Breaking the window: Expedition to Hyperborea

Chapter 5: An ship is toured...

"There is something special about first setting foot on the vessel that will be your home for the next few months. Berthed in the harbour, the smell of the brine, the sounds of the gulls and the gentle swaying of the ship in the water will give you an ample taste of things to come. The ship will become your lifeline, your base of operation, your home and your guide all in one. During the expedition, it might as well be your entire universe."

- Bellatrix Black, Expedition to Hyperborea, published 2006

Newcastle upon Tyne was a lovely city in the middle of, what her dad called, Geordie-country. Hermione had been here with her parents a few times when she'd been little and had enjoyed watching the ships go by over the river Tyne. Historically, this port town had been dependant on its ship building and ship repair centres, the largest in the entire world for a time. Though the city's economy had diversified significantly since then, the deep-sea Port of Tyne had remained a lifeline for travel and transport of goods deeper into the country for both muggles and wizards. Just a glance at the river revealed plenty of container ships, and along the banks of river were massive car parks where imported cars which had been offloaded were waiting to be shipped to dealerships all over the country. Not to mention that Port of Tyne was home to ferries to Scandinavia, France, The Netherlands and other parts of the UK.

Of course, ever since its inception, the Port of Tyne had also been also the largest wizarding port in the UK.

Hidden by powerful illusionary magics, where muggles would see an off-limits enterprise park, was actually a large section of berths and loading docks where wizarding ships were built, repaired, docked and serviced.

Where muggle ships were steel and diesel, wizarding ships still were still wood and sail. The very port itself looked as if it had changed very little since the 17th century. Cobblestones instead of asphalt, oil lanterns instead of electric lampposts, stone warehouses and buildings instead of the large metal eyesores of muggle ports. Hell, the most modern things seemed to be the cast-iron cranes on the loading docks. Finishing the idyllic picture was the smell of the salty brine and the cries of the gulls above.

Hermione was in awe as she passed the many ships docked. Bellatrix, as she was wont to do, had already ran ahead, but Hermione wanted to take her time. The sea wasn't in her blood so she had never spent much time reading up on nautical magics or wizarding seafaring. The vessels were all wood, all sails; the wizarding world, in the UK at least, had never moved on to steel ships with proper engines. Instead what they had were sailing vessels, ranging from spectacularly large to tiny. But these were not ship as if jumped from pictures of ancient vessels in a history book. No, these ships were what ships could have been if steel diesel-powered ships had never been invented and wooden sailing vessels had continued to evolve.

The brown-haired young witch stood in awe as she saw a massive cargo-hauler. Outwardly, it resembled a Spanish galleon, only much larger, longer and wider. Seven tall masts rose up into the air while its crew were busy unloading crates upon crates of goods which looked to have come in from China considering the lettering. Though a lot of cargo was moved through portkeys these days, transport over sea was still the most common and would remain so for centuries, she'd wager. She studied the ship for a moment, her eye catching the decorative mermaid figurehead adorning the ship. Topless, of course, sporting a rather impressive pair. At first, Hermione didn't know if she should be offended or enticed. It turned out to be both, as she rolled her eyes while blood rose to her cheeks, staring a little bit too long at the mermaid than she should have.

Continuing on, she passed a sleek little fishing schooner. Certain magical fish were actively sought for potion ingredients, such as shrake or simply for food such as gulping mollies. This particular vessel looked to be a shraker, due to its heavy steel-cable netting.

Opposite to the birth where the shraker rested lay moored a Ministry research vessel. Looking to be a tad more modern, somehow, this four-master resembled the HMS Beagle somewhat. Its sides painted white and its wood meticulously lacquered, it struck Hermione as being a mite fancier than many of the other ships in this port. Of course, the Ministry made a point of making themselves look good. If she were to hazard a guess, this ship was more of a showpiece than a working vessel. A tax-payer bought showpiece at that.

Another thing she noticed is that none of these sailing vessels had gunports, which was odd at first. Until she considered that there was little need for cannons when any member of the crew would be able to lob fireballs across great distances with ease.

And then, it was time for Hermione to move on to the ship which would be her and Trix' home for the next six months or so: the HMS Kingfisher. And she had to admit she was pleased by the sight. It resembled the research vessel she had seen earlier, but this was very much a working ship. The wood wasn't recently lacquered or painted white. In fact, the only real colours were adorning the figurehead resembling the ship's namesake. A colourful pretty bird was permanently pointing its beak down to the sea, eternally scanning for fish. The hull of the Kingfisher was enforced with copper plating at the front and sides, with magical hardening radiating from it. It was sleek, yet broad and definitely a vessel made for Arctic travels: it had no aftcastle except for a small raised area which looked to be a wheelhouse. The forecastle was equally low. Both contained several metal chimney stacks, meaning these were likely places where the crew working the sails and riggings above deck could keep warm. The gunwhale lay waist-high and would protect the sailors from wind and water. On top of the weatherdeck, Hermione could see at least two support crafts firmly secured.

Yes. Hermione figured she could get used to this.

Two broad gangplanks were spun from the harbourside to the top deck and stevedores were loading cargo onto the main deck. The large main hatch between the fore-mast and the main-mast had been opened, and a large cast-iron crane was lowering a pallet filled with barrels down into the very depths of the ship.

