HP - Shadow Monarch!

Chapter 138 - Matters at the Ministry of Magic.

[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]

Third Person POV

London.

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Snape exited Gringotts Bank after negotiating for several hours to secure a fair price for the goblins' services. Since he had agreed to pay for their labor and effort in crafting such a sword, there was still the matter of the goblins' notorious tendency to reclaim the items they created, claiming them as their own—much like Gryffindor's sword, which they were still attempting to recover. However, Snape was confident that the goblins treated him differently; they seemed to lack that same ambition around him. They feared Severus.

It was December 26, and despite not having slept since battling with the sword the entire previous day, he decided to visit the Ministry of Magic. As he walked through Diagon Alley, even though he was far from his prime, he felt much more energetic than he had the day before.

He passed by his closed shop, where Genini was calmly cleaning up. Upon seeing him, she quickly dropped everything and approached him, trembling—but in far better shape than the first day she had seen him, when she had been utterly frozen in fear.

"Master Snape..." she murmured cautiously.

Snape sighed. He hoped she would start behaving normally soon, as maintaining a working relationship with the house-elf in this manner would prove difficult. He needed her to manage his shop and keep it running while he was at Hogwarts. However, he planned to organize the shop over the next few days, as he had stockpiled plenty of supplies at home over the past month and was still awaiting the resources he had purchased from the Greengrasses. Once Albert gave the green light, he would be able to retrieve the materials he had selected.

After discussing a few matters with Genini, he departed, leaving the house-elf to heave a sigh of relief.

Snape proceeded to the political hub of magical England: the Ministry of Magic. It was his first time entering the place.

The entrance resembled that of any governmental building—well-constructed, with a garden and a driveway leading up to it, and people bustling to and fro. He easily identified a few purebloods conversing here and there with others and ministry officials or exiting through the reception doors. Even those known as dark wizards and Death Eaters were present, mingling as though they were neither murderers nor terrorists. Their presence at the Ministry was routine, thanks to their fame and political power, despite being enemies in the shadows.

This made Snape reflect on Voldemort's strategy for seizing control of magical England. The Dark Lord had already united several families under a vision of a magical world where purebloods would rule while Muggle-borns would serve as an underclass—perhaps even as slaves, as Albert put it. But before achieving this, Voldemort would have to deal with Dumbledore and the Ministry. The former left him no choice but to fight and eliminate, while the latter could be corrupted from within. For now, though, none of that mattered to Snape. Until the war began, he had little concern for these machinations.

Snape ignored everyone around him, who, in turn, paid him no attention, and walked straight into the building, heading for the reception area, where he saw three people working. He approached one of the unoccupied desks. The person manning it, a young man who looked like he had graduated from Hogwarts only a few years prior, eyed him with some suspicion—perhaps finding his presence odd for someone who appeared to be a teenager.

"I'm here regarding a letter I received from the Ministry," Snape said, producing the document sent to him by the Minister herself. It pertained to the investigation of suspects involved in a murder that had occurred over a month ago. Naturally, they wanted him to testify, especially since he had been listed as missing during that time.