Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 104 Rookwood’s Legacy (Extra)

(Written earlier, this is a side story. It is mainly a setting story of the Rookwood family after the storyline of "Hogwarts Legacy". The Rookwood here is August Lu. Lukewood's father. Mainly explains why August Lukewood went to Italy to cooperate with Don Marlowe after escaping from Azkaban.

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It was Christmas 1943, not long after Sicily was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, and people here could only survive by trading on the black market.

The strict food rationing system during the war still continued, and farmers had to sell their agricultural products to the granaries opened by the "Roman Governor" at set prices in exchange for almost worthless paper currency.

Originally, those "Romans" should have sold all this food at low prices, or distributed it to every household as fairly as possible.

With the implementation of this system, it stands to reason that every family in Sicily should receive enough food to sustain life, as well as other non-staple food products such as milk, cheese, and sausages.

But in fact, Sicilian farmers will try to hide as much food as possible. This is their wisdom formed since ancient times.

After all, you can basically tell by looking at history books who has set the rules in this land since ancient times.

Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Spanish, French (Savoy, Bourbon), Austrians, Romans...

There are almost no locals anyway.

Of course, there are no absolutes.

Because all the things that Sicilian farmers handed over to the warehouse of the "Roman Governor" were sold on the black market at a higher price by some "friends among friends" bosses and local people who became mayors with their support.

A place of water and soil can nourish a person, and a place of water and soil can also shape a person.

Under the general environment, many smugglers were naturally born between rural areas and rural areas, and between rural areas and cities in Sicily.

Besides this status that is both shameless and dangerous, most of these people are just honest farmers.

Compared with those gang members who have enough meat, eggs and milk to have broad chests, muscular arms and legs, these farmers and smugglers look like skinny men.

When doing business, they always like to use mules and donkeys to pull carts, and cover the carts with a layer of hemp straw or bamboo to pretend to be merchants delivering feed to their livestock. These people will try their best to avoid the main roads with checkpoints, and even if they go far away, they will take the trouble to find some small roads opened in the mountains to deliver goods.

They had to do it.

Because they broke two laws.

One was the authorities' laws against black market trading, which would have put them in jail by those "Romans". Without a source of income, their parents and children may have to suffer from hunger.

Even more serious was another law they violated, a unique Sicilian law that had never been recognized by the Roman authorities.

"Friends among Friends" will severely crack down on all unstable factors that undermine the prosperity of the black market.

Moreover, the high profits brought by black market transactions also made those people abandon the previous low-cost traditional method of "mailing bullets".

Now, they will choose another more costly punishment method - delivering goods to the door in person - sending someone to break into the farmer's smuggler's house with a gun with a sawed-off barrel, and shoot out the bullet directly. .

"We have no choice."

Vescovo said helplessly to his eldest son, who had been complaining for a long time.

Because they had to deliver goods up the mountain, the road was very difficult and had a certain slope. Therefore, the Vescovos could no longer ride in the mule cart and had to get off and walk. Vescovo pulled the mule's bridle in front, while his eldest son pushed hard behind the cart.

"We are not like those 'dons' who easily get special passes issued by the Yankees and have money to buy trucks and the fuel they need."

Perhaps it really corresponds to his name (the Italian surname Vescovo is the English surname Bishop, which means bishop). Compared with many of his neighbors who are not good at talking, Vescovo is indeed better at persuading others.

"After we finish this job, we can use the money to buy four large hams and two baskets of sausages, and your sister's wedding banquet will be a decent one. If we do this more times in the future, young man, you will be able to find a wife. . If you think about these more, you won’t feel tired anymore.”

"Yes, father," replied little Vescovo through gritted teeth, stooping to push the cart like a Rosca hound with clenched teeth.

However, he did listen to his father's words and used all his strength to help the mule push the cart over a short section of the steepest mountain road.

They took a mountain path, avoiding major roads and villages, but occasionally they could see some ancient Greek cisterns, broken statues still spewing water from their mouths, and another one that was used to resist invasion hundreds of years ago. Norman castle.

Climbing halfway up the mountain, Vescovo decided to rest for a while before rushing on. He took out two hand-rolled cigarettes, gave one to his eldest son, and took one himself.

They shouldn't be like this. Because it was night, the "Romans" patrolling down the mountain might spot the flames of cigarette butts. However, both Vescovo and Vescovo tacitly did not mention this issue.

Leaning against a large stone on the side of the road, all that could be heard was the buzzing sound of countless insects flying close to the ground. It's the sound they make by vibrating their wings and legs, like the sound of sawing wood in the distance.

"Very good, like the noise that comes from hard work - just like Sicilian people, they have to work hard for their family and life every day - at least, it is better than the noise that only makes like a frog..."

