When it came to traveling in the Alps, perhaps no one would think of Austria, and no one would think of Innsbruck.
This was a small city where you could look up at any time and see the Alps. Situated in the widest part of the mountain range's heartland, Innsbruck was also known as the Heart of the Alps.
Beside the valley stood the Nordkette, whose highest peak was Hafelekarspitze at an elevation of 2,256 meters. The lower part of the mountain was granite and the upper part limestone. At a glance, its summit was covered in white snow, while its lower half was blanketed by lush green forests.
Within the city were Empress Maria's summer residence, the Hofburg Imperial Palace; Ferdinand II's castle, Ambras Castle; and Maximilian I's Golden Roof, the "Last Knight." Such royal buildings could be found everywhere in this little city.
It was a quiet and peaceful city, blessed with both cultural charm and natural beauty. Even Goethe had once passed through here, climbed the Nordkette, and left behind verses that drew countless later admirers to walk this Path of the Great.
If you were reading a Muggle travel guide, it would surely describe the city this way: a heaven on earth, the pearl of Austria, and so on.
Yet to the Magic World, this place carried another meaning. Beyond the Nordkette, farther north into the depths of the Alps, lay the Stubai Glacier, a snow-capped mountain at an elevation of 3,150 meters and the highest peak in Tyrol.
At the height of summer in Innsbruck, the icy mountains and drifting snow of deep winter still lay before one's eyes. The eternally unmelting glaciers and the long, winding wonders of the valleys made it feel as though one had entered another world.
To Muggles, what lay