Oliver was awakened the next morning by Adrianna standing beside his bed,
leaning over him and kissing him. "Why can't I wake up like this every
morning?" he thought as he opened his eyes.
As soon as she saw that he was awake she pulled away. "What are you doing today?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"Good." She walked over to his wardrobe and began looking through his clothes. "Hmmm... no, this won't do..."
"What are you doing?" Oliver asked groggily.
"You invaded my bedroom. I'm invading your closet. It's only fair. Do you own any muggle clothes?"
Only then did he notice that she was wearing muggle clothes: a pair of flared jeans with a glittery pattern on them and a pink turtleneck sweater. "They're in the back of the bottom drawer. What are we doing today?"
Adrianna ignored his question. She located his muggle clothes and tossed them at him. "Don't go to the Great Hall for breakfast. I'll make us something in my kitchen," she said with a smile as she left.
Oliver pulled on the loose-fitting faded carpenter jeans and the black turtleneck sweater that she had thrown at him. He was greeted by the aroma of breakfast as he entered her rooms, though he couldn't identify what it was that Adrianna was making from the smell. He walked up behind her and peered over her shoulder, and realized that he still didn't know what it was. It looked like a jumble of things thrown into a skillet.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Scrambled eggs, crumbled bacon, cheese, green peppers, and salsa. And when it's done it will be wrapped in warm tortillas."
"Sounds interesting."
She spooned the mixture into the tortillas and wrapped them up expertly, and then set a place for each of them at the table.
"Go on, try it," she coaxed. "I want to know what you think."
Oliver picked up one of the tortillas and took a small bite. To his surprise, it tasted really good. "This is delicious," he said after he swallowed.
Adrianna looked very pleased. "Thanks," she said with a grin.
"So what else did you have in mind today?"
"Well, you said you don't know anything about muggles. So I'm going to teach you about them."
"Let's start with the basics. Do you know what a telephone is?" asked Adrianna.
"Not really."
"A television?"
"No."
"A car?"
"Yeah, I know what that is."
"Hmmm... this is going to take a lot of work." Adrianna sat across from him at the table for a few minutes, deep in thought. Oliver just stared at her as he finished his breakfast.
"I've got it," she finally said. She picked up the empty salsa jar that was sitting on the kitchen counter and transfigured it into a portkey.
"We'll leave 5 minutes from now," she said. She then bewitched the dirty dishes so that they cleared themselves from the table and started washing themselves. Finally she ran into her bedroom and returned with a handful of American muggle money. She grabbed the salsa jar that Oliver was already holding, and within moments they departed.
They appeared in front of a gigantic building with WALMART across the front in big blue letters. People were streaming through the glass doors that parted before them. Oliver had never seen anything like it before. Adrianna took his hand and they walked into the store together. Oliver looked around in amazement. It seemed like this store had everything a muggle could ever want. There were whole sections devoted to muggle clothes, food, cosmetics, electronics, and much more.
"If you have questions don't be afraid to ask," said Adrianna.
Oliver had about a million questions swimming through his head. He didn't even know where to begin. Their first stop was house wares, where Adrianna showed him some table lamps. She gave him a little lecture about electricity while he played with the lamp switches. She also showed him a microwave oven and told him that her family had one.
Then they headed for the electronics department. Adrianna showed him telephones, TVs, VCRs, and DVD players and explained how each of them worked. Then she showed him a stereo and explained how muggle radio stations broadcast over a certain frequency. She compared it to the Wizards' Wireless Network, which made a little more sense to Oliver. They got a few funny looks from other shoppers who overheard their conversation.
After they had toured electronics, she showed him the candy aisle. Here there were no chocolate frogs, no Bertie Botts beans. There were just plain muggle candies. Adrianna picked out a bag of gummi bears for them, and then they went to the checkout where she got them each a bottle of soda. She paid with some of the muggle money that she had brought with her. Oliver thought about asking her about how much her purchase would equal in wizard money but decided against it. His head was already spinning from an information overload. Adrianna pulled out her wand out of her pocket as they left and murmured something.
