Harry suddenly had a brilliant idea. "Why don't we go visit Ron?"
"An excellent suggestion," Maurise nodded in agreement. "I am fairly certain Fred and George will be highly interested in inspecting my vessel. After all, they have already officially pledged to serve as my crewmen."
'Those twins are going to pass out from sheer excitement,' Harry thought to himself, a genuine smile breaking across his face.
"The Weasleys actually won the grand prize in the Daily Prophet Galleon Draw," Harry explained. "They won seven hundred Galleons! They spent the vast majority of the summer holiday touring Egypt, but they should be back home by now."
"Seven hundred Galleons?" Maurise let out a low, impressed whistle. "That is certainly a substantial windfall."
'What an incredibly fortunate family.'
Maurise had always cynically assumed that those newspaper lotteries were entirely rigged from the start. Perhaps he ought to purchase a ticket or two himself next time. One never knew.
"Do you happen to know the exact coordinates of their residence?" Harry asked.
"Fred and George provided me with a detailed map," Maurise replied, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a worn, slightly crumpled piece of parchment.
The twins had extended an open invitation to visit the Burrow months ago, but his grueling research schedule hadn't permitted it until now.
"Let us depart," Maurise smiled faintly, studying the hand-drawn map. "It should only take us approximately an hour of flight time."
At that exact moment, a massive, dark shadow swept directly over Harry's head.
He instinctively looked up, pressing his face against the curved glass of the bottle. He noticed a colossal, winged creature flying directly in front of the Ship in a Bottle, seemingly towing the massive vessel through the air by a series of invisible tethers.
"What on earth is that...?"
Harry squinted against the glaring sunlight. Because the massive wooden cork partially obstructed his line of sight, he couldn't make out the creature's full anatomy. He could only catch fleeting glimpses of stark, bleached white.
Wait a moment.
Those were bones. He recognized the distinct shape of a colossal ribcage. It was the skeletal remains of some unknown, terrifying behemoth.
He knew Maurise specialized in a highly obscure, slightly morbid branch of bone magic. This was undoubtedly another one of his bizarre creations.
Using necromancy to force a massive skeleton to act as an airborne tugboat sounded utterly absurd on paper, but considering it was Maurise... it somehow felt entirely logical.
In reality, the creature towing them was Maurise's prized bone dragon.
Because the internal propulsion matrices for the Ship in a Bottle were still highly unstable and incomplete, Maurise had been forced to adopt this temporary, highly undignified workaround, utilizing the bone dragon as an external engine.
'My runic mastery is still vastly insufficient,' Maurise sighed inwardly, lamenting his own perceived incompetence.
While Harry was still trying to deduce the skeletal behemoth's identity, Maurise beckoned to him. "Let us head down into the cabin, Harry."
Harry snapped out of his daze and followed Maurise down a narrow wooden staircase leading beneath the main deck.
The interior cabin was remarkably cozy and inviting, possessing an aesthetic that clashed entirely with the rugged, nautical exterior of the ship.
Thick, warm carpets covered the floorboards. Magical sconces emitting a soft, warm white light lined the walls. A plush, oversized emerald-green sofa and two matching armchairs were arranged comfortably around a low wooden coffee table.
Maurise sank into one of the armchairs and gestured around the room. "We are currently in the main parlor. If you proceed through the door on your left, you will find a corridor containing several guest bedrooms. The washroom is located on the right. You are entirely free to explore the premises. Ah, but please do not open the final door at the very end of the corridor. That is my private sanctum."
Harry was completely baffled by the sheer square footage of the interior. "This room seems drastically larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside."
"I am quite proficient at spatial manipulation," Maurise explained easily. With a casual flick of his wand, he directed the elegant porcelain tea set resting on the coffee table to pour two steaming cups of tea. "The Undetectable Extension Charm. I presume you have encountered the theory behind it?"
"Honestly, no. I haven't," Harry admitted.
"Would you like me to provide a comprehensive theoretical breakdown?" Maurise offered a slight smile. "Though I cannot guarantee you will comprehend the underlying arithmancy."
Harry accepted the floating teacup, feeling a profound sense of surreal detachment wash over him.
They were currently soaring tens of thousands of feet in the air, relaxing inside a highly luxurious parlor located within a wooden ship that was itself encased inside a colossal glass bottle, casually discussing the finer points of spatial expansion magic.
