Author's Note: This plot bunny came to me when I was wondering what exactly the

reaction of the wizarding world was when they discovered automobiles. Clearly,

they must have gotten used to them in order to have the Knight Bus and to

bewitch cars for their own use. So, I decided to put Albus Dumbledore and

Alastor Moody in the uncomfortable position of test driving a brand new

invention. This takes place somewhere around the same time the first cars came

to be on the road, so they're much younger than they are in canon but I did

decide to listen to some of my readers and made Moody younger than Dumbledore.

A Beautiful Day for a Drive It was a shame, Albus Dumbledore thought as he looked out the window, to

spend such a lovely day inside, researching on a project that could be finished

just as easily tomorrow. Really, such lovely days happened so rarely in England

and this was the first particularly pleasant, warm, clear, sunny day they'd had

since winter started. He'd even venture to say they hadn't had one since summer

and his body was aching to feel the sun on his back, the wind in his hair and

his mind yearned for some distraction. He heard a soft popping sound behind him

and smiled. His distraction had arrived.

"You owled, Dumbledore?" Alastor Moody asked him.

"Yes, I did," Albus replied, turning to face his visitor, "and you arrived

just in the nick of time." He reached over and took his hat off the coat hook

and opened the front door, gesturing for Moody to go out ahead of him but the

auror did not move. Instead, he eyed him suspiciously, his blue eyes piercing

Dumbledore's as though he were trying to guess at his motive. "What is this all

about, Albus? You aren't expecting me to help you gather more dragon's blood are

you? After what happened last time, I'd hope you'd know I won't be doing that

again."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Dumbledore chided, "Mungo's healed you up in no

time. The only lasting aftereffects you have are those scars."

Moody rubbed the rough, brown areas on his face and gave Dumbledore the

most sinister look he could muster. "For the fiftieth time, I am an Auror,

Albus, not an alchemist, not a dragon tamer and I am most certainly not your

research assistant anymore." He straightened his back and Dumbledore recognized

the telltale signs of a man preparing to apparate.

"Now, now, Alastor," Dumbledore said soothingly, "I have no intention in

making you conduct research for me or with me. I just want you to come with me."

"I can't. When I received your owl I was in the middle of working on a

very important case-"

"A dark wizard this time or just another muggle-baiter?"

"Oh, you can never tell," Moody said dismissively. "The times have been

quiet enough, they just have us chase them all down instead of bothering with

the details. But the point is that I had almost found the man," Moody groused.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he won't go anywhere while you're gone."

"Hmpf. In weather like this? Of course he'll go somewhere."

"Then maybe we'll run into him while we're out."

"I doubt that. Besides," Moody added quickly, I can't go anywhere. I've

forgotten my hat."

"You can borrow one of mine," Dumbledore offered, throwing him a green

bowler hat and ushering him out the door, which he slammed shut behind them with

a sigh of satisfaction. They were outside, in the beautiful world. Moody

followed him, the hat still in his hand.

"What kind of hat is this? Look, Albus-"

"Oh, just put it on! I assure you green suits you well," Dumbledore told

him.

Moody glared "I wasn't referring to the way it looked on my Albus," but he

pulled it down on his head nonetheless and ran his hand over the rim as he

strode next to Dumbledore. "Odd type of hat. Is it muggle?"

"Yes, I just bought it a few days ago," Dumbledore replied and glanced at

his friend out of the corner of his eye. "I must admit it does look remarkably

good on you."

"Does it? Well, I've never been much of a fan of muggle things but-" Moody

broke off, having realized Dumbledore had successfully distracted him from his

original topic. Not for long, though. "Why did you owl me? Your message didn't

say much and you still haven't answered my question," he continued doggedly.

Dumbledore took a deep breath before answering. Moody could be very

fanatical about his work; it was one of his most endearing qualities and he

probably would not take Dumbledore's explanation well. Oh well, out with it. "I

fancied a stroll through the countryside on this beautiful day," he answered

swiftly, hoping to fend off protests before they arose. "And, as it is a

commonly known fact that the best strolls are the ones one takes with a

companion I thought-"

He didn't get a chance to finish. "You mean to tell me you sent me an owl

requesting my immediate presence just because you wanted to go on a walk?"

Clearly his efforts at legilimens were paying off, Albus mused. As he had

expected, Alastor was less than thrilled with this explanation. He nodded and

Moody very nearly exploded. "Albus, I was this close to cracking my case!" He

held his fingers out about half an inch apart.