"Hold onto the bag of gummi bears. We're leaving in 20 seconds. Walk casually towards the parking lot like you're going to find your car, and hopefully people won't notice that we just disappear."
Oliver followed her instructions, and soon they left the Wal-Mart parking lot only to arrive in another parking lot full of cars. "Where are we? I thought we were going back to Hogwarts."
"We're at the movie theater. Movies are one of the most popular forms of muggle entertainment, so I thought it would be fun to bring you to one."
They walked into the box office together. "Two for Catch Me if You Can," she said to the person behind the window, handing him some muggle money. She received two tickets and handed one to Oliver. Then she took his hand and they walked into the theater. Adrianna bought a small bag of popcorn, and then they found their theater and sat in the very back row. Oliver took a handful of buttery popcorn before offering it to Adrianna.
"Oh, no thanks," she said when she saw him offering it to her. "I bought it for you."
"Well, I'm willing to share."
"That's alright. I don't like popcorn. Thanks though."
"You didn't have to get this just for me."
"Sure I did. You can't have the full experience of a muggle movie without popcorn and soda."
They chatted during the previews, and then settled back in their seats when the movie began. Oliver watched the pictures dancing across the huge screen and had to admit that it was really entertaining, even if it was invented by muggles. After a while the movie ended, and Adrianna and Oliver filed out of the theater with the rest of the people.
"What did you think?" asked Adrianna.
"It was really interesting. I liked it," he replied honestly.
"Good. Ready for your next muggle activity?" she asked, holding up her empty soda bottle.
"Sure," he said, wrapping his fingers around the neck of the plastic bottle. They walked into the parking lot, and within seconds Oliver felt the all-too-familiar jerk behind his navel as they departed. This time, Oliver and Adrianna arrived in front of red, yellow and white building with large plate glass windows.
"Hungry?" asked Adrianna.
"A little. Where are we?"
"McDonald's. Have you ever had fast food before?"
"No, what is it?" "Fast food has become a staple of muggle life. They eat it when they don't have time to eat a proper meal, like when they're on lunch break at work or when they're busy in the evenings," she explained as they walked into the restaurant.
Oliver was surprised to see that nearly the entire menu was in pictures above the front counter.
"Just pick whatever you want," said Adrianna. Oliver had no idea what to order.
"Get me the same thing you get."
Adrianna got a cheeseburger, fries and a soda for each of them. Their order was ready in less than a minute, and they chose a table by one of the plate glass windows and ate their dinner. Oliver wasn't overly impressed by the quality of the food that he was eating.
"This is bloody awful! Why do muggles eat this stuff?"
"Because it's relatively inexpensive and they're always in a hurry." She picked up her half-empty box of fries and turned it into a portkey. "Are you up for one more activity before calling it a day?"
"Does it involve fast food?"
"Nope."
"Alright then, sure."
Within moments they were whisked away from the McDonalds and were standing in front of a large building. A sign out front read "Center Ice." They went inside, where Adrianna paid for ice time and skate rental for both of them. The indoor rink was already crowded with people. Oliver looked around uncomfortably. Adrianna noticed that he didn't look altogether happy.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, you know what happened the last time we were on ice. You nearly died. What if this ice isn't frozen the whole way through?"
"Sweetheart I appreciate your concern, but this isn't the same. This is a surface that stays frozen year round, and there's a solid floor underneath it. It's not a lake or a pond or anything like that. It's perfectly safe."
They walked up to the skate rental counter. "What size?" asked the girl behind the counter.
"Nine for me, figure skates," said Adrianna. She turned to Oliver. "What size shoe do you wear?"
"Ten and a half."
"Give him an eleven, hockey skates," Adrianna said to the girl.
"Why the difference in size?" asked Oliver.
"Because shoe sizes run differently in the US than they do in the UK."
