Chapter 1

The cool air brushed against the tears drying on Harry's face, but he wasn't yet ready to admit

that they were there. Rather than tears of sadness, these were tears of frustration, anger, and

bitterness. He stopped on the sidewalk and sat down on his trunk, tired of dragging it behind

him. Never had he wished so much for a featherweight charm, but he knew he wasn't allowed to

do magic outside of school.

As soon as he sat down, Harry took out his wand and stared at the thin cylinder of wood in his

hands. He wondered if it would make any difference if he did any more magic now. He might

already be expelled for what he had done back at his aunt and uncle's house. Harry shuddered

as he remembered Aunt Marge growing larger and larger until she had billowed to the size of a

balloon and floated high into the air. He hadn't meant to do any of that. He had just been so

angry.

It was too late now. His uncle had been furious and had kicked him out of the house even before

the Reversal Squad came to put his aunt to rights. Harry was leaving anyway and had already

gone for his trunk no matter what his uncle said. It had been chaos with his uncle yelling, his

aunt screaming, and Aunt Marge floating away. Harry still was not sure how it had all come out,

and he didn't care except wondering what was going to happen to him.

All he knew was he needed to get away from there before anyone from the Ministry found him. If

they were going to expel him or send him to jail, he was sure not going to make it easy for them.

That was how he ended up on Magnolia Crescent in the dead of night with only his trunk, his

owl cage, and his wand. He had no idea where he was going or how he was going to get there.

All he knew was that he had to get away soon before either his relatives or the wizards caught

up with him.

Suddenly, Harry heard a noise behind him. He shot up off of his trunk and held his wand out

toward the noise on instinct, but still did not say any spells. He was hesitant to use magic just

yet. His poor vision made seeing in the dark difficult, but he thought he saw the outline of

something ahead of him. It looked like a large black dog. Harry was not sure whether to be

relieved or more worried.

The dog moved, and the movement startled him enough to fall forward. His wand was still out

and this time he was facing the street when he fell forward. Out of seemingly nowhere, a huge

purple bus appeared. Harry turned behind him. The dog was gone.

"Who's there?" Harry asked, feeling stupid as he said it.

"Knight Bus!" called a voice from up above him, "prime transport for the stranded witch or

wizard. What are you doing down there?"

Harry felt a little irritated by the voice's superiority. He couldn't see the man who was speaking

since he was calling down from the doorway of the too-bright bus in the coal-black night.

"I fell over," Harry said, somewhat defensively.

"Choo' fall over for?" the voice demanded.

"I saw something," Harry admitted, looking behind him to where the thing had been, "just over

there."

"Huh," the voice said. "Well, do you want a ride or not?"

Harry was still struggling to figure out where the magic bus had come from, but in his three

years in the magical world, he had more or less learned that things happened that he did not

expect all the time. He scrambled up and found that the conductor had climbed down and was

now standing on the sidewalk. He was a pimple-faced skinny kind in a garish purple uniform to

match the bus.

"Yes," Harry said. "Definitely. Can you go to London?"

"Of course," the kid said, sounding offended by the question. "We can go anywhere. Well,

anywhere in the British Magical World."

Harry decided not to puzzle that out. "Take me to the Leaky Cauldron then."

The kid nodded and grabbed Harry's trunk as if it weighed nothing, while Harry took Hedwig's

cage. Normally, she would fly off to the Weasleys. She had taken off when the shouting started

and he let her out and he was not sure where she was now. He hoped she would find him.

It was the strangest bus Harry had ever seen. It had beds instead of seats, and Harry was sold

hot chocolate with his ticket which he promptly spilled everywhere. The bus was definitely

magical since it seemed to squeeze between traffic and fire plugs. Harry eventually stopped

looking out the window for fear of being sick.

They arrived in London before he would have thought possible. The conductor, whose name

was Stan, helped Harry deposit his luggage inside the Leaky Cauldron and then the bus was off.

Harry was feeling relieved and as if he could reserve a room and relax for the rest of a

Dursley-free summer when he saw a little man in a green bowler hat coming toward him.

"Mr. Potter!" the man said. "You've given us all a fright, haven't you?"

Harry's heart sank. He had already been found out. This man was surely a government official.

"Not to worry, not to worry," the man said. "I received an owl that you were on your way here.

Strange business, that. Not signed." The man frowned. Harry instantly decided he did not like

this man. "At any rate, you are here and you are safe. Your guardian says you will be staying

here?"

Confused, Harry decided to nod and play along. There was no way the Dursleys would have

sent an owl. They did not know he had gotten on the bus or where he was going. They hated

everything having to do with magic and everything having to do with Harry.

But Harry tried not to show the confusion on his face. He just nodded.

"Good, good," said the man. "Alright then, I will leave you to Tom. He says your room is paid for.

Go on upstairs and stay out of trouble for now. No more blowing up aunts!" \

He shook his finger playfully and walked out of the pub. Harry just stared after him. He still had

no idea who the man was.

Tom came out from behind the counter and followed the man in the bowler hat out the door with

his eyes in a way that made Harry think he might think similarly.

"Who was that?" Harry asked.

"That's Minister Fudge," Tom answered carefully, taking Harry's trunk.

"That's the Minister for Magic?" Harry asked doubtfully.

"Yep," Tom answered.

Harry just nodded because he could not think of any other response. He was unsure why the

Minister would come all the way out to meet him and then do nothing else but tell him to go to

his room. It all seemed a bit strange. This whole night seemed strange, and suddenly Harry felt

very tired.

"Let's see you to your room and get you something to eat," Tom suggested, perhaps picking up

on Harry's fatigue.

Harry, who hadn't had a thing to eat all day, nodded. That sounded good to him. The door to the

pub swung open then and along with a young couple, in flew Hedwig. Harry grinned as she

perched on the edge of her cage. She always seemed to find him. He wondered how long she

had been waiting.