Sirius wasn't over on Sunday, so Harry spent most of his time in the backyard, strutting around, trying to imitate Sirius's walk. It had been embarrassing to do at first, but as he grew more confident it became much easier. He did it with his backpack slung over his back, preparing himself for school the next day. True, he might have to pretend he had self-confidence for a bit, but perhaps pretend self-confidence would soon turn into the real thing.

Harry was still nervous for school the next day. But he'd washed his hair and face (luckily he had always had very clear skin), brushed his teeth, cleaned his glasses, and he was wearing his favorite brand-new jeans and T-shirt. Of course he hadn't been able to comb his hair, but he didn't feel insecure about that anymore, because he knew his dad's hair had been the exact same way. Before he met Sirius, he didn't know anything about his parents; now he could learn everything.

Most kids were gaping at him when he walked by, trying to look as if he owned the bus. As long as he kept reminding himself that he was probably the only kid on the bus who had singlehandedly defeated the most feared Dark wizard in a century, he could keep doing it…Nobody had to know he was still sort of pretending.

"Harry Potter? Is that you?" one girl near the front seat blurted out, as if she couldn't help herself.

"The one and only," he said, dramatically lowering his glasses and winking.

Sitting on the bus was something Harry normally dreaded, because he thought it was humiliating to sit alone every day (he had the same problems at lunch and recess). But Sirius was convinced that it was only humiliating if you let it be, so Harry sat into a vacant bus seat as nonchalantly as he could, and crossed his legs, so everyone could see his expensive new denim. Good thing I have an obscenely rich godfather, he thought.

Dudley was in the back of the bus; he and his friends always rode in the back, because then they were farthest away from the bus driver and could get away with being more disruptive. Harry was sitting very near the front. This seemed to give some of the kids courage, and they decided to talk to him.

"Harry, I like your new jeans," said a boy named Gene Weinergarter. "Dark wash is very fashionable."

"Thank you, Gene," said Harry. "I got them at House of Fraser. It's in London."

"And your brand-new glasses!" added a girl named Rosie Daniels.

Harry smiled. Sirius had made it quite clear that his classmates weren't to know he was a wizard, so only he knew how his glasses had gotten fixed. But he thanked Rosie too, anyway.

The rest of the day was the best day Harry had ever had at school. His mood consistently improved as the hours went by. Dudley and his gang were staring at him in shock, as if he'd grown an extra head. Yes, the fixed glasses and properly-fitting clothes made a big difference. But what made people notice Harry now, and want to talk to him, was the way he was talking, the way he held himself, the way he walked, and how he did his best to smile at everyone.

Harry was prepared to eat alone at lunch. But to his surprise, as he walked into the lunchroom, carrying his big tray full of cafeteria food, he spotted Gene waving from a table already packed with other kids. In fact, he only was able to squeeze in because he was so skinny. When Dudley wasn't around, Harry was surprised at how friendly the other fifth-graders were to him.

Recess was when Harry thought the kids would scatter. That was when some of the shock seemed to have worn off, and Dudley's gang were making their way over. Harry tried to maintain his self-confidence as best he could, but it was getting harder. Not all the kids were coming to his rescue; that would be too much to ask of them…

"Watch out!" said Gene suddenly, appearing on Harry's left side. "If you're going to slam Harry's head into the pavement, you'll have to slam mine too!"

"Okay," said Piers nastily, edging closer to them.

"Don't forget me!" said Rosie, running to stand on Harry's other side. Harry felt nervous for her; he knew Dudley wouldn't think twice about hitting a girl.

"It's like three for the price of one," said Dudley thickly to his friends, and they laughed meanly.

Two more kids joined behind Harry, Rosie and Gene, but it was no use. Dudley was like a bowling ball, and they were like the pins. Harry thought it was all over—he'd be responsible for his classmates getting hurt, just as they had come to defend him. But that was when they were distracted by the roar of an engine that seemed to come out of nowhere…

When the kids all saw the largest motorcycle they had ever seen parked on the edge of the schoolyard, they all got very distracted, even Dudley. It was universally agreed upon that motorcycles were cool, and here was one right among the playground equipment! Harry rushed over with them, curious as to what was going on, but he was shocked to see none other than Sirius, shaking his long black hair out of his eyes, grinning.

"Ah, there's Harry," he said. He was wearing a leather jacket, an old white T-shirt, one of the new pairs of jeans he'd gotten yesterday at House of Fraser, and leather boots—or were they leather? They didn't look like leather…they looked almost like dragon hide, only dragons weren't real…or were they? After all, up until about a week ago, Harry hadn't thought magic was real, either, and look at what he'd found out. Sirius had motorcycle gloves and sunglasses, and he took them off and stuck them in his pockets as he parked the motorcycle. Harry noticed that its license plate read "PDFOOT".

"Who are you?" Rosie asked breathlessly.

"My name is Sirius Black," said Sirius kindly. "I'm Harry Potter's godfather."

"Are you part of a motorcycle gang?" asked Gene, pushing his way to the front.

"No, it's just me and this baby," said Sirius, patting the motorcycle. "Ride to live, live to ride."

All the kids were staring in awe.

"Harry," said a boy named Bob Macenzy, "your godfather is cool!"

"I just thought I'd visit you around your recess time," said Sirius casually. "You must be Harry's friends, then?"

"Yes!" said all the kids…except Dudley's gang. Of course they looked angry, but Dudley also looked fearful. If his parents were afraid of Sirius, he thought he should be, too. And when Dudley's gang sensed fear from their leader, they didn't know what to do.

