Venice's Santa Lucia Railway Station did not have a platform reserved exclusively for wizards like King's Cross Station.
The last time they had taken the European Express, they had transferred at Mestre Station and crossed Liberty Bridge to Venice's main island.
This time, they would not be returning the way they had come. They would take a Muggle train to Turin.
After nightfall, there were no more bullet trains, so they had to take a slow train again. They could sleep on the train, and by dawn, they would more or less be there.
It reminded her of those nights when the European Express wound its way through the Alps. While the witch hunts raged amid picturesque snowy mountains and grasslands, wizards fled to places they considered safe. In a sense, that train had been like the Knight Bus.
As for the wizarding villages built in the mountains, perhaps there were other stories behind them.
Powerful wizards like Grindelwald had built castles deep in the mountains, and Muggles still did not dare disturb them.
Just as Pomona was lost in thought while gazing out the window, the train suddenly jolted backward, then slowly began to move.
The sleeping compartments on Muggle trains were far less luxurious than those on the European Express. Perhaps that was because the train cars had been cast with an Extension Charm, making their interiors much larger than they appeared.
Muggles did not possess that ability, so they could only make use of every inch of space in the carriage. Only the dining car had even a touch of elegant decoration.
"That's good news," said a certain gentleman who had been silent for a long time. "Housing prices are high right now. Once they fall, we can buy again."
"Is that what you were thinking about?"