Patrick Stump and the Flying Car Brigade

Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Glasgow International Airport was surprisingly quiet the afternoon that we were flying to Chicago. None of the Muggles seemed to notice that we were there, although one woman gave me a strange look as she passed by. My disguise wasn't quite as flawless as I thought it was. "Why couldn't we have just Apparated to Chicago?" I asked Mum. I had finally gotten my Apparition licence, so it would be much easier for all of us to Apparate.

"It's out of range," Mum said.

"Then why didn't we use our broomsticks?" I asked.

"It's too far," Mum said. "We all would have gotten very tired."

"Be quiet," Dad said. "There are a lot of Muggles here, and they might overhear us."

"Flight 1042 to Chicago is now boarding," I heard, and all three of us got up and boarded the plane.

The flight to Chicago was far too long for my taste. Then again, I was used to wizarding transportation, which tended to go much faster. I listened to music for a while, and then fell asleep. When I woke up, the flight attendants were serving breakfast. "Do you happen to have any Chocolate Frogs?" I asked, still a little sleepy.

"No, we don't have any Chocolate Frogs," the flight attendant said. "I don't know what those are."

A second flight attendant came up to me. "There are a few Chocolate Frogs in the back," she whispered to me. "They cost one dragot each."

I fished around in my pocket for a dragot. I had plenty of Knuts and Sickles left, which I would have to exchange when we arrived in Chicago, along with a few Muggle coins. I pulled out a dragot and handed it to the flight attendant, who came back a few minutes later with a Chocolate Frog. I put it in my bag to save for later, but I was curious to see if American Chocolate Frogs were any different than British ones.

After a ten hour flight, we finally landed at O'Hare International Airport. Mum, Dad, and I got off of the plane and then went through customs, which again, took far too long. After that, we picked up our bags. At the baggage claim, I found Pete, Joe, and Andy.

"Hi Trick!" Pete said, giving me a long, passionate kiss.

"It's nice to see you again, Patrick," Andy said.

"Hi everybody," I said. "How are you all doing?"

"Great!" Pete exclaimed. "I set up a few gigs for Fall Out Boy. It turns out that wizarding Chicago is excited to hear us. It might be because I talked extensively about our very talented and attractive lead singer..."

I blushed. "Pete!" I shouted. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Fall Out Boy is going to be so popular here!" Pete exclaimed.

"Patrick should take us on a tour around Chicago first," Joe said.

"I'd be honoured to do that," I said. Even after all of these years, I still knew the city well.

That night was mostly spent moving all of our stuff into our new house in a wizarding neighbourhood just outside of the city, but the next day, I took Joe, Pete, and Andy on a tour around Chicago. "What's the tallest building in Chicago?" I asked them as we walked through the city.

"It's the Willis Tower, right?" Andy said.

"No real Chicagoan calls it that," I said.

"I think they call it the Sears Tower," Joe said.

"Yes, that is what we call it, but it's still not the tallest building in Chicago," I said.

"What is it then?" Pete asked.

"It's Picquery Tower," I said. "It's invisible to Muggles, but it's considerably taller than the Sears Tower." The four of us approached Picquery Tower and then entered the building. "My dad used to work here," I told them.

We took the elevator up to the top floor, where we got a magnificent view of the city. "This is just beautiful, Trick," Pete said, smiling. Joe and Andy seemed to be having a good time too. In fact, Andy was busy pointing out all of the various buildings in Chicago and talking endlessly about all of the landmarks he still needed to see.

"I knew that you'd like it," I said.

Once we were done, we had deep dish pizza for lunch. Needless to say, Pete loved it. Then, we went to Navy Pier and rode the Ferris Wheel. Everyone seemed to enjoy that too. It reminded me of when I was a young boy living in Chicago. This city is my city, and I love it, I told myself. By the time we finished at Navy Pier, it was time for dinner. "Can we have deep dish pizza for dinner too?" Pete asked.

"No," Joe answered. "Let's try something different."

"I want pizza!" Pete complained.

I sighed. "We'll get more pizza," I said. We went to another pizzeria for dinner, and then we went to the venue where we were playing that night.

"Are you ready, Patrick?" Joe asked as he tuned his guitar.

"I think so," I said.

"Let's start with our national anthem," Pete said. When everyone looking at him in confusion, he said, "I meant Grand Theft Autumn."

I stepped up to the microphone and began to sing as hundreds of witches and wizards poured into the venue.

Where is your boy tonight?

I hope he is a gentleman

Maybe he won't find out what I know

You were the last good thing about this part of town

Performing with Fall Out Boy was truly the best feeling in the world, and I couldn't get enough of it. Even if this was the end of eras, I had my closest friends to keep me company. That was enough for me.