Roma!

"Wheeen the moooon hiiitsss your eyessss liiiiike a biiiiig piiizzzaaaa piiie!"

""That's Amore!"" Harry and Kali both sing and laugh as they step down the sunny street of Rome. They'd been here barely ten minutes and they'd already hit up four different pizza places and stuffed their faces.

The atmosphere of the city was a far cry from London or New York. People actually seemed happy here, the sunny weather, vibrant architecture, and giddy tourists only added to it. The couple of street performers he'd seen playing the organetto made him feel like he was in a giant carnival.

"Pasta or Pizza?" Kali inquires with her hand looped around his elbow, still disguised as 'Sofia Baker'.

"Pasta are just less graceful noodles..." Harry retorts.

"I wouldn't let the locals hear you say that, they might take greater offence to it than your affiliation with demons." she titters.

"Considering we're talking about the home of the Catholic church, that's saying something..."

She leans closer and hugs his arm causing him to stir uncomfortable, "Where to first master, on that little guidebook your girly friend wrote?"

"I was thinking the Colosseum. It's already been excavated and stripped clean, but there's always a chance they missed something."

"Lead on then, Master!"

-----------------------------

"Maybe we should've visited in the night..." Harry mutters in the midst of the giant crowd of tourists."

"Unfortunately, tours are held every hour of every day..." Kali adds.

"Whatever..." he casts the disillusionment charm on them and hops over the barriers, entering the underground section of the Colosseum.

Even then, tours were being held down there, mindless tourists shuffling through the tunnels like lemmings. Three hours passed of scouring the place, but they'd found nothing. The only real thing of interest was an old petrified shard of bone belonging to what appeared to be a chimaera, not useful and too old to possess any leftover magical potency.

Disappointed by not deterred, they head to Palatine Hill, to the palace where the Emperors of old Rome lived. Again, most of it was in ruins and had civilians touring around, but after investigating for a bit they noticed a particularly empty area... It was located in an empty corner that had a couple shattered busts of famous roman men.

Walking up to it, they both notice the sensation of a veil, one designed to keep muggles away. There was a thin felt battier blocking the way but they step over it and pause when a stairway downwards suddenly materialises.

"Is it me or does this seem like a trap? Clearly, the magicals in Italy set this up..." Harry says.

"Do you want to leave?"

"No... Just letting you know before you complain later." he states and starts descending, lighting up a flame in his hand to illuminate the tunnel.

The next minute they stumble across a large door made of rotted wood and inscribed with old Latin phrases, clearly magical, or at least, they were at some point. Part of the chain of runes seemed to have been scorched, not by fire, but by some kind of ward-breaking technique, overcharging the sequencing rune...

"Someone's already been here..."

"Yes, but it was a while ago... Hundreds of years, in fact." Kali utters, brushing a finger over the blackened rune. She flicks the soot off and pushes the door, opening it and revealing an empty vault, someplace that previously kept valuables.

The shelves were empty, plinths cracked, and someone seemed to have lit a huge bonfire in the center of the room, presumably to burn some of the artifacts previously held here.

"Wow, I wonder what group of people would destroy items of historical and magical significance..." Kali drawls. "It stinks of religious imperialism, hypocrites." she scowls.

"The Catholics... I suppose we should visit the Vatican..." Harry sighs, "We should take a look at the local magical community beforehand, there's a high chance of us getting chased out of the city..."

"Good idea, master."

-------------------

It was late in the afternoon and the duo were headed back to the hotel they were staying at. They'd stopped by a restaurant and had some food, Rissotoo which Kali wasn't all that enthused with.

"Excuse me!" someone calls out, prompting them to stop in the street and look over. They see an elderly, hunched-back woman standing in front of a hastily set up tent made up of many colours.

"Fortune teller?" Harry wonders aloud.

She nods, "I am Madam Spiral, and I feel great energy from you! Come, sit, allow me to speak of your future!"

...

He glances at Kali and she shrugs, thinking this more as entertainment than an actual magical phenomenon. After all, she'd seen this woman perform the same schtick for some tourists in the morning.

"Alright then..." Harry contents and steps under the tent and sits before the psychic's crystal ball.

"Now, before I can reveal anything, I must ask for tithe, my magical abilities, while significant, do not allow me to sustain myself on water and air."

Sighing, Harry drops twenty euros on the table which are quickly swiped by a wrinkled hand.

She starts by asking a number of random questions, are his parents alive, does he have any dreams, loved ones, etc. Then she pulls out a tarot deck and pulls out one card, "What do you see?"

"Nothing?"

She flips it, showing 'The World', an image depicting the globe with a pitch-black background. "Interesting. Next..."

"The Hanged Man."

"The Devil."

"Lastly... Judgement." she flips the card depicting an angel blowing a trumpet.

...

"Does this mean anything?" Harry inquires, quirking a brow at the four cards.

She nods, "Many things, you just need to learn how to interpret them... Here, we will read them backwards..." she taps Judgement, "You had to make a difficult decision in the past, didn't you? Even now it haunts you, despite thinking yourself above it..."

He wets his lips, "The Devil...?"

"From there, you allowed yourself to be twisted by darker desires, taking of a road of immorality and taboo. You don't regret a thing..." she continues, "The Hanged Man. Typically meaning some kind of self-sacrifice, but I see now even that is mangled until it no longer resembles itself. I see much death and sacrifice in your future."

That wasn't surprising... He'd be more shocked if sacrifice wasn't involved. Was this lady a seer or just a very good liar? "The World?"

"I-I'm not too sure, actually. The cards don't line up correctly, they don't speak true... You will do something significant for the world, someone some could call, good, even? Perhaps it's referring to self-completion? Finding yourself after many trials?"

...

"Is that it?" he questions after a moment of thought.

"Yes, unless you'd like another service?"

He shakes his head, "The cards, do you actually think they can tell the future?"

The woman nods, "I do, if not the future then the present or the past. They speak many things, and are capable of lying if they see the need."

"Hm. Okay..." he stands, carefully takes a hold of her crystal ball, and slams it over the elderly woman's head, shattering it and knocking her unconscious. He swipes her tarot cards and walks out, following Kali back to their hotel.