I would like to thank my beta, Kuilin.

Chapter 42.

Nurmengard, Interlude, Leonid Nikolayevich Smirnov

8:10 am, July 19th, 1993 (Kiev Time)

In a small country villa outside of Kiev, Leonid Nikolayevich Smirnov twitched uncomfortably in the single person couch, his eyes jumped from furniture to furniture in the living room, and decidedly avoiding the direction of the fireplace. He swallowed down hard, regretting his decision to join the group of wizards who profited from selling Soviet Union's secret - an instant death might be easier than his current status, being the weakest and most dispensable member of the group, and assigned with the most dangerous task, which was to face the dangerous buyers, and to tell the secrets of powerful wizardry. Smirnov had no idea whether he would be tortured this time, or maybe either the buyers or the other wizards in the group might kill him afterwards.

Smirnov knew that ever since Soviet Union collapsed, every sensible country in the world, and a lot of intelligent self-aspiring wizards who wanted to walk the walks of great wizards, had tried their hands in this land. The United States had gotten the cream of the crop - they had directly recruited the best magical researchers, and two or three former Comrades (with a capital "C") were rumored to have been bought by the Americans. As for nations not as attractive as the United States, or individuals with deep pockets, buying secrets was a reasonable thing to do.

In most other countries, secrets of powerful wizardry were only known to powerful wizards. However, in the former Soviet Union, things had been a little different.

Long before the Great October Socialist Revolution in 1917, powerful Russian wizarding lords and ladies had a tradition to be heavily involved in Muggle politics. Lord Grigori Rasputin, the most powerful Russian wizarding lord at that time, had taken this tradition to an extreme: he had publically served as a healer and a top counselor in the Tsar's court, and had involved heavily with Muggle politics. Some of his advice, such as "don't go to war with Germany", was quite perceptive and sensible in hindsight; however, for the most part, he just enjoyed himself too much with alcohol and females (Muggles, witches, and magical creatures alike), gave irrational advice, and led the country into deeper and deeper disaster. Some magical historians had suspected that he was a true seer - after his attempts to prevent Russia from participating in World War I had failed, Lord Rasputin had foreseen the fall of the Romanov Dynasty and his own demise, and had thus lived every day as his last day on Earth. Lord Rasputin's acts had earned him well-deserved hatred from Muggle serfs to Muggle nobility, and from wizards to goblins. By the end of 1916, both Muggle aristocracy and other wizarding lords couldn't suffer him anymore, so they ganged up and assassinated him. It was said that before his assassination, Lord Rasputin had written to the Tsar, stating that in case he arrived at Serbia safely, then the Tsar had nothing to worry about; if he was killed by the commoners, the Romanov Dynasty might still have a few years; if he was killed by the nobles, then the Dynasty only had three months, and the Tsar's family had at most two years to live. The fates of the Romanovs soon proved Lord Rasputin's Prophecy, that after he was assassinated in December, 1916, the February Revolution in 1917 overthrew the Romanov Dynasty, and the Tsar's entire family were executed by the communists in July, 1918.

After Lord Rasputin's infamous example, the Comrades in Soviet Union chose to take a less conspicuous position in Muggle politics, yet they were still heavily involved in almost everything.

Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich Shakhov, the most powerful Russian wizard after Lord Rasputin, was an ardent believer of communism. As a contrast to Lord Rasputin, Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich (as he liked himself to be called) led an almost impeccable personal life - much more of a "saint" than "Father Grigori" ever was. Though Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich had wielded extraordinary power and influence in both the Muggle and wizarding Russian for more than sixty years, he lived an almost saintly life: mild, polite and modest toward his comrades, always helping out young wizards in need with his own money, only having an apartment in Moscow and a villa outside Moscow that was not much larger than the one Smirnov was currently in, and leaving behind a heritage less than a year's wage of a common worker when he passed away in 1982. Over the years, countless wizards had seen him and his wife joining the long lines in front of regular shops, waiting to buy food and supplies. According to the few times that Smirnov met Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich, Smirnov felt the aged wizard was quite sincere in his way. Not even his political enemies could accuse him of nepotism, avaricious, adultery, or even the most common sin for Russian males, alcoholism.

As for Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich's political life, that was a complete other matter. He was known to be as ruthless as winter in Russian toward the "Enemies of Soviet Union" - be them White Russian Army, Trotskyists, Grindelwald's Army, or political dissidents. After killing and ousting powerful wizards and witches who supported the White Army, Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich had single-handedly restructured Russian wizarding society. One of the result was that the majority of the wizarding working population had become members of Cheka, which was the predecessor of KGB and GRU.

Many wizards in the Soviet Union admired the level of freedom wizards in other countries enjoyed, and resented Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich for this reason. However, being a member of the KGB had suited Smirnov just fine - he wasn't much of a wizard anyway, and he just loved the bureaucracy and paper-pushing in the much larger Muggle government.

Smirnov's talent in bureaucracy, officialese, flattery, and choosing the right side - instead of his weak magic and average-level intelligence - had promoted him fast on the ladders of the KGB. By 47 years old, Smirnov had made himself a colonel, and had a clearance level that ranked just below the Comrades with a capital "C". Though Smirnov could hardly actually practise or even understand most of the secrets he had access to, they still made him feel quite good about himself.

