Chapter 5: HP

"And that's the story of how I'm related to you... Long, long, ago our great-great-great-great... Grandfathers were brothers."

Delphi nodded, "Alright, I get that and it's because you're younger than my dad, and he would be what? Almost 80, he can count you as one of his heirs?"

"Well, heir, they don't count girls in Britain, but yeah."

"That's..." she trailed off.

"Messed up? Weird? Awkward?" I said, trying to fill in the blank.

"Something," Delphi finished, "definitely something."

"Fair. How well do you know your dad?" I questioned.

"Well enough to know that his favorite strawberries are from Delphi's Strawberry Service."

"And that's located at?" I prompted.

"It's headquarters are at 3.141, Long Island Beach, you have to go to the Statue of Liberty to get there, and even then, you have to drive for a while after that, their motto is 'only the strongest survive' after the Spartans. Whatever adventure you're currently planning, you better be inviting me. I've already sacrificed my beauty sleep for this."

"Weird. I wonder why I mean, it's a strawberry service, well, we'll find out tomorrow I guess. Where are we crashing tonight?"

"The Plaza is never completely full and they are staffed all hours of the night. Seeing as we're celebrities, we could crash there for the day. It's actually not that uncommon. There's also the added factor that the whole hotel is wizarding. In the morning, I will need to get my things, but after that, we can head to the Statue of Liberty."

"Sounds like a plan."

We head inside the Plaza and instantly I get bombarded by 19th century feels. The gold and tan color scheme was lit up with fairy lights. People sat in chairs grouped together around the lobby.

I was startled out of my reverie by Delphi tapping me on my shoulder.

"I got us a room, it's 245." She passed me a copy of the key card.

We followed the signs until we reached the elevators and went two floors up. We easily found our room and crashed as soon as we set our stuff down.

S.P.Q.R.

The next morning I awake to Delphi snoozing on the bed next to me. The sun is streaming in through the open window. It's warm, but not unbearably so. I look at the clock on the bedside table.

10:25. I roll out of bed, landing on top of my backpack from where I left it last night. I dig out a change of clothes and head to the bathroom to shower.

When I finish my shower, I see that Delphi's ordered room service. She left eggs and bacon out for me.

I hurriedly wolf down my eggs and pack up. I nod to Delphi when she says she's leaving and that we can meet back up at 11 when the first boat leaves.

I check us out of the hotel with my Gringotts key. I hailed a taxi and asked it to drive me to the Empire State Building.

We arrived at the Empire State Building in just over 5 minutes. I paid the cab fare which was overly expensive and looked up. A skyscraper that looked as if it had 600 floors was standing tall. All around me were people taking millions of selfies on their phones. I took a right and started walking.

After I crossed from Broadway to Union Square, I passed through the park. I glimpsed at my watch and saw that already it was 10:40. I had 15 minutes to get to the dock from where we would take a ferry to Liberty Island. There would be an hour between when we arrived and when we needed to leave.

I easily found the subway station where I would ride it four stops and then get off at Battery Park.

It was 10:55 when I found Delphi near the docks holding our two tickets. She has a black backpack slung on her shoulder and I can see the outline of her wand in her pocket along with a phone.. The line for the ferry was short, the popular hours were around 3 to 6 pm. We boarded the ferry and it left Battery Park.

It took exactly 15 minutes to get to Liberty Island. In that time Delphi called the guy who would pick us up. I looked out over the rippling water. The ferry churned through the water like butter.

When we got off the ferry, I grabbed Delphi's arm and she fumbled to put her phone away. We wandered around the island before heading over to the wooden dock.

A little boat is waiting there for us when we arrive. A girl with brown hair tied back in a ponytail greets us.

"Hi Delphi, I'm ready to go when you are. Just be careful getting in and out, falling overboard is no fun. Oh, you don't know who I am, I'm Philippa." She glanced at my head. "You must be Harry Potter."

"I am." I step into the motorboat and Delphi drops in behind me.

"So guys, where are we going?" Philippa asked. "I can take coordinates if you have them."

"40.967088, -73.061761." Delphi said. "It's in the sand so if you drop us a little ways off beach then that's fine."

Philippa plugged them in and turned on the music. I relaxed and looked out over the waves. The water sloshed against the sides of the boat, almost lulling me to sleep.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my vision I spot another boat following us.

"Step on the gas!" I shout to Philippa. We instantly shoot off and behind us it looks like an earthquake rippled the water. I grab my wand and shoot off a curse. The hit boat falls behind but we don't slow.

We reach the coordinates in a record time and I hand Phillipa a wad of cash. For things. And as a thank-you.

Delphi and I hop out of the boat. The water reaches my knees. I grab our backpacks and we trudge to land.

I can hear the other boat in the distance and I hope that Phillipa doesn't encounter any trouble getting home. We reach dry sand and we run to the trees. The motor boat passes us and we travel through trees as swiftly as possible.

We reach a road and decide to follow it west. Delphi pulls out her phone and says that we're on the right track. We get to a crossroad and Delphi consults her GPS. We hang a right and walk for a while in silence before she speaks.

"Even if this is a fraud, we'll at least get strawberries out of it!"

I laugh even though it's not that funny.

"True." I say.

We take two more right turns and then go straight. Behind us I can hear a creature. I draw my wand and Delphi does the same. I turn and fire a stupefy right as the animal growls and pounces.

The lion thing falls at my feet.

"A Manticore. I learned about them in Greek Mythology in eighth grade." Delphi says from behind me. "Finish it off. Here, it's Celestial Bronze, it'll send it back to the Underworld."

Delphi passes me a Rapier. I stab the lion- Manticore in the stomach and it disappears. Left behind are two of the Manticore's spikes.

"Be careful, those are poisonous." Delphi warns me. I levitate the spikes into my backpack and we hurry on, our wands still drawn.

A few minutes later I spot a row of strawberry plants and we begin running. When we have only a few meters left I notice a hissing sound from behind us.

A hissing that sounds like a basilisk. I turn slowly and shut my eyes. Delphi does the same and we turn back to back.

We fire spells at random. I feel a rush of cold air and then dread. A fang pierces me and I fall. Delphi strikes the basilisk with her Rapier and in my last moments I summon Fawkes to me.

SORRY for the late update, major case of writing procrastination, not writer's block!

S.P.Q.R.

Obliviate your nightmares...

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