The interior of the cottage was the most impressive series of expansion spells most of the students of Hogwarts had ever seen.
Upon walking in, one saw no hint of the original interior of the home; instead, they came to a short, wide hallway, complete with four different doorways, each of them marked by the houses of Hogwarts. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff pathways resided to the left, the Ravenclaw and Slytherin ones to the right, and each hallway led directly into a smaller and more compact version of all of their common rooms, every common room connected to the large, comfortable dormitories of each house, just as they were in Hogwarts.
After settling into the corner bed of the Hufflepuff girls dorm—Alice awoke early the next day, excited to begin her first full day in America. She emerged from the common halls just in time to see a sleepy Zander wandering out of the one across from her, and they waited for their friends to join them before they set off.
So—Alice, Zander, Tobias, James, Lorcan, and Rose all headed out of the cottage and ventured down the hill, unsure of where to go or what to do first.
"Classes don't start until tomorrow," Rose said, tying her hair back and looking to the others as they strolled through the trees. "So I suggest we use this time to get familiar with the environment we'll be in all year."
"Yeah—I think we decided on that already," James snarked. "Had a whole conversation about it last night, and you were there."
"M-hm," Rose mumbled, narrowing her eyes caustically at him. "And I remember none of you actually setting up a time or a place to meet Jeremiah today."
Everyone fell briefly silent, trading glances with each other.
"Okay. Y'know what?" James quipped, cocking his head at his cousin. "Shut up."
"Doesn't matter," Zander mumbled, slowing to a stop and looking straight ahead.
Everyone else halted behind him—and they all spotted two people standing further down the path, Jeremiah and Theo, who appeared to be waiting for them.
"Christ… I thought we'd at least get to have some breakfast before we saw them again," Zander sighed. "No luck there, of course…"
Alice turned and squinted at him. "D'you not like them?"
Zander didn't answer, continuing his pace down the path as the others followed.
"Howdy, howdy," Jeremiah smirked, waving at them as they approached. "Aw'right—so, first and foremost, I gotta ask. What kinda classes are y'all takin' this year?"
The Hogwarts gang stopped in front of him, swapping looks with each other.
"Ahm… we all take most of the same classes, except…" Rose looked to Tobias and Lorcan. "These two plan to continue on with Care of Magical Creatures."
"The rest of the classes being the standard ones you'd take to become an auror," Zander said.
"Huh. So… basically… same classes that I'm in," Jeremiah surmised, scratching along the faint hint of hairs on his chin. "M'kay… so that means I can show y'all around the actual classrooms tomorrow. More time for the fun stuff today."
"Yes!" Theo rejoiced, punching the air with delight.
"Beg my pardon," Tobias said softly, raising his hand and giving Jeremiah a look. "But can you show us vhere ze Care of Magical Creatures class is sometime as vell?"
"I don't take that class anymore, little buddy—but I know somebody who does," Jeremiah told him. "I'll have him show y'all to it."
"Danke," Tobias grinned.
"A'ight, well—let's get this show on the road," Jeremiah disclosed, turning on his heel and waving for them all to follow.
They all marched off in Jeremiah's wake, venturing down the path, and minutes later, the castle came into view, all of them walking out of the trees and steadily passing by the rear courtyard of Ilvermorny, where many of the pukwudgies were now huddled around something that stood against the castle's back wall. It was a tall brick object, something they could hardly make out from so far away, but Alice knew what it was almost instantly.
"Is that a fireplace?" she asked, pointing across the courtyard as they walked by.
"Mhm," Jeremiah nodded, pocketing his hands while he sauntered onward. "That's where the floo powder system's being set up here. It ain't active yet, though. Ain't gonna be active 'till the tournament's going."
"That's where the parents will arrive to visit for the tournament," Rose understood.
"Ye'ap… and there's gonna be MACUSA reps and pukwudgies swarmin' all over it," Jeremiah remarked. "Security's tight nowadays. They can't let any of the wrong people through."
"Ah!" Tobias gasped—grabbing Alice's robe and yanking her to a stop. "Look!"
Alice wheeled around, following his eyes across the courtyard. Tobias was pointing at a girl who sat along the farthest stone wall of the courtyard, her head lowered, reading a book in her lap, her sleek black hair tied back, and she wore a dark green Mahoutokoro robe.
"Sakura," Tobias breathed, flashing a smile as he stared at her from a distance.
Jeremiah and Theo both stopped and turned back, and everyone's attention was now on Tobias, whose eyes were transfixed on the girl in the courtyard.
