Knight Bus conductor Stanley "Stan" Shunpike's first day on the job was a disaster.
Being unable to sleep on the night shift was already very unpleasant. He was almost cut in half when he opened the door. After he came to his senses, Shunpike was already considering revising his resume and running away with a bucket.
Looking at the two people walking in front of him, Shunpike wanted to grab them by their collars and ask them: What are they so mad about that they attacked the bus? But after seeing the scale of the ravine on the ground, he decided to pretend that nothing had happened.
Shunpike cleared his throat: "Welcome to the Knight Bus, which is an emergency passenger transport for witches or wizards in distress (are guys like you really in trouble? Thank you Merlin), as long as you hold out your magic wand and get in the bus and we'll take you wherever you want to go (I'd love to refuse you a ride if possible), people call me Stan Shunpike and I'm your tonight's conductor (I'm so unlucky) - so where do you want to go?"
While rumbling in his mind, he completed the opening remarks specified in the work manual, and then Shunpike looked at the two of them and asked about their destination.
Rhys gave him a meaningful look and told Stan that he and Lupet were going to Diagon Alley.
Shunpike immediately began to calculate the fare for the two of them based on their destinations. Since he was not very proficient in business and was not very good at mathematics, it took him a while to calculate the total fare that the two of them needed to pay one Galleon and a Sickle.
"But if you pay an extra six knut, you can get two chocolates, and if you pay an extra eight knut, you can get a hot water bottle and a toothbrush in any color." Stan vigorously promoted the small commodities on the bus.
Galleons? Sickle? It seemed to be the currency used by wizards today. He was very interested in this because, in the era when he was active, the currencies used by wizards were extremely confusing.
Some used precious metals directly, and some used Muggle coins. There were also those who made money from the leaves of the Sniffing Fantasy Grass... Galleons and Sickles sound much more reliable than these things.
Similarly, Rhys was also very interested in these chocolates, toothbrushes, and hot water bottles that Stan mentioned, but Lupet directly said that only two tickets would be enough.
There was no other way, the werewolf was so scared of poverty that she didn't dare to spend more than a knut.
Lupet glanced at Rhys quietly, and after seeing him standing there motionless, she sighed secretly: Sure enough, it was unrealistic to expect him to pay for the ticket.
She took out a shriveled money bag and poured out the knuts one after another after another and after another.
"....."
"....."
Stan Shunpike and the curious glances from deep inside the carriage made Rhys's face feel hot. He quickly reached into his waist bag and took out two big gold coins.
"Take it, it's definitely enough." Throwing the gold coin into Stan's hand, Rhys and Lupet walked into the knight bus together.
Stan looked at the gold coins in his hand and was stunned for a moment: There were tourists paying with foreign currencies, but why didn't he recognize the money at all? It's neither the U.S. trout nor the French Galleons. Could it be the currency from Central Asia or Africa? But after all, it was two real big gold circles, enough to pay their fare.
As soon as he entered the carriage, Rhys couldn't help but take stock of the environment inside: the layout of this carriage was completely different from that of a carriage. There were no seats inside, only six beds with curtains. Some beds had their curtains lowered, and from time to time two loud snores came from behind the curtains.
Stan had no intention of arranging the two of them on the first floor. He took Rhys and Lupet along the narrow stairs to the third floor. There is no one here, it is absolutely clean, and the two of them can choose a place to sleep that suits their eyes.
Not only did Stan arrange a place to sleep, but he also brought them chocolates, toothbrushes, and hot water bottles - he thought Rhys had paid enough.
After Stan left quickly, only Rhys and Lupet were left in the car. Looking at Stan's leaving figure, Lupet whispered: "He seems to be afraid of you."
The corners of Rhys's lips raised slightly: "Of course."
Before the two of them had even exchanged a word, there was another loud bang from the car. The two of them staggered together and were almost knocked down by the sudden start of the car. Rhys held on to the brass pillar beside the bed and looked out the dark window. He found that the car had left the Forest of Dean and was driving steadily and quickly along a flat road.
What surprised Rhys was that there were pillars erected at regular intervals on both sides of the road, and the top of each pillar was actually lit! Looking around, these lampposts spread all the way to the horizon. There may be thousands of them.
How much lamp oil or candles must be burned this night! Rhys was secretly stunned in his heart: This is just a deserted road with not many people, but this Queen Elizabeth II Hermione mentioned today must be extravagant...?
He admitted that he was somewhat particular about ostentation, but he couldn't do it to this extent.
After sharing his shock with Lupet, Lupet looked at Rhys with strange eyes.
"Actually, it's not bad, right? I heard that Muggles use 'electricity' for lighting, and it doesn't cost a lot of money." Although Lupet knew little about Muggles, she still knew some common sense about daily life, so she could also provide some information to lessen the curiosity of Rhys.
Electric lighting?
He didn't quite understand the principles behind it. He only knew that the world had changed too much and he really needed to make up for it.
The driver of the car didn't seem to be very good at controlling the steering wheel. He tried his best to hit street lights, fences, and even oncoming trucks, but in the end, he didn't hit anything, because those "obstacles" were all blocked when the car came over. They jumped out of the way and waited until this bus passed before returning to their original position.
"Interesting spell, I remember Ravenclaw seemed to have used a similar spell before."
Looking at this familiar scene, the memories sleeping deep in my mind began to come to mind.
....
"Next time you let me drive the cart, I beg you." Godric's face turned pale - just when he was wiping his sword, Rowena drove the cart straight and hit a big tree on the side of the road. The long sword in his hand almost stabbed him through.
"This cart is very expensive, Rowena!" After getting out of the car and taking a look at the state of the carriage, Salazar Slytherin's face turned dark.
"I will definitely fix it!" A blush appeared on Rowena's face, and she repeatedly assured him that she could fix Salazar's cart in the blink of an eye.
"It doesn't change the fact that you are a bad driver even if you fix this cart!! And my horse has a dent on his forehead!!!"
"I will cure it, but Rowena, you are really not suitable for driving." Ravenclaw's good friend, Helga Hufflepuff, stood up to smooth things over and began to give the injured horse in the accident the necessary treatment provided for children.
After being deprived of the right to drive for two days, Rowena suddenly started to "shake" again. After some days, casting a spell on the carriage, she forcefully grabbed the reins from Gryffindor and started racing as usual.
But this time when the cart was about to hit the tree, the tree jumped away on its own as if it had legs.
Rowena smiled proudly.
"I can't hide from the tree, so why don't I just let the tree hide from me?"
"I think there seems to be room for improvement in your spell." Looking at the tree that ran into the middle of the road, Salazar couldn't help but complain.
"I've been too busy these days, let's talk about it later," Ravenclaw said casually and speeded up the cart.
Until the day Salazar left, he was unable to see Rowena's optimization of that spell.
Looking at the obstacles that automatically avoided and then returned to their original positions, Rhys smiled with relief: Rowena, someone has helped you improve this spell.
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Is Lupet an AU version of Lupin? What do you guys think?