They handed the girl their shoes and put on their ice skates. Adrianna explained that they had to be laced up very tightly, and took his wand from him when he tried to lace them up using magic. They stepped onto the ice, and Oliver gripped the wall tightly.
"Are you sure this is safe?"
"Well I won't guarantee that you're not going to fall, because you probably will and so will I. But yes, it's relatively safe. Though I did break my arm once while I was ice skating..."
"Oh thanks, that's just what I wanted to hear!" Oliver said sarcastically.
"Calm down, you'll be fine. Let go of the wall and take my hands."
Oliver put his hands in hers.
"Good, now just try to go forward."
Oliver moved his feet and to his surprise, he was able to slowly propel himself forward. Adrianna skated slowly backwards as he moved forward and held his hands to support him.
"You're doing fine," she said encouragingly. They made it a quarter of the way around the rink before Oliver lost his balance and fell on his butt, pulling Adrianna down on top of him in the process.
"Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Yes, I'm fine. You broke my fall. Are you alright?"
"I think so."
They both laughed as Adrianna got to her feet and helped Oliver up. This time they made it the rest of the way around the rink, and though Oliver stumbled a few times he managed to stay on his feet.
"Alright, now I'm going to just hold your left hand and I'm going to skate forwards this time. You're doing fine. Bend a little more at the knees, and try not to use your toe picks," said Adrianna.
By the end of two hours on the ice, Oliver's body ached from the number of times that he had fallen. But he was able to skate forward without assistance and had been able to pick up the pace considerable. He and Adrianna returned their skates and put their shoes back on. Before they left, she walked up to the counter where she'd paid when they first came in.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you have a lost and found? I think I lost a glove."
"Certainly miss, it's right around the corner."
"We didn't bring any gloves," said Oliver as they walked away.
"I know that," she replied. She pulled an old glove out of the lost and found bin and transfigured it into a portkey.
"Did you have fun today?" she asked him.
"Yes, it was a blast! Well, except for the whole McDonalds thing." "Ready to go back to Hogwarts?"
"Yeah I guess so," he said, reaching out for the glove. He felt the sudden familiar jerk behind his navel as they departed.
As soon as she saw that he was awake she pulled away. "What are you doing today?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"Good." She walked over to his wardrobe and began looking through his clothes. "Hmmm... no, this won't do..."
"What are you doing?" Oliver asked groggily.
"You invaded my bedroom. I'm invading your closet. It's only fair. Do you own any muggle clothes?"
Only then did he notice that she was wearing muggle clothes: a pair of flared jeans with a glittery pattern on them and a pink turtleneck sweater. "They're in the back of the bottom drawer. What are we doing today?"
Adrianna ignored his question. She located his muggle clothes and tossed them at him. "Don't go to the Great Hall for breakfast. I'll make us something in my kitchen," she said with a smile as she left.
Oliver pulled on the loose-fitting faded carpenter jeans and the black turtleneck sweater that she had thrown at him. He was greeted by the aroma of breakfast as he entered her rooms, though he couldn't identify what it was that Adrianna was making from the smell. He walked up behind her and peered over her shoulder, and realized that he still didn't know what it was. It looked like a jumble of things thrown into a skillet.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Scrambled eggs, crumbled bacon, cheese, green peppers, and salsa. And when it's done it will be wrapped in warm tortillas."
"Sounds interesting."
She spooned the mixture into the tortillas and wrapped them up expertly, and then set a place for each of them at the table.
"Go on, try it," she coaxed. "I want to know what you think."
Oliver picked up one of the tortillas and took a small bite. To his surprise, it tasted really good. "This is delicious," he said after he swallowed.
Adrianna looked very pleased. "Thanks," she said with a grin.
"So what else did you have in mind today?"
"Well, you said you don't know anything about muggles. So I'm going to teach you about them."
"Let's start with the basics. Do you know what a telephone is?" asked Adrianna.
"Not really."
"A television?"
"No."
"A car?"
"Yeah, I know what that is."