"And, my dear friend, you will still be that far apart by the end of the

day," Dumbledore assured him. "Your case will not regress while you are

refreshing your mind and sharpening your eyes to recognize details they may have

missed before."

Alastor gave him a skeptical look then turned away, following Dumbledore

begrudgingly down the path. Dumbledore smiled; Moody would never admit it but he

was probably grateful for the interruption. They continued in silence for a

moment, which Alastor abruptly broke by asking harshly, "Were you able to make

it to that concert in London last week you were so keen about?"

"No, unfortunately not," Dumbledore answered with a sigh. "Everard invited

me to dinner. He wanted to try to convince me to accept a position at Hogwarts

again."

Moody chuckled. "He still hasn't given up, has he?"

"No, he has not."

"What did he offer you this time?"

"He is very eager to get me onto the staff, so he offered pretty much

anything I wanted. Any position, any pay."

"Indeed?"

"Well, he forgot to mention certain limitations. When I suggested

groundskeeper, he looked a little flustered and told me he already had an

adequate man for that position."

"How unchivalrous of you, Albus, to give the poor man nightmares! Having

the great Albus Dumbledore, who helped discover the Philosopher's Stone as his

groundskeeper!" Moody was loosening up now and the two of them laughed; Moody's

harsh and scratchy.

"Ah," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes, "on days like this I would not

mind having such a position. The fresh air would do me good."

"Yes, because you spend so much time cooped up inside, working on some

inane project," Moody deadpanned.

"I do."

"I know."

"I'm not lying."

"Of course not." Albus refused to respond this time. The two of them had

been through this same conversation countless times since Moody had left his

position as Dumbledore's assistant. Moody had taken the route of the overly

dedicated auror whereas Dumbledore continued on his path to becoming a highly

successful, if not slightly eccentric, independent researcher. This left him

with ample time to pursue his favorite leisure activities, such as nine-pin

bowling, while trying to get his creative juices flowing. Moody preferred to

call it "procrastination" and "living obscenely off of his benefactors funds

until they ran out and he needed something to secure more funds." They both knew

he was joking. At least, Dumbledore sincerely hoped he was.

"Merlin's beard! Will you look at that!" Moody exclaimed, thrusting

Dumbledore out of his thoughts and back onto the garden path, which had turned

into a road as they headed towards the nearby village. "What is that

contraption?" Moody was pointing at a black box-shaped object on four wheels

sitting on the side of the road. It looked like a carriage but there was a

conspicuous lack of horses and Dumbledore was just as puzzled as his friend

until the image clicked with something he'd learned from Everard on his trip to

London.

"Yes, I remember hearing about these," he said as they came near it.

"They're called automobiles, or horseless carriages. Some sort of recent muggle

invention to make their way of travel more efficient than their beasts of

burden." He peered at it closely. "I've been wanting to get a closer look at one

of these."

"And now you've got your chance." Moody studied the automobile with a

skeptical look on his face. "Looks rather inefficient, doesn't it?"

Dumbledore examined it carefully. "I wonder how it runs." The seats

offered no clue, nor did the bane of glass in front of it. He bent down to look

beneath it.

"Not floo powder, that's for sure. Perhaps a potion of some sort?" Moody

suggested and opened a side door.

"They're muggles, Alastor," Dumbledore reminded him but he wasn't sure

Moody heard as his voice was rather muffled with his head under the auto. All he

could see under there were pipes leading this way and that. There seemed to be a

few empty spaces above him and he reached his hand up one of them, groping

around to see if it would reveal anything. He felt something, took his wand out

and lit it but before he could use it to illuminate anything, a loud voice

called out, "Hello there! May I help you gentlemen?" Dumbledore quickly

extinguished his wand, crawled out from underneath the car and looked up to see

a muggle man, dressed up smartly in a suit with a thin veneer of politeness

across his face.

"Yes," Dumbledore answered, hoping that if he talked enough the man would

not notice their odd clothing. "We find your automobile very intriguing. You

see, out here in the country one does not usually see many automobiles. Do you

think you could show us how it works?"

The man relaxed, introduced himself as Mr. Harrington and Dumbledore could

see the wheels of his mind turning over the thought that these were just a

couple of odd country bumpkins in equally odd clothing messing around with

technology that, were it not for him, they would have never have had the

opportunity to explore. "Of course!" Mr. Harrington replied silkily. "It's not

too challenging though I assure you, it does move quite a bit faster than the

horses and mules you're probably used to." Albus smiled at Moody when he heard

this and Moody grunted back irritably in reply.

