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The Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling 1997, Ch. 6, pg. 83)

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

'It' is used when we mention what we had just said in the previous sentence, so I thought 'it' here means a mountain because there's nothing else that can be 'it' in 'Perched atop a high mountain on the other side'.

But what is 'mountain's windows' then? Does a mountain have windows?

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    It's bad form not even to credit the author in your question. You can understand the sentence more easily if you arrange the clauses differently: "A vast castle with many turrets and towers was perched atop a high mountain on the other side with its windows sparkling in the starry sky." ...or... "A vast castle with many turrets and towers, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was perched atop a high mountain on the other side."
    – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica
    Jul 15 '17 at 4:18
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In this passage, the "it" refers to the vast castle. Notice how the dependent clause (perched atop a high mountain on the side) makes the subject of the sentence clear, in that the subject is something that's perched on top of a mountain.

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