Chapter 37
August 26th of 1985. Kharkiv. 9am.
Sirius had been entirely taken by surprise; he had not even raised his wand, which was still inoffensively pointing to the ground. Falling to protect himself, he stood stupidly watching Olek articulate the incantation that would have killed him before the man collapsed on the floor. His gaze finally went slowly to the right, where the boxes were stacked and where the spell had come from. A boy had come out of hiding and approached Olek' inert body and hit him on the head with his foot before picking up Olek' wand and Sirius'.
"Did you see that! Headshot! And that's the first time I've successfully cast that spell!" He said, walking over to Sirius to give him back his wand.
"Thanks..." Sirius said as he retrieved his wand. "Are you the kid we think is dead? Please tell me you are!"
He ignored Sirius and ran to where Maksim had collapsed to start kicking and insulting him. "Arsehole! You fucking rat! I thought we were mates!"
Sirius went towards him, grabbed him by the shoulders to pull him away from Maksim and turned him so he could see his face.
"Calm down! Your accent, are you British?" Sirius asked him.
"Why? Aren't you?" The Boy asked.
"Me too...what's your name?" Sirius asked him.
"Charlie Weasley", He replied.
"Weasley?" Sirius asked. "What are you doing so far from home, all alone, and why does everyone think you're dead?"
"Er...what question should I answer first?" Charlie asked.
"All of them, one by one," Sirius said.
"Well...if I'm here, away from home and the love of my family, it's all your fault, mate!" Charlie said.
"My...what are you talking about?!" Sirius said.
"I saw your face in the paper, and I just saw you turn into a dog...There's no doubt about it; you are Sirius Black." Charlie said.
"And... what does who I am, have to do with you being here?" Sirius asked.
"It's a long story," Charlie said.
Sirius grabbed him by the shoulders and began to shake him. "YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE DOING HERE OR NOT!"
"ALRIGHT! STOP!" Charlie said, laughing." I'm Tonks' friend! We're the ones who captured Pettigrew!"
Sirius left him. Charlie fixed his shirt's collar back on before continuing t." Damn it! Are you sure you're not a real criminal?... If you want to know, after the trial, the ministry of magic rewarded us for our service to the nation because we're heroes...They offered to send us on vacation, all paid for by the ministry of magic!"
"And... You chose to come here?" Sirius asked.
"Not exactly...Instead of wasting my summer baking under the sun, I asked to see Dragons. However, coincidence or not, there is a program at Hogwarts that allows seventh-year students to go abroad for an internship in the Romanian reserve."
"Er...You don't look a day over twelve..." Sirius said.
"I'm thirteen!" Charlie said.
"That's the same...Continue." Sirius said.
"No seventh-years signed up, so they went around asking sixth-years, fifth-years, but no one was interested, while on the other hand, I was being a pain in the ass to go. I arrived in July; I was only supposed to stay for a week at first!"
"And how come you didn't go back to England? School starts in a week! Sirius said.
"Well...Xenia and I got along very well, so Dragan wrote to my parents to ask if I could stay longer, until the end of august! Mom is already busy at home, so they said yes!" Charlie said.
"I see...So, Peter hid in your house...The reason why I spent six months in jail and a year on the run..." Sirius said." Remus told me that you took good care of Peter..."
"Er...Can we focus on the part of the story where he gets captured, and I voluntarily went to testify on your behalf in your trial even though I'm underage, and I had to endure the psychological pressure of standing in court? In front of all those people judging me!" Charlie asked." And that I just saved your butt a minute ago?"
"Okay...Okay...Now...If I understand correctly, this Maksim is a traitor, right?" Sirius asked as he gestured towards Maksim.
"Yes...We realized it very late, he was hiding his game well." Charlie said.
"Tell me what happened...and why do they think you're dead?" Sirius asked.
"To make a long story short, Istvan, Maksim and I had to carry the dragon to a place where we were supposed to meet another team that was going to join us for the rest of the way," Charlie said. "We arrived in time, but there was no one waiting for us...Maksim and Istvan started to argue in Russian, Xenia taught me some Russian, so I could find my way around if I find myself alone in the village…but I didn't understand anything they were saying...A fight between them broke out...Then Olek and Yevhen arrived, and they smashed Istvan."
"Did they kill him? What happened?" Sirius asked.
