RUNAGATE
The moon's soft glow cast a delicate blanket of silver over Harry, as he sat on the curb, contemplating his situation. He had accidentally made his Aunt Marge age rapidly and had no idea how to reverse it. So, as any self-respecting 13-year-old wizard would do, he had chosen to run away instead of facing the consequences. In his defence, however, Aunt Marge had been the one who provoked Harry in the first place.
The Dursleys had invited Marge over, who had kept on insulting Harry and his parents. It had managed to reach a point where Harry just couldn't take any more insults, and had blown his fuse.
"Shut up! SHUT UP! How DARE you spout such nonsense about my mother?!" Harry had had enough of this woman.
"Oh? You're speaking to me-" Marge had not finished speaking, when her hair had begun to grey and fall out of its own accord, and so did her teeth. Dudley and Petunia had merely watched in horror as Marge grew frailer and weaker. Vernon on the other hand, was purple with fury.
"What're you doing? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Vernon had almost strangled Harry while questioning him.
Harry, however, hadn't waited around to be the target for more attacks. While the Dursleys had been preoccupied, Harry had packed all his belongings in his trunk and run off, not paying any attention to a screaming Vernon Dursley.
Harry had spent the last 10 minutes playing with a large, black dog who had shown up all alone on the street. It had been very friendly, licking Harry's hands and rubbing its head against Harry's feet. He liked the dog a lot, so much so that Harry impulsively decided to take it with him.
"Hmm. I don't see a leash or a collar on you, so you must not have any owners. Do you want to come with me?" asked Harry, petting the dog, who seemed very enthusiastic and immediately started licking his face.
"Alright, alright, now sit." laughed Harry.
He needed a name for his new companion, and all he could think of was 'Fuhrer'. Why? Because Harry had watched a World War II movie on the Dursleys' television. Well, the Dursleys had watched it, Harry had snuck in and stood behind the couch under his Invisibility Cloak. The movie featured Adolf Hitler as a villain and Harry, for the life of him, couldn't think of anything but the German warmonger at the moment.
And thus, the black dog was bestowed with the name, 'Fuhrer'.
"Fuhrer it is. I'll call you Fuhrer from now on. What, don't like it?" Harry was amused by the seemingly shocked expression of the dog.
"Hail Fuhrer!" said Harry, lifting his right arm in a mock nazi salute.
At that moment, there was a deafening BANG which startled Harry. He had to shield his eyes against the sudden blinding light that followed. A moment later, an enormous triple-decker bus screeched to a halt in front of him. It was painted a shocking purple and the gold lettering above the windshield read, 'KNIGHT BUS'.
Harry began to wonder if he was hallucinating, when a man in a purple uniform, presumably the conductor of the bus, sprang out and began screaming at Harry in the dead of the night.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand-" Harry interrupted the conductor by flailing his arms wildly and shushing.
"Keep your voice down, or the Muggle police might show!" explained Harry.
"Well, the Muggle police haven't shown up for me yet, so I s'pose I'm a-okay. As I was saying, my name is Stan Shunpike, and I'm your conductor for the evening."
"Well, can you take me to London?" asked Harry, hopefully.
"London? 'Course I can. That'll cost 11 Sickles."
Harry opened his trunk and rummaged in it to find his money sack. He fished for a few silver Sickles, before asking Stan, "Can my dog come too?"
"Dog? 'Course 'e can! It'll cost a bit extra, though." said Stan.
Harry pulled two golden Galleons from his sack and handed it to Stan, who seemed satisfied. He looked at Fuhrer, who stared at the bus, seemingly in thought. After a moment, it barked softly and walked in the bus. Harry followed shortly after he packed his trunk.
After Harry had settled in his four-poster bed within the bus, he struck up a conversation with Stan. He found out that the bus couldn't be heard or seen by Muggles, because 'they don't listen properly', or so Stan had said. The driver, Ern, didn't seem very talkative, so Harry didn't bother him. The rest of the upper floors had beds too and some were occupied.
"Oi," asked Stan after a while, "You never told me your name."
Harry began panicking. He had covered his scar to not be recognized in case the Ministry of Magic came after him for breaching the Statue of Secrecy, but was worried Stan might have seen it.
"Err, J… Jer… James." Harry managed to choke out.
"Ahh, James… what?"
"James… Green… plants. James Greenplants, pleasure to meet you." Harry stuck out a shaky hand. But Stan didn't seem to notice, or mind. Off to the side, Fuhrer panted, his tongue lolling out, as though he were laughing.
