Chapter 5: Muggle Studies
Over the next week, Neville tried to learn all he could about the muggle world. He even sat in on one of Evan's Muggle Studies Classes. Unfortunately, the material covered was on Muggle restaurants and eating habits, not on communication-which was what he really needed.
On Wednesday, the weather was terrible, and he didn't want to wait for it to stop or stand out in the cold attempting to talk to her on Even's cell phone, so he found the old phone in the office. He dialed the series of numbers and waited for her to pick up, but she didn't, so he left a message.
On Thursday, Evan and Neville drove to Grove Hill.
"Neville, it's time for you- and many wizards- to join us in the 21st Century," said Evan.
"What do you mean?" asked Neville.
"You need a cell phone. You can't keep borrowing mine. Yes, you might not need it in Hogwarts, but it means you and Ellie can communicate without me being the go-between."
"How can I help you today?" asked a woman in a red shirt.
The shop was small. There were two tables with little boxes attached to them. The phones were little black or white boxes with a screen. There weren't any buttons on them. There were some covers in different colors for sale.
"My friend needs a phone," said Evan
"I can help you with that," said the girl. "My name's Meg."
"I'm Evan Gallagher and this my friend, Neville. Neville needs a cell phone. He's somehow managed to survive without one."
"That's an impressive feat in this day and age! Do you know what kind of phone? We have the latest iPhone 13, some great deals on the iPhone12 and some Androids."
"What's your best deal on something like this?" asked Evan. He pulled out his own phone. It had a tiny screen and lots of buttons.
"Wow!" said Meg. "I haven't seen one of those in quite a while."
"It still works pretty well. When I got it, everyone had one."
"I know, but phones have advanced so much. They are about to stop making those and the operating system will soon be obsolete. We have a great deal going now- it is buy one get one free on a family plan. I think that would work well for you."
"That would be great" said Evan.
"What's the difference between the iPhones? And how do you make these things work?" asked Neville.
"The difference is just a little bit of technology. The iPhone 12 has an extra camera. And you get that one to work by tapping on the screen and swiping up. I don't think that one turns on. It is just for display."
"Do you have a color preference? I've got red and pink."
"I'll take the red," said Neville.
"You can put a case over it," said Meg.
"Red is my favorite color," said Neville.
"Evan, can I have your old phone? I can start transferring your information to the new one."
Neville looked around. On the back wall, there was a display that showed the history of cell phones. It went from a huge box to tiny flip phone to these phones that were just screens. It is kind of amazing how much they'd changed in just ten years. He'd seen the smaller, earlier phones and some of the newer ones. The muggle kids complained about how they couldn't get them to work well at school.
"Neville," said Evan.
"Sorry, I got lost in thought."
"You might want to pick out a case for the phone," said Evan
"I'd go for the Otter Box," said Meg.
Neville found a bright red case. He'd learned that it was harder to lose the bright colors.
Meg handed him the phone.
"Now, if you want to make a call, you just push the green button with the phone at the bottom of the screen. If you want to text, push the little one with the bubble. At the top are all your apps- it has Instagram, Facebook, Music, News, already set up. I'm going to send you a text."
The phone beeped.
Why is it asking for a passcode?"
"I'll show you how to set that up. It is just so no one else can get into your phone."
"Why would that be a problem?" asked Neville. "I mean, it is just a phone. Can't anyone use it?"
"Yes, if they have the passcode. I can even set it up to recognize your face."
"Wait, the phone can recognize me?!" said Evan
"Yes," said Meg, "It uses the camera to recognize your face."
"That's amazing," said Evan.
"So, it's kind of like a recognition charm," said Neville.
"Yes, in a way, I suppose it is," said Meg. She wondered who these guys were. There was definitely something unusual about them. How had they gotten this far without phones? Everyone had one these days. And what were these charms they were talking about.
"It's just like magic," said Neville.
"Sure," said Meg.
Evan poked Neville again, "I don't want to have use my charm on her."
"Why not use your charm on me?"
"Not that kind of charm," said Evan. "It's nothing. Just a figure of speech."
She was pretty sure it was something, but whatever. There was something weird with these two.
"Why don't I just set up passcodes for you both?" she suggested. "How about your birthday?"
"Can you make it 0912?"
"It's not my birthday. But it is a special day."
"Don't tell me you are making your passcode the day you met Ellie?"
"Yep," said Neville.
"That's sweet," said Meg. "Is Ellie your girlfriend?"
"Not officially, not yet. I hope she will be."
"As long as you can remember it, great. If you need to change it, we can do that to."
"Let me see if your phone has finished transferring data."
"I think you are all set," said Meg. "You have your phones, your cases. I set up billing for you."
"Great! Thanks," said Evan.
"Thanks," said Neville.
As they left the shop, "Be careful! I don't want to have to use a Confundus Charm or something here," said Evan.
"I'm not the one who mentioned charms," said Neville.
"Oh, and we are going in here, too," said Evan. They walked in the door of a lrge Muggle clothing store.
"Why are we here?" asked Neville.
"I need some new pants. You need new clothes."
"What is wrong with my clothes?" asked Neville.
"They would have been fine ten, twenty years ago. The world has moved on. You are dating a muggle. You need muggle clothes."
Neville followed Evan over to a display of men's trousers. He pulled out a pair and held them up to Neville for length. Then he handed a pair to Neville.
"Try these on. If they fit, we will go from there."
Neville went into the fitting and tried them on. They felt good- but a little tight.
"Nope," said Evan.
"Try these."
Neville tried on the pants. They fit and were actually very comfortable.
"Great," said Evan. "Now, try on these pants and I found a few shirts for you, too."
"Sure," said Neville. "I never knew you were this into clothes."
"I like looking good. Plus, my family is in the Muggle clothing business."
"I never knew that," said Neville.
"Most wizards could care less what happens in the Muggle world. But you should. The worlds come together more often than you might think. Now, see if this looks good," said Evan hjolding up a shirt.
Neville tried on a checkered blue and white button up shirt. It actually looked very good on him.
"Yes," said Evan. "You look great."
"I'm glad you think so. I hope Ellie feels the same way."
"She will."