Arriving in New York

The cruise ship arrived at New York Harbor at 10:00 a. m., and Loren and the others disembarked in an orderly manner along the connecting bridge.

There was a short queue at the immigration office, crowded with people from various countries. Before Loren and his group could officially join the queue, a rugged-looking black man walked over from the side.

Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen.

The black man was dressed in immigration officer's uniform, but the Muggle uniform looked strangely awkward on him. "The Sneakoscope is reacting to you, wizards?"

Loren and Hermione exchanged a glance, both somewhat confused. The Mr. and Mrs. Granger and Bates were even more clueless, watching the black man warily.

Hey! Don't be nervous!

The Black man waved his hands in a reassuring gesture, then turned to show them the passageway beside him. "I'm here to guide wizards like you, I mean wizards who enter the country in the Muggle way—or as you call them, Muggle, but honestly I think Muggle are a better description—basically wizards who enter the country in the Muggle way. I'll be your guide."

"Come with me."

The Black man greeted them warmly as he led them into the corridor, "You can call me Mike, don't complain, although many United States do have this name... I belong to the Department of Magical Safety Management, and I started receiving guests last month."

Loren glanced at Mike, who was talking to himself incessantly, and judged that his Magic Power reaction was less than half that of the Hogwarts professors. After marking him as a low-level fighter, he signaled the others to follow him.

Mike led them into a spacious room where incandescent lights shone brightly, and there were bottled water and canned coffee on the table.

There were several stained-light-style Sneakoscope hanging on the surrounding walls. When Loren and Hermione walked past them, the Sneakoscope flashed green. But when the Mr. and Mrs. Granger and Bates passed by, the Sneakoscope remained dark.

The group quickly understood the function of the indicator lights. Loren and Hermione examined them with curiosity, as this was the first time they had seen such a detection method. Wendell couldn't help but look at them a few more times, trying to find any trace of magic on the colored lights, but of course, he couldn't see anything.

After having the guests seated, Mike went to the head of the table and began his routine questioning:

"Excuse me, could I see your Muggle ID? Since you came through normal channels, you should have these documents."

Bates took the three people's identification documents out of his bag and handed them over.

Mike didn't check carefully; he only glanced at the information of the three adults before putting it down, but lingered on Loren and Hermione's documents for a few seconds.

"Loren Morgan, Hermione Granger ..."

Mike compared the photo on the ID to the document. "England, right?"

"Yes," Hermione replied.

Is this your first time in New York?

"Yes." Loren nodded.

"Are there any Potions in your luggage?"

Loren paused for a moment, then replied, "No."

Mike glanced at him, seemingly realizing his answer wasn't entirely truthful, but didn't press for details. Instead, he asked, "Where are the Fantastic Beasts?"

"Absolutely not," Loren answered decisively.

Hānhan and Crookshanks stayed at home. The bedroom window was unlocked, and there was enough food left in the trees in the backyard. With the intelligence of those two little guys, they shouldn't starve to death.

Mike seemed utterly incompetent. After asking a few simple questions, he handed the credentials back to them. "Sorry, just a routine inquiry. It's a rule from the department. Apparently, many years ago, one of your England wizards brought a zoo and caused a huge mess..."

Wendell and Bates listened with great interest, and they vaguely realized that in this country, wizards and ordinary people were closer than they had imagined.

"Last step, register the wand..."

As Mike spoke, he pulled a parchment from behind his back and unfolded it on the table. "Aim at the little dot on the parchment and channel a tiny bit of Magic Power... Remember, just a tiny bit. Last week, some reckless brat burned my register. And his parents were Aurors in your British Ministry of Magic, weren't they..."

Listening to his rambling, Loren and Hermione exchanged a few glances and did as he instructed, making a dot on the parchment.

Wendell craned his neck and looked on curiously.

The wand, like a quill pen dipped in ink, spread a blot of ink across the parchment, and scribbles slowly emerged beneath the ink blot:

"Loren Morgan: Apple Wood, Phoenix Feather"

Hermione Granger: Vine Wood, Dragon Nerve

Mike swiftly folded the parchment and gave the group an even more genuine smile, "Well then, welcome to New York!"

The basement level of the Woolworth Building in New York City.

The interrogation room is brightly lit. Taking the Muggle to the underground floor for questioning, avoiding the various incredible magical scenes upstairs, can effectively reduce the workload of the Memory Eraser.

"It looked like a wolf that walked upright, or, or like a zombie, but it wasn't rotting yet... I saw the guy in the underground pipes of Brooklyn neighborhood. I saw its teeth, sharp teeth, and wet fur."

A middle-aged man in a yellow plumber's uniform sat in the interrogation room, speaking in a flustered tone.

