Chapter 8: Abracadabra

| H's POV |

"Hey, wake up," a soft voice tickled my ear as I stirred in my sleep.

I grumbled at whoever it was to shut up and instead a musical laughter surrounded me, followed by a gentle tap on my shoulder. Begrudgingly, I opened my eyes and gasped. There were skyscrapers everywhere and people hustling in big swarms on the sidewalks and a few jaywalking across the busy streets. It was full of life and business. I have never seen a place so congested before.

"Welcome to New York City," Tom said and I stared back at him in awe.

"We're here already?... How long as I asleep for?!"

"An hour or more," he smirked, "looked like you needed since you were snoring a lot."

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes. "It's perfectly normal to snore!"

"Anyway, I've set a time for us all to meet as you were catching up on your beauty sleep," Tom continued, "they should be here in ten minutes or less."

"Where are we anyway? Besides New York, I mean."

"The Carlyle. It's a hotel."

"I can see that much," I observed the tourists walking in and out, lugging their baggage behind them, "looks like this hotel is doing well for business."

"Very much so. And, fun fact, it is also run by a non-human being," Tom added, "he has been around for at least a century. I tend to not get along with the old geezer but he is quite the intellectual."

"I see."

"You have to be to survive the cruelty of this human world," he muttered bitterly, making me want to question it but I remained silent and nodded in response.

"Tom Riddle?"

A young man with very messy hair and big glasses approached Tom with a huge grin on his smile. A stoic platinum blonde person around the same age of him stalked behind, observing the place with obvious scrutiny.

"You sure this is the place, Potter?" He sneered.

"Yes and yes," Tom put on a charming smile that did not reach his eyes. "I am Tom Riddle. And you are?"

"Harry Potter! It is a pleasure to meet you, sir!" He extended his hand and Tom shook it firmly, continuing to smile.

"And this is?..."

"Draco. Draco Malfoy," he said and looked at Tom with an unreadable expression.

"Nice to meet you, Draco."

"Likewise."

"So, where is the rest of the people?"

"You've arrived early," Tom answered, "rest assured, there should be more coming briefly."

"Should? The world is on the brink of extinction and the one who's planning to save us all doesn't even know who's coming?" Draco raised his voice, causing some of the people nearby to glance at him. "Some kind of planning you got here, Riddle."

"No need to be hostile," he narrowed his eyes. "We all have one common enemy. Let's not make them within the same team."

"Whatever," he crossed his arms, "I'm going to get a coffee to get through all this bullshit."

"Don't mind him, he's had a rough... time recently," Harry said sheepishly, as we all watched him saunter over to the nearby cafe.

"I can tell," I laughed lightly. "So what are you, Harry?"

"A wizard."

"Oh, that's super cool! You can use magic and stuff?"

"Yeah," he ran a hand through his disheveled locks, smiling, "I'm still learning though so don't expect anything too extravagant."

"Understood. I didn't even know I wasn't human until a few days ago," I replied, "you're not alone."

"Glad to hear. Your accent, it's different than American."

"Oh, I'm British."

"You mean you came all the way from Britain?!"

"Yes."

"How did you manage to do it in a few hours? A flight is at least ten, excluding security!"

"Magic," I chuckled, "you should be familiar with that concept, no?"

"Ah, I forgot. My bad."

"No worries."

"Guys..." Draco marched back, gawking at the window. "You-you might want to look at that!"

All of us whirled around and I nearly jumped at the sight.

A/N: As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review! I'm open to any ideas as well so feel free to tell me :)