Getting to Penwick
Departure from Cardiff
Students bound for Penwick begin their journey at Cardiff Bay’s Pierhead Building, the famous red-brick Gothic landmark crowned with a great clock tower. To Muggles, it is a civic hall and a national landmark, but hidden within its vaulted chambers is a mooring bay large enough to cradle a ship and a bay too large to ever logistically fit inside. The school’s enchanted zeppelin, the Aderyn, rests there, tethered to chains that hum faintly as if alive. When the bay doors in the ceiling open and the vessel drifts free, it rises from the waterside like a cloud given form, unnoticed by the city below.
On the West side of the Pierhead Building is an old iron door marked
Coal Storage: Keep Out. To Muggles, the door never opens, the key assumed to be lost to time. For wizards, however, it swings freely into a long ramp that descends into the mooring chamber housing the Aderyn. Muggle family wanting to escort their Penwick student need to stay close, or the door will close before they're able to enter.
The crowds in Cardiff Bay always seem to be quite large on the days students travel to or from Penwick, allowing their luggage and entering a seemingly unauthorized door to go by unnoticed.
The Mooring Bay
The ramp spills into a cavernous bay, impossible by ordinary architecture, larger than the Pierhead Building itself. Powerful magic keeps the Mooring Bay and Pierhead Building existing in the same locations without overlapping.
The Mooring Bay's vaulted ceiling curves high overhead in sweeping arches of dark iron. Between the iron stretch panels of glass veined with bronze, casting fractured sunlight across the polished stone floor below.
At the far end of the hall, the ceiling curves upward into a great, domed aperture of interlocking glass and iron. When the ship enters or leaves, the structure opens like the petals of a mechanical flower, allowing the ship to transport its passengers North or bring them safely home.
The Aderyn floats several meters above the ground, and a ramp leading up to the floating vessel helps students push their belongings inside the large double doors of the ship.
The Aderyn
At first glance, the ship appears to be a cloud caged with brass. For indeed, the ship's envelope was charmed to appear like a large cloud to aid in concealing the flying vehicle as it transports students to and from Penwick. From the envelope extends three tall white sails, their fabric woven with charms that catch invisible currents. Below hangs the gondola, fashioned from brass and glass windows.
Though compact from the outside, the gondola of the Aderyn opens into a space far larger than it should be, expanded with enchantments layered since the ship’s first flight. Its interior feels part railway carriage, part grand lounge, and part conservatory, all stitched together with brass, glass, and woodwork polished to a warm gleam.
The doors of the Aderyn open into a grand saloon, the main space of the ship. The room is wide, tall, and open, allowing ample space for students to walk and explore. Large windows show the outside world passing by, and older students race to claim favourite windows at the beginning of the journey to wave goodbye to their family, while first-years often press their faces up against the glass at night to get their first view of Penwick Castle.
A polished, rounded concessions counter stands in the center, with a bar and stools wrapping around its circular shape. The counter is run by a brass automaton, and sells cocoa, tea, butterbeer, plates of biscuits and pasties that never seem to run out, and a plethora of other wizarding treats. When space runs out at the bar, tables, chairs, and small couches dotted around the room allow for ample seating.
The saloon is never quiet, always filled with the clatter of mugs, the sound of a game of exploding snap, the hoot of an owl, and the sniffles of a first-year leaving home for the first time (or possibly a student learning they are allergic to cats).
At the back of the saloon stands a grand oak staircase, leading to both the upper and lower decks.
The lower deck is a narrow hallway, with sliding doors lining the walls, akin to train compartments. Used by students who wish for more privacy, these compartments comfortably fit 6 students, though larger friend groups have squeezed in more. The compartments are furnished with velvet benches, low brass tables, and shelves charmed never to lose the chess pieces, cards, or books upon them.
The upper deck is a promenade beneath a dome of glass, where students can lean against curved railings and watch the world fall away beneath them. The deck is the quietest place aboard, filled with the murmur of the enchanted engines and the rush of wind against the sails.
The Journey to Penwick
At 1 pm on the dot, The Aderyn rises and glides out of the Mooring Bay, up over the Pierhead Building and the waters of Cardiff Bay. Clouds gather around its hull until the ship itself seems part of the sky, sails taut with invisible winds.
As evening nears, the land below begins to rise. Mountains close in closer and closer until the valley reveals itself. A hidden cradle of cliffs and forest, with Penwick Castle gleaming at its heart. The Aderyn dips low and descends gracefully onto a grassy landing field built beside the castle at precisely 5 pm. Students disembark directly into the school’s shadow and are escorted inside. First-years and transfer students are given instructions for the Sorting Ceremony, while sorted students are released to unpack until supper.
