Roger entered Igor's room and immediately noticed the necklace around his neck. It was made from silver snake bones linked together with an oval gold pendant at the centre, its surface engraved with intricate symbols and layered patterns. Even at a glance, Roger could tell it was not cheap trinket work, but the careful product of a skilled alchemist.
From the bloodstained alchemy notebook, Roger learned that it was called the Arcadia Amulet. Once every twenty-four hours, it could withstand the impact of one ordinary spell, which explained how Igor had survived the Stunning Spell during the attack in the suburbs. It did not grant true immunity to magic, but against non-lethal spells, it offered a very strong defence.
"Ah, Mr. Alchemist, consider this payment for avenging you," Roger murmured.
He shook his head and put the necklace and notebook away. Besides the alchemist's payment, he also took the arms dealer's weapons: pistols, grenades, explosives, and anything else that looked useful enough to bring back. Since he had come all the way to Moscow, it would have been rude not to take home a few Soviet specialties.
To minimise traces of magic, Roger used a lighter to ignite the gasoline barrels. Flames spread quickly through the building, hungry and bright, and he hoped those wicked men would enjoy a good dream in the fire. Then he left without looking back.
The next day, Alexander returned to the tavern with Semyon, his face glowing with excitement. He strode in as if victory had already been written into law and all that remained was for them to collect it.
"Roger, they agreed!" Alexander shouted. "We can go to the Ministry of Magic the day after tomorrow. That bastard Yuri will not escape this time."
"Us?" Roger asked curiously. "Is it just the two of you?"
"Of course not," Alexander said at once. "Once we storm the Ministry and arrest Ukachenko, the other wizards will naturally stand on our side."
"Who is Ukachenko?"
"The current Minister for Magic."
Roger stared at him for a long moment. "So you spent one hundred thousand Galleons, and in the end, there are still only two of you?"
Alexander opened his mouth, then seemed to realise that this was technically true. Even so, he patted his chest with absolute confidence, as though confidence could serve as an army.
"Roger, do not worry," Alexander said firmly. "We will definitely succeed."
"Alyosha, Roger does not seem very confident," Semyon said with a sigh. From his expression, he clearly believed the plan was nearly certain to work.
Roger looked at the brothers' confident faces and seriously considered preparing an escape route in advance. He had seen reckless courage before, but this was something else entirely. If all Slavic coups were this abstract, it was a miracle any of them succeeded.
"Start simulation," Roger thought silently.
The simulation unfolded quickly. First, the Smaug brothers entered the Ministry of Magic through a secret passage with the intention of arresting Ukachenko. Second, Ukachenko immediately requested help from the Kremlin. Third, the Kremlin sent a warning through the Magical Congress of the United States, forcing the Ministry's wizards to act against Alexander and Semyon. Fourth, the two brothers were imprisoned, and half a month later, they were executed.
"Well," Roger murmured, looking at the excited Smaug brothers. "It seems we need to find a way to distract the Muggles."
The Soviet Union was gone, yet Ukachenko was still sitting comfortably in the minister's chair. That meant he must have secretly reached some agreement with the Muggle government. If the Kremlin could still interfere, then the coup needed noise big enough to draw its eyes elsewhere.
"Although it is for my own benefit, it can still help you," Roger said quietly.
That night, he returned to the library and knocked the elderly librarian unconscious with a spell. Then he had Bubble carry the man to a hotel room, where he would wake up warm, confused, and very far from the disaster about to happen. Roger considered that merciful enough.
Master and house-elf moved through the library like two busy little bees. Roger waved his wand with a faint smile, and a sly light flickered in his eyes. Under the influence of his spell, the books on the shelves began stirring restlessly, as if they had been waiting their whole lives to join a grand relocation.
Bang, bang, bang.
Books jumped down from every height. Some heavy volumes crashed to the floor with solid thuds, while lighter ones floated and drifted as they fell. Fortunately, magic protected them; otherwise, many of the older tomes would have smashed themselves apart before they even reached the ground.
Soon, the books lined themselves into neat rows. Their spines were straight, their corners pressed tidily to the floor, and they looked like well-trained soldiers awaiting inspection. At Roger's feet, ten expanded cases stood open, ready and eager for the night's spoils.
Roger held his wand like a conductor leading an orchestra. With a precise flick, he guided the first wave of books into motion, officially beginning the night's symphony. The books came alive, using their corners like feet as they leapt toward the waiting cases.
Some heavy ancient volumes floated lightly through the air, twirling once or twice before slipping perfectly into the open mouths of the bags. Others hovered more slowly, as if performing a leisurely adagio. Under Roger's direction, the entire migration moved in orderly rhythm, with thumps, clacks, and soft rustles forming a strange music in the silent hall.
