Midnight In Hogwarts | Harry Potter FanFiction

Capitulum Quinque

Harry didn't know how long he ran until he came across a dirt road but from the appearance of the setting sun, it had been quite a while. He was extremely tired, sore, hungry and thirsty but he had forced himself to keep moving. The added weight of his weapons had only made the task more difficult. He didn't know how long he had been held captive but considering how weak his body was feeling, Harry could only assume that it had been at least a few days since he had eaten anything. Deep down, Harry knew he wouldn't last too much longer before dizziness started to set in. If working at a hospital for a month taught him anything, it was how to recognize the signs of exhaustion.

He also knew it wouldn't be long before someone realized that the person in the cell wasn't Harry Potter. Once that happened, Voldemort was bound to retaliate and Harry certainly wasn't looking forward to that headache. Harry now knew that his Occlumency training hadn't actually stopped Voldemort at all. It had simply been a ploy to catch Harry at the right moment, a moment when Harry hadn't been thinking about anything other than the death of one guardian and the possible death of another.

So much could have been avoided if I had talked to someone. Why did I trust a voice in my head rather than logic? I let Voldemort take my grief and twist it to suit his own purpose. I really must be the thickest person on the planet.

Shaking the thought out of his head, Harry stuck out his wand arm and prayed that it would work. Sirius and Remus had told him once about an emergency transport service for witches and wizards. Would it still work if someone's magic had been suppressed? Harry could only hope because he didn't think he would be able to make it home on foot. He didn't even know if he had been going in the right direction.

A deafening BANG was Harry's answer. Jumping backwards, Harry saw a violently purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out of thin air in front of him. There was gold lettering over the windshield that spelled 'The Knight Bus'. The thing was positively huge. Harry had never seen a bus like it before but quickly snapped out of his thoughts and reminded himself that Voldemort's lair wasn't too far away.

A thin and pimply young man wearing a purple uniform jumped down onto the dirt road. "Welcome to the Knight Bus," he said loudly. Harry instantly reacted, grabbing the conductor by the uniform and shoving him back on the bus. "Hey!" the conductor cried. "Get off!"

"Get the bus moving," Harry ordered through his teeth. "Unless you want to come face to face with Voldemort's finest, of course."

The conductor winced at the mention of Voldemort's name before paling and hurrying to the driver, an elderly wizard wearing very thick glasses. Harry followed the conductor into the bus only to notice that there were no seats. Instead, there were six brass bedsteads that were placed next to curtained windows. Burning candles were in brackets next to each bed. This was absolutely the strangest bus Harry had ever seen. Thankfully all of the beds were empty at the moment.

There was another loud BANG and Harry quickly grabbed hold of the nearest bed to prevent himself from landing flat on his back as the Knight Bus took off. Looking towards the driver, Harry saw the conductor staring at him fearfully. He must think I'm a Death Eater. Letting out a sigh, Harry sat down on the bed and pulled back the hood of his cloak to reveal his face. He knew it was the only way for the conductor to believe that he wasn't an enemy.

The conductor gasped in shock as he took a few steps forward as if to get a better look. "Blimey," he said softly. "You're Harry Potter! Ern, its Harry Potter!"

Harry could only shake his head in exasperation. "Look, I don't know what's been going on but I need to get far from where we just were," he said tiredly.

The conductor had apparently recovered from his shock and approached. "Where do you need to go, Mr. Potter?" he asked eagerly. "You're our only customer at the moment so we don't have any other stops to make. I'm Stan Shunpike, by the way and the driver is Ernie Prang." Harry saw Ernie looking at him and nodded a hello which earned him a nod from Ernie in return. "I can't believe it," Stan continued in an amazed tone. "Harry Potter! The entire Ministry has been searching for you for the past three days, you know."