He held a hot coffee handed to him by a staff member of the building. It had happened three days ago, but recalling the scene that night still made him feel uneasy.

He actually suspected it was the product of human experiments conducted by a pharmaceutical company, or that the government or military was cultivating some kind of bio-engineered weapon. These speculations obviously couldn't be revealed, because the people taking his statement were also from a government agency, though he didn't know what that agency was.

Plumber Bob recounted in detail what he had seen in the underground pipes that night, two hours after leaving the building.

Bob stood at the intersection looking back at the Woolworth Building, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

He had only been out of the building for less than five minutes, but now he couldn't remember the building's pipework structure at all, even though he always observed these things when he went to a new place.

And those staff members who asked him questions—he can't recall their faces at all now.

"That's strange..." Bob muttered to himself as he walked away.

Meanwhile, inside the Woolworth Building, a small group meeting of the Department for the Protection of Humanoid Magical Species is underway.

"We have to keep a close eye on those Werewolf in Brooklyn. This is the third sighting this week, and we still have no idea what they're up to!" Nidander slammed his fist on the table in frustration, making a loud bang.

"Boss, we're still not sure if what's in the sewer is Werewolf."

Seeing the minister's almost murderous gaze, the team member in charge of information gathering quickly reported the summarized information, "The sightings of those Muggle were scattered throughout the night, but none of them were seen on Full Moon Night. Logically speaking, Werewolf can only transform on a full moon night."

"Furthermore, based on their account, the Werewolf they saw were different from normal Werewolf; they were like corpses and couldn't move. There are also doubts here. After Werewolf dies, its Magic Power fades, and it should revert to human form."

"..."

Detailed information came from the group members, but instead of revealing the truth, it made the facts even more confusing. As the group members followed the clues, they found that they were intertwined into a tangled mess.

Minister of the Department for the Protection of Humanoid Magical Species, Nidander, was filled with suspicion; an inexplicable intuition was reminding him—

Something terrible was brewing behind his back.

"All team members!"

Nidander slammed his hand on the table. "Starting today, two people a day, take turns staking out the underground pipes in Brooklyn! Report any anomalies immediately!"

"Yes, Minister!"

After leaving the port, they took the hotel shuttle, checked into the hotel, had a light meal at the hotel restaurant, and bought towels and toiletries for themselves. Although the hotel would provide cleaning supplies, the Mr. and Mrs. Granger, being doctors, were still a little uneasy.

While they were checking out at the supermarket, the cashier noticed their accents and chatted with Bates for a few moments.

By the time they finished all that and settled into their luxury suite, it was already 3 p. m.

Loren reclined on the sofa, staring blankly at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. His body, which had been adrift at sea for several days, suddenly stabilized, and he seemed not yet accustomed to it. Returning from the azure sea to the steel jungle of the city always brought a sense of disorientation.

Hermione was reading a standard-sized sheet of paper with the official emblem of the American Magical Congress at the bottom.

"Magic is forbidden in front of Muggle. If there is a risk of magic exposure, please contact the American Magical Congress as soon as possible. Phone: 212*****"

"You can also go to the reception desk on the Third Floor floor of the Woolworth Building to explain the situation..."

"Please use Muggle currency when shopping at Muggle stores. Gringotts- issued currency is not in circulation in Muggle society..."

"If Fantastic Beasts goes missing, immediately use the Lumos to warn others; there is no need to abide by the Statute of Secrecy Code..."

Sitting on the sofa in her hotel suite, Hermione read aloud the "Wizard Entry Guidelines" that Mike had given her, word by word. Comparing the first and last points, she keenly sensed something was amiss:

"Why is the 'crime of exposed magic' addressed by immediately contacting the American Magical Congress, while the loss of Fantastic Beasts requires wizards to directly use magic to warn others... Does the latter have far more serious consequences?"

Wendell leaned over curiously. "Let me see..."

Hermione began to tell him about some magical events she knew, her voice clear and gentle.

"The bathroom mirror isn't a one-way mirror, and there's no hidden door behind the cabinet..." Bates walked around the suite, stopping and starting, looking around the room. Veterans are always a little nervous when they come to a foreign country.

"Come and have some fruit!"

Monica came in from outside carrying a plate of washed and cut fruit; the room service she had just ordered had arrived.

The Granger father and daughter, engrossed in the magical story, looked up together. Bates, who had been looking around, soon came out of the room, and everyone gathered around the fruit platter to discuss their plans for the next few days.

Hermione's right hand suddenly reached out:

"Give..."

Loren took the orange segment the girl offered him, took a small bite, and sucked the juice.

It was indeed very sweet.