Sighing heavily and humbly covering my eyes, I put the orphanage project into the hands of my helpers. Of the helpers, I have few who can really handle such a task, such a complex, multi-component one, and so it fell into Olivia's hands, but she will be assisted by the newly appointed Lady Prince — Madhri, former Patil, mother of the twins.
In general, the woman has a lot to do, but she and her husband use house elves, and I need a responsible and cultured person with spiritual (human, not English) concepts. I couldn't spend time on personal meetings, so I wrote a letter of request, and when the woman sent a letter of consent, I simply brought the two women together, provided them with my developments and plans, and sent them on a "journey".
Of course I will keep an eye on what is going on there, but a heavy burden has been lifted from my shoulders. Unfortunately, I could not immediately begin the preparatory work to help Rosa, but this does not mean that I have forgotten about the girl, and therefore we have already performed a familiar ritual to call the spirit to conclude a contract with Rosa.
Everyone who was interested was present, and Hermione was also paying attention — she could use it. As a result, the girl was now free to move wherever she wanted without fear of natural emissions, but she was also much more active, even hyperactive, because the spirit rabbit had responded to the contract. The silver-blue animal with longer, pointed ears with black tips, has three eyes that glow scarlet and possesses the magic of earth and life.
He is naturally very active, which was immediately passed on to the girl, and now she runs around like a natural disaster, shaking everyone who comes into her sight. Now a part of her magical power is constantly given to the fighting rabbit, so that the question of curing her curse can be postponed and Olivia will have time to work on a normal code of the future family without undue haste.
It was also necessary to let Kiriko take care of the creation of her tribesmen. Yes, after spending some time thinking about it, I decided not to stay on the path of a novice god and to create a full-fledged race, and it will be more pleasant for Kiriko to realize that she is not the only one, that she is not a freak created for fun (assuming some "good soul" will lead the girl to such a thought), and the first of a full-fledged race.
I even facilitated my work with the creation of a skeleton made of metal (Kiriko, if anyone forgot, was conceived as a new generation of dolls, but already a full-fledged combat bodyguard, not the original primitive), fully completed his magical "universal machine", but to work with him simply did not have time.
Therefore, after teaching the girl and making sure that she understood everything correctly, the production of "blanks" was completely shifted to her, and when she is finished with it, together we will repeat the already known technology with cocoons and other things. By the way, "basilisks" also lie on the shoulders of the girl, well, for the most part there is only to observe, but still.
While I was in Japan, collecting all those rare and unique samples of flora, I was dreaming about how I would organize the garden, how I would create sectors with different conditions, and so on. But even here I had to trust "outsiders". Not completely, because making artifact microclimate systems is a very complicated matter, and there is no one to entrust it to, as well as installation and adjustment, but planting plants and taking care of them — Baa-san took care of that completely.
Yes, the spirit began to act aggressively, apparently feeling something, and therefore it is very dangerous to keep it with me, but I do not want to send it away, to break the contract, until the full-fledged gift is formed, which is soon. On the other hand, not using Baa-san's knowledge and skills is stupidity bordering on idiocy, so when the spirit was done with the mushroom farms, she was entrusted with the garden, including the ornamental one, in which I returned Bellatrix to the Black Family, and in which the fey decided to "nest".
It's a lot of work, and Baa-san is always busy, but it's for the best: I don't have to worry about her showing up with her "help" at the worst possible moment. I'd rather let her do what's good for me and what's good for her — the plants in the gardens. A short time later, the tanuki Kokoro joined her, quiet and inconspicuous despite her excellent stats. Up until a certain point, the girl just observed life in my house, without getting too involved.
She was not intentionally shunned or ignored, she just acted a bit aloof. Once, however, I managed to catch a glimpse of a tanuki who was humming a song while tending to a young orange tree in a conventional tropical climate zone. After a brief conversation, the girl was eager to join in the garden work and even began to help with the apple planting.
Why did I have to push so many things when I could manage before? It's simple: the third test is only a few days away, and before then I need to get Hermione in order, that is, to summon suitable contract spirits or magical creatures that will stabilize the girl's energy. It seems, what's the big deal?
Pick up a bracelet, cast some magic while you think about who exactly you need, and you're done. The hell it is! Hermione is a young girl, a girl in fact, she lived a quiet, quiet life, well, until she came to Hogwarts, and there, until recently, the conditions were "hothouse". I'm leading to the fact that even though she is smart, and her memory is good, the discipline of reason she has not a bit, well, that's not it at all, under stress she easily begins to lose, her thoughts are confused, mixed, which is understandable and normal, that's what happens to normal people.
The stressful change may have affected her significantly, but it doesn't mean that the change made her an impenetrable "steel lady. Yes, I remember myself from that life, more or less serious stress, and you start to tremble, your thoughts go astray, you give in to emotions, you think with hot blood beating in your temples, not with cold mind. That's what happens to everyone, and it's very rare that it's any different.