"No... But it was close, Olek cast a spell that devastated all in Infront of him, I threw myself on the ground, I felt something splash me, I heard Istvan scream and then disappeared. "Charlie said. "I played dead...They didn't check; they just grabbed the dragon cage and their broomsticks and ran away with it."
"And how did you follow them? Why didn't you go for help? Do you have any idea how many people are worried about you? Xenia? Your parents?" Sirius scolded him.
"I let them get a head start and took one of the broomsticks they left behind... I had to know where they were going before I called for help! Otherwise, we would have lost track of the Dragon! What would I have told Xenia if I had come back empty-handed and without Maksim and Istvan?" Charlie said. "She would never trust me again! "
"ARE YOU RETARDED? YOU'RE NOT A DRAGONOLOGIST! THAT'S NOT YOUR JOB! YOU DON'T HAVE TO RISK YOUR LIFE! SHE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT THE DRAGON ONCE; IT'S YOU AND THE OTHER TWO THAT MATTER TO HER!" Sirius yelled at him.
"You can yell all you want! what is done and done and look at the results!" Charlie said, pointing to the men on the ground and the large cage where they could see a golden eye watching them from a hole. "Total victory! The Dragon is saved, I'm not dead, those twats are KO, and Istvan managed to escape. All we have to do is call Dragan, he'll send the cavalry after us, and we'll be immortalized as heroes! I mean me…Not you... Tonks is going to be so jealous!"
"It's not about winning and being heroes, kid...It's about thinking about the people you care about before making a move...What would have happened if you had come back home in a coffin? Did you think about your parents?" Sirius lectured him.
"Honestly...I don't think they'll notice...Besides, when my mother finds out what happened, she might put me in the coffin herself..." Charlie said.
Sirius sighed, "Why do I always have to run into a troubled teenager..."
"Maybe because you are one yourself? And I'm not a troubled teenager; I'm just a Gryffindor."
"What?! What are you talking about?" Sirius asked Charlie, who was picking at his ear.
"Mrs Tonks told Nymphadora and me that you were always fighting with your parents and that you ran away from home," Charlie said.
"That was different! I had to, it was war, I had to choose sides! You just want to have fun, to be a hero, even if it means breaking people's hearts on the way! "Sirius said.
"Merlin...I expected anything but this! You're as old-fashioned as McGonagall! And at your age, you can get even worse! Even Snape is funnier." Charlie said.
"Take that back! NOW!" Sirius shouted.
"Or what? Take five points? You're going to give me detention? I'm too scared... "Charlie said, sneering.
"I swear...I'm going to...Okay, never mind...As you said, you're fine, Istvan got away, and we got the Dragon back..." Sirius said, trying to regain his composure instead of beating up a child.
"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Charlie said.
"Are you done?" Sirius asked. "Well, I'm going to tie these two up and call my friends...Don't touch anything, and stay away from the dragon cage."
"Okay...Crap! I forgot about MY friend!" Charlie said as he slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand.
"What? I thought you were alone!" Sirius said as he watched Charlie run to the corner where he was hiding and crouch down.
"It's over!... Don't be afraid...Come here, Boy!" Charlie said gently.
A few seconds later, a little puppy came out of the shadows, yelping as he pounced on Charlie's face to lick him. Sirius slowly approached, thinking he had seen wrong. When he got close enough to them, he realized that he had seen very well; it was a Rottweiler puppy except that it had three heads.
"Where did you find that?" Sirius asked.
"It's not a 'that', it's a 'him'?" Charlie replied." He was in a box, poor doggie! He was starving!" He said as he rubbed the puppy's belly.
"Speaking of which, what did you eat? You've been missing for three days..." Sirius said.
"I had some cookies on me; I gave most of them to fluffy... But I'm so thirsty! Charlie said.
"I can do something about that," Sirius said as he wandered to the high platform where he had left his backpack. "Accio!", then a few seconds later, the bag landed delicately at Sirius' feet. He crouched down and rummaged through it to pull out a sandwich and a bottle of water he had taken with him before leaving the reserve.
He handed them to Charlie. "Here, take your time to eat and drink while I take care of them".
Sirius said as he scratched one of the puppy's heads behind his ear, the puppy jumped on Sirius' shin.
"Thanks! Look, he likes you!" Charlie said as he gave the puppy to drink.
