The Triangle

Skyscrapers in big cities were like swords thrust straight into the clouds, like the spires of Gothic churches.

Gothic was also an artistic style. The Golden House and Doge's Palace were both examples of it, but they possessed an inclusive quality, softening Byzantine and Islamic styles. They were unlike Neo-Gothic.

The Goths had originally belonged to the Germanic tribes of Western Europe. Before the Renaissance in the Middle Ages, and in the remote forests untouched by the Renaissance afterward, Gothic architecture could be found everywhere. The Germans around the Forbidden Forest had been the most enthusiastic about burning witches.

Germany's educational system had mainly begun developing after the Middle Ages. At first, the right to education belonged only to nobles and clergy, before gradually spreading to ordinary people and allowing a universal education system to flourish. The tradition of compulsory education had begun under the influence of Martin Luther's ideas.

Monica thought bars like the one they had just visited were cool. Pomona did not. There was a severe generation gap between her and young people nowadays.

When you were in a terrible mood, Venice at night no longer looked so enchanting. Those dark corners seemed to conceal things that could not bear the light of day.

"Are you all right?" Severus asked.

"Leave me alone!" she snarled.

He then took a step back, putting at least two feet between them. Monica and Alessandro stood even farther away.

Alessandro, a "loser," probably could not get into that sort of "cool" bar. It was like Slughorn's Slug Club—only "winners" were qualified to join.

Besides, he was only eighteen and had not yet reached the legal drinking age. But Europe had always been lax about that. Half the people in that building looked like children.

There was no need for her to