The following days were going by far too fast for Matt's liking. His training was nearly complete, at least he assumed that was the case anyway, as Ginny had stopped attempting to test him on anything other than dueling. He smiled to himself knowing that he had seemingly passed the tests his newfound friends had given him. He could not believe that things had gone this well so quickly.
When he woke up, he thought he was in real trouble. Thousands of miles away from home, the home that he knew was gone, no way of getting back easily and no one he knew here. But then he made a friend and with one friend came more. It seemed to be happenstance that his new friends were quite famous. But perhaps fate had thrown them together for a reason though as well.
Matt sighed as he closed the book he was reading. The last of his schoolbooks he had made it through a day or so ago and decided to do some additional reading in the Hogwarts library. Several of this year's texts had references for additional reading and related works. Matt decided to take them up on the offer and dig into those, seeing if he could unearth some knowledge gemstones for later use.
"Ah, Santini, there you are." Came a voice and snapped Matt out of his thoughts.
"Headmistress, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.
"I should have guessed you'd be here. I have come to inform you about what is to happen this coming week. Since you will be attending Hogwarts as a proper student, not a guest of the Hospital Wing, you will be expected to arrive, like all other students, on the Hogwarts Express. It leaves King's Cross Station in London at 11:00 a.m. sharp on the morning of the first of September. Now, once you arrive here, even though it is technically your first year, please take a carriage instead of crossing the lake. I daresay, you'll want Miss Granger, Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood's company and assistance." Professor McGonagall explained.
Matt nodded and listened intently, taking the train ticket given to him by the Headmistress and tucking it into a pocket.
"One question: how exactly am I supposed to get to the station? When I went last time, Hermione and I only went to Diagon Alley and Leaky Cauldron. We didn't get into the city proper." Matt inquired.
"Well, same as before. You'll Floo powder from the castle to the Leaky Cauldron and then take the train. You do have legs, you can walk, albeit slowly. I'd advise spending the night of the 31st there, just to be safe." McGonagall replied.
"Maybe I'll go tomorrow night instead, spend two days and see the sights. I'll say something to Ginny, maybe the others will want to join in, have an end of the summer get together or something." Matt said as he checked his watch.
"Very good. I'll see on the first then." McGonagall nodded and swept from the library. Matt quickly gathered his books and headed back to the Hospital Wing to stick them by his bed before heading to the third-floor corridor.
"Hermione! Harry!" Ginny's voice called up from the entry way to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Hermione marked her place in her book and rose from her bed. She had gotten caught up on her before school reading and was just finishing going back over a few stickier concepts to be sure she had them down, when Ginny called for her.
She made her way down to the kitchen where an excited Ginny Weasley was waiting for them. She was talking to Harry with a giant grin on her face, which could only mean she was up to something. The years she had known the Weasley family made her quite knowledgeable of their mannerisms. Hermione had come to regard Ginny as something of a younger sister, something she had lacked growing up.
Hermione's childhood was not bad, by any means, her parents loved her, and she was always well taken care of. Being an only child though, she was lonely, and having someone to call sister was nice. Hermione smiled as she walked into the kitchen.
"Hello, Ginny!" Hermione said as she sat down beside her.
"Hi! Now that you're both here, I can give you the news!" Ginny was practically ecstatic.
"What news?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I haven't seen you this excited in a while." Harry responded.
"Matt's going to London tomorrow night! He said we should come and spend the day with him in the city on Sunday and have an end of the summer celebration! We should do it." Ginny was practically bubbling over.
"Yeah, we should. It could be fun." Harry said.
"Alright! It'll be fun, like we used to do! Remember Harry?" Hermione said, her voice lighter. Even though she remembered Ron being with them, the memories of hanging out in Diagon Alley, visiting the shops, eating ice cream were still pleasant.
"Yeah! It'll be different this time, though. Going through London." Harry replied but the excitement was still tangible.
"Matt's never been. We'll get to show him around. Remember how it was when we first came to Diagon Alley? We'll get to do that with him, except on the Muggle side of things." Hermione's own excitement was rising too.
"I haven't seen you this excited in a long time, Hermione." Harry said grinning.
"It feels like a return to normal." Hermione said with a smile.
"Matt says to meet up at the Leaky Cauldron. But he didn't say when."
"Well, if he's going there tomorrow night, we'll simply go first thing in the morning on 31st. I just hope he remembers to keep a low profile." Hermione said, her voice tinged with worry.
Matt came down the steps of the Leaky Cauldron that Monday. He stretched a bit and sat down at the bar. It felt oddly good to be out of the castle and roaming around the outside world. He had forgotten how that felt. The previous time he had been here with Hermione, it had only been for a day, this was different. He had slept in a bed that was not a hospital bed and was shockingly more comfortable. That was unusual for any kind of inn, hotel, motel, or hostel. Although it might have simply been since it was different than what he had become accustomed to.
