Chapter 831 “Follower I”

"Children are easily intoxicated by illusions that are reality for them. Even though the large-scale wizard hunting has ended, they are still reporting and like to accuse others in public. Do you still remember the story of the Emperor's New Clothes?"

The bishop's secretary of the Diocese of Venice asked two uninvited guests in his office in St. Mark's Basilica.

"You mean the child who no one else dared to say but one child said that the Emperor had no clothes?" Snape asked.

"Getting adult attention makes them feel happy, especially children on the street. The last witch executed in Bavaria was a girl named Veronica Zelilachin in 1756. She was 14

She was kicked out of her home by her stepfather when she was 18 years old. She joined a gang of children and made a living by pickpocketing. Later, she was sent to an orphanage by a distant relative. She was already very abnormal at that time."

"Why is it abnormal?" Gianluca asked.

"She stole the Holy Communion, not the gold and silver tableware, but the unleavened bread. As a result, the bread spoiled in her hands..."

"Is it spoiled or fermented?" Snape asked.

"No one will eat the food she touched," the secretary-general said. "I've never seen food desecrated like that."

"Bugs?" Snape asked with a smile that was not disgusting.

"In the 1680s, children could still become key witnesses. Some witch commissioners of the Inquisition even used 'possessed' girls to identify whether suspects were witches, because they claimed that witches had devil's marks on their bodies.

"Take it as true." The secretary-general said with a funny smile, "Did you take the words of the child who falsely accused your godson seriously, wizard?"

"Do you see any marks on me?" Snape smiled sarcastically.

"You have a pair of evil eyes." The Secretary-General said, "You are really bad at hiding."

"I won't pretend to be a Muggle just because I'm afraid I'll be hunted." Snape said. "Let's talk about that girl Veronica."

"The courts had a particularly difficult time dealing with charges against young children. Under the law at the time, teenagers under the age of 14 did not need to surrender. Instead, they dealt with their guardians, usually their mothers and aunts, but street children had no guardians.

They ran away from home, or their parents died of the plague, and slept in cowsheds, stables or behind bathing sheds. They tried to avoid contact with adults because they did not trust adults. They lived by begging and doing odd jobs. Compared with being sent to

Workshops, they are more willing to accept alms from the church. The lords and monasteries will have regulations. Charity can only be done for a few days. After the charity in this parish is over, they will go to the next parish. During the journey, they use the monastery as a base..."

"Then I'll sell you the information. Okay, let's get back to Veronica's story." Snape interrupted the Secretary-General impatiently.

"Girls are more obedient than boys. Boys are rebellious and love to cause trouble. Sometimes they are persecuted by local defenders of 'law and order' and hire killers to eradicate these beggars who hinder other people's business. Every time a lord is prepared to deal with these children.

When the time comes, there will be large-scale reports. As long as the tribunal is willing to handle it, they will dare to report it. The stories they make up are their basis. Anyway, those boys have nothing to lose." The secretary-general sneered and said, "Girls are good at it.

Acting, as if they were born actors, but Veronica was different. After discovering that she had stolen Holy Communion, the nuns at the orphanage asked the Franciscans to come and see that she stopped stealing Holy Communion wafers under the threat of being whipped.

."

"Isn't this enough to get you executed?" Gianluca said.

"She ran away again and worked as a maid in a rich man's house, but she showed signs of being possessed again, and the owner drove her away out of fear. Later she tried to commit suicide, but failed. She again

She went to the house where she worked and killed the hostess and her children."

"How did she commit suicide?" Snape asked.

"You won't believe it." The secretary-general put out the cigarette butt and said calmly, "After she was arrested, she was very obedient. She did not need to be tortured to extract a confession. She took all the charges, including flying at night and worshiping the devil in the middle of the night. She also

She knows she will die if she admits to these crimes, but she doesn't care anymore, what if you were the judge?"

"She doesn't want to go back to the orphanage?" Snape asked.

"I'm still thinking, why did she only steal the Holy Communion?" the secretary-general said. "She could have stolen the gold and silverware, just like those thief boys, and the bread was worthless."

"Can't you exorcise her?" Gianluca asked.

"People have gone crazy. Maybe the lunatic asylum can still find some peace. There are wizards everywhere who are panicking, and there are also many people who are pretending to be exorcists. The most famous exorcist at that time was John Joseph Gassnar.

