Chapter 2 – A day out in London
James and Sirius had followed Mrs. Potter down a long street until she stopped and flicked her wand. Almost immediately a large, triple-decker bus with a violently purple frame had appeared next to her wand. The boys grinned at each other and then goggled at the man who appeared by the door.
"Welcome to the Knight bus Mrs. Potter," The bus conductor, an elderly man with white hair and one tooth, had said to her. "I assume you'll be heading to London," He added looking at James and Sirius, who had been goggling at him.
"Yes, thank you Ernie," Mrs. Potter replied with a grin on her face. She got on very well with the staff of the Knight bus. James and Sirius walked onto the bus and stared at the armchairs and kitchen apparatus. They promptly ran over to the largest, most comfortable looking armchair and fought over it, ending with Mrs. Potter, who had paid her fee of one galleon and 6 sickles for the three of them, sitting on the chair and the two boys grumpily choosing armchairs at the opposite ends of the bus. It was rather quiet on the bus, seeing as it was early in the morning. The trip went quite smoothly except for a large jolt that caused Mrs. Potter to spill her tea, which leapt right onto James's hair. Sirius had fell on the floor laughing while Mrs. Potter washed her sons face, oblivious to his scowling.
"Thanks for the ride," Sirius and James chorused in a singsong voice as they departed from the bus with looks of innocence on their faces.
"I believe these are your gentlemen," Ernie said indicating a large pile of black eggs that he had collected from under the seats of the armchairs, where Sirius and James had placed them. "I do not think anyone would have liked to sit on these eggs, especially as when they are sat on they emit large," he paused with a grin on his old face "farting noises."
Mrs. Potter chided the boys who took back the eggs they had placed.
"Well," James whispered to Sirius as Mrs. Potter was apologising for the boys to Ernie "There's always the Hogwarts express" and the boys stuffed the eggs into their pocket.
They stepped into the leaky cauldron with Mrs. Potter, who still looked a little angry with them, and purposefully walked over to the backdoor and into the little alley. Mrs. Potter took out her wand and tapped the third brick to the left and the boys grinned at each other as they were back in Diagon alley (they had been once before, but the incident had involved a lot of tomato ketchup and two hammers, and they had got into huge trouble). As soon as the boys stepped through the wall, two large burly wizards who had seen them arrive gripped them. After a thorough pocket search, James and Sirius walked towards Gringotts, grumbling about the tight security and planning a way to get the eggs back.
After retrieving some money, Mrs. Potter took them to Madame Malkins robes for all occasions to get their robes, then to various bookshops to get their books, the apothecaries to get potions ingredients, then to get their practical equipment (A cauldron, telescope, and dragon hide gloves for herbology). As the boys stared longingly at the new cleansweep 3, Mrs. Potter sighed and dragged the boys by the ears to Ollivanders. Mr Ollivander usually intimidated his young customers (and some of the older ones as well) with his strange looks and habits. But Sirius and James weren't scared, and enjoyed trying out wands destroying lots of furniture in the testing room in the process. Walking out of Ollivanders with their wands, which had emitted black and gold sparks for Sirius and James respectively, they pleaded with Mrs. Potter to buy a pet. Well, James argued, Sirius had his own money to spend. After getting Sirius to pull a cute face to persuade his mum, James walked out with a handsome male tawny owl that he had decided to call Tobias, and Sirius walked out with an incredibly handsome cat, which he had dubbed the Mrs. Norris slayer after hearing the rumours that the caretaker had always kept a cat called Mrs. Norris. But after looking at Mrs. Potter, who had a look so furious he doubted any look of innocence would save him, Sirius decided to call him Slay for a nickname. As they were about to leave, James saw a group of boys who were obviously first years as well, but when he grinned at them they simply looked away. Except for a boy with dark hair and a hooked nose, who had stared after him with a nasty look long after he had gone.
James and Sirius had followed Mrs. Potter down a long street until she stopped and flicked her wand. Almost immediately a large, triple-decker bus with a violently purple frame had appeared next to her wand. The boys grinned at each other and then goggled at the man who appeared by the door.
"Welcome to the Knight bus Mrs. Potter," The bus conductor, an elderly man with white hair and one tooth, had said to her. "I assume you'll be heading to London," He added looking at James and Sirius, who had been goggling at him.
"Yes, thank you Ernie," Mrs. Potter replied with a grin on her face. She got on very well with the staff of the Knight bus. James and Sirius walked onto the bus and stared at the armchairs and kitchen apparatus. They promptly ran over to the largest, most comfortable looking armchair and fought over it, ending with Mrs. Potter, who had paid her fee of one galleon and 6 sickles for the three of them, sitting on the chair and the two boys grumpily choosing armchairs at the opposite ends of the bus. It was rather quiet on the bus, seeing as it was early in the morning. The trip went quite smoothly except for a large jolt that caused Mrs. Potter to spill her tea, which leapt right onto James's hair. Sirius had fell on the floor laughing while Mrs. Potter washed her sons face, oblivious to his scowling.
"Thanks for the ride," Sirius and James chorused in a singsong voice as they departed from the bus with looks of innocence on their faces.
"I believe these are your gentlemen," Ernie said indicating a large pile of black eggs that he had collected from under the seats of the armchairs, where Sirius and James had placed them. "I do not think anyone would have liked to sit on these eggs, especially as when they are sat on they emit large," he paused with a grin on his old face "farting noises."
Mrs. Potter chided the boys who took back the eggs they had placed.
"Well," James whispered to Sirius as Mrs. Potter was apologising for the boys to Ernie "There's always the Hogwarts express" and the boys stuffed the eggs into their pocket.
They stepped into the leaky cauldron with Mrs. Potter, who still looked a little angry with them, and purposefully walked over to the backdoor and into the little alley. Mrs. Potter took out her wand and tapped the third brick to the left and the boys grinned at each other as they were back in Diagon alley (they had been once before, but the incident had involved a lot of tomato ketchup and two hammers, and they had got into huge trouble). As soon as the boys stepped through the wall, two large burly wizards who had seen them arrive gripped them. After a thorough pocket search, James and Sirius walked towards Gringotts, grumbling about the tight security and planning a way to get the eggs back.
After retrieving some money, Mrs. Potter took them to Madame Malkins robes for all occasions to get their robes, then to various bookshops to get their books, the apothecaries to get potions ingredients, then to get their practical equipment (A cauldron, telescope, and dragon hide gloves for herbology). As the boys stared longingly at the new cleansweep 3, Mrs. Potter sighed and dragged the boys by the ears to Ollivanders. Mr Ollivander usually intimidated his young customers (and some of the older ones as well) with his strange looks and habits. But Sirius and James weren't scared, and enjoyed trying out wands destroying lots of furniture in the testing room in the process. Walking out of Ollivanders with their wands, which had emitted black and gold sparks for Sirius and James respectively, they pleaded with Mrs. Potter to buy a pet. Well, James argued, Sirius had his own money to spend. After getting Sirius to pull a cute face to persuade his mum, James walked out with a handsome male tawny owl that he had decided to call Tobias, and Sirius walked out with an incredibly handsome cat, which he had dubbed the Mrs. Norris slayer after hearing the rumours that the caretaker had always kept a cat called Mrs. Norris. But after looking at Mrs. Potter, who had a look so furious he doubted any look of innocence would save him, Sirius decided to call him Slay for a nickname. As they were about to leave, James saw a group of boys who were obviously first years as well, but when he grinned at them they simply looked away. Except for a boy with dark hair and a hooked nose, who had stared after him with a nasty look long after he had gone.