"Are you ready?" Severus asked Felix.
"Ready," Felix Yang said expressionlessly.
"Hold on to my arm," Severus said.
Felix did as told. After a brief squeeze, they appeared by the coast.
Seagulls wheeled over the emerald sea. As if God's tears had been left here, a city as beautiful as foam floated upon the shimmering waves.
"Do you know where this is?" Severus asked Felix.
"Venice." Felix looked at Severus in surprise. "Weren't we going to..."
"I changed my mind," Severus said. "I want to train you to be a wizard, not an assassin. Besides, your childlike appearance can serve as a disguise in that world, but be careful. There are Scourers there. They are our sworn enemies."
"What made you change your mind?" Felix asked Severus.
The wizard smiled gently.
"You received news from her?" Felix said delightedly.
"I only found the location of the entrance. I still don't know how to get in," Severus said.
"Congratulations." Felix held out his hand to Severus, seeming to want to shake hands like an adult.
"It's too early to celebrate." Severus did not take his hand. Felix withdrew it without concern.
"What do we do next?"
"I'll teach you how to gather and analyze intelligence first," Severus said. "And buy more clothes for disguises."
"Where are we going to buy eighteenth-century clothes?"
"I happen to know a place," Severus said. Just then, a motorboat approached, and he raised a hand to flag it down.
"We're not Apparating?" Felix asked.
"That's part of the disguise. We need to travel like Muggles," Severus said, putting an arm around Felix's shoulders and leading him aboard like a father taking his son along.
In English, horse and whore were pronounced almost the same.
The word prostitute sounded extremely harsh. No woman wanted that sort