Harry, Samantha, and Lauren ran for several streets until they collectively collapsed against a low wall, all three needing to catch their breath from the effort of pulling their trunks behind them all that time. They were mostly silent, save for the breathing that calmed down after a few minutes.
"Where do we go from here?" asked Samantha finally, looking around the dark street. They were alone, literally and figuratively. They couldn't get to anywhere they knew from here, and they certainly couldn't return to the Dursleys. And someone, probably Harry, had blown up Aunt Marge, who was presumably still stuck to the dining room ceiling, or wherever else she had ended up. That was a definite breach of the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, and the International Statute of Secrecy.
"I'm not sure," Harry replied after a few minutes. He looked to his left, where his sisters were sitting, and his green eyes were wide and filled with fear.
"We'll figure something out," Samantha muttered, putting her arm around Lauren, who was shivering.
There was silence for a while again, before Harry spoke up once more. "What if- well, if I'm already expelled from Hogwarts, and maybe you too, we could do a bit of magic to make the trunks light enough to fly with, and go to London to get our money-"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Harry," Samantha cut in, noticing some flaws in the plan immediately. "First of all, Lauren doesn't have a broom, and none of us have ever seen if two people can ride on a broom at a time," she said. "Second, we don't know for sure if we've been expelled. That magic was accidental, anything after this would've been on purpose. We shouldn't risk it and do more, in the chance that we're still allowed to remain at Hogwarts."
Harry sighed, his shoulders slumping. "We can't stay here. What if the Muggle police come? How do we explain to them why we're out here in the middle of the night with a trunk full of spellbooks, empty owl cages, a cat, and three trunks of spellbooks?"
"One of us will come up with something if we're in that situation," Samantha replied. Suddenly, she froze, as did her siblings. Something was in the narrow gap between the garage and fence behind them.
"Lumos," Harry and Samantha whispered at the same time, both of their wand tips lighting up, forgetting Samantha's words against doing magic right now she had said just a few minutes before.
All of a sudden, the walls of the house sparkled, and the garage door was gleaming, and between it was the silhouette of something very, very large with wide, gleaming eyes. Harry stepped backward and tripped, startling Samantha and Lauren, who whirled around, nearly falling themselves.
There was a deafening bang, and Samantha found herself catching herself with her hands, having fallen over as well. There was a bright light coming down the street towards them, and Samantha had to cover her eyes to allow herself to get used to it. At the last second, she realized what it had to be, and quickly grabbed Lauren's arm and pulled her out of the way, as well as pulling herself out of the way.
In seconds, the three Potters were staring up at a tall bus that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere on this deserted Muggle street late at night. Golden letters on the windshield revealed it was called The Knight Bus, and Samantha had a feeling it had to be magical.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard," someone read into the night. It sounded like a teenage boy, and it was clearly rehearsed. "Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve-"
Stan stopped talking suddenly, as if he had only just realized the people he was trying to address were not standing directly in front of him, but instead all laying on the ground. Samantha looked around and then stood up, Harry and Lauren doing the same.
"What were you three doing down there?" Stan asked, and Samantha could see she was right about him being a teenage boy, probably fresh out of Hogwarts if he had attended.
"Fell over," Harry answered for all of them.
"'Choo fall over for?" sniggered Stan.
"We didn't do it on purpose," Samantha said, trying to figure out if she liked this boy or not. She ran her fingers through her hair, making sure there was nothing in it. She saw Harry looking at the spot they had seen something in earlier, and wasn't surprised to find it empty. The bus had probably scared whatever it was away.
"'Choo lookin' at?" asked Stan, also perring in that direction.
"There was a big black thing," said Harry, pointing to the spot. "Like a dog… but massive…"
"Woss that on your 'ead?" Stan asked after a few seconds.
Harry brushed his hair over his forehead. "Nothing," he answered.
"What're your names?" Stan further questioned, narrowing his eyes.
"Neville Longbottom," Harry answered immediately.
