Well, here's chapter two! Hope everyone likes it!
Disclaimer: Not mine, was never mine, has never been mine, will probably never be mine. All rights reserved to JK Rowling.
Chapter Two
Harry spent all of five minutes trying to decide what to do, when he finally just decided, "Screw it." He turned to walk down the sidewalk. He had decided to just walk until he found something interesting he could do.
He found something interesting far faster than he had thought.
As he turned, he bumped into someone who had been jogging. Unfortunately, her momentum was much greater than his. Her elbow landed directly in his diaphragm.
Harry wheezed as she scrambled to get off him. Suddenly, I'm almost certain it's true Californians always exercise.
"I am so sorry!" she exclaimed.
Harry looked up to see a stereotypical Californian girl. She was sixteen, maybe seventeen, with a dark tan, blond hair, and bright blue eyes. She helped him up, letting him lean on her as he caught his breath.
"I-it's no pro-problem."
"No, seriously, I should pay you back. Hm. How long have you been here?"
"Huh?"
"Well, it's obvious from your accent you're British. So, when did you get here?"
"I just got here."
"Good, that means the locals haven't neglected their duty! Well come on!"
With that, she dragged him off. Harry had no idea what was happening, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise. She was narrating about everything they passed. That's a good restaurant, but be careful, a lot of people walk into the door beside it, that's the strip club slash bar's entrance. I can't tell you how many teenagers I've seen thrown out by the bouncers.
Harry was almost certain she was hyperactive, there was no other way she could talk so much without breathing. Before he knew it, they were in front of a classy restaurant.
"This restaurant is just what you're looking for. It acts as an actual restaurant in the front so the no-majes don't suspect anything, but the fun stuff's in the back."
No-maj?
She directed him into the building, ignoring his dilapidated appearance.
"Hey, Bernie!" she called to a server. "We've got a tourist!"
Then Harry was led past the wait area, where it seemed obvious you were supposed to wait for your table. They walked into the kitchen area, through it, and into another swinging door. When the girl let go of his hand, he was faced with a giant mall. It was at least four stories, several stores circling the middle area, which extended past all the floors. There was a railing where people could look down the center space all the way to the bottom. It seemed to Harry that they were on the first floor, one floor below them, but still. How did this get here? The restaurant he walked into was only one story, and definitely didn't go so far back. He walked to the edge of the railing, where he found that there were enough floors below them that he didn't want to count.
"Vertigo? If you need to see just the ground without all the levels, you could always just press one of those runes. Do you not have things like this in England?"
"Wh-where are we?"
"Smith's Magical Mall, the owner wasn't very original."
"M-magic?"
"Uh, yeah? You're magic, I know you are. Your magic is like a beacon. It's so wild. What? Were you expecting something different? Something more impressive after the ancient magical world Britain obviously must have? Sorry, but this area's more about progress. If you want original magics, you need to go to someplace like Alaska." It seemed she almost was working herself up to a tangent about…something.
"I-I don't understand. How did you know I was magical?"
"How could I not? Have you seriously never seen the magic radiating off of you? It must be the most wild I've ever seen, and I regularly go to shaman ceremonies."
Harry was almost certain she had stopped speaking English the moment they walked into what Harry was just realizing was America's magical district. The girl must have seen the complete confusion on his face because she slowly tapered off. She tilted her head.
"You have no clue what's going on, do you?"
Harry almost felt like crying. "No!"
"Okay, okay, jeez. Nice to meet you, I'm Alex. I ran into you, so I decided to repay you by showing you where the magic district is. I knew you were magical because I could see your magic. This shopping district is the main one in Coastal Magic America. Any questions?"
"Ho-how could you see my magic?"
"That's the first skill we learn in school. Are you saying you've never been taught how?"
"I've never even heard of seeing magic before you brought it up."
"Well, if you don't even know how to see magic, I guess you're kinda walking in here blind. Most shops don't have signs, they use magic signatures to show people what they hold. I guess I'll have to be your guide."
Before Harry could respond, not that he knew how anyway, another voice yelled, "Hey, Alex!"
