Silently shaking his head, the Archmage waved his wand, creating a small transparent dome above them, and in that instant all sounds outside it disappeared.
"No, and I'm not planning on joining Dumbledore either, and the reason I don't want to join is because he's stabbed me in the back. You know perfectly well I'm a half-blood, and now remember what that madman does to the non-purebloods, so I don't want to fall under his hot hand and lose my life at some point. Don't tell me that has never happened." Alan's words left the wizard before him unanswered, but his eyes told him he'd hit the nail on the head. "I value my life, but I also don't want to lose our friendship, so I'm willing to help you a little."
"Help?"
"Yes, to relieve you of one problem on your left hand."
"You... can you remove it...?!" the aristocrat almost exclaimed in shock, jumping up from his chair, but quickly pulling himself together, he sat back down and gripped his cane even tighter. "Can you remove this damned seal?"
"Yes, I researched it for a while and found a way to remove it. As a good friend of mine, I am ready to help. Of course, I will not erase it, but I will simply remove all the negative factors in the form of complete submission and others. What do you think?"
"What do you want in return?" Lucius said, getting straight to the point.
"Nothing special: knowledge of Legilimency and Occlumency. I think that shouldn't be hard to come by, and you could also find someone willing to sell me the hearts and blood of a dragon and a phoenix, right?"
"Why do you need them?" Malfoy asked him, puzzled.
"For one potion, so what?"
"Hmm... first I need to make sure you can do it."
"Of course, hold out your hand."
"Right here...?" He glanced at Alan warily, then turned his gaze to the table behind him, where a group of mages sat, and then to a young woman in a pink waitress uniform.
"It's a matter of seconds," the magician waved his hand dismissively.
Because the tables were small, the Archmage was able to easily take the surprised Lucius by the hand and, pointing his wand at the mark, sent an invisible wave of magic into it...
Removing such a slave seal wasn't difficult for Alan, who spent the last five years of his life in the darkest organization in his world, the Magistrate, gathering information and preparing for revenge. There, he studied true Dark Magic, not to mention something as simple as a slave seal. He could easily summon demons and use necromancy, and he also possessed a vast array of curses that no one in this world could remove. Although the Archmage never used this knowledge in practice, except for curses, it nevertheless lodged itself in his mind. The seal placed on Malfoy, while different from the one he studied in his world, was essentially identical, so he could delve into it without fear of being noticed by whoever placed it.
"What are you...!" Lucius exclaimed indignantly, snatching his hand away. He was about to yell at his interlocutor for such tactlessness, but he suddenly froze, sensing a change in the mark the Dark Lord had placed on him.
"I removed the part that makes you obey, and also the part that causes pain, but I didn't erase the mark itself, and your 'master' can still contact you through it. When he wants to hurt you, you'll feel warmth, and the stronger it is, the better you'll have to pretend it hurts. Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?" Snape asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion, while trying to suppress a laugh at the stunned expression on his interlocutor's face.
"How...? How do you know this...?"
"Let's say I found a description of this 'Slave Seal' in an encrypted book from a closed section written by Salazar himself, and then I tried it on a Death Eater. You know my great love for books."
After hearing Alan's explanation, Lucius believed him, though not entirely. Who better than he to know whose descendant his "master" was? After all, his father was practically the Dark Lord's right-hand man, and the Malfoy family itself was one of the wealthiest in the wizarding world, so gathering information about a single wizard wouldn't be difficult.
I must tell Father... no... I can't. He's truly loyal to the Dark Lord. He might not touch me, but Snape... he'll probably turn me in himself to further curry favor. Then... I can use him myself... Lucius, though he served Voldemort, was never entirely loyal to him and was always ready to leave if the "ship" suddenly began to sink. Even while serving him, the aristocrat always sought to profit from it. For example, his close connections with the Black family, almost as wealthy and powerful as the Malfoys, as well as connections with numerous other families of the twenty-eight purebloods and individual wizards from various countries. Not to mention that his family handled all financial matters, and he was often the one attending meetings, resolving issues with the supply of potions, Dark artifacts, and other such things. At the moment, Lucius was waiting for only one thing: for the family to be completely under his control. Then he would finally be able to let loose. "Okay, I'll look for information on those ingredients, but I can't promise it will be quick. You understand. As for the books, I'll send them through the house-elf."
"Excellent, I will look forward to good news."
"But I have one more condition: to remove the negative component of the mark from some more mages."
"No problem, but then I have one condition: I get the ingredients for free," Alan added with a grin, but Lucius's face didn't even flinch. "For your kind, even a hundred sets like these shouldn't break the bank."
"Of course, this is not a big problem."
"And by the way, can you tell me what the current situation is between the two camps? I'm not asking for anything confidential, just general information so I know when to keep a low profile..."
After talking for a while, both wizards rose from their seats.
"And one more thing."
"Hm?"
Alan's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"There's no point in trying to take my knowledge by force. The book is destroyed, and I made a vow to keep silent. If I break it, I'll lose my life, so let's use each other peacefully," Alan finished with a smile. Lucius's expression didn't change at all, but the mage still noticed a slight glimmer in the aristocrat's eyes.
"Don't talk nonsense, we're friends."
"I'm glad to hear it. Let's continue to be 'friends'..."