Suddenly Vescovo felt a flash of light in his left eye, as if someone had struck a match. He suddenly woke up from his random thoughts, grabbed the reins of the mule, and signaled to his son not to be nervous.

But it’s impossible not to be nervous.

From the bushes thirty yards away three strangers emerged.

Vescovo saw their black military caps and black uniforms with white trim.

He felt so stupid, and a feeling of despair and shame came over him: they had been caught.

Three men walked toward them with guns in hand, gradually spreading out as they marched. Two of them were very young, with rosy complexions, and their hard-brimmed military hats were tilted on the backs of their heads, looking very funny. They pointed the muzzles of their submachine pistols at this side, looking very serious and a little smug.

The soldier in the center is older and holds the rifle the Yankees issued him. His face was pitted and had several scars. The brim of his hat was pulled down over his eyes, he wore sergeant armbands on his sleeves, and he had a cheroot dangling from his mouth.

The flash Vescovo had just seen was indeed the light produced by a match lighting a cigarette. The noncommissioned officer pointed his gun at the younger Vescovo's chest, with a ferocious smile on his face. When old Vescovo saw this hideous smile, his despair immediately turned into anger.

"Take out your IDs," the sergeant said. Although his accent sounded like a Sicilian, it was obviously the accent of people from the city.

As he spoke, two other soldiers had already lifted the camouflage on the mule cart and confirmed that the cart was filled with goodies such as cheese and ham.

They whistled, and the smile on the sergeant's face became more and more proud. "Tell me who your buyer is, and with any luck I might be able to let you ride home on the back of a mule."

This is definitely a lie. Sicily is not a big land and cannot accommodate such generosity.

However, in order to avoid taking risks for himself and his son, he decided to take the risk and give it a try. "Why can't you spare us once?" he said. "I still have some lira here, maybe you can use it."

"Lila, what's the use? Can you wipe your ass?" the officer mocked.

He took out the cigar he was chewing from his mouth and blew out the smoke ring, but his eyes never left Vescovo and his son.

This time he told the truth.

In fact, if the rich men who bought their things hadn't paid with silver coins, Vescovo might not have been willing to drive such a large cart of food up the mountain overnight on a mule. This was a walk at night, and it was also on a mountain path. If you were not careful, the mule might break its leg. You know, that big green mule is an important source of income for the Vescovo family.

However, when collecting the deposit, the buyer gave Vescovo some weird-looking silver coins.

Although Vescovo didn't know which country's currency this coin with the abstract fire dragon pattern belonged to, he had it authenticated by a blacksmith in the village who was knowledgeable about metals. The material of those silver coins was indeed real silver - this was comparable to "lire" "It has a lot of value. It can be used to exchange for some food and drink, and you don't have to worry about when it will become a piece of waste paper.

Earlier, with about 600 lire ($5 at the time), the "Romans" could turn a blind eye to farmers who participated in smuggling. But recently, as the actual purchasing power of the lira in Sicily has continued to decline, the "Romans" have gradually begun to disown the currency issued by the authorities.

Now, what they prefer to do is to take away the goods from farmers, smugglers and buyers, and then take them to the black market in the city and sell them directly.

Perhaps in order not to leave evidence, or perhaps because they do not want to burden the authorities’ prison system, most of the time they will silence the person whose things were taken away forever. Especially on a remote road like the one Vescovo and his son took, it was not too easy to hide one or two corpses.

When he saw the ferocious smile on the officer's face, old Vescovo suddenly had a bad premonition.

He was outraged by the brutality of these people, and as a farmer he couldn't understand why someone would want to shoot someone just for some cheese and ham.

"I certainly can't tell you who the buyer is, and I can't give you my ID, but I have something else..."

He tried to annoy the sergeant in front of him, but not enough to get him excited enough to pull the trigger. Vescovo's always brilliant powers of persuasion were effective again. The sergeant became angry and moved the muzzle of his rifle from his eldest son's chest to him.

"...Half a barn is filled with cheese, and it can fill three more carts. I just collected them all from the surrounding villages two days ago, and hid them in a small farm outside Palermo. "That was my wife's late parents' house and I now use it as a warehouse for goods."

Vescovo kept talking, attracting the attention of the sergeant and the two soldiers.

And he also noticed that in order to facilitate the inspection of the goods on the mule cart, the two young men had put their submachine pistols back into the holsters on their waists.

This is a good sign.

Vescovo danced and danced while talking, showing a full Italian speaking style.

But in fact, he was also gesturing to his eldest son - they had already agreed on the meaning of some specific gestures - which meant telling his eldest son to turn around and run away later, leaving the old man alone. .

