The next morning, Will and Eric were in New York.
"Home, sweet home," Eric breathed in the polluted air of Broadway happily as he stepped out of a taxi near the Woolworth Building.
"You're from New York?"
"Yes, Will. The city that never sleeps. The best place on earth, glorified by the Beastie Boys, Frank Sinatra and Carrie Bradshaw."
"An odd bunch. I'd argue," Will grimaced. "Why did we come here?"
"This building houses Magical Congress of the United States of America. The most important organization for those who live by our laws. By the way, have you made up your mind yet?"
Will nodded "Your laws don't suit me. I've lived and will live by the ordinary ones. And that's all," he twirled his wand in his hands "Only for work. I hope that won't be a problem?"
"Not at all. But you'll still have to follow the basic rules."
"The law is the law."
"Follow me!" Eric gestured to the front entrance of the building.
To Will's surprise, they didn't go through the front door, but through a narrow glass door on the left side.
"Section 3a," Eric said briefly to the doorman.
Nodding in response, the doorman opened the door.
A second later, Will Gardner couldn't believe his eyes. They found themselves in a huge lobby with glass elevators, many windows that let bright sunlight into the building.
"Beautiful!" Will's eyes widened in surprise. "This is just fantastic."
Eric liked the way people reacted when they entered the building for the first time.
"How does Congress manage to hide its presence from ordinary people?"
"For everyone else, the entrance we came through is just a back entrance. They don't see anything. And you wouldn't have seen it, Will, if you weren't one of us."
The friends' path led to the Department of Permits. Since the lawyer had just joined the community, he didn't have permission to carry and use a wand. Without it, any further activity was impossible.
The clerk issuing the permits sighed sadly, taking out a form. "So, William Paul Gardner himself has finally come to us. Such a famous family, and you avoid us. Well, better late than never." He looked like a character from a Dickens novel. Sideburns, an old-fashioned frock coat, a bow-shaped tie. Will was especially interested in examining the official's pointed ears, similar to an elf. Or maybe he was an elf.
"I didn't know anything," Will muttered sheepishly.
"Congratulations," the clerk filled out the form and stamped it. "Welcome to our community. Your lawyer's license has been expanded to include magical crimes, and the firm is also accredited to work with us."
Eric looked at his watch as he left the department. "Congratulations, Will. You now have full rights to use your family heirloom. Plus, you've been licensed to practice as a lawyer in cases involving magical criminal offences."
"That's weird to hear. It's like we're in a movie."
"I've been doing this my whole life and I still haven't gotten used to it."
"Do you work in this building, Eric?"
"I am one of the youngest members of the Congress. Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This is a very high position. The equivalent of your Attorney General and much more all rolled into one. In fact, I have now been tasked with attracting lawyers to our cases. I am also responsible for police work, the Attorney's Office and the court. The largest department. Sometimes I give lectures on the northern magical tradition at Ilvermorny School. Runes, galdrastavs, galdramünds." Will knew what runes were from films about the Second World War, but he had never heard of some galdra or something. Trying not to seem incompetent, he remained silent. Eric wandered along the corridors with Will, introducing him to his colleagues, and showed him around the building for a long time. The lawyer was surprised at how much his last name inspired respect in everyone, and the portrait of his great-great-great-grandfather Daniel was even in the hall of fame.
"Where to next?" Will asked as the two friends left the Congress.
"We have a plane to Oslo in two hours. From there we'll fly to the island of Spitsbergen, where the American-run prison is located. It was built recently, leasing land from the Norwegian government. Officially, it's a scientific station for everyone."
"Is my client in that prison?"
"An underground prison. The accused has been there for a month. In the future, you'll be able to travel there with a spell and green powder. But for now, they haven't brought us a new one to the storage facility. We'll have to fly like everyone else." Eric spread his hands.
Will didn't remember anything special about the flight. Business class, attentive flight attendants, music, movies. Eric listened endlessly to his stupid rap, shaking his head to the music.
Will didn't like rap and couldn't wait for the flight to end. But upon arrival in Oslo, it turned out that the plane to Spitsbergen, instead of in the evening, was leaving early in the morning.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Eric dragged Will to a concert by The Prodigy. Will tried to make excuses, citing fatigue. Eric was persistent. In the end, Will Gardner spent a great hour and a half. He never thought that a rave could be so cool. Thousands of people, music, flashes of light.
"You need to get away from the routine, bro. Everyday boring life doesn't lead to anything good," Eric patted him on the shoulder when the concert reached its peak with the track "Colors."
It was very late when the friends, having walked around the city to their heart's content, were returning to the hotel.
Suddenly, on an empty street, Eric felt that they were not alone. The guy was not a fearful person, but he felt scared to the point of panic.
"What happened?" asked a surprised Will, who had never seen his friend confused.
"You don't feel anything, Will?"
"No. Should I?"
"Something is wrong here" Eric looked around "Someone is following us"
"It's three a.m, Eric. The street is empty"
"You haven't developed senses like mine yet. That's why you can't feel."
Suddenly, Eric grabbed Will by the sleeve, leading him into a dark alley. At the same moment, something or someone without a face, in a black robe, rushed past.
"F..k...Will, could it really be them?"
"Who?"
"No, don't even think about it. Let's get out of here quickly."
Before Will and Eric had time to jump out of the alley, Will was knocked off his feet by a huge force, thrown against the wall of the building. It suddenly became very cold, like in a freezer. Will couldn't move. Several creatures were circling around him.
"They didn't kill me in court, they'll kill me now. God, what have I gotten myself into?"
"Patronus, Will Patronus. Faster! You should have read about this. Drive them away, otherwise we're finished," Eric shouted.
Will, covered in sticky sweat, feverishly went over the most important spells he had recently learned. A sticky, suffocating fear gripped him. Even losing consciousness on the courtroom floor, he was less afraid than he was now.
Taking control of his thoughts, Will remembered the spell that impressed him most while studying the books. Latin again. Expecto Patronum - expecting a defender.
"So..." Will muttered "Remember the happiest moments of my life..." reaching for his wand, the lawyer spoke the options "First million earned? No. Innocent people saved in court? Yes! First chords on the guitar? Yes! First date with a girl? Yes! How father taught to ride a bike? Yes! First victories in baseball and basketball? Yes! Mother's hands? Yes! Kalinda's eyes? Yes!"
Suddenly, Will felt how the fear left, he was filled with strength. Taking out his wand, he shouted so loudly that half of Oslo could probably hear him: "Expecto Patronum!"
The air vibrated. A powerful white light poured out of the wand, covering the entire alley with a glowing dome. The creatures in black robes scattered. The light concentrated into one point, from which a huge neon bull appeared. Having galloped along the alley, the ghostly animal melted into thin air.
Enchanted by the Patronus summoned by Will, Eric applauded. "Wow! What power. Dispersed everyone. Will, you did it."
Sitting down on the curb, Will asked in shock
"You always have a wand with you, why didn't you drive away the Dementors, Eric?"
"You should have cast the spell yourself, Will. Otherwise, you'll never learn."
"And if I hadn't managed it?"
"You would have managed it. I know for sure. You cast the Patronus on the first try, even though you only read about it in a book once. Many cannot do this after seven years of study. It's like throwing a ball into a basket from the middle of the court without ever having played basketball before and knowing nothing about it. "
"Our journey to my client is taking too long" Will sighed tiredly "And my life is turning into a Stephen King novel".
"Are you bragging or complaining now?" Eric asked in surprise.
The friends laughed.