Harry, now sporting Muggle clothes but still clutching his wizard's hat and suitcase, extended his wand toward the road and cast a Lumos charm. With a deafening roar, a magnificent, triple-decker Knight Bus materialized right before him.
"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard! Just stick out your wand arm... we'll take you anywhere... I'm Jack, your conductor, pleased to be of service!"
(Just a little note: Stan Shunpike won't become the conductor until 1993, so it's not him yet.)
A wizard with a rather stiff smile stood at the bus door, gesturing for Harry to hurry aboard. Harry was still wondering why all the other passengers were lying in beds when the bus rumbled to life with a jolt.
Jack, still smiling stiffly, leaned in. "Hello, sir, where might you be off to?"
"King's Cross Station."
"Aha! Knew it! Another first-year, eh, Ernie? Cough up!"
"Blast it all!"
The bus driver, Ernie Prang, grumbled, digging a Sickle out of his pocket and handing it to Jack.
"That'll be eleven Sickles, sir. For fourteen Sickles, you can get the..."
Harry felt like he was about to throw up; he'd never ridden anything quite like this Knight Bus. He quickly handed Jack a Galleon, cutting off his sales pitch, and then found an empty bed to collapse onto.
Jack, quite used to this reaction from first-time riders, nonchalantly tossed the change to Harry and went off to chat with the driver. Harry felt much better lying down. Soon, the voices of the driver and conductor drifted over to him.
"I'm getting married," Jack complained. "Thinking of finding a new job. Being a conductor is no life for a wizard."
"That's just how it is in the wizarding world. For a Muggle-born wizard like you, getting into the Ministry of Magic would be a good step."
"You're a pure-blood wizard, and you've been driving this Knight Bus for five years."
"Ah, well, I'm not a Malfoy or a Black, am I?"
Harry listened to their grumbling, feeling nothing in particular, just wishing the driver would steady the ride a bit.
"Those pure-blood nobles are awful, truly! And that Dumbledore is such a hypocrite! Talks about equality for Muggle-born wizards, but what does he actually do? Sits in Hogwarts all day, doing absolutely nothing!" another passenger couldn't help but interject.
"Shh! Careful what you say!"
"What's there to be afraid of? Do you think those pure-blood nobles ride the bus? And that blasted Fudge, all for votes, demanding Ministry employees smile while serving! He's just...!" another passenger joined in.
Since Harry was so new to the wizarding world and didn't feel any real sense of belonging yet, he simply rolled over, choosing not to chime in.
"We hope you enjoyed your ride on the Knight Bus, and we look forward to seeing you again!" Jack, still with that stiff smile, watched Harry disembark.
Harry had asked Tom at the Leaky Cauldron about Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, learning it was between Platforms 9 and 10. So, upon entering King's Cross Station, he headed straight for the ticket barriers.
"Hello there! I don't know if you remember us, but we met at Madam Malkin's."
Harry turned to see the rather rude girl and her polite mother. He had quite a good impression of the mother, so he explained, "Even though you're a young witch's parents, you're still Muggles, so you can't get through."
"How do you know that?" the girl demanded.
"Hermione! Don't be so rude!"
The mother gave Harry an apologetic look. Hermione opened her mouth, seemingly to apologize, but Harry didn't quite catch it.
"Darling, it looks like this is as far as we can take you..."
After passing through the ticket barrier, a magnificent, crimson steam train appeared before him. The platform was teeming with wizards seeing their children off. He noticed a witch saying goodbye to four children with fiery red hair. She seemed to sense someone watching her and turned around, but Harry had already boarded the train.
"...Odd, was that just my imagination...? Ron, you've got something on your nose!"
Harry was in luck; he found an empty compartment in the middle carriage. He claimed the window seat and pulled out his fish and chips and a drink, ready to eat. Suddenly, the compartment door slid open. It was that arrogant, rude girl again.
"If you're not going to come in and sit down, then close the door," Harry said, mouth full.
Hearing Harry speak, Hermione finally stepped inside. She tried to hoist her trunk onto the luggage rack, but after several attempts, she couldn't lift it. Harry couldn't resist a jibe. "Don't you know how to use a spell?"
"George, is someone trying to cast a spell in here?"
"Don't be daft, Fred, they're only first-years."
"Hello there! I'm Fred Weasley, and this is my brother, George."
A pair of fiery red-headed twin brothers happened to be passing by and helped Hermione lift her trunk onto the rack. Hermione mumbled a quiet thank you, while Harry spoke up. "Why didn't you just use a Levitation Charm?"
"Because these are some of the few moments we don't have to use magic!" Fred said with a perfectly straight face.
"Never mind him. Lee Jordan got his hands on a huge Doxy, and we've got to go quickly!" George urged.
The twins chuckled as they walked away. Hermione closed the compartment door and sat down opposite Harry, looking like she had something to say but wasn't sure how to start. Harry, rather intrigued, put down his fish and watched her, curious to see what she'd do. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.
"So you really are Harry Potter? I mean, are you the Harry Potter from the books?"
"Didn't Professor McGonagall tell you at Diagon Alley the other day?"
"Of course she did! But I still can't believe it—the Boy Who Lived is my classmate!"
Harry lifted his wizard's hat slightly, pointing to his scar. "Now you can believe it. Alright, don't bother me while I'm eating."
The compartment door slid open again. Harry looked up, annoyed, to see another red-headed boy walk in.
"Is there any room in here? All the other compartments are full," the boy asked Harry.
"I prefer to sit alone," Harry said, taking a bite of his fish and gesturing for Hedwig to fly over and land on the other half of the seat. The boy's ears immediately turned red.
"If you don't mind, you can sit next to me," Hermione offered, gesturing him over.
"Thanks. I'm Ron Weasley," the boy said, sitting down.
"Weasley? There were some twins just now who were also Weasleys. I'm Hermione Granger, and he..." Hermione paused, noticing that Harry was still eating and showed no sign of speaking, so she gave up on introducing him.
"They're probably my brothers," Ron said, not noticing the detail.
Ron hesitated, wondering whether to pull out his sandwich, while Hermione took out the elaborate meal her mother had prepared: steak, beans, sausages, eggs, milk, and toast. Hermione kindly offered to share her food with Ron, but his ears immediately went red again. He mumbled something about finding his brothers, closed the door, and scurried out.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Harry cut her off. "Clearly, you scared him off."
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