Legend had it that in 1941, when people were preparing to build the New York Public Library, they unearthed a wine cellar while digging the foundations.
By subway, it took only half an hour to get from the headquarters of the United States Ministry of Magic to the library. It was also not far from the subway station where Grindelwald, disguised as an Auror, had given his speech.
Muggles had a habit of storing records. Even old newspapers were kept in the archives. In 1926, they encountered strange weather: Hawaii and Times Square actually saw snow in summer, and that year was especially rainy.
The first two had been the work of wizards. Compared to the upheaval in Europe, America's "weather anomalies" were merely a small matter. As for why it rained so much, no one knew. When Poppy Pomfrey mentioned it, the memory was still "vivid" to her.
Poppy had been young once. Back then, she listened to the radio with the other nurses working at St Mungo's and danced in their dormitory to the rhythm of the Charleston, until the matron came in. Once she left, they continued dancing until dawn.
Whether Muggle or Wizarding World, young people of that era were all somewhat "unruly." Of course, looking at Poppy Pomfrey now, no one could imagine what she had been like in her youth. The "freedom" Grindelwald advocated was very appealing.
An evangelical pastor had called it a "den of hell." At the time, the federal court on the fifth floor of the Manhattan Federal Building had become a gathering place for a motley crowd: bootleggers, speakeasy owners, crafty drugstore merchants, fake rabbis, fallen priests, and more. All kinds of people were sent to the defendant's bench. Their defense lawyers openly encouraged clients and witnesses to commit perjury,