"Welcome to the Knight Bus, an emergency transport for stranded witches and wizards.
"As long as you stick out your wand hand and board the bus, we can take you anywhere you want to go.
"My name is Tod Sumpak, and I'm your conductor."
After handing Tod eleven Sickles, Snape climbed onto the violently purple, triple-deck Knight Bus.
Not long after the bus started, bullets of rain began hammering against the windows with explosive force.
"Ernie-" Snape shouted hoarsely, "how much longer until we reach Diagon Alley-"
But the roar of wind and rain drowned out his voice.
Ernie still gripped the steering wheel tightly, leaning forward, straining to see the blurred road ahead.
"So you know Ernie's name, I thought this was your first ride."
Tod came down from the second deck, calling loudly to Snape.
"You're the last passenger today. I get to finish early. Once we drop you off, we're heading home."
"How many people before me?" Snape asked.
"Oh, first we've got to take Mrs. Coppet to Glasgow, then the MacKinnon family to Dundee."
"MacKinnon?"
Hearing that familiar surname, Snape immediately thought of someone he knew. Curious, he asked:
"Is there a Marlene MacKinnon?"
Without hesitation, Tod answered:
"If you mean a brown-haired girl about your age, I'd say yes. Their family's upstairs. Do you know them?"
"Yes, we're cla-"
"Skreech-"
A shrill screech of brakes cut him off. Snape grabbed a handrail, barely keeping himself from falling.
"Are you mad?!"
Ernie stuck his head out of the driver's window despite the storm, shouting at a black-robed figure standing in the middle of the road.
"We're finished for the da-"
Before he could finish, a searing red flash shot toward him.
Ernie froze, his mouth still open, then lost his balance and toppled out the window.
"Hey!"
Tod leapt to his feet, wand drawn, aiming at the figure in front of the bus.
The next moment came with a hiss and a violent green light that followed the red.
The windows shattered instantly. Bathed in an eerie green glow, Tod slammed backward into a brass-framed bed, crashed to the floor, and lay motionless.
The bus door banged open. Through the howl of wind, a drenched figure climbed aboard.
In the dim light, the hooded metal mask gleamed with a cruel sheen.
Death Eater.
Snape recognized them immediately.
"Lay down your weapons. We will not harm innocent wizards."
A deep, icy voice spoke from behind the mask.
Drawing a steady breath, Snape quietly tightened his grip on his wand beneath his robes.
"MacKinnons, come out. We need your assistance with something."
No sooner had the words fallen than a racket of spellfire and fighting erupted from upstairs, followed by a woman's scream.
Over a minute later, footsteps thudded down. A middle-aged man in a green patterned dress descended sideways, tugging at the yellow scarf around his neck with one hand until it came loose and fell aside.
With his wand pointed behind him, the MacKinnon family of three hung bound together, gagged and floating inches above the floor, drifting down the stairs under his control.
"This thing is disgusting. Next time, you're wearing it."
The cross-dressed Death Eater grumbled to his companion.
"Enough. We've got them, let's go back quickly."
"Wait, there's someone else here."
The disguised Death Eater pointed toward Snape, who stood by the window.
"He saw my face."
Just as Snape prepared to fight, the masked Death Eater spoke lightly:
"Oh, Macnair, I know him.
"Severus Snape, my son's classmate, and a member of the Slug Club."
"Why would you say my name out loud, Avery!"
Macnair snapped angrily.
"Hello, Severus."
Old Avery's tone was almost cheerful as he stepped up to Snape.
"I've heard amusing things about you from my son.
"But this is just right,since you are to be the Dark Lord's faithful servant, I'll give you a chance to pledge your loyalty early."
He pointed his wand at the MacKinnons.
"Kill the girl. Use the spell Bella taught you."
Snape flicked his eyes sideways.
Mr. MacKinnon's head drooped against his chest, blood still seeping from his temple.
Mrs. MacKinnon and Marlene had their mouths gagged with coarse rope, their muffled moans barely escaping.
"Mm..." Marlene's eyes brimmed with tears, pleading as they fixed on Snape.
"Ki... kill her?"
Snape pulled his wand from his robes, his hand shaking, his face marked with panic and fear as he looked at old Avery.
"But... I've never successfully cast that spell... can I even do it?"
"Tell me your choice. Do it, or don't."
Old Avery's cold reply ignored his question.
"Alright..."
Snape's voice trembled with fear as he slowly raised his wand.
"Sectumsempra!"
He hissed the incantation through clenched teeth, slashing the wand furiously across Avery's throat while throwing himself hard under the brass-framed bed.
A fountain of blood sprayed from Avery's neck, spattering dark red across the air.
His eyes bulged wide, brimming with disbelief and terror. His mouth opened, but only a faint rasp escaped.
Avery's body staggered on the spot for a moment, then collapsed onto the floor with a heavy thud.
"Avery!"
Macnair bellowed in fury. He swung his wand from the MacKinnons to Snape, curses flashing in crisscrossing streams of light.
Snape rolled out from beneath the bed, firing spells wildly backward.
The windows burst apart under the impact, shattering in a hail of sharp cracks, glass raining down like ice.
Wind and storm flooded into the bus, whipping everything into chaos.
Huddled behind the chair where Ernie had sat, Snape panted raggedly, Macnair's spellfire pinning him down so hard he could barely lift his head.
As his mind raced desperately for an escape, a sharp, echoing blast cut through the deadly standoff.
Snape peeked cautiously out and saw a tall figure with streaks of gray in his hair suddenly appear in the bus.
Macnair barely had time to react before the newcomer's wand was leveled at him,
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Macnair's arms and legs snapped together, his whole body stiff as a board, and he fell flat on his back with a thud.