Unmasked || n.s [ on hiatus ]

one; new york

Hester Griffin felt sea sick as she watched the water sway beneath her. She could see the Statue of Liberty, ready to greet any ship that came close to it, in the distance- though it just couldn't seem to come fast enough.

Hester was tempted to Disapparate herself off of this horrendous ship, all the way to the city that was her destination. Though she knew he would have her head if she did so- perhaps even literally- so she forced herself to sit back and focus on something other than the swaying of the ship.

~

Finally, after what seemed like lifetimes of trying to distract herself from getting sick, the ship finally reached the docks of New York City. Hester was amongst the first people to get off, pushing and shoving in order to get off the swaying ship.

Her passport in her hands, Hester quickly made her way towards customs; she was ready to get out of the crowd of passengers and get to work. The officer whom she was standing before stared down at her passport almost questionably.

"England, huh?" he asked as he looked up at the dark-haired woman. "What brings you to New York?"

"Business trip," Hester answered quickly, yet casually.

"Anything edible in there?" The officer asked, eyeing her suitcase as he did so. Hester quickly shook her head in response. "Any livestock?"

"No," answered Hester once again. "Want to take a look?"

The officer cocked an eyebrow at her, to which she only smiled at him. "Let me take a look," he said in a gruff voice. Hester handed him her suitcase, mentally scoffing in amusement at the oblivious muggle.

Once the officer confirmed that there was nothing suspicious in the suitcase- at least, nothing he could see- he handed Hester back her passport and welcomed her to the big city. Rolling her eyes at the man as she passed him, her suitcase in her hands, Hester quickly rushed out of the overhang where the customs were located.

Once in the city, Hester didn't waste any time. She was on a mission, and she was determined to get it over with as quickly as she possibly could; she wanted to please him, something that her parents had failed to do. Following a map of New York that she held in her hands, Hester began to head towards the Woolworth building, where she was told Mr. Charles Abernathy was employed.

She didn't apologize as she pushed past people on the crowded sidewalks, as she never wasted her breath on an apology to a stranger. This earned her a lot of angry glares and muttering under their breath, though Hester ignored that, too.

Hester Griffin was a cold woman- almost emotionless, she'd like to think. Her mind was on her job, and her job was to please him. She didn't care about anyone else; she hadn't since her days in Hogwarts.

The Woolworth building was a tall skyscraper, right smack in the middle of New York City. Dozens of people rushed in and out of it at one time, which made Hester feel slightly uneasy. She was never a huge fan of crowds- or people, for that matter- and she wasn't looking forward to pushing through yet another crowd.

Though that was when she noticed a separate door, off to the side of the main entrance to the building. A single man stood in front of it, acting like some sort of guard. Hester remembered him telling her about the entrance to MACUSA- guarded by a wizard who would only let certain people inside the Magical Government Building.

Lucky for her, he made her a fake badge to bring along with her; it claimed that she was with the magical investigation bureau. Pulling the badge out of the pocket of her coat, Hester approached the wizard casually.

"Good morning," she greeted the man as she reached him. She held up her badge to the man, who eyed it closely. "I've come to speak to Mr. Charles Abernathy about a case."

"I'm sorry," the wizard said with pursed lips, shaking his head slowly. "I cannot allow you to enter. There is serious matters being discussed inside the Congress, and I've been asked to only allow invited officials and workers inside until further notice."

"How do you know I'm not an invited official?" Hester countered, though forced herself to remain calm as she realized this mission wasn't going to be as easy as she had first thought.

"Because I have a list," the man responded, holding up a clipboard in his hands and mimicking Hester's overly-friendly smile that she had been wearing as she approached him. The smile immediately dropped into a frown after a moment, and the guard muttered. "Now get out of here."

Hester's lips formed an o shaped as she slowly stepped away from the threatening wizard. Smiling innocently, she spun around on her heels before walking away from the Woolworth building. As soon as she was out of earshot of the guard, a series of curses fell from her mouth.

Oh, how she had wanted to punch the smug look off that American wizard's face. Though she had forced herself to remain calm, because if she had gotten in trouble by MACUSA before she got any information, he would have her job before you could say "quidditch".

So instead of taking her anger out on the smug wizard, Hester decided it was best to just head back to the hotel where she was going to be staying. She would wait a bit before returning once more- perhaps after shift change. Then, she would try again.

Hester Griffin was a persistent woman. She wouldn't give up until she got exactly what she wanted. And she would do whatever it took to get it.

~

The hotel in which Hester was staying in wasn't exactly a five-star inn. He never spent much money on his employees- she was lucky he paid for her expenses at all. Though Hester wasn't complaining much, as she would only sleep in the horrid hotel room that she was assigned. During the day, she would be out in the city gathering information for him.

The hotel room was dull and dusty, with a single rickety bed in the middle of the room. Scrunching her nose in disgust, Hester made her way across the room and set her suitcase on top of the bed sheets.

Undoing the charm that she had set on the suitcase, making any magical object inside invisible to muggles, Hester unlatched her suitcase. Immediately, her pet owl, Frederick, exploded from the case. The screech owl landed on the post of the old bed after a moment of flying around the room, staring at Hester with wide amber eyes.

Running her hand through the bird's feathers, Hester made sure Frederick was settled before she pulled on her coat once more.

There was no way she was staying in that stuffy little hotel room any longer. Until she got another chance to gain access to the Congress Building, Hester would explore the city known as New York.

After all, it wouldn't hurt to satisfy her craving for exploration before she got to work.

~

[ Hi :3
I know this chapter wasn't exactly the most interesting, but the first chapters of my books never are. So please bare with me lol.
I am so excited to write this story, because I feel as if this storyline is going to be extremely interesting.
I am going to update every Wednesday, so keep that in mind :) ]