And that brought Hermione to Nymphadora. Nymphadora, whom had been so angry that her mother had forced her to go on this expedition with them, had surprised everybody by completely embracing the position assigned to her by the expedition leader and the captain: that of ship's Quartermaster. Having gone ahead weeks in advance to familiarize herself with the ship and the job she was supposed to do, she looked as if she had more than managed. Being in charge of the ship's cargo-hold and supplies carried a lot of responsibility. At first Hermione had been sceptical, but seeing her in action gave her pause. She'd been barking orders to stevedores and ran from pallet to pallet to check the contents before giving the orders to load everything on-board in the proper order.

Currently, Nymphadora had gotten into a bit of an argument with a rather pouty looking Trix while an amused Tahki looked on from the side-line. Surrounding Bellatrix were five steamer trunks and one wasp in a cat carrier.

"Yer wot? What is all this nonsense?!" Nymphadora started.

"This is my luggage!" Bellatrix stressed.

"Five steamer trunks?! Five?!" Nymphadora said, randomly opening one. "This one's full of shoes! Why are you bringing thirty pairs of shoes and boots onto a ship bound for the Arctic?!"

"It's a long voyage!" Bellatrix retorted. "These are for Sundays, these are for Mondays, these are snowboots, these are slippers I love…"

"And this? How many bloody dresses do you need? And hats? Merlin, you're bringing more hats than shoes!"

"I love my hats!"

Nymphadora rubbed her forehead and sighed through her nose. "Look, there's barely enough room for Zipper's carrier in your cabin after loading in one trunk, let alone five! This isn't a cruise-liner, Bella, it's a working ship! We're limited in space and weight."

"Can't you just put the rest in the cargo-hold?" Bellatrix crossed her arms defiantly.

"Oh, sure," replied Nymphadora. "We'll just have to leave behind water, food, spirits or equipment so we can store your hats and shoes. That'll make you really popular with the rest of the crew, yeah?"

Bellatrix sighed. "Fine. I'm willing to part with two steamer trunks." That was a statement which almost made Hermione snort.

Nymphadora raised an eyebrow. "I feel the message isn't really coming through. Bella, you only get one steamer trunk. Just the one."

"Just one?!"

"And you have to share it with Hermione."

"WHAT?!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "That's even less room for all my stuff!"

"Well," replied Nymphadora with a smirk. "I could always talk to the boatswain for you to get two separate cabins instead of the one. That way you could bring two steamer-trunks on board between the two of you."

In that moment, Bellatrix visibly paled. "Nonononono," she protested quickly. "I'll… I'll find a way to trim down my luggage."

"Come on," said Tahki, the Native-American Black tapping her hand on Bellatrix' shoulder to cheer her up. "I'll help you pick out the essentials and repack it all as efficiently as possible."

"Yeah," said Nymphadora. "Pocahontas here has only brought her backpack."

Indeed, Tahki was wearing her rather large brown 50L travel backpack, a surprisingly large bag for a girl that small. But still smaller than a streamer trunk by a not insignificant margin.

"How do you do that?" Bellatrix asked.

Tahki laughed. "I've been living out of my backpack for over a year, silly. You get quite adept at organizing your things."

Bellatrix' eyes lit up. "Say, if you're not using the space in your cabin, could you store one of my trunks?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Awwww."

Hermione couldn't help but chuckle as Bellatrix struggled with her luggage, given a helping hand by Tahki. Of course, she herself had already packed the necessities and would fit exactly in half a steamer trunk, just as she had been told. If only poor Trix had been better at listening. Hermione did look around as Nymphadora was intensely studying a clipboard. A lot of crates, barrels, trunks, boxes and pallets were yet to be loaded and Nymphadora seemed to be in the thick of it.

"Ship's about half full," muttered Nymphadora. "We'll start loading the equipment next."

Hermione took a look and concluded that most of the equipment was packed in the clustered together crates labelled 'Fragile, do not open unless qualified to do so!'. Curiously, there was one crate which was a lot bigger than the others. Huge, in fact. Easily four meters long and three meters high. She wondered if it would even fit through the hatch, never mind how to actually open and move the damn thing around.

"What could be in that?" Hermione wondered.

"Let's see. Should say on the shipping manifest," said Nymphadora as she moved to the bill pinned to the side of the crate. "Hm. Aetheromagnetic detector. Wait. Another one? I though we had just loaded one into the hold. Was a lot smaller, though."

Magic detectors. These measuring machines, especially ones this size, could pick up the slightest sliver of latent magic over ten miles away. Hermione rubbed her chin. "How odd. They are usually the size of a small table, yeah, but heavy-duty ones this size do exist. They're not exactly portable, though, as you can see."

Nymphadora shrugged. "Doesn't matter if it's not portable if it's the ship what moves it around, I suppose. Snowbell has a lot riding on this, so I don't blame her for wanting to bring a heavy duty one. Just in case the regular one isn't enough and Pocahontas' magic detection skills turn out to be a bust, yeah?"

"Jesus Christ, Nymph, I'm standing right next to you!" sounded an angry Tahki, giving her distant cousin a murderous glare to boot.

Nymphadora didn't miss a beat, gave her a cheeky grin and crossed her arms. "Just testing your ears, you silly tomahawk-chucker."

Narrowed eyes followed. "You'd best watch the back of your head then, Tealeaf-snorter!"

"Take a good look at this box," Nymphadora smirked. "Your replacement is inside. If you under-perform, we'll just put you in sloop and make you row back home to the States, yeah?"

Tahki shook her head. "You have a brown aura, Nymph. A shit-brown aura."

"Ah, you know you love me."

