A Letter from Albania

Russell cried and shouted, demanding to see the Minister for Magic.

He was like a discarded lapdog, crying helplessly in the rain, watching the man he liked get into the rich woman's car next door.

She cried so hard.

But the minister was incredibly cold-hearted and refused to see him.

Who would dare arrest an Auror captain without Brynden Hewen ' orders?

Therefore, there's no need to meet. Even if you did meet, what could you possibly say?

Should I take care of your wife and children?

That's too much pampering of... subordinates.

Russell's charge was also quite elaborate: attempted murder of Stark and Granger!

Russell felt very wronged.

He was acting on the Secretary General's orders and could easily have blamed the entire incident on Martell.

Most importantly, he genuinely wanted to kill Stark and Granger.

But this intention was never revealed. William single-handedly beat up the entire group of Auror!

In William's words: What? You want to kill us? Why don't you feel anything?!

Therefore, Minister Hewen is also someone who knows how to make a fuss over a pretext.

This is easy to understand.

Such a big thing happened in Venice, Russell, the captain of the Auror, didn't even report it to him.

This is a classic example of a misaligned butt, turning into the shape of Martell.

How could Hewen possibly tolerate this!

You find an older man to cheat on me with, then I'll get into a rich woman's car, and you'll still be crying and whining?

He decisively seized this opportunity to purge a group of his subordinates and make an example of them to deter his political enemies.

He's an old politician.

However, William was too lazy to bother with this deep-seated game.

To put it bluntly, what does Italy have to do with him? He'd rather spend that time on a spontaneous trip with Hermione.

But Venice is definitely not a place to travel to anymore. It's almost gone; it's all ruins.

So, William and Hermione, suddenly finding themselves with nothing to do, snuggled up on a bench in St Mark's Square and fed the pigeons.

Venice has a total of about 40,000 pigeons, a third of which linger in St Mark's Square.

There are too many of them, and the government strictly prohibits tourists from feeding them.

But today it's not prohibited, so most of the Muggle have been sent away.

Wizards were coming and going all around, cleaning up the mess. Although they really wanted to strike up a conversation and ask for an autograph, no one dared to actually come over and bother them.

That was the hero of Venice, the Chosen One Italy!

As they passed by, everyone carefully held their breath, afraid of disturbing the young wizards who seemed to be a couple.

After an unknown amount of time, footsteps sounded, and Minister Hewen walked over, with three portions of Italy floating beside him.

"Are you hungry? Have some noodles." Minister Hewen said warmly, like a kind elder, "I've been so busy lately, I haven't even had a bowl of noodles."

He didn't actually eat one bowl; he ate five bowls of noodles.

William put his finger to his lips and gently shushed.

Hewen then noticed that William was maintaining a strange posture.

Hermione lay in his arms, her slender shoulders twitching slightly, her breathing long and deep; she had fallen asleep, exhausted.

Hewen lowered his voice, "We really owe you both a lot today, otherwise this city would be completely gone."

"Let's go to Rome tonight. The Ministry of Magic has prepared a room for you and Miss Granger."

A room?

William gave the Minister for Magic a long, hard look.

First, they offered Italy spaghetti, then a room... No wonder he became a minister, there's a reason for it!

"Have you found Martell?" William asked, nodding.

"Found them, they're dead."

Hewen waved his wand, conjuring a chair, and sat down not far from William.

He was killed by Trene Sand.

William nodded slightly, not too surprised.

Trene stole the Goblet of Fire to stop Martell.

But for some unknown reason, the plan was suddenly changed, and the Goblet of Fire was switched and given to William.

She had made a meticulous plan, so it's not surprising that she was able to kill Martell in the end.

Where is Trene?

"He suffered a serious injury, but it's almost healed. He's currently under the control of the Auror."

Hewen thought that even if William wasn't angry, he would at least defend Trene and plead with the Ministry of Magic to release her.

Surprisingly, the boy remained completely calm, showing no change in expression whatsoever. It seemed as if this was not a serious matter.

In William's opinion, it wasn't a serious matter at all. It wasn't even as serious as the numbness in his arm caused by Hermione pressing on it.

With him around, Hewen couldn't really make things difficult for Trene. The remaining issues were simply about exchanging terms.

Politics is about compromise; this statement applies everywhere.

Hewen didn't speak immediately, but instead gazed at the distant river.

It's hard to imagine that long ago, there was a Stonehenge here, trapping a white dragon.

