"And Timothy's doing more important stuff these days. Supposedly. Lots of having tea with people, I guess we'll see if rule of the world results."

"He'll at least be popular with tea vendors."

"Maybe that's all he ever really wanted."

"Maybe."

It is, as it happens, not all he ever wanted. 

Italy is contemplating withdrawing from the Statute. They're not likely to go through with it - someone would step in and do enforcement for them - but it's the first place it's recently been up for debate. He arranges for a trip there. 

It turns out that in Italy they speak Italian, which is something of an obstacle, but he can find people who know French, even English - ambassador types mostly - though none of them have any obvious reason to make appointments with some random nineteen year old.

Or he can take his father.

Somewhat more of them can be talked into talking with an inventor, yes, and his father also makes the Italian thing much less prohibitive.

That second thing was the more important thing. He can get something out of people-watching without a grasp of the language but not nearly as much. 

The center of the movement to attempt to dispense with the Statute is Elio Sortilegio, a local halfblood wizard, who does a surprisingly good job of arguing humanitarianism to the humanitarians and convenience to the indifferent and inevitability to the conservatives.

It is delightfully satisfying to watch and hear translated. He doesn't have a good reason to talk to him - doesn't have enough strings to pull at the Ministry yet to be able to talk about offering Britain's commitment to respect Italy's sovereign right to withdraw from treaties if they so please - so he sticks to watching.

He gives really good speeches. One of his aides does at one point ask what the Ways' interest in the subject might be.

...Finis is not of an age where it is absurd to claim he has the leverage to get such commitments from Britain. He comments mildly that the Wizengamot might be persuaded to consider it.

The aide would be delighted to provide an address for more direct owling to Signore Sortilegio's office if there are any developments there or they can be of any assistance!

He'll take an address and let them know when it might be time for assistance!

He returns home in a very good mood. The Muggles have communications between the nations on the scale of months, now. If the Statute falls anywhere it falls everywhere, even if it'll still be illegal to do anything useful with magic in Britain.

Meanwhile, back in Hogwarts:

"Stoller, I've heard two different people call you my 'pet' followed by different uncomplimentary nouns, it's not going to bother me but if it's going to annoy you this is the time to hang around me way less."

" - should it?"

"I wouldn't like it if I were you but it'd be reasonable to prefer it to wandering around without anybody obviously looking out for you, take your pick. You probably get another chance to ditch me come summer, let everybody forget about it and reset expectations come fall."

"Are you doing anything horribly objectionable I should hesitate to be associated with?"

Snort. "No."

"Then I don't think I mind in the slightest."

"Okay then. I wonder if there should be more of an explicit mentoring program here, goodness knows I hung around the eldest Way a whole lot when he was around..."

" - Michael? Or is there an even older one...I would object to being someone's pet if he were a boy, I think -"

"There's an older one, he's called Timothy. Michael's still around. Maybe I should talk all my roommates into adopting a firstie each next year or something, might work better with girls somehow."