Back home

BLEURG~~

The sound of vomiting echoed through the tucked-away alley, dark and devoid of life.

Soon, it was accompanied by similar sounds from different individuals.

Percival, John, and Robert were all hunched over like shrimp, pale-faced as they emptied their guts in the corner.

Fred was nauseous as he swayed from side to side before seeking solace with the wall next to him.

I peeked my head from the alley to survey our surroundings. I had imagined one of the very desolate areas I had gotten a glimpse of while walking with Professor McGonagall. But the alley was rather deep and the further you went in the darker and creepier it became.

Yet I could see tons of traffic as I looked towards my left and into the far distance. It was bright and full of colour, very different from the bleak, cold tones present. The occasional rat scurried between my feet as they hid in the trash.

After making sure that nobody was close by I turned around to see that everyone had more or less composed themselves.

John looked at the rats, his face becoming increasingly black as more lines appeared on his face the longer he did so.

Percival was the first to reach me and looked out into the alley, curious as to where they were.

"Why did you pick this dirty place?" John asked as he patted the dust off his shoulder while carefully making sure not to step on the rotting trash littering the majority of the floor.

"Because a group of people apparating in the middle of a jam-packed street would be very conspicuous. Not to mention apparating here is not allowed for normal wizards. There are designated places for that, apparating in the middle of the street will have us being fined for up to 20 galleons. repeat offences will have the fine multiply 2 fold each time. Furthermore, we don't need to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves today.

It would be a headache to deal with any questions about your identities." I responded.

"That's understandable, but if we don't want to draw attention then why did you come dressed like that?" Percival asked as he waved his finger up and down my body.

"Oh, that…"

I directed magic energy towards my left eye and a wave of white light covered my body. I didn't notice a difference but to everyone who had looked at me in that instant, they would have seen me go from muggle clothes to a dark cloak covering my entire body.

"Is that…" Percival was puzzled as he didn't quite understand what was going on.

"It's an Illusion you ape," John said confidently, casting a mocking and disapproving gaze toward Percival as if his answer was the only natural option.

Percival nodded very calmly, humming in approval as he made his way toward John, all the while winding his fist back ready to release it upon John's face only to be stopped by Fred.

"Come one man, as if you aren't already accustomed to his mannerisms," Fred said trying to calm Percival down.

John didn't even register what had happened and instead focused on me, sizing me up from head to toe.

"I'm most fascinated by this little trick of yours Tom, mind teaching me sometime?" He asked as he cupped his chin, still observing me as he spoke.

"Well, it's not exactly something I can teach since it's an ability of mine, but there might be magic related to this. This is simply an optical illusion that affects anyone who looks at me. We can sit down some time and see if we can't try and develop a spell that has a similar effect." I proposed.

It was rare for John to have any interest in anything, and given his nature, I think illusions would suit him rather well. A nobleman who uses illusions to confuse his foes until they defeat themselves. I could perfectly envision it.

John nodded and happily smiled at my proposal.

"Well, now that everyone is ready, let's get going, we have a few hours to explore around before we have to return," I said

Seeing everyone nod, I step out from the cover of the secluded alley and into a slightly wider one. Unlike the previous one though, this one had people in it, crisscrossing as they walked by and disappearing into a different alleyway.

Some were huddled in a corner avoided the prying eyes of passer-by's, inaudible whispers here and there. It was certainly not an accommodating place.

I could feel that Percival and Robert were slightly tense as we walked forward. the sun couldn't quite reach the alleyway due to the sinisterly tall buildings in close proximity to each other.

Broken windows, moving plants that seemed to be able to suck out your soul, doors that creaked, and barking from unknown beasts accumulated and tested the resilience of the duo. John was more worried about dodging the occasional puddle to avoid dirtying his cloak and shoes. Not the least bit worried about anything else.

Then there was Fred, not surprisingly, he was as cool as a cucumber, not caring for anything and simply took everything in with curiosity. After all, he was a werebear, who in their right mind would mess with him? And even if they didn't know, he was more than capable of dealing with anything that came his way swiftly and efficiently.

The quality of magical education between England and America could not be bridged at all. He was already better than 99% of Hogwarts alumni on magical casting ability and foundational knowledge alone. Just that thought already made me feel depressed.

As a citizen of England, the performance of English wizards good or bad directly influenced my pride, although very not by very much, it nonetheless had an impact. I sighed slightly, there was nothing I could do in the short run, there was certainly a plot beneath all this, and I would eventually unearth it.

We finally arrived at the end of the alleyway, as if drawing a line, the sun was cut off by the buildings, forming a sort of day and night contrast. I turned to look at the almost pitch black alleyway before turning again to look at the completely packed 10-meter wide cobblestone footpath, where wizards of all kinds were scurrying around here and there. Some shop owners were yelling to sell their goods, some were laughing as they conversed with their peers as they waddled along passing by me.

I couldn't help but smile, this was the place that introduced me to the world of magic, a very dear place in my heart. I felt at peace here, ironic considering the near-deafening amount of noise coming from every direction.

Home sweet home.