"It's a pleasure, James."
Harry heaved a sigh of relief when Stan left to tend to other passengers. He plopped down on his bed, with Fuhrer sitting next to the bed on the floor. Harry opened his trunk and pulled out some of his older robes, laying it out on the floor.
"Here, Fuhrer, sleep here, it'll feel softer." The dog was incredibly grateful, as it leapt on Harry's lap and licked his face.
"Get some sleep, Stan says we'll be in London in a couple hours." He said, patting his new friend gently.
I wonder how long it'll take for the Aurors to show up for me. Maybe I'll withdraw all money from my Gringotts account and live life as a fugitive. Sure sounds like an upgrade from the Dursleys, at any rate.
Harry's thoughts were of Diagon Alley, as he drifted off to sleep.
Harry awoke a few hours later, when Stan had asked where in London he wanted to go. Upon their arrival in front of the Leaky Cauldron, they had been greeted by none other than the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge himself. Harry was sure that he'd be sent to Azkaban and had asked for a moment to write a letter to his friends, which he could deliver using Hedwig. But Fudge had simply laughed at that, saying they don't send people to Azkaban for accidental magic. After waving off the Knight Bus, Fudge had booked Harry a room in the Leaky Cauldron until the end of the holidays.
He was still in shock that he hadn't been sent to Azkaban, or even expelled from Hogwarts, considering he had gotten an official warning from the Ministry the year prior because of Dobby's use of magic at the Dursleys' house. He opened the owl cage and let Hedwig out, asking her to return the next day. Hedwig hooted affectionately, before flying away. Harry even got some meat from the dining area for Fuhrer, who extremely appreciated it. Soon enough, his eyes started to feel heavy, and he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The next day, Harry asked Fuhrer to stay in the room and went out to visit Diagon Alley. His first order of business was to withdraw some money from Gringotts, considering he hadn't been to the Wizarding Bank himself since his first trip to Diagon Alley two years ago.
It was a calm day in Diagon Alley and the streets were relatively empty, probably because Harry was a few days earlier than usual. Most students came to the Alley during the last two days of the summer break.
Gringotts was teeming with Goblins, as usual, and there were barely any wizards or witches around the Bank. When Harry went to the Bank teller to withdraw some Galleons from his vault, he did notice a man with a black hood standing a few desks away, talking in a hushed voice to the goblin. Harry looked out of the corner of his eye and noticed the man pushing a vault key across the desk, whispering something.
"-Vault 711, 1000 Galleons, please."
That was all that Harry managed to hear. A thousand Galleons? That is a lot of gold, this man must be loaded!
Harry walked out of the stark white building, his money pouch jingling with coins. He first got his books from Flourish and Blotts, a set of new robes from Madam Malkin's and a croissant from Sugarplum's.
That croissant in particular, was a work of art. Harry had never smelled such an amazing aroma anywhere before. It smelled buttery and rich, with a touch of sweetness. The exterior was a gorgeous golden brown, and was crispy and slightly crunchy. It was covered in a layer of melted butter that smelled heavenly. Biting in the croissant, Harry found the flaky yet tender interior. The layers were moist and smelled delicious, and added a delightful contrast to the slightly crispy exterior. The delicate texture allowed the interior of the pastry to nearly melt in Harry's mouth. It tasted as if Merlin himself had dropped a dollop of soft butter on his tongue. The blend of buttery richness, a subtle sweetness and the tiniest hint of saltiness made for a pastry Harry would never forget. He decided to get another one for Fuhrer. Surely, a dog would be able to enjoy a treat as delightful as this croissant and appreciate its sheer perfection?
He went back to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch and gave Fuhrer the croissant along with some seared salmon. Much to Harry's dismay, Fuhrer seemed to prefer the salmon over the croissant. Alas, humans probably had more developed taste buds than dogs did.
After lunch, Harry was sitting in a stool outside Florean Fortescue's, enjoying a cone of strawberry gelato, when someone covered his eyes. Harry panicked, but calmed completely when he heard a euphonious voice speak.
"Your reflexes are slower than a snail's. You could have been kidnapped by now, you know."
"Good thing I have you here." said Harry, cheerfully.
He turned around to see Daphne Greengrass, standing beside a rather similar looking girl with brunette hair instead of blonde. The younger girl was grinning wide at Harry, and immediately approached him when he looked at her.
