Chapter 3: Back To The Wizarding World

We both tore from the dining room and headed upstairs, as Vernon started venting his spleen over getting a dose of his own medicine. 'YOU BITCH!', he thundered. He then started blurting out defamatory nicknames of Hogwarts professors. 'YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, RAPUNZEL, AND SO WILL YOU, ALBUS BUMBLEBITCH, AND YOU RUBEUS FAT-GRID! I HAVE THE BLOODY RIGHT TO SAY WHAT I WANT ABOUT THE GODDAMN WIZARDING KIND, AND I WILL NOT HAVE YOU ATTACKING ME FOR SELF-BLOODY-EXPRESSION!', he screamed incoherently, pounding the dining table. We made it to the top of the landing and knocked on Harry's bedroom door. 'Harry?', I called. 'Who is it?', he asked. He sounded pretty nervous. 'It's alright, Harry. It's me, Rapunzel'. Harry let us into his room, and he was good and ready to escape. 'I take it Dumbledore sent you here?', he asked. 'Yes, he did. I think you can probably tell your uncle's definitely on the warpath', Eugene said. 'Yes, I heard everything', Harry replied. 'That fat asshole had the audacity to insult Dumbledore in front of me', I expressed. 'So, Hagrid isn't the only one who hates it when muggles speak ill of Dumbledore?'. 'I'm afraid not, Harry', I told him, laughing. 'Have you got all your stuff?', I asked. 'Yes. Now, we've got to get out of here before Vernon lays it on us', he said urgently. 'Yeah, I think we'd better move; you're uncle's absolutely livid', I added, as we left the room.

Harry carried his suitcase, while we went behind him down the stairs. Vernon could hear us coming down and so he ambushed us at the bottom of the stairs. Having just lost his sister at the hands of Harry's anger, and been humiliated and physically assaulted for slandering Dumbledore, to say he was 'on the warpath', as Eugene said, would be an understatement. 'YOU BRING HER BACK! YOU BRING HER BACK NOW! YOU PUT HER RIGHT!', he boomed at Harry at the top of his lungs. He had never seen his Uncle Vernon so enraged. 'No, she deserved what she got!', Harry angrily retorted. Vernon tried to grab hold of Harry's neck. Harry whipped out is wand as Eugene and I pushed Vernon away. Dudley and Petunia looked on, powerless to prevent what was happening. 'Keep away from me', Harry ordered, trying not to explode at Vernon as he had at Marge. 'You're not allowed to use magic outside school!', boasted Vernon, with a smug expression. 'Yeah, try us', Harry challenged him. Vernon was confident that he could keep Harry imprisoned at 4 Privet Drive because he was in danger of being excluded from Hogwarts. 'They won't let your back, now. You've nowhere to go', Vernon continued. 'I don't care', Harry retorted. 'Anywhere's better than here'. We then shuffled out of the front door and made a break for freedom. We could see the inflated Aunt Marge flying overhead. Harry knew only too well that students were forbidden from using magic outside school, and he was convinced he was about to be thrown out. And it wasn't the first time Harry had been in trouble with regards to muggle affairs; he and Ron Weasley had already been in serious trouble at school for flying the Weasleys' Ford Anglia to Hogwarts, as they had been seen by no less than seven muggles and found themselves on the verge of being excluded. This time, however, Harry was convinced his exclusion would be a certainty.

I could see Harry was concerned about his future in the Wizarding World, so I decided to talk to him once we were far enough away from Privet Drive. 'Look, Harry. I know you're worried that you're going to be excluded from Hogwarts, but I'm sure everyone will understand it wasn't intentional'. 'I hope you're right', he remarked wistfully. 'Would the Ministry ever send anyone to Azkaban for using magic if it was unintentional?', asked Eugene. 'I can only assume they wouldn't', Harry commented; for he was already growing suspicious of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Eugene and I had already made arrangements with the Weasleys to get back to Diagon Alley, but before they arrived, we suddenly came across a deserted playground. Suddenly, the wind started howling and a shaggy black dog suddenly appeared from the thicket, growling at Harry. We all thought it was going to bounce out at us. It soon disappeared, however, as Mr and Mrs Weasley pulled up in their flying Ford Anglia and disabled the invisibility setting. But before we left Harry, we felt the need to make sure Harry would be alright getting back to the Leaky Cauldron on his own. He said he would be fine as he would simply hail a black cab and try his best to keep a low profile. A few seconds later, the towering Knight Bus appeared from the clearing, as the Conductor, Stan Shunpike ushered Harry on-board. 'See you at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry', I told him, as Eugene and I got in with the Weasleys. Harry boarded the Knight Bus as we re-enabled the Ford's invisibility setting and flew off.

