Chapter 26: Flooring the Pedal Through the Gearbox

The primary ingredients for the potion include dragon blood for physical enhancement, dragon-head flower leaves for increasing mental fortitude, moon-glow dew for attuning to lunar magic, and starlight bearberries for boosting magical reserves.

Secondary ingredients include moonstone powder, blue rose petals, night-glow insect powder, and licorice root. These are not cheap; gathering a single set costs 20 Galleons.

The high cost is one thing, but the brewing process is also extremely complex and arduous, requiring meticulous care, as the slightest mistake leads to failure. To this end, Rogge has already spent 800 Galleons, repeating experiments day and night, with nothing to show for it but a thick stack of failure records.

Rogge spread out his notebook to document his 40th experiment. He lay on the sofa, biting his pen, lost in thought.

At first, Jessica could provide guidance, but as Rogge moved on to practical work with the blue moon-glow, even she was at a loss. Rogge had to rely on his simulation ability, testing through trial and error, and advancing slowly.

Rogge knew this advanced potion was far beyond his current capabilities; attempting it directly was unwise. Yet, his 2.3 magical limit acted like a tightening band around his head, leaving him no choice but to bite the bullet and find a way to overcome it.

Each time he failed, Rogge carefully noted the process, various parameters, and the changes in the potion within the cauldron. He would then compare these against the practical guidelines in the recipe to identify the issue and avoid it in the next attempt.

To minimize wasted time, he stayed in the basement laboratory. When hungry, he had Dobby bring him food; when tired, he collapsed on a small cot nearby. Were it not for Jessica checking on him every day, she would have been deeply concerned for her son’s mental state.

Financial loss was secondary; the real issue was the frustration that compounded with every failure. Rogge was thankful that his time being trained by Dementors had forged a firm will; otherwise, he would have been crushed by these failures long ago.

"Rogge, you must get some rest." Jessica entered with a cup of hot milk and ordered him to hand over his notebook.

"Mom, I’m almost there! Just a little longer!" Rogge hugged Jessica, shaking her playfully.

"No!" Jessica pushed away her son, who was trying to act cute, and made him finish his milk and go to bed.

Under Jessica’s watchful eye, Rogge had to climb into the soft bed. He closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, planning to sneak back down as soon as she left.

However, his sleepiness was far more overwhelming than he had anticipated, and he drifted off before he knew it. Jessica tucked him in and lifted Yumi, who had jumped onto the bed, down to the floor.

"Young Master, the materials have been bought." Dobby’s Apparition was indeed convenient; he held up the bag and shouted excitedly.

"Dobby!" Jessica rapped Dobby’s head sharply, signaling him to hand over the bag.

Rogge slept for a full day and night, from six in the evening until the same time the next day, before jumping out of bed feeling refreshed. He ate dinner while keeping his eyes locked on Jessica.

"Not today. Go to sleep properly; I’ll give it back to you tomorrow morning." Jessica shook her head, deciding it was time to manage her son’s schedule.

"Fine." Rogge pouted at Dobby, who hung his head in frustration, unable to help his young master steal from the mistress.

The next morning, Rogge impatiently retrieved his lab notebook and dashed into the laboratory.

Jessica watched her son’s retreating back with a sigh, thinking that once these final materials were used up, he would surely stop to rest. While she believed in her son’s talent, she knew that without systematic study, one could not brew an advanced potion relying solely on books and formulas.

Rogge touched the workbench, feeling a sense of strangeness after two days away. Sunlight filtered through the windows, illuminating tiny specks of dust dancing in the air.

"Scourgify!" Rogge waved his old wand, turning the laboratory into a dust-free environment.

"Dobby, bring the materials over."

Failure... failure... another failure.

"I cannot fail again." Rogge looked at the final portion of ingredients; his mother had made it clear there would not be another Galleon in pocket money.

He closed his notebook with a sigh, adjusting his mindset as he ground the moonstone into a fine powder.

Moonstone is used to absorb and filter impurities from dragon blood. Unlike the divine dragons of Eastern mythology, the dragons of the Western magical world are more like giant, winged lizards.

They are born with violent dispositions and are extremely difficult to tame. Even adult wizards struggle to handle their blood directly, let alone a young wizard.

Rogge’s technique grew increasingly skillful, and the moonstone was ground to an exquisite fineness. Through his many experiments, he had determined that the ideal particle size for the powder was between 800 and 1000 mesh. If the moonstone was not ground fine enough, it could not fully purify the dragon blood; if it were too fine, the powder itself might contaminate the blood.

In the long test tube, the blood of a Hungarian Horntail shimmered brilliantly. After pouring in 20 grams of moonstone powder, the blood immediately became murky. As the moonstone slowly settled, the dragon blood above grew increasingly pure. Finally, it became as clear and translucent as the finest emerald, without a trace of impurity.

Through layers of refinement, this hard-won dragon blood was perfectly prepared for the potion’s creation.

"Rogge, that Muggle named Andrew is here." Seeing Rogge working with the herbs, Jessica knocked on the door from the outside.

"Andrew?" Rogge carefully put away the dragon blood, wondering why he would come at this time.

"Mom, did he say what it was about?"

"It seemed to be about a place in the Muggle world called Moscow..."

"Moscow! What is today’s date?"

"August 16th. There’s still half a month until school starts. Why the sudden question?"

"Only three days left..." Rogge thought for a moment and decided to see his asset manager.

"Andrew, what’s wrong?" Rogge entered the garden to find Andrew pacing back and forth in excitement.

"Rogge, I had my cousin Thompson get some newspapers from the Soviet Union." Andrew grabbed Rogge, eager to pull out the papers.

"This is today’s *Izvestia* from the Soviet Union. Look here!" Andrew pointed to the article, his tone filled with irrepressible joy. "Yakovlev says there is a coup being planned within the Soviet Communist Party. He’s the Minister of Culture of the Soviet Union..."

"From June until now, the Soviet Union has stopped paying the interest and principal on its foreign debt for nearly three months. Plus the turmoil that’s about to break out... Rogge, you guessed right!"

"Keep it down!" Rogge pulled Andrew aside to avoid Jessica asking if he had retrieved the house.

"Most people in the City haven’t heard the news yet, but the market is already showing volatility..."

"Has the counterparty blown up yet?" Rogge frowned; it was only August 16th, and the winds were just starting to pick up.

Andrew shook his head quickly. "Not yet. I just came to ask what to do next."

He whispered a warning: "If the market warms up, we’ll need to keep adding margin..."

Rogge carefully recalled the surreal events of the Soviet Union in August. When the Soviets started their descent, they really seemed determined to floor the accelerator straight into the gearbox.

"The August 19 coup, the August 25 resignation..." Rogge paced around the pavilion, then suddenly stopped.

"If the market warms up before the end of the month, do not hesitate; execute the strategy ruthlessly!" Rogge had a large appetite; he was not here to just sip at the broth in this gluttonous feast.

"If you run out of money, go to Thompson. Aside from what he promised, you can also borrow the Galleons I have at the Ministry of Magic."

"Uh... Rogge, aren’t wizards’ Galleons stored at Gringotts?" Andrew looked at him suspiciously, worried he might be getting scammed by a wizard.

"You don’t need to know why, but the Ministry of Magic owes my family hundreds of thousands of Galleons."

"Hundreds of thousands?"

"Remember what I said. Don’t be afraid, and whatever you do, don’t disappoint me." Rogge patted Andrew’s arm and sent him off.

As Rogge turned around, he saw Jessica standing at the living room door and quickly said stiffly, "Mom, the weather is really nice today."