Matt had intentionally not spoken much to anyone and had mostly stayed in his room. It was hard to tell if someone had an accent or was not a local if they did not talk much. He stuck to simple head nods and shakes as responses. Being a functional mute was much easier than he had thought. When he had to order food, he kept his voice low and did not get much, just enough to hold him over. Hopefully, it was enough to keep him off anyone's radar.
Matt had stuck to reading a small book he kept in his pocket in a dark corner for a few hours. As the time ticked by, he wondered where his friends were. Ginny had sent an owl saying they would meet him as agreed. He realized none of them had bothered to set a time and he kicked himself mentally.
'Always set a time, dumbass' he thought as he looked at the clock.
He had gotten bored of waiting and decided that he would venture out into London for a few moments. He would not go far, just around the corner, to see what it was like. Matt tossed Tom the bartender a sickle and muttered.
"Back in a few, if anyone asks."
Tom simply nodded as Matt stepped out onto the No-Maj street side. He had deduced this was where he wanted to go, as it was the only other door out of the place and the other one, he and Hermione had gone through to go to Diagon Alley. Once on the street he turned back to see the sign over the door slowly fade to nothing as he walked away. Smart. Only a witch or wizard could see the sign as they approached.
Matt had dressed in standard No-Maj clothes. They had gone to a single shop here, he remembered, when he and Hermione visited before. But it had been directly across the street from the Leaky Cauldron. So, it was not like he had explored or anything. The one thing he really wanted to find was a record shop.
Matt found that the thing he missed the most since he woke up was music. He had gotten used to being able to listen to whatever he wanted whenever he wanted at Ilvermorny. Of course, his music collection, along with all his other belongings, had been destroyed with the school. So, he would have to start all over again.
His feet carried him down the street as he looked for anything that might carry music. There were many shops in London, he could tell, but he was sure he would find something soon. Just past the next street or around the next corner. It was not until his keen sense of direction told him he was about to come upon his goal just after the next stretch of buildings, only to find more of the same, he became bewildered.
As he turned around, dejected, he suddenly realized that he had no idea how to get back to the Leaky Cauldron. He swore aloud. Carefully he attempted to retrace his steps, turning where something looked familiar, doubling back when it stopped, but he knew he was lost. Surely the others would be there by now and realize something was amiss.
The fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron erupted in emerald flames as Hermione, Harry, and Ginny all stepped out of it. They were dressed in standard Muggle attire, Hermione wearing a long-sleeved pink blouse, denim jeans and a red and gold light scarf around her neck. Harry was wearing a simple black T-shirt and leather jacket with jeans. Ginny was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and a skirt. A moment later, Luna was there too, wearing a black dress and pink knitted cap. The four of them gazed around the room and exchanged pleasantries with Tom.
"He must not be down yet." Harry said and took a seat at a table.
"Apparently not." Hermione said, a knot of worry was slowly starting to form in her stomach.
"Maybe he overslept?" Ginny offered.
"We could go to his room, find out." Luna offered in her airy voice.
"You don't suppose…something could have happened to him, do you?" Hermione voiced. She knew he was supposed to keep his head down when he was out, McGonagall had reason to think that he could have been the direct target and that Ilvermorny was collateral damage, not the other way around as it appeared.
"I don't think so. What would have happened to him in just a few hours' time?" Harry asked.
"I don't know…" Hermione said and dipped her head. She was still worried about her new friend.
"Your new friend," came Tom's voice. He had apparently overheard their conversation.
"Doesn't say much, does he?"
"I expect not." Hermione replied and turned to face Tom. "You haven't seen him today, have you?"
"Oh yes. Came down and got breakfast. Left and said he'd be back in a bit." Tom replied. "What? How long ago?" Hermione pressed.
"Oh, must've been an hour or two at least." Tom replied. Hermione shared alarmed looks with the others. As they all got up to leave out of the Muggle street entrance, Hermione spotted something out of place. She moved over to the booth in the corner and sitting there on the bench was worn pocket sized book. It was Matt's, she had seen him reading out of it on the rare occasions during their training sessions, when she, Ginny or Luna dueled with each other for fun, rather than him.
In the pit of her stomach, it was as if her worst fear had come true. She could only imagine showing up to Hogwarts, absent Matt and Professor McGonagall asking where he was, only for her to say she lost him permanently in London somewhere.
"Hermione, he'll be ok. I'm sure he's just taken a wrong turn somewhere. Just a wrong turn." Harry tried to reassure her as they stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron.
"Maybe we should split up, cover more ground?" Ginny offered.
"No. While it sounds good, it actually doesn't work well in practice and you often end up lost yourself, even if you find who you're looking for. Better we stick together." Harry replied with a shake of his head.
The group set off down the street.
