For hours, Melody laid on the floor, unmoving in the increasing darkness. She was halfway between wakefulness and unconsciousness, not really thinking or dreaming, just listening to the whispering of all of the spiders in the attic as they spun their webs. When she first heard a quiet hoot of an owl, she thought she may have been dreaming it. She brushed it off until she heard it again, much closer this time. Melody cracked her eyes open slightly and saw the silhouette of the owl from earlier in front of her, its round, yellow eyes glinting in the dark.

"Oh. It's you," she sighed and let her eyelids close again, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to help you escape, Miss Twist!" the owl hooted, "We must make haste!"

"There's no point," Melody moped, "I can't escape. Even if I somehow did run away, she'd find me. Call the police, put up posters, cry and pretend that she cares so much about little Melody Twist so people will send me back. So there's no point in running away."

"But Miss Twist, you must go to Hogwarts!" the owl protested, "I can take you to Diagon Alley, and she'll never be able to find you there! None of the Muggles will!"

"Muggles?"

"You know, normal people without magic. They can't get into the wizarding world. You'll be completely safe there!"

Melody raised her head, hope lighting up her eyes. "Really? There's a place like that?"

The owl nodded, "Yes! Yes! So will you come with me?"

"Yes! If I can be free, yes!" Melody sat up excitedly. "But how can I get out? All of the doors and windows downstairs are locked at night, and only Miss Evermott has the keys. I can't get out during they day either, since there're too many people around. I'd be caught!" They were silent of a moment, trying to think of how to escape. It was so quiet that they could actually hear the crickets chirping outside.

"You could go out your window," Felicity said, "You're small enough to fit, I think."

"Yes! Your spider friend is right, Miss Twist! That's the perfect escape route!"

"But it's so high up. I'll break my leg if I jump out the window!"

"No, you won't, Melody," Felicity denied, "The window looks out over the roof. You can just walk along until you find one of the columns at the corner of the porch, then slide down to the ground. It'll be easy!"

Melody considered the plan for a moment, trying to figure out if she could do it. Eventually she decided, "Okay. Let's give it a try."

The owl flew out first and landed on the dark shingles quietly. "Your turn, Miss Twist."

Melody stared at the window for a moment. It was tiny, and it was entirely possible that she'd get stuck if she didn't go through correctly.

"Go through arms-first, dear," Felicity coached her, "Pretend you're a sewing needle." Following her suggestion, Melody stuck her hands through first and pushed her shoulders through the opening. She wound up looking more like a fish than a needle, though, with all of her wiggling. When she was far enough out, she pushed against the rough shingles to pull her legs to freedom. Melody sat there quietly for a moment, marveling at the night's chilly calmness and the ethereal beauty of the moon shining through the clouds. It was the first time she'd ever seen it without a grungy window between them.

"Come now, Miss Twist!" the owl hooted for her attention, "We still have to get you to the ground." He hopped along next to her as she tip-toed down the roof. For once, having no shoes was a blessing, as Melody's bare feet were much better at gripping the shingles quietly than shoes were.

"There's a post over there, Melody," Felicity whispered, even though she knew nobody else could hear her, "At the corner." Melody crept up to the edge and peeked over, but the column was too far under the roof for her to see.

"Are you sure I can climb down?" She hissed as softly as possible, "I can't even see where it is!"

"You can do it," Felicity assured her, "I'll guide you. Just set me down so I can get to a good spot." Melody let the spider loose onto the roof and watched her climb under the ledge, waiting for the signal to start. "Alright, Melody, start crawling backwards and dangle your legs over the edge. Do it slowly." Felicity waited and watched as Melody carried out her instructions, then continued, "Good. Now, you need to wrap your legs around the post. Feel around with your feet. It's about a foot in front of you. To the right a little. Too far! Forward a little more… Perfect!" With a little coaching, Melody managed to get her legs around the column successfully. "Now, here's the tricky part, dear. Make sure to hang on tight for this. It'd be a pretty nasty fall." She was right. If Melody lost her grip, she'd plummet at least fifteen feet to the ground, far enough to break even a well-fed child's bones. However, Felicity kept that to herself. "Got a good grip?"

"I think so," Melody replied shakily. Whether she was getting nervous or tired, it was unclear.

"Alright, now reach down with one arm and grab the post. Be very careful!" Melody tried to reach, but the angle made it impossible. She tried lowering herself further, and she was just about to reach the column when she lost her grip on the roof.

She didn't scream like anyone else would have. As she fell, she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the impact… But it never came. Melody peeked out of one eye, half-expecting to have fallen on her head and died instantly. In fact, she was not dead, but she was actually hovering roughly a foot off the ground, with no new injuries to be counted.

