The Admiral of Hogwarts

The wand registration process at the Magical Congress of the United States was quite efficient, so Hugo only had to wait a little over ten minutes before hearing his number, six, called to go in and register. After saying goodbye to his sister, Hugo stood up, walked through the corridor, and entered the office at the end.

The office wasn't very large. The most striking feature was the sizable desk in the center of the room, surrounded by several brass machines of unknown purpose. Besides that, several shelves lined the walls, piled high with files, both old and new.

"Sit," the MACUSA official sitting behind the desk instructed Hugo. Then, proceeding with routine, he said, "Nationality, name, gender, age, and reason for coming to America."

"Hugo Granger, British, male, 12 years old. Traveling to America with my sister and Muggle parents," Hugo replied, handing over his wand as requested. The official took the wand and placed it on a strange-looking brass machine to his left, resembling a single-pan balance.

As soon as the wand was placed on the machine, it began to vibrate slightly and emit clicking sounds. Then, a narrow strip of parchment shot out from a slot at the bottom. The MACUSA official, who had been writing on a piece of paper, looked up, tore off the parchment, and read aloud.

"12 inches, lime wood, a dragon heartstring core, used for one year. Correct?" The Ministry official, wearing a monocle and sporting curly, salt-and-pepper hair, looked up at Hugo. "Lime wood wand, I don't think I've seen one of those in years."

"Yes," Hugo nodded, watching the official with curiosity. He was quite intrigued by the internal procedures of MACUSA and was eager to see what would happen next.

"I need to keep this slip," the official explained, perhaps noticing Hugo's young age and the curiosity in his eyes. This man, who looked to be in his fifties, added, "It will be filed with the registration I just made for you."

With that, the official took a stapler and attached the slip to the registration form he had just filled out. He then inserted it into a machine to his right that looked like a manual printing press. A few seconds later, a piece of parchment emerged from the bottom of the machine.

"Alright, the laws in America are the same as in Britain. Minors are prohibited from performing magic outside of school, except in certain emergency situations," the Ministry official said, using his wand to direct the newly stapled document onto a shelf beside him.

"Oh, and this," the official added, placing the parchment that had come out of the machine onto the table and stamping it twice before handing it to Hugo. "Remember to carry this permit with you at all times while in the United States, otherwise, you will be considered to be illegally possessing a wand."

"Understood, thank you," Hugo said, standing up and giving the official a slight bow. He then walked out of the office and returned to the waiting area to wait for Hermione to complete her registration. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and three minutes later, they followed the same route back to the MACUSA lobby. After buying a few postcards for two Sickles and mailing them to Harry and Ron, they left and rejoined their father back at the hotel.

Back at the hotel, the two adults quickly retired to rest from the journey. Hugo and Hermione, perhaps due to their younger age, didn't feel as tired, so they pulled out a travel brochure and began discussing their upcoming itinerary. Although the main tourist destinations were unlikely to change when traveling with their parents, the Grangers were willing to accommodate their children's preferences on some of the finer details.

Of course, given Hermione's personality, she had already discussed the travel destinations with Hugo before they even departed. What Hermione actually wanted to discuss with him now was a stack of free brochures she had picked up from the bookshelves while getting her wand permit.

Like ordinary people, wizards also travel, even internationally. At the same time, wizards have access to some travel destinations that only they can visit. For example, during the summer holiday of Harry's second year, the Weasley family traveled to Egypt and visited some pyramids that were inaccessible to Muggles and only open to wizards.

The United States was no exception. In fact, because of the country's vast size, it had even more tourist attractions exclusively for wizards than traditional European countries. Moreover, because there were more wizards here compared to the Mediterranean region, and a stronger commercial atmosphere, wizard travel agencies were even placing advertisements in the MACUSA building.

Of course, it had to be said that such advertising placement was indeed quite precise. Since those who came to apply for wand permits were all foreigners who had just arrived in the country, they were more likely to be interested in travel-related advertisements than people elsewhere.

"—Hawaii actually has three wizarding tourist attractions. I think we can visit all of them when we get there," Hermione said, picking out one of the brochures after flipping through the stack. "As for tourist attractions in other places, forget it. America is really too big. We probably won't be able to go anywhere else this time."

"Let me see," Hugo said, taking the brochure from his sister's hand. Sure enough, besides describing the scenic spots in purple ink, the brochure also included several wizarding photographs of beautiful scenery. It had to be said that the coconut groves and beaches at sunset were indeed quite appealing.

After briefly looking through the brochure, Hugo had a general understanding of the three locations and said, "This trip is much simpler than we thought, because Honolulu has a wizarding market. I think there should be transportation to the surrounding islands there."

"You're right," Hermione, who was holding a map of Hawaii and a transportation map, realized after Hugo's reminder. She then put away the books in her hand. "Since this place is also a wizarding tourist destination, I don't think we need to worry about how to get there using Muggle methods. Although I heard from the older students that using the Floo Network can make you dizzy, I think it should be fine for short trips."

For the next while, the two of them took out their homework and began to work on it. It wasn't until it was time for dinner that they put away their workbooks and went downstairs with their parents, who had recovered from their long journey, to have dinner.

"Foreign food, huh?" Hermione revealed some of the liveliness that she should have at her age as they walked downstairs. "Let me guess what unfamiliar foods we'll have for dinner today—"