After the evening rush hour, the streets downtown were no longer packed. The traffic police on duty had vanished, replaced by mounted patrols.
Traffic in France kept to the right, while Britain kept to the left. This rule initially had nothing to do with automobiles; it had been set for sword-bearing knights. Most people were used to using their right hands, and riding on the left made it easier to launch an attack.
France had been the same before the French Revolution, but the oppressed people saw "keeping left" as representing privilege and aristocracy, so they changed the rule. After Napoleon came to power, he ordered his troops to advance on the right, completely contrary to the habits knights had followed for years. Wherever he conquered, he brought right-hand traffic with him. Likewise, England extended its left-hand traffic rule to its colonies.
Severus looked at the card in his hand. It was identical to the one the priest had given him earlier.
When a person had nothing in a city, they could destroy it without restraint. Grindelwald had been like that. Once he had property and a home in that city, his mindset would change. He would fight desperately to protect his home.
I don't belong here. It doesn't matter if I destroy it.
This place belongs to me. I must protect it.
Two voices murmured in the ears of these uniformed people. The uniforms they wore were also a kind of authority: one represented the military, the other the law.
At Hogwarts' Yule Ball, Viktor Krum had worn a red formal outfit that looked very much like a military uniform. In the past, no soldier would have entered a ball in uniform. They would have changed into evening dress, wigs, and silk stockings.
Later, kings and princes across Europe