By now, Bellatrix had reluctantly placed what she had wanted to bring in one half of a streamer trunk, where Hermione added her things to fill it up nicely. The rest, which consisted mostly of clothes, shoes and hats, were to be picked up by Black servants in about half an hour and taken back home. Bellatrix gave the four trunks one final mournful look and let out a sigh, while Nymphadora marked both the remaining trunk and the cat-carrier containing a sleeping zipper to be loaded on board and delivered to their cabin. Nymphadora gave orders for more equipment and supplies to be loaded and then turned to her family. "Well, I got some time to spare before the next batch of supplies is ready to be moved. How about I give you the grand tour of the Kingfisher?"

As was said, so was done. Nymphadora led her three family members up the gangplank where Hermione first set foot on the deck of the ship which would be her home. The wood felt solid enough under her feet, which had come as a bit of a surprise to be honest. She expected the ship to sway more for some reason. It was bigger than it looked from afar, wider too. Indeed, the deck was flat and the gunwhale was waist-high. The three masts stood fierce and proud with sturdy looking rigging on either side. A crow's nest was located at the top of the main mast, a place where Hermione wouldn't want to be in the biting cold winds of the Arctic. One of the sailors, a lean woman with jet-black hair looking to be in her early thirties, was up there checking the riggings.

"That's Daelia, our resident climber," said Nymphadora. "You can usually find her up in riggings. Runs over ropes and crossbeams like she's a monkey. Though I suppose the levitation spells help. Now, over there is the forecastle where the sailors on deck-duty keep warm. It's a lot bigger than it looks. There's room to work, warm yourself or just relax. Observation lounge for passengers too. Now, follow me to the wheelhouse."

The loading hatch was indeed a gaping hole in the deck leading all the way down into the bowels of the ship. Of course, this would normally be sealed. Past the mizzenmast was the wheelhouse. When they entered the wheelhouse, they found two identical men standing there along with a goblin wearing a fancy coat and an even fancier tricorn with a puffy feather attached. Both the men were thin and had shaggy hair, obviously twins.

"And this is the wheelhouse," said Nymphadora. "Naturally, the ship's steering wheel is here along with the navigation table. This is place is usually off-limits unless you're crew, so don't expect to be here much. Another rare sight is seeing these two fine gentlemen together. Eliam and Oswald are brothers, as you can see, and you will always see one of them at the wheel. If you want to tell them apart, remember that Eliam has the dayshift and Oswald the nightshift."

It was then that the goblin stepped forward. "Oi, ye scabrous sea dogs! Mind yer manners when there be ladies in yer presence! Take yer hats off fer the ladies', ye scabrous lot!"

While Bellatrix and Tahki seemed quite amused, Hermione was low-key horrified to see the two men blush and hurry to take off their hats on their account. Though it was hard to miss that the goblin kept his own hat firmly on his head.

"And that be, sorry… that charming fellow here is Beodul, our boatswain. Basically the deck boss who barks out the orders to the sailors. Think foreman. A foreman who has the final word on who's scabrous and who is not in this case," said Nymphadora. "Though thank you for the gesture about the hats and such. So polite!"

Beodul narrowed his already narrowed eyes and looked as if he was about to jump up and down in disgust. "That was not fer ye, ye scabrous layabout! Ye ain't no lady in my book, Nymphadora Black! Why the cap'n ever let ye on board be a mystery to me."

"Love you too, Beodul," Nymphadora winked.

Hermione took a look around the wheelhouse. There were numerous charts on tables, some settees bolted to the floor and a hammock at the back. The wheel, of course, was in front of the ship and there were copper pipes raised from the ground to bark orders down below deck. Or for the captain to bark orders to the wheelhouse, she supposed. The wheelhouse had windows in three of the four reinforced wooden walls. A skylight was above and there were telescopes hung from racks. It was then that her eye fell on something strange. A piece of electronics, a radar read-out and a generator. At home, all would be needed to be contained in a faraday cage to protect it from the magics in the air, but on the ship this was less of an issue. It's why Hermione had brought her digital camera and a laptop on board the ship. She could also recharge those devices right here.

"I was told there were electronics on board. Are those…" Hermione started to ask, only to be interrupted by Beodul.

"Aye, keen-eyed lass," said the goblin. "Them's our radar and transponder. All wizarding ships be required to 'ave one so muggle ships can identify us when we show up on their radar. Our spells will be makin' us look like ye average steel muggle fishing boat, but if we ain't got no transponder, we be getting the coast-guard breathin' down on our necks. 'Sides, it be 'andy to know what muggle vessels be near us too."

"Interesting," Tahki rubbed her skin. "Good to know there are more people than just us who embrace modern technology."

"Right," said Nymphadora. "Shall we leave this scabrous lot to their own devices and head to the Quarterdeck?"

Going back outside, Hermione noticed some raised thick glass panes built into the deck in between the masts and the hatches which turned out to be skylights through which she could see parts of the corridors below deck. Nymphadora led them to one of two staircases to the sides leading below, built so that they could be closed off with a sturdy hatch and situated in such a way that biting wind wouldn't blow right below. The moment the four of them entered below decks, Hermione couldn't help but notice just how warm and cozy the ship was. All around her, the smell of old wood and the creaking of the ship gave it all a rather rustic vibe. The deck itself was well-lit with magical lanterns hung from the walls and daylight pouring in through the skylights. The ceilings, though not quite high, were not as low as Hermione had expected. Looking towards the aft of the ship, she could see a row of doors on either side of the corridor and a larger door at the end.