"Go say hi," Alice urged, giving his sleeve a light tug.
Tobias swallowed roughly, his eyes darting around the courtyard, the hedges, and the expanses of grass all around, searching the environment as if he expected Kenji to leap from the bushes out of nowhere.
"S… should I? right now?" Tobias stuttered. "What if she vants to be left alone…? She's reading a book…"
"She's also hanging out in the courtyard that's closest to the Hogwarts housing. And she's all by herself," Zander stated, staring across the courtyard as well. "And it is really early in the morning for anyone to be hanging around out here, Tobias. Almost looks like she wants to run into you."
Tobias turned to him, adjusting his glasses as his eyes began to light up. "Really…?"
"Looks that way to me," Zander shrugged.
"Go for it," Alice smirked, gently pushing Tobias forward.
He took a deep breath, fixed his glasses once more, and set off, striding across the grass and stepping over the stone wall of the courtyard. Everyone else watched as Tobias approached Sakura, who looked up from her book and smiled at him, and after a moment of talking, Tobias sat beside her, the two appearing to be deeply immersed in conversation now.
"Our work here is done," Alice laughed, facing her friends again.
"A'ight—then let's head 'em up and move 'em out," Jeremiah nodded, resuming his pace and leading them all onward.
After walking farther for a few seconds, Theo wheeled around and began walking backwards, making a thoughtful face and waving a finger at the Hogwarts gang.
"It only just occurred to me—but we don't know any of your names, do we?" Theo said with a laugh. "Never asked last night. My bad, by the way."
"Well… that was our friend from Germany, Tobias," Alice explained, motioning behind her to the courtyard before gesturing to herself and her other friends. "I'm Alice… this is Zander… and this is James, Rose, and Lorcan."
Theo squinted and tilted his head at her. "Alice O'Heiden? And Zander McAllister?"
Alice and Zander both nodded.
"And…" Theo's gaze shifted over to the other three. "James… Potter?"
James nodded at him as well.
Jeremiah skidded to a stop on the grass, turning back around and eyeing them all with intrigue, Theo giving them the very same look.
"Well… hellfire," Jeremiah uttered. "We got a gaggle of famous folks here."
"We're not famous," Alice snickered. "We just ended up in the paper once is all."
"Oh… more than once, sweetheart," Jeremiah told her, raising his brows and shaking a finger at her, choking out an astonished little laugh. "And it wasn't just your paper, neither. It was everyone's… all across the wizarding world."
"Two Hogwarts students face off against an escaped dark wizard from Azkaban in the legendary Chamber of Secrets—and they actually manage to subdue him and summon a pair of mythical swords that haven't been seen for a thousand years?" Theo ranted, chuckling and shaking his head. "Yeah—that story was kind of a big deal, dude."
"Damn straight," Jeremiah agreed.
"Oh—y'know what I never understood?" Theo added, shooting them a questioning look. "What ever happened to the Swords of Salazar? The papers never said."
Alice and Zander fell silent, trading a brief, subtle glimpse with one another. They were the only two students who knew the whereabouts of the Swords of Salazar—both of them perched above the fireplace of the O'Heiden home on the Aran Islands of Ireland—but neither of them were allowed to tell anyone, nor did they want to.
"Can't say," Zander shrugged at him. "The ministry seized them after the encounter in the chamber, and that's the last anyone saw of them."
"Oh… that sucks," Theo mumbled. "I mean, especially for you. You're the one who summoned them. You should've been allowed to keep them."
"Wouldn't want to," Zander mumbled.
Jeremiah and Theo traded eyes—and James, Rose, and Lorcan did the same just behind Zander, all of them giving him an odd stare now.
"Why?" Jeremiah asked him.
Zander shrugged once more. "I used them in the chamber, and they're stronger than every wand in the wizarding world combined."
"Then why wouldn't you want them?" Theo inquired.
"For the reason I just said," Zander told him straightly. "Look… they're a good hail-mary pass to use in an emergency, but nobody should just be carrying them around. I don't think any human beings oughta have that much power at their disposal on a regular basis. Power messes with people's heads… and I know it would mess with mine."
Jeremiah gave him a deep, curious stare. "How d'you know that…?"
Zander returned his stare silently for a moment, inhaling heavily and dwelling on the grave memory. In reality—during that hellish encounter in the chamber, wherein Alice was forced to endure the Cruciatus Curse—he'd nearly lost himself then and there, and he nearly unleashed that curse with the power of the Swords of Salazar. In fact, he didn't even feel regret as he reflected upon it now—which only assured him of his stance on the issue. The power tempted him, and he more than willingly succumbed to it—so, he'd simply feel much more at ease if he didn't have such temptation weighing over him any longer.
