Arthur and Molly Weasley’s Vacation to New York

By Justin Griffins

It is 1967, Arthur and his new wife called Molly just graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At Hogwarts, Arthur was known for his love of Muggle Studies and wanted to share his passion with the love of his life but he did not know how. He was not able to take a vacation to the Muggle world with Molly. She refused every time as their lives were too busy until she got an invitation to visit her brother Fabien in the United States. This was a perfect opportunity for Arthur because he wanted to explore the Northern American Muggle cultures and Molly got an invitation to New York. Fabien was ordered to move to New York by the Order of the Phoenix after the Magical Congress of the Unites States almost destroyed the country in their war against Grindelwald. He had missed the wedding attending important business and had been wanting to see his sister for a long time now. Once in New York, their first stop was Fabian’s loft, where they shared lunch and talked about each other’s life stories, catching up. Fabian had written Molly a letter to congratulate her fantastic accomplishment. After the couple shared a cup of tea with Molly’s brother, Arthur asked Molly if they could go for a walk. He wanted to take a stroll around the city and educate Molly about the no-maj world very much. Arthur had been asking Molly for a long time now and she finally agreed to a little history lesson from her husband. Excited about Molly’s answer, Arthur said his goodbyes to Fabian and thanked him for his hospitality. Arthur had planned a visit to City Park, but opted to start his walk by taking Molly to the subway station.

“Molly look over here, this is called the subway station. It has the same concept as the Hogwarts Express, except humans use it every day for different reasons, such as work and pleasure. Of course, there is more than one train, with different destinations depending on the desired route.” Molly was taking the information, not saying anything. Arthur kept going about the Muggle world. He talked about restaurants, entertainment, work life and so much more. Molly was still just listening.

All of a sudden she looked at Arthur and said, “We aren’t much different from them, honey. Are we? I do not think it is fair for them if we consider ourselves better than them.” said Molly with authority.

Arthur smiled and nodded his head, proud of his wife. He felt as if she was seeing the world the same way he was. He had a feeling that this day was the start of the greatest marriage the Wizard world he had ever witnessed. Holding hands and sharing thoughts about their future lives, Arthur realized that they were now lost. He looked around confused, trying to find a reference point.

“Look Arthur” exclaimed Molly, pointing at a street sign. “We are on Rivington Street.” Unsure of what to do next, Arthur searched for someone to help them find their way towards the park. They did not want to attract any attention with their magical abilities and thought maybe they would try Muggle interactions.

Down the road, Arthur saw what seemed to be a group of people looking at a glass building. As the couple got closer, they tried making out the name of the store that was written on a sign over the glass door.

“Rafalski, Quality Hardwoods” Molly proudly said to Arthur. “What do they sell there?” she continued with a look of confusion on her face. Arthur wondered the same thing. He thought maybe it was some sort of furniture store. As they got closer, more and more people seemed to be walking around eating what looked like magical creatures. Arthur was certain that he saw a lady eating a niffler and an old man eating a small demiguise. But shook it off, he thought he was imagining things.

Once in front of the store, both of them quickly corrected themselves. They had read the name of the store wrong, it is called, Kowalksi, Quality Baked Goods. Now that they were closer, Arthur was even more intrigued by the shape and size of the pastries. Arthur walked inside with Molly by his side and asked the older gentleman working.

“Excuse me sir, where do you come up with the ideas of these, uhhh, uhhh”

“Creatures!” finished the worker with a big smile on his face.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Kowalski is not working today, he comes up with the ideas. My name is Henry, may I help you in any other way?”

Still not knowing what he was looking at, Arthur froze but Molly quickly jumped in and said, “We will have two of the pastries of the day, please.”

“What did you order?” whispered Arthur to Molly.

“I just read the sign, I guess we will find out.”

As the two of them were secretly talking, Henry hands them two pastries that Arthur had seen before when he was walking to the store. They both had what looked like nifflers. “Thanks!” said Arthur after he had paid with the last dollars he took out before leaving for New York.

“This is so weird” Arthur thought, as they walked outside and sat down at the nearest table.

Still confused about the situation, Arthur decided to eat the quality pastry and realized that he was eating the most delicious dessert he had ever eaten. Arthur and Molly talked and convinced themselves that this was a coincidence. They sat there sharing funny and unrealistic ideas on how a random New York City baked goods store had what looked like magical creatures for pastries. The rest of day went by joyfully and they slowly made their way back home after sightseeing the City Park.