Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 100: Italian Ministry of Magic (In the next chapter, Bourne will take out the chainsword, and he will almost become addicted to hacking)
Marlowe made his point.

But his apparent toughness was just to get a bigger percentage of the next business, and he didn't really want to get rid of August.

Therefore, the conversation between them finally ended "courteously", and August Lukewood, with a stiff expression, got into the car of the three Marlowe brothers.

A dedicated driver opens the door for them.

Father Benjamin gave August a polite pat and asked him to sit in the back seat. The priest showed the humility of a clergyman and insisted on sitting in the middle seat and letting August sit by the window, because he felt that Michael must see the beautiful night view of Palermo.

Don Marlowe sat down on the other side of the back seat.

Enzo had already gotten into the car and sat in the passenger seat. August noticed that the public official was holding on to the door handle so that he could quickly open the door at any time.

August thought to himself that Father Benjamin quickly sat in the middle seat, probably to reduce the possibility of becoming a target.

The car drove slowly along the streets of Palermo like a giant turtle, followed by several vans filled by "Friends of Friends" brothers. Some of them would get out of the car when passing a certain intersection. , catch the tram passing here.

Work is work, and get off work is get off work.

After receiving August Rookwood, the Marlowe brothers will no longer continue to pay them overtime pay. Except for those who can still receive money, the rest will naturally not continue to provide free bodyguard protection.

On both sides of this avenue, there are elegant Moorish houses, huge public buildings with Greek columns and Spanish churches.

The private villas were painted blue, white, and yellow, and all had balconies filled with flowers, creating a sky corridor above their heads.

In Palermo at night, there were almost no cars on the streets. Even after walking so far, we didn’t even see a patrolling police car.

Their cars stand out from the crowd.

The most common means of transportation they saw were mule carts heading home from the city after collecting some scraps or kitchen waste.

However, those mule carts were painted in vivid and bright colors, even the spokes of the wheels and the shafts of the mule carts were no exception.

The sides of many mule carts are painted with rich paintings, including warriors wearing helmets and kings wearing crowns... These characters all come from the ancient folklore passed down from Sicily about Charlemagne and the Paladin Roland.

The car, which was traveling at a constant speed, stopped in front of a rose-colored building that spanned a block. There is a YSL-style blue spire on each corner of the building, and there is a unique canopy with a wide green stripe outside the door, with the words "Umberto Hotel" printed on it.

Being named after the King of Italy, you can imagine that the standards of this hotel are unparalleled in Palermo.

Two doormen stood at the door of the lobby, the buttons on their uniforms shining with gold.

The experienced eyes developed through their careers have enabled them to clearly see the situation around the hotel. They saw at least ten bodyguards walking in groups of two on the street or leaning against iron railings.

These people were very flamboyant, with their open jackets revealing the weapons they carried.

Therefore, the two doormen became very cautious when the car came, and their already straight bodies stood up straighter.

When August Rookwood got out of the car, two cigar-smoking men stood in front of him - they were Marlowe's "friends among friends" who had arrived here first. ——They looked at the British guy carefully, as if they wanted to visually measure his height and prepare to dig a grave for him.

After the group entered, the bodyguards blocked the entrance to the hotel. Four bodyguards came from the hall and led them into a corridor. The faces of these people were filled with the superiority of the emperor's attendants.

At the end of the corridor are two oak doors. A man sitting in a luxurious high-backed chair stood up and opened the door with a brass key.

He bowed and smiled slyly at Father Benjamin.

This is a luxurious suite, with French floor-to-ceiling windows open, letting in the cool evening breeze. Outside the window is a large, well-tended garden, with fragrance from the lemon trees in the garden from time to time.

The furniture in the suite's living room was originally designed for a palace of an Italian king. The armchairs were huge, the sofa was long and deep like a boat, and the huge marble table looked like it had been stolen from a museum.

As if by magic (or maybe he really used magic), after entering this suite, Don Malo had two goblets in his hands, which contained more than half of a glass of slightly turbid wine. Plant local white grapes.