"Glad to hear it...having a Cerberus friend can always come in handy," Sirius said before he moved Olek to where Maksim and Yevhen were.
He tied them up, standing firmly to metal pillars before breaking their wands. He was about to wake them up for questioning when he felt his mirror vibrate in his pocket.
He took it out and tapped it with his finger, and the faces of Kalyna, Red and Joan appeared on the glass.
"SIRIUS!" Kalyna shouted.
"It's all right!" Sirius said, smiling, turning the mirror towards the crate where Charlie was sitting chewing on the Sandwich Sirius had given him. "More fear than harm, he's a brat, but he's fine! I'm taking him back to the reserve with me."
"Thank God," Kalyna said.
"Sirius, we're all here at the reserve, all except Xenia," Red said.
"Is she still mad at me?" Sirius asked.
"Sirius! The world doesn't spin around you!" Red growled.
"Istvan reappeared outside your hotel! He was hurt and completely terrified..." Kalyna said.
"I know; Charlie told me he ran away again during the ambush," Sirius said.
"Stop interrupting us!" Kalyna said, irritated. "He disapparated with Xenia. I don't know where! I thought he got scared when he saw people around him and was going to run away with her and come here!"
"Except he never did," Joan said.
He took it out and tapped it with his finger, and the faces of Kalyna, Red and Joan appeared on the glass.
"Red, do you remember when I told you there was a spy inside the reserve?" Sirius asked.
"I'm still looking for him..." Red said.
"Don't bother..." Sirius said as he turned the mirror towards Maksim, who was tied up.
"That's Maksim!" Kalyna said, her voice low. "That's impossible; I cannot believe it!
"Charlie confirmed it; Istvan tried to stop him when he found out... So that must be why he ran away with Xenia to somewhere other than the reserve. He doesn't trust them...Anyway, where is Dragan?" Sirius said.
"Er...Forget about Dragan...Or rather avoid him if you can...Because he's decided to kill you and slowly." Red said.
"The guy is terrifying, Sirius. I am not kidding." Joan said.
"Sirius...Maybe Maksim has another accomplice here in the reserve; if he finds out you have the Dragon now, he might warn Zoran...Can you try to get the Dragon back here? Alone." Kalyna asked.
"I don't know...the cage is huge..." Sirius said. "I'll try...You, try to find Xenia and Istvan." Sirius said before hanging up, hastily as he heard an engine outside the factory before the noise fades, and a man's voice calls "YEVHEN", honking.
August 26th of 1985. Weobley. 9 am.
Kingsley appeared in Weobley, in the periphery of Hereford and almost fell. As he was desapparating, someone had grabbed his jacket and travelled with him against his will. He turned around; a girl with long pink hair had fallen to the ground on her bum.
" Man... Take it easy!" She said to him as she stood up, scraping the dust off her skirt.
"May I know who you are? And why did you do that?" Kingsley asked her.
"Sure! I'm Tonks. Auror trainee." Tonks said as she held out her hand.
"What?!... There are no trainees in the Aurors office!" Kingsley said.
"Well, now there is me!" Tonks said. "Nice to finally meet you!"
"Likewise. Go home; I have work to do." Kingsley said as he left.
Tonks ran up behind him, passed him and blocked his path, arms outstretched.
"One moment!" she said.
"What do you want?" Kingsley said.
"I think we've misunderstood each other! I'm coming with you; you don't get to choose!" Tonks said.
"Really?" Kingsley said.
"Yes, really... "she said as she pulled a parchment out of her back pocket, unrolled it up and placed it in front of him. "I have a written order from Mr Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour that says: Miss Nymphadora Tonks...that's me...will be for a week, following an internship at the Aurors office under the supervision of Auror Kingsley Schaklebolt."
"Yes, he told me about it..." Kingsley.
"...During this internship, Miss Tonks will learn about the workings of the office, its discipline and..." Tonks said before making a drumming noise while mimicking the gesture with her arms.
"My team will have already done that," Kingsley said.
"...WILL BE ASSISTING HER SUPERVISOR IN HIS DAILY ACTIVITIES AND FIELD TRIPS! BOOM!" Tonks said." However, since I arrived the first week, I was asked to sit in a chair, and everyone ignored me, so I came back the next week and the next week, and it was the same thing again. I didn't even meet my supervisor once! Until now!"
