Howl’s Moving Castle: Chapter Eleven Summary & Analysis

The nothingness is only an inch thick, so Sophie passes onto a street lined with new houses. Once she joins Howl and Michael in the street, Howl says they need clothes to fit in: Michael is suddenly wearing stiff blue pants and canvas shoes, while Howl’s suit transforms into a jacket that says, inexplicably, WELSH RUGBY. Sophie’s skirt just gets a bit shorter. Howl then leads the way back up the path and into the house. There’s a magic box with moving and speaking pictures in it, a woman knitting, and a tiny girl—who runs straight into “Uncle Howell’s” arms. After speaking to the girl in a foreign language, Howl introduces Sophie and Michael to his niece, Mari, and his sister, Megan. Megan looks anxious and disapproving.

Howl tells Megan he’s only here for a minute, and he asks if Neil is missing some English homework. Megan says he is: he gave his new English teacher, Miss Angorian, a “funny old piece of writing” that he found instead. He’s upstairs with “that machine of his.” So, Howl leads Sophie and Michael up the stairs, Mari’s hand in his. In a bedroom, two boys are crouched over one of several “magic boxes” growing on white stalks attached to the wall. One boy tells Howl to not distract Neil, since Neil will lose his life—but Howl pulls a plant’s roots out of the wall anyway.

Neil glares at his uncle, but when Howl promises to make a new computer game for Neil, Neil identifies the strange paper as a poem Miss Angorian gave them as homework last week. He says he gave her the funny writing he found, and she took it home. Once Neil tells Howl where Miss Angorian lives, Howl teases his nephew, hands over a flat packet, and plugs the roots back into the wall. Sophie is shocked by all she’s seen. But when she reaches the bottom of the stairs, Howl and Megan are arguing: Megan sold Howl’s books. Megan insists that Howl is a disgrace, and she can’t just store his stuff. He doesn’t have a job and just hangs around with “layabouts.” Sophie understands now how Howl learned to slither out of things—Megan is intimidating.

Sophie steps forward, suggests Howl’s servants are probably selling his valuables, and tells Megan that Howl is very busy. As she leads the way to the door, Howl asks Megan if his car is still here. She says he has the only key. With this, Howl leads Sophie and Michael out of the house to a small white building. Sophie desperately wants to forget what happens next: they ride in a very fast, horseless carriage over steep roads. They soon reach the appointed building and Howl rings a bell. Miss Angorian answers—and to everyone’s shock, she’s young and beautiful, with dark hair and huge eyes. She already knows who Howl is. Howl swallows his surprise and turns on the charm, and Sophie suspects his romance with Lettie is over.

Howl explains to Miss Angorian that he’s looking for the paper Neil turned in last week, and she invites him in. In the living room, Sophie sinks into an uncomfortable chair, and Michael blushes as Howl flirts. Finally, Miss Angorian locates the paper and asks Howl if he knows what it is. He tries to grab her hand as he takes the paper (she avoids him) and then Howl hands the spell to Michael. Michael identifies it as an enlargement spell, and Miss Angorian asks what Howl is doing with it. He reminds her that he wrote his doctoral thesis on spells and charms, and he swears that he doesn’t practice “black magic.” It’s just old, valuable, and an object of study.

In return, Miss Angorian asks for her photocopy back. As he dangles the paper in front of her, Howl asks who the poet is. She severely says it’s John Donne and reaches for the book on her shelf. When Howl asks Miss Angorian out, she insists she’s still engaged to Ben Sullivan who disappeared years ago. Then, she begins to read the second verse of the poem. It asks a reader who can see invisible things to ride 10,000 days and nights, until their hair is white, and then return with stories about what they saw. But that person, the speaker says, will still not be able to say that a faithful woman exists. Sophie notices that Howl’s face is white. He hurriedly says that he doesn’t need to hear the rest; the woman remains unfaithful, and it’s time to go. 

Assuring Miss Angorian he’s fine, Howl hurries Sophie and Michael out of the apartment and into the horseless carriage. Howl is clearly upset, but he refuses to tell Michael what’s going on when Michael asks. Finally, as they approach the yellow house again, Howl says the Witch of the Waste’s curse is catching up, and he’ll be 10,000 days old on Midsummer Day. He’ll have to go back to the Witch then. He mutters about avoiding mandrake roots and mermaids as he opens the door to reveal Calcifer inside. When Howl says the Witch has caught up, Calcifer says he “felt it take.”