Chapter 27: Knight Lights

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After walking for several blocks, Harry and I sat down on the edge of the playground

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After walking for several blocks, Harry and I sat down on the edge of the playground.

"Do you think we really are expelled ?" I asked him, so nervously. He takes my hand and squeezes it.

"I'm not going to say no, because it's definitely a big possibility, but I'm not saying yes, either." He says. I nod. Just then, the night gets colder. The swings start swinging, even though there's nothing there. The seesaw goes up and down. The night seems to have lost its warmth. I shiver and pull my jacket more tightly around me. Harry does the same.

"We should probably keep moving." He says. I nod and stand up. I hear a soft rustling in the bushes nearby and we both turn around, so sharply. We see a big, black dog standing there, baring its teeth. Harry trips and falls backwards. His wand hand flies back to steady himself. It doesn't work and he falls on his butt. Ha ! Sorry...

There was a loud screeching sound and a massive purple double decker bus came around the corner, stopping right in front of us. I stare. An acne covered teenager stands at the back of the bus and starts reading from a piece of paper.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus. Here for any standard witch or wizard. My name's Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evening." said Stan. Then, he folds the piece of paper up and places it in his pocket, looking up. He sees me, but not Harry.

"And what's your name, beautiful ?" He asked me.

"Bethany Saunders." I reply, so quickly. He nods, and then spots Harry.

"Whatcha doing down there ?" He asked him.

"I fell over." He replies, standing up.

"Whatcha fell for ?" Stan asked him. I chuckle.

"I didn't do it on purpose !" Harry says, so indignantly. I chuckle at that, too. Harry elbows me.

"Ow ! What was that for ?" I asked him.

"You were being annoying." Harry replies. I roll my eyes. Siblings these days...

"Well, come on, then." Stan says, gesturing towards the bus. I go to grab my trunk and Harry goes to grab his, but Stan stops me.

"I'll get this. You get in." He says. I hand my trunk and walk inside the bus. After Stan has finished loading my trunk and Harry has finished loading his own, we walk towards the front of the bus and sit down on a bed.

"How much ?" Harry asked him.

"Eleven sickles. Where'd you want to go ?" Stan replies. I hand him eleven sickles and Harry tells him to go to the Leaky Cauldron.

And we're off. I hold onto the bed tightly as the bus lurches.

"What did you say your name was ?" Stan asked Harry.

"Neville. Neville Longbottom." He replies. Smooth. Stan nods and starts to read the Daily Prophet. A picture of a raggedy looking man is on the front and he seems to be chained up and wearing prison clothes.

"Who is that ? That man ?" Harry asked him. Stan looks at him, so weirdly.

"Who is that ? That man ?" Harry asked him. Stan looks at him, so weirdly.

"Who is that ?! Who is— that, is Sirius Black, that is. He's escaped from Azkaban." Stan says. I frown.

"How ?" I asked him. Stan leans close to me.

"Well, we don't know, do we ? He's the first one that's done it." He replies. I frown.

"People say he was a big supporter of You Know Who. Reckon you've heard of him ?" Stan says, turning to Harry.

"Yeah. Him, I've heard of." Harry says. I grab his hand as he squeezes it. Stan looks at us, so weirdly, and goes back to reading his newspaper.

We soon stop outside the Leaky Cauldron. Tom, the barman, comes to take us in.

"Ah, Mr. and Miss Potter ! How good to see you !" Tom says. Stan stares at us.

"Wait ! You're the Potters ?!" He asked us. I look at Harry and we slightly nod. Before anything else can happen, Tom pulls us into the Leaky Cauldron. We follow him to a room where we are met with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. I gulp. Great. Now, we're in trouble. Tom offers us food, but we decline it.

"... she has been returned to her normal state and will have no recollection of the incident, whatsoever. So, that's that. And no harm done." Fudge says, turning to us. I frown. No harm done ?

"But, Minister, I don't understand. We broke the law. Shouldn't we be going to jail ?" Harry asked him. Fudge laughs.

"Oh, Harry ! We don't send people to Azkaban because they blow up their aunts ! Although, I must add, Cosmina, that your tentacles were an excellent touch." Fudge says. I smile, so confidently. The tentacles were based on Ursula from the Little Mermaid.

"Now ! Time for bed ! Tom will escort you to your room !" Fudge says. Tom grabs me and Harry by the shirt and pulls us upstairs. We get to a room and he opens the door. The first thing I see is Ariel and Hedwig. I smile and she flies to me, sitting on my shoulder. I smile and stroke her. Tom slams the door and we look around. We have quite a big bed, which is good. Especially now that Harry's gotten taller. It looks like Fudge has brought all our school books up here as well. I smile and look at Harry. We're away from home. He shares my smile and we fall asleep.

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I wake up in the morning and it looks like Harry is already up and gone. I get ready, just brushing my hair and putting a skirt and shirt on. Then, I head downstairs. I'm met with a wonderful sight. Hermione and all the Weasleys are here ! Mione runs up to me and gives me a big hug. I smile.

"Hi, Mione ! How are you ?" I asked her. She smiles.

"Really good, actually. I went with Mum and Dad to Paris during the holidays. Oh, wait, you know that ! Sorry." She says, chuckling. I smile and turn to the Weasleys. Fred and George immediately come over and ruffle my hair. Ugh. They've grown taller, too. Why ?! I smile and they start telling me about Egypt and their new prank ideas. Harry is sitting down at the table with Ron, who's also telling Harry about Egypt. I smiled, and I was so happy to be back with my friends.

"Mina, Harry. Mind if I have a word ?" Mr. Weasley asks us. I stand up.

"Of course not." I say. Harry and I followed him away from everyone else.

"Now, tell me. What do you know about Sirius Black ?" Mr. Weasley asked us.

"Only that he's escaped from Azkaban." Harry and I speak at the same time. Mr. Weasley nods.

"Well, before Black was out in Azkaban, he was a big supporter of—" He begins to say, but stops.

"Voldemort." Harry and I say, filling in for him.

"Don't say his name !" Mr. Weasley says.

"Sorry." We speak at the same time.

"Black was a big supporter of You Know Who. Now, when You Know Who died, some of his followers stopped following him. But not Black. He murdered 13 people with one curse. But most importantly, he believes that you two, mainly you, Harry, are the reason that You Know Who is dead. So, he escaped from Azkaban to find you, and—" Mr. Weasley says.

"And kill us." Harry and I say. Mr. Weasley hesitates.

"Just promise me something. Promise me that you won't go looking for Black." He says. I frown and look at Harry. He looks confused, too.

"Mr. Weasley, why would we go looking for someone who wants to kill us ?" Harry asked him. Mr. Weasley doesn't reply.

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