"Freedom made Greece—Athens and Thebes—into a nation of heroes, and enabled the Romans of the Republican era to create countless miracles. During the brief time she shone upon certain cities in Italy, art and science leapt forward, and Florence radiated brilliance. But freedom has now been driven out of all Europe, with only San Marino still offering her a place to stay. Citizens! It is through your government's enlightened policies, and through your own noble character, that you have preserved this precious inheritance..."
Feilier read aloud from a speech Monge had once delivered in San Marino while Georgiana lay on the sofa and listened.
Tuning the frequency was not merely adjusting a radio channel. She imagined a tide, the seawater slowly and gently washing over her, carrying away all the energy that did not belong to her.
There was a Mont Saint-Michel off the coast of France, with an abbey upon it. At high tide, the entire abbey seemed surrounded by water. When the tide receded, mudflats were left behind. They looked like land, but no one could walk across them; the mud would swallow people like a swamp.
She slowly closed her eyes, as if she could see a black snake winding forward along a line.
She raised her head, wanting to see where that line led...
"You skipped dinner just to write this?" Pomona said, holding a sheet of paper densely covered in writing.
Snape kept his head down as he ate the late-night meal she had brought him, as though he did not want to pay her any attention.
By candlelight, she began to read.
Magic possessed both selfish and selfless qualities, and there were two attitudes toward it. One was to use it to attack and punish others; that was selfish and lacked legitimacy.
"Do you