"Listen, Nymphadora..." Kingsley said.
"It's Tonks," Tonks said.
"Okay...Tonks...I'm sorry I didn't take care of you; I thought my team would, and believe me, it will get messy when I get back to the ministry; however, right now, I'm investigating a critical and dangerous case. So, here's the deal, I'll take you home, and we'll reschedule another...internship...later this year. Okay?" Kingsley asked gently.
"No! That's not okay with me at all! I'm sure you're just saying that to get rid of me! Anyway, my mom won't let me later on in the year because vacations are for homework!" Tonks said.
"I promise you I won't!" Kingsley said.
"Do you know what my best friend did with his summer?" Tonks asked.
"No, I don't know..." Kingsley said.
"He spent it in ROMANIA, seeing DRAGONS!" Tonks said, stamping her foot on the ground, "While I spent it bored in a chair watching other people work! They didn't even talk to me!" Tonks said.
"Why didn't you leave? Why didn't you do something else with your summer?" Kingsley asked.
"Because being an Auror is my dream! " Tonks said.
"Well, here is the first lesson, you don't become an Auror because it's your dream; you become an Auror because you want to be useful, and you have the skills to be. It's a dangerous job! You can get killed at any time!" Kingsley said.
"You think I don't know that! I know the risks!" Tonks said.
"Oh, you know the risks...So, are you willing to take a risk?" Kingsley asked.
"Yes!" Tonks said confidently.
"Very well! So, you won't mind accepting a challenge...I'll ask you a question, if you give me a satisfactory answer, not necessarily correct, but satisfactory, I'll take you with me, and I'll keep in touch with you until you finish Hogwarts. If not, I'll take you home, you'll give up the idea of becoming an Auror, you'll find something else, and I'll veto your application anyway. So, will you take the risk?" Kingsley asked. "Take your time before you answer."
"I accept," Tonks said immediately. "Ask your question."
"Okay...I want you to give me one good reason why you should become an Auror and not some crap like it's your dream." Kingsley said.
"Okay...When I was little, at Christmas...I was with my mom and dad, decorating the tree. Dad carried me on his shoulders so I could put the star on top. Then, there was an explosion and the whole roof of the house was blown off!... And then a woman entered the house, my father and I were thrown against the fireplace!" Tonks said, showing a burn on the inside of her forearm. Dad got a bigger one all over his back...My mom fought her, but she lost very quickly...The woman started to laugh and used a spell on my mom that made her scream a lot. Then a man arrived, he duelled with the woman, he was stronger than her, so she ran away. He saved us all. Afterwards, my parents explained to me that the woman was my aunt, my mother's sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, that the Auror was Frank Longbottom, and that, because he saved us, a few months later he had been tortured along with his wife to insanity. They will stay all their life in st Mungo... I was little, but I understood that we live in a world where a woman can torture her own sister when a complete stranger can risk his life and his family to save another. I want to be the other one."
Kingsley did not expect to receive such a reply. He looked at the girl's determined face silently before nodding slowly. "Very well...I guess that I promise maid is a debt unpaid, right?"
"It depends on your conscience," Tonks said.
"Okay, Freud...don't push your luck," Kingsley said.
"So... what do we do now?" Tonks asked.
" As promised, you'll come with me, but I warn you...I'm not here to loiter. You're going to follow me around; you're going to watch how I work, if you have any question, you'll ask me, if I talk to anyone, I'll probably lie, you stay quiet, okay?" Kingsley said. "Even if I say something that sounds ridiculous, stay serious."
"Perfect!" Tonks said as she wrote down everything Kingsley said in a small notebook.
"If...for any reason it becomes dangerous, press the switch on this pen," Kingsley added as he handed her a Pen.
"What is this?" Tonks asked.
"It's an emergency portkey; every Auror has one." Kingsley said." Don't worry about me; you'll land at the Aurors office, where you can send me backup. That would be the most helpful thing you could do for me. Okay?" Kingsley said.
"All right," Tonks said, putting the pen away.
"Do you have your wand with you?" Kingsley asked.
"No... Mom took it as soon as I got off the train..." Tonks said.
"Alright...I think we can go." Kingsley said, "I'd like to explain to you what I'm doing here...Someone was murdered, and this is the road where his car was last seen. The road goes through the village then into the forest, so we'll start by going to the village and snoop around..." Kingsley said.