"Margot Langbert," said Samantha, taking the name of Max's older sister, who she doubted knew this man.
"Becca Thompson," said Lauren, using a name Samantha didn't recognize as anyone the three of them knew. There was a brief silence as Stan looked at the three kids who probably looked extremely suspicious.
"So- so this bus," Harry said, the hope of distraction clear in his voice, "did you say it goes anywhere?"
"Yep," Stan said, sounding proud. "Anywhere you like, long's it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater. 'Ere," he said, and he still looked at the kids as if he didn't quite trust them, or understand what was happening, "you did flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand 'hand, dincha?"
"Yes, of course," Samantha lied quickly. She looked at her brother, wondering where they should take the bus.
"How much would it be to get to London?" Harry asked Stan.
"Eleven Sickles for each o' ya," Stan said, his eyes darting between the siblings he thought weren't related, "but for thirteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice."
Samantha looked at Lauren and then Harry. She then rummaged through her trunk, pulling out a sack of sickles she kept at the bottom. Quickly, she counted out twenty four, enough for a ticket for her and Lauren plus one hot chocolate, which left her with three Sickles. She glanced again at Harry.
"You have your own money, right, Neville?" Samantha said, her gaze pointed.
Harry didn't respond for a split second, and then remembered his false name. "Oh, right," he said, and rummaged through his trunk and handed Stan a handful of coins, and Stan helped him lift his trunk up the stairs. He then helped both girls with their trunks as well, and all three balanced their animal cages on top of the trunks, Lauren's with her cat Meadow still inside it.
Stan led them down the middle of the bus, where instead of seats on the sides, there were beds. "Not now, thanks, I'm pickling some slugs," a wizard near the back of the bus muttered in his sleep.
"You three can have these beds," Stan whispered to them, pointing to three beds, two of them next to each other and one across from the pair. "Which one do each of you want?"
Samantha pointed to the one across the way, knowing the three of them would end up sitting together on the same bed anyways, for purposes of being able to talk. She didn't think any of them would be sleeping that night. Stan shoved each of their respective trunks under the beds they were taking.
"This is our driver, Ernie Prang," Stan said, pointing to an elderly man with thick glasses who was next to the bed Harry was taking. "These three are Neville Longbottom, Margot Langbert, and Becca Thompson," recited Stan, pointing to each kid in turn. Samantha offered a faint smile and wave, chewing on her bottom lip. "Take 'er away, Ern."
There was a loud bang, and all of a sudden all three kids had fallen over, Samantha catching herself on her bed and steadying herself as quickly as possible. She let out a breath, and walked over to Harry's bed that Lauren was now sitting on, and Harry was pushing himself up from.
They looked out the window, seeing that they were now on a street that was undoubtedly nowhere near where they had just been.
"This is where we was before you flagged us down," Stan said to the three of them. "Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Whales?"
"Ar," Ernie answered.
"How come the Muggles don't hear the bus?" Harry questioned.
"Them!" Stan exclaimed. "Don' listen properly, do they? Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffink, they don'."
Samantha couldn't help but grin, feeling a certain joy at being free from the Dursleys for at least another eleven or so months.
"Best go wake up Madam Marsh, Stan," said Ern. "We'll be in Abergavenny in a minute."
Stan walked away, going up a narrow wooden staircase on the side of the bus. Samantha sighed, looking out of the window at the passing streets.
"I'm going to lay down," Lauren said softly, her hazel eyes that matched Samantha's full of worry.
Samantha nodded, smiling calmly at her little sister, sympathy in her own hazel eyes. Lauren wasn't a spontaneous person, so she knew this must be hard on the girl, to be out here alone at night having run away from home. She was still recovering from the events of their last school year, and Samantha would hear her quiet sniffles at night when she thought no one was awake. Samantha wasn't a big sleeper. She never had been. She heard everything.
