Harry Takes a Break

Chapter 4

          The hustle and bustle of King's Cross Station spilled out into the streets of Muggle London, and as Harry, Hermione, and Ron stepped into the noisy chaos, it was hard to shake the feeling that they had entered another world entirely. Cars honked, people hurried past, heads down, phones in hand, and the city seemed to move at a pace far quicker than the three of them were used to.

"How do they survive in all this?" Ron muttered, sidestepping a man in a suit who was too engrossed in his phone to notice. "And why's everyone staring at those little rectangles? They're all walking around like zombies!"

"They're not zombies, Ron," Hermione said, sounding a bit exasperated. "They're using their phones. Muggles rely on them for just about everything-communication, maps, news, games, shopping..."

"Shopping?" Ron repeated, glancing suspiciously at a woman tapping away on her phone as she walked past. "You're telling me you can buy something with a rectangle?"

Harry snorted, clapping Ron on the back. "Welcome to the future, mate."

They continued down the road until Hermione suddenly stopped in front of a brightly lit shop, her eyes lighting up. "Here, this place will help."

The sign above the door read Apple, and Harry could already see Ron's mouth drop open as he stared through the glass windows. Inside, shelves were lined with gadgets of every size and shape—phones, laptops, tablets, and other shiny devices that might as well have been magical artifacts for all Ron knew.

"You sure this is safe?" Ron asked, eyeing a row of phones suspiciously. "Looks like a shop full of enchanted rectangles, and why'd they call it Apple? I don't any fruits in there."

"It's... it's just a name. " Hermione said, pulling open the door and ushering them inside. "And those are just muggle technology. It'll make planning a lot easier if you understand some of this."

Ron stepped cautiously into the shop, his expression torn between fascination and confusion. He walked up to a display of smartphones and gingerly picked one up. The screen flickered to life, showing the time and date.

"It's glowing!" he said, holding the phone out at arm's length. "Is it supposed to glow?"

"Yes," Hermione said patiently. "That's how they work. It's like a mini version of a computer-"

"A what?" Ron stared at her, his eyebrows practically in his hairline.

"Larger rectangles with smaller rectangles for typ-writing" Harry said, grinning. "There are smaller ones too, like the one Hermione's got in her bag."

Hermione sighed. "We'll explain it properly later. Right now, we need to focus."

Ron turned, spotting the large flat-screen TVs mounted on the walls. His jaw dropped. "Blimey! Look at the size of those rectangles! And they're moving!"

"They're TVs," Hermione explained, her tone bordering on amused now. "They show moving pictures-"

"Like the ones in the Daily Prophet?" Ron asked, moving closer to one of the TVs playing an advert for Muggle holidays. "But bigger?"

"Sort of," said Harry, watching Ron's face light up as he pressed his nose against the glass.

Hermione tugged them both out of the store before Ron could cause any more of a scene. "Come on, we've got planning to do."

As Hermione picked up 2 laptops and 3 phones, Ron asked again, "How do you pay for all these?"

"Well, there's something called a card, ..."