POV Official
— Well? — An older man in an expensive robe thrown over a business suit glared at his agent.
— No luck finding out anything. — The man's voice from under the hood sounded slightly anxious and tense.
— Nothing at all? — The owner of not only the office but the entire department raised his bushy gray eyebrows in mock astonishment.
— Minor details. The essence of the ritual processes could not be revealed. — The figure in the hooded cloak did not move.
— You mean it was all for nothing? — The wizard stared into the hood as if he could see his subordinate's face, which might be true, as the very unusual, finely crafted gold glasses with intricate patterns suggested. — I described the prospects to the Council of Elders. I took responsibility and asked for permission for this ritual, and you, the head of the scientific group on the energies of rituals and charms, say we have nothing! — The master didn't scream, but hissed and spat venom no worse than any creep. — Do you realize what they're going to do to us now? It's the end! — The man leaned back in the high back of the orthopedic Muggle office chair. — Blackmail?
— Absolutely not. — The hood swayed. — All the tracking artifacts had been activated, the progress of the ritual marked by the second, more than thirty employees monitoring the indicators. Upon completion, all materials were copied and sent to the archives according to protocol. No black or dark magic was recorded, on the contrary — a ritual of the highest level of light magic was performed.
The master of the office looked at his subordinate for a minute. He had already thought about how to turn the situation to his advantage. Some of the plans for such an eventuality had been thought out in advance. Of course, it would be easier to simply eliminate the witnesses and extract the recorded data from all the archives, but it is never that simple.
— How did he do it? — broke the silence with the calm voice of an elderly wizard.
— Some kind of barrier. We've never seen anything like it. There were reports that European mages had encountered the magic of negation during the Crusades, but, you know, without a subject to study, we had no idea how to deal with such a thing.
— Negation, you say? — thought the Master of Study.
— A barrier within which, perhaps selectively, magic is blocked.
— Like exorcist bonfires? — The man grimaced.
— No, the churchmen burn out the magic in the bonfire, but here the magic is simply blocked and the observation artifacts are destroyed. There are no negative consequences for the wizard, so it can't be used as leverage.
— The order should be given... — the grey-haired man rubbed his beard thoughtfully. — ...He likes money, so let him make those barrier seals for us.
— We've already sent the request. — A calm voice echoed back.
— ? — The dark eyes twinkled with interest.
— He refuses to provide any barrier techniques, seals or rituals, just as he refuses to provide any martial ones... — The hooded figure paused for a moment, and there was a hint of resentment in his voice. — ...that we didn't know we had.
— What about opening the medical seals?
— The work has been completed. It's all in the report.
— Let's just outline it.
— Nothing groundbreaking was learned. The only positive result: thanks to the seals, we were able to optimize the entire line of charms by up to 6.3%, which significantly affected their effectiveness. We will be able to understand more only after we learn the principle of fixing the rituals themselves on a material medium. The principle of artifactual fixation of charms is significantly different — we have established this.
— What about his wands?
— The Department of Defense and Law Enforcement has refused to release the samples.
The old man showed no sign of anger at his political enemies for once again beating him to the punch. One good thing was that the spies had not reported any developments in this or any related department.
But the situation was sickening as it was, and if it weren't for his reputation, even Family might have been influenced, but his authority alone would be enough, even if he was a little out of position now.
— We should meet him. — The older wizard muttered thoughtfully. — Or better yet, send a specialist in subjugation ...
The old schemer did not set up his own surveillance for the object of his interest — there were plenty of strangers, so he wasn't the first to find out that he was a bit late with this decision.