Chapter 44The Journey Ended

I know this ending might sound crazy, even to people who are always surprised by everything. But I'm totally ready for anyone who doubts it.

The Strombolite fishermen were super welcoming, treating us like we were stranded. They hooked us up with clothes and food. After about two days, on September thirtieth, a small boat took us to Messina. A few days of chill vibes there really got us back to normal.

On Friday, October fourth, we hopped on the Volturne, a mail ship for the Imperial Messageries of France. Three days later, we were in Marseilles, but all I could think about was our weird, unreliable compass. It was seriously stressing me out. On October ninth, we finally made it to Hamburg.

Can you imagine Martha’s face? And Gretchen’s happiness? I can’t even put it into words.

"Seriously, Harry, you’re a total hero," she said.

"There's no way you should ever leave me again."

I looked at her. She was crying happy tears.

You can just picture how big of a deal Professor Hardwigg’s return was in Hamburg, right? Thanks to Martha spilling the tea, everyone knew he's gone into the center of the Earth.

Nobody believed it - and seeing him come back safe just made them doubt it even more.

But then Hans showed up, and little bits of info started changing people's minds.

Suddenly, my uncle was a big shot, and I was the nephew of a big shot, which is something, at least. Hamburg threw us a huge party. They even had a special meeting at the Johanneum Institution, where Professor Hardwigg told the whole story - except for the details about the compass.

That same day he dropped off the document Saknussemm wrote in the town archives, and he said he was really bummed that stuff beyond his control stopped him from following the Icelandic traveler all the way to the center of the earth. He wasn’t showing off, but his rep just kept getting bigger.

Tons of honor naturally made a bunch of jealous people. They were totally there, and since his ideas, backed by some real evidence, went against what science said about heat in the earth’s core, he stood his ground, writing and speaking out against experts from all over.

Even though I still think the central heat theory is solid, I gotta admit some things - still kinda fuzzy - might change how we understand natural stuff like that.

Right when everyone was debating all this, my uncle got a serious jolt - a real gut punch. Hans, no matter what he said, left Hamburg; the guy we owed so much to wasn’t letting us thank him properly. He was feeling homesick; missing his Icelandic home hardcore.

"Farval," he said one day, and with that one word, he was off to Reykjavik, which he reached safe and sound.

We were super close to our brave duck hunter. He’s never gonna be forgotten by the people whose lives he saved, and I really hope I get to see him again sometime soon.

Wrapping it up, our journey into the earth's interior caused a huge buzz all over the world. It got translated and printed in tons of languages.

Major newspapers ran excerpts, which people commented on, debated, ripped apart, and defended with equal energy - both those who believed the story and those who thought it was total fiction.

My uncle totally crushed it during his life - got all the recognition he deserved. Seriously, Mr. Barnum even offered him a ton of cash to show off in the United States! And get this, a traveler told me he’s even on display as a wax figure at Madame Tussaud’s!

But he had this one thing bugging him, making him really bummed out. There was this one thing he couldn't figure out - the compass. It was super frustrating for a smart guy to be stumped by something so weird. But luckily, things worked out, and my uncle ended up happy.

One day, while he was sorting through his rock collection, I stumbled upon that famous compass and checked it out closely.

It had been sitting there untouched for six months.

I looked at it, curious, and then I was totally shocked. I yelled! The Professor rushed over. "What's the deal?" he asked. "The compass!" "What about it?"

"The needle's pointing south, not north."

"Dude, you’re messing with me, right?"

"Nope. Seriously - the poles are switched." "Switched?!"

My uncle grabbed his glasses, looked at the thing, and jumped up and down, shaking the whole house. Suddenly, everything clicked.

"That's it!" he shouted, once he could speak, "after we passed Cape Saknussemm, the needle started pointing south instead of north." "Makes sense."

"But what caused this change?"

"It’s pretty straightforward." "Lay it on me, I'm on edge."

"Remember that storm on the Central Sea? That ball of fire that turned the iron in our raft into a magnet? That flipped our compass."

"Whoa!" the Professor exclaimed, laughing, "it was just some crazy electricity messing with us."

From that hour, my uncle was seriously the happiest guy ever - a super-smart one at that. And I was pretty chill too, just a regular dude. My girl, Virland, basically ditched being anyone’s ward and moved into the house on Konigstrasse. She was now my niece and my wife. Double win!

It's basically a no-brainer that her uncle was the legendary Professor Hardwigg. He was a corresponding member of every science, geography, mineralogy, and geology society on the whole planet. Seriously, all of them. End of the Voyage