Hermione and Tonks looked at each other, both their expressions somewhat guarded. An awkward silence fell. Standing off to the side, Ciel thought to himself, 'Why does this feel like a brewing storm? Like I've walked into something dangerous?'
Fortunately, the next moment, something on Tonks emitted a piercing alarm, breaking the tension. Her expression immediately changed, "Another Auror's been taken down. This time we've really hooked a big fish. Maybe it's connected to last night's Knockturn Alley incident!"
With official business involved, Tonks's demeanour became serious as she addressed Ciel and Hermione, "I have to go reinforce the pursuit of that dark wizard. It's getting dark—nowhere is safe now. Knockturn Alley's exploded, with dark wizards fleeing everywhere. Auror manpower simply isn't enough. Ciel, you take the otter girl home."
Then, with another sharp crack, Tonks vanished on the spot. What followed was Hermione's shocked and indignant voice, "Otter girl?! Don't leave! Explain yourself—who's the otter?! This, this—horrible Auror with her ridiculous hair!"
Watching Hermione trembling with anger, Ciel found it rather amusing. But Tonks's words made sense—London really was chaotic now. Having Hermione return home alone truly wasn't safe. Forget encountering dark wizards—even meeting some dangerous elements among ordinary people wouldn't be a laughing matter.
But what method should he use to send her back? Hermione's home didn't have Floo Network access. He'd never been there before either. Even having house-elves Apparate couldn't work for places they had no concept of. As for flying broomsticks, central London had a flying ban—being spotted would be quite troublesome.
Just as he was pondering this, a transportation method unique to the wizarding world flashed through his mind. In the original story from his previous life, there was something called the Knight Bus. You just needed to extend your wand-holding hand, clearly picturing your destination, and the Knight Bus would appear before you, able to take wizards anywhere they wanted to go. It sounded rather like the Room of Requirement's transportation version. Perfect for this situation.
So the next moment, under Hermione's curious gaze, Ciel extended his wand, mentally calling out, I need a bus.
Moments later, bright headlights cut through the darkness. A triple-decker bus materialised before them—bright purple body, enormous windscreen, with "The Knight Bus" written in gold cursive letters.
Hermione couldn't help but gasp, "Merlin's beard! What kind of bus is this? We don't have a bus stop here!"
Ciel also breathed a sigh of relief, surprised and pleased. Some things in the wizarding world were truly remarkable. If he remembered correctly, in the original story, this Knight Bus could travel faster than any supercar and even possessed space compression abilities, able to squeeze through narrow passages with ease—not to mention instant movement when encountering traffic jams. This thing could even traverse the gap between land and sea.
Wonder which genius created this. If this were introduced to the non-magical world, those car companies would go bankrupt overnight.
As Ciel and Hermione marvelled while examining the Knight Bus, the front door swung open. A young man, probably seventeen or eighteen, seemingly fresh from graduation, wearing a purple uniform matching the bus's colour scheme, poked his head out. His protruding ears and acne-covered face were quite noticeable.
"Oi! Young man, young lady—first time on the Knight Bus? Then you're in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I dare say the Knight Bus is absolutely the most stunning transportation in the wizarding world. Eleven Sickles per person can take you anywhere. Add three Sickles for hot chocolate. Add one more and you get a hot water bottle and toothbrush—colour of your choice!"
Stan Shunpike, Ciel thought, recognising the name. The Knight Bus conductor from the original story—a chatty young wizard who loves boasting, but not a bad sort.
However, regarding Stan's enthusiastic invitation to sample the hot chocolate, Ciel and Hermione exchanged glances, both peering towards the bus's interior. This bus... didn't look terribly clean.
"Eleven Sickles is fine," they both unanimously declined Stan's offer.
A few minutes later, Stan arranged them on a brass four-poster bed, winking at the pair, "Get ready. Have a pleasant journey."
Hermione stared at this bed, only now discovering the Knight Bus had no seats—only brass four-poster beds. Her cheeks flushed crimson. Just as she was about to say something, Ciel across from her suddenly seemed to recall something, his expression shifting as he grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her onto the bed.
At that instant, Hermione's heart felt like it would leap from her chest, "Ciel—"
The next second, Hermione's words were cut off by sudden violent bumping and shaking. Her mind went blank—this didn't feel like riding a bus but like mounting an unbridled wild horse. No—more like a launching rocket!
Hermione had no romantic thoughts whatsoever now, only gratitude that Ciel had pulled her down in time.
"Mer—Mer—Merlin's pants... I'm going to be sick—" Hermione tightly covered her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut.
Ciel's face showed a rueful smile. I just remembered—the Knight Bus was indeed impressive in the original story, but unless absolutely necessary, no one wanted to ride it. The riding experience is simply catastrophic. Passengers needed to grip anything available; otherwise, they'd be thrown about. In the original, even Harry, accustomed to flying broomsticks, nearly vomited the first time riding.
One could imagine ordinary wizards' experience. In a sense, Stan Shunpike's earlier promotional words weren't wrong—this experience could indeed make people remember it for life.
Fortunately, Ciel possessed Legendary-level resistance to motion. This bumping had basically no effect on him. While holding Hermione to prevent her from flying into mid-air, he even had leisure to observe other bus passengers.
