Harry Potter: Syndicate of Heroes

Harry and Luna strolled down the sidewalk of the New York City street arm in arm. One would think, on first seeing the pair, that it was a romantic outing, but they couldn't be further from the truth.

Luna had never been to New York City before, to be more accurate, she'd never visited any city of this size before. Consequently, she had a nasty habit of being easily distracted and wandering off without telling Harry what had caught her attention. And with the crowds that New York were famous for, it'd taken a panicked Harry a few minutes to locate her more than once.

Thus, after the second time, Harry had taken her hand and placed it in the crook of his arm before they continued their outing. This had worked out fantastically. Now, whenever something caught Luna's attention and she veered off course, Harry was simply pulled along for the ride.

"Look Harry! Erumpets!" Luna exclaimed, her arm flung out to point across the street.

Harry closed his eyes, thankful that the magical word would mean nothing to the dozens of muggles surrounding the pair. Feeling the pull on his arm, Harry opened his eyes and followed his friend's finger, before blinking in shock.

There was no doubt about it, Luna had been right. Well, mostly right. Across the street was a bakery and in their front window were a number of their products, one of which, a bun of some kind, was unmistakably in the shape of an erumpet.

"Come on, Harry," Luna said, pulling him onwards, "I've never eaten an erumpet before. Not that one should eat a real erumpet." Her head cocked as she obviously was contemplating such an endeavour. "Given the size of one, I'm not sure how one could eat an erumpet."

"One bite at a time, I would expect," Harry said absently as he studied the sign above the bakery.

Kowalski's Bakery.

Judging by the style of building that the bakery was situated in, Harry guessed that it'd been there for a long time. Well, at least the building had been; there was no telling the age of the bakery itself.

Following Luna's urging, Harry quickly caught up before guiding a distracted Luna across the street without her getting hit by one of the many cars as they drove past.

The two paused outside the window of the bakery and Harry saw Luna's face light up.

"Demiguise; niffler; bowtruckle; thunderbird; erumpet; flooper; moon calf," Luna named as she pointed to each of the different buns or cake decorations in the window.

A small bell tinkled overhead as they entered and Luna quickly pulled free to all but press her face against the glass as she moved from display case to display case. What surprised Harry as he perused the cases himself were the names that had been given to each of the pastry items. The erumpet-shaped one was called a 'rhino bun'; the flooper-like ones, had been labelled 'owl cakes', each decorated in icing just like the magical bird – fluorescent pink, yellow, lime green and purple.

"Can I have a Dribbly Demiguise Bun, please?" a man asked off to the side.

The word 'demiguise' immediately caught Harry's attention, especially when he saw that, according to the small plaque, they were simply called 'Dribbly Buns'.

"Excuse me, but is that chocolate dribbled over the demiguise buns?" Harry asked.

The man looked up, clearly startled.

"Um, sorry?" he asked in a high-pitched voice.

"The Dribbly Demiguise Buns," Harry said, pointing out the bun that he meant, "is it covered in chocolate?"

"They're … they're just Dribbly Buns," the man stuttered, sharing a panicked look with the older gentleman across the counter.

Harry leaned in and whispered with a grin. "To the no-majs, yes. But not to us, we know what they really are."

"You're a wizard?" the man asked, clearly relieved.

"I am. And my friend is a witch, so you don't have to worry," Harry replied and extended his hand. "Harry Potter."

"Luna Lovegood," Luna said, straightening and following Harry's lead to also offer her hand.

"Rolf Scamander," the young man smiled. "This is my cousin, Adam Kowaski."

"It's nice to meet you. You're both wizards as well? I didn't think that there were really any in the city at all," Harry commented.

"I am," Rolf replied.

"I'm a no-maj," Adam stated. "Well, as much as it matters. Neither my father nor I have any magical talent. Take more after Grandad Jakob at least. Baking. It's in the blood."

"That's why I come back as often as I can," Rolf confessed. "Great-uncle Jakob's pastries have always been something special. Besides, it'd be criminal not to have a magical person enjoying these magical creatures."

"Why did all of the witches and wizards leave New York?" Luna asked.

Rolf and Adam shared a look.

"There was an 'incident' back in the twenties that nearly exposed the magical world. Luckily, my grandfather, Newt, was able to help all of the no-majs forget. Even still, it didn't take long for the magical population to relocate – less chance of the obliviation being overridden that way," Rolf replied.

"Newt. You said your name was Scamander?" an excited Luna asked. "Harry, Newt Scamander wrote our magical creatures textbook. He's incredibly famous. The world's first magi-zoologist."

"You're saying that he was just like you, Luna?" Harry smiled.

"You're interested in magical creatures?" Rolf asked.

"Oh, yes. I go on expeditions to try to find new magical creatures as often as possible," Luna replied. "Perhaps you've read some of my reports in the Quibbler?"

Rolf nodded solemnly. "I have read one or two."

Almost absently, the two drifted off towards the nearest small table.

Harry shook his head before turning to Adam.

"If I know Luna, she's going to be talking to him for hours about all of the creatures that she's been searching for," he grinned.

"Rolf's the same way," Adam replied. "Always off on one expedition or another, just like Great-Uncle Newt was, even after he married Great-Aunt Tina."

"Well, while they're talking, can I have one of the nifflers for myself and one of the demiguises for Luna, please," Harry ordered.

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