If it seemed as though Alfred had appeared before the young woman out of thin air, that was because he had. He had walked to Diagon Alley that morning with the express purpose of getting himself back in the habit of apparition, a skill he hadn't had the courage to attempt with the shoddy excuse for a wand that he'd had while abroad. He did vaguely remember that apparition was quite a useful skill, however, and particularly since he had moved out of the Sandition and on to the
Voyager, it might come in handy during the intervening month before he departed. The
Voyager (and the magical section of the Thames docks in general) was a long walk from most things, and England could be rather cold this time of year, particularly for a man with a habit of forgetting articles of clothing at home.
He'd had to turn back halfway to Diagon Alley because he realized he'd forgotten the wand, which would make the entire exercise rather pointless. He just wasn't used to carrying it, let alone needing to use it for anything. He wasn't really expecting his first attempts at apparition to go very well, but at least Diagon Alley was a relatively wide swath of territory in which no one would be much alarmed by a man disappearing or reappearing (and, potentially, an area where he might get some immediate help should he end up splinching himself).
Alfred did
not manage to splinch himself, which seemed like quite the victory. Upon reappearance, he gave his coat and pockets a satisfied pat-down, as if to reassure himself that all of his limbs were, in fact, still attached, then turned his attention to his surroundings. Success, he supposed, had to start small, because he was not where he had intended to be, and he didn't recognize this particular street at all. He also seemed to have startled the lady in front of him — hopefully because she was the easily startled sort, and not because he'd managed to get himself into Muggle London instead of just moving a few feet down the street as intended. He certainly wouldn't trust himself with a memory charm.
"Er, yes, I suppose you can," he said rather brightly. "Can you tell me where we are?"
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER