Chester hated America from the moment he set foot on it. It was tacky and loud, and he much preferred the calm English countryside or even the London flat he had been stuck in.

London had centuries’ worth of history and culture, and, in his opinion, America had an inferiority complex. This country was trying to make up for its brief existence by being as loud as possible.

A sneer touched Chester’s lips as he glimpsed the towering Empire State Building; then, his portkey whisked him away.

His first impression of Los Angeles was the wall of humidity he hit the moment he stepped out of the portkey office. The heat hit him like a sucker punch to the face.

With some directions from an attendant from the portkey office and the liberal use of the point me spell, Chester found himself to El Caldero, Los Angeles’s wizarding district. He would never understand why the portkey office wasn’t in the district.

Upon reaching ‘The Valley’, Chester stood at the entrance of El Caldero. He pursed his lips as he studied the dilapidated building. Once pristine white, the walls were now a depressing gray, marred by graffiti and grime.

By the entrance, there were large, unkempt green bushes. Reaching the glass double doors, he noticed the faded lettering: Berdón Shopping Mall. With skepticism, Chester regarded the windows and doors. Because the windows and glass doors were very dark, it was impossible to see inside the building. He let out a sigh before tapping the doors with his wand.

The doors disappeared, and suddenly Chester was looking at a busy shopping center. Entering El Caldero, Chester was struck by its modern, clean interior as the doors once again appeared behind him.

The inside was composed of white curved glass walls. He looked up and, despite the outside appearance, they seemed to be an endless number of floors.

People came and went down the moving stairs, some dressed in Wizarding robes but others in more modern and muggle attire.

Chester shook his head and walked across the cavernous lobby. He could hear the faint sound of soft instrumental music over the loud rush of people. The crowd pushed and shoved Chester at least twice before he reached the reception desk in front of an enormous water fountain.

A short woman with dark copper skin and a neat short black bob was too busy reading her tawdry romance book to notice him. On the cover, a bare-chested barbarian was kissing a woman in a torn dress. Chester barely resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Chester coughed, but got no response. Then he coughed again, and the woman frowned and looked up. “Yes?” The woman asked curtly. “Can I help you?”

Chester gritted his teeth. Diffindo was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t need the attention that would give him. He didn’t want to ruin his surprise for Harry.

“I need the directions to the nearest wizarding hotel.”

With a tisk of her tongue, the woman pulled out a brochure and shoved it at him before she pointedly went back to her book. ‘Deep breaths,’ Chester thought to himself as he snatched the brochure and marched to one of the benches near a group of potted plants.

Checking the brochure, Chester realized there was a hotel on the 22nd floor. And after a few wrong turns, he arrived at Hotel Hex. By the time he received his room key, he was completely exhausted.

Chester wanted to go to Harry immediately, but he knew he had to rest. It would be so easy to slip up and make a mistake if he were tired.

And at night, when he slept, he dreamed about Harry. The feel of his smooth brown skin, his bright smile, his infamous lightning bolt scar, and the way those round glasses framed those spectacular green eyes.

Chester always woke up hard and aching for him. He vowed that one day soon, his dreams would become reality.

However, staying in bed all day would change nothing. He showered, dressed, and quickly apparated to Enchanted Engines. Chester rolled his eyes at the silly name.

With a flick of his wand, he cast the disillusionment charm and waited.

Even from a distance, Chester could feel the strength of the wards. Disabling it would take some time, but it was certainly doable. He jumped at the sound of loud barking. Chester watched a humongous black dog run to the fence. The beastly thing paced back and forth and sniffed the air.

This clearly unintelligent creature shouldn’t be able to detect his presence from that distance. He didn’t understand why the thing was growling in his direction. It was neither a crup nor a known magical breed of dog; it shouldn’t have magical abilities, so it shouldn’t sense him.

Chester grimaced. It would take some doing to get past the dog, but he wouldn’t let something as ridiculous as a pet impede his plans.

But then Chester finally got a glimpse of Harry.

Harry wore dirty coveralls that were stained with grease and oil stains. His once short, messy hair had been replaced with long braids that were pulled back into a bun. Standing still, he gazed out at the street.

Harry ignored the dog that excitedly ran up to him, tail wagging, jumping up and down for attention.

‘Can you sense me, my darling?’ Chester thought as he stood straighter. Chester held his breath as those eyes unknowingly swept past him. Thankfully, the disillusionment spell held fast, and he remained undetected.

Chester’s relief was short-lived as he confronted the full reality of Harry’s fall from grace.

The most powerful wizard in the world, living as a Muggle woman. Chester couldn’t imagine what type of mental illness he was suffering from to make him live his life this way.

Chester felt pained watching Harry demean himself.

Suddenly, his finger itched to put his thoughts on paper. It was time to write another letter.