Amazing Muggle Benjamin
Chapter 1-
First Sight
NOTE: This chapter takes place in August, 1994, when Euros were not used in England yet.
Benjamin was making his way up the slight incline into the town of Guildford on his way to work. It was a sunny day, and he was sweating by the time he made it into town. He greeted Mabel outside of her coffee shop as usual, she was cleaning an outside table. "Mornin', Mabel," he said as she greeted him in return. He made his way past the florist and Willow's Sweets and opened the door to Davison Deli. His co-worker and best friend, Marlena St. Clair, was already inside, slicing the turkey and preparing it to go on display.
"Good morning, Marlena."
"Oh, good morning, dear. How are you?"
"Just fine, and you?"
"Wonderful. I expect it to be a busy day today, I heard from Bailey at the lodge that they just got in a bunch of tourists last night, and the campgrounds too, they're booked solid. Over 1000 people showed up in one day. Strange, huh?"
"Yeah, wonder what would bring them all here?"
The thought left his mind as he proceeded to turn the Open sign to face the street and went behind the counter to get ready for the day.
Marlena was right, it was a busy day. And they were tourists, all right. None of them seemed to really have dressed properly, most were wearing large coats or fancy suits. The line stretched right out the front door onto the sidewalk. Marlena went in the back to get more cheese when the next in line came to the counter, clearly someone who had never been to England before.
"Good afternoon. What can I get you?"
"I'll take a large Turkey Club with no onions and no tomatoes."
"Alright. Your total is 3.32."
"Three thirty-two?"
"Yes, 3 Pounds and 32 Shillings."
"Pounds?"
Another man, wearing a top hat and a hawaiian t-shirt, quickly jumped to the front of the line, as the man placing the order was going through his pockets.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, "you said 3.32?"
"Yes."
The first man pulled out three gold coins, but the man in the top hat quickly stuffed them back in his pocket before whispering something that sounded to Ben like "the other". Finally, the man put 3 pounds and 32 Shillings on the counter, and put on a big yet fake smile for Ben.
"Forgive me for prying, sir," said Ben, "what country is that money from?"
"It's umm.. German. From Germany."
"Ah, I see. Well, your order will be up in a minute."
At about 6 o' clock, as the lines started to die down, they got a call.
"Davison Deli."
"Hi, um, I'd like to place an order. And, uh, I need it delivered."
"Well, it has to be at least a 10 Pound order for us to deliver."
"Um, OK. We want 4 sandwiches with everything on it, we mean everything. Every meat and cheese you got, OK?"
"Alright, sir. The total is gonna be 14.53. Where should I deliver it to?"
"Um, we're at the campgrounds outside of town. We'll be waiting by the entrance. Oh, and don't be late, if it's not here in an hour, I'm not paying."
"Don't worry, it'll be there."
And with that Ben hung up and began preparing the 4 sandwiches the customer had ordered. 20 minutes later, as Marlena was going home for the night, he left the shop and made his way towards the campgrounds on the other side of town. It was a short walk, and he arrived at the clearing in sight of the entrance in 15 minutes. He crossed the clearing, and thought he could make out a group of young teenagers standing by the entrance. 'That must be them,' he thought. 'And they thought I wouldn't make it in time.' And as that thought went through his head, he stopped dead in his tracks. Oh no, the oven! I left it on! He turned and sprinted back to the deli, forgetting about the 1-hour guarantee he had given the customers. He would now certainly be late. As he arrived back at the deli, he unlocked the door to find everything alright. Ben thought that the oven, being a gas oven, would have filled the deli with gas by now, but the deli still smelled like fresh cut meat. He walked over to the oven. The oven, in fact, wasn't even on. I could have sworn I left the oven on. I clearly remembering now walking away from it without turning the knob to- His thought was interrupted by the phone.
"Davison Deli."
"Where is our delivery?"
"Sorry, sir. We had a problem here, it-it was my fault. I'm very sorry, sir. You won't have to pay for the sandwiches."
"Well, you seem like a nice guy, so I'll give you another chance. If you deliver my order in 30 minutes, I'll still pay for them."
"You're very kind, sir. I'll be over there right away."
"We'll see you there, and don't be late."
Ben, now angry with himself for thinking he had left the oven on, picked up the bag of sandwiches and proceeded back to the campsite to make his delivery. As he walked off, Mabel called out to him, but he was caught up in his thoughts, and did not hear her. It was so real, though. I could see myself leaving the oven on, and walking away. Did I just imagine it?" He pondered this thought for awhile before coming up with a suitable explanation. Maybe Marlena went back and turned it off. Content with that idea, he walked into the clearing once again and saw the young teenagers at the entrance. Then it happened. He stopped cold, he remembered something. I left the front door of the deli wide open. I have to go back! But wait, the delivery. I can't go back again. And besides, Guildford doesn't have any crime. No one would break in. It was as if his mind was arguing with itself, but the side of his mind that wanted to go back was being coaxed by something else, another reason it wanted to go back, to leave the clearing. Yes, but don't you remember seeing that suspicious man lurking in the shadows right outside the store when you left. That's right! Saving the deli is more important than one delivery. And with that, he wheeled around and sprinted back to the deli, hoping that the suspicious man he saw had not already broken in, or in this case, walked in to the deli. 10 minutes later, out of breath, he arrived at the deli, to find the door closed, and locked. The man must have gone in and locked the door from the inside. I should call the police. He ran over to Mabel's coffee shop to use the phone.