"Don't do anything," Dudley whispered to them. "Don't do anything unless I tell you to…"

Sirius left once recess was over. The kids all asked Harry to tell them about Sirius, and he gladly did (except the part about his being a wizard, obviously). By the end of the school day he was in such high spirits that he almost didn't want to leave school. He was still getting better at the walk Sirius had showed him, too.

After all the kids were let out, Harry saw Sirius waiting for him, perched on the motorcycle and waving. Most kids said bye to Harry as they left. Harry ran towards Sirius.

"I didn't know you owned a motorcycle, Sirius!" he gasped. "Can you really ride that thing?"

"I sure can. You'll find I'm full of surprises," said Sirius smoothly. "And this motorcycle has a little secret—it flies."

"It flies? But don't Muggles see—"

"It's got something called an Invisibility Booster," Sirius explained. "That gets us into the air, then we fly above the clouds."

"You're…you're going to fly me to London?" Harry was suddenly feeling nervous; he didn't know if flying would be scary. It probably wouldn't be fun.

"It's all right," said Sirius. "Countless girls have ridden on the back of this thing, after all, and your father did all the time. Just hold onto me and don't let go. By the way…I got you a motorcycle jacket, too."

The black leather jacket looked like Sirius's, only in Harry's size.

"Oh…um, thanks." Harry put on the jacket, then reluctantly climbed onto the back of the motorcycle and held onto Sirius's waist with a death grip. The engine turned over. They were about to start flying…Harry bit his lip.

"Hang on!" Sirius yelled, pressing the Invisibility Booster, and they took off, straight up into the air. Harry would have screamed, but the sudden gust of wind took his breath away. Up, up, up they flew, and Harry was surprised…Flying wasn't scary at all! It was wonderful! It gave him the most amazing soaring sensation in his stomach, and he felt as if he had left all his worries on the ground. He looked down, and the school was quickly disappearing as they left Surrey behind.

Sirius flew the motorcycle high enough that they burst through the roof of clouds, then turned off the Invisibility Booster. Every so often he dipped under the clouds to check that they were going in the right direction, but other than that, it was just Harry, Sirius, the bike, and the big blue sky.

"All right back there, Prongslet?" Sirius called.

"Faster!" Harry yelled in response.

"Well, considering there's no speed limit in the air…"

Sirius gunned it, and they shot forward like a bullet, Harry cheering as the wind blew his hair straight back from his face, Sirius laughing and speeding along. Harry felt as if his whole life had been leading up to this moment. Being in the air was infinitely better than being on the ground, he knew, and he never wanted this ride to end…but of course it did. Too soon Harry recognized the rooftops and spiraling towers of London.

"Prepare for descent!" Sirius hollered, switching the Invisibility Booster back on. Harry felt another lurch in his stomach as they sped downwards with a roar. Harry clung tight to Sirius's waist as down they went, his hair flying straight up in the wind.

"This is amazing!" Harry shouted as they got closer to the ground. "The only way to travel!"

"Touchdown!" said Sirius triumphantly as the wheels of the motorbike touched the pavement once more with a few bumps. They were in a back alley in downtown London. Sirius turned off the Invisibility Booster, then parked the bike, sticking the keys in his pocket. Except for when they went to House of Fraser, Harry had never been to London before. But Harry saw a lot more of London this time, and it was fascinating.

"This is a busy street, so don't let go of my hand," Sirius instructed, noting the place where he'd parked his bike.

Harry nodded, and Sirius pulled him along. In a few minutes, they found themselves outside a small, quite unremarkable pub, sandwiched in between a bookstore and a record shop. If Sirius hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it. In fact, he had a funny feeling that the Muggles couldn't see it at all.

"Here we are," said Sirius. "The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."

"Famous?" Harry repeated; he was about to ask why when Sirius bent down in front of him and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Now, listen, Harry," he said, gently but firmly. "We need to get a few things straight before you go in there."

"W-What?" Harry didn't like the sound of that. Usually "get a few things straight" meant that if he didn't follow the rules, he would be locked in a cupboard for a week.

"Nothing to worry about," said Sirius. "Just some precautions. First…I don't want you saying Voldemort's name in the pub, all right? People are still scared. They don't like to hear the name. Just say 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. Try not to call him the Dark Lord, though, since that's what his followers called him."

"Okay," said Harry. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Sirius told him. "The people in here have grown up knowing your name. You're famous in our world."

Harry frowned. "So?"

"So people might be a little…impolite," Sirius said in an undertone. "Insensitive. They might ask you if you remember what Voldemort looks like or if you heard him say the Killing Curse or if the scar hurt when you got it—things like that. You have to forgive them, you know; it's part of celebrity."

"Oh, I see," said Harry nervously.

"Even if they don't," Sirius continued, standing up, "they're still going to want to talk to you, shake your hand, and you can bet they'll be staring at that scar. You'll forgive me for being blunt, but you're going to have to get used to it."

Harry's heart was now beating quite fast, and he found he didn't want to go inside the pub.

"Come on, Harry," said Sirius, smiling kindly. "It'll be all right. They know you saved a lot of them from a terrible fate—and if your paparazzi get too overbearing, I'll tell them to back off. Remember your self-confidence."

"Right…self-confidence," said Harry shakily, still not letting go of Sirius's hand, until they got inside the pub.

How will Harry reunite with the Wizarding world? Will he enjoy Gringotts, Griphook and Diagon Alley? How will people react to Sirius and his freedom? Find out soon!