There is a dense forest on this mountain that is rare in Sicily. When they ran into the forest, the three "Romans" who were unfamiliar with the local environment were determined not to follow them at night. It would at least save his son's life and, with luck, himself.

However, what the officer said next made Vescovo feel as if someone had poured cold water over his head.

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? 'Smooth talker' Vescovo, I'm afraid you won't be able to do what you want to do tonight."

the officer said with a sneer.

Moreover, he actually pointed out Vescovo's nickname directly, and the surprise on Vescovo's face made him very satisfied.

"Looking at your expression, I know we are waiting for the right person. Aren't you curious why the three of us went up the mountain to wait for you in the cold wind at night? Put away all your lies, these things are yours The inventory is gone, and some people are already very dissatisfied with what you have done."

As he spoke, the officer dropped the cigar held between his fingers to the ground, and steadily raised the rifle in his hands with both hands.

"Ciao!" Hearing the word "goodbye", Vescovo knew that everything was over. He quickly used his body to block his son who wanted to fight for his life.

"Run! Run to the old forest!" He yelled at his son. This was the last attempt he could make.

However, after waiting for a few seconds, the expected gunshot did not sound. Vescovo opened his closed eyes and looked back at the sergeant who was about to shoot him, only to find that the other man was standing there blankly.

It turns out that the "Qiaao" just said was not said by this person, and this "Qiaao" is not the other "Qiaao" - it does not mean "goodbye", but "hello" - there is someone who doesn't know where. Shi unexpectedly appeared not far away and just said hello to them suddenly.

"Lou, Lu, Mr. Rookwood?" Caught off guard, Vescovo unexpectedly stuttered and called out the person's name.

He knows this man.

This person gave him silver coins as a deposit. He said he would prepare a Christmas dinner for himself, and ended up buying a whole cart of high-end food!

Vescovo was deeply impressed by Mr. Rookwood.

Because this person is strange in his eyes:
He was very rich, at least that could be seen from the silver coins (silver sickles) this man gave him, but these coins made of precious metal were not lira or any form of banknotes;

He could speak fluent Italian, but this man was definitely not a "Roman" from the north. Vescovo felt that this man's dress looked like a foreigner;

He claimed that the Norman castle on the mountain was his family's ancestral property, and he would live in the castle for a while. However, Vescovo's impression was that the castle had been abandoned for many years - it is said that there were "some" buildings more than a hundred years ago. The "bandits" turned into bandits there - they partially repaired the castle, but more than a hundred years later, the place once again turned into a desolate look of grass and grass. No construction team has gone up the mountain recently.

All in all, in Vescovo's eyes, this man was a weirdo.

Seeing that the three soldiers were stunned for some reason, Vescovo immediately picked up his eldest son and ran directly to the dense forest not far from the road.

However, after all, he had the simplicity of a peasant. As he ran to Vescovo, he also shouted to Rookwood: "Mr. Rookwood, be careful of those scoundrels. Get out of here and leave Sicily!"

However, when Vescovo and his son were about to run into the dense forest, they suddenly felt their footsteps lighten, as if they had stepped on marshmallows.

"Huh?"×2
They thought they would fall down immediately, but it didn't happen. However, when they lowered their heads to check, they found that the reason was much scarier than the fall.

"St. Lucia on top!" × 2
(PS. Patron Saint of Palermo)
Vescovo and his son uttered the same prayer at the same time, and the two father and son held hands tightly.

They discovered that the reason why they looked like they had marshmallows under their feet was because they actually levitated!

Moreover, the two of them continued to retreat until they retreated to the mule cart.

"What kind of monster are you!"

The young man floating in the air was forced to turn around. He yelled excitedly at his strange buyer. At the same time, he tried to punch and kick him, and even took out a handful from his pocket and hid it secretly. A razor for self-defense.

Vescovo quickly stopped his son's reckless behavior. To offend an ignorant person is sometimes a way to die in Sicily.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rookwood, we don't mean any harm... These things can be given to you, and I can also refund your deposit to you."

He said it sincerely.

However, this puts Luke Wood in a difficult position.

“Merlin’s Beard, aren’t you going to send me something to the castle?

I didn’t bring any tools with the Invisible Expansion Charm. I couldn’t take all that much stuff away with just a broomstick and the Levitation Charm! "

Although Vescovo couldn't understand the meaning of the weird words in Lukewood's words just like he couldn't understand why people levitated, he could feel that this strange buyer was not playing tricks on them. More importantly, There was no intention to kill their father and son.

"We are willing to deliver things to you! As long as you put us on the ground and don't hurt us, an hour at most... no, forty minutes is enough. Our father and son can push the car to the top of the mountain."

