Eric returned to London with a sigh of relief. Soon, he'd be back to carpentry; making cabinets, tables, and chairs in a continuing effort to finance his education. Midget and Widget clicked anxiously in their cages. He released them to wander about. They'd find their way to him eventually. Meanwhile, the time flying would do them wonders. Besides, then he wouldn't draw any more attention to himself than his appearance already did.
His dress was most unusual. It was a fairly warm day, which was a sharp contrast to his long, dark coat. The coat was necessary, however, to hide his waist-length hair. It was occasionally annoying, but Eric found that he really enjoyed being unique in the world. His mane made his appearance that much more unusual. However, it was important not to draw too much attention to himself, though; he was a wizard, after all, and for the good of everyone wizards had to keep their world a secret.
Roger and Dorothy Wainwright were waiting for their daughter. Naomi was one of Eric's best friends, and because of that they were surprised when he turned down a ride back to Diagon Alley. But Eric had never taken an opportunity to actually explore London, and he didn't want to miss the opportunity. Obtaining a map, he took down detailed instructions of which roads to take and which corners to turn on. However, it was late in the day, so he went back to Platform 9-3/4 to find a bench to rest on until the next morning.
Checking in with the porters, Eric was given a couple of blankets. The benches weren't padded, but were comfortable enough for an evening's rest. As he settled in, though, he noticed a dark figure on the opposite platform. Straining to see, his efforts were frustrated by the Hogwarts Express as it vented off steam, shutting down for the evening. Eric strained through the varying cloud, but whoever he had seen had vanished.
He shrugged it off. This was the wizarding world – dark figures come and go on a regular basis. It would be foolish of him to be unnerved when such things happen. He pulled the blanket over his shoulder and settled in; the hissing of the Hogwarts Express providing an even noise to cover the goings on outside of the wizard's platform.
The next morning found Eric rested, if a bit sore. The station had gotten chilly in the evening, and the chill had cramped his muscles. It took several minutes of stretching to straighten the joints out, after which he stopped by the ticket window, exchanging galleons for British Pounds and taking in a five minute lecture on the finer points of how to use muggle money.
It was simple enough – money for goods and services much the same as wizards do, only the coins are smaller, and for some reason paper was more valuable than metal. It didn't matter, though; the food he bought with it was still good, and it was warm. Enough life was back in his limbs to brave the walk home. However, first he drew out a small crystal and hung it about his neck.
An image of his mother sprang to life before him. "Hello dear! What are we up to today?"
Eric smiled to her. "We're walking home from Kings Cross – straight through Muggle London. Want to come along?"
Evelyn was delighted that Eric had proved so thoughtful, and cheerfully wandered about as he made his way towards the exit. "I wonder how much has changed since I last saw London. Are you really planning to walk all the way to Diagon Alley? There will be so much I've never seen before!" She was extremely curious for a remnant memory – perhaps because she was trapped that way, unable to explore for herself. Eric did all he could to humor her; stopping by this oddity or that, examining it closely so that she could view it in detail.
London was a wondrous place. True, he had been out once in a while to visit the Ministry or to ride from Diagon Alley to Kings Cross, but that was very different from actually walking among the muggles. The first thing Eric was aware of was the noise. There was always something coming from somewhere, and it took him several minutes to figure out what constituted a threat and what didn't. In fact, most was just the sounds of the machines around him, heading this way or that.
Taking a few minutes to watch the muggles passing about, he noticed that they tended to look about far more than listen. Doing likewise revealed the answer; there were signs everywhere, flashing and changing minute by minute. Taking time to observe what people did based on what signs he could see revealed the rules of behavior. Armed with this education and a detailed map, he braved the crowds and noise of London to walk home.
He wasn't overly concerned about his appearance. His hair was tucked under a long overcoat and he was wearing his protective torc. The discretix charm on it would keep inattentive eyes away from his unusual appearance. Though pushed and jostled, the day continued on as a vacation from the extraordinary. It was nice to be dealing with a simple, straightforward world. Evelyn, however, continued on as a reasonable distraction. More than once Eric had to discretely ask her not to float into traffic. Cars passed right through her unnoticing; she was, after all, strictly an illusion for Eric alone. Nevertheless, he couldn't help to find the effect unnerving.
