America
When Noctis crossed the vast Atlantic Ocean and arrived at Ilvermorny Castle, a tremendous thunderstorm was engulfing the school.
Electric serpents writhed in the rolling lead-gray clouds, and thunder roared like a giant beast, making the air tremble.
The raven flew fearlessly through the dense curtain of rain and the howling wind, enduring two lightning strikes along the way before finally locating the Thunderbird Head of House's office at the highest point of the castle.
The interior of the office was spacious and solemn, with massive Thunderbird totems hanging on the walls, their sharp gazes seeming to pierce straight through stone. A roaring fire burned in the fireplace, driving away the chill of the stormy night.
The gray-haired Thunderbird stood before the large French windows, watching the raging storm outside.
When he heard the flapping of wings, he slowly turned and walked toward a small window at the side of the room meant specifically for bird messengers.
Noctis glided in with practiced ease, bringing with it the damp chill of the rain, and landed on a dedicated perch carved with an intricate Thunderbird totem. It shook its feathers vigorously, scattering droplets.
The Thunderbird looked at the raven that had come from across the ocean, a faint gentleness softening his majestic expression.
He stepped closer and extended his broad, calloused hand.
Noctis didn't dodge, allowing him to brush his fingertips lightly over its wet head feathers, the gesture carrying the steady warmth of an elder's care.
"You've worked hard, Noctis."
He withdrew his hand and looked back out the window; the surging thunderclouds seemed to calm slightly under his steady gaze.
"The storm will always pass," the Thunderbird said, his deep voice remaining clear even over the thunder.
At that moment, Noctis skillfully unfastened the small leather tube on its leg with its beak, pulled out the rolled parchment, and offered it to the Thunderbird.
The old man accepted it calmly, unrolled it, and his eyes moved slowly over the various different handwritings.
After a moment, he lifted his gaze from the parchment and met the quietly waiting raven, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"Alright, don't worry…" The Thunderbird glanced again at the mixed handwritings on the parchment. "I have plenty of supplies here."
He turned toward his large desk, pulled open a heavy drawer, and took out a sealed glass jar.
Scooping out a generous handful of shimmering mithril shavings, he placed them on a clean tray and pushed it toward the raven.
"You can eat your fill here and leave after the rain stops."
(★ ω ★) Finally!
Noctis's eyes seemed to brighten.
It immediately hopped from the perch to the desktop and began pecking eagerly at the precious mithril shavings.
The crisp tap-tap of its beak against the tray sounded especially clear in the room as the thunder gradually faded.
It was truly hungry.
This journey had been longer than ever before.
Even at Christmas, when it flew around the world delivering gifts, it could still return to Hogwarts midway to enjoy Sagres's "special" meals.
But this time was different. Its route spanned the entire globe, and it would likely be flying outside for the whole summer—or even longer—until that cursed spell on Sagres disappeared.
Although its structure was special, with its core powered by magic so it could maintain basic activity without eating, long periods of high-speed flight still accumulated an undeniable fatigue in its body.
While the raven was absorbed in its mithril feast, the Thunderbird had already seated himself at his desk.
He took out a quill made from an adult Thunderbird's tail feather, dipped it in ink, and with strong, steady strokes wrote his reply in the blank space beneath the previous messages:
Everything is normal here, no need to worry.
Noctis will eat and drink its fill here, and to keep it from getting into trouble again, it will depart with some mithril shavings —Thunderbird
The heavy rain outside gradually ceased, leaving only the faint patter of water dripping from the eaves. The voices and footsteps of students grew clearer, filling the castle with renewed life.
"It's almost time, little one."
The Thunderbird carefully rolled up the parchment, placed it back into the waterproof leather tube, and fastened it securely to Noctis's strong leg.
At the same time, he tied on a small pouch sewn from tough dragonhide, filled with heavy mithril shavings.
"Take these; you won't have to worry about rations on your journey."
He gently patted the raven's back, his voice warm. "Give him my regards."
Noctis let out a short, low caw in response.
It lingered on the perch for a moment, as if gathering strength—or perhaps saying goodbye.
Then it suddenly spread its black, rain-damp wings and dove into the moist air outside the window, continuing its long and arduous journey around the world.
...
Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
International Floo Network Coordination Office
Noctis landed directly outside a large control center within the coordination office.