California girl – Alex – turned and waved at another girl running up to them. She seemed to have just walked out of the shop beside them. The other girl was the opposite of Alex. She had dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. While Alex was curvaceous, the other girl was a twig. Alex was tall, this girl was short. The only physical thing seeming to connect the two was their ages.
"Hey, Sherry! I'm showing this Brit around. Did you know that they don't teach them how to see magic over there?"
Sherry looked at her friend resignedly. "I knew you never paid attention in Social Studies, but didn't you know that? European countries are so focused on the original ways of magic they don't bother learning any more recent findings." She turned to Harry. "I'm so sorry about my friend. She probably towed you around without so much as a by your leave, right?" A pause to see Harry hesitantly nod his head, "Yeah, this is more common than you think, although normally she reserves this treatment for her friends. Why don't I bring you to my mom's shop? She should be able to explain everything to you."
They ignored Alex's "Hey! I was gonna show him around!" and walked over to the store Sherry had just walked out of. Alex had been right, there was no markings on the storefront. Harry quickly scanned the stores on their level again. It looked like every door was made of glass, with big windows covering the rest of the storefronts. It looked like a modern-day muggle mall. There was one thing strange, though. Everywhere Harry looked, he could not see into the stores. It was as if there was a constant light reflection blocking his view of what was inside. However, the shine from the glass and the white tile floors made the mall seem bright and clean. Besides the size and the amount of levels, Harry wouldn't have thought that this mall was magical at all.
Sherry's mom's store was… different. Harry actually had no clue what she was selling. There seemed to be a waiting area like at a doctor's office, a library section, an antiques collection, a coffee shop, and an area that was charted off by a thick wall of fog that Harry couldn't see through.
"Welcome to the Wild Side," Sherry said. "Here, we promote services and hold research over what us Americans know as 'wild magics.' It's a varied subject, and not too popular outside of Indian reservations, but it is an important aspect to know about. I guess you could say wild magics are the original magics. My mom should be over here."
Sherry led them through the fog bank. Harry walked out soaked. Sherry and Alex walked out dry. "Interesting," was all Sherry had to say on the matter.
This area looked like a psychiatrist's office. There was a leather recliner single-seater sofa, a large, soft couch, and a spinning chair behind an imposing oak desk. The woman sitting in the chair looked exactly like Sherry with a few more age lines.
"Hello," Sherry's mom said. "Sherry, did you forget something? You just walked out! Oh, and who's your new friend?"
"This is… uh, what's your name again?" Sherry asked him sheepishly.
"Harry, Harry Potter." Harry didn't know if he should reveal his name to them, but he honestly felt like he could trust them.
"Really? Interesting," was all the mother said, with a pointed look towards Sherry. Neither Sherry nor Alex seemed to take notice of his name. "And might I ask why you're here?"
"Well, you see Mrs. Higgindobbins, I bumped into Harry during my daily jog. To make it up to him, I decided to show him where the magic district was located. Turns out, he knows nothing!" Alex butted in.
Harry felt insulted, just because he couldn't see magic doesn't mean he doesn't know anything!
"I thought Harry might be able to use your help, Mom. I figured you could explain magical America to him better than either of us could. Besides, I met them just outside the shop, so you were the closest," Sherry explained.
"Hm, yes, well Harry, why don't you take a seat and we'll see if we can't get this all straightened out for you?"
Harry sat in the leather sofa, while the other two plopped their butts in the couch next to him. He had a strange feeling his world was about to be shaken.
In all honesty, I hate too much dialogue. It makes me feel like the story becomes choppy, but I needed the dialogue to move the story along and I wanted to introduce Harry to magical America while still having the confusion of little explanation. It was supposed to replicate how people used to their own cultures tend to not think to explain the little, everyday details that make up their lives. Kind of like how Hagrid doesn't know how to explain to Harry all the little nuances of the wizarding world when he's first introduced to it in the first book. How'd you think I did?
Still, hate the dialogue.
Oh, and the names were not planned, I just typed the first things that came to my mind. I have no clue where Higgindobbins came from. Cookies to those who know where I got the name Alex from, though (hint: Alex's physical description does not match my inspiration's physical description, still have to have some creativity).
If you have any suggestions for how to make my writing better, I'd love to hear it! Review, follow, favorite, whatever suits your fancy.