As the day grew late and he closed in on the Leaky Cauldron, a disturbing coincidence began to arise. Every third or fourth corner, Eric saw a tall, darkly dressed man staring at him. He first thought he was just letting himself get troubled by all the chaos around him, but as the day went on he saw him five, six, then seven times. There was no doubt in Eric's mind that he was being followed. It became more distressing when, despite Evelyn's objections, he finally decided to confront the man. As he drew closer, the man disappeared. It wasn't that he turned a corner; Eric kept his eyes squarely on him. Rather, the man seemed to lean back into a shadow on a building and melted into it.
That was the point when Eric became scared. The stranger was a wizard, and he wasn't afraid of using magic out in the open. This meant that either he didn't care about regulations, or he was well protected from them. In any case, he had taken an interest in Eric, with didn't please Eric at all.
Doing his best not to arouse too much suspicion, he picked up the pace getting back to the Leaky Cauldron. Many people tried to stop him; some he bumped into in haste, others seemed concerned that he had a problem or that he was perhaps a runaway. It didn't matter; he politely escaped them all and soon made his way into the dark tavern. A cup of cider, a bowl of stew and a room of familiar faces soon improved his mood considerably. It wasn't long before he settled in for a nice quiet meal.
"Yeh foolish boy – where have yeh been?" The bellowing of his guardian filled the tavern and snapped Eric from his dinner. "I've been worried sick over yeh! Thought I'd come over teh git yeh settled in, only to find yeh were walkin' home. What were yeh thinkin'?" Hagrid hauled Eric from his seat, smothering him in a giant bear hug. For all the noise, Hagrid was a loving caretaker, and Eric bore through the stifling greeting until Hagrid finally released him.
Dropping back to his dinner, Eric was quite apologetic. "I'm really sorry; I didn't know you were coming. If I did, I would've sent word." A wave of relief washed over him when Hagrid nodded, settling into the seat across from him. "To be honest, I wish you were with me today. The walk from Kings Cross was a bit unnerving." He proceeded to explain about the dark figure that followed him.
Hagrid listened intently, then smiled. "Ah, there's nuthin' to worry about. Probably just a Knockturnal."
Eric looked up quizzically. "Hagrid, it was broad daylight."
"Nah, not one of those; I mean someone who's livin' on Knockturn Alley. Yeh know, a Knockturnal. Probably got hisself lost. When he saw yeh, he figgered he could follow yeh home. Tha's all."
It was actually reassuring. Eric had encountered many of the wizards from Knockturn Alley. Although they tended to be somewhat creepy, they were for the most part a reasonable group if one overlooked their rather distressing point of view. Their hospitality, though often generous, tended towards the unnerving; and their sense of humor usually took an injurious bend. All this aside, relatively few of them were really involved with anything as nefarious as most people believed.
After finishing dinner, Hagrid walked Eric home, listening with amusement as he rambled on and on about what he had seen all day. "Well, it's good, what yeh chose to do. Gives yeh a chance teh see what muggles are like. Pretty amazin' world, isn' it?"
Eric had to admit – it was all amazing. Muggles had managed to create wonders that wizards hadn't dreamed of. Sounds and images recorded so vividly, to be recalled however the viewer wanted. Buildings that reached for the sky, vehicles that traveled with such speed. While it was true that wizards had their own ways of getting about, it seemed that muggles had their own answers for every spell a wizard could cast.
It all made Eric envious of Naomi – she got to live as a muggle for most of her life, and still did for the summer, while he had to return to his shop to earn his way through school. Arriving lifted his spirits, though. His owls had made it back, and Willy had cleaned off everything. His belongings were all packed away, and an evening snack was waiting. It took Eric little time to settle back into his home. By the end of the evening, he dropped into his cot, exhausted by the day's adventures and looking forward to the coming season of customers.