Rookwood clapped his hands happily.

Then, the two men's feet touched the ground again.

"Wait a moment, the memory spell is a bit complicated to use, so I have to delay it for a while."

Rookwood said something to the two of them, and then took out something from his suit pocket - this pocket was supposed to hold a pocket watch - and the pocket watch chain was actually connected to a small wooden stick.

"Everything is forgotten!"

Rookwood cast a spell on the three soldiers who were immobilized by his petrification spell.

In the eyes of Vescovo and his son, as Rookwood chanted the incantation, three slender silver-white threads floated out from the top of the "little wooden stick" and sank directly into the heads of the three soldiers.

He held the wand in one hand and remained still, while he stretched out his other hand and began to pluck the silver strings as if playing a plucked instrument.

"It's done!"

After waiting for about two minutes, Lukewood completed all the work and stopped casting spells.

At the same time, he also lifted all the petrifications he had previously cast on the three soldiers.

The three people just recovered from the "stunned" state just now, but they all had their eyes narrowed, as if they had just woken up.

"It's a big festival, you've finished your walk in the mountains, don't you have to go home quickly?"

Rookwood said to them.

The three people patted themselves on the forehead, as if they suddenly remembered something important, then turned around and walked away quickly down the mountain. They were all in such a hurry that they didn't even glance at the mule cart that had been stripped of its camouflage.

Vescovo felt his eldest son pulling him, and he shook his head slightly at the young man.

Don't say what you shouldn't say; don't do what you shouldn't do. If you want to live peacefully in this land, you must always keep these two points in mind.

They remained silent, and at the same time, as they had promised before, they redoubled their efforts to pull and push the mule cart to the top of the mountain.

Among the ruins of the Norman castle, there stood a small tent, which was so large that it seemed difficult to accommodate even one person. But there seemed to be a stove in the tent, because a chimney protruded from the top and was sending out some hot smoke.

Rookwood asked the Vescovos to drive the mule cart into the tent.

"Is he joking? He thinks we are country bumpkins and don't know what a tent is." Little Vescovo muttered to his father with some dissatisfaction.

Vescovo also looked troubled.

Driving a mule train into a one-man tent seemed like a particularly strange thing to do for another year.

But perhaps because he had seen too many weird things today, he finally gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, simply pulled up the bridle of the mule and walked towards the tent door step by step.

He went inside.

He actually walked in!
Little Vescovo also followed his father and walked into this luxury travel tent that was just launched last year by the travel agency called "Bloody Journey" in Diagon Alley.

The reason why I say "luxury" is because there is actually a house hidden inside this tent!
There is even a small courtyard in this house.

Vescovo and his son and the mule cart are now parked in the small courtyard. The two big men look at me and I look at you. They all suspect that they are dreaming.

"This is your final payment."

Rookwood, who had just entered the tent and walked into the room, came out with a money bag and handed the heavy silver siko to Vescovo.

"According to the provisions of the "Secrecy Act", I must also use memory magic on you to let you get rid of these memories that should not exist. But you can rest assured, just like the three soldiers before, memory magic will not affect your body. There is danger.”

"Are you a wizard, sir?"

After understanding what he was about to encounter, Vescovo seemed to want to take advantage of the last moment to satisfy his curiosity.

"Yes." Rookwood replied.

"So what is the Statute of Secrecy?"

"Well, it's complicated. But, to put it simply, the Statute of Secrecy is a magical law that prevents ordinary people from being aware of the existence of magic and the magical world."

Vescovo suddenly felt blessed.

He said to Rookwood with assurance in a more sincere tone than sincerity: "Every Sicilian, especially the farmers here, we learn how to keep secrets from an early age.

I have sons of my own, and my sons will have sons in the future, but I can guarantee you that they will be people who keep secrets as long as they live.

Moreover, the people in my family are very capable and can provide you with many services. If you have something that is inconvenient to do, you can leave it to us, and I will definitely make you satisfied..."

Although this world will not have the strategy of "treating guests, beheading people, and accepting them as dogs". But some truths are actually universally applicable.

Using silver coins as cash, Rookwood showed his generosity and wealth (treat), and then used magical magic to easily send away three Roman soldiers who wanted to make extra money and transform into killers ( beheading).

Naturally, Vescovo couldn't help but come up with an idea that might change his destiny. He wanted to join the strong man's army (accept him as a dog).

In the end, I don’t know what Rookwood was thinking, but Vescovo’s simple persuasion ability once again had an effect.

　This is a side story, relatively calm and foreshadowing, because the next chapter will be full of blood and really kill the Ministry of Magic.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)