JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

       Slowly, the group made its way up the last flight of stairs, moving into the sunset light of the doors. James craned to see around Neville Longbottom, eager for his first glimpse of the city beyond.

       'I was speechless when I first saw this place,' Zane enthused happily. 'I mean, as a wizard, of course. I'd been to New York loads of times before, when I was growing up, but I never knew it had a magical twin. Still, I think I always sort of expected it, you know?'

       'What do you mean 'a magical twin'?' Ralph asked, glancing aside as they neared the doors.

       Zane blinked aside at him. 'You don't know already?'

       'My dad visited Alma Aleron last summer,' Ralph replied, 'but he came via Portkey. I don't think he made it to New York at all.'

       'Oh man,' Zane said, shaking his head and grinning. 'Hold onto your wands, then, guys. This is gonna blow your minds.'

       The view finally opened before them as James, Zane, and Ralph stepped out into the lowering sunlight. Before them, a paved thoroughfare led through an ornate arched gate. Wroughtiron letters crafted into the arch spelled out the words 'e magicus pluribus unum'. Beyond the gate, looming high into the sunset, James was not surprised to see the shapes of glittering skyscrapers and steel towers. What did surprise him, however, so much so that he stopped in his tracks, his mouth dropping open, was the swarm of flying vehicles, broomed witches and wizards, and glowing magical signs and moving billboards that overlaid the buildings, reaching high up into their narrow, urban canyons.

       For the first time, James noticed that nearly every skyscraper was topped with another building, smaller and older, as if a much more antiquated city had been pushed upwards by the newer buildings, like birds' nests in trees. Witches and wizards circled these buildings, perching on elaborate wooden scaffoldings that extended from, and even connected, most of the skyscrapers. In the center of it all, dominating the entire skyline, was a building so bright and transparent that it appeared to be constructed entirely of glass. As James watched, he could see people moving about inside it, riding in shimmering elevators or working over tiny semi-transparent desks.

'Welcome, friends,' Franklyn said, looking up and smiling proudly. 'Welcome… to New Amsterdam.'

6. UNDER THE WARPING WILLOW

       As it turned out, the group was traveling the rest of the way to Alma Aleron via train. Franklyn led everyone underground through a Muggle subway entrance. Near the turnstiles, James saw Muggle New Yorkers mingling freely and apparently obliviously with witches and wizards in all manner of robes and costumes. A very tall black wizard wearing white robes walked regally with a Bengal tiger at his side, led by a length of gold chain. A small child in a stroller blinked at the tiger and pointed.

       'Mom! Tiger!' the boy cried out, grinning with delight.

       The mother, a harried-looking woman in a business suit, was talking on her cell phone. The boy called again, and she finally glanced down at him, patting him on the head. 'That's nice, honey,' she said. 'Mommy loves your imagination. Tigers in the subway. You should draw that when we get home.'

       James craned to watch as Franklyn led the troop though a special turnstile set into a tiled wall. 'She doesn't even see the tiger,' he said to Ralph, pointing. 'It's right there in front of her! It almost stepped on her foot!'

'The kid sees it, though,' Ralph commented.

'See what I mean?' Zane said, stepping through the turnstile. 'The spell only really starts working when you're about three years old. That's why, when I was a kid, I always sort of knew there was something magical about this town, even though I didn't really remember the details.'

       James opened his mouth to ask another question, but at that moment he caught his first glimpse of the train that they were about to board. It rested between two elevated platforms in its own special terminal. The engine compartment was long and sleek, made from shining steel and glass, so streamlined that it appeared to be moving even as it stood still. Stylized letters along the side announced it as the Lincoln Zephyr. Double doors along the train's cars shuttled open and James felt the throng of travelers surge toward them. In the lead, Franklyn and Merlin stepped into the brightly lit interior of the engine's seating compartment.

       'Sure beats taking a cab,' Zane announced. 'The Zephyr line is the fastest way around the city. Even faster than a broom, especially at rush hour.'

       James glanced aside as he approached the open doors. Petra, Izzy, and Lucy were entering a passenger car further down the train, following James' mum and dad and his Aunt Audrey, who was herding Molly and Lily ahead of her. Finally, the noise of the terminal fell away as James passed through the car's doors, finding himself in a richly upholstered and furnished interior. The walls and fixtures gleamed with brushed aluminum and there didn't seem to be a single hard angle in sight.

       'Cool,' Ralph said, finding a seat in the center of the lead car. 'Looks like the entire train grew out of some kind of crazy dream.'

       'It's called Art Deco,' Zane pointed out. 'These were designed by some wizard artist named Mucha a long time ago. I learned about him in Magi-American History. Even the Muggles knew about him, although they didn't know he was a wizard, of course.'

       The train filled quickly and James peered forward, toward the engineer's post under the train's sloping nose. A very thin goblin with a very large bald head stood before the broad windows, which looked out into darkness. A set of gleaming levers were embedded into the train's control panel. The goblin engineer gripped them and then leaned toward a brass tube that extended from above.

       'Lincoln Zephyr, five-twenty, now departing the terminal,' he announced, and his voice echoed along the length of the train. 'Proud to be on time for the eight thousand, three hundred and twenty- first departure in a row. Thank you for patronizing the New Amsterdam Mass Transit Railway System.'

       There was a loud click as the public address system shut off. The goblin engineer leaned forward and pressed both levers up at the same time. Immediately, the train began to glide forward, so smoothly that James could barely tell that they were moving at all except for the sight of the terminal outside the windows, which began to recede past, accelerating swiftly.

       'So how is all of this done?' James finally asked, turning back to Zane and Ralph. 'I mean, a whole magical city built right into a Muggle city. How's it work?'

       Zane shook his head and raised his hands, palms out. 'Don't ask me. I tried to get Stonewall to explain it to me one time and I finally had to ask him to stop because my brain was about to explode. Ask Chancellor Franklyn if you want an answer you can wrap your head around.'

       'What's that, boys?' Franklyn asked from across the aisle. 'A question?'

       James' face reddened, but Zane prodded him, gesturing at the old rotund wizard across from them.

       'We were just wondering, sir,' James said, raising his voice over the increasing drone of the train's engines, 'how is it that New York and New Amsterdam can exist in the same place, at the same time?'

       Franklyn nodded appreciatively. 'I'd be disappointed if you didn't ask, Mr. Potter. The wizarding metropolis of New Amsterdam is, as you can imagine, quite old. It began as a mere alley, not unlike your Diagon Alley, hundreds of years ago, back when the Muggle city of New York was, itself, barely a port village on the Hudson River. As both