Still—he didn't intend to tell these strangers such a thing. In fact, he hadn't even told his friends. It was a dark, closely-guarded experience of his, something he didn't want or need to speak of.
"Like I said—I used them," Zander answered simply. "I know what they feel like—and they feel like raw power. Striving for power like that isn't something you wanna do too much of."
Everyone gazed into him solemnly, all of them seeming to ponder on this before nodding mildly in agreement.
"Well… good on ya' then," Jeremiah remarked. "That's a pretty wise thing for somebody our age to even know."
"You don't have a choice but to know after you live it," Zander muttered.
"Fair enough," Jeremiah replied, turning and marching onward.
Everyone else followed him.
They all found themselves walking the long path past the side of the castle, but rather than going inside, Jeremiah and Theo continued onward, reaching the wider path that the Hogwarts group had all taken away from Flight 1776 the day before.
Alice glanced back at the castle, which was slowly vanishing from sight behind them, then quickened her pace and joined by Jeremiah's side.
"Where're we going?" she asked.
"Berkshire," Jeremiah told her. "I can show y'all to all the classes tomorrow, and you'll just be followin' the crowds off to the dinners and the Quidditch games—but somebody oughta show you around the town down yonder if you expect to do any shoppin' or relaxin' down there without an escort handy."
"We'll show you the bar where you can get to the American Aisle, too," Theo said.
"The bar… like a pub?" Alice uttered.
"Yes. A bar is like a pub," Theo laughed. "The bar is called Endzone, and the hallway in the back can take you straight to the American Aisle."
"Yeah… but you gotta be careful out there," Jeremiah advised, raising a finger as he walked. "The American Aisle is a big-ass place full of lots of different stores for lots of different kinds of wizards. There's some sketchy-ass seedy places out there, too."
"Sketchy seedy places…?" Alice muttered in confusion.
"Dodgy places," Zander clarified for her. "Places like our Knockturn Alley back home."
"Oh," Alice nodded.
"Yup… people call it the magical Manhattan, and that's about right," Theo informed. "Because it's about as dangerous as the real New York."
"Brilliant," Zander sighed.
"What? We don't have to go there," Alice laughed at him.
"Right… except I know you, and I know you'll try to drag us there," Zander grumbled at her. "Just like you always do when some dangerous forbidden place is prodding at your curiosity."
Alice opened her mouth to argue, then drew a blank, simply laughing and nodding in response.
"Oh—look who it is," Jeremiah said, slowing to a stop as he spotted another group of Ilvermorny students trekking up the path toward them.
These students grinned and greeted Jeremiah like a long-lost brother, trading hugs and high-fives with him before ambushing him with conversation. The Hogwarts gang stood by, patiently waiting while Jeremiah and Theo spoke with this group of apparent friends of theirs.
Then—Jeremiah wheeled around, gesturing over to Lorcan. "Hey, man… this dude right here needs to know where the Magical Creatures class is. Can you show it to 'im for me? I got another errand to run here."
The student nearest him—a tall guy with short dark hair—nodded and agreed, motioning to Lorcan and waving for him to join them. Lorcan gave the Hogwarts gang a brief goodbye wave, then marched off with the group of Ilvermornys, heading back up toward the castle.
Jeremiah prepared to resume the journey down the mountain, but Rose was hesitantly staring back up the path now.
"Um… honestly, I'd rather have breakfast before I go adventuring all over," Rose mumbled. "Come with me, James. Let's go eat."
James's mouth fell open, ogling her as if she had slapped him across the face.
"But I wanna go to the town!" he exclaimed.
"Yes… but I know you'll be in a foul mood all day long if you don't eat," Rose chided back at him. "And I honestly don't wanna hear it. Besides, Alice and Zander can show us around the town later. They're about to get the grand tour."
James groaned loudly and dramatically, tossing his head back before reluctantly following his cousin back up to the castle.
Jeremiah and Theo watched them go, then turned to Alice and Zander.
"Well'p… then I reckon it's just you two," Jeremiah figured, clasping his hands and wheeling around once again. "C'mon."
At that, the four of them continued down the dirt path, and for a while, none of them spoke. The fog was considerably less thick than it had been the afternoon prior, and they strolled between the trees until eventually arriving at the clearing where the aircraft had landed yesterday, now sitting vast and empty.
