The next morning, sunlight filtered through the window of the underground dormitory—which looked out onto magical plants—casting dappled spots of light across the floor.
Stelle woke up.
She had slept wonderfully, yesterday’s fatigue completely washed away.
She walked into the Great Hall alongside her roommates, Hannah, Susan, and Megan.
The ceiling of the Great Hall was a soft blue, dotted with wisps of white clouds.
The long tables were already laden with breakfast: porridge, bacon, eggs, kippers, along with mountains of bread and oatcakes.
Stelle sat down near the end of the Hufflepuff table.
A timetable appeared beside her hand.
She glanced at it, saw that the classes were indeed very wizardly, and stopped paying attention to it.
She naturally began eating a piece of toast spread thickly with butter.
All around was the lively chatter and crisp clinking of cutlery, vibrant with energy.
Just then, an unusual flapping sound accompanied by a faint mechanical hum approached from the distance.
Students looked up one after another, only to see a peculiarly styled “bird” nimbly weaving through the upper space of the Great Hall, agilely avoiding the delivery owls.
It possessed sleek metallic lines, its wings gleaming with blue energy circuits, and a pair of optical-sensor-like eyes precisely scanning the scene below.
“What’s that?” Ron Weasley asked indistinctly, half a sausage dangling from his mouth.
“Never seen a magical creature like that…” nearby Ravenclaws murmured, brows furrowed as they searched their memories.
Hermione gasped, “Oh, it looks a bit like a drone!” The Cycrane executed a graceful hover in midair before swooping down.
Under the gaze of countless curious and astonished eyes, it landed steadily on the Hufflepuff long table, right beside Stelle’s honey jar.
It emitted an electronic chirp, then from the storage compartment in its chest, it spat out a letter of a bizarre texture.
The paper seemed woven from starlight, emitting a subtle glow.
It had no postage stamp or wax seal, only a single concise line of writing: [To Stelle, Personally].
Having completed its task, the Cycrane took to the air once more, turning into a streak of blue light that vanished at the entrance of the Great Hall, leaving behind a hall filled with animated chatter.
Stelle stared in the direction where the Cycrane had vanished, her eyes sparkling as she whispered, “So cool.” Stelle stared at the unexpected letter before her, momentarily stunned.
She set down her toast and picked up the letter.
The moment her fingertips touched the paper, a familiar, warm sensation radiated from the wand in her pocket.
She opened the letter.
There was no sound, but when her eyes landed on the paper, the light-formed words resonated directly in her mind—it was the voices and thoughts of everyone on the Astral Express: [To our Trailblazer stranded on an alien world:] [Stelle, hope this letter finds you well.
First, we’ve confirmed that your coordinates are stable and your vital signs are steady.
That allows us to put our anxious hearts to rest.
(Though a certain Express guard won’t admit it, after sensing that your aura went from chaotic to stable, he quietly spent the whole night wiping Cloud-Piercer.)] [Don’t worry about us.
Thanks to the resonance of the ‘Stelle Dust’ in your wand, as well as…
(omitting Aha’s thousand different ways of causing trouble here), we managed to establish this extremely unstable one-way communication channel.
Energy is limited, so we’ll keep it brief.] [Pom-Pom is very worried about you and cleans your passenger cabin room extra thoroughly every day.
Your collection (including all those treasures you gathered from various worlds) is being safely kept for you.
The Express is always your home, and Pom-Pom is waiting for you to come back and try its newly developed Pom-Pom cookies!] [March took a lot of new photos, saying she wants to wait for you to come back so you can make a photo album together.
She also kept shouting that once a stable channel is found, she absolutely must visit your new school, and check out that moving hat and sorting chair (we tried our best to explain that they’re the same thing).] [By analyzing the faint data transmitted from your wand, Mr.
Yang speculates that the world you are in possesses a unique system of rules called magic.
He reminds you to learn with an open mind, but be sure to maintain the clarity and judgment of a Trailblazer.
Knowledge itself knows no boundaries.] [Finally, and most importantly—] [Stelle, just explore at your own pace.
There’s no need to rush to find a way back; the Path of Trailblaze extends into the unknown far beyond.
We believe in you—wherever you are, you will carve out your own brilliant trajectory and make new companions.] [Remember, the Astral Express is always proud of you.
We’ll be waiting for you to share your stories.] [—Missing you: Himeko, Dan Heng, March 7th, Welt Yang, and Pom-Pom, who is always waiting for you.] At the end of the letter, there was a simple sketch outlined in light showing a group photo of the Astral Express crew, each face wearing a warm smile.
Stelle sat in the noisy Great Hall, surrounded by hushed whispers about the Cycrane and herself, but she felt as though she couldn’t hear a thing.
She merely lowered her head, her golden eyes intently fixed on the glowing words on the paper, reading through every line over and over again.
Her fingers gently stroked the simple sketch of the Astral Express crew on the paper, her lips involuntarily curving into a soft smile.
A sour, warm sensation welled up in her nose and eyes.
She blinked hard several times to force back the wetness, though her eyes remained slightly red.
She even quietly sniffled, swallowing down the warmth that crested in her chest.
She wasn’t alone.
Her family had crossed worlds in a way that was uniquely theirs to tell her that they were there, that they were thinking of her, and that they were proud of her.
“Stelle, are you okay?” Hannah asked softly from beside her, looking concerned.
“That letter…?” Stelle took a deep breath and carefully, as if handling an invaluable treasure, refolded the letter along its original lines.
She didn’t answer Hannah immediately.
Instead, she first placed the letter very solemnly inside the inner pocket of her robes, patting it gently to ensure it rested securely against her chest.
Only after doing this did she truly seem at ease.
Then, she turned her head to look at Hannah, Susan, and Megan, who all wore looks of concern, as well as a few nearby Hufflepuff classmates who were also looking at her with curiosity.
Her expression had returned to its usual composure, but her eyes held something softer and brighter.
“It’s a letter from my family,” she said softly, her tone carrying an unmistakable sense of peace and warmth.
She picked up the now slightly cold piece of buttered toast, took a big bite, and gave her roommates a smile even brighter than the sunshine.