"Do as the Romans do," Marlowe handed a wine glass to August. "People here don't like firewhiskey and grog very much, but they have a special liking for this kind of white wine."

He seemed to be implying something.

However, August didn’t care. He took the wine glass and rubbed the glass leg of the goblet with his index finger and thumb, but did not put it in his mouth.

Don Marlowe didn't seem to care either. He just sat down on the huge bohemian style sofa and let his body be wrapped in the soft velvet material.

His two brothers each found a single sofa and sat down.

It's just that, unless he sits on the same sofa as Don Malo, there will be no seat for August Rookwood in this suite.

"This Hotel Umberto is my property, and its underground wine cellar hides the entrance to the Italian Ministry of Magic. Today is a holiday, and during normal working days, there are always some wizards in the back alley of this hotel. Coming and going.”

Don Malo took a sip of white wine, pinched the tie around his neck with his fingers, and loosened it with force.

"Unlike your British Ministry of Magic, which is rich and wealthy, our Ministry of Magic here does not have such a large budget and cannot hide its headquarters in big cities like Rome and Milan, so it can only settle in a small place like Palermo. .”

August knew this man was talking nonsense.

The real reason why the Italian Ministry of Magic is located in Sicily is because in 1754, the Italian Minister of Magic and the British Minister of Magic Hesphaestus Gore co-hosted a famous broom racing competition-from Aberdeen to Rome.

The contestants in the sprint were two of the most famous riders in Europe at the time, Torquier MacTavish and Silvio Astolfi.

In order to avoid attracting the attention of Muggles, the entire race was held in the evening, while ministerial representatives and fans all gathered at the Colosseum, waiting for the arrival of the contestants.

However, just as the two men could be seen flying towards the amphitheater, clashes broke out between supporters from both sides.

A series of explosions occurred during the conflict, which almost led to the demolition of the Colosseum. At that time, one of the accompanying British representatives was a staff member of the Department for the Prohibition of the Abuse of Magic, named Eurabella Nutley.

She was originally responsible for handling luggage and preparing door keys. After seeing this scene, she immediately stood up and repaired some pillars with a spell she invented. That spell is the Restoration Spell, and chanting it can repair most non-magical, inanimate objects.

Surprised, Gore and other ministers asked Nutley to teach them how to use the repair spell. Finally, before the Muggles who were awakened by the explosion arrived, the Colosseum was restored to its original state.

Later, Gore applied for a Medal of Merlin, First Class, for Eurabella Nutley in recognition of her contribution to upholding the Statute of Secrecy in this incident.

Compared with the gains from the British Ministry of Magic, the Italian Ministry of Magic, as the main responsible person at the time, received only severe criticism from the outside world.

In order to calm the situation and avoid the influx of shouting letters, the Italian Ministry of Magic moved its headquarters from Rome to Palermo, a city that had no sense of existence at the time, on the grounds that it needed to more strictly maintain the Statute of Secrecy.

Unsurprisingly, many of the wizarding staff who had been working in Rome for most of their lives expressed great indignation at the extremely hasty decision of the Italian Ministry of Magic.

At that time, many employees of the Italian Ministry of Magic went on strike.

Some people may question: Can't wizards use apparation?
If you are happy to continue living in Rome and being a Roman, just continue to be a Roman. Wouldn't it be over if you just apparate and commute to work every day? Is this such a big deal? Is it causing a scene?
Although in theory, it is not impossible to use "Apparition" to solve the commute from Rome to Palermo.

But in practice, there are two difficulties that are difficult to overcome:
First, not all adult wizards can "Apparition". It will cost a lot of money and time to popularize this magic in the Italian Ministry of Magic, and in the end not everyone can learn it.

Second, Rome is really not close to Palermo - the straight-line distance between the two places is more than 900 kilometers - even if they can "Apparate", ordinary wizards have to "Apparition - Apparition" continuously. It takes dozens of times to successfully complete a commute.