"Right, captain's quarters at the end," said Nymphadora. "Captain gets the whole width of the aft of the ship for himself. Don't go in without knocking. Passenger and officer cabins to the side, but since we have no officers these are all passenger cabins. Expedition specialists will be sleeping here, including you lot."

"Oh, can we take a look?" Bellatrix asked eagerly.

"Not yet, Bella, we'll save that one for last," said Nymphadora as she turned around. The corridor ended in a thick wooden wall and split off into two smaller corridors right next to the hull of the ship. If Hermione were to hazard a guess, this was right where the loading hatch above deck was, with the loading shaft running down the middle of the ship. Once to the other side of the hatch were larger areas which seemed to be work stations.

"Right, see those bulkheads?" said Nymphadora, pointing at the walls. "All of this is configurable depending on what sort of run the ship is doing. So if it's a passenger run, they turn this section into more cabins. If it's a cargo run, this entire section can be turned into a secondary hold and we can open up the side of the loading shaft over there to fill it. This is a research run, so some of this space has been designated as research areas and artifact storage areas. Big room at the front is some sort a conference lounge. I reckon you'll be doing most of your research work here. I hope you find it inspirational, Bella."

"I'm taking notes," winked Bellatrix. Hermione could indeed see her girlfriend quickly scribbling notes in a book.

Tahki, in the meantime, had placed her hand on the hull and closed her eyes. A smile crossed her face.

"Tahki?" asked Hermione.

"This ship's very old," said Tahki. "It's been halfway across the world, carried hundreds of people, been to so many places. I can feel the magic running all through the wood. So many different kinds of magics. I think I'll like being here."

Nymphadora led them back to the staircase and took them one deck lower. The lanterns were still there, but the only other light came through the occasional round porthole built in the outer hull. Again there were doors on either sides, though they seemed to be spaced together a bit more. At the end of the hall was what seemed to be a small separate area. "Right, crew deck," said Nymphadora. "Doors on either side for the crew cabins, same as above. At the end of the hall is the communal crew lounge where they can plonk down on a sofa, shoot some snooker, throw a dart or two or have a drink at the bar. Non-crew is welcome there, so feel free to grab a pint and have a chat."

Nymphadora led them further towards the front of the ship. Halfway across the deck, they came upon the same closed off wooden shaft they had seen upstairs. So far, this deck had mostly the same layout as the one above them. "Right," said Nymphadora, as they came across two much larger rooms opposite to each other. Poking their heads to the one of the starboard side, it was revealed to be a medical bay with an examination table, three gurneys and cupboards filled with books, instruments and bottles. A small waiting area was near the door. However, one aspect rather stood out, something Bellatrix noticed first.

"Is that a coffin over there in the corner?"

Indeed. It looked to be a rather expensive one, made from hardwood which had been lacquered and what looked to be silver handles around the sides. It stood there ominously in the corner, nestled in between the cupboards and the gurneys, right underneath one of the portholes, which had been painted over with black paint. Interestingly enough, it looked as if the lid would open towards the room.

"Yeah, this is sickbay over here," said Nymphadora. "Doc's asleep."

"In… the… coffin?" Tahki blinked.

Hermione sighed through her nose. "The ship's doctor is a vampire," she concluded.

"Right you are," said Nymphadora.

"Awesome," Tahki grinned. "God, I love Twilight so much."

Again, Hermione sighed through her nose but decided not to broach the subject of the sheer and utter absence of Twilight's literary value.

"He's called Doc Big-mouth. Not his real name," continued Nymphadora and checked her watch. "Won't be up for a few more hours. Good doctor, apparently, but prone to have a taste if you come in bleeding."

"Lovely," muttered Hermione.

"You can wake him up during the day if you need medical attention, but he's bound to be grumpy," said Nymphadora. "Anyway, over here is the ship's library. No librarian and lending is on the honour system."

Hermione took a peek inside and found a rather pleasant room with several book stacks carrying a wildly varying number of titles on all manner of subjects. Fiction and non-fiction, this seemed to be a rather nice selection. Two old leather reading chairs underneath a light finished the quiet aesthetic. She let her eyes rove over the titles. Some of the classics were here, of course, with surprisingly few books related to the sea or nautical ventures… then again, perhaps not surprising since people spending all their time on the sea might want to imagine themselves somewhere else. All sort of interesting books were here, which was good because she hadn't had much room in her trunk to spend on books other than things she would need to have to fulfil her role as ship's naturalist. She figured she would spend a lot of time in here. Hm, there seemed to two volumes about the nature of…

"Oh shit, we're losing Hermione!" announced Tahki.

"We must act quickly!" Bellatrix confirmed.

Tahki hooked an arm around Hermione's left arm and Bellatrix took the right one, and together they started to drag Hermione away.

"What?! Hey?!" Hermione protested rather ineffectively. But the time she was released they were already in the corridor situated between the outer hull and the loading shaft, where pleasant food smells greeted them. On the other side, they emerged in a large open area where six long tables were situated with multiple seats. As this was the front of the ship, the room angled inward on both sides, leaving room for only one table near the end, which was covered by a curtain. Part of the port section of the room was cordoned off by wooden walls with large serving windows, obviously the ship's galley and the source of the lovely smells. Two gentlemen were sat at the table nearest to the galley, obviously waiting for their food.

