The boys were sitting at an outdoor coffee shop in London, sipping their free waters. Bertram was lost in thought, while Anthony was listening attentively as Mac named passing cars. It turned out Mac knew just about everything about Muggle vehicles and Anthony was eager to learn all he could about this strange new place.
"That one's a Ford Pinto," Mac said, pointing at one. "And there goes a Reliant Scimitar! They have 6 cylinders and can go 120 miles per hour."
"Cylinders?" Anthony replied. "So that's part of the engine that makes it go instead of magic? Is it like a broom handle?"
They continued their conversation and were interrupted by Bertram.
"We still don't understand any of it," said Bertram for the third or fourth time that day. "How do we know the portal will still be there when we get back? Why is it there in the first place?"
"The portal's been there for at least three years," said Anthony again. "And who cares why? We're here! The only question now is, what do we do next? Mac? You know Muggles and London."
"I know parts of London, when we visited before. We mainly saw the museum, Big Ben, you know. Touristy stuff."
"I guess it would be fun to see the palace," said Bertram. "We could try to make the guards smile, I heard they can't."
"What are we waiting for?" said Anthony. He checked his watch. "We have a few hours until anyone will miss us, let's explore!"
"Right!" Bertram and Mac agreed.
"Now, which way is the palace?" Anthony asked.
"Dunno," said Mac. "That way?"
They picked a direction and started walking down the street, carrying their cloaks so they would be less obvious.
"Not that it would matter that much," said Bertram. "Look at those guys!" He pointed to a group of young men with studded leather jackets carrying large cases. Two of them unloaded a drum kit from a van and carried it into a nearby building.
"Whoa," said Anthony. "Cool!" He turned and walked to the building, where a large black and white poster covered the door. "Tonight: The Buzzcocks," it read.
"Excuse me," he asked one of the men. "Are you the band?"
"Yeah. Come back tonight with a two dollar cover charge," the man replied. "Until then, don't bother us."
"There's a rock concert tonight!" said Anthony.
"You mean like the records we listen to?" asked Mac.
"Wow," said Bertram. "I wonder what they sound like? Are they like Rush or more mainstream?"
"I wish we could go," said Mac. "But there's no way we can come back tonight."
One of the band members hurried back into the building, carrying some water. "Hurry up, Pete," he told his friend, "Sound check soon!"
"Coming," Pete replied, carrying a microphone.
"Did you hear that?" Mac said. "Sound check!"
"So what?" asked Anthony.
"A sound check is something they do to make sure everything works. We might get to hear some of their music after all! Follow me."
He led his friends around the back of the building near a door marked "Stage Door." They hid while the band members finished setting up. The mics squealed.
"Check, check one, check two," the band members said. The drummer did a quick riff and the singer stepped up to the mic.
"I was so tired of being upset," he sang.
"Always wanting something I never could get
Life's an illusion, love is a dream
But I don't know what it is
Everybody's happy nowadays"
His friend snorted. "Why do you always do that bar for sound check? You haven't even finished writing the song."
"I could one day," replied the singer. He looked around and saw Anthony, Mac, and Bertram who had snuck in a little closer. "Hey! You kids! I told you before, out!"
The boys scurried out and ran back down the street, laughing and holding their sides. Every time they stopped, they caught each other's eye and laughed again. Finally, Bertram got enough breath to ask, "Does anyone remember where the portal was?"
After an hour of searching, they finally found the spot and went back through the tunnel to Hogwarts, talking in hushed tones about their day.
"It's just so different from listening to the records," said Mac. "So real!"
"And those lyrics," said Bertram. "I felt it more than when I listen to a record."
"Do you think the world can change with the right song?" asked Anthony.
But just as they reached the door, it swung open and there stood James and his gang.
"You!" said James. "We should have known, Sirius, they were there in the hallway that day it went missing."
"Give us the map!" said Sirius. "We know you have it."
"Uh…map?" said Bertram, unconvincingly.
Remus sighed. "Accio map," he said. The boy in back rubbed his hands gleefully as the map zoomed out of Bertram's pocket and into Remus' hand.
"What do we do?" asked the boy in back. "They know about the passage and the map!"