The more frequently this spell is used continuously, the higher the probability of errors due to the mental stress and physical discomfort caused by casting the spell.

If things go wrong, the Ministry of Magic staff who use Apparition to rush on their way will break up halfway. By then, not only will the lives of Ministry of Magic employees not be guaranteed, but it may also attract the attention of Muggles and cause greater damage to the "Act of Secrecy".

So, if the Italian Ministry of Magic were to move to Palermo, all of its employees and civil servants would have to move with it.

Some people say: All roads lead to Rome.

But these people...

They were born in Rome!

They even have a house in Rome!
Just because of a trivial matter, they were asked to move from Rome to a remote rural area like Palermo. Does this still follow the laws of their ancestors?
Faced with the overwhelming protests, the Italian Minister of Magic, who had pushed the gourd and lifted the gourd, once again made a hasty decision in order to prevent himself from stepping down in despair.

Whoever wants to live in Rome should live in Rome. Can I give you a note and a portkey?

Not to mention, this did solve the conflict between "continuing to be a Roman" and "commuting to work" relatively well, and the employees of the Italian Ministry of Magic finally accepted this compromise.

However, nothing is perfect in this world, and issuing "portkey licenses" on a large scale actually has a very serious hidden danger.

Not only that, some of the portkeys that were originally strictly managed by the Italian Ministry of Magic were inevitably "lost".

In addition, some "illegal door keys" kept by private individuals have also been laundered in large quantities through the "door key use permissions" issued indiscriminately.

At that time, the Ashes Party branch operating in Italy seized this opportunity and used those door keys to completely open up a new situation for smuggling in the Mediterranean region. Their strength grew rapidly and their wealth continued to accumulate. In the end, after the party leader Victor Rookwood and the Asher Serpent Party headquarters were destroyed in Britain, these people successfully broke away from the Ash Serpent Party and established their own branch.

Don Malo is a descendant of those people.

He didn't lie.

Today, the Umberto Hotel, where the Italian Ministry of Magic is located, is actually one of the many properties under his name. The Italian Ministry of Magic pays him an annual rent. It is conceivable to what extent his personal power has penetrated into the Ministry of Magic.

Let me say a "very disrespectful" thing: this Marlowe is not only the "Don" of those Muggle "friends among friends", he is also the Shadow Minister of the Italian Ministry of Magic.

"In this land, my word is the law of the Ministry of Magic. The plan you mentioned before - kidnapping Nick Flamel and letting the old guy refine the Philosopher's Stone for us here - as long as I nod , it will be a legitimate undertaking.”

After saying that, Marlow drank the white wine in the goblet in one gulp, then threw it to the ground, breaking into pieces with a "snap".

“My friends, time is money!”

Marlowe stood up and stared at August Rookwood with a Rottweiler-like ferocity.

"You just came out of Azkaban, and I probably don't have a few galleons of wealth in your pocket. I'm afraid you don't want to waste time here anymore, right?

Hand over that old man quickly and let him start working now, and you can follow Brother Marlowe to earn Mane in a down-to-earth manner...

Good times are just around the corner! "

August Rookwood looked at the Sicilian in front of him calmly, and then looked at the fragments of the goblet on the ground.

"Sure enough, the nouveau riche is the nouveau riche." He thought to himself, "It has been more than three seconds, and the pile of debris has not been cleaned up yet. This shows that there are no hidden house elves serving here."

Whether or not there are house elf services may not be the only criterion for measuring a wizard's background, but it is definitely an important criterion.

Even though Don Malo appears so strong and full of cards, in the final analysis, he is just a shadow minister.

What's more, the Italian Ministry of Magic has never been a powerful Ministry of Magic, and is even far inferior to the "sunset" British Ministry of Magic.

However, it is precisely because of this that August Lukewood chose to cooperate with them before.

Everyone takes what he needs, that's all.

　Friendly reminder, in the next chapter Bourne will take out his chainsword and hack the addict.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)