Ivan was worried that he would miss the meeting with Alicia, so he patiently waited.
However, as time passed and the crowd dispersed, Ivan's heart sank. He was not going to wait any longer.
Ivan walks out of Kingdom Cross Station alone, dark clouds scudding across the sky, Muggles hurrying down the street…
There was a sudden gust of wind, followed by a honking,
Ivan turned his head and saw a bright purple three-story bus heading his way.
It moved as fast as lightning, careening down straight lanes with no regard for the rules of Muggle traffic, dashing in the opposite direction, passing pedestrians and cars as if they did not exist.
Ivan even saw the bus twist as it was about to hit someone, twisting around pedestrians in an extremely strange fashion.
The Muggle's face was pressed against the car window, oblivious to…
Moments later, the purple car was hovering in front of Ivan, the Knight Bus emblazoned in gold letters on the windscreen.
The door flew open and a conductor in a purple uniform placed his hand on the door and looked down at Ivan.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus — this is an emergency transport for wizards in trouble! Just hold out your wand-holding hand and board, and we'll get you wherever you want to go!"
"I'm Stan Shunpike, and I'm going to be the conductor for this trip!" said Stan Shunpike with a smile on his face. He stepped aside and extended his hand in an inviting gesture with a slight bow, as if he was not worried Ivan would refuse.
"To the Leaky Cauldron!" Ivan came up as he had expected, and it was only natural that the Knight Bus would be quicker than the start of the journey.
"That'll be nine Sickles, thank you!" Stan Shunpike reminded her, before asking her why she was alone at Kingdom Cross Station.
"Is it strange for a young wizard to go home on his own?" Yvonne asked, glancing at him.
"Not many are as young as you!" Stan Shunpike complained.
"Well, get in there and sit tight, we're driving!" Stan Shunpike asked with a smile as he tapped on the car door. "Do you need coffee? Chocolate? Just three Sickles! And we'll give you a free copy of the paper or a toothbrush today!"
"No!" Ivan shook his head and tried to get into the carriage.
Stan Shunpike suddenly put his hand on his shoulder and asked with a frown, "Wait, have we met somewhere before? You seem familiar to me…"
"Then you may be mistaken…" Ivan said, stopping and turning his head.
Ivan was well aware that Stan Shunpike might have read about him in the paper two months or so ago, but he did not want to get into trouble.
Stan Shunpike let go and Ivan moved on.
The interior of the Knight Bus was larger than it appeared from the outside.
Inside were seven brass-framed beds, most of them occupied by other passengers, the nearest of which was an elderly wizard, who had taken up two beds on his side and was reading a Daily Prophet to pass the time.
Yvonne found an empty bed by the window and sat down.
It was drizzling outside the window and it looked grey.
The Knight Bus was speeding down the road, the beds rattling, and Ivan winced at the awful experience.
Fortunately, the Knight Bus was incredibly fast, and the discomfort lasted for about ten minutes before it pulled up in front of the Leaky Cauldron.
Yvonne grabbed her bags and got out of the car. Behind her, she heard Stan Shunpike's voice.
"Good luck, Mr. Harls!"
Ivan turned in surprise to see Stan Shunpike taking off his hat and saluting him.
"I think you should wear the Order of Merlin on your chest at all times. It's an amazing honor!" Stan Shunpike teased.
Why am I wearing that for no reason? Ivan shook his head in frustration. He was not Lockhart.
Ivan hurried into the Leaky Cauldron as he watched the strange Knight Bus drive away.
Pushing open the front door, they were greeted by a roaring fireplace and a noisy tavern, where Tom, the innkeeper in his late twenties, was drinking butterbeer with several wizards, while two goblins were playing cards nearby.
The lively atmosphere soothed Ivan's tense mood, and he stood on his toes and tapped his wand three times on the sealed stone wall of the pub.
The enclosed wall shook violently, and the stone tiles began to move erratically. Before long, a wide archway opened up in front of Ivan, and beyond it was Diagon Alley!
Ivan was in no mood to linger, so he turned into Knockturn Alley after walking through a busy street.
It seemed quieter than usual.
A few shops were still open, but the doors and windows were closed, and the Dark Wizards who usually wandered around were nowhere to be seen.
In the evening, as the sun set in the west, the drizzle slowly stopped. The sky was still dark and gloomy.
Ivan's sense of unease grew, and he quickened his pace.
Boom ~
As Ivan rounded a corner, a loud explosion erupted ahead of him, the red light of the fire visible.
Ivan sprinted toward the flames and explosions.
Ivan's pupils contracted when he arrived at the scene of the incident at his family's Dark Arts shop.
An irregular, round hole had been blown in the side of the double-storey building, and sparks of fire could be seen, as well as debris and dust.
Ivan cast an Armour Charm on himself as fast as he could and charged straight in. Seven or eight black-robed bodies fell to the ground, blasted and bloody.
It was a thunderbolt explosion! Ivan immediately recognised the destructive magic that could cause such a range.
'Did Alicia do it? How is she?'
Yvonne tried to look on the bright side, but she was growing increasingly uneasy.
The use of such a powerful explosive spell in a small room was extremely dangerous, and would not be done unless absolutely necessary.
Ivan ran as fast as he could, trying to use the faster Unicorn's Shadow to help him find it. White mist gradually drifted out of his wand, but it could not take the form of a Patronus…
"Expecto…Expecto!" Ivan tried his best to cast his blood magic. The white mist was barely able to take the form of a unicorn, but in the next second, it collapsed and the mist from his wand dissipated…
Ivan stopped, his mind blank,
On the floor in one corner of the hall, a familiar figure lay in a pool of blood. Her eyes were closed, and her delicate profile was bloodless.
It was Alicia!
(P.S.: Please be patient, Angels. The early chapters of this volume are slightly more depressing, and judging from the reviews of the later chapters, this volume is quite good. There are very few bad reviews, and the reviews are quite positive. Just take a look at the comments section, and you'll know that not many people are critical of this plot.)