Hey! We made a quick stop at home for my Grammy's birthday, but we will be heading back around 2:00. Just wanted to treat you to a new chapter!
Brooklyn went downstairs to the front door of the Leaky Cauldron at 6:00 and opened the door to see his Weasley friends waiting outside, grinning at him.
"Hey, Brook!" Called Fred. "This is gonna be awesome!"
Brooklyn smiled. "For sure!" He was just relieved he didn't have to be trapped at the Dursleys, too. If only Harry could have stayed at the Leaky Cauldron with me, he thought, wondering why Dumbledore didn't allow Harry to live with him.
"Our ride is hidden in an alleyway not far from here," Ron said as Brooklyn followed them, carrying some of his things including his owl. They walked a little ways until Brooklyn's eyes fell onto an old turquoise Ford Angela car sitting there. He raised his brow.
"This is your ride?" He asked them in confusion. Fred and George smirked at each other.
"Dad's been tinkering with it to make it fly. He's mad about Muggle stuff, you see," Ron explained. "I don't think I had the chance to meet your dad, yet," Brooklyn said.
"Well, you might be able to. He works at the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." Ron answered.
"Are we going to be standing around all night, or are we going to rescue our comrade?" Fred exclaimed, opening one of the Angela's doors. Brooklyn nodded. "Let's do this!"
They all clambered in, along with pushing some of Brooklyn's items in the back trunk.
Brooklyn sat in the back with George while Ron and Fred where in the front and Fred took the wheel.
"Are you sure you are capable of flying this thing?" Brooklyn asked nervously. Fred turned to look at him. "Did this many times!" He turned the keys to the car.
Oh boy, Brooklyn thought nervously as the car rolled along the ground before finally taking to the skies, soaring above the buildings. They were lucky that not many people where awake at this time yet.
Brooklyn gripped his seat. He had ridden motorcycles, flown in planes and helicopters, but this was a new level of weird for him. He never imagined being in a flying car in his whole life.
"Hey, just relax! Fred and George are experts on the car. We just never had to use it to save anybody before," Ron assured him. Brooklyn rolled his eyes. "I feel so much better now," he grumbled, as they steadily approached the lesser houses.
"We should be getting close," Fred announced, steering the wheel. "Just let us know if anything looks familiar, Brooklyn!"
The gargoyle nodded as he put his head out the window, using his night vision to pick out Privet Drive.
In just a few minutes he immediately spotted it to the left. "Take us left, Fred! I found it!"
Fred nodded as he guided the car where Brooklyn pointed. They glided lower and lower. Brooklyn squinted as he tried to pick out Number 4. He spied it at once and gestured to Fred to lower the car to it.
They lowered the car until it was nearly touching the house, where Brooklyn spotted his brother, behind bars? Brooklyn's eyes flashed white in shock and fury. What have those morons done now? He thought in anger and disbelief.
Harry's bedroom window was indeed behind bars, and Harry himself was lying down on the bed. He heard the car, though, went to the window and his mouth fell open in shock.
"Guys?" He gaped. Brooklyn's anger subsided just a bit to give Harry a wave in the window, along with George.
"What are you all doing here?" Harry asked in surprise. Ron smiled. "Rescuing you, of course. Brooklyn wanted in, too. Now get your trunk!"
George grabbed a hook as he attached it to the window's bars. "Stand back," Brooklyn warned Harry as he did so. Ron thrusted the engines forward until the bars were yanked off. George grabbed it with his levitation charm before it hit the ground. Uncle Vernon gave a noisy grunt from the next room.
Harry opened the window and Brooklyn climed in. "What do you need to take with you?" He asked.
"Just my school supplies, which is locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can't get out of this room!"
Brooklyn had to know. "What did you 'do' to make them do this?" He asked. Harry looked indignant. "It wasn't me, a house elf did it!"
The gargoyle was confused. "House what?" Harry shook his head. "I'll explain later," he muttered. Fred and George came in. "We'll help, Ron will manage the car."
The twins made their way to the door and George pulled out a pin. Brooklyn raised his brow.
"Wizards think it is useless to use these kinds of Muggle tricks, but me and Fred try to have some use for them. Especially if we want to open a joke shop."
Brooklyn looked interested. "You want to start your own business?" He asked. Fred nodded. "Mum thinks we should work for the Ministry, though." The door clicked open after that.