Matt had finally accepted the fact that he was not, in fact, able to find his way back to the Leaky Cauldron. He was now, almost assuredly going in circles or squares. Try as he might, even a zig zag pattern through the streets and alleyways did not help him redirect himself. He was getting to a point where he thought his only hope would be to stay put.
The only bright side to his predicament was the fact that in his wanderings, he had seen numerous signs pointing towards King's Cross Station, so he had a good feeling that if he were back at the Leaky Cauldron, he could find a way from there to the station without much help.
As he was about to give up, he stopped and smiled. At least this trip was not a total waste. He had found a music shop. In the back corner of one of the side streets he could see a sign with several music notes over an old vinyl record. Even if he had to buy an antiquated version of the songs he wanted, it was better than nothing. Hogwarts had to have a record player, the tech in the wizarding world was just about the right level for records.
He stepped into the shop with the tinkle of a bell over the door. He was greeted with aisles of chest high risers full of compact discs. The walls were lined with various albums, most of which were old pressings but made for nice displays. There were even some players with headphones in one corner. Matt had been nervous he might be walking into an instrument store rather than a record shop but was relieved when he saw the displays. There were even some band T-shirts hanging near the register.
"Mornin' bruv, help ya?' said the girl behind the counter. Matt looked at her and smiled a little. She had short pitch-black hair, matching dark makeup and lips and looked every part the goth.
"Just browsing." He said and limped over to a nearby rack labeled 'Rock' and started to thumb through the selection. He found exactly what he expected to, mostly British bands but there were more than a few American ones as well. Something was not entirely right.
Matt really was regretting not having transfigured his wand into its cane form before leaving the Leaky Cauldron. The walking was starting to bother him, and he took a steadying breath. The girl behind the counter had moved out from the register and was wandering the sales floor as well.
Normally, that would not have bothered him, that is what clerks were supposed to do when a customer came in. However, this was different, this felt more like she was sizing him up, scrutinizing him. It felt weird. As he moved through the different genres, he realized that not everything was on the up and up with this store. He was going to have to break cover to figure it out. Hermione would kill him.
"Actually, you can help me." Matt said looking to the goth girl.
"Yeah? Wuh wif?' came her reply.
"Got anything by The Weird Sisters or Celestina Warbeck?" he asked.
"Hm. 'fraid yeh gonna need a password wif 'at." The girl said as she turned the lock on the door and flipped the sign from 'open' to 'closed'.
"A password?" Matt frowned; this was not normal. Something was wrong. "Password." he said firmly.
"Nice try." She said and suddenly there was a wand in her hand. Matt's eyes grew wide as she leveled it at him and cried "Stupefy!" He barely had time to dive for cover. The only thing that saved him from getting immediately stunned was the fact that she was three aisles over from him.
It was a small store but there were plenty of racks of merchandise between the two of them. Thankfully, they were high enough and she was short enough, that she could not vault over them to cover the gap between them easily. Matt popped back up and fired off his own stunning spell to drive her further away from him. Twice more he did this as she fired spells back, sending CD's all over the store.
She was slowly moving towards him, and his spells were not keeping her at bay enough to let him get to the exit. Matt popped up again, but she was ready this time.
"Expelliarmus!" the goth witch snapped and Matt's wand flew out of his hand. It clattered to the floor in the back corner of the store on the opposite side. The spell had not fully hit him and bounced off some CDs in front of him first, so she was not able to capture his wand, thankfully.
Matt ducked out of sight behind a rack and slowly started to move towards the front of the store. The witch was still a couple of aisles over, as she moved up and down the rows, closing the gap. It would only be a matter of a minute or less before she was on him, and he was wandless.
Matt's mind raced, he had to get back to his wand and fast. He crawled silently over the polished floor to the end of the far aisle. He peered around the rack, he could see her back was to him, she was faced the opposite way. He carefully reached up and pulled a couple of discs off the shelf silently. He had one shot at this trick.
He took his knife out of his pocket and sliced open the case and carefully pried the CD out. As the witch moved down the aisle, Matt moved to the end of the rack. Very slowly, he used the CD to catch one of the overhead lights and reflect it. There was a security mirror mounted in the corner just above the register opposite the door. He moved the light directly into the mirror. The mirror reflected the light right into the witch's eyes. She yelped as she was momentarily blinded.
As she threw her hands up to cover her eyes Matt threw the other CD as hard as he could into the mirror. It shattered the mirror, and the witch fired a spell into the corner. At the same time Matt leapt from his hiding spot and grabbed his expelled wand.
Just as he stood to turn, the witch turned and hit him with the leg locker curse. Instantly Matt's legs snapped together, and he could not move them. He let out a yelp as he crashed to the floor. The witch grabbed him by the shirt and turned him to face her. Her wand was raised and pointed at him.
"Oo da hell do you fink you are?" she asked. "You're s'posed ta be dead!"