Well, besides them, only one other "unfortunate soul" had chosen this torturous transportation. Ciel glanced once, his eyes flashing with surprise. That passenger wore an extremely shabby wizard's robe with several patches—he'd never seen a more threadbare garment.
This wizard looked quite young, yet his light brown hair was streaked with considerable grey strands, his appearance haggard and weary. Beside him sat a battered small suitcase bound with numerous ropes, looking ready to fall apart, with faded, peeling letters printed on it: "R.J. Lupin".
Seeing this, Ciel realised who he was. Remus Lupin? The third-year Defence Against the Dark Arts professor from the original story. Though a werewolf, in a sense, he was also the most capable Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Hogwarts had seen in years. His abilities were certainly not lacking.
Unfortunately, because of his werewolf identity, he couldn't secure any proper employment these years, only wandering alone through the wizarding world, living in poverty.
Just as Ciel recalled Lupin's background, Lupin, enduring the bumping, cast him a confused, guarded yet distant look. Ciel caught himself—staring at Lupin like this was indeed impolite. He looked apologetic, "Sorry. This is my first time riding the Knight Bus—I'm a bit curious what fellow passengers might be like."
Sensing Ciel meant no harm and was merely a young Hogwarts-age wizard, Lupin's expression softened considerably, gently shaking his head, "It's fine. If it were me back then, I'd definitely be curious which desperate souls would ride such transport."
He smiled, the expression self-deprecating but gentle, "Must be poor folk wanting to spend as little money as possible travelling far, wanting a bed to rest in—hopefully the bumping and shaking will be bad enough to save on two meals." I'm Remus Lupin. Child, the wizarding world isn't peaceful now—what family are you from?"
Ciel smiled back, "I'm Ciel Sprout, a Hufflepuff student. Beside me is Hermione Granger from Gryffindor—"
Before Ciel could finish, Lupin's eyes widened in shock, "Wait. Sprout? You're a Sprout family child? But I heard back then that Robin, Alice, and their newborn child all died in Antonin Dolohov's attack..."
Ciel was equally surprised—Lupin knew his parents? He explained how he'd been lost to the non-magical world, only found and returned to the wizarding world a year ago.
Lupin immediately brightened, "Ha! This is one of the few pieces of good news I've received." He paused, seeming to want to find Ciel a gift, but after searching his pockets, could only pull out a few chocolates and hand them over, "Want chocolate? It'll make your motion sickness feel better at times like this."
Ciel's eyes lit up. Lupin's chocolate had left quite a deep impression when I read the original. He carefully accepted one—just ordinary chocolate, sweet. He ate it eagerly.
This made Lupin laugh, much of the weariness lifting from his face. Ciel then asked curiously, "Mr Lupin, you knew my parents?"
Lupin's expression turned reminiscent, "Of course. Your father was Hufflepuff's Beater back then, your mother the Chaser. They worked together with seamless coordination, truly giving us Lions quite a bit of trouble. Everyone who watched matches then knew your parents. I was even closer friends with them."
Lupin's face showed gratitude, "Once, after I had—er, an old problem flare up, I felt dreadful and collapsed. Your parents brought me to visit Hufflepuff's common room. There I drank the finest pot of tea of my life. Later when you were born, your father invited me to attend a gathering at the Sprout estate. I couldn't make it then. When I later heard that heartbreaking news—child, I was devastated. But you're still alive—that's wonderful. Professor Sprout must be overjoyed."
After chatting a bit more, Lupin revealed why he was riding the Knight Bus now, "The Ministry's hunting dark wizards, but Auror manpower is obviously insufficient. So they've offered some bounties—if you can catch a few dark wizards, you can collect some reward money. I happen to know a few dark wizard hiding spots."
Lupin smiled bitterly, "If I don't get some money, I'm afraid I'll have to sleep rough again."
Werewolves like Lupin truly have it difficult in the wizarding world, Ciel thought. Clearly possessing quite respectable magical ability, yet unable to find even one decent job, living in such poverty.
The wizarding world isn't without wizards attempting to solve the werewolf problem, but so far, no one has broken this ancient, powerful curse. Only Wolfsbane Potion lets werewolves maintain human consciousness when transformed—which counts as controlling werewolf harm. But only Potion Masters can brew Wolfsbane Potion—extremely limited production, astronomical prices. Forget werewolves—even wizards with decent jobs can't afford it.
So the wizarding world's attitude towards werewolves can only be exclusion. Remus Lupin entering Hogwarts for schooling was already an extremely rare occurrence.
Thinking of the werewolf curse, Ciel's eyes showed interest. This curse's antiquity could almost be traced back to the mythical age—who knows what kind of magic left such a curse?
But moments later, his thoughts gradually settled. I've only thought of these things because I coincidentally encountered Lupin. I do feel sympathetic towards Lupin from reading the original in my previous life, but it's just sympathy. Not enough to warrant eagerly extending invitations at a first meeting—I'm not running a charity. Moreover, recruiting Dumbledore's people, Order of the Phoenix members—do I want Dumbledore getting suspicious? I don't want to invite trouble.
Since this is a chance encounter, I'll just let fate take its course.