Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 111: 110. The Knight Bus Kills the Dursleys

"Flying? Discount?" Thunpark laughed. "My dear, you are really interesting. I'm sorry, kid. Although I had this idea when I first joined the company, why can't our wizard cars fly? But unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic doesn't allow us to do that. It has to be said that this is a pity. Wizard cars should be more distinctive."

Dudley sighed deeply. He felt that what Thornpark said hit the nail on the head. A wizard's car should look like a wizard's car - for example, a huge broom with rows of people sitting on it.

"As for the discount... there is no discount on the Knight Bus. We have been charging the same price for many years." Thornpark shrugged and said, "Well, anyway, it's fourteen silver Sickles per person to go to Godric's Hollow. If you add three more silver Sickles, you can get a cup of hot chocolate, and if you add two more silver Sickles, you can get a hot water bottle and a toothbrush - so do you want to get on the bus?"

"...I don't like this man." Harry heard Uncle Vernon mutter softly.

Sampark was wearing a purple uniform, had a thin figure, a face covered with acne, and a pair of gold earrings on his ears. He had a nonchalant expression on his face, as if he didn't care about anything... Judging from his appearance alone, he was indeed full of a frivolous feeling that Uncle Vernon would hate.

"Of course, we're in a hurry." Harry instinctively felt a chill after saying this. This warning from the soul made him stunned for a second... What's going on?
Any problem in a hurry?

But there was no time to give him more time to think, as Sampark was already warmly inviting several people to get in the car.

Dudley was even the first one to rush over, still urging Harry to order him a cup of hot chocolate.

"Come on, come on, just pick any seat you like," said Sampark enthusiastically as he stood by the door. "Godric's Hollow is not too far from here. If you drink slowly, you may not even finish your drink by the time we get there."

There were no other passengers in the car.

"Not too far?" Uncle Vernon muttered as he walked towards the car. "That's not what the map says..."

Number 4 Privet Drive is in Surrey, which is located in the southeast of England, while Godric's Hollow is located in the southwest of England, in the Scottish Highlands - although they sound like they are both in the southeast, the distance between them is not that close.

You know, Uncle Vernon originally planned to drive there, but after Harry estimated the approximate distance between Privet Drive and Godric's Hollow for him, he simply gave up this plan.

Uncle Vernon didn't want to spend the night in a wizard village. To him, it felt like some horrible thing might break in and eat his brain at any time.

Uncle Vernon seemed to complain about something else, but Thornpark was no longer listening. When Harry passed by him, he grabbed Harry's arm - Harry almost launched an instinctive counterattack because of his action.

"Oh my God! This scar?!" As if his voice would disturb Harry if it was a little louder, Shunpike widened his eyes and held his breath and said: "You are Harry Potter! Hey! Ern! We have Harry Potter in the car! That boy! A famous person!!"

"I didn't expect to see you here, Harry. I mean - can I call you that?" Thornpike's enthusiasm doubled in an instant. "Fudge is a real piece of shit, isn't he, Ern?"

"Yeah," Ern, the driver, turned around and said, "What the Ministry of Magic guys did was really too much. Don't worry, Harry. Shunpike and I both sent Howlers to Fudge. We really hope to blow that guy's ears off."

"Well, thanks for your help." Harry didn't expect to meet two of his supporters here. He shrugged and decided to tell them the good news he heard from Tonks. "It's probably impossible to blow off the ears, but the owls you sent out helped to flood Fudge's office with feces. I heard that the howlers didn't stop at all that day."

Aunt Petunia couldn't help but shudder. She felt the deepest fear at the mere thought of the house being flooded with owl droppings.

"Thanks to you, the Ministry of Magic has returned the title deed to the Potter House to me," Harry said sincerely, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Harry. No wonder you're going to Godric's Hollow now," said Thornpark with a smile. "In fact, we should be the ones to thank you. Otherwise, the You-Know-Who might... Well, let's not talk about this - this cup of hot chocolate is on me."

"By the way, give my uncle and his family a drink as well. I'll pay for it." Harry gestured to Dudley who had raised his hand impatiently.

"Ah, so they are..." Sampaco's expression suddenly became subtle. "This is a little different from what the newspaper said."

In fact, everyone in the British wizarding world now knows that Harry Potter did not have a very good childhood. He lived like a house-elf in his Muggle relatives' home. He was even worse than house-elves because at least they could use magic to do their work.