"It feels exactly like a bizarre dream, doesn't it?" Maurise noted softly, taking a refined sip of his tea.
Harry nodded in silent agreement.
"In truth, I share that exact sentiment," Maurise sighed softly, completely relaxing his posture and sinking deeper into the armchair. "But that is the true essence of magic, isn't it? Taking the absolute limits of your imagination... and painstakingly, agonizingly... forging them into reality."
Harry felt that this highly philosophical approach to magic was vastly different from his own understanding. Wasn't magic simply waving a wand and shouting Latin incantations to make things explode or float?
For the remainder of the flight, Maurise generously shared his private stash of high-end desserts, which he had meticulously sourced from various Muggle bakeries across London.
Roughly forty-five minutes later, Harry felt the Ship in a Bottle begin a rapid descent, eventually coming to a complete, perfectly smooth halt.
"We have arrived," Maurise stated, glancing out a nearby porthole. He stood up and stretched his limbs. "Let us head out. I can already see a welcoming party approaching our position. It appears to be the Weasleys."
Harry quickly set his teacup down and followed Maurise back up to the main deck.
Just as before, they climbed down the wooden rope ladder and stepped through the glowing archway in the glass.
The lopsided, chaotic silhouette of the Burrow stood a short distance away. Three figures were sprinting frantically across the tall grass toward their landing site.
"By the way, won't Muggles spot us flying a massive glass bottle through the sky?" Harry suddenly asked, the memory of the disastrous flying Ford Anglia incident from last year flashing through his mind.
"Rest assured, I have thoroughly accounted for that logistical vulnerability," Maurise cast him a sidelong glance. "I wove an incredibly potent array of concealment charms into the exterior. The Ship in a Bottle is entirely imperceptible to Muggle senses."
That was precisely one of the primary reasons he had encased the ship within the glass bottle; the smooth, continuous surface was vastly easier to engrave with complex, large-scale concealment runes than the uneven, shifting planks of a wooden hull.
As they spoke, the three figures finally reached them, panting heavily.
It was Fred, George, and Mr. Arthur Weasley.
"I bloody knew it was you, Maurise!"
The twins' eyes were practically glowing with an intense, manic excitement as they stared in absolute awe at the colossal Ship in a Bottle resting behind Maurise.
Arthur Weasley looked equally dumbstruck, his jaw practically hanging open.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Weasley. I am Maurise Black. Please, just call me Maurise," Maurise stepped forward, offering a highly polite, respectful greeting.
Arthur finally snapped out of his daze. He blinked rapidly, suddenly looking slightly nervous. "Oh! Hello there, Maurise! It is an absolute pleasure to finally meet you. Fred and George have spoken at length regarding your... unique talents."
Noticing that all three redheads were still staring obsessively at his creation, Maurise smiled warmly. "Would you care for a guided tour?"
Fred and George nodded so violently their heads looked like they were about to pop off their necks.
"Right this way," Maurise stepped aside, gesturing gracefully toward the glowing archway.
"I am going to go find Ron!" Harry announced, immediately sprinting toward the Burrow. He was incredibly eager to witness Ron's reaction to the impossible vessel.
---
Fifteen minutes later, the entirety of the Weasley family residing at the Burrow was crammed into Maurise's parlor.
Bill and Charlie were the only ones absent, as they were currently working abroad.
Even so, the cozy parlor felt incredibly crowded.
"Perhaps I ought to further expand the interior dimensions," Maurise muttered thoughtfully, waving his wand to initiate the ship's ascent.
"It is absolutely perfect as it is!" Fred slung an arm heavily over Maurise's shoulder, leaning in to whisper. "Did you genuinely build this entire thing by yourself?!"
"Who else would have built it?" Maurise shrugged easily. "I intend to utilize this vessel as the official mobile headquarters for The Explorers."
'Headquarters!'
"I have never been so incredibly thrilled to join an organization in my entire life!" George practically vibrating with excitement.
He spun around, shouting over the chatter. "Mum! Dad! Isn't this ship absolutely brilliant?!"
"It is the single most magnificent Muggle artifact I have ever witnessed!" Arthur replied instantly, his face pressed entirely flat against the thick glass of a porthole.
Molly, Ginny, Ron, and Percy were all crowded tightly around the same porthole, fighting for a clear view of the shrinking landscape below.
Maurise made a mental note to install significantly more windows.