Demon Angel

"You shouldn't link witchcraft with misfortune, Father. Some people believe ghosts bring good luck." Severus Snape took out a silver cigarette case in front of the Secretary-General. "The prince-bishop is the sick one. In places like Bohemia and Austria, witch hunts are considered unnecessary and tiresome. Not every case of evil-spirit possession is the work of wizards."

"Do you believe him, child?" the Secretary-General asked Gianluca.

"I know many members of royal families went mad in the seventeenth century, but I can't be sure all their mental breakdowns were related to witchcraft," Gianluca said. "Some people go mad simply because they are mad. It has nothing to do with devils or witchcraft."

"Then do you think dismembering a woman and throwing her out a castle window was the act of a madman, or demon possession?" the Secretary-General asked. "I know it sounds abnormal, but it truly happened. The killer was Don Giulio Cesare d'Austria, the illegitimate son of Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II. He threw different parts of his mistress's body out of Český Krumlov Castle. Jesuit priests and Franciscans both advised handing him over to us, but the imperial councillors thought it unnecessary because his personal behavior had not affected the functioning of the Empire."

"Like a car accident." The wizard bared a mouthful of yellow teeth in an evil grin.

"Exactly, like a car accident." The Secretary-General smiled as well. "Some accident scenes are even more gruesome than that. When the whole world is going mad, people become numb to madness. Back then, all the Emperor's relatives were losing their minds. The slightly more rational one was Prince-Bishop Ernst of Bavaria. He liked women, hunting, and music. Compared with those nobles who belonged in an asylum, he was normal enough. Would you object to the fact that he didn't