Chapter 53

That was when a purple triple-decker bus appeared out of thin air. The gold lettering over the windshield read "The Knight Bus." A conductor in a purple uniform jumped out of the bus and said, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening."

"Wait, what?" Frank said. "I'm confused. So this bus can take me ANYWHERE?!?"

Stan nodded. "As long as it's not underwater."

"That's awesome! Gerard, why didn't you tell me about this thing?" Frank said.

"We need to get to Battery City as quickly as possible," I told Stan.

"Battery City? That will be thirteen Sickles each, but for only two more, you get hot chocolate..."

"Frank? Do you have any money with you?" I asked. Frank nodded and pulled out a Galleon and a few Sickles and handed it to Stan. Both of us stepped onto the bus.

"So what are your names?" Stan asked us.

"I'm Gerard Way, and this is Frank Iero," I said.

"Alright," Stan said. "You can sit wherever you'd like."

I examined the interior of the bus. There wasn't anyone else on the bus, so all of the beds were empty. Frank was already laying down on top of one of the beds near the back of the bus. Before I was able to find a spot, Stan said, "Take it away, Ern!"

There was a tremendous BANG, and I was thrown against Frank as the bus began to hurtle towards Battery City. I looked out the window, and I noticed that we were no longer in Hogsmeade. "I forgot to mention something," Stan said. "You have to hold on tight if you want to ride the Knight Bus!"

I held Frank's hand as the bus continued to speed through the Scottish countryside. Somehow the bus was able to narrowly avoid crashing into Muggle cars and other obstacles. "How does it do that?" Frank asked me at one point.

"Magic," I answered.

"But that's how everything works!" Frank said.

The Knight Bus suddenly came to a stop. Frank looked out the window and said, "This isn't Battery City. Why are we stopping?"

That was when three wizards boarded the bus. "I can't believe our tour bus broke down," one of them said.