But there are methods for cultivating equanimity in a person, the ability to think appropriately in any situation, and then the ability to put thoughts and feelings in order. I know how to do that, too, unlike Hermione, but I rarely use it, for the simple reason that it's worth it to start systematizing everything in your head, to consider every idea pragmatically, without emotion, and at some point you get into a rut — you stop feeling like a person. You turn into a correct and logical automaton made of flesh, a big calculator. It's an unpleasant feeling, so I don't abuse it. In fact, to a certain extent, I fear losing feelings and emotions.
Going back to Hermione, I'd say: conscription is an extremely dangerous and serious matter, nerves should be like steel ropes, bullets should be made of adamantium, but if you don't have such equipment in your kit, then you should prepare yourself. Very serious preparation. And that's what we did. Not just me, but practically my entire household: the Ministry received a letter of notification that there would be a ritual of blessing and fertility of the lands on my lands according to the old "recipe", meaning that the magic of the Fae would also show itself.
Nonsense, of course, but it was necessary so that "Merlin of our time" would not come riding his trumpet, or rather, so that I would have every right to send him. And the message itself was very nicely "drowned" in the bureaucratic apparatus, so that it will reach the Department of Mysteries only when the ritual is in full swing and their devices begin to fix it, and at that stage it is impossible to interfere, so no one will be here.
Well, maybe someone will be under the "fence" wandering around, but that's all. In general, my household performed various rituals, which we can say have an accumulative effect, that is, they gather into a single system of positive effects for us with the accumulated power of the same effects. I also did not just lie on the sofa, but I made powerful contours as simple fencing, as well as barriers of negation, and even distortion of space with the possibility of deep stabilization of the spiritual plane — this is from powerful demons and hostile spirits. Let no one call such beings, but it is better to let it be than not to let it be. Be that as it may, we are legitimately approaching the point of no return.
— I'm worried... — Granger gave a strained smile. Afiri stood beside her, silently supporting the girl: hugging her and saying the usual girlish nonsense was not her style, but the fact that she stood so close that she barely touched the girl's shoulder meant a lot.
— It's okay, — she said with a small smile. — This is a serious matter and you know that, don't you? — The girl nodded, but was still waiting for the rest of the story. — I don't want to say that there are such turning points in life, when you can't hide behind your parents' back, a point in life, a kind of "railroad switch", where you determine your own future route. Only where you go depends on you... — I grin at the serious girl.
— But I won't talk about it. — Hermione smiled for real this time, and the others grinned as well. — As the unforgettable Yoda said: Don't try — do! —, remember? — The girl nodded in surprise and looked at me with a slightly different expression. — And now you will enter this circle, — I point with my hand to the central platform, which was not in the shape of a circle, but of an octagon with an eight-rayed star inside. — And these stones, — I point to a circle of stones with glowing columns of hieroglyphics on them. — will protect you. And us from your mistakes. — Lizzie hissed and poked me in the shoulder, but I pretended not to notice, even though everyone wasn't as tense as they had been at first.
— If it's that serious... — The sight of the tomb-like stone slabs, dug vertically into the ground, covered with symbols and hieroglyphics, radiating a powerful aura of magic and glowing, clearly impressed the young witch.
— Since this is so serious, we'll all do our best to keep the situation under control. — I glanced around at everyone, looking into their eyes, searching for uncertainty or soul-crushing fear. Unfortunately, even the usual fear was not enough, simply because almost no one had any idea what to expect. Well, except for Junko, Nanao, Maya, and Momo, who were silent and collected. Each of them, as well as I, armed themselves with spiritual weapons and put on protective robes with elements of magical armor. Primitive, of course, hastily made, but even these crafts can save a life if necessary. — Everyone's role is important. — A short pause. — I hope everyone understands. — I get a lot of nods. — Well, it's time to start... — I held back a heavy sigh.
I didn't want to call anyone else because Fleur wasn't family and Kurumi wasn't family either. Family, of course, not in the literal sense, but in the figurative sense, though not completely. Anyway, I won't go into the labyrinth of explanations and thoughts — it's not important right now. But what is important is that there will be little help — I realized that right at the beginning.
Well, at least we won't have to squeeze ourselves to the drop — everyone will be able to share the energy, and the very fact that everyone is standing in certain places is already an agreement to share the power, even without a conscious action. A mental push activated a series of protective and defensive measures, mostly autonomous and almost indistinguishable until the moment of danger, but the whole area where the ritual symbols and other things had been applied was surrounded by a thick ring of compressed and distorted air, like ripples of water.
Hermione touched the massive bracelet of concentric rings that she wore on her left forearm and closed her eyes for better concentration....