"The mess hall," said Nymphadora. "Not hard to imagine what happens here. Everybody takes their scran here, including captain and passengers."

Hermione peeked inside the galley and found it to be well-stocked and well-equipped. Several counters with all manner of foodstuffs, refrigeration areas, tools, pans and pots. In the middle of the galley were a number of stoves and, to her surprise, she found a female house-elf there, stood on a stool and manning three stoves at once. She wore the standard chef hat and apron, but over what seemed to be an extremely gaudy and glittery dress and fine shoes.

"That's Haema, our chef," said Nymphadora. "She's a freed house-elf, served her family as a chef for years. After being freed, she wanted to open her own restaurant but the Ministry balked at the idea of house-elves owning or even renting property."

Hermione groaned audibly. "Fancy that, what a surprise," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That smells fantastic," Bellatrix took a long whiff of the spicy air. From the smell of things, Haema was making scrambled bacon and eggs with peppered Cumberland sausage on the side. The elf heard the praise and gave Bellatrix a wide smile.

"Anyway, the captain took her on as the ship's galleymaster. As far as Haema is concerned, it's the next best thing to running a restaurant. Seeing people enjoy her food makes her happy. And enjoying our food makes our bellies happy. Win-win, I say. You should try her beef stroganoff. It's to die for."

"Oi!" sounded the voice of one the sailors sat at the table. One a stocky man with a South-American look to him, the other was a man who looked to be older than Dumbledore, missing almost as many teeth as he was missing hair, which was white, long and mostly located at the back of his head. Both men seemed to be enjoying a cup of rum while waiting. "Ain't you going to introduce us?"

"I was getting to that!" said Nymphadora as the four of them gathered near the table. "These fine gentlemen are seadogs. Old Engrim has been on the sea longer than the four of us combined have been alive. And Chiputec is a newcomer like me, who signed on around the same time I was sent here. Lads, these are three of our expedition specialist and dear family members. Hermione Granger, naturalist. Tahki Black, assistant navigator. Bellatrix Black, chronicler."

"Ah, you're be working with me then," said Engrim. "Old Engrim, at your service. Navigator, handyman and part-time bean counter."

"Oh, I heard we were getting someone famous on board," said Chiputec. "Pleased to meet you, miss Black. I've enjoyed your novels! Any chance of a sneak preview of your upcoming work?"

What was most endearing to Hermione, was to see Bellatrix always blush slightly whenever she met a fan with praise. All the arrogance simply bled out of her and she was usually left at a loss for words. "Oh, I… I…" Bellatrix stammered predictably, but recovered slightly. "Glad to hear it! And I'm sure I could share a few new stories if you like."

"I'll hold you to that!" Chiputec said in thanks.

Just then, Haema barged in with two servings of breakfast for the two men, who eagerly dug in.

"Haema wonders if the four young ladies would like something to eat?" the elf asked with an eager yet kind motherly voice. Hermione could see Bellatrix was about to pounce for a serving, but Nymphadora beat her to the punch.

"I'm showing them around, so not right now," said Nymphadora. "But we'll be here for dinner, just you believe me, yeah?"

The elf appreciated that answer and returned to the kitchen, working to prepare food for just that same dinner. In the meantime, Nymphadora led the four of them to the curtain near the front of the mess-hall and grinned as she shoved it aside, revealing a smaller private area which contained… a nest. A nest made from chewed up wood-pulp. Outwardly, it resembled the material of the nest they had seen in the Ardennes, but obviously much smaller. It seemed to occupy the entire forward tip of the room and had a hole the size of a human head right in the middle of it.

"Is that…" Tahki asked.

"Yep, that's the nest for the ship's wasps. There's four of them, Fo'c'sle, Infinite Corridor, Anchor and Seagull. Don't worry, you'll learn to tell them apart quickly enough," said Nymphadora. "I know what you're going to say, Bella, but rest assured these wasps receive their proper share of the wages paid out in resources for their nest back home and all the sweet sugary food they can eat."

"Well, they'd better," Bellatrix crossed her arms. "This should make Zipper happy. I should let him out of the carrier soon."

Tahki frowned. "What do wasps even do on a ship?"

"Oh, a lot of things. Carrying messages around, keeping an eye out for vermin, tying riggings in hard to reach places, checking the hull for potential leaks, moving tools around, that sort of thing. Lots of little odd-jobs which frees up the hands of the other sailors," said Nymphadora.

Old Engrim looked up from his meal. "Cap'n was one of the first to bring wasps aboard some four years ago. Fo'c'sle was the first and 'e appeared spread the word amongst 'is kind so three more showed up. I'll also have ya know Fo'c'sle plays a mean game of checkers. Seriously, 'e plays to win! I've been trying to teach 'im to play chess, but 'e always ends up confusing the rules and starts to play it like checkers."

"He's catching on, though!" said Chiputec. "Way I understand it, the captain wanted to give the wasps their own cabin to share, but it wasn't a good fit, so he allowed them to make a nest here in the messhall."

Bellatrix nodded appreciatively. "I would very much like to meet this captain," she said. "I've been aware that wasps are being hired to serve on ships through the Foundation, but this captain might have actually started that trend."

"Indeed," said Hermione. "This seems like a very diverse crew."