They marched across the enormous field, and Jeremiah led them all down a much narrower dirt path that started on the other side of the woods, all of them swatting branches and stepping over roots as they carried on.
"Oy… I've got another question," Alice said, jumping over a thick root and landing beside Jeremiah again. "Are you not nervous at all…?"
Jeremiah perked his brow over at her while he walked. "'Bout what…?"
"The tournament," Alice elaborated, eyeing him curiously. "You plan to put your name in the Goblet of Fire, but you don't… you don't seem nervous at all."
Jeremiah glanced at her, then gazed up at the canopies of trees overhead, sunlight peeking in between them.
"God's got a plan for me," he said softly. "If that plan involves me bein' in the tournament… then I'll be in the tournament. And if it doesn't… then I won't get picked for it. Ain't no big deal to me."
"Aye… but… what if you are picked?" Alice asked. "Doesn't that scare you?"
Jeremiah spared her a glimpse again, this time squinting thoughtfully at her.
"You're gonna put your name in too, arentcha?" he guessed.
Alice sighed and nodded.
"Well… I can't tell ya' what to think," Jeremiah said. "But for me… I ain't worried about it. Whatever's meant to happen is gonna happen, and I'll be tryin' my best the whole time."
"Yeah… but people die in this game," Alice reminded him. "You're not worried about that?"
"Nope," Jeremiah replied surprisingly quickly. "If that's what's meant to happen, then God bless me, that's how I was meant to go."
Alice marveled at him as if he had changed colors before her very eyes. Theo had wandered a farther ahead, snapping branches and further clearing the path for everyone, and Zander surveyed Alice and Jeremiah thoughtfully as he walked a little ways behind them.
"I wanna ask you something personal right quick," Jeremiah added, giving her another glance. "D'you believe in God?"
Alice paused, staring down as she walked and pondering on the past.
"Dunno," she mumbled. "My mum did, but… I dunno… after she died, we just… stopped talking about it. Dad didn't bother with praying anymore after she was gone. Plus… y'know… I always kinda thought we wouldn't be in God's good graces if he did exist, since…"
"Since you're magical," Jeremiah figured, and she nodded in agreement. "Well'p… the big thing a lotta Christians get wrong is the fact that God loves everybody, even people who really don't seem like they deserve it, and even people who're born with abilities that the rest of the world can't even imagine. He ain't gonna hate you just because you're born the way you are. But… that's just what I believe. I tend to believe there's a lot more at play than any of us ever see… magic and no-maj alike. And… if that's true… then I'm all set. And… if it's not… then I lived a good life believing in something decent and not treatin' folks wrong. Either way… I reckon it'll all be all right."
Alice continued staring into him as if she simply couldn't comprehend him. He seemed so secure, and entirely unafraid, even facing the possibility of his own death in the Triwizard Tournament. Honestly, the way he spoke of it—and the more she thought about it—the more she felt herself began to ease away from the anxiety of the matter. It was almost as if his attitude was contagious, as if everything would—somehow or another—simply work out in the end.
"I hope you're still preparing for the tournament," Zander spoke up.
Jeremiah and Alice both glimpsed back at him.
"That belief isn't bad—but being prepared is still important," Zander clarified.
"Oh, buddy, trust me… I know," Jeremiah laughed. "I spent all last year fine-tuning every damn thing I could do in the dueling club until I got to be the top dog there. That, on top of flying… I reckon I'm good enough to give it a shot now."
Zander's jaw twitched, teeth starting to grind, not realizing he was glaring rather heatedly into the back of Jeremiah's head now.
"Oy… Zander was the top dog in our dueling club," Alice said, waving loosely back at him. "You two could probably teach each other a lot."
"Ah yeah?" Jeremiah spun around and smirked at Zander. "I reckon we could. You feelin' up to joining our dueling club here?"
"Definitely," Zander said in a strangely grating voice.
Alice giggled, giving Jeremiah another interesting look. "Hah… I love the way you talk."
Jeremiah maintained his charming crooked half-smile, glimpsing over at her.
Alice gulped, her smile fading.
"Ah—sorry," she quickly added. "I don't mean to be offensive, I just—"
"Pfff… aw, c'mon now, girl," Jeremiah chuckled. "I ain't glass, and I ain't gonna break. But I like the way you talk, too… little different from your friends. You're not British, are you?"
"Nah… I'm Irish."