Almost everyone has nothing good to say about Harry Potter's Muggle relatives, and they want to punish these stupid Muggles - but from what Thornpark has seen so far, he finds that the relationship between Harry Potter and his relatives does not seem to be as bad as the newspapers say.

At least it looks pretty intimate.

"It's hard to get the full picture from the newspapers, is it?" said Harry, smiling.

Sampak nodded in understanding.

The Dursleys had chosen a bed for themselves and were currently sitting on it, and when Harry sat down, Uncle Vernon winked at him - "Very welcome, huh?"

"Like I said, I'm quite popular in the wizarding world," Harry replied in a low voice.

"Hold on tight, the train is about to start!" After serving a cup of hot chocolate to Harry and the others, Thornpark grabbed the railing and shouted happily.

The next moment, four people, including Harry, leaned back suddenly and fell asleep on the bed on the spot. The four cups of hot chocolate were all destroyed in an instant. Dudley was the worst off. When the car started, he put his mouth on the edge of the cup, so the contents of the cup poured all over him and even poured down his neck - fortunately the hot chocolate was warm instead of hot, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

Well, it seems possible?

Glancing at the front of the car, Sampark was talking to Ern. The two were having a heated discussion. After the car started moving, a deafening piece of music rang out in the car. It was probably a song by some wizard band, and the rhythm was very catchy. In short, no one noticed the back.

Harry reached out and snapped his fingers.

Cleaned up.

So in the next moment, Dudley suddenly found that the warm, sticky hot chocolate on his body suddenly disappeared, and the hot chocolate spilled from the cups of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia also disappeared.

What Sanpark had said just now was indeed true. Even if the group reached their destination, they might not have finished the hot chocolate - it really could not be finished because it was all spilled.

As for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, they didn't even have time to exchange their feelings about the ride. The car was moving very fast, very fast! The real kind of very fast! It was a speed that Uncle Vernon had never thought he could drive at.

Just by glancing out the window, Uncle Vernon's eyes widened in shock, because he suddenly discovered that this three-decker bus was even driving directly on the sidewalk!

Is your car legal?!
He instinctively wanted to let out a battle cry, but every time Uncle Fenon tried to sit up, he always lost to the huge inertia, and his heavy body was thrown back onto the bed. After trying twice, Uncle Fenon simply gave up the idea - he began to understand why this car provided beds instead of seats... the beds were simply too good.

As for Aunt Petunia... she had already closed her eyes tightly, and her thin lips were pursed tightly, as if she had gathered all her strength, as if she would scream if she relaxed even a little.

No, that’s not right?

Because Harry found that although his aunt looked very scared, she would open her eyes from time to time to peek out the window, and the frequency of this peek was increasing. Even though it was running fast on the sidewalk, the bus surprisingly did not hit anything, or everything around it made way for the bus, rows of street lights, rows of mailboxes, and trash cans all jumped to the sides at the moment the bus approached, making a straight path for it.

It seems that there is only one thing left for the driver of this car to do - step on the accelerator.

"Is this what you call safe and prudent?!" Uncle Vernon couldn't help it after all. He turned his head and roared at Harry, "Minors? Infirm?"

Uncle Vernon couldn't even get out any more words because he looked as if he would vomit at any moment.

"It's obvious! The author of that book lied to everyone!" Harry had to speak loudly to cover the music over there, "And those reviews - they just want to trick people into riding this car!"

It's like eating a very sour fruit and then pretending it's delicious and tricking your friends into eating it.

Dark, it's so dark.

Dudley couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise, because while a few people were talking, the bus rushed towards a row of houses, as if it would hit them and kill everyone in the next second - but then even the houses jumped away.

To be honest, Dudley really thought that he could drive this car by himself. All he had to do was drive straight forward and step on the accelerator. There was no need to turn or do anything else.

We were out of town now, and the scenery on both sides of the road was rapidly receding. Forests, boat piles, telephone booths - nothing was an obstacle.

The Dursleys were no longer able to say a word. Lying straight in bed without making any unnecessary movements was their best response now.

Perhaps it was Harry's shouting that attracted Sampaio's attention. He started talking to Harry and even walked around in the carriage. The bumps and the high speed didn't seem to have any extra impact on his body, as if he was walking on flat ground.

Perhaps an hour had passed? Or five minutes? Of course, it was more likely a year or more. When the Knight Bus suddenly stopped, the people who had been piled up behind the bed by inertia were suddenly rushed to the front again... like a piece of mud.