On the side of the messhall, opposite to the galley, was another staircase leading further down into the depths of the ship. Hermione followed Nymphadora down and they arrived on a deck which was narrower, colder, darker and which had a noticeably lower ceiling. The space they entered was as large as the width of the ship. A wooden wall with a door in it was in the fore section and had copper hooks on either side of the door. There were several hatches in the floor and barrels and crates with food and drink, among other things, were stacked on top of each other. "Right, orlop deck," said Nymphadora. "We're right below the water line here, so you'll notice it being a lot colder, yeah? Section we're standing now is the prep-room. It's here were stored goods from the hold are hauled up for use. It's the quartermaster's job, mine, to make sure that there's always enough here for the next three days. Haema gives me a list of the food items she needs for her menu and I have to check drinking water levels. Crew and passengers can put in orders for other items too, within reason."

"What's that tingle in the air?" asked Tahki, her eyes roving the deck. "It's coming from the back of the ship."

"It's called aft on a ship, you dolt! And we'll get to that," said Nymphadora. "Door over here is the ship's laundry room and wash water recycling. You'll find a labelled bag in your cabin where you can put your dirty smalls in. Just hang it on a hook to the right of the door and you can pick it up cleaned from a hook at the left side of the door the next day. Water purification system is also there. Keep in mind that the water from your shower and your wash-basin is not for consumption!"

Leaving the prep-room to head towards the aft of the ship, the four of them entered a hallway with segmented compartments on both sides loaded with supplies. "Right, Orlop deck is where you'll find all the 'ship stuff'. Think tools, repair supplies, but also warm clothing and the like. It's the main cargo hold and we'll be storing all the research equipment here too until it's needed on the upper decks. Up ahead is the loading shaft.

Hermione noticed one of the ship's wasps flying towards them, apparently on some sort of errant. The wasp, which seemed slightly bigger than Zipper, rushed past them without so much as slowing down and headed into the prep-room. Running in after the wasp was a man with skin almost black as coal and a mane of long dreadlocks. He was tall and muscular and, if his open shirt was any indication, he was quite proud of his physique. Hermione also couldn't help but notice that the man had a rather distinct smell of alcohol about him.

"Riggere!" Nymphadora greeted. "Y'all right, cock?"

"Nymph," said the tall man with a rather distinct West-Indies accent. "Good ya be around. We're having a problem."

"Oh?" asked Nymphadora. Hermione now also noticed that Tahki had shuffled forward slightly, a cheeky grin on her face while giving the man a sideways glance. Her intent and her interest were obvious to everyone, except for the man himself. If Tahki was disappointed, she was yet to show it when they were lead into the loading bay. Hermione instinctively looked up to see the inside of the massive wooden loading shaft and daylight three decks above. When she looked down, she could see two more sailors mulling about the same gigantic wooden crate she had seen outside. As it stood there like a wooden monolith, it seemed to be rather… in the way.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Nymphadora groaned. "I asked those bloody tossers to load in this thing last on the count of its bloody size!"

"What do we do, Nymph?" asked the tall man. "We still have so many crates to load. Nothing quite as big as this, but with this thing here loading will be a lot harder."

"Eeeehmm," Nymphadora tapped her forehead a couple of times. "Right, here's what we do. We'll take the medicine supplies from bay 5 and put those in bay 27. Then we take these instrument crates stacked over there and put them in bay 5. With those out of the way, we can shove that crate right in the corner and should have enough room to resume loading. We'll have move the new crates to the other side to have all the weight properly distributed."

A female sailor with dark skin, looking to be small and rather cheeky, was stood on top of the giant crate and smirked at her. "And with 'we', you mean 'us three', right?"

"You know it!" said Nymphadora. "Oh, before I forget. These three dapper individuals are Irrena on top of the crate, Rum-Dum Riggere who is called so because you can usually find him sloshed on the floor during off hours and over there is Copperhead. Because he… has… a… copper… head."

Copperhead poked out from behind the crate. A lanky man who had a curious look, seeing that his head was mostly a copper dome from above the eyes to the back to the neck.

"I suppose there is an interesting story behind your copper braincase?" asked Bellatrix, naturally having dropped all pretenses of tact.

The sailor, for his part, didn't seem to mind. "Aye, not much to tell," said Copperhead. "Left a lot of me skull behind during some magic tomfoolery. And that's why you never apparate back to the ship after a full night of drinkin', kids!"

While the sailors got to work shifting the cargo around, the group continued to the aft of the ship. It was at this point that Hermione started feeling the magic in the air too, while Tahki seemed to be getting slightly overwhelmed by the feeling. In fact, the air was starting to get thicker until they got to the end of the corridor, where there was a massive and thick steel door, secured with two valve locks on either side and plastered with 'no entry' warning labels. The door appeared to be part of a larger structure behind the woodworks.

"I know what's behind that door," said Bellatrix. "Eolic magic."

"Right in one guess," said Nymphadora. "That's arguably the most important part of the ship. Give us a hand with the valve on the right, auntie. We'll take a peek inside."

"Is that safe?" asked Hermione. "Those warning labels are there for a reason."

It was hard to miss the eye-rolling on Nymphadora's part. Both she and Bellatrix pulled on the valves and the door swung open to the outside with a heavy creak. Beyond the door was a round room. No, a thick copper spherical structure, to be more precise. In the middle of the spherical room floated a blue stone. It was a size of the basketball, but undoubtedly much heavier. It was radiating magic.

"A sanctum stone," said Tahki. "Never seen one in real life."

Peeking inside, Hermione could feel the wind breezing through their hair. The stone was rotating along with the wind circulating in the room. "It's still a tad unsafe to enter, even when the ship is at rest. Sudden gusts might blast you right off your feet. But when the ship is moving, it's like a raging hurricane in here," said Nymphadora.