"I thought so," Jeremiah grinned, snapping and waving a finger at her. "I was thinkin' either that or Scottish, but I wasn't sure…"
"Actually… the Irish and Scottish have numerous different accents all across their respective homelands, like most countries do," Zander informed. "Which is apparently even truer here…"
Jeremiah nodded in response, entirely missing Zander's biting sarcasm.
"Lady and gentlemans—behold!" Theo proclaimed, stopping at a ledge and spreading his arms open as he faced them again. "Our quaint little backwoods mountain town!"
Jeremiah, Alice, and Zander marched forward, hovering over the hillside and gazing out from the woodlands—and far down below, where the dirt path spiraled down the hill, they spotted a small, isolated town in the center of the enormous mountain crevice, tucked safely away from any and all who might wander up Mt. Greylock, steep inclines surrounding the town from every direction. The buildings themselves appeared aged, though nothing like the shops of Hogsmeade; Berkshire had brick buildings with only the occasional wooden one here and there, small crowds of people shuffling up and down the main street, just barely visible from where the gang stood.
Alice beamed down at the town, Zander raising his brows at it. Jeremiah and Theo leaped over the ledge and landed swiftly on the other side of the dirt path, outside of the woods and beyond the grounds of Ilvermorny. Alice and Zander soon joined them, and they all began the long walk down the expansive hillside, thumping across the earth before the dirt path eventually led them into the edge of the town's main road.
Once they found themselves marching into town—Alice marveled at everything around her, spotting a sweets shop and a clothing store—featuring many Ilvermorny coats and scarves in its front window—as well as a very old hotel, and an equally ancient theater across from it, complete with a huge vertical sign protruding from the front of it, the sign aged and fitted with old lettering that spelled out BERKSHIRE THEATRE. The people marching up and down the street and sidewalks all appeared to be dressed rather casually, women in dresses, and men often seen in long overcoats or with hats on. A few other groups of students were visible farther down the road—not inconspicuous at all, as they wore school robes amid a crowd of people in rather average attire—and the farther they walked, the more obvious it became that this town had likely not been renovated or updated in any way since sometime around the 1940s.
"Like traveling back in time, isn't it?" Theo grinned as he glanced around. "But I guess you guys wouldn't really know."
"Wouldn't know what?" Zander asked.
"Well, I mean… it's an American thing," Theo shrugged. "Everything around here looks like it's kinda from the WW2 era… but the rest of America does not look like this anymore. Trust me. It really doesn't."
"We have a muggle world back home too, y'know," Zander replied vacantly. "We're aware of how different it looks… only our wizarding world is more medieval. You wanna talk about traveling back in time, then go over to our side of the pond."
"Are you from a pureblood family?" Theo asked out of nowhere.
Zander's eyes narrowed. "What does that matter?"
"I'm just curious… because pureblood families don't usually see much of the no-maj world," Theo explained. "But you sound like you know all about it."
"Oh… well… we have special circumstances," Zander muttered, thinking of the carnival. "The place I live outside of school is the biggest mixture of the magical world and the muggle world you'd ever see. It's not exactly normal."
"Blimey… lookit that!" Alice beamed, pointing down the road, where a small crowd had formed around a street performer.
At once—she bolted off toward the crowd, hurriedly leaving her friends behind.
"Alice!" Zander barked after her.
"Aw… she's fine," Jeremiah laughed. "That's Frankie over there. He does some fancy magic during a dance and earns himself some street money out here."
At that, Jeremiah sauntered onward, wandering over to the crowd where Alice was. He joined her side, and the two of them moved to the front of the crowd, watching as the man named Frankie danced to an old-world tune, sending magical beams of blue swirling up and down his body all the while.
Zander glared after them both, feeling unreasonably agitated, though he wasn't sure why. Theo remained standing beside him, folding his arms and snickering.
"They make you feel like a babysitter, don't they?" Theo commented.
Zander gnawed his bottom lip, turning and eyeing him.
"Well… Jeremiah's cool, but he can be naïve," Theo elaborated. "And I kinda feel like Alice is the same way. Just how it seems to me…"
Zander studied him, a thought sparking to mind.
"How did you end up in Wampus?" he asked. "You seem more like the adventurer type than the warrior type… no offense."
"Oh… none taken. I get it," Theo replied with a shrug. "But I'm also a sociopath."
Zander stared at him.
"No, really, I am," Theo added. "Got the diagnosis and everything. My parents are no-majs, and they really believe in the whole therapy thing. And, despite the fact that they aren't together anymore… the one thing they still agree on is the fact that I'm a cold manipulative fuck-wit."
