Impromptu

When it came to European royal families, most people first thought of Britain. The British Queen was the oldest member of any royal family, and the House of Windsor was Europe's most high-profile and frequently seen royalty. Yet in terms of wealth, the British royal family was not the richest. The Queen possessed enormous wealth, but among Europe's royal monarchs, she ranked only fourth. Europe's wealthiest royal family belonged to the obscure miniature state of Liechtenstein.

Its entire population was under forty thousand, and its government parliament consisted of only five people, including the prime minister. It had no airport, no railway station, and no army. Yet this country's royal family, whether by total family wealth or the monarch's personal fortune, ranked first in Europe.

There were so few Muggles there, let alone wizards. The European Express made only one stop in Liechtenstein: its capital, Vaduz. Yet the station was not in the capital itself, but in Lindau on the shores of Lake Constance, some distance from Vaduz.

On the morning of February 27, 2005, when they had originally expected to arrive in Venice, Pomona and Severus boarded another train bound for Venice.

A journey was always full of surprises. Although their itinerary had been delayed, spending two days stranded in Switzerland had still been worthwhile. There were not many passengers with as much leisure and refinement as they had, however. Most had already left aboard other trains. Even the chef in the dining car was no longer Philippe, the film-loving Squib, but a bearded Austrian wizard.

Oh, Philippe had broken his promise. He had arranged to cook dinner with Pomona while watching the sunset.

Not every Squib was as unpleasant-looking as Filch, nor did every German wizard enjoy Dark magic. Joseph, for one, loved culinary magic. German cuisine was