Stan came back down the stairs, a nauseous looking witch following behind him. "'Ere you go, Madam Marsh," Stan said joyfully, taking no notice of the woman's clear discomfort. Ernie slammed in the brake, causing the bed Samantha and Harry were on to scoot forward slightly. Madam Marsh clapped a handkerchief over her mouth before walking down the steps of the bus, Stan throwing her bag out behind her. There was yet another bang, and they were now on a more nature filled road. Samantha could swear she saw trees jumping out of the way as they came close to hitting them.
Samantha glanced back at Lauren, who's peaceful face and calm breathing showed that the girl was already asleep.
"I don't know how she does it," Samantha told Harry, both looking at their baby sister.
"I could never sleep, even if the bus wasn't making such noise and jumping hundreds of miles at a time," Harry said. "She's had a long week, I guess."
"I think we all have," Samantha replied.
Harry nodded. "We'll probably have long weeks in the coming ones as well," he said with a deep sigh.
"We'll be alright," Samantha reassured him. "We've survived much, much worse."
With a shrug, Harry leaned back against the pillow on his bed, which he had propped up against the bed frame. Both siblings looked around the bus, wondering what else they could talk about. Stan had taken out a copy of the Daily Prophet to read. On the side facing them was a photograph of a man Samantha recognized immediately. She gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth to remain silent.
"That man!" Harry exclaimed, pointing at the picture on the newspaper. "We've seen him before! Remember Sa- er… Margot, he was on the Muggle news!"
Samantha nodded faintly, her eyes wide the information she had just remembered. Her mind flashed back to a conversation she'd had with Max in first year, right before they had shared their first kiss where he had told her briefly about Sirius Black and what he had done.
"Sirius Black," Stan said, nodding as he looked at the paper. "'Course 'e was on the Muggle news, Neville, where you been?" Stan chuckled as he looked at the shocked look in Harry and Samantha's eyes, albeit for different reasons. "The pair of you oughta read the papers more," he said, and handed the front page of the paper to Samantha.
Taking a deep inhale to prepare herself, Samantha spread the paper between her and Harry so they could read it together in the dim candlelight of the bus.
Black Still At Large
Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner
ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding
capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.
"We are doing all we can to recapture Black,"
said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this
morning, "and we beg the magical community to
remain calm."
Fudge has been criticized by some members of
the International Federation of Warlocks for in-
forming the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.
"Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an
irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to any-
one who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the
Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe
a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's
face it- who'd believe him if he did?"
While Muggles have been told that Black is car-
rying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use
to kill each other), the magical community lives in
fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when
Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.
Samantha and Harry both moved their gaze to the picture of Sirius, who looked haunted and deranged. His just past shoulder length dark hair was in wavy tangles, and his gaunt face was home to his dark eyes, the only part of him that revealed he was not, in fact, a corpse.
"Scary-lookin' fing, inee?" said Stan. Samantha looked up at him, but didn't answer.
"He murdered thirteen people," Harry said, handing the newspaper back to Stan, "with one curse?"
"Yep," Stan answered, making a sound like a pop when he said the P. "In front of witnesses an' all. Broad daylight. Big trouble it caused, dinnit, Ern?"
"Ar," Ernie agreed, this time his voice dark.
"Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-'Oo," Stan said at a volume just above a whisper.
"What, Voldemort?" Harry said.
Stan's face grew pale as a Hogwarts ghost, and Ernie jerked the steering wheel so hard that they nearly went flying into a farmhouse, which jumped out of the way before it could be hit.
"You outta your tree?" Stan yelped. "'Choo say 'is name for?"
"Sorry," Harry said. "Sorry, I- I forgot-"
"Forgot!" Stan said weakly. "Blimey, my 'eart's goin' that fast…"
"So- so Back was a supporter of You-Know-Who?" Harry clarified, taking the conversation off of his slip up.