"It projects wind," said Bellatrix. "Right into the sails."

"Indeed," said Nymphadora. "Our sails are non-magical and just work with regular wind, but there will be times were the wind isn't playing along, or we want to go in a different direction or just want some extra speed. This stone will make sure we will always have plenty of wind at our backs."

"Is it just me or is this one larger than it should be?" Bellatrix said.

"For a ship this size, yes," grinned Nymphadora. "Keep in mind that this ship is an ice-breaker. There's a reason why the ship's hull and masts are reinforced with plating and magic. A big sanctum stone gives us that nice big ice-breaking push, yeah?"

There was a deep rhythmic hum. With every slow, methodical turn of the sphere, the entire copper chamber resonated. Along with every bone in Hermione's body.

"See that nozzle over there?" said Bellatrix. "That's the end of a magically conductive lead which goes all the way up to the wheelhouse. If the helmsman wants the ship to go faster, that lead shoots magic right into the sphere.

Tahki rubbed her temples for a moment. "Let me guess," she said, her voice sounding a tad strained. "It'll go apeshit."

"Beyond apeshit," said Bellatrix. "You really don't want to be inside of this copper sphere when it does unless you like being ripped to shreds by magical winds going over three hundred miles an hour and having your bloody giblets teleported right into the sails."

Hermione was fascinated. She had never heard of these sanctum spheres. Even after all these year and so much books read, there were still so many aspects of the magical world she knew nothing about.

Tahki looked to be downright uncomfortable now, supporting herself against the side of the sphere while rubbing her forehead. "Could we close this door? I'm starting to get a bit of a headache."

"Sensitive savant, right?" said Nymphadora and motioned for Bellatrix to help her close the door. The moment the door closed, the Native-American Black seemed a tad less pale. Nymphadora was upon her quickly, hand placed on her shoulder. Bellatrix to her other side, face etched with concern for her distant cousin. "Sensory overload?" asked Bellatrix.

"Ooohhh, shit yes," Tahki rubbed her temples and hissed painfully. "I felt that one."

"You alright, you old wendigo-fucker?" asked Nymphadora, a twinkle in her eye.

That made Tahki chuckle in spite of herself. "Wendigo-fucker? That's a new one, you limey scone-shitter."

"Aye, she's alright. Right, one more deck to go, then!" Nymphadora announced cheerfully.

Another staircase led them to the lowest deck, the inner hold. First of all, it was noticeably colder here than even the deck above. It was also a lot narrower: the central corridor barely had enough room for two people to walk side by side and the many bays on either side of this single long corridor doing from aft to fore, showed a sharp curve inward. Many barrels and crates, all of them much smaller than the crates on the deck above.

"Cargo hold. We're way below the water line now," said Nymphadora. "This is where we store all the food and drink. We've got most of it canned or barrelled, but we do keep spirits and we have four bays filled to the brim with perishables kept cool with enchanted ice. Nobody really comes here except me and the wasps."

Hermione did pass the bays used for refrigeration, closed off by metal doors with a single porthole style window in them. More boxes, crates and barrels, all clearly labelled and ready for use. Spirits and wines were placed in another bay, a make-shift wine-cellar placed under strict lock and key. On the whole, it seemed this ship was well stocked for a long trip.

The four of them arrived at the fore-section of the ship. The corridor widened here and Hermione realized they were right underneath the prep-room on the deck above. There was a ladder leading up to a small hatch as well as a larger hatch encompassing most of the ceiling. A lift-mechanism with a metal platform was located underneath said larger hatch. The other notable thing in this room was a door labelled 'quartermaster'.

"I have to say, Dora," Hermione started. "You've really changed since I last saw you. I've rarely seen you so enthusiastic about anything other than engines. The way you've been handling your job seems so… mature."

Nymphadora snorted. "You should have seen me when I was first sent here," she said. "I was an absolute miserable cunt and I hated life. But… I met the people and when I learned more about the ship and about sea-faring, well… I honestly can't wait until we leave the harbour. But before we do, take a peek inside. And here we are, at my digs!" said Nymphadora. She opened the door and revealed a rather spacious room. Being at the most fore tip of the lower decks, this was an elongated triangular room. To the starboard side was an old wooden rollerdesk workspace with ledgers and papers strewn about, undoubtedly manifests and supply counts. Some smaller crates stood next to it, which apparently was the crew's tobacco store. More expensive looking spirits were in a small cupboard next to the door, under lock and key. To the port side was a wooden construction built against the hull. It was an enclosed bunk with big shelves both above it. Closer to the forward tip of the room, a hammock was strung from one side to the other at a thirty degree angle. "Awesome, ey? Biggest quarters aside from the captain's. Of course, the downside is that I'm always down here and under the waterline. And with Arctic water, well, I figure it's good that I have three warmth stones in this room. But I have all the comforts of home. And I do mean all of them."

A grin was flashed just before she opened the lower drawer above her bunk and produced a big bag of dried leaf. It didn't take Hermione long to recognize that this wasn't tobacco, especially when she produced a long glass pipe as well.

"Wicked!" Tahki laughed. "I should have known you've brought your stash!"

"Enough for two trips around the world, Tak," Nymphadora grinned. "If any of you gals need to lighten up, I got just the stuff for you."

"No thanks," Hermione said quickly. "Right, Trix?"

"Well."

"Trix!"

