Sophie, an average teenage girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-but-mysterious wizard named Howl, and is subsequently turned into a 90-year-old woman by the vain and conniving Wicked Witch of the Waste . Embarking on an incredible odyssey to lift the curse, she finds refuge in Howl\'s magical moving castle where she becomes acquainted with Markl, Howl\'s apprentice, and a hot-headed fire demon named Calcifer. Sophie\'s love and support comes to have a major impact on Howl, who flies in the face of orders from the palace to become a pawn of war and instead risks his life to help bring peace to the kingdom.