"Hi! I'm Astoria Greengrass! Daphne has told me all about you! How you saved the Philosopher's Stone in the first year and how you saved Daphne from the Basilisk in the second year! You're sooooo awesome! She never told me how good looking you were, however. So handsome, I love your green eyes-"
Daphne clapped a hand over Astoria's mouth, before she said anything else. Harry was already beet red by that time, and Daphne was blushing furiously as well.
"Hi Astoria, I'm Harry Potter. A pleasure to meet you." said Harry, shaking hands with the excited little girl.
"She starts going to Hogwarts this year, so I've brought her to shop for supplies. We're nearly done, we just need her wand. Care to join us?" asked Daphne.
"Sure. Let me just finish my ice cream-" Harry was interrupted by Daphne grabbing his cone and licking the melting scoop of ice cream on top.
"Delicious." she said, flashing a grin.
"I-I was going to finish that." muttered Harry, trying (and failing) to not blush.
"Too late for that."
The trio made their way towards Ollivander's, the most reputed wand maker in Diagon Alley. The shop's display windows housed some stellar looking dragonhide armour and wand holsters for duelists. Harry was intrigued by the idea of holstering his wand within his sleeves, and pondered the idea of owning one of them.
"Ahh, Ms. Greengrass and Mr. Potter, what a surprise. I assume this young lady is your sister?" spoke Garrick Ollivander, the owner of the shop.
"Yes, she starts school this year. She's here to buy her first wand." stated Daphne.
As Daphne, Astoria and Ollivander were busy with wands, Harry looked around the store. Most of the shelves seemed to be lined with boxed wands, with a few having some holsters and some enchanted amulets. Harry picked one amulet up and it radiated a soft blue colour.
"Ah, that amulet has a protection charm on it. It protects the wearer from a lot of the basic offensive spells." explained Ollivander.
"Can I buy it?" asked Harry.
"Of course, but it is expensive, since it is enchanted. It'll cost 50 Galleons."
"I can afford that," said Harry, as he emptied his coin sack at the countertop of Ollivander's. He barely had 50 Galleons, counting all the Knuts and Sickles. He might need a bigger money pouch next time, perhaps an extendable one?
"Thank you for your purchases, my dear kids. Have a good day!" said Mr. Ollivander, waving them goodbye.
Harry, Daphne and Astoria walked out of the store, bags in hands. Astoria excused herself to use the bathroom, while Harry and Daphne waited. He quickly reached into his pocket to fish out the amulet, and walked behind Daphne.
"What're you doing, Potter?" asked Daphne, clearly unamused.
"This," Harry finished tying the amulet around her neck, "Looks great on you. You should keep it."
"WHAT?! No. It cost you 50 Galleons, I couldn't possibly-"
"Please, Daphne? For me?" asked Harry softly, making what he was hoping was a puppy face.
He swore he saw Daphne melt when she quickly muttered, "F-Fine, but only because you insist."
And Harry wasn't lying. The ocean blue amulet glowed softly when tied around her neck. The colour complimented her icy blue eyes well. The protection charm was the cherry on top of the cake.
"Thank you." said Daphne, leaning in to kiss Harry's cheek, when someone screamed behind them.
"ARE YOU KISSING HARRY POTTER?!" screamed Astoria, wide-eyed.
"WHAT?! No - Shut up Astoria! Quit making a scene!" said Daphne, visibly frustrated by her sister. It was amusing to watch the two bicker over whether or not Daphne was going to kiss Harry.
With the setting sun casting elongated shadows along the deserted street, it was time for Daphne, Astoria and Harry to part ways.
"See you in school, Potter. Don't get in any trouble before I see you again." said Daphne, giving Harry a quick side-hug.
"Bye Harry! Daphne doesn't say this but she thinks you have amazing hair and beautiful mmmf-" Harry couldn't make out the rest of it as Daphne cast a muffling charm on her sister.
"Don't listen to her, bye!" she said quickly, dragging a struggling Astoria away with her towards the Floo fireplaces.
An eventful day. Astoria sure is hyperactive. I wonder which house she'll be in, thought Harry, as he fell on the ground, tackled by an excited Fuhrer.
Author's Note-
Tracey: Prepare for trouble!
Astoria: And make it double!
Daphne: Oh, bite me.
Hey guys, this is the beginning of Year 3. This is where stuff gets really interesting, so keep reading!