Chapter 113: Chapater 113 – Nurmengard (2)
Approaching the castle, we could feel passing through some kind of barrier. I don't know what its job was, but none of us felt weird, and we quickly tried casting spells... all of it worked.
"Alarms? Maybe?" Quincy asked, and I wasn't that sure about it.
"Could be... I... I can't tell. The only feeling was that breeze. No matter... Let's go. It is not like we can just leave. That storm outside is dangerous; we need to rest before we attempt to leave it."
It was not a lie... but also not the truth either. We could leave... I just didn't want to. The Felix Felicis was still working, although the feeling of accomplishment was fading quickly. Still, it told me to stay put. I didn't feel threatened.
The outer walls were tall. Built from some kind of black rock that I couldn't recognize. Its front gate was massive, made out of metal with a straightforward decoration. It had a giant triangle plastered on it, encompassing a circle within and right where it could be opened; it seemed like that vertical line was running down from top to bottom.
"Is it an emblem?" I asked, making Quincy tilt her head, thinking.
"Could be. I know of none that is like that, but I only know about our magic families and their crests. Grindelwald wasn't English... I think. I don't remember any book mentioning where he was from."
"True enough." I shrugged, touching the door and pushing on it, but it wasn't budging. Scaling the thing would be impossible. "Well... it is locked. There are no surprises there; how will we get in...? This is- Ah." I stopped because Quincy was giggling, watching me think how to open the door, feeling a bit stumped. "What...?" I asked, getting embarrassed.
"You are tired." She skipped over, giving me a peck on my face before mounting her broom.
"Oh... no comment..." I grumbled while I looked away, wanting to bury myself in the snow.
We flew very slowly, carefully inching forward, exploring the air so as not to crash into some invisible wall, passing over the physical one below us, and finally landing in the snow-covered courtyard. There were ancient statues and a once maybe green garden, now frozen in ice and time, surrounded by a black castle. No... by a fortress. Watching the small, slit-like windows, this was more like the latter. It wasn't nearly as welcoming as Hogwarts.