"Miss Twist!" The owl's sudden cry of alarm broke whatever spell had inadvertently been cast. She dropped into the grass with a squeak right before the tiny ball of feathers landed on her and screeched in her face, "Miss Twist, are you alright?" Melody sat up and the owl started hopping around her in circles, assessing the damage. "Are you injured? Does anything hurt?"

"I'm fine," she brushed it off casually, "We should get going."

"Yes, yes," the owl agreed, "We should, we should."

"Come on down, Felicity." The spider lowered herself onto Melody's outstretched hand on a strand of silk. Melody turned to the owl and said, "You know where we're going, right?"

"Of course, Miss!" he chirped, "Follow me!"

The owl led Melody away, hopping in front of her for over an hour before they stopped to rest. They'd come to a small park, completely abandoned in the late night. Melody sat down on a bench by the edge of the playground while the owl fluttered up to side next to her.

"Why were you jumping on the ground the whole way here?" she asked curiously, "You can fly, so why were you hopping?"

"It would be difficult for you to see me if I were flying, Miss Twist," the owl huffed, out of breath after hopping around for so long.

"That was nice of you," she smiled, "By the way, what's your name? I can't just call you 'Owl.'"

"Oh my, I can't believe I've forgotten my manners this long!" His feathers fluffed up, making him look even pudgier. "My name is Buzby. I'm one of the messenger owls from Hogwarts."

"That's a cute name."

"I'm glad you like it, Miss Twist."

"How far is it to this 'Diagonally' place you told me about, Buzby?"

"It's pretty far, Miss," Buzby said, "But don't worry about it. The Knight Bus will be here any moment now."

"The wha-?" Before she could finish, a purple triple-decker bus pulled up to the curb with a loud screech.

Buzby hooted, "Oh, right on cue!"

A squat, hunchbacked old woman stepped out onto the boarding platform at an agonizingly slow pace. Her warped, gnarled cane tapped rhythmically in time with her tedious geriatric gait. When she reached the edge, she croaked in a heavy Scottish accent, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for stranded witches and wizards… Is anybody there?" The old bat was clearly too blind to see Melody only a few feet away.

"Right here, ma'am," Melody piped up shyly.

"Oh, you're a young one, aren't you? Well, up you come, lassie," she beckoned to Melody to board the bus. She pulled out a ticket and handed it shakily to Melody. "Here's your ticket. This way, lass." The old woman marched back into the bus like a cheap wind-up toy. Buzby flapped up and sat on Melody's shoulder, much like Felicity often did, and the three boarded to Knight Bus behind the greeter. "Where are you headed, dearie?"

"Um... "

Melody looked at Buzby, who hooted, "The Leaky Cauldron. Someone will meet us there."

"What he said," Melody told the old woman.

"What who said?"

"Buzby."

"Who's Buzby?"

"The owl."

"What owl?"

"This owl!" Melody pointed a Buzby on her shoulder.

"Oh, I didn't see him there. He's such a wee little bird! But dearie, everyone knows owls don't talk."

Melody glanced at Buzby again, who clarified, "We do talk, but most people can't understand us. Even most wizards and witches."

"Oh, okay. We're going to… What was it called? The Leaky Cauldron?"

"That's right," Buzby confirmed.

"Yep, the Leaky Cauldron."

"Alright dearie," the old lady wheezed before suddenly screeching, "Ernie! Drive the bucket o' bolts to the Leaky Cauldron! And make it snappy!" The bus suddenly lurched forward at beyond breakneck speed, sending Melody and her companion animals tumbling back over one of the beds on the bottom level. The old lady, however, somehow stayed right where she was, resting calmly with the help of her walking stick, despite the insane speed and incredibly sharp turns. The bus sped away towards London, reaching the city in only a few minutes.

"So what's your name, dearie?"

Melody grasped the top of the mattress as it moved up and down the bus. "Melody Twist," she grunted and pulled herself onto the bed, clinging desperately to the frame in an effort to not be thrown off.

"Oh, that's a pretty name. And how old are you? Eight? Nine?" Melody's tiny, waifish form must have made her look younger to the blind old witch.

"Eleven."

"You must be getting ready to go off to Hogwarts then! But what's a wee little lass like yourself doing all alone so late at night?" Before Melody could come up with an answer, the bus slammed to a halt and flung Melody back off her mattress. "Are we there already?" Sure enough, the sign outside read in painted-on letters, 'The Leaky Cauldron'. "Well, off with you, lassie. Take care of yourself."

The moment Melody's feet touched the pavement, the Knight Bus took off again, vanishing into the dark streets of London.

"Let's not do that again," Felicity groaned, thankfully having not been crushed.

"I concur," agreed a dizzy, stumbling Buzby.

"I'll try not to." Melody stood outside and stared at the pub door, unsure what to do. "Should I just go in?"

"I guess so," Felicity said.

So Melody stepped forward, turned the handle, and pushed open the door. She stepped inside, ready to leave the Muggle world behind.