Behind him, Bubble was already prepared. Whenever a case grew full, the house-elf seized it and teleported to the warehouse outside Moscow. The warehouse had already been enchanted to maintain constant temperature and humidity, turning it into a temporary transit station for the little creatures sleeping inside the cases.
For five full hours, Roger's wand never stopped moving. Bubble teleported back and forth nearly a hundred times, and even Merlin might have complained that the work was too exhausting. The library's vastness made the task feel less like theft and more like draining a sea with a cup.
By the end, Roger was panting heavily amid empty potion bottles and scattered corks. Bubble was just as exhausted, lying flat on the ground with his enormous ears flopping weakly at his sides. They looked around together and found the entire library stripped clean, from the ground floor to the basement.
Not a single sheet of paper had been left behind.
"Bubble, well done," Roger said, giving him a thumbs-up.
The little elf jumped up in excitement, then immediately buckled at the knees and collapsed again. Even his pride could not quite overcome his exhaustion.
"We should go," Roger said.
He took out two magic-restoring potions, handed one to Bubble, and drank the other himself. The potion replenished his magic, but it did nothing to ease the deep mental fatigue pressing behind his eyes. He still felt as if his mind had been wrung dry.
"Incendio."
Roger waved his wand, and flames began spreading between the empty bookshelves. After collecting the last bundle, he and Bubble vanished from the place that had once been filled with the smell of knowledge. A loud crash echoed behind them as the first shelf toppled, marking the climax and stirring conclusion of this grand symphony of "knowledge liberation."
"Start simulation," Roger thought again after returning.
This time, the outcome changed. First, the Smaug brothers entered the Ministry of Magic through the secret passage and attempted to arrest Ukachenko. Second, Ukachenko immediately requested help from the Kremlin. Third, no one at the Kremlin responded because everyone was busy dealing with the disaster, and the Ministry's wizards stood by and watched. Fourth, Alexander and Semyon successfully arrested Ukachenko and imprisoned him.
"Excellent," Roger said.
He looked out the window, where thick smoke rolled across the distant sky and sirens wailed without end. Exhaustion finally caught up with him, and he collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep as though the chaos outside had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Early the next morning, someone shook the door violently. Alexander's excited voice came from the other side, filled with enough energy to make Roger's head hurt.
"Roger, it is time to move out!"
"Coming, coming," Roger groaned.
He opened the door with dark circles beneath his eyes, already suffering at the thought that he had to go to the Ministry of Magic and move even more books today. Outside, fire engines raced past Red Square, their sirens tearing through the morning cold. The Lenin Library had already been burning for six hours, and from the look of things, it had no intention of stopping.
"Let it burn for three days and three nights first," Roger muttered.
The three of them used Disillusionment Charms and made their way to the southwest corner of Red Square. Alexander took out his wand and knocked seven times against the back wall of an old historical building. A large black cast-iron door appeared silently in the stone.
The door looked ancient, with rust coating the knockers and old magic clinging to its edges. Only a few wizards knew that this was a secret entrance to the Moscow Ministry of Magic. Alexander recited a specific incantation, then struck the knocker once.
The door opened without a sound, allowing them to enter.
Roger followed Alexander into a winding stone passage that sloped steadily downward. The corridor was dark and narrow, with dim torches hanging along the walls to illuminate the steps beneath their feet. Their shadows stretched long behind them as they descended.
After walking for about ten minutes, they reached the end of the passage. A heavy stone door blocked the way, and a huge orchid had been carved into its centre. Beneath the flower, a lifelike strip of silk had also been shaped from stone.
Runes were inscribed across the carved silk, forming an old proverb: Suffering forges glory, and nobility enjoys eternal honour.
Alexander recited the inscription on the stone gate. Blue flames suddenly circled the carving, and the giant orchid bloomed in full splendour. Then the heavy door before them became faint and ethereal, like mist pretending to be stone.
Alexander nodded to them and stepped through the gate into the Ministry of Magic.
"This is a secret entrance," he said after they followed. "No one knows it except noble wizards."
He changed into the robes of a Ministry official with practiced ease. Roger looked around curiously, thinking that historical ruins truly did hide many secret passages. Hogwarts was the same; even Dumbledore probably could not know them all.
Behind the door was a spacious room with portraits of wizards hanging on the walls. At the back stood a frosted glass wall, and through it, the Ministry of Magic's lift could be vaguely seen moving up and down.
.....
Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.
Get 60+ Premium chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/Earthly_Writer (Remove the *)
2 Chapters for all free members.