"Yeah," Stan continued. "Yeah, that's right. Very close to You-Know-'Oo, they say. Anyway, when little 'Arry Potter fot the better of You-Know-'Oo, all You-Know-'Oo's supporters was tracked down, wasn't they, Ern? Most of 'em knew it was all over, wiv You-Know-'Oo gone, and they came quiet. But not Sirius Back. I 'eard he thought 'e'd be second-in-command once You-Knew-'Oo 'ad taken over.
"Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a a street full of Muggles an' Black took out 'is wans and 'e blasted 'alf the street apart, an' a wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way. 'Orrible, eh? An' you knew what Black did then?" Stan said, pausing for dramatic effect.
"What?" Harry and Samantha asked together. As much as Samantha hated what was going on, she had to know more about this.
"Laughed," said Stan. "Jus' stood there an' laughed. An' when the reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, 'e went wiv 'em quiet as anyfink, still laughing 'is 'ead off. 'Cos 'e's mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?"
"If he weren't when he went to Azkaban, he will be now," Ern said. "I'd blow myself up before I set foot in that place. Serves him right, mind you… after what he did…"
"They 'ad a job coverin' it up, din' they, Ern?" Stan said. "'Ole street blown up an' all them Muggles dead. What was it they said 'ad 'appened, Ern?"
"Gas explosion," Ernie answered.
"An' now 'e's out," said Stan. He looked at the picture of Sirius in the newspaper again. "Never been a breakout from Azkaban before, 'as there, Ern? Beats me 'ow 'e did it. Frightenin', eh? Mind, I don't fancy 'is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh, Ern?"
The mention of the guards of Azkaban left Ernie looking shaken. "Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles."
Stan folded up the newspaper and set it to the side. Samantha looked at the floor, running information over in her head. So, her dad had known and been friends with one of the most notorious criminals of all time, who also happened to be a big Voldemort supporter, just the guy that had gotten James and Lily killed in the first place.
The memory she had seen of Sirius a few years ago had made him seem normal. Not like a mass murderer who would laugh after killing over a dozen people, most of them Muggles who had no clue what was happening.
Samantha hadn't seen memories of her parents since she had watched them die, again. But now she wanted to. She wanted to know more about this Sirius Black, once so normal and now a living corpse on the front page of a newspaper, the first person in history to escape the wizard prison.
A little while later, Samantha was sitting on her own bed, twisting the ends of her hair around her fingers and untwisting it in boredom. Stan remembered they had paid for two things of hot chocolate, and while Samantha had meant for it to go to Lauren, seeing as the girl was somehow still asleep, Samantha took it herself. Harry's was spilled all over his pillow when the bus abruptly jumped to Aberdeen. Eventually, Harry, Samantha, and Lauren were the only three left on the bus.
"Right then," Stan said, clapping his hands together, "whereabouts in London?"
"Diagon Alley," Harry answered for them all.
"Righto," said Stan. "'Old tight, then…"
Another explosive bang later, they were on Charing Cross Road, and soon stopped in front of the shabby entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, which was the Muggle entrance to Diagon Alley. Samantha woke Lauren up carefully, and the three of them gathered their things to leave.
"Thanks," the three of them told Stan together after he helped them lower their trunks to the ground.
"Well, bye then!" Harry said. But Stan didn't move, and instead stared open-mouthed into the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.
"Harry, Samantha, Lauren, there you three are," said a male voice from behind them. Samantha whirled around to see a stressed-looking, short man in a pinstriped cloak standing behind her.
"I thought their names were Margot, Neville, and Becca?" Stan asked, looking at the siblings, confused.
"What?" the man in the pinstripe cloak asked. "This is Harry, Samantha, and Lauren Potter."
"I knew it!" Stan said gleefully. "Ern! Ern! Guess who those kids are, Ern! They're the Potter siblings! I can see 'Arry's scar!"
"Yes, well, I'm very glad the Knight Bus picked these three up, but we need to step inside the Leaky Cauldron now…" The man had one of his hands on Harry's shoulder and one on Samantha's. He tightened his grip and steered them around. Samantha grabbed Lauren's hand as this happened, making sure her sister came inside the pub with them.