"Yes, I'm quite sure of that," Albus responded. "Things do seem to be

getting faster these days."

"Well, I can tell you Mr. -er,"

"Jones," Albus supplied.

"Jones, that this machine will get you anywhere at speeds upwards of 30

miles an hour."

Albus stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "Really? My, how things do

advance." Moody broke into a fit of coughing at this and the man looked at him

in concern. "Oh, pay him no mind. My cousin has just been feeling a bit under

the weather lately."

"Oh, yes, I see," Mr. Harrington looked at Moody uncomfortably again then

approached the car. "If I may--?" Moody got up, moved to the back and crossed

his arms in front of him like a spoiled child. Mr. Harrington sat down behind

the wheel with Albus in the passenger seat next to him. He and Moody peered

curiously at the owner. He smiled and pulled a key out from his pocket. "Now,

gentlemen, if you will observe, it is really quite simple. You merely insert the

key, press in on the clutch, turn the key and viola-," a grating sound came from

the engine thatcaused Moody to start and raise his wand quickly. Dumbledore

motioned him down and he eased back into his seat, still eyeing the

surroundings, mistrustfully. The muggle, however, smiled reassuringly. "Oh, it's

all right. Nothing to be nervous about; this is all perfectly normal. I can't

count the number of horses I've scared starting up this contraption around

them."

"Oh, don't mind him. He's always been a jumpy sort. Now, how does this

automobile go?" Dumbledore peered over at the driver's consol curiously and

successfully redirecting Mr. Harrington's attention towards it.

"Ah, yes. Well, it's really quite simple. You press in the clutch, shift it into

gear," he moved a stick with a harsh sound, "press the gas and you go!" The car

lurched forward and so did Dumbledore and Moody. They drove along in silence for

a few minutes with no sound other than the engine and nature surrounding them.

After noting Alastor's attempts to gain his attention, Albus glanced over at

their driver, who was watching the road with a self-satisfied look on his face.

"I don't suppose you would be opposed to letting us try driving it, now would

you?" He suggested.

"Er, what?" Mr. Harrington took his eyes off the road to give Dumbledore an

incredulous look.

"I asked if you would be terribly opposed letting us drive your

automobile."

Mr. Harrington's face fell. "Well, I don't know-you see, these are quite

a bit trickier to handle than your average horse-and-cart."

A whispered spell from the back seat reached Dumbledore's ear and looked

to catch Moody hastily putting his wand back into his robes. "I think you will

find us more than up to the challenge," Moody responded.

"Well," Mr. Harrington seemed to waver and he glanced at Dumbledore and

searched his eyes for reassurance. "All right. I'll let you have a go at it." He

stopped on the side of the road and turned off the car."

"Wonderful," Moody said and without missing a beat, scrambled up into

the front seat, displacing their host onto the side of the road, which was

clearly not what he had in mind. With the motions of an old hand, he deftly

started the engine, shifted it into gear, put on the gas and drove off.

"Hey!" Mr. Harrington yelled. "I didn't say you could drive it

without me!"

Dumbledore peered over at Mr. Harrington, who was now running beside

the car, one hand on his hat. "Really, Alastor, a suggestive charm? I thought

most aurors would find that unethical."

Moody shrugged. "I thought it would save you time trying to

convince him and the sooner you get to drive this thing, the sooner this walk is

over and the sooner I get back to my case. Besides, it seems to have worn off

already." Mr. Harrington was neck and neck with the car, trying to jump onto it

with one hand while his other remained firmly on top of his hat.

"This is--- theft--- you---know!" He yelled between huffs and

attempted to leap into the vehicle.

"If you are planning on outrunning him, Alastor," Dumbledore

suggested gently, "You might want to consider going faster than 10 miles an

hour."

"What? Oh---yes, that might help." He looked down at the shifting

gear, then up at the speedometer, then down at the pedals. He frowned, wrinkled

his brows, attempted moving one or the other to speed up, found none of them

produced anything save a terrible rumbling sound from the engine and whipped out

his wand. "Merlin, all these contraptions and not a single one of them with the

efficiency of a simple speed charm." He caste the spell and the car gave a lurch

and immediately began to accelerate, pinning the two of them against their seats

and two of their hands upon their hats. Moody grimaced at Dumbledore and yelled,

"This, Albus, is why the muggles will never advance farther than wizards. How

many years have we been charming broomsticks with that spell and they just now

develop a way to go anywhere at 30 miles an hour?"

