Harry Potter and the Wizards of Waverly Place: The Stone of Dreams

Chapter 4

After breakfast, Harry and Hermione planned their day, making certain that a trip to see the Statue of Liberty was on their itinerary. Determined not to use magic, they chose to try New York's Underground instead of a taxi.

It was nothing like the London Tubes; here, grime and graffiti covered the walls, rats scurried in the shadows along excrement covered floors, and the lights were dingy. They stopped at an information kiosk for directions.

"Excuse me," Hermione began "What Tube do we take to get to Staten Island." The kiosk worker stared at Hermione blankly.

"Tube?" She had just been about to take a lunch break and these two English kids were stalling her. It took her a moment to figure it out. "Oh, you mean the Subway line right?" she said in an annoyed voice. "And if you want to get to Staten Island you'll need to take a ferry." She tossed Hermione a folded map. "Here, you'll find which lines you need to get to the ferry terminal in there." She said sharply. Then the stocky woman bolted through the door at the back of the kiosk and left Harry and Hermione staring after her in amazement at her rudeness.

They made their way down to the Subway tunnel, and got on a train which seemed to connect to a line to the ferry terminal.

"I don't know Harry, this is a bit creepy in here," said Hermione anxiously. There was a stale stench of urine and beer. Their carriage was quite full, and they were getting squeezed by the crowd. Hermione felt someone's hands grab her buttocks, and they weren't Harry's hands. She gasped in outrage and felt inside of her sweatshirt for her wand. Harry put his hand on her arm gently.

"Don't Hermione! Let's just get out of here. We don't know the Wizarding rules here." Which was quite odd actually. Hermione always researched the places she wanted to visit. He would ask her about it later when they were off the bloody train.

A few minutes later they stumbled off the train into an unknown station. They pored over the map, but even Hermione was having trouble figuring it out.

"I think we got on the wrong train Harry. Look, this is where we are now--by Washington Square."

"Well anywhere has to be better than down here. I'm sick of these tunnels." They made their way up a broken escalator, and then up some stairs to the street level.

"Oh Harry!" exclaimed Hermione brightly, "I think this is Greenwich Village. This used to be the center of art and the counterculture in NY."

"Counterculture?" He really did need to bone up on Muggle Studies Harry thought ruefully. He had an image of tie-died tee-shirts and hairy musicians--not unlike some of the more eccentric Wizards he had met in fact.

"They were artists and poets who broke with traditional cultural mores and politics Harry. From the bits I've picked up, I think many of them were Wizards. And I expect some Wizard families still live here." 

Harry pondered her statement. Something still seemed strange. Hermione ought to be much more informed he thought.

"Hermione, I keep meaning to ask... but, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I was just wondering why you don't know very much about American Wizards." 

Hermione crinkled her nose in frustration.

"It's ridiculous. They're even more secretive about their communities than the Ministry is about ours. Except for a bit of information about the Salem Institute I got from the Wizards at the Quidditch cup, I couldn't find much else on American Wizards." 

Harry felt a bit disconcerted at the idea of stumbling into something unknown.

"Well, let's just wander around here for a bit, Hermione. It seems nice here and I could use some lunch." After meandering around a couple of blocks Harry and Hermione found themselves on a street called Waverly Place in front of a sandwich shop. The sign read Waverly Sub Station. "Lets give this a go, Hermione?"

Hermione wasn't sure, but she sensed an electric charge around the shop. Harry obviously sensed it too and was drawn in by it.