Bellatrix sighed.

"Whipped!" Tahki laughed, earning herself a scowl.

"Nobody's pressuring anyone into anything," said Nymphadora as she hopped into her bunk. "But my door's always open if you want to hang out. Oh, and the four of us are going to paint the town red tonight, just so you know. We leave tomorrow, so it'll be the last chance to go bloody wild!"

Hermione shook her head and flashed a mirthful if somewhat exasperated grin. "You know what I said just a few minutes ago? About you having changed a lot of the better? I take that all back."

"No takesies backsies, yeah?" Nymphadora winked.

And so Hermione and Bellatrix left their family members behind and made the trek back up to the passenger deck. Once the two of them arrived at there, they went to the wooden door marked with a brass '2'. It was the one at the very end of the corridor, near the captain's quarters.

The sliding door gave way to a cabin that was supposedly bigger than a regular passenger cabin, but this didn't mean all that much. It certainly wasn't nearly as spacious as Nymphadora's, that was for sure. As it stood, the room barely had room to walk around in. The bed, meant for two persons, barely looked big enough to hold one. Against the left wall there was a cupboard right next to a tiny writing desk and a wooden chair. Two portholes in the side of the room let in a little daylight while a small chandelier would provide light at night. On the right wall there was another sliding door which gave access to a small head and a tiny shower in a cubby. It looked as if the cubby containing the 'bathroom' was only half a wall, the other half belonging to the neighbouring cabin. A washbasin was located at the side of the bed, nestled between it and the left wall. By now, the steamer trunk had been hauled up to the room by the crew and had been placed by the foot-end of the bed. On top of it was Zipper in his cat carrier, seemingly quite restless as he was trying to open it by trying to undo the latch by attempting to shove his mandibles through the bars.

Hermione looked to her side and Bellatrix' expression spoke volumes.

"You're disappointed, aren't you?" asked Hermione.

Bellatrix gave her a look. "And you're not? I was expecting something…"

"Grand? Big? Opulent?" Hermione finished, not missing the opportunity to make fun of her fiancee, even though she quickly regretted it. The way Bellatrix talked about exploration and adventure, she always expected that career path to be larger than life and filled with glory. It didn't help that she had grown up with wealth and was more than a little spoiled. Hell, this ship's entire deck could fit inside their private room back home.

"Our tent's bigger than this!" Bellatrix pouted. "Would it really harm them to do some extension charms?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not good for the structural integrity of the ship. It's made from wood, remember?"

Bellatrix pouted again. "Never an issue with the tent."

"Tents won't sink into ice-cold Arctic water if the charm pokes holes into the canvas," replied Hermione.

A reply to which Bellatrix sighed. "Fair point, well made," she spoke with a voice telling her this was a reluctant admission. "Still, I mean, look at this, I can only stand in the shower if I press my arms together! And I am a small girl!"

"You're exaggerating," said Hermione, though when looking into the cubby she could tell it would be hard to soap herself up having the door closed while taking a shower. "We'll be very cozy on the bed, though."

Bellatrix nodded. "We have to be thankful for small mercies, I suppose."

"Second thoughts?" asked Hermione.

Bellatrix looked her in the eye for a moment, dark orbs peering into her soul. "Nah," she finally replied. "I won't let some disappointments break my spirit. We are on the road to discovery with Eleanor Snowbell at the helm! Glory awaits us!"

Hermione smiled to that. Bellatrix believed in her hero with an almost child-like enthusiasm and naivete. It was oddly endearing.

"Besides," said Bellatrix. "It's not as we'll be spending much time in this cabin other than to make use of the bed, no?"

"I notice you didn't specify the use of the bed by using the word 'sleep'," said Hermione, just as two arms wrapped around her.

"Like I said," grinned Bellatrix before pressing her lips on hers. "We'll be very cozy."

Hermione closed her eyes and simply enjoyed Bellatrix' closeness. Her Trix was passionate and enthusiastic in everything she did, and that included her kisses. Hermione returned the embrace and matched Trix with a little enthusiasm of her own. Her hand ventured through dark curls to find the back of her head to keep her beloved firmly in place. It was only when the rattling coming from the cat carrier became too loud and wild to ignore that Bellatrix managed to tear herself away from Hermione.

"I'd better free Zipper before he tears a hole in his carrier," she said. The young witch moved to the carrier and the moment she opened the little door, the wasp inside of the carrier shot forward and out into the room, buzzing back and forth with speeds which didn't seem exactly wise in such small a space. Zipper, quite relieved to be free, spun around and around and around. Bellatrix picked up the cat carrier and put it on top of the cupboard where Zipper would have a nice view of the entire room.

"There," said Bellatrix after lifting the door from its hinges and tossed it on top of the trunk. "I know it's not as nice as your hutch back home. But see? No more door and your favourite blankets and toys are right inside."

Zipper ignored her in favour of flying about through the room and teleporting on top of both their heads off and on.

"It'll be a while before he'll go inside that carrier again, I'd wager," said Hermione. "We'd better make room in our tiny bed for Zipper the next couple of days."

Bellatrix grinned. "He can sleep on the foot-end while we'll be getting cozy. Now, come on. Let's introduce Zipper to the other wasps and then find the others to paint the town red. We'll hit the high seas tomorrow!"

Painting the town red wasn't really Hermione's thing, but if it made Bellatrix happy she would endure it. This ship would be their home for months to come, and all things considered, Hermione quite liked the idea of a new and unique experience.