Chapter 485: Inviting Miravia and Nagini

"Someone sent you a letter," Nagini said.

Hoffman had told them before that owls could not enter the Department of Mysteries.

That's why letters delivered by owl were collected outside, then redistributed to the various departments in the form of paper aeroplanes.

Apparently, owls had once been allowed inside the Ministry, but before long, the place had ended up covered in owl droppings. To prevent that from happening again, the Ministry had replaced owls with paper aeroplanes for internal mail delivery.

"Hmm?" Miravia picked up the paper aeroplane and unfolded it, revealing a letter.

The handwriting was familiar at a glance, the same careless hand as always.

Yo! Long time no see. I wonder if you've found somewhere to stay yet?

My new home is finished. You're welcome to come visit...

Though I'd rather you stayed. I have plenty of rooms, after all.

Oh, and I heard Nagini is with you now. Ask her if she wants to come too.

You'll never guess what my home is like! I'm sure you'll love it.

~ Wade Reynolds

O.O

Miravia smiled. "Wade moved into a new home. He's asking whether we want to visit."

"Really?" Nagini asked. "Where is it? Ever since I started following him, he's never really had anywhere he could call home."

"Now that you mention it... I don't have a home anymore either." Miravia frowned. "Never mind. We don't have anywhere permanent to stay right now, and we can't exactly live in the Department of Mysteries forever. Let's go take a look. I have something I need to ask him anyway."

Nagini took the letter and looked it over before frowning at the bottom of the page.

"If he's inviting us to his home, why didn't he write the address? And... what are these two big circles beneath his name supposed to mean?"

Miravia took the letter back.

"You're right... Why didn't he include an address? And these two circles..."

Suddenly, Miravia stared at them and let out a surprised, "Huh?"

"What is it?" Nagini asked.

Miravia noticed the faint blue glow occasionally flickering over the two circles.

It was the light of ancient magic, faint but unmistakable once she looked properly.

No wonder Nagini had not noticed it at all.

Miravia drew her wand and lightly tapped the two circles.

Ding. Ding. Ding!

The two large circles suddenly transformed into a pair of black rings and dropped onto the floor with a light clink.

"What are these?" Nagini asked as she picked them up.

The rings were black, with nothing remarkable about them except for a Hydra engraved on each face.

Miravia took one and examined it carefully.

Judging by the craftsmanship, it was obviously a product of that goblin workshop. It was dark and plain, hardly attractive at all, which meant it was probably designed purely for function.

"Wow~ So that's how it works..." Miravia said admiringly.

Using ancient magic, she had already figured out how the ring functioned before Nagini had even finished turning it over.

She slipped the black ring onto the index finger of her right hand.

The slightly oversized ring slowly tightened until it fit perfectly around her finger.

Then she suddenly "saw" a message appear directly within her field of vision.

Clearly, the ring was projecting an image directly onto her retina.

"This is... the same function as those glasses!" Miravia exclaimed.

The glasses Wade had lent her before had possessed a similar projection function.

She had not expected him to integrate the same feature into a tiny ring in such a short time.

Seeing Miravia put hers on, Nagini slipped on the other ring as well.

"Oh! He left the instructions for reaching his home inside the ring!" Nagini said delightedly.

Miravia smiled. "Yes. Quite clever, indeed. Let's go."

The ring indeed contained a method for reaching Wade's castle, written out plainly once the projection appeared.

It was extremely simple, almost too simple for what it did.

All they had to do was activate a small mechanism on the ring, then Apparate toward any destination they wished.

The power within the ring would forcibly redirect their Apparition to the castle instead of wherever they aimed.

Miravia and Nagini openly skipped work and only prepared to Apparate after leaving the Ministry of Magic.

After all, Apparition was impossible inside the Ministry, no matter how skilled the caster.

...

The moving castle.

Wade suddenly stood up and set down the book in his hands without finishing the page.

"Young Master Wade?" Toby looked at his master curiously.

"We're about to have guests." Wade touched the Hydra ring on his finger, which had begun to grow slightly warm.

...

A small garden extended beyond the entrance of the castle, neat and quiet.

Beyond the garden, however, there was nothing but a vast sea of white clouds stretching out in every direction.

The castle was currently ten thousand metres above the ground, far above anything that might look up and see it.

Crack! Crack!

Two sharp sounds, like whips striking the ground, rang out one after the other.

Miravia and Nagini appeared in the small garden.

Then both of them froze in shock at what lay in front of them.

Beyond the iron gate in front of them was what appeared to be a sheer cliff, with nothing visible below the edge.

"Huh? Did Wade build his house on top of a mountain? Why can't I see any path leading down?" Nagini asked in surprise.

Miravia grabbed Nagini before she could approach the edge for a closer look.

"Careful, Nagini... We're not on top of a mountain."

She looked outward.

"We're in the sky."

"In the sky?" Nagini stared at Miravia blankly, not quite understanding what her teacher meant.

Hadn't they come to visit Wade's home, not to step off the edge of the world?

How had they ended up in the sky instead?

"So! The two dear, beautiful ladies~ welcome to my moving castle..."

At that moment, Wade's voice came from behind them, easy and unhurried.

______

[]~(￣▽￣)~*