"Perfect!" Tonks said. "Oh..." She closed her eyes and tensed her face. Then her skin colour darkened, and her long pink hair curled and frizzed before turning from pink to black while Kingsley watched in amazement.
"I think this makes us look like a father and daughter just passing through the village!
"Look at that! You're a Metamorphmagus..." Kingsley said, impressed.
" Yup!" Tonks said.
August 26th of 1985. Kharkiv. 10 am:
Knocking out the newcomer and tying him to a post next to the others took Sirius and Charlie only two seconds. Then, after going out to look at the truck and backing it up to get the truck closer, Sirius came back inside, fluffy running between his legs, trying to catch his laces. Charlie had levitated all the boxes to the unused bottom of the factory to free up more space for the dragon cage.
"So! How are we going to do this?" Charlie asked.
"We're going to load it into the truck's container, then drive it to the reserve," Sirius asked.
"Why would we drive? I've seen how they tie the chains and how high they fly, we could do the same, and in an hour, we'd be there!" Charlie said.
"No, Charlie...At night maybe, but in the daytime, it would be too risky...We could run into a muggle plane and collide with it...Or we could tie the chains wrong; the cage could fall off and kill the Dragon if it can't fly." Sirius said.
"So we're going to drive...It's going to take hours...Plus, there are no roads for miles around the reserve..." Charlie said.
"We'll see by then...I've changed the paint on the truck and fully insulated the container. If we get stopped by the muggle police, a simple confusion spell will do the trick." Sirius said.
"Okay..." Charlie said as he bent down to pick up Fluffy, who stood on his hind legs in his arms.
"About the Cerberus..." Sirius said,
"He's coming with me! I'll take him back to the Burrow with me." Charlie said.
"Er...You know...In a few months, he'll be the size of an elephant." Sirius said.
"Oh, don't worry! The Burrow is in the countryside! So he'll have plenty of room." Charlie said.
"A Cerberus is a species banned from Great Britain. The law prohibits the import and breeding of Cerberus." Sirius said.
"Oh, Merlin!... Are you always like this? The law, the law, the law! I feel like I'm listening to Percy, my little brother who already wanted to be head-boy at three years old! Listen to me, Sirius, just once in your life, you should try to have some fun, spice up your life, get off the path, stop being such a submissive looser and be cool instead! You're like what? Thirty-five? I feel like I'm listening to my Aunt Muriel..." Charlie said.
"I...I... I better go interrogate the prisoners...Otherwise, I could..." Sirius said, heading towards the bound men, before turning around and yelling at him," For the record! I'm twenty-five! And at Hogwarts, I was the most popular in school! I invented 'being cool'!"
"Yeah...Most popular kid in the knitting club!" Charlie chuckled.
"I can see why Istvan left you for dead. I would have done the same." Sirius spat before turning to the prisoners.
He approached them and slapped them in the face. They slowly woke up before all of them started gesticulating to try to free themselves, making Sirius laugh.
"It's no use trying...magically restrained...Wands snapped...You know the drill." Sirius said as he pinched Maksim's cheek. "You mate, you're a total slut."
"You're dead! You don't know what's waiting for you when Zoran gets his hands on you." Olek said.
Sirius walked up to him threw at him an uppercut that landed right under the chin. The impact made Olek bite his tongue and break some teeth, while spitting blood, he tried to get to Sirius's face.
"And you, Olek, do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you since I have you here?" Sirius asked, pulling his hair to force him to look up at him.
"Alright...here's how this is going to go. I'm going to put you to sleep and then wake up only one of you, whom I'm going to interrogate. When I say interrogate, I mean to make him eat his balls and pull out his teeth one by one...But I'm not going to kill him...Once I'm done with him, I'll put him to sleep again to repeat the process with each of you." Sirius said." Are you following me so far?... In the end, I'll wake you all up, and you'd better make sure the stories you told me matches up. Words will never be enough to describe what I'll do if it's not the case." Sirius said.
"DON'T TELL HIM SHIT! HE IS BULLSHITTING US!" Yevhen said to the other men before Sirius stupefied them all.
"Er...Sirius, mate...It was just to scare them, wasn't it?... You're not going to pull their balls off..." Charlies asked.
"Of course not! I'm not a sadist!" Sirius said, giving her a disgusted look before going over to the table where Maksim was cutting up the mutton earlier.
