Chapter Text
I knew I was stepping into another world and yet I was still shocked when I appeared in New York City.
The first thing I noticed were all the people. Hundreds of people briskly passing by and somehow not one of them had noticed that a very pale nine year old girl had just Apparated. Then there were the lights, the city practically shone like a star even though it was nighttime. And the noise, my god, the noise; honking and yelling and clanging. I couldn't believe that this was the same planet.
I clutched the strap of my bag close to my chest, heart beating fast. I stood in the alley for a minute, watching the pedestrians whisk by. I steeled myself and walked out. I was immediately tossed about and bumped into five people. Someone yelled "Watch it!".
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I kept repeating over and over as I bumped into more people. I didn't know how these Muggles were moving so fast and not crashing into each other. They always moved aside at the last second. After a minute of jostling about I fell into the rhythm.
I kept walking along, looking around for some place I might stay the night, but it was hard to think when I was distracted by everything: The tallest buildings I had ever seen towering above me and huge metal carriages (automobiles, I corrected myself) rumbling by.
I turned right at an intersection and before me loomed a great beige tower, with the top spire illuminated. In gold letters on the front of the entrance was "EMPIRE STATE". I had seen sketches of it in "Wizard's Guide to Muggle America" but they didn't do the hulking beast justice.
Speaking of which, it seems that "Wizard's Guide to Muggle America" was a bit out of date, I had noticed people taking out little metal devices from their pockets and speaking into them. Unmistakably these were telephones but I had seen sketches and descriptions of telephones and they looked nothing like this. Clearly I had a lot to catch up on. I also knew from the guide that the New York Public Library was down the street from the Empire State Building. Maybe I'll go there...
-
Continuing north along "Fifth Avenue" I found the library, an imposing white marble building flanked by two lion statues, but it seems it's not open at night. I guess I'd have to come back tomorrow.
My stomach growled. Ms. Olivia had made me go to bed without dinner again so I hadn't eaten in awhile.
I opened my bag and fished around, pushing aside the potions Bee had given me, and found the pouch of Muggle American money she had managed to procure. I pulled out a small wad of paper each printed with the number 20 and the face of a man. There were 5 pieces total so I had 100... what was it? Dollars? A hundred Galleons was a lot but I didn't know how much this was in comparison. I should probably use as little as possible, just to be safe.
-
I scouted many restaurants advertising low prices. Many of these sold pizza. 5.99! 3! 2.50! shouted shop windows. Eventually I saw a window with "A dollar a slice" handwritten in paint on the inside. That was the lowest price I had seen.
Nervously I pushed open the door, and stepped inside the small restaurant. There was scant seating, just two tables and a short one built into the window. The counter took up most of the room with large circular platters containing pizza underneath a curved glass partition. There were only two other people, a man in a black business suit sitting in the back corner and eating , and a woman in a red short sleeve shirt and white apron behind the counter.
I approached the counter and the woman looked slightly taken aback. I realized that I probably looked very weird but I tried to ignore that and act like I belonged.
"Um, I would like one slice of pizza, please?" I asked her.
"Right..." She drew out her word, eyeing me suspiciously. "But what kind?" She gestured at the pizzas on the counter. Now I could see that each pizza was different, little cards read, for example, "Pepperoni" and "Cheese".
I surveyed my choices, it would be smart to get something with the most ingredients ergo more filling. I settled on "Meat Lovers" which had quite a lot. I would've chosen one with a vegetable but my other option had olives and I didn't like olives.
"Um, a slice of "Meat Lovers", please," I said.
The woman wordlessly lifted up a slice of the Meat Lovers and put it on a plate, setting it down in front of me on the counter.
"Is that it?" she asked me, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes, that's it," I answered.
She, again, wordlessly rung me up on her cash register. "A dollar oh five," she told me.
I pulled the pouch out and handed her one of the 20s. She looked at me suspiciously (again) and sighed as she counted out my change. She handed me a lot of new money, some new pieces of paper and some coins.
"Thank you very much," I said to her, taking my plate.
"...Sure," she replied.
I took my pizza over to the window and sat down, hanging my bag on the back of the chair.
I noticed that my plate was very odd, it seemed to be made of paper. I pinched the edge of it and bent it up and down. Why would you make a plate out of paper? It's not very stable...
I ignored the strange plate and contemplated my slice of pizza. I'd never had pizza before. It was a long triangle of dough topped with a red sauce, cheeses and a lot of meat.
I looked around and grabbed some napkins from a container, they were also made of paper. I unfolded one and draped it over my lap.
I picked up the slice by the base, where the dough peeked out, and it drooped considerably. I had to hold it up with the other hand. I tentatively took a bite...
It was cheesy, meaty, fatty, greasy and all together delicious. I devoured the slice.
I threw the plate and napkins in the garbage (seems a wasteful system if you ask me) and left the restaurant. Now I had to find a place to sleep.
-
There were cheap hotels but even those seemed too expensive.
After wandering around for quite awhile, I found a secluded spot; the fire escape of a derelict building. I climbed on top of a big garbage bin to reach the rungs of the ladder and hoisted myself up. The bottom of the fire escape was filled with junk and large pieces of wood.
I propped a piece of wood up to hide from view and laid another down on the floor. I sat down and wrapped my arms around my chest. This is how I would be living from now on.
I laid down and rested my head on my arm, holding my bag close. This wasn't great but it was still better than where I was. I thought all the noise might keep me up but I was so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open...