Opaque Fog

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Iris felt herself sway a little bit as the carriage she was in began to turn slightly. She glanced out the window, trying to see if there was anything out there.

Nothing but thick walls of fog, with maybe what might have been the shape of a tree, if you squinted hard enough.

As Sella had explained, without prompting, and probably as a response to the awkward silence in the carriage, their current method of transportation was a Fog Carriage. Which, like many things in the Wizarding World, fit its name rather well. It was a carriage, pulled by two mottled grey draft horses, and less than a minute after pulling away from Hogwarts, it was surrounded on all sides by solid banks of fog. Somehow, moving through the fog allowed it to ignore things like hills, mountains, or even the stretch of ocean that separated the UK from the rest of Europe.

It was a method of transportation that predated things like Apparition, Portkeys, and Floo Powder, and was still used for long distance travel in Europe.

While it wasn't quite as quick as many other forms of travel; according to Sella, it was one of the least horrifying or exhausting ways to go from the northwestern tip of Scotland to northeastern Germany.

Iris hadn't taken any other real form of magical transportation, since the Hogwarts Express really didn't count, so she didn't have anything to frame it against.

Then again, Shirou had once tried to explain how he suspected Floo travel worked, and while she hadn't understood the explanation fully, she had understood that people got from one place to another by traveling through tunnels magically carved into and through some kind of plane of eternal fire... And also that distance technically did matter when it came to Floo travel, so a trip to Germany could potentially mean an hour or so stuck blasting rapidly through tunnels of fire... So she was willing to forego that particular experience for the slower, calmer ride on a Fog Carriage.

Then again, six hours is a very long time to spend cooped up in a small carriage with three people that you really don't want to spend time with.

Shirou seemed to be enjoying himself somewhat, wrapped up in her Invisibility Cloak and he was probably going to spend every minute of the trip examining the hell out of this form of 'non-euclidean magical transport', whatever that meant.

Unfortunately, she couldn't even talk with him, since he was hiding from the Einzberns, who were huddled up on the other side of the carriage and were still unaware of his inclusion in this little trip out to Einzbern Castle.

Ostensibly, to the other teachers, Iris was traveling with Illya and the Einzberns so that she could see Hagrid over the hols and provide some witness testimony for his eventual court case. The Einzberns themselves had been convinced to let her visit by implying that she knew more about the Mirror than she was letting on and wouldn't talk until she had made sure that Hagrid was being treated alright, to which they had grudgingly agreed to allow. Her actual reasons, of course, were very different.

She wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.

What was going on with Illya's mother? Why did they want the Philosopher's Stone, since doing anything with it would be noticed by the international wizarding communities pretty quickly? And, did they know that what Flamel had been using for the past few hundred years and recently stuffed into a mirror was actually a fake, which Iris had decided to eloquently name the Idiot's Rock.

According to Shirou, said rock had been made by a wizard of astounding talent and power, who knew astoundingly little about Alchemy. So, when some king or another had 'requested' a Philosopher's Stone, he made a rock that could turn lead, and only lead, into gold, and produced a liquid, which would prevent aging and natural death for the next decade... at a rather unfortunate, but not very noticeable, cost to the consumer.

Iris was drawn out of her musings by a soft whispering noise.

She turned her head to see Sella and Leys speaking quietly to each other over Illya's head.

When they noticed her looking, they awkwardly looked away and went back to sitting quietly.

Iris turned to press her forehead against the glass of the window.

The glass fogged up as she breathed on it, then squeaked as she dragged her face down the window.

Only five hours and thirty five minutes left to go.

-o-o-o-o-

When the carriage trundled to a stop, Iris practically flung herself out.

She stumbled a few steps away on cramped legs before hunching over to take deep breaths of freezing cold air.

That had been terrible.

Car trips with the Dursleys had been... Okay, no, nothing could really compare to anything to do with the Dursleys. But, an hour in the plane of eternal fire was looking pretty good right now.

Shirou slid out in her wake, and the Einzberns took a more sedate approach to dismounting.

Unfortunately for everyone, the awkward tension of the trip didn't just stay in the carriage, and instead decided to sit imperiously on the section of cobblestone path that separated her from her hosts on this particular trip.

Sella coughed a few times, trying to dispel the awkwardness.

It didn't work.

"If you would follow us," Sella said before turning to walk down the cobblestone path they stood upon.

Iris straightened up and made to follow, but stopped short when she saw where they were going.

It was a castle.

She had expected a castle, but perhaps her perspective had been skewed by living at Hogwarts.

Both Hogwarts and Einzbern Castle were castles, as in they were both large buildings, constructed from stone.

Hogwarts idealized an ancient magical castle, with its soaring towers and bizarre architecture. Every part of that castle felt otherworldly, like you had been removed from time, and the modern world had ceased to exist while you wandered through halls that had stood for over a thousand years.

