Chapter 3

Arturo Carandini, 10 years old.

"When do you suppose grandfather will let me accompany him to another gala?" Alessandro inquired as he attempted to style his hair in the enormous mirror mounted on the wall, a recurring act since the beginning of the year.

Arturo dipped his quill into the ink before continuing to write, "If I were grandfather, I wouldn't take you to another one either," he replied to his brother's question. As he wrote the scribbles could be heard throughout the room.

Alessandro's hands remained motionless, and he turned his head towards his brother, his forehead wrinkled. "Why not?" he asked, dissatisfied with the explanation.

"You embarrassed him, not only him, but the Carandini name," Arturo spoke again, this time with a bored tone.

Alessandro sighed as he stalked to one of his brother's armchairs in his room and sat in it.

Before continuing, he chuckled with his usual smirk, "I think grandfather was proud that I stood my ground, but I suppose I could have handled it in a much proper manner."

This time, he did not receive a reaction from his brother because he was concentrating intently on the page in front of him. "Are you not listening to me?" Alessandro rolled his eyes furiously.

"Why are you still in my bedroom?" Arturo asked, his gaze still fixed on the sheet his grandfather had him write. "Shouldn't you be working on the assignment your tutor assigned you?"

Alessandro leaned forward on the chair to answer his brother, "Why-"

His heart plummeted when he was cut off before completing his speech.

"Yes, shouldn't you be working on the assignment your tutor assigned to you, Alessandro?" Their grandfather stood in Arturo's doorway, capturing Arturo's attention as well, while Alessandro nervously chewed his lip.

Both stood respectfully in the man's presence.

The man was dressed elegantly, as usual, seeing as he was always attending business. Arturo glanced at the man, noticing something else unusual about his attire- the pin, his grandfather was wearing the family crest pin on his suit.

"Are you going to an important event, grandfather?" Arturo inquired, hoping that if he was, the man would bring him along; he had always been captivated by watching his grandfather in public, knowing how much influence the Carandini's wielded.

Alessandro smiled as he watched his brother question his grandfather, hoping his grandfather would forget about him needing to complete his assignment, knowing very well he had yet to even look at it after getting it last week.

"You're asking this because?" the man drawled.

"The pin, grandfather. It is the family crest, which is usually only worn for important occasions or used to remind people of the family they hail from, showing their power."

"Good, I will be attending a dinner hosted by the minister of magic for the 'Senātus Populusque Rōmānus', why do you suppose the Minister has called for this?" Ermenegildo question his eldest grandchild.

The 'Senātus Populusque Rōmānus' are the main governing body of the magical community of the city of Rome. The senate is currently an element, compromising the confederation of minor nations unified under the Italian ministry of magic. His grandfather was one of the number of wizards and witches that were among this particular senate.

It was clear that the minister of magic had called for this 'dinner' for a reason other than pleasantries.

"Of course, for a political discussion. it is evident that the minister desires to submit a proposal by hosting a dinner for the SPQR. A concept for which he appears to desire the SPQR's approval before sharing it with the rest of the Senates." Arturo replied.

Ermenegildo nodded, his face expressionless.

Arturo adored every aspect of politics; it piqued his interest; in all honesty, he had only taken an interest in it hoping his grandfather would be proud.

Not only did he enjoy knowing more about his country's ministry, but he also enjoyed learning about other countries' ministries and frequently contrasted their structures between his own.

For example, the French Ministry of Magic had a government structure centred on 'Bureaux,' which were offices with their own specialized characteristics to work with. For example, the Auror's office, similar to the one they had for magical justice, the magical justice office.

The Italian structure was comparable in some ways, but they also had a different way of administering their country, which was through Senates, with each Senate controlling separate territories.

The executive branch of the Italian government is the minister of magic, with the legislative branch being the Italian senate of magic. In actuality, the Minister is chosen by the Senate.

The judicial branch is the supreme court, which is the third branch in the structure.

Finally, there is the Auror's Weaponry, the military branch.

