Howl then has the castle magically-linked to Sophie's home, parking the castle itself on the town's outskirts. Sophie learns that Howl's life is somehow bound to Calcifer's, and that Howl has been transforming into a bird-like creature in order to interfere with both sides in the war, but each transformation makes it more difficult for him to return to human form. Howl arrives to rescue Sophie Suliman tries to trap him, but with Sophie's help, they escape along with the former witch. Suliman warns that Howl will meet the same fate if he does not fight.
Sophie meets Suliman, the king's advisor, and also the Witch of the Waste, whom Suliman punishes by draining all of her power, causing her to regress into a harmless old woman. Before leaving, he gives Sophie a charmed ring that connects her to Calcifer. The King summons Howl to fight in the war however, Howl decides to send Sophie to the King (under the pretense of being his mother) to tell him that Howl is too much of a coward to fight. Meanwhile, Sophie's nation is caught up in a war with a neighboring kingdom, who is searching for their missing prince. When Howl appears, Sophie announces that she has hired herself as a cleaning lady. He leads her to Howl's moving castle, where she meets Howl's young apprentice Markl, and the fire-demon Calcifer, who is the source of the castle's magic. Seeking to break the curse, Sophie leaves home and sets off through the countryside she meets a living scarecrow, whom she decides to call 'Turnip Head'. Upon returning home, she meets the Witch of the Waste, who transforms her into a ninety-year-old woman. Sophie, a young milliner, encounters a wizard named Howl on her way to visit her sister Lettie.