Then, there came the biggest blow in Smirnov's professional and personal life: the collapse of Soviet Union. Although Smirnov, like more than 70% of Russian people, had voted to keep the Soviet Union, the Muggle politicians and a few Comrades on the top of the ladder still managed to dismantle the largest country in the world against people's will.

In December 1991, for the first time, Smirnov realized how powerless he was without the protection of the system: one of Lord Isaac Yodov's students, a relatively powerful witch whom he used to boss around for various official trivialities, kicked him out from the newly founded Ministry of Magic without a word.

With his savings going down fast in the hyperinflation that followed the collapse of Soviet Union, Smirnov really missed Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich: if the power Comrade hadn't died of old age in 1982, Soviet Union probably wouldn't have collapsed. According to rumors, Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich had helped the Muggle politicians in their effort to oust Khrushchev. Therefore, Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich might just oust Yeltsin, Gorbachev and their lot as well.

Without any useful skills in the new world, Smirnov doubted whether he and his family could survive the winter in 1992. Therefore, when the group of wizards who sold top magical secrets of the great country to anyone with a deep pocket approached Smirnov, he didn't have much of a choice (and they wouldn't give him any). Smirnov had everything they desired: dispensable, easily manageable, weak in magic, three kids to be threatened with, and a suitable identity to convince the buyers the secrets were authentic.

Smirnov sighed, and dearly hoped that the two wizards who claimed that they were from Canada wouldn't kill him afterwards; or if they try, the relatively powerful wizards in the group would promptly come and help.

The fireplace suddenly flared up, and two blurry figures wearing black robes walked out from the green flames.

As both of them walked toward the sofa, one of the figures spoke with a distorted sound: "Good morning, Mr. Smirnov. Let's begin by what you learned after you graduated Koldovstoretz Magical School."

Obviously, neither of those two even considered the courtesy as giving pseudonyms of themselves to a nobody such as Smirnov.

If the KGB school Smirnov attended after Koldovstroretz had forced him to learn one thing, that would be foreign languages - another reason why the group chose him to face the buyers.

Smirnov swallowed, and nervously replied in English with some Russian accent, "My name is Leonid Nikolayevich Smirnov. After Koldovstroretz, I received two years of education in Shakhov Vocational School, which actually taught us wizards things about the KGB and GRU. After that, I joined the KGB. Ever since my graduation, I worked in the Administrative and Regulatory Department of the Twenty-third Chief Directorate - or, you can call it the Secretive Magical Chief Directorate. My main responsibility was on the regulatory authorizations of magical researches. I had a rank of colonel, with a Clearance Level 3."

"I heard, every Russian wizard had to learn how to serve the Muggle government?" The figure on the left asked. Even the distortion charm he or she applied on his sound couldn't mask his incredulity.

"Yes." Smirnov swallowed. "We also had to swear to be loyal to Soviet Union, and never reveal its secrets. - No, we didn't take the Unbreakable Vow, because it was impossible to find enough wizards to sacrifice their magic to make the Vow stand for everyone. Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich, I mean, Comrade Mikhail Andreyevich Shakhov, had made a Hammer. The Hammer had similar functions to the Goblet of Fire, or maybe it was a little weaker. We just needed to write down our oath, and punch the parchment with the Hammer to make our oath stand. And, and, I can only release the secrets to you now, because -"

Smirnov choked a bit as he said the next sentence: "Because Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore."

Although this probably wasn't the first time Smirnov had said it, he was still submerged by a wave of sadness. He missed the decent job, the generous salary, the government car, the decent apartment in Moscow, his villa outside Moscow, government-paid heating bills, the government-paid vacations to the beaches by Black Sea and to Yugoslavia, the privileges he had…

-And what am I now? A foreigner in Kiev. Ukraine. Kiev, for the sake of Merlin, the Holy Lady, or whoever! Kievan Rus, the very place the Slavic people originated. Isn't this ridiculous?

Yes, Smirnov did miss the Soviet Union, and it was not only for monetary reasons.

However, the two "Canadians" obviously didn't care much about Smirnov's sentiments. Their interest was completely on another matter: "You claim that Shakhov had made a Hammer, that is similar to the Goblet of Fire. Do you know how it is made? Do you know the secrets of it?"

Smirnov shook his head: "No, it was beyond my clearance level. Only the Comrades with a capital 'C' know that."

"Hmm, interesting." The figure sitting on the left tapped his wand.

Smirnov almost screamed: "Don't torture me! You can use Legilimency on me, and look for it yourselves."

"Don't panic yet. Legilimency can wait for a while. Now go on." The figure on the left side demanded.

"What we learned from Koldovstroretz and Shakhov Vocational School was rather basic. There was nothing that was forbidden by the Interdict of Merlin. I have copies of my textbooks from Shakhov Vocational School here, you can take a look." Smirnov pointed to the stack of books beside him.