"Initially I was planning on attending by myself, but I've decided to have you with me. I'll give you 20 minutes to meet me in the parlour, no more than that."

When he heard his grandfather's words, he tried not to smile but instead nodded in gratitude. He knew he'd be able to attend and secure allies even if he couldn't be present in the midst of their talk. The minister had a son his age, so that was presumably another reason his grandfather let him follow.

Ermenegildo shifted his gaze to his youngest grandson, Alessandro, who shuffled nervously in response to the gaze.

"You haven't finished the assignment you had received last week from your tutors."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement, Alessandro knew better than that.

"No." His grandfather preferred straightforward answers.

"Then have you completed the assignment I had given you?"

He shook his head.

"Words" their grandfather snapped at the youngest.

"No, grandfather" He answered, this time, standing straight; his grandfather detested it when he didn't- if he didn't, he would be displaying a hint of weakness, it didn't matter that he was in the midst of family.

Their grandfather said nothing more before turning into the corridor and disappearing from view, leaving Arturo and Alessandro alone. As Alessandro saw his grandfather disappear through the door, he stuck his tongue out at the man that was now gone.

"Idiot" Arturo spoke out as he saw what his brother had just done, while Alessandro plumped back down into the chair he had been sitting on before their grandfather decided to make a grand entrance.

Arturo turned his gaze to his brother, "What did he mean by the assignment he gave you?"

"He wanted me to do something to prove to him that I was worthy of the name Carandini," Alessandro said quickly as he shifted in the chair, to get more comfortable. He had expected his grandfather to give him a lecture.

"Ah."

"Ah?" said Alessandro, quirking his brow at his older brother. "Did you know about it?" he inquired, leaning forward with interest.

Arturo shrugged as he sat down at his desk once more. "No, but I also was assigned that assignment when I was nine years old. I can't recall what I did to prove to him that I was worthy of being his heir and using the name Carandini- now get out, I need to get ready."

Alessandro stood up again to, not too pleased he wasn't given a chance to get comfortable, "I'll just ask L-Merith" he responded, hoping his brother hadn't noticed his slip up.

--

While his brother Arturo was gone with their grandfather, Alessandro sat at his desk, the one in his bedroom struggling to focus on the task at hand. He had only read the first sentence, yet he found himself struggling to continue, only growing bored every second he tried to motivate himself to read on.

Merith was stood by his side, watching him do his homework as she waited for any questions to arise. The boy had yet to write a single word and it has been around 30 minutes, she seemed to have grown patience having to care for Alessandro. The boy took his time with everything he didn't want to do. This being one of the things he didn't want to do, so she wasn't surprised there wasn't anything written. She was more surprised the boy had yet to voice out his annoyance of having to do the work.

Alessandro sighed, clearly thinking about something.

"Is there something wrong?" Merith inquired, noticing his sighed expression.

He turned his gaze to her and just stared at her, unsure whether he should bother asking her the question that had been ringing in his head since his grandfather told him to prove his worth. He looked away from the woman, ignoring her question. He dipped his quill into the inkpot in boredom, staring as the excess dropped back into the pot when he lifted his quill.

Finally deciding to ask he spoke

"Merith?" he sounded out unsurely.

"Yes?" she replied, anticipating what he would say.

"… Do you think grandfather would disown me if I'm not able to prove myself to him?"

She was taken aback by the question; it was a difficult question, and she was troubled to see that such a young child was bothered by it. He'd already lost his mother, and now he was afraid of being abandoned by his grandfather. Lord Carandini was a very unpredictable man, so predicting whether he would disown his own grandchild was difficult.

The silence answered his question; he needed to brace himself for the worst-case scenario. He pushed his work aside and pulled out a blank sheet of paper.

--

The dinner was held in the Minister's Manor, it wasn't long till they arrived since they had used a port key scheduled for this date and time.

Marco Romano, the Minister, had already presented himself to greet his grandfather. Shaking his grandfather's hand.

"I'm glad you were able to make it, Ermenegildo," the man said loudly, emphasizing his name. He was clearly trying to brag about his use of Lord Carandini's name for all to hear. They were still in the parlour, while there were some guests who had already arrived and were seated in a room nearby. There weren't many people who could use his grandfather's name.