Inside, the lights were bright, and the scene was unusual: a massive three-dimensional sand-table model, occupying most of the room, rotated slowly, clearly marking Floo Network nodes across the globe.
Countless thin lines flickered, connected, and disconnected across the sand table, forming a rapidly shifting global web of light.
Robin stood at the central control console of the sand-table model, humming a cheerful samba rhythm, her body swaying slightly with the movements of her wand.
This senior Floo Network coordinator continuously waved her wand, adjusting lines on the sand table whenever they flickered too rapidly or became blocked, keeping the worldwide Floo Network traffic running smoothly.
"Aha! Noctis is here!"
Catching sight of the raven landing at the edge of the console, Robin immediately broke into a bright smile.
Her motions stayed precise and fluid, not disrupting the Floo Network's rhythm at all.
"Just a moment, dear, let me clear this peak-hour traffic in London…"
Her wand traced a few smooth arcs, and several congested red points on the sand table instantly shifted to green, flowing freely again.
"Alright! Done!"
Robin set down her wand and hopped lightly toward Noctis, inspecting the leather tube and mithril pouch on its leg with curiosity.
"I heard they all got hit with some troublesome curse a while back?"
She took the parchment from the raven's beak and unfolded it as she asked casually.
However, she didn't expect the raven to respond; Noctis was bright at times, but most of the time it acted greedy and foolish.
After reading the parchment, Robin immediately showed a look of understanding.
"So you're on a world tour again this time!" A smile curved her lips. "And you went to the Thunderbird first? Tsk, looks like you've profited quite a bit!"
She opened the dragonhide pouch on the raven's leg to check, only to find it empty.
As if to confirm her suspicion, she removed the pouch and examined it, finding no holes.
"You ate it all?" Robin asked in surprise, the raven staring at her without moving.
"Sigh…"
She let out a helpless breath, then casually grabbed a spare quill from the control console and wrote flamboyantly in the blank space on the parchment:
Everything is normal!
Also: Noctis's ration pouch is empty...
The moment her quill touched the parchment, a dazzling red light—marking a major congestion—suddenly flared on the giant rotating sand-table model.
"Oh no!"
Robin exclaimed softly, reacting with lightning speed.
She snatched the parchment, rolled it up, and stuffed it back into the leather tube while shouting into the magical speaking tube connected to the next office: "Loy! Transfer all mainline loads under my name to your side! I've got something to deal with here!"
"Got it!" Loy's crisp reply came instantly from next door.
Almost the moment the words fell, the dense, flickering colored lines on the sand table dimmed at once.
The pressure eased immediately, and Robin finally let out a long breath, lifting a hand to wipe away nonexistent sweat.
She turned toward Noctis, who had been waiting quietly, winked playfully, and switched back to her relaxed smile. "Crisis averted!"
With that, she conjured a small crystal vial from her uniform pocket. Inside were several pieces of mithril cut like diamonds.
"Here, I've got some snacks too—energy for the road!"
She twisted open the cap and poured the precious mithril pieces into the empty dragonhide pouch.
Noctis lowered its head to inspect the pouch, now noticeably plump again, and let out a less unpleasant caw of gratitude. Robin leaned against the control console, looking at the raven, and said casually as if chatting with an old friend:
"Sigh, I have to stare at this sand table for three hours every day—my eyes are going blurry! Earning these Galleons really isn't easy."
"Caw!"
"The most infuriating thing is my boss!"
She rolled her eyes, imitating someone's lazy drawl. "He just lounges in his fancy office with thick carpets all day, either reading the newspaper or Witch Weekly! And whenever he suddenly feels like wandering out, he starts pointing fingers and giving completely useless instructions! I really want to smack that shiny forehead of his with a nasty curse!"
"Caw!"
"Fortunately, I've got a few even more miserable coordinators under me," she went on, sounding a bit smug. "When I'm drowning in work, I can secretly dump some tasks on them. Otherwise, I'd collapse on this control console sooner or later!"
"Caw!"
"But their movements are just too—slow—! Work I can finish in half an hour takes the three of them three hours! Their inefficiency drives me mad! And when I want to scold them, it turns out they haven't even been slacking off—their eyes are bloodshot from overworking, and they look so pitiful… sigh!"
"Caw!"
~~~~~~~
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