But now the white dragon is gone, destroyed by the young wizard before us. Stonehenge has also sunk underwater.

Hewen began to speak:

"Martell wields considerable influence in Italy, and there is currently no evidence to suggest that he orchestrated this incident."

Hewen is right; Martell served as Secretary General for decades and his influence was indeed very strong.

but...

William stroked Hermione's hair and said calmly:

Do you need evidence? What I'm saying now is the evidence.

I said that Martell awakened the white dragon beneath Venice, and he was the mastermind behind it all.

Do you think people will believe it?

"Of course, you defeated the White Dragon and saved everyone. Now, whatever you say, everyone will believe you." Hewen nodded.

At this moment, William was clearly the Chosen One of Italy.

Politics is about compromise, but to achieve compromise... the key lies in whether the two sides are on equal footing.

If the two sides are not on equal footing, the stronger party will naturally take decisive action and will not compromise or make concessions.

William had influence, but that was in the United Kingdom. In Italy, his influence was practically zero.

His status was severely unequal. He had to rely on Dumbledore's letter even to borrow the Goblet of Fire.

However, after the White Dragon incident, William and the Italy Ministry of Magic were undoubtedly equal, or even slightly superior.

Whatever he says, Italy sorcerers will mostly choose to believe.

This is why Hewen came to find William.

"William, if only you were an Italy wizard, with your abilities you would definitely become the youngest minister."

"Someone said the same thing last year."

"Cregan?" Hewen chuckled.

William nodded, then suddenly said:

"I need a pardon... a pardon for Trene."

"I'm ready." Hewen handed over a piece of paper.

"Trene can leave at any time; no one will stop her, and no one will make things difficult for her."

"What do you need me to do?" William asked.

"Martell is a hero in the hearts of many Italy wizards; he cannot fall, much less be involved in scandals."

Otherwise, it would have a very bad impact and would also affect Italy's international reputation.

"Well, if someone interviews me, I'll say that Mr. Martell heroically sacrificed himself in the battle against the White Dragon," William said calmly.

Hewen looked at William with admiration, finding it easy to talk to intelligent people.

"However, if you ask me, a pardon isn't enough," William added. "I'll keep the Goblet of Fire."

How could he possibly return something that's already in his hands? Especially since it's the Holy Grail!

"No way!" Hewen immediately objected.

The Goblet of Fire has been in Venice for seven hundred years. Although it's not very useful, who would complain about having too many antiques?

"... Even if I gave it to you, would you really dare to take it?" William asked with a half-smile.

"Is that white dragon really still alive?" Hewen asked in a low voice.

"Yes, I can't kill it." William nodded.

"If you check the historical records, you'll find that a white dragon flooded Sardinia seven hundred years ago."

"If you're not afraid of Rome, or Florence being flooded again, you can leave the Goblet of Fire behind."

Hewen squinted, trying to figure out the gains and losses.

"Giving it to you is impossible, but you can borrow it for research."

"What do you mean?" William raised an eyebrow.

"I will issue an order in my capacity as Minister for Magic," Hewen said.

"The Italy Ministry of Magic will lend the Goblet of Fire to Stark and Miss Granger indefinitely for their research."

All I ask is that you return it to me in your lifetime.

"In my lifetime," William said with a strange smile, "I'm still young, so you'll probably have a long wait."

Hewen shrugged. "At most, we'll have to wait a hundred years or so."

Even the renowned Nicolas Mellor destroyed the Philosopher's Stone, how long can the Stark survive?

"By the way, congratulations to you two," Hewen said with a smile.

"He received the Venice Doge's Medal and the Italy First Class Medal of Magic."

William remained completely unfazed. Having acquired this item so many times, he showed no reaction whatsoever.

Hewen smiled slightly. "May peace be with you."

After saying that, he got up and left.

William sat in a chair, gazing at the river. After a moment, he suddenly looked down.

Hermione was awake, but she didn't get up. She lay in his arms, staring blankly at his face.

William asked softly, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

Hermione got up, rubbed William's numb arm, and grinned brightly, "You slept well!"

"Wow, there's Italy! It smells so good!" She brought the pasta over and handed a bowl to William.

"By the way, where are we going tonight?"

"Rome, then," William said.

Just then, a seagull flew by. It flew for a moment and dropped a letter.

"Where did the letter come from?" Hermione asked, taking a bite of noodles and leaning forward.

"Let me see..." William said, frowning.

"Albania!"

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