Dumbledore nodded absently. "I'm glad you approve," he answered. "Now

let me drive."

Moody glanced over at him. "What? I just started to get the hang of

it."

"If you'll recall it was I who suggested to our dear friend Mr.

Harrington that he lend us his car." They both turned and glanced backwards down

the road where no Mr. Harrington was in sight. Laughing, they turned back to the

front.

Moody continued, "and if you'll recall it was I who turned that into a

real suggestion."

"Come now, you said so yourself that the sooner you let me drive, the

sooner you could get back to your case."

Moody frowned, clearly considering the implications of this. "Alright.

But five minutes. That's it." Dumbledore nodded and got up.

Switching seats is complicated in most vehicles and even more

complicated when the vehicle is one of the first ones to developed and the two

attempting the switch are wearing ankle-length robes and speeding down the road

at 50 miles an hour. "Watch out, you've stepped on my robe."

"Sorry-ow! That was my foot!"

"My hair, you've got my hair in your glasses."

"Watch the road! Here, just put your hand on the steering wheel, I'll

move into your seat and then you sit down in mine!" Moody shifted over quickly

and Dumbledore found himself half-standing in the now vacant driver's seat.

"That wasn't too difficult," he said as straightened his glasses and

sat down. "Now, what does this pedal do?" He pressed it and nothing happened.

"It's under a speed charm, Dumbledore, none of the pedals do much

of anything at the moment."

"Hmmmm." A quick swish of the wand and the car relaxed and slowed

down to a much more timely 10 miles an hour. Moody contorted his face in

displeasure. "If I am to drive this car, it will be I that does the driving-not

some spell," Dumbledore explained patiently. He peered down his long nose at the

floor pedals. "Now, let's see-I believe he pressed in this one and then-" He

shifted the gear changer over and the engine rumbling decreased noticeably. "Ah

ha! I believe I have just switched gears."

"From eccentric to lunatic?" Moody asked. Dumbledore ignored him.

"Yes, look, we are now going 20 miles an hour! Let's see if I can't-

-" He did and the car began to pick up more speed and Dumbledore beamed with

satisfaction. "You know, I might just have to get one of these. Not only are

they pure joy to drive but, as you yourself have already demonstrated, they are

just as easy to magically manipulate as trains, carpets and other muggle

objects."

"Great. Now we have start watching out for biting automobiles in

addition to teacups. Are you watching the road?" Moody grabbed the steering

wheel and turned it abruptly.

"Let go!" Dumbledore swatted away Moody's hands. "I am watching the

road. It is perfectly okay for me to take my eyes off of it for a few seconds,

so stop meddling."

"Meddling? I've never seen worse driving in my life! Look how close

you are to that hedge!"

"Fifteen minutes ago you'd never seen any driving in your life,

therefore, your judgments on this matter carry very little weight," Dumbledore

retorted as he guided the automobile closer to the middle of the road. The road

was narrower than he thought and a scraping sound filled the car.

"Move over that way!" Moody scolded, reaching again for the steering

wheel.

"Mind your own business!"

"Oh sod it, Dumbledore, let me have the wheel!" Moody said through

gritted teeth.

"For someone who didn't even want to go on a walk in the first place

you certainly are putting up a fight now!" Dumbledore retorted.

"I, for one, care about the condition in which we return this

automobile to its owner."

"Oh, and I don't?" Just as they were really beginning to get into it,

a crunching sound filled the car and they looked up just in time to get a face-

full of branches.

"You weren't watching the road!" Moody yelled, letting go of the

steering wheel to protect his face as the hedge's branches scrapped painfully

over their faces. They careened through the hedgerow as Dumbledore struggled to

find a way to get the car back on the road. Pulling sticks out of his hair, he

shouted at Moody, "How could I have been watching the road while I was watching

you, trying to make sure you didn't take over command?"

"Merlin's beard, we're not on a ship," Moody shouted back, "There

is no chain of command!"

Dumbledore opened his mouth to reply, glanced at the road and forgot

all intent. "Tree!"

"What?" Moody turned to look in front of the car and frantically began motioning

at Dumbledore. "Break! Break! Press the break!"

"Which one is the break?" Dumbledore pressed on a couple but with the

car only went faster.

"No, not that one," the driving expert shouted, "The other one!"

"Which one?"

"The other one!"

CRASH!