After Dobby had left I ran away from the Malfoys house and returned to London. I had let Athena free, but Floyd remained by my side, refusing to leave me by myself.
We have been living in the streets for about a year. There were nice people in London who would take me in, give me food, but I wouldn't stay more than a week. At that time, I was staying with a nice old woman, she was about 70 and had a nice little house to herself.
Floyd and I were walking down the street late at night when I heard growling. I looked in all directions, but Floyd found the creature before I could. He barked furiously at a bush nearby. I came up to it, to which the growling intensified.
I thought about Harry, how he would go closer, not be afraid. Remembering my wand, I took it out, ready to attack if needed. I crept close to the bush. Just then a what looked like a black wolf jumped out from the bush, causing me to fall back from shock. I looked back to where I had thought the wolf was headed but nothing was there, nothing at all.
I looked at Floyd who was probably just as confused as me. "Liz!" I heard a familiar voice say. I turned towards it and saw Harry poking out from a triple-decker bus door. The bus was purple and read 'Knight Bus' in front.
"We all were worried sick when you didn't come back to Hogwarts... Why didn't you come back?" He asked. "I'll tell you later, hey could you wait for me? My house it just around the corner. I'm coming with you!" I smiled.
I was so happy to see Harry again, and I wanted to catch up, see how he had been while I was gone. I ran down the street as fast as I could, hearing Floyd's collar, that was given to me by a nice family, jingle behind me.
Once Floyd and I got inside Mrs. Archers' house, I packed my clothes and everything I had into the 2 bags I had with me. I stuffed all of the things that wouldn't fit in my bags into my purse, the one Hermione had gotten me for Christmas. I was so happy Mrs. Archer had gone to the shop. I didn't have time to explain why I was leaving so fast.
After I was all packed up I ran back to the bus and jumped on. Inside the bus was a few beds and there was also a chandelier. A man took my bags and I sat down on the best closest to me. "Welcome to the Knight Bus: Emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor for this evening." Stan said.
"Take 'er away, Ern." He said to the driver.
"Yeah, take it away, Ernie! It's goin' to be a boompy ride!" I looked towards a shrunken,, voodoo looking, head. Ernie, the driver, started to drive fast, incredibly fast. I caught the conductor looking at Harry and I suspiciously.
"Wot did you say your names were again?"
"We didn't." Harry answered for us, even though Harry did call me Liz.
"Well, whereabouts are you headed'?" He asked.
"The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London..." Harry said.
"Do you 'ear that, Ern? 'The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London.'"
"The Leaky Cauldron! Heh- if you have the pea soup, make sure you eat it before it eats you! Ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!" I was kinda scared when he said that, but I trusted Harry. He wouldnt ever put me in harms way.
"But the Muggles? Won't they see us?" Harry asked.
"Muggles? They don't see nuthin', do they?"
"No, but if you stab them with a fork, they feel it! Ha ha ha! Ernie, little old lady at twelve o'clock!" Before I could react, Ernie pulled the brakes, causing Harry and I to go forward, our faces being pressed up against the window. I heard Floyd squeal from the impact.
The shrunken head started to count down. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, three and a half, two, one and three-quarters... yes!" We drove off.
Stan took out a newspaper. On the cover was a prinsoner, lauging like a madman. "Who is that? That man." I asked.
"Who is that? Who is- That is Sirius Black, that is. Don' tell me you've ne'er been hearin' o' Sirius Black? He's a murderer. Got 'imself locked up in Azkaban for it." He answered.
"How did he escape?" Harry asked.
"Well, tha's the question, isn't it? He's the firs' one that done it. He was a big supporter of... You-Know-'Oo. Reckon you both heard of him?" I froze at the mention of my father, in the streets I didnt have to deal with Voldemort, but I was going to have to get used to it again.
"Yeah. Him we've heard of."
"Ernie, two double-deckers at twelve o'clock. They're getting closer, Ernie. Ernie, they're right on top of us!" I looked at the two buses that he was talking about, getting extremely close. There was no room for us! Ernie pulled a lever, making us thin, exteremly thin. "Mind your head. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, heh! Hey, guys? Guys? Why the long faces? Ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah, yeah. Nearly there. Nearly there. Nearly there." We went back to normal and kept driving until we finally arrived.
We came to a sudden stop, stickly pushing the car in front of us, making its alarm go off. "The Leaky Cauldron." Stan anounced
"Next stop: Knockturn Alley."
A hunchback looking man came on board and looked only at Harry, totally ignoring me. "Ahh! Mr. Potter... at last." We got off of the bus and entered The Leaky Cauldron.