By associating disease with witchcraft, other exorcists have become equated with jugglers, myth-tellers and charlatans. Only a handful are powerful enough to become exorcists. Even now, there are only 200 exorcists in the Holy See.

The devil has to deal with exorcisms all over the world."

"Save those who are worth saving first. Orphan girls like Veronica are not worth saving." Gianluca said coldly.

"Do you have a better way?" the secretary-general asked.

"So, she was executed?" Snape asked.

"That's what it says in the information." The secretary-general lit another cigarette. "Kant said that the task of philosophers is to explore the boundaries of human reasoning, but I have no intention of being a detective."

"Do you think she can be saved?" Gianluca asked.

"Women and children are often considered innocent victims, and judges are people with quirks, not to mention Veronica is a little girl." The Secretary-General tugged at the corner of his mouth and sneered, "The intelligence of a group is always lower than that of an isolated individual.

But in terms of sensibility and inciting action, groups are higher or lower than individuals. Maybe there is a group that saved her."

"Your evidence?" Snape asked.

"Bavaria does not have to deal with the burning of wizards, but beheading, and her body was exhumed." The secretary-general rubbed his eyebrows. "Bavaria is a relatively enlightened region, but sometimes I hope that the candidate emperor will not be so enlightened."

"Even a wizard will die if his head is chopped off," Snape said.

"Thank you for your comfort." The secretary-general smiled bitterly, "Although you know witchcraft, you are still human beings."

"Maybe she used invisibility to deceive you." The wizard said to the priest mercilessly. "During the French Revolution, a wizard used invisibility to hide his neck and evade the revolutionaries."

The priest's long face grew even longer.

"You mean, wizarding sports have a lot to do with children?" Gianluca asked.

"Not every child is an angel, there are also children who are like demons." The secretary-general said, "Maybe Zodiac is haunted by the evil spirit of a killer who specializes in eradicating children."

"Do they have anything to do with ETT?" Snape asked.

"Definitely not the 'White Confessor.'" the Secretary-General recalled, "nor the 'Black Legend.'"

"Is that the name of the band?" Gianluca asked.

"You tell me, young man." The secretary-general said expressionlessly.

"Is it possible that he was rescued by a kind-hearted monk?" Snape said, "I know that there are many wizards hiding in the church."

"You want to cause internal strife? Let us investigate our own people?"

"As you like!" Snape sneered.

"Devil possession is contagious. We are also human beings. The first ones to deny the belief in wizards were Protestants. No matter what era you are in, you are all troublemakers." The secretary-general glared at Snape.

The wizard spread his hands and shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Gianluca asked.

"The Reformation promoted the decline of witchcraft beliefs. They were the first to dismantle the Inquisition!" the secretary-general said angrily. "They distributed pamphlets everywhere, saying that doing mass was the pope's witchcraft. They also did the same when they fought against the Ottoman Empire.

They secretly robbed Mediterranean merchant ships, and when Palatine passed secular laws outlawing witch hunting, the King of England did not agree..."

"Oh! This is the crux!" Snape shouted, "We also sent representatives to hope that the king will agree that hunting wizards is illegal!"

"Then why didn't they agree?"

"Because they think it's ridiculous to admit that there is magic in the world!" Snape imitated Ferondesri and shouted loudly, "There is no magic in the world at all!"

"What?" Gianluca asked stupidly.

"People in Heidelberg don't believe in witchcraft either." The Secretary-General gritted his teeth, "So they legislated against harming witches."

"It's like the prohibition on alcohol. The more prohibited it is, the more rampant it becomes." Snape said helplessly, "Later, it was simply outlawed."

"They did a good job, directly attacking the belief in wizards." Gianluca murmured, "In this way, the Holy See and the secular world were turned into superstition by the Protestant countries."

"You are so naive, kid. When they preached, they equated the contract signed between wizards and devils with the contract between believers and God." The secretary-general smiled and said with anger, "The Ten Commandments of Moses, don't worship idols, you guys

What we worship is the cross, which the Lord carried on the road of suffering. Who signed the contract with the devil?"

"I told you, I became a godfather just because of tradition."

"What are you doing here today?" the secretary-general asked aggressively, as if he was planning to be martyred at any time.

"Isn't this the time?" Gianluca asked.

"Yes, now is not the time." Snape said flatly, "It is very much the wrong time."

Britain is isolated. If they don't look to the United States as a partner, who else can they look to?

Newton and Einstein both ended up studying theology and mysticism. Why?
Chapter completed!