"Go," Lorenzo whispered.
"Send word of what happened in the Apennine Mountains to our friends at the Daily Prophet and French Charms in Rome."
Lorenzo leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
He could almost see how public opinion would ferment throughout the international wizarding community, how the British Ministry of Magic would be put on the defensive, and how the old man far away at Hogwarts would be drawn into the game, step by step, by this ever-escalating storm from the south.
Douglas Holmes, what exactly you want to do no longer matters.
What matters is that you will become the perfect lever for me to shift the entire board.
Meanwhile, at the Department of Law Enforcement.
Piero stood before his office's floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out at the interplay of light and shadow over Rome, where magic and reality intertwined.
His expression was as cold and stern as ever, like a statue impervious to any emotion.
The report lay open on his desk. He already knew every word by heart.
Werewolves, vampires... forging these marginalized groups, oppressed by both the Ministry of Magic and the Church, into a new, uncontrolled force.
An idea so bold it bordered on arrogance.
Piero's lips curled into a contemptuous sneer.
He did not think it would succeed. Throughout history, those self-important leaders of magical creatures had tried more than once to unite and challenge the rule of wizards and the Church.
They had struggled and made a fuss, but their end had invariably been the same: mercilessly crushed by greater powers, reduced to a few insignificant lines in the history books.
What they lacked was not merely strength, but brains.
But this time, their leader had been replaced by a man named Douglas Holmes.
That made things interesting.
Piero did not