"Nothing we can do about the passage," said James. "I admire your courage in using it. So I guess you can keep on. However," he added, "just to make sure you don't talk…"
He looked at Sirius, who smiled and pointed to his head.
Sirius and James pointed at Bertram and said together, "Engorgio Skullus!" Bertram's head ballooned to about twice its size. He grunted, clutching his head and bowing under the sudden weight.
James and his friends smirked.
"Good one James!" said Pettigrew. "He can't tell anyone if he can't talk!"
"And if you ever tell anyone else about this," James said, "It will be much worse next time."
Just then, Professor McGonagall came down the hall. The boys hurriedly closed the mirror as she approached. "What are you all doing?" She gasped. "Bertram! What happened? Let's get you to the hospital wing. And you, James and Sirius, 50 points from Gryffindor and double detention!"
"We really need to find a way to disguise that map," said Remus as McGonagall escorted Anthony, Bertram, and Mac to the hospital wing.
It was nearly bedtime by the time Anthony and Bertram left the hospital wing, hungry from having missed dinner and exhausted from the day's events.
They climbed up the stairs to their room, every step seeming harder than the last. Finally they reached the door, each ready to collapse from the long day. When they opened the door, however, they were greeted with Goyle punching his pillow so hard that feathers were starting to come out of it.
"Um, Goyle, your pillow?" Anthony asked.
"The house elves will get me a new one," replied Goyle, still punching.
"Are you ok?" asked Bertram.
Without slowing or pausing, Goyle replied, "Quidditch tryouts were today. I didn't get in."
Bertram and Anthony cast worried looks at each other. Bertram pulled Anthony aside.
"I think we should sit with him at breakfast tomorrow," Bertram suggested.
"You're mental," Anthony said. "Look at him, you know what he's like."
"Maybe he just needs a friend," said Bertram. "I never see him hanging out with anyone. And a little kindness can go a long way, my mum says."
"Fine," Anthony said "We'll try it. I just hope we don't regret it."
The next morning, Anthony and Bertram found Goyle and sat on either side of him at the breakfast table. Anthony watched as Goyle piled his plate high and gave Bertram a pointed look that said, "Your idea."
Bertram cleared his throat. "Um, nice day, isn't it?" he asked Goyle.
Goyle grunted and looked suspiciously at Bertram. "We just noticed you sit alone a lot and thought we'd join you today. If that's ok."
Goyle grunted again and shrugged. "I'm not weak," he said finally.
"We know," said Bertram. "It's just Quidditch." He nodded towards Anthony, who sighed inwardly.
"I bet there's loads you can do," Anthony said. There was an awkward pause. "I'm not very good at magic either," he continued. "Sometimes the spells don't come no matter how hard I try. Especially hexes."
"I'm good at hexes," Goyle said, swallowing a giant mouthful of food. His eyes glinted. "I hexed a firstie Hufflepuff yesterday. You should have seen his face! He had to go to Madame Pomfrey."
He grinned and sniggered at the memory.
"Um.." Anthony started.
"Was that you what done ickle Nobby Nobbs?" a boy on the other side of Bertram said. He was easily as big as Goyle and leaned over Bertram to talk to him. "That was a good laugh, that was!"
"Yeah," replied Goyle excitedly, leaning over the other side of Bertram, who leaned back a little. "He said he was proud to be muggle-born."
"Serves him right!" laughed the boy. "I'm Gregor Crabbe, nice to meet you."
He stuck out his hand and Bertram got up. "You take the seat, I'm done anyway," Bertram said. But his words were lost as the two boys scooted over and laughed together.
"It was a good try," said Anthony. "At least something came of it."
Bertram shrugged as Mac came over.
"One of the Puffs is missing," he said. "He was Muggle-born like me. Have you noticed anything?"
"A couple of students have left," said Anthony. "Their parents didn't think it was safe any more."
"Maybe that's what happened to him?" Suggested Bertram.
"Maybe," Mac said doubtfully. "Of course the papers are saying the Ministry has everything under control, but I think something's happening. Maybe it's You-Know-Who."
"Don't worry," said Bertram. If something were happening, I'm sure we'd hear about it."
Mac smiled, unconvinced. "You're probably right," he said. "Nothing to worry about."