Aboard the Knight Bus, Shunpike gave Harry a ticket and told the driver, Ernie to continue. 'Yeah, take it away, Ernie! It's going to be a bumpy ride!', called an enthusiastic Dre Head with a Jamaican accent, as the Bus pulled away at breakneck speed. If this were a vehicle bound by muggle laws, it would be violating numerous traffic codes. The bus had to stop at one point just inches away from an old woman who was crossing the street, and then it hastily set off again at the same dangerous speed. It was here that Harry was informed of Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban and that he was 'a big supporter of You-Know-Who', but Shunpike had no idea that it was Peter Pettigrew behind the betrayal, and not Sirius Black, and he wouldn't dare say Voldemort's name out loud. Shortly after, the Knight Bus came head-on with two double-decker buses. Thankfully, the enchanted vehicle was able to magically squeeze between the two oncoming vehicles. Eventually, Eugene and I arrived at the Leaky Cauldron with Mr and Mrs Weasley, ahead of the Knight Bus, and finally disabled the invisibility setting. We saw the Knight Bus approaching. Ernie applied the brakes just in time to avoid a collision with an old Mercedes Benz, although it did still bump into the car, just hard enough to set off the alarm. Harry hauled his bag into the Leaky Cauldron and was greeted by Hagrid. Harry decided to stay at the Leaky Cauldron until his Third Year began in September. Ron Weasley was also there, but the rest of the Weasley family had yet to arrive, along with Hermione Granger. Nobody had anything to say about the incident at Privet Drive as many had yet to hear about it.

A few of the other Disney Princes and Princesses were also staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Two of them were Cinderella and her husband, Prince Kit; a pair of pure Hufflepuffs through and through, who graduated in 1990, and whose ethics of hard work, patience and fairness made them both a perfect fit for that house, although Cinderella's determination and her desire for a greater life than the one she had been living until Kit came for her made her a potential Slytherin. They were also joined by their now-reformed stepsister, Anastasia Tremaine. When her mother Lady Tremaine and her sister Drizella used their time-turner to unravel Cinderella's happy ending by putting Anastasia in her place to marry Kit, Anastasia turned back on the manipulation she had endured and refused to marry Kit, to Cinderella's amazement. Tremaine then attempted to strike down Anastasia, but Cinderella protected her and the two finally mended their relationship. Cinderella was now a Princess, a professional witch, a wife, and a True Sister to Anastasia. Despite her ethics of kindness, Anastasia's bravery in defying her mother put her in Slytherin, and she graduated in 1991. I felt sorry for Cinderella, Kit and Anastasia; they chose to take Muggle Studies as a subject from their third year onwards, but had the misfortune of being taught by Professor Quirrell. Another two were Aladdin and Jasmine, who had only graduated at the end of the 1992/93 school year; a more determined and independent pair of royals than most than most, whose cunning and determination fit them firmly into Slytherin House. And finally, there were Ariel and Eric, who graduated alongside Aladdin and Jasmine. Ariel and Eric were both fiercely independent, almost to the point of Slytherin-esque disobedience, and whose brave and daring attitudes fit them into Gryffindor. Unfortunately for Aladdin, Jasmine, Ariel and Eric, they had the misfortune of not only being taught Muggle Studies by Professor Quirrell during their Third and Fourth Years, but also being taught DADA by Quirrell in their Sixth Year, and by the slightly lesser fiasco of a professor; Gidleroy Lockhart. They were all amazed at finally meeting the boy who lived, especially Cinderella. 'Hello, Harry. It's an honor to meet you', she said, shaking his hand. Harry was relieved to be in the company of the Princesses, but he had more pressing matters on his hands; his sentence for using magic on Aunt Marge. Harry was taken up to Room 11 and waited to hear his fate, at the hands of Cornelius Fudge…