It wasn't long before the minister summoned his son to make Arturo feel welcomed as he then ushered his grandfather to where the other senators were situated leaving two young boys to themselves.

They were now walking through the manor's halls. He was with the Minister's son, Lukas Romano. He wouldn't have expected the boy to be chatty.

"Is it true that the house of Carandini has found the sword?" the boy inquired, his voice brimming with excitement.

Sword?

"Would you mind elaborating on that?" Arturo inquired, attempting to decipher what the boy was talking about.

"The Exitium sword, the sword that had been in your family for many generations, some say since the family's founding- it was said to have been lost a few generations ago, but now people say it has been found and returned to the Carandini's."

He'd never imagined he'd be talking about that specific sword, but he was correct about it being in the family for generations- it was an heirloom, one that was lost a few generations ago, and it was said to have been stolen from the Nesle family, another old pureblood family, one from France. Since the sword's disappearance, the Carandini and Nesle families have never seen eye to eye. Although the Nesle family had long since died out, the House of Nesle has remained inactive, with no heir to lay claim to it.

While the Nesle family accused the Carandini's of stealing their irreplaceable heirloom, 'The Rose,' It was a necklace, with a thin chain of real gold and a small blue rose made of Koh-I-Noor diamond that had. It was said to be made in the early 1500s, according. It had been said to have healing properties, that it could heal just about anything when worn.

The Carandini's had accused the Nesle's of stealing 'The Exitium.' It was a sword sculpted with pure silver, silver that had been enchanted by Goblins- they were never sure how it was possible, because the Goblins would not have been compliant, but it was a Carandini, they would have used any means possible to get what they wanted. It was said to be laced with dragon tears, which gave it the power to cut through anything within reach- a sword only possible to be wielded by one with Carandini blood.

"Yeah, no. I think you've got some wrong information. The sword definitely hasn't been recovered but I guess it would be cool if it was." Arturo responded, he was sure they hadn't had it returned, his grandfather would- should have said something about it if it really is back in their treasury. He began to wonder how heavy it would be and if everything said about it was true.

As they approached the boys' bedroom, he turned to Arturo and said, "Oh, well, look at the article I read it from. I was hoping it was true because seeing it with my own eyes would have been incredible."

He reached for the newspaper on his dresser and handed it to Arturo.

There on the front page was the date, '2nd August 1926'.

"Well, they're wrong," he said again as he folded the sheet, turning to Lukas and asking, "Would you happen to know what they might be discussing downstairs?" he then asked changing the subject completely. He was really curious as to what would have the minister of Magic to want to have a meeting.

Lukas raised his head from his seat at his chess board table, which held both the black and white pieces.

His lips thinned at the question, "The Umbra's rising in power."

The Umbra? That was definitely something serious. They were the most powerful criminal syndicate in wizarding Europe, their roots starting from Italy.

Lukas picked the king from the black pieces and placed it in the middle of the board facing the white pieces.

"They're gaining power and getting closer to gaining control of the Ministry. It said that it's their main goal or something"

Arturo stood by the board's edge, staring at the pieces. "With each politician, they have on their side, the ministry becomes weaker, and the Umbra becomes stronger." He said this as he started moving the black king, taking the place of a pawn, and moving the white pawn to the black side.

"Yeah, I guess my father is trying to prevent such a thing from happening. There would be a disruption in the power distribution in Italy," Lukas responded, looking up.

Arturo nodded once more. So, if the Minister was planning something, he had to be planning meetings with the other senates as well. With each senate controlling different territories, it may be easier to determine where they are working from with their assistance. It shouldn't be too long before they cut the root of the Umbra.

Lukas arranged his pieces correctly before turning to Arturo and asking, "Do you play Quidditch?" changing the subject to something more uplifting.

With a grin, Arturo responded at the question.

"Yes."

"Fancy a game then?" Lukas asked eagerly, with a grin of his own.

"Of course."