"Hmmm... this is going to take a lot of work." Adrianna sat across from him at the table for a few minutes, deep in thought. Oliver just stared at her as he finished his breakfast.
"I've got it," she finally said. She picked up the empty salsa jar that was sitting on the kitchen counter and transfigured it into a portkey.
"We'll leave 5 minutes from now," she said. She then bewitched the dirty dishes so that they cleared themselves from the table and started washing themselves. Finally she ran into her bedroom and returned with a handful of American muggle money. She grabbed the salsa jar that Oliver was already holding, and within moments they departed.
They appeared in front of a gigantic building with WALMART across the front in big blue letters. People were streaming through the glass doors that parted before them. Oliver had never seen anything like it before. Adrianna took his hand and they walked into the store together. Oliver looked around in amazement. It seemed like this store had everything a muggle could ever want. There were whole sections devoted to muggle clothes, food, cosmetics, electronics, and much more.
"If you have questions don't be afraid to ask," said Adrianna.
Oliver had about a million questions swimming through his head. He didn't even know where to begin. Their first stop was house wares, where Adrianna showed him some table lamps. She gave him a little lecture about electricity while he played with the lamp switches. She also showed him a microwave oven and told him that her family had one.
Then they headed for the electronics department. Adrianna showed him telephones, TVs, VCRs, and DVD players and explained how each of them worked. Then she showed him a stereo and explained how muggle radio stations broadcast over a certain frequency. She compared it to the Wizards' Wireless Network, which made a little more sense to Oliver. They got a few funny looks from other shoppers who overheard their conversation.
After they had toured electronics, she showed him the candy aisle. Here there were no chocolate frogs, no Bertie Botts beans. There were just plain muggle candies. Adrianna picked out a bag of gummi bears for them, and then they went to the checkout where she got them each a bottle of soda. She paid with some of the muggle money that she had brought with her. Oliver thought about asking her about how much her purchase would equal in wizard money but decided against it. His head was already spinning from an information overload. Adrianna pulled out her wand out of her pocket as they left and murmured something.
"Hold onto the bag of gummi bears. We're leaving in 20 seconds. Walk casually towards the parking lot like you're going to find your car, and hopefully people won't notice that we just disappear."
Oliver followed her instructions, and soon they left the Wal-Mart parking lot only to arrive in another parking lot full of cars. "Where are we? I thought we were going back to Hogwarts."
"We're at the movie theater. Movies are one of the most popular forms of muggle entertainment, so I thought it would be fun to bring you to one."
They walked into the box office together. "Two for Catch Me if You Can," she said to the person behind the window, handing him some muggle money. She received two tickets and handed one to Oliver. Then she took his hand and they walked into the theater. Adrianna bought a small bag of popcorn, and then they found their theater and sat in the very back row. Oliver took a handful of buttery popcorn before offering it to Adrianna.
"Oh, no thanks," she said when she saw him offering it to her. "I bought it for you."
"Well, I'm willing to share."
"That's alright. I don't like popcorn. Thanks though."
"You didn't have to get this just for me."
"Sure I did. You can't have the full experience of a muggle movie without popcorn and soda."
They chatted during the previews, and then settled back in their seats when the movie began. Oliver watched the pictures dancing across the huge screen and had to admit that it was really entertaining, even if it was invented by muggles. After a while the movie ended, and Adrianna and Oliver filed out of the theater with the rest of the people.
"What did you think?" asked Adrianna.
"It was really interesting. I liked it," he replied honestly.
"Good. Ready for your next muggle activity?" she asked, holding up her empty soda bottle.
"Sure," he said, wrapping his fingers around the neck of the plastic bottle. They walked into the parking lot, and within seconds Oliver felt the all-too-familiar jerk behind his navel as they departed. This time, Oliver and Adrianna arrived in front of red, yellow and white building with large plate glass windows.
"Hungry?" asked Adrianna.
"A little. Where are we?"
"McDonald's. Have you ever had fast food before?"