Einzbern Castle was much more modern, looking more like a fortified cathedral than what one would normally expect from a castle. It was also rather squat, or perhaps that was only when compared against the towering heights of Hogwarts.

It definitely had a charm of its own though.

The castle looked robust, every wall and edge had a thickness to it that spoke of strength and sturdiness. Where Hogwarts was loose in its design, some parts looking like they were considering breaking off to go start a new castle somewhere else; this castle promised to stand the test of time against anything the world could throw at it.

Shirou nudged her slightly from behind, and she jogged a bit to catch up with Sella, Leys, and Illya.

As she got closer and closer to the building, any thoughts of describing it as 'squat' or 'small' fled from her mind before the looming structure that began to fill the entirety of her vision.

When she reached the main doors, she stopped again, though the Einzberns noticed this time and turned to look at her.

What had caught her eye were the two statues that stood on each side of the door. The one on the left was of a bulky, muscular man with a square jaw and shoulder length hair, all rendered in some kind of white stone. He was wearing a strange, toga-like garment, that was apparently made of fur, if the detailing on the stone was anything to go by. He had a sturdy looking stone sword held in front of him, with its point just barely touching the plinth he stood upon.

The statue on the right was similar but different, mostly in the clothing. He was also male, shoulder length hair, though his jaw wasn't quite as square as the other ones. For clothing, he was a step more modern than his counterpart, which still wasn't saying much. It was hard to pick out the type of material it was supposed to be from the stone, but it looked like he was wearing a belted cloth tunic that went down to just below his knees. A cloak was clasped around his throat, but it stood open, and pushed back over his shoulders like a cape, and a small circlet kept his stone hair out of his face. He stood at the ready with a long spear held slightly off to one side.

"They... won't attack me, right?" Iris asked.

"They will not," Sella assured her. "You are a guest here, and you have my word that you will not come to harm while that is so."

"Your word?" Iris whispered scathingly.

She hadn't meant for Sella to hear it, but apparently she had, because she immediately turned away.

"I see you have picked them out for what they are," Sella said tonelessly. "These are two more of the Guardian Golems. The one on the left is Siegfried, the Saber; and the one on the right is Cú Chulainn, the Lancer. They are one of the first lines of defense for Einzbern Castle."

Leys stepped forward and placed her hand on the door, causing it to open soundlessly and seemingly without effort.

Sella gestured wordlessly for Iris to follow and made her way into the castle.

Iris held her ground for a moment, slightly unnerved by the feeling that the golems were watching her before she pushed herself forward and hurried past the Einzbern guardians.

The doors silently closed behind her as Iris was once again frozen in place. The hall she had entered was so... amazing. Living in Hogwarts was an incredible experience, but it was hard to forget that you were living in a thousand-year-old castle. Everything was lit with either torch or candle light. Floors, walls, ceilings, most statues, and just about everything short of the chairs in the building was made of the same, unrelenting grey stone. Sure, there were portraits and tapestries, but they always stood out as something that was put there to cover up the walls and maybe add something resembling color to the school.

Einzbern Castle was... modern, or at least the foyer was, and what a gigantic foyer it was. Everything was brightly lit with incandescent bulbs in tasteful lamps and chandeliers. Beautiful marble columns framed the room and provided partial support for a wood-dressed balcony that circled the room, accessible by a grand staircase on the other side of the room.

It was... intimidating, in a lot of ways. She had never developed much consideration for money, since she had never had any growing up. But she had grown up in a middle-class household that desperately wanted to be upper-class, and some of their idolization of the upper class had affected her. So, the presence of this much grandeur bore down on her and made her feel rather small.

The group was about halfway across the expansive foyer when Iris noticed a woman coming down the staircase at the other end of the room.

She looked a lot like Illya. In fact, she looked like Illya had been aged up twenty years. Same red eyes. Same snow white hair. Same pale, pale skin. Same preference for wearing purple turtlenecks.

Illya noticed the woman a second later, and with a cry of "Mama!" bolted the rest of the way to the stairs and launched herself at the woman's torso.

Illya's mother caught her expertly and twirled around to avoid getting tackled by her own daughter.

"Illya!" the woman cried out happily before she hugged Illya in close and began to nuzzle their foreheads together.

Iris averted her eyes from the joyous reunion and tried to spot any other golems. They were supposed to be lines of defense, so she had expected to see more of them in the main entryway.

"You must be Iris." Illya's mother's voice came from far closer than expected and Iris turned quickly to find the woman standing right in front of her. "Illya has told me all about you." She smiled. "I'm glad you could help her out in her new school."

Silence settled around them, and Iris was content to let the awkwardness build.

"Mama—" Illya started to say.

