HIS CHOSEN GIRL [MAJOR EDITING/REWRITING]

third year ➤the knight bus

"Come on. Move on, move on, move on," Stan says.

When I get to the front, Stan walks in front of me and hands me a ticket. He knocks on the window beside him and some weird head thing hanging beside the driver goes, "Take 'er away, Ern. Yeah, take it away Ernie. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

The head starts cackling and I ask myself if it's too late to get off the bus. The bus takes off at an impossible speed. I fly back into the bed and attempt to pull myself up.

Stan, who stands completely still like its no big deal, eyes me suspiciously. "What did you say your name was again?"

"I didn't," I say.

"Well whereabouts are you 'eaded?" He asks.

"The Leaky Caldron. That's in London," I answer.

"Did you 'ear that, Ern? The Leaky Caldron. That's in London."

"Hey, if they have the pea soup, make sure you eat it before it eats you," says the shrunken head before cackling again.

The bus continues to drive maniacally dodging cars and driving into the traffic rather than out with it.

"But the Muggles! Can't they see us?" I ask.

"Muggles?! They don't see nothin', do they?" Stan replies.

"No, but if you jab them with a fork, they feel! Ernie, little old lady at twelve o' clock!"

My eyes widen as we quickly approach an old Muggle lady and Ernie doesn't look like he's stopping. At the last second, he slams on the brake and I fly back hitting my head on the window.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, three-and-a-half... two, one-and-three-quarters... Yes!" Screams the head.

I continue flying around the bus when I see Stan reading a newspaper. I see an odd moving picture on the back of a man that looks insane. "Who is that? That man?" I ask.

He sighs and finds who I'm looking at. "Who is that? Who is...?  That is Sirius Black, that is. Don't tell me you've never been 'earing of Sirius Bkack. He's a murderer. Got 'imself locked up in Azkaban for it," Stan answers.

"How did he escape?"

"That's the question, isn't it? He's the first one that done it!! He was a big supporter of... you-know-who. Reckon you've 'eard of 'im."

"Yeah. Him I've heard of."

"Ernie, two double deckers at twelve o' clock. They're getting closer, Ernie. Ernie, they're right on top of us!" Yells the head. As we near the two busses, our bus starts to slim. And I mean like the bus physically slims so that it fits through the other two busses. "Mind your head. Hey guys, guys, why the long faces?" Asks the head as we finally pas the busses and we return to normal size.

The rest of the bus ride is the same as how it started, crazy and miraculous that I'm alive. Finally the bus pulls up to the Leaky Caldron. Ernie slams the break causing me to fly back into the window again and hits the car in front of us making the alarm go off. I say farewell to Ernie, Stan and the weird head and am approached by some other wizard.

"Ah... Mr. Potter... At last," he says leading me into the inn. He snaps his fingers and the car alarm stops blaring. "Room 11."

He leads me to the room and opens the door. "Hedwig!" I exclaim.

"Right smart bird you got there, Mr. Potter. He arrived here just minutes before yourself."

Someone clears their throat catching my attention and I look to see someone looking out the window and facing their back towards me. "As the Minister for Magic, it is my duty to inform you, Mr. Potter, that earlier this evening your uncle's sister was located a little south of Sheffield circling a chimney stack. The Accidental Magic Reversal Department was dispatched immediately. She has been properly punctured and her memory modified. She will have no recollection of the incident whatsoever so that's that... And no harm done."

He says finally turning towards me as I wave Tom away who constantly keeps offering me food. "Pea soup?"

"Um... No thank you," I reply remembering what the shrunken head said earlier. "Um, Minister?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand."

"Understand?"

"I broke the law. Underage wizards aren't allowed to use magic at home."

"Oh, come now, Harry. The ministry doesn't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunts. On the other hand, running away like that, given the state of things was very, very irresponsible," he says.

"The state of things, sir?" I ask.

"We have a killer on the loose."

"Sirius Black, you mean? But what's he got to do with me?"

The minister coughs. "Oh, nothing, of course. You're safe and that's what matters. And tomorrow you'll be on your way back to Hogwarts. Oh, uh, these are your new schoolbooks. I took the liberty of having them brought here for you. Now, Tom will show you to your room."

Tom grabs me by my sleeve and pulls me away. "Hedwig," I call and she comes flying over.

"Oh, by the way, Harry, whilst your here it would be best if you didn't... Wander."

I nod, thank him and go to my room. All I want to do is go to bed so that tomorrow I can get up and finally see my friends. I say goodnight to Hedwig and go to sleep smiling at the thought of finally being back home.

The next morning I wake up and look out the window watching the streets bustle as usual. I hear a noise and one of my books start shaking. I walk over to the furry book and unclip it's buckle. I pick it up and study it when it starts viciously trying to bite me. I throw the book on the ground and jump up on to my bed. I spend the next ten minutes trying to retrieve my book and I finally jump on it closing it and putting it away. After that fright of the morning I walk out the door and see a rat getting chased by a cat. I know Ron has a rat so I obviously chase after the two animals down the stairs into the main part of the inn and smile at the sight.
(what is the point of this scene?)

"I'm warning you, Hermione. Keep that bloody beast of yours away from Scabbers or I'll turn it into a tea cozy!"

"It's a cat, Ronald. What do you expect it's in his nature."

"Can you two shut up? I'm in no mood to participate in the cat vs rat debate for the seven hundredth time since we've got here."

"A cat? Is that what they told you? It looks more like a pig with hair, if you ask me."

"That's rich coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush! It's alright Crookshanks. You just ignore the mean, little boy."

"Harry!" (y/n) says noticing me watching from the stairs.

Whoa.
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