The hunchbacked old Tom has a wrinkled face and a sunken mouth without teeth. He looks as evil as the dark wizards in Knockturn Alley.
However, beneath the ugly appearance, there is a warm heart.
Old Tom personally took Anton to the door of the Leaky Cauldron, taught him how to call the 'Knight Bus', and waited with him for this magical car to appear in front of him with a loud bang.
He touched Anton's little head kindly and said, "Little wizard, I wish you good luck."
Anton pursed his lips and bowed to him, "Thank you, Mr. Tom."
In the two months since he traveled back in time, he followed the old wizard and wandered through the chaotic land. All he met were chaotic people. There were very few people who showed kindness to him.
Old Tom's wrinkled mouth looked like an old grandmother with a smile. He shook his hand and turned back to the bar.
The Knight Bus looks similar to a Muggle bus.
It also has wheels and big lights, and is three stories high. From the window, there are no seats inside, only a bed with brass pillars, and a holder for lighting candles next to the bed.
Looking back, I can still see a small dried head hanging in the cab of the car.
This kind of small head originates from the headhunting culture of South America. They hunt the heads of their enemies and use a unique head shrinking technique to reduce the head to the size of a baby's head. This technique is very popular among British wizards, whether they are dark wizards or regular ones.
All wizards like it.
"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus, the emergency transport for witches or wizards in distress. Just stick out your wand and step on board, and we'll take you wherever you want to go."
A young and handsome guy stood at the armrest, wearing a uniform hat crookedly on his head, smiling brightly, "My name is Stan Sampack, and I am your conductor today."
This smile was so contagious that Anton also laughed. "I'm going to..., wait a moment, I'll take a look."
Stan, the conductor, said proudly, "Anywhere you want to go, as long as it's on land."
Anton took out the piece of paper from his pocket and said, "Hey, France?"
Stan blinked, "France?"
Anton did not expect that the goblin who could cure Lupin actually lived in France. He stared at Stan and said, "Can I ask first how much the fare is?"
Knight buses are not cheap.
In the original book, Harry spent eleven Sickles to get from Privet Drive to the Leaky Cauldron. According to the strange multi-base currency system in the British wizarding world, one gold galleung is equal to seventeen Silver Sickles.
This is still within the country. If you go abroad, you may have to pay several gold galleons!
Stan, the conductor, was a little embarrassed, "It's not about the price. We may not be able to go to France."
Seeing Anton looking at him in confusion, he couldn't help but explain, "The Knight Bus was an idea proposed by Dugald MacPhail, the British Minister of Magic. Now there are actually some wizards in the UK who stick to tradition who are resisting. They even
Call it a 'Muggle insult'."
Anton frowned and tightened the handle of the suitcase, "What do you mean?"
Stan chuckled, "The French would not have such an open approach. They are too old-fashioned and don't even have a proposal for buses."
He shrugged, "I can't go to France."
Anton looked back at the Leaky Cauldron in confusion. There was no reason that Old Tom would lie to him in this place.
He handed the piece of paper in his hand to the conductor, "Someone told me that you can send me to this place."
Stan looked at it carefully and said, "Ah, there is a small island between the two countries that you can go to."
He handed the paper back to Anton with a smile, and helped carry the suitcase to the car, "You are lucky, little guy, originally we only operated on land."
The driver in the driver's seat turned around. He was an older wizard, wearing thick glasses and a thick and well-groomed beard. "Some time ago, the wizards on these small islands protested, saying that the mainland is also an island. Why?"
Discriminating against them because these areas are smaller.”
He shrugged with a funny look on his face, "So we can only drive on the water."
Stan joined next to him, "After all, we promised not to go underwater."
Then the two men looked at each other and smiled for no reason.
The corner of Anton's mouth twitched. Sometimes he felt that he was incompatible with foreigners, and some of the jokes they told didn't seem funny to him.
He doesn't understand how to protest against the wizards on the small islands around the UK, and then they can take him to the French islands?
Anyway, as long as you can go.
The fare was not as outrageous as expected, fifteen silver cents.
"You sleep here." Stan whispered, leading him to an empty bed, helping him stuff the suitcase under the bed, and then went back and sat in the armchair next to the driver.
Unlike the fan novels and movie clips that Anton read earlier, the driver of this car did not have skilled driving skills, and could even be said to be very unfamiliar.
There was a bang, and the car quickly moved forward with a strong pushing feeling.
Rampant all the way.
Sometimes they even jump forward.
Everything along the way jumped out of the way.
When the car drove past, these lamp posts, mailboxes, trash cans, trees and even Muggle cars and pedestrians jumped back to their original positions.
This can almost be said to be distorting space.
Anton stared out of the car curiously at the various distorted pictures. Thanks to following the Frankenstein-like old wizard for two months, he did not just marvel at many of the wizard's abilities.
Trying to figure out its principles, this is the only good influence of the old wizard's words and deeds.
Anton even saw a familiar place on the road.
A campsite for wandering wizards.
The car was still rushing past, everything was twisted, and the two dark wizards with hoods and no faces were whispering in the corner, not noticing that the car was passing by.
Anton's face near the window was only a slap away from them, and he clearly heard a few words - "...Leech can be used to extract magic potion..."
Cars sometimes take detours, and when encountering some buildings that are obviously regular magic departments, they will go around a curve.
"It's amazing!" Stan, the conductor, chuckled, obviously very proud of himself.
Most adult wizards use apparation and flying broomsticks, and a large part of the customers they receive are ignorant little wizards. He likes to see the amazed expressions of little wizards the most, which makes him particularly proud.
Anton's eyes were bright, "Really, is there any magic spell used on this car?"
Stan's face froze. Apparently, the little wizard asked another question that he couldn't answer. He could only look mysterious and said, "This is an alchemy product from the Ministry of Magic. Hehe, it's a secret!"
Anton nodded understandingly.
He thought to himself, if this was a magic spell that could be mastered, wouldn't it be very convenient to go anywhere with a broomstick?
It can even reach the level of elusiveness!
Be sure to figure it out if you have the chance, and see if you have a chance to learn it!
Write this down secretly.
The car drove through the city, through the wilderness, across the ocean, and finally came to an island that didn't look big.
To be precise, it is very small. One tree and one cabin almost occupy the entire island.
The car can only rest half of its body on the water.
Stan helped lift the salute, "Well, goodbye, little guy, you can raise your wand if necessary, the Knight Bus is at your service at any time!"
There was a loud bang, and the car disappeared into the thin air.