"Oh yes!" Illya's mother clapped her hands together. "I haven't introduced myself yet. How rude of me." She pouted cutely, as if she was upset at herself, before quickly going back to smiling. "My name is Irisviel." She knelt down so that she was eye to eye with Iris. "Isn't that adorable, we're both Iris! Though mostly people shorten my name to 'Iri', so it hopefully won't be too confusing." She leaned forward and winked.

Iris had no idea how to respond. She had gotten so used to the tense silences and rote information recitals from Sella that she didn't exactly know how to respond to this bubbly woman in front of her.

So, she replied with the first thing that came to mind. "You don't look like you're about to die." And then she felt like slapping herself.

Irisviel turned her head slightly and looked coyly at Iris from the corners of her eyes. "Such a charmer," she said, raising an eyebrow. "But I must inform you that I am happily married, and no amount of your flattery will woo me away from him." She stood up so that she could press the back of her wrist to her forehead and pretend to swoon. "You can't have me, but if you press on, I may consider giving you my daughter's hand in marriage."

"I... What?" Iris was so confused she looked to the other Einzberns for help. They all just looked sad for some reason.

"Madame," Sella cut in. "We were just on our way to see Lord Jubstacheit. Perhaps you will be able to catch up with Miss Potter later."

"I see." Irisviel looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, I believe I will accompany you. Illya, please go make sure you are unpacked for the stay."

"But, mama—"

"Illya."

"Yes, mama."

Illya broke from the group and the rest of them continued further into the castle, until they came to a corridor lined with statues.

"I thought there were only seven Guardian Golems," Iris commented as she examined the figures around her.

They were all relatively similar and made of the same slate-grey stone. Men and women, probably in their thirties, all wearing togas, and all in various poses of thought or discussion. None seemed outwardly hostile or protective, despite the uneasy feeling Iris was getting.

"So you know about those," Irisviel said thoughtfully. "This room contains only one Guardian Golem; Marcus Junius Brutus, the Assassin. The rest are essentially his disguise, though also dangerous." She snapped her fingers and every statue turned its head to regard them."

"Creepy," Iris commented.

"Right." Irisviel waved her hand and the statues resumed their original positions, and they continued on through the room, though Iris stopped to briefly examine a statue of a man seemingly giving a speech.

He had one arm tucked behind his back, apparently to straighten his posture, and his other arm was raised in a grand gesture.

Nothing happened when she looked at it, so she moved on.

They moved through more elaborate hallways until they reached a medium sized, tiled room, with a statue of a young woman in the middle of the room.

The young woman in question was dressed in a simple, belted shift and was set sitting at a stone desk, studiously examining a mortar and pestle in front of her.

The Einzbern women stopped a foot or so into the room, and Iris would have stopped short of them. Shirou grabbing her arm and pulling her back meant that she actually stopped before even entering the room.

"Medea," Sella said quietly. "The Caster."

"Medea," Irisviel called out into the room, causing the statue to look up and stare at her. "Let us through."

The statue nodded minutely, and a number of soft clicking noises could be heard from the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room.

"Try to avoid coming to this room without an escort," Irisviel said over her shoulder. "The room is usually very heavily trapped... with a rather... gruesome focus."

"I... see." Iris replied.

"It's focused on dismemberment." Leys spoke up for the first time in a very long time.

"Thank you, Leys." Irisviel sighed. "That was unnecessary, but thank you."

They waited for a moment for all the noises from the walls to stop before they advanced.

The next room had a very similar design, though the low plinth at the center of the room was empty except for some very thick chains and some very sturdy looking manacles.

"Heracles's room," Sella provided upon seeing Iris's confusion.

"Ah."

"He can be rather indiscriminate when he isn't directly controlled, so he serves as the last line of defense. If an invader has penetrated this deep into the castle, Berserker probably doesn't need to worry about friend and foe anymore."

Iris had no response for that, so she remained silent as she followed the Einzberns to the sturdy looking door at the end of the room.

When Irisviel pushed the door open, it was like taking a step back in time in the castle. Modern tile flooring went up to the doorway before transitioning to worn stone blocks. The room that came after was a long chamber made entirely of stone, lit only by torchlight.

Iris followed the others into the room and felt the temperature plummet around her.

She let out a hasty gasp and saw her breath mist up in the air in front of her.

"Iris Potter," a commanding voice called out from the end of the room and Iris snapped her head around to look.

There was a man at the end of the room, sitting on a stone throne. Iris had missed him initially because he had been so still. Even now, with him staring at her with a fierce intensity, he didn't move much.

She might have mistaken him for another statue if not for the small mist of air that left his mouth as he breathed.

"Welcome to Castle Einzbern," the man said as he leaned forwards on his throne. "I am Jubstacheit von Einzbern."