Brooklyn shook his head. "I can't even imagine you two working in a boring place like that!" He exclaimed, with them chuckling a little.
The twins headed into the hallway as Harry called after them.
"Watch out for the bottom stair, it creaks!"
They nodded as they crept down the stairs with Harry and Brooklyn watching them.
In a few minutes, they were lugging Harry's things up the stairs (with the help of Brooklyn) to the car, fitting everything into the back with Brooklyn's things. But then something happened that spoiled their rescue.
Hedwig screeched suddenly, followed by Uncle Vernon yelling in anger: "THAT RUDDY OWL!"
Harry gasped. "I'd forgotten Hedwig!" Brooklyn held him back. "I'll get her," he said, going back through the window and snatching her cage, right at the moment Vernon opened the door and turned on the light. Brooklyn froze, with all the Dursleys staring at him in shock and fear.
"Dad! It's a monster!" Shrieked Dudley as Vernon continued to stare at what was before him. Brooklyn groaned inwardly. Oh crud! He thought, dread filling him at the Dursleys seeing him finally. Harry snapped him out of his frozen position by taking Hedwig for him and putting it in the car and pushing Brooklyn to the window.
As Brooklyn climbed into the car, Harry tried to get in, too, but Vernon grabbed Harry's foot. This angered Brooklyn a lot as he went to the car window and flashed his eyes white with rage and snarled at Vernon.
"Let him GO!" He bellowed, startling Vernon into losing his grip. Brooklyn managed to pull Harry in and Ron drove off into the night.
Vernon lost his footing at the sudden movement and fell out the window. Harry and Brooklyn both laughed at the sight as they closed the door and rode off into the night.
"Told you we'd make it!" Cheered George, slapping Brooklyn on the shoulder. Brooklyn narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, if it weren't for the fact that the Dursleys saw me and Harry was almost hurt," he pointed out.
"Ah, don't be such a worrywort! We will soon be home!" Fred exclaimed from the front. Harry rolled his eyes from his seat next to Brooklyn.
"Uh, sorry about my 'cousin' calling you a monster, Brooklyn," Harry apologized. He shrugged.
"No biggie. People sometimes ended up calling me that in Manhattan. I've gotten used to it mostly." He said. Harry nodded, though inside he felt as though that Brooklyn didn't deserve to be called a monster. None of the gargoyles deserved it.
A hour car ride later and the two bond brothers can see a tall lopsided building in a large field, which Brooklyn realized it was Ron's house.
"Welcome to the Burrow, Harry and Brooklyn!" Fred announced as he eased the car down for a landing.
The Burrow was by far the most interesting house Brooklyn and Harry had ever seen. It was lopsided, but possibly held up by magic.
The car hit the ground, bumping around a bit but otherwise and alright landing. Brooklyn secretly hoped he will avoid riding in flying cars for a long while.
"If we remain quiet, we can sneak Brooklyn and Harry into Ron's room-" Fred began to say.
Fred suddenly looked downcast. "Ahh…" he groaned.
"Oh dear," George grimaced. "What?" Brooklyn asked in confusion.
"Mother's on the warpath," Ron winced, and Brooklyn saw what he meant. Mrs. Weasley was storming out the door, looking pretty mad. Fred turned to Brooklyn. "Uh, Brook, why don't you wait in here for a minute until she uh, settles down. She probably will when she sees we have Harry with us."
Brooklyn agreed, not having the desire yet to reveal himself. "Fine by me," he answered. He watched as the Weasleys came out with Harry and Mrs. Weasley began to yell at her sons for stealing the car. I hope she will still remember me! Brooklyn thought in concern.
He then saw her look at Harry and her mood suddenly changed and she hugged him. He couldn't help but smile at the sight.
"Mum, we also have one more guest that helped us rescue Harry," Fred said, gesturing to Brooklyn to come out.
"Oh? And who was it?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her brow raised.
Feeling nervous, he stepped out of the car, giving a small smile.
Her eyes brightened at the sight of him. "Oh, Harry's friend! It's delightful to have you here!"
Brooklyn was surprised. "I was involved with the car, though," he persisted, but she shook her head.
"You weren't with them when they first took the car. And you helped bring Harry here, so you are both welcome. Think nothing of it!" She opened the door. "Our home is open to you anytime," she proclaimed. Brooklyn's spirits lifted while Ron, Fred, and George all stared open mouthed in disbelief, but they looked pleased nonetheless.
See you all in early October!