"Oh. Well… that's… not… something I'd expect you to say," Zander uttered.
"Tch… I can still have fun," Theo shrugged again. "People think sociopaths can't feel things, but it's not true. They're just scrambled eggs in the head, can't process feelings worth a damn. Doesn't really matter, though. I'm not an evil monster… so, y'know… who cares."
Zander nodded, slowly turning to face the crowd around the street performer again.
"Yeah," he sighed. "Who cares…"
The two of them broke into a stride, approaching the crowd and watching the magical dance from a distance. Once the man named Frankie finished, the blue lights disappeared, and he made a flick of the wrist, making one final pop of light erupt in the palm of his hand. Many members of the crowd applauded him, a few of them placing coins in the upturned hat at his feet.
Alice smiled, digging into her robe and searching for her small baggie of coins. But, before she could find it, Jeremiah stepped past her and flicked a silvery coin into the nickelodeon.
She turned and squinted at him. "Was that a whole sickle…?"
"A what?" Jeremiah chuckled, raising another one of his coins and showing it to her. "This is a dragot, sweetheart. Check it out."
Alice narrowed her eyes at the strange coin, only just noticing it was an octagon rather than a perfect circle, and the insignia along the top was marked United States of America.
"Oh… Christ," she sighed, tossing up her hand. "I didn't know we had to use different money here. I've gotta convert mine…"
"Ye'ap… and there's a guy for that right down the road," Jeremiah informed, clicking his tongue and pointing further down the street. "That's why the bar gets some good business… 'cause the visitors from far away walk out of the conversion office, and then the bar's just right there across the street from 'em. First place they always go."
Alice laughed, and the two of them stepped away from the crowd, rejoining with Zander and Theo before they all continued into town.
"Do they have Butterbeer here?" Alice asked.
"Well… it ain't the drink of choice," Jeremiah replied. "Folks 'round here drink Lobe-Blaster."
"Wicked," Alice grinned.
"And it's roughly nine-thirty in the morning," Zander said loudly from behind her. "So any drinking we do isn't gonna be done now."
Alice glimpsed back at him, then turned to Jeremiah and sniggered. "Don't mind him… he can't help it. Not a drop of Irish in him."
Jeremiah laughed and nodded.
"Oh—ha ha haaa," Zander snarked.
"Boooy… I gotta tell you," Theo grinned, clasping his hands and rubbing them excitedly together. "Me and Jeremiah have spent many a night just pounding down Lobe-Blaster in the Endzone. Easily the most competitive thing we've ever done to each other… and I'm including Quidditch. Quidditch and dueling."
"What… you have drinking contests?" Alice said.
"Oh yeah," Jeremiah and Theo said in unison.
Zander's eyes sharply homed in on the back of Alice's head, feeling as if he could hear her next words before they ever escaped her.
"I wanna play," Alice smiled, glancing between the two Ilvermornys. "You tell me the next time you're gonna do that—and I'll be there."
Jeremiah and Theo seemed delighted, laughing and slapping her on the back as they showered her with praising banter—but Zander could've cursed aloud, rolling his eyes and gnawing his lip hard enough to hurt.
Jeremiah led them all over to the building on the farthest right corner, one with old peeling paint that was probably once yellow. They strolled through the front doors and entered an average sort of lobby, Jeremiah greeting the man behind the counter like an old friend, stating that they needed some money converted. So—after Alice and Zander took turns handing over their sacks of coins, getting dragots in return—they all marched out of the conversion office again, now perfectly facing the bar called Endzone across the street.
The Endzone building was a long and rectangular one, its bricks red and unpainted, with a single neon sign posted up above the glass double-doors. The bright sign was easily the newest thing in all of Berkshire, and they all walked across the street toward it, Jeremiah pushing the doors open and leading the others inside.
The interior appeared—surprisingly—similar to what Alice and Zander remembered the Hog's Head to look like, but with different furniture, leather booths along the wall beside the windows, and the tables and chairs seemed considerably less aged than the ones used in the pub back home. The bar had virtually no business as of now—being so early in the day—and a single lanky man stood behind the bar, cleaning out glass mugs with a rag, a few other mugs hovering and cleaning themselves just behind him. The only customer in the bar was a man sitting in the booth in the far corner, keeping to himself, sipping a mug of coffee, and flipping through a local wizarding newspaper called Magic Massachusetts, though the group didn't notice him as they walked in.