Sirius made a face and plunged his hand into the side where Maksim had separated the entrails and blood from the rest. He returned to the driver, tore off his clothes, stripped him naked, and smeared the blood on his body. He repeated the process with Olek and Yevhen, making the scene as sordid as possible with the help of magic. When he finished his work, he stepped back to examine what he had done.
"Well? Do you think it looks credible?" Sirius asked Charlie.
"Yes...I think so...But I think it's missing something..." Charlie said.
"Yes...I do too...You'd have to throw up." Sirius said.
"What?! Why?" Charlie said.
"You're supposed to have witnessed a torture session...If I wake up Maksim and he sees that you're not in shock or disgust...He'll know it's a trap." Sirius said.
"But why would I be in shock?" Charlie said.
"Because you're a kid...Kids can't see these things...Stop whining! Do what I say, or I'll make you!" Sirius said.
"I'd like to see that..." Charlie said, defying him.
"Open your eyes wide then!" Sirius said as he shoved a piece of sheep intestine still filled with excrement in his face.
Charlie immediately fell to his knees and vomited. Sirius laughed at him before waking Maksim.
He had chosen Maksim because he felt no fear meaning from the other ones. The other three were hardened criminals; they didn't give a damn; they wouldn't have confessed anything... Maksim opened his eyes slowly, then as expected, an expression of terror appeared on his face when he saw Sirius' and Charlie's bloody hands vomiting on the floor.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Maksim...It took me longer than I expected." Sirius said as he pointed with his thumb at the other men.
Maksim turned his head to the left as best he could, and his jaw dropped when he saw the state of his accomplices. Then, he turned back to Sirius.
"I know I said I wasn't going to kill them, but they wouldn't let go, so...I got a little carried away...Charlie! Stop throwing up and bring me the pliers instead!" Sirius said, dryly pulling down Maksim's pants before bursting into laughter." Come and see this tiny dick!"
"FUCK! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! PLEASE PLEASE! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON BETWEEN YOU AND ZORAN, BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" Maksim yelled.
"Nothing? Didn't you throw a machete at me earlier!" Sirius asked as he waved the machete in front of Maksim's face.
"I PANICKED! I PANICKED! I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW! I SWEAR! EVERYTHING I KNOW!" Maksim continued screaming, crying.
"Well, go ahead, I'm listening!" Sirius said. "But stop screaming, my ears hurt...Breathe!" Sirius said, slapping his cheek.
"Okay...I admit it! I've been working for Zoran for a year. Azarov recruited me; he asked me to spy and provide him with information when he asked me to!" Maksim said.
"Is that all?" Sirius asked.
"Yes! That's all!" Maksim said.
"You see...I also have guys who watch the reserve! And they told me that someone sabotaged the wards...So you just lied." Sirius said.
"IT WAS ME! Zoran made me do it! I'm so scared, I forgot to tell!" Maksim said. "Listen! The truck must have left an hour ago! It's only a matter of time before they notice, and Zoran will come personally! You have to run, now!"
Sirius looked at him; he hadn't lied...He turned around, helped Charlie to his feet, Charlie looking at him angrily.
" Arsehole!" Charlie said, pulling Sirius' arm away from him.
"That's what happens when you disrespect your elders, kid...Let me clean your face! Sirius said before pointing his wand at the teenager's face and saying, "Scourgify", and the dirt on his face disappeared. Then, he cast the same spell on himself to clean up the sheep's blood before stupefying Maksim.
"What do we do with them?" Charlie asked.
Sirius erased the driver's memories, then Olek's and Yevhen's, then untied Maksim and let him fall to the ground.
"He's right...Zoran's going to know something's wrong very soon...We better hurry up and get out of here before we find ourselves tied up in their place because of the way they shit themselves when it comes to Zoran; I don't think he'll just pretend to torture us." Sirius said.
"Yeah...let's get out of here!" Charlie said.
Sirius opened the factory's big door, then pulled the back of the truck closer until the end was inside the building.
"Don't you think the dragon has been too quiet so far?" Charlie asked. "He kept trying to break his cage since we got him, even before the ambush, and know he is suddenly calm."