"You've got them, Minister!" said Tom the innkeeper. "Will you be wanting anything? Beer? Brandy?"
"Perhaps a pot of tea," the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, Samantha knew was his name, said.
With some scraping sounds, Ernie and Stan appeared, having carried one of the trunks inside. "We'll come back with the others," Ernie said, leaving again. He and Stan returned a few seconds later with the next trunk, and another half a minute later with the final one, which had Lauren's cat crate on top of it.
"'Ow come you three didn't tell us who you are, eh?" Stan questioned, although he wasn't demanding or mean. He seemed to more or less be joking.
"And a private parlor, please, Tom," Fudge added on, eyeing the two bus workers.
"Bye," Harry said as Fudge began to usher the siblings away.
"Goodbye," Samantha added, hoping she sounded more cheerful than Harry did.
"Bye!" Ernie and Stan called out.
Fudge led them down a narrow passageway, following Tom. They were soon enough in a small parlor, and Tom snapped his fingers, making a roaring fire appear in the grate.
"Take a seat," Fudge said, gesturing to a couch in front of the fire. Not looking at either of her siblings, Samantha sat in the center of the couch, Harry on her left and Lauren on her right. "I am Cornelius Fudge. The Minister of Magic."
Tom reappeared, a tray of crumpets on tea in his hands. He placed it on a table in front of the children before leaving again, shutting the door behind him.
"Well, you three," Fudge said, pouring tea into four cups. "You've had us all in a right flap, I don't mind telling you. Running away from your aunt and uncle's house like that! I'd started to think… but you're all safe, and that's what matters." He buttered a crumpet, then pushed the plate closer to their side of the coffee table. "Eat. You all look dead on your feet. Now then…. You will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with the unfortunate blowing up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad were dispatched to Privet Drive a few hours ago. Miss Dursley had been punctured and her memory has been modified. She has no recollection of the incident at all. So that's that, and no harm done."
Samantha stared at the Minister of Magic without moving. She then unsurely looked to her right, wordlessly asking Lauren if she had heard right.
"Ah, Harry, I assume you're wondering about the reaction of your aunt and uncle?" Fudge asked, and Samantha turned her attention back to him. "Well, I won't deny they are extremely angry, but they are prepared to take the three of you back next summer as long as you all stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays."
"We never go back there for the Christmas and Easter holidays," Samantha reassured the Minister, drawing her eyebrows together just enough to look confused.
"I don't ever want to go back to Privet Drive," Harry said.
"Now, now, I'm sure you'll feel differently once you've calmed down," Fudge said, and although he himself was trying to remain calm, he seemed slightly worried. "They are your family, after all, and I'm sure you're fond of each other- er- very deep down."
Samantha had to wonder what the Dursleys had said to the people who had shown up at their house for the Minister to say that.
"So all that remains," Fudge sais, spreading butter across another crumpet, "is to decide where you three will specd the last three weeks of your vacation. I suggest you take rooms here at the Leaky Cauldron and-"
"Hang on," Harry interrupted, "what about our punishments?"
There was a silence. "Punishments?" Fudge asked.
"We broke the law!" Harry said. Saamntha shot him a confused glance, wondering why he would bring that up if they were about to get away free. "The Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry!"
"Oh, my dear boy, we're not going to punish any of you for a little thing like that," Fudge said impatiently. "It was an accident! We don't send people to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!"
Samantha thought that was a really strange thing to say. "What's going on here?" she asked.
"What do you mean, Samantha?" asked Fudge, looking at the teenager.
"Last year we got an official warning that we would be expelled if any more magic was performed outside school. None of us even did that magic," Samantha began to explain. "This year, Harry blows up our aunt, and you call that a little thing and say we won't be expelled? I mean, obviously something else is going on around here."