"He-hey, Jerry-Boy," Jeremiah said, slapping the counter once and nodding at the bartender.
The man—Jerry—glanced up from his mug, squinting from behind his small glasses and scoffing out a laugh.
"Now it's a bit too early for you to walk in here and start raising hell," Jerry quipped.
"Well… that's a damn shame," Jeremiah laughed, turning and gesturing to Alice and Zander. "I made a couple'a friends from Hogwarts… Alice and Zander. I'm gonna show 'em to the back right quick, a'ight?"
The man in the far corner flipped down the top of his newspaper—his pensive blue eyes narrowing at the newcomers across the bar.
"You just do that… but don't turn them loose in the Aisle on their own," Jerry advised.
"I ain't plannin' on it," Jeremiah said, waving for his friends to follow.
The four of them walked past a few of the tables, stopping at a hallway in the middle of the bar, which was just across from the booths and windows. The hallway was a narrow brick one, a men's room on one side and a ladies room on the other, but the very end of the hallway appeared to have a different sort of wall—a familiar stone one that Zander was certain he'd seen before.
"This is how my father took me to Diagon Alley," he murmured.
"Ye'ap… same premise, different place," Jeremiah nodded, venturing down the narrow hall and waving them onward. "Come'ere… I'll show ya' how, so pay close attention when I do it."
Vance Calloway continued eyeing them all from behind, slightly lowering his newspaper, watching as the students vanished into the hallway one by one.
"Now… all the magic communities across America, and even some in Canada, have a way of reaching this place somehow or another," Jeremiah explained, slowing to a stop at the dark stone wall. "The American Aisle is where every wizarding community practically on this whole entire contentment do their shopping. It's got all different types of witches and wizards, including all the bad ones… so you do not wanna get lost there. It's a gigantic place… and if you make a wrong turn somewhere, then you're gonna end up in a bad neck of the woods before long."
"Gotcha," Alice affirmed.
Jeremiah nodded, then reached into his robe—and what he pulled out make Alice and Zander jolt slightly back.
He appeared to be holding a small black revolver now.
Jeremiah squinted at Alice and Zander, then laughed and pulled the trigger. They both jumped again—but a straight black wand shot out of the end of the gun, and he held it upright, showing it to them properly.
"Ain't nothing to worry about," Jeremiah assured, still chuckling at them.
"Bloody hell," Zander sighed, shaking his head at the firearm wand. "Welcome to America…"
Alice snickered, surveying the firearm wand with rapt fascination.
Then, Jeremiah turned, held his unique wand up to the stones, and tapped one of them thrice. He moved the wand down, tapping three stones down four times—then he stepped back, flourished his wand once at the wall, and the stones began to move, shifting and turning as they slowly unraveled, revealing what resided beyond the bewitched wall of the Endzone.
A blast of sunlight suddenly illuminated the narrow hall, washing over Alice, Zander, Jeremiah, and Theo—and after blinking several times, Alice and Zander were able to see the American Aisle in all its glory.
This pathway seemed to have opened somewhere far uphill from the majority of the Aisle, a cobblestone path reaching out from the opening and extending down the hill toward the city—and it was, most assuredly, a city, not a small town or a back-alley shopping ground. The shops and stores varied in size, shape, and color, and the Aisle seemed to stretch on forever, many walkways and alleyways visible even from here—and Alice nearly walked through the opening, wanting more than anything to see it all from up close.
"Uhn-uhn—no." Zander grabbed her robe and yanked her back. "Don't run off."
"I just wanna see! Lookit that!" Alice breathed, jutting her arm out to the amazing sight before her. "That's like a hundred Diagon Alleys put together!"
"Jeremiah!" someone else called out.
Everyone in the hallway spun around—seeing three more Ilvermorny students standing at the end of the hall. It was a group of three girls, all of them striding toward Jeremiah and Theo.
"Hey—Mrs. Knightingale needs you," the tallest of the girls said. "She needs help setting up something in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, and it has to be done before tomorrow."
"What… now?" Jeremiah asked, swapping glances with Theo. "We're kinda in the middle of somethin' here."
"Well… she said she was gonna get her old friend to help her, but she couldn't find him," the tall girl replied. "And you guys are usually the ones helping her out, so…"
"Ughk… fine," Jeremiah sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, then turning back to Alice and Zander. "You remember the way back up to the school?"
"Yeah," Alice and Zander both affirmed.
"Good—tell Jerry to come and seal up the path here," Jeremiah instructed as he started to march off. "It won't seal itself unless someone walks through it—but Jerry can close it. I gotta go—so I'll see y'all later."