"No, what is it?" "Fast food has become a staple of muggle life. They eat it when they don't have time to eat a proper meal, like when they're on lunch break at work or when they're busy in the evenings," she explained as they walked into the restaurant.
Oliver was surprised to see that nearly the entire menu was in pictures above the front counter.
"Just pick whatever you want," said Adrianna. Oliver had no idea what to order.
"Get me the same thing you get."
Adrianna got a cheeseburger, fries and a soda for each of them. Their order was ready in less than a minute, and they chose a table by one of the plate glass windows and ate their dinner. Oliver wasn't overly impressed by the quality of the food that he was eating.
"This is bloody awful! Why do muggles eat this stuff?"
"Because it's relatively inexpensive and they're always in a hurry." She picked up her half-empty box of fries and turned it into a portkey. "Are you up for one more activity before calling it a day?"
"Does it involve fast food?"
"Nope."
"Alright then, sure."
Within moments they were whisked away from the McDonalds and were standing in front of a large building. A sign out front read "Center Ice." They went inside, where Adrianna paid for ice time and skate rental for both of them. The indoor rink was already crowded with people. Oliver looked around uncomfortably. Adrianna noticed that he didn't look altogether happy.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, you know what happened the last time we were on ice. You nearly died. What if this ice isn't frozen the whole way through?"
"Sweetheart I appreciate your concern, but this isn't the same. This is a surface that stays frozen year round, and there's a solid floor underneath it. It's not a lake or a pond or anything like that. It's perfectly safe."
They walked up to the skate rental counter. "What size?" asked the girl behind the counter.
"Nine for me, figure skates," said Adrianna. She turned to Oliver. "What size shoe do you wear?"
"Ten and a half."
"Give him an eleven, hockey skates," Adrianna said to the girl.
"Why the difference in size?" asked Oliver.
"Because shoe sizes run differently in the US than they do in the UK."
They handed the girl their shoes and put on their ice skates. Adrianna explained that they had to be laced up very tightly, and took his wand from him when he tried to lace them up using magic. They stepped onto the ice, and Oliver gripped the wall tightly.
"Are you sure this is safe?"
"Well I won't guarantee that you're not going to fall, because you probably will and so will I. But yes, it's relatively safe. Though I did break my arm once while I was ice skating..."
"Oh thanks, that's just what I wanted to hear!" Oliver said sarcastically.
"Calm down, you'll be fine. Let go of the wall and take my hands."
Oliver put his hands in hers.
"Good, now just try to go forward."
Oliver moved his feet and to his surprise, he was able to slowly propel himself forward. Adrianna skated slowly backwards as he moved forward and held his hands to support him.
"You're doing fine," she said encouragingly. They made it a quarter of the way around the rink before Oliver lost his balance and fell on his butt, pulling Adrianna down on top of him in the process.
"Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Yes, I'm fine. You broke my fall. Are you alright?"
"I think so."
They both laughed as Adrianna got to her feet and helped Oliver up. This time they made it the rest of the way around the rink, and though Oliver stumbled a few times he managed to stay on his feet.
"Alright, now I'm going to just hold your left hand and I'm going to skate forwards this time. You're doing fine. Bend a little more at the knees, and try not to use your toe picks," said Adrianna.
By the end of two hours on the ice, Oliver's body ached from the number of times that he had fallen. But he was able to skate forward without assistance and had been able to pick up the pace considerable. He and Adrianna returned their skates and put their shoes back on. Before they left, she walked up to the counter where she'd paid when they first came in.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you have a lost and found? I think I lost a glove."
"Certainly miss, it's right around the corner."
"We didn't bring any gloves," said Oliver as they walked away.
"I know that," she replied. She pulled an old glove out of the lost and found bin and transfigured it into a portkey.
"Did you have fun today?" she asked him.
"Yes, it was a blast! Well, except for the whole McDonalds thing." "Ready to go back to Hogwarts?"
"Yeah I guess so," he said, reaching out for the glove. He felt the sudden familiar jerk behind his navel as they departed.