'Come in close, closer. Because the more you think you see, the easier it'll be to fool you.'- Daniel. J. Atlas. Now You See Me.
A soft sigh left the figure as they trekked slowly through the thick sea of snow. It was a typical London winter, with mountains of snow and lots and lots of rain.
The figure currently walking through the mess was dressed from head to toe in all black, from their shoes to their shaggy black hair.
Emerald green eyes were narrowed against the cold air hitting their face, making them water at the bitting feeling.
"I hate this weather, why couldn't England have more warmer days?" The figure pulled their cloak tighter against their body to warm themselves more. Something solid collided with them, nearly causing them to topple. "Hey!" They turned, but no one was insight for miles. "That was strange." The figure put the thought out of their mind as they finally reached their destination.
The door to the Leaky cauldron creaked slightly as they pushed in. "Ah ! Wasn't expecting you for another hour!" "Plans change Tom, is my normal room available?" "Yes sir, we cleaned it and everything." "Thank you Tom." "It was my pleasure." The Bartender handed the figure a single key. "You remember where it is right?" "Last door on the right." "Yes, dinner will be served in a few hours. Hope to see you there." Harry nodded his head before heading up the stairs and down the hall.
"This place hasn't changed as much since the last time I was here." He commented quietly as he passed a cleaning-witch. Arriving to his room he quickly unlocked the door and headed inside. A sigh of relief left him as he plopped down on the bed, fully clothed and soaked. "Should have taken my cloak off, oh well." Harry laid on on the bed for several minutes until he felt something poking him.
"Yous shouldn't be sleeping in yer clothes master Potter." A HouseElf stood right beside the bed, looking annoyed at the man. Harry groaned as he flipped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm fine Wulf." The HouseElf merely frowned before clicking his tongue. With a snap of his fingers a bucket of water appeared and was dumped over Harry's head. He spluttered, jumping out of the bed and quickly throwing off his clothes. "You're insane Wulf!" He glared at the smirking elf before lobbing his shirt at him.
Wulf caught the garment and dried it in a matter of seconds. "I really should learn household charms." "Yous should, very useful." Harry, free of his wet clothes settled back onto the bed and waited for Wulf to dry them off. "Master! Look at this!" His attention turned to the Elf who held a single card in his grasp.
"What in Merlin's name is that?" He took the card Wulf held and stared. The card was larger than any playing card he's ever seen, with erratic designs and a blueish-purple colour. "The Magician? How fitting." He muttered, looking at the image before turning it over.
A single eye stared back at him. "There appears to be an address printed on it." Harry frowned as he read the words. "This is in America, New York to be specific. Why on earth am I being invited to something so far from home?" He considered the card to be a trap before Wulf spoke up.
"It's a Tarot card Master, they hold special meanings to card readers and people of superstitions." He wandered over and took the card from his hands. "This card is The Magician, it's meaning is willpower, desire, creation, manifestation." Wulf rolled the card in his hand. "It's not a Death eater trap Master, they don't know of the Eye." "What's the Eye?" Harry was curious now, something he hadn't felt since his first year at Hogwarts. Wulf handed the card back to him. "Yous will know soon." Wulf said before popping out of the room.
Harry shook his head in fondness for the strange Elf he picked up a few years back. The twenty-two year old stretched his tired bones before looking at the card once again. There was a large part of him that was curious about this meeting, but a smaller part he liked to call 'Mad-eye Moody' was telling him to keep his guard up.
Seeing as he had nothing better to do, he decided to give it a go. He had plenty of money to buy a ticket to America, being of an Ancient and Noble house, so that wasn't an issue.
"Accio wand." The item flew from the pile of dried clothes into his hand. "Looks like I'll be buying a ticket for America tomorrow morning." He made a mental note before slipping into his warm clothes and heading down for an early dinner.
Unknown to Harry, there stood a hooded figure several feet from his room. They pulled out a stack of cards and held one up into the streetlight. "One down, three more to go." They vanished from the spot.
The next morning was not something Harry was looking forward to, he woke up to Wulf dumping another bucket of water onto his face, then he nearly missed breakfast because of how late he was, and now he had to deal with moody muggles to get his passport.
Sure he could have done it all at Gringotts, but he didn't want to deal with the goblins so early in the morning. Harry sighed for the tenth time that day as he finally finished up all the paper work he needed to do.
"If I had known it would have been such a hassle to do this I would have reconsidered the invite." He stuffed his passport and IDs into the suitcase Wulf had shoved into his hands. How the Elf knew he needed something to carry all this he'll never know. Harry headed back to the Leaky Cauldron in order to get to the Alley to get some supplies. "Hello Tom!" He greeted the busy man as he entered the back.
Tapping the bricks in a familiar pattern he entered Diagon Alley with the intent to gather materials he needed for his long stay in America. He passed by all the shops, smiling at the happy children racing around and gathering snow.
It was only November but the snow had hit them without warning, covering the entire place in the white substance. Harry liked the snow some days, but other days it reminded him of the cold nights he spent locked out of the house. He shook those thoughts from his mind, he already had to much on his mind.
The war had ended four years ago, freeing the wizarding world from Voldemort's grasp. The victory hadn't come without it's losses however, they lost many friends and family on that day. Harry sighed, happy mood gone as thoughts of the war filled his mind once again. "Of all the times," He rubbed a gloved hand over his eyes to try and ease the pain in his head.
Passing by the Junk Shop something white caught his eye as he turned. A single deck of worn-out playing cards was innocently sitting on top of a title less book, but what drew his attention was the Eye printed on the spine of said-book. Wandering in he greeted the witch at the counter before steering himself to where both the book and deck of cards were.
Harry picked up the cards first, turning them over in his hand. A name was printed on the bottom, faded out but still eligible. He couldn't quite translate the name, as it was in another language he didn't know.
Picking up the book next, he gasped as a lightning sensation ran up his arm and down his spine. "Well well, looks like that old book has finally found it's owner." Harry jumped at the voice beside him. The old witch from the counter stood before him, a smirk on her face. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to startle you." He held his chest to calm his heart. "What do you mean?" "This book has been here for many years, anyone who's tried to pick it up has been shocked and sent to Saint Mungo. You're the only one that hasn't been rejected." "Oh, joy." It was the Potter luck acting up again, he just knew it.
The witch calmly lead him to the counter. "Seeing as you're the rightful owner I'll only charge you three gallons." Harry handed her the needed money." "Pleasure doing business with you Harry Potter." He wasn't shocked that she knew his name, the entire alley knew him, what shocked him was the quick glimpse of the Eye on her hand before he was ushered out of the shop. Harry shoved his purchases into his suitcase and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to rest up for tomorrow.