Fudge looked uncomfortable as he scratched the back of his neck, avoiding Samantha's gaze. "Circumstances change… we have to take into account… the present climate…"
"So it's to do with Sirius Black, then?" Samantha asked bluntly.
"Surely you don't want to be expelled?" Fudge asked, choosing to ignore Samantha's question.
"Of course we don't," Harry replied.
"Well then, what's all the fuss about?" Fudge said, completing his statement with a false laugh.
Harry looked at Samantha.
"Just leave it. Clearly Sirius has something to do with this. The Minister of Magic just gave us a pass on using magic outside of school, which is illegal. Let's take it," Samantha reasoned.
"Yes, listen to your sister, Harry," Fudge said absently. "Now, have some crumpets while I go and see if Tom can get you each a room." With that, Fudge left the three of them alone in the room again.
"This is… odd," Lauren said carefully, watching the door the Minister had just left from.
"Very strange indeed," agreed Samantha. "The truth always comes out, though."
"It can't be common for the Minister of Magic to get involved in cases of underage magic, let alone wait for three runaways himself, can it?" Harry reasoned.
"No, it's not," Samantha agreed. "Like I said, it's got something to do with Sirius Black. I mean, why else would the Minister talk about circumstances changing, and then avoid my question about it?"
"What would he want with us?" Lauren asked, looking at her sister.
Samantha shrugged. "We'll have to find out. But there was something I wanted to tell you two about him, it might be important-"
Just then, Cornelius Fudge walked back inside the parlor accompanied with Tom the innkeeper. "Rooms eleven, twelve, and thirteen are free, children," Fudge announced. "I think you'll all be very comfortable. Just one thing, and I'm sure you'll understand… I don't want you wandering off into Muggle London, all right? Keep to Diagon Alley. And you're to be back here before dark each night. Sure you all understand. Tom will be keeping an eye on you three for me."
Samantha furrowed her eyebrows, the gears in her brain turning. Something had to be going on with Sirius, and she needed to know what it was. Fudge had also gave her explicit instructions not to go to Muggle London, which was a clear indicator she needed to be there, even though she knew nothing would be going on. She just liked breaking rules.
"Okay…" Harry agreed slowly, "but why-"
"Don't want to lose any of you again, do we?" Fudge laughed. "Best we know where you are… now, do you all agree?"
Quickly looking between themselves, all three siblings said yes in unison.
"Good. Well, I'll be off. Plenty to do, you know…" Fudge said, buttoning up his cloak. "I'll say goodbye, then." He shook Lauren's hand, and then Samantha's, but as he was shaking Harry's, Harry spoke.
"Er, Minister?" Harry said timidly. "Can I ask you something?"
"Certainly," said Fudge, smiling.
"Well, third years at Hogwarts are allowed to visit Hogsmeade, but my aunt and uncle didn't sign the permission form. D'you think you could-?"
"Ah," Fudge said, looking awkward. "No, no, I'm very sorry, Harry, but as I'm not your parent or guardian-"
"But you're the Minister of Magic," Harry pleaded. "If you gave me permission-"
"No, I'm sorry, Harry, but rules are rules," Fudge said, refusing to budge. "Perhaps you'll be able to visit Hogsmeade next year. In fact, I think it's best if you don't… yes… well, I'll be off. Enjoy your stay, Harry, Samantha, and Lauren." And with that, Fudge walked off.
"Come with me," Tom said, stepping out of the shadows. "I've had your trunks put in your rooms already."
Tom led them out of the parlor and up a stairwell, stopping in the middle of a hallway. "You have that room," he said to Samantha, pointing to room thirteen. "Yours is that one, and you have that one," he finished, giving Lauren room twelve and Harry room eleven. "Your owls are already inside. Arrived just after you did. Smart creatures."
Tom left them to themselves.
"Well, I guess this is goodnight," Samantha said.
"Goodnight," Lauren repeated.
The three of them hugged before going into their separate rooms, where Samantha stroked her owl Athena's head for a few minutes before falling asleep after a weird, long night.