"Maybe he's asleep...dragons are clever, maybe he figured out we were trying to help him," Sirius said as he approached the cage. Then, he stood up on his tiptoes through one of the holes in the cage. He realized that the Dragon was wide awake and that its golden eye was staring at Sirius 'own eyes as if trying to hypnotize him. Sirius stepped back and patted Charlie on the shoulder.
"Come on...let's not waste any more time...we'll both levitate the cage."
Charlie nodded, and a few minutes later, Sirius closed the doors of the large truck container with the Dragon and his cage inside. Charlie carried Fluffy with him and climbed into the passenger seat while Sirius climbed into the driver's side.
"Have you ever driven anything this big?" Charlie said.
"No, I've never driven any kind of car," Sirius said as he examined the steering wheel, shifters, and gearbox. "But I don't need to know." He added, tapping the steering wheel with the tip of his wand.
"Let's hit the road!" Charlie said as he put his fist out the window, and fluffy's three heads started howling as the engine started.
August 26th of 1985. Moscow (Moskva-City). 10 am:
He had entered the fraternity at the age of fourteen; thanks to his violent character, he was very young when he got noticed by one of his teachers in Durmstrang, who initiated him into the rites and practices of the Organization. Naturally, opinions diverge; some claim that power is obtained through malice, others that power is bought, acquired by rallying the crowds through eloquence, that power is inherited, each put forward his own thesis ... But one day, a man put everyone in agreement. Is someone more eloquent than you? Tear his tongue out. Does someone have enough gold to buy power? Kill him and take all his gold for yourself. Can power be inherited? Who cares...slaughter the whole family and help yourself.
One day Zoran Zaitsev asked the right question. How far are you willing to go for power? Well, Zoran was ready to go to the end of the world. When he reached the end, he would push its limits even further. But, of course, many refused to obey. However, when you have ideas of rebellion and find yourself witnessing a scene where a man sees his children's hearts being ripped out alive in front of him, after losing a duel against him, you bow your head and quickly accept your position. Zoran had, beyond any doubt, put an end to the debate. Power belongs to the cruel men who have the strength to impose their vision on others. One could never be sure of people's sincerity or loyalty, but he could be sure of the terror they felt towards him.
Anyway, Zoran didn't give a damn about dedication or sincerity; if someone disappointed him or didn't live up to his requirements, he would make them pay for their incompetence at a high price. However, for those who did rise to the occasion and made the Organization's business flourish, he knew how to reward them beyond measure. So, in the world of organized crime, it could be considered a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, Azarov, standing in front of Zoran's desk, shirt sleeves rolled up, smoking his cigar while listening to his report on the situation, was much closer to a nightmare than a win-win situation. He had entrusted him with a contract of great importance on which Zoran was counting heavily for the future of the Organization.
Azarov finished his report and silently waited for a reaction from his boss. However, Zoran just kept looking at him, passively smoking his cigar, not letting any emotion show. Then after a while, he calmly spoke.
"So, three of our men, who are part of your division, woke up naked, covered in blood and shit, with no memory of what happened. The Dragonologist who was spying has fled and is nowhere to be found...And the contract is gone." Zoran said.
"Yes, boss...But, we are already on the case. My entire division is deployed; it's only a matter of hours before everything is settled." Azarov said, his voice trembling, drops of sweat running down his forehead. "And..."
"Speak," Zoran said.
"As you know, last night, I spoke with Lord Black about the compensation. Only, he insisted again on acquiring the Dragon..."
"I know why he wants the Dragon, but House Black knows the rules of this business very well; they have too much to lose by going against the rules. As for the compensation, the two hundred thousand were paid into our vault in London as soon as Gringotts opened. So as promised, this matter is in the past..." Zoran said, relighting his cigar, which was fading.
"So...what are your orders, boss?" Azarov asked.
Zoran got up from his big Basilisk skin chair, walked around his desk and slowly walked towards Azarov, whose heart began to beat frenetically. Then Zoran grabbed him by the neck and pushed the hot end of his cigar into Azarov's eye, extinguishing his cigar in his iris, ripping a loud scream of pain before letting him drop on the black marble floor, curled up on himself.
"I think it would be for the best if I personally handle this matter," Zoran said coldly, heading for the large door of his office, leaving Azarov on the floor.
Hello guys! Thank you for reading; I hope you liked this chapter! Whatever your opinion is, I would love to hear it in private or in the reviews section. I can't improve if I stay in my bubble. Thank you again!