Effervescence | h.p.

ii | v. come fly with me

"What now?" Harry asked the other two.

"What now," Ron repeated.

"We wait," Lyra recommended.

"For what? Next school year?" Ron retorted with attitude.

"Okay, then you come up with a better idea," Lyra defended with a shrug.

"We could . . . " Ron trailed off.

"Great idea," Lyra applauded sarcastically.

"All right you two," said Harry. "What if we use the Floo network," Harry suggested. "I mean, last year, Lyra and I would sometimes use the Floo in Dumbledore's office."

"True, but how do we plan on getting home?" Lyra said. "I can't drive."

"WAIT!" Ron exclaimed, scaring the other two and causing them to jump. "The car!"

"What about cars?" asked Harry.

"Our Ford Anglia — it can fly!"

"Yeah," Lyra gasped. "That's how they picked me up this summer, the twins and Ron," Lyra said to Harry.

"Brilliant," said Harry.

The three twelve year-old students dragged their belongings out of the train station, drawing eyes and eliciting whispers from bystanders. They approached the Ford Anglia and Ron took the driver's seat while Lyra elected to take the back, leaving Harry in the passenger seat.

"All right," Ron breathed. "Everyone buckled up?"

"Yep," the other two confirmed.

"Here we go then. Got to check that no one's watching," Ron muttered, starting the ignition with the tap of his wand against the dash.

Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished — and so did they. Lyra's legs, arms, and every other part of her was gone along with Harry and Ron.

"Let's go," said Ron's voice from in front of her.

The ground and the dirty buildings on either side of where the car should be fell away, dropping out of sight as the car rose; in seconds, the whole of London lay, smoky and glittering, below them.

Then there was a popping noise and the car, Harry, Ron, and Lyra reappeared.

"Uh-oh," said Ron, jabbing at the silver button. "The Invisibility Booster; it's faulty — "

The two in the front seat started punching it and the car vanished. Then it flickered back again.

"Hold on!" Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; they shot straight into the low, woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy.

"Now what?" asked Harry, blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing in on them from all sides.

"We need to see the train to know what direction to go in," Ron answered.

"Dip back down again — quickly — "

"Don't get seen!" Lyra hissed from the back.

They dropped back down beneath the clouds and twisted around in their seats, squinting at the ground.

"I can see it!" Harry yelled, pointing through the windshield. "Right ahead — there!"

The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below them like a scarlet snake.

"Due north," said Ron, checking the compass on the dashboard. "Okay, we'll just have to check on it every half hour or so — hold on — "

And they shot up through the clouds. A minute later, they burst out into a blaze of sunlight.