"Okay… bye!" Alice smiled, waving them off.
Jeremiah and Theo returned her waves before walking off with the girls, and the Ilvermornys all vanished from the hallway.
Alice and Zander turned back to each other, then faced the opening at the hallway's end again, gazing into the distant American Aisle.
Zander quickly tore his eyes from it, instead focusing on her, as he felt—once again—that he knew her very next move.
"No," he growled.
Alice met his eyes, smiling brilliantly and motioning down the cobblestone path. "C'mon…"
"No," Zander said flatly. "We don't need to wander down there on our own. We don't know a thing about the place—and he just said it's full of—"
"Zandeeer," Alice begged, grasping his sleeve and swinging it to and fro. "C'mon… we won't go very far. I just wanna see a bit of it up close… okay?"
"No. Not okay—because I know exactly where that leads," Zander chided, yanking his arm back. "It leads to you saying 'just a little more' all day long until we get ourselves lost in that bloody mess—and that's not a thing that needs to happen, Alice."
"God blind me… we're not twelve anymore," Alice complained. "D'you think I'm stupid? I know better than to push too far now… because after the whomping willow and the bloody chamber, I am not about to walk into Hell again. Believe me."
Zander huffed angrily at her, glaring into her face and seeming to search every inch of it for any sign of deceit. But—of course—he found none. She simply looked determined, an expression that was becoming rather common for her, much to the contrary of their younger years together.
"How am I gonna be an auror if I'm afraid to walk up to a city?" Alice challenged, rounding on him. "Hm? Tell me that."
Zander's mouth drifted agape, but he drew a blank.
Alice read him, narrowing her eyes, then slowly taking back.
"You still think I'm the same stupid kid who walked up to you six years ago," she determined.
"No… I don't," Zander murmured.
"You think I didn't learn anything from last year, either," Alice accused.
"No… I don't," Zander grumbled a little louder.
"Then what is it?!" Alice griped in frustration. "Because I need some nerve to enter this tournament—and you've gotta be made of nerve to be a bloody auror. I can't be the kind of person who's afraid of walking up to a few shops, Zander."
"That—is not—the damn problem!" Zander whisper-yelled at her through gritted teeth. "The problem is—things are gonna happen that're out of our control. Maybe you can handle yourself, and maybe I can too—but neither one of us can handle everything that could ever happen!"
Alice reared back, ogling him in bewilderment. "Whaddo you think is gonna happen…?"
"Anything!" Zander snarled, advancing on her and glaring heatedly into her eyes. "Anything—any bloody thing—could happen to us!"
"Zander—it's shops," Alice told him very clearly.
Zander grinded his teeth harder, leering into her and feeling utterly agitated. The image of the Chamber of Secrets flashed through his mind again—and he snapped his eyes shut for a second, anger waging war with several other things inside.
Now, all the sudden, he knew exactly why he was so annoyed—simply because the event had left him practically traumatized, jumpy and anxious about whenever another life-threatening scenario might possibly ambush them.
"Listen to me," Alice said more gently. "I get why you don't wanna go, and I get why you think I'd just run off down a dark alley somewhere—but I'm not. And I can't shy away every time something like this pops up. I'm not gonna get anywhere in life if I do. So—I'm going. You can stay here if you like, but I'm gonna go."
"Well—fine," Zander snapped at her. "You just go right ahead!"
"Aye… I will," Alice decided, turning away.
Zander—totally fed up—stormed down the hallway and prepared to leave the bar. But just when he reached the edge of the hall, he turned back, watching as Alice stepped through the opening in the stones, emerging on the other side and walking off beneath the distant sunlight.
Then—the stones started to shift and twist, beginning to close the wall.
Zander glared, his heart suddenly pounding, then racing, positively hammering behind his ribs as he watched the stones twist and move.
The stones carried on, turning and steadily moving inward, sunlight slowly dimming and disappearing from the hall, his heart thrashing madly.
He made a shake of the head—a panic shooting up and down him—then he exploded into a run back down the hall, darting directly toward the moving stones.
Zander raced forward thoughtlessly—and he made a desperate leap—diving through the opening just before it shrank too small to fit through.
He vanished from the hallway seconds before the stones sealed up the back wall entirely.
And—seconds later—Vance Calloway strode over to the hallway, standing at the end and glaring at the stone wall adjascent from him, his fingers tapping irritably on the paper he held by his side.
"Damn," he rasped.