"We've arrived at Godric's Hollow!" Sunpark once again made a cheerful voice, "Remember to take your belongings with you and get off the bus carefully."

The Dursleys didn't even know how they got under the car, and the same was true for Dudley, who was shaken unconscious during the second half of the journey.

"See you someday, Harry!" A head popped out of the car window, and Shunpike waved and shouted, "Good luck with your work. Ern and I will always bless you. If you need anything, remember to raise your wands. We will come to you as quickly as possible!"

"Thank you!" Harry also waved and said, "I wish you a safe journey."

Well, I don't know if words like "Bon voyage" are really a blessing to a magical vehicle that drives without any scruples.

After honking its horn twice in joy, the Knight Bus accelerated and disappeared from the sight of several people. When people wanted to find it again, they could no longer see anything - coming and going like the wind is the best description of it.

...Maybe we should add the word crazy.

"I will absolutely - absolutely never ride in this damn car again!" Uncle Vernon said with a pale face after dry heaving. Now he didn't even have the strength to curse and could only declare weakly.

Aunt Petunia had already sat down on the ground, gasping for breath with one hand covering her heart.

"My problem" Harry's expression looked normal at the moment.

The madness of the Knight Bus reminded him of the goblin transportation in Azeroth, or the goblin racing cars... Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle - fortunately, wizards are not goblins after all.

Therefore, the Knight Bus will not suddenly explode and send the driver, conductor and passengers into the sky, nor will it suddenly break down with a grunt and emit black smoke, requiring you to kick it hard a few times before it can be fixed. It is simply very fast, but not stable enough.

"I just want your first trip to the wizarding world to have a unique and novel beginning... just like the feeling Alfred gave you yesterday." Harry sighed and said, "I didn't expect..."

"Promise me, Harry." Dudley had already vomited on the ground. He patted Harry's shoulder with a pale face and said, "Don't make me ride that damn car again - why can't we go directly from one place to another like Alfred did?"

"Because the feeling of Apparating on the Knight Bus isn't much better," Harry sighed even more, "The only advantage is probably that it takes less time."

He had considered the bad feelings he had experienced when Apparating and had thoughtfully chosen a more intimate way of travel for his aunt's family, but he didn't expect to be cheated so badly...

"I'd rather use that Apparition you mentioned," Uncle Vernon said firmly, "but even if you kill me, I will never take that damn bus again - crazy freak!!"

He only regretted that he had not chosen to drive today. Compared to that crazy bus, even staying a night in the wizard's village seemed wonderful.

After Uncle Vernon said this, Aunt Petunia and Dudley nodded in agreement... It was obvious that a deep shadow had been left in their hearts.

Harry shrugged. He felt that he would probably have to listen to his aunt's family's complaints for a long time.

Godric's Hollow is a semi-wizarding settlement. In the UK, the only village composed entirely of wizards is Hogsmeade, which is close to Hogwarts. A semi-wizarding settlement means that there are still a considerable number of Muggles living in Godric's Hollow.

Among the many semi-wizard settlements, Godric's Hollow is the most famous, naturally because it is the birthplace of the great wizard Godric Gryffindor, the founder of Gryffindor College. It is also the place where the wizard goldsmith Bowman Wright forged the first Golden Snitch. Many ancient wizard families once lived here, and too many famous wizards have emerged here.

"To be honest, this place is... a little better than I thought." Uncle Vernon kept muttering as he looked at the scene in front of him with a critical eye, "I thought this place would be more primitive, more backward... uh, maybe even more weird."

Of course, everything you see is not as modern as London, but there is still electricity. There are electric lights on both sides of the cobblestone road, and the villagers on both sides of the street are dressed no differently from those in ordinary British villages.

The houses scattered on both sides are made of wood but also of stone. The red tiles on the roofs are covered with vines, giving the place an atmosphere of tranquility and peace.

"There are many ordinary people who don't know anything about magic living here, uncle," Harry whispered, "be careful not to be exposed."

So Uncle Vernon kept his mouth shut and looked vigilantly at everyone who came and went - although he himself didn't know what he was afraid of exposing.

After all, he doesn't know magic.

In the center of the village was a small square, which was built very exquisitely. There were white pigeons pecking at bread crumbs in the square. Even when Harry and his companions approached, they did not panic and fly away... They had already adapted to the presence of humans.

(End of this chapter)