarters," Witold said, frowning at him, because even though he tried to seem insensitive from time to time, he was a man , loved his brother very much, the only person he could trust and call family, "As soon as we return to the base, immediately go get Robert." 

"Brother..." 

"Tell our people to get ready, we're leaving," waving him off and ignoring Charles' pitiful look, the wizard rose from the table and headed towards the exit, "But still, it's true, why did the boy give in to this boy, he created everything about two potions, but is this the only reason why he can be entrusted with the position of squad commander...?"

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