"Mabel, I need to use the phone!"
"Ben, is something wrong?"
"Someone broke into the deli. I left to make a delivery and left the door wide open. Now the robber's inside and he locked the door."
"Wait a sec, I remember seeing the door closed."
"That must have been after the robber went inside. Mabel, please, let me use the phone!"
"But I saw you walk off, and I called to you, but you didn't respond. And I'm sure I would have noticed if you left the door open." Another thought struck Ben: Could this have been my imagination, like before? No, last time Marlena must've come back and turned it off. Yes, however I remember leaving the door open.
"Mabel, why did you call out to me if it wasn't because I left the door open?"
"I wanted to see if you wanted anything from my shop before I closed up. That's all."
"...Oh."
Ben decided to go into the shop, with a baseball bat in hand, and look for the robber. He was now doubting that there was a robber inside, but his mind told him that he had left the door open and there was a suspicious man outside when he left. After a quick look through the whole deli, he was certain that there was no one inside. He wasn't sure what to believe now. Maybe he imagined leaving the door open. Maybe he was just tired from the long day and made it up. Suddenly, the phone rang again and Ben jumped. He ran to answer it.
"Davison Deli."
"I'm very disappointed, mister. I'm a hungry man with 3 friends who are just as hungry. All we asked was for you to bring us some sandwiches, and you have failed us." Ben could've sworn he heard laughter in the background. "Why couldn't you bring the sandwiches?"
"Umm, well, to be perfectly honest, I don't know, sir. But it's my fault, and you won't have to pay for them."
"There has to be a reason why? Why not?"
"It's uh... well, I don't know how to explain. I couldn't.. I... just don't know what to say. But I'll make it this time, don't worry."
"Whatever you say."
Ben hung up and began thinking. OK, if I go over there again, no matter what, I have to deliver the sandwiches. Even if I think that there's a fire burning down the deli, I'll still make the delivery. Ben was beginning to think that these sudden remembrances he was having were not real at all, and just the work of his imagination. If it happened once, he thought, I wouldn't be so skeptical. But it happened twice, and it happened both times right here in this clearing. But that doesn't make any sense. How can an open field like this trigger my imagination like that?
"Hello there."
Ben jumped as he was yanked out of his thoughts. It was the man from the phone, he and his friends had met Ben in the middle of the clearing. There was 4 of them, all about 18 years old.
"Here are your sandwiches."
Ben handed him the bag, and he smiled.
"Thanks a lot."
"You don't have to pay for them."
"Good, cuz I don't have any money." Ben thought this was an odd thing to say. What if Ben had shown up on time with the sandwiches and the man had to pay for them. But Ben had a feeling that somehow the man knew that he would be late and he wouldn't have to pay for them.
"Hey," Ben said, "what's over there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, every time I try to walk over there, I suddenly remember something urgent that I have to leave and take care of." The man chuckled, and patted Ben on the shoulder.
"Ya know, you're a pretty smart guy. Come on, I'll show you." Some of the other teenagers questioned the man's decision, but he persisted and said that Ben wouldn't understand what he saw.
"That's... why I couldn't make the delivery earlier, because of those urgent matters I had to leave and take care of."
"We know," the man said. Ben seemed a little surprised, but didn't ask how he knew. Suddenly Ben heard the voice again, telling him that his house was on fire and he needed to go put it out. He stopped for a moment, looked over in the direction of his house. After about 30 seconds, he determined there wasn't any smoke, and he kept on.
"We can't keep you back here for very long, and we've got to sneak in. So just follow us, OK?" Ben nodded and they crept along the path, finally emerging on the huge open space that was the campsite. Ben didn't know what to say, the campsite was full of occupants, but the living arrangements were not Ben would have expected in a campsite. Most of the "tents" were really well decorated. Ben even thought he saw a pyramid off in the distance.
"Not what you expected, huh?" The man said to Ben. Ben wanted to ask a bunch of questions, but didn't know how to ask them.
"Is everyone here part of a group?"
"You could say that..."
"Well, why are they all here?"
A/N: Well, that's the end of the first chapter. The teenagers are assuming that Ben, being a muggle who has only heard of magic in fairytales, will not assume that he is amongst a large of wizards. Is that wise, or foolish? BTW, none of them know how to do memory charms. When Ben leaves, what will he think? Will he tell someone about what he saw? And, will he make the connection to realize that the campsite is full of wizards? Lots of questions to be answered, most will be answered next chapter. Please review and tell me what you liked and what you didn't like.