The figure on the right summoned the books, and began to check them for any hostile magic. When he or she was done, these two figures began to flip through the books.

The figure on the left exclaimed, "Ah, you Russians have measured the speed of travel by Floo, Apparition, and Portkey? Fascinating. And the travel time for all three methods is - what does it mean here?" The blurry figure pointed to something, and asked the figure on the right.

The figure on the right explained to his partner in several double blurred sentences.

-Doesn't every modern wizard already know about this? It is so simple that even I remember it, "t = a+d/c", where t is the time used, a is a method specific constant, d is the distance between two points, and c is the speed of light. Is the one on the left from Canada, or is he or she from a cave?

After a while, Smirnov heard the left figure said: "Have the Russian magical researchers measured the speed of travel by phoenix?"

Smirnov answered: "No, the only Russian witch who had a phoenix died in the war against Grindelwald, that was before our measurement instruments were accurate enough to do such measurements."

"Pity." The left one commented.

The right one asked: "Here, the textbook claimed that the absolute magic level of a wizard can be measured by the average random noise one induces while sleeping in a special room hooked with certain Muggle electronic devices. Can we get the design of the room and the electronic devices somewhere?"

Smirnov hoped that this would bring him some bonus from the group, and answered: "I don't have the design at hand, but we can surely give you one, for a proper price. As for the Muggle devices and magical materials needed, we can get them for you as well."

The right one replied: "Good. Since you Russians have used Muggle electronics to measure the amount of magic in a wizard, have you figured out why magic interferes with Muggle electronics?"

Smirnov finally heard a question that he knew from his work in KGB, and answered: "No, but some magical researchers have doubted that it was an artificial effect caused by some half-failed Interdict."

"Interdict? By who? What's the content of the Interdict?" The left one asked agitatedly.

The right one added: "What do you think you know, and how do you think you know it?"

Smirnov had a strange feeling about the right one's question. He had been trained to ask such questions in the KGB while interrogating suspects (though he had never actually interrogated anyone), and few wizards had asked such questions - not that he could remember much. He replied: "I learned the information from an internal seminar presented by one of our magical researchers, - I think he and his whole research group are in the United States now. He stated that extensive double-blind experiments had shown that the presence of strong magic in or around non-magical animals and Muggles had almost zero effect on any physiological parameters of the test subjects, or the sense orientation of non-magical migrational birds, magic most likely doesn't have any effect on the electrochemical reactions, signaling of neurons, and, err, and things like that. It seemed that magic only affects manmade - OK, as well as goblins and other magical beings made - electronics. This can hardly be anything natural. Their conclusion was that most likely some powerful wizard in the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution imposed this effect onto the world. You know, the whole 'development of technology or magic can destroy the world' thing, quite popular with the old-fashioned Brits, I heard. Anyway, if that was the aim of the one who imposed this on the world, his or her work was probably partially botched, for the Muggles still developed very powerful electronics and nuclear weapons."

The sound Smirnov heard became double-blurred again. After a while, the one on the right asked: "Has anyone figured out a way to mitigate the effects of magic on electronics?"

Smirnov answered: "Not to my knowledge. However, some have suspected that the effect is only limited to the Earth, or the surface of the Earth. I heard that according to some non-conclusive data, if they put some magical devices and some signal generating Muggle electronics together in a satellite, the signal received on the ground gets better as the satellite gets away from the ground. There are rumors that the Americans wanted to try this in their missions to the moon, but the first trial failed spectacularly, killing several astronauts, so neither they nor we have tried this with any manned mission - or any mission too important - again."

"Oh." The left one exclaimed, but the sound soon became blurred again.

Smirnov was never too keen on magic, but even he knew this meant that the Interdict of Merlin can be bypassed by going to the moon - that's what some magical researchers had claimed, anyway.

After a while, the figure on the right asked another question: "What do you know about very intelligent magical creatures, such as veelas, goblins, acromantulas, etc.?"

This was another question that Smirnov knew the answer from his work in KGB. "A lot of our researchers thought they are human beings with inheritable curses. Or, at least, a group of researchers managed to transfigure a quintaped to a sapient man, very violent, though. You know, when powerful wizards can transfigure stones to the body of human beings, but the transfigured thing was never intelligent. Therefore, the man-eating quintapeds must be intelligent on their own accord, and the rumor that the reason they are like this was a curse is probably true."

Then, there came another round of blurred sound.

The next question came as: "Polyjuice potion, does it change the brain structure of the drinker to that of the person whose hair is used?"

"Yes, and other internal organs as well." Smirnov replied, but he quickly added, "Grindelwald's people did this."

As one question lead to another, they finally asked Smirnov the ultimate question: "What is magic? Where does it come from?"

Smirnov had no idea where magic had come from, but he had some answers to the first question: "Before Gorbachev cut down our research funding, one of our research groups claimed to have some preliminary data to show that magic might be, err, wave-particle duality, - that's the phrase in English, - just like light. They applied for funding to construct instruments to verify their theory, but their funding application was denied. Now, the whole group are in the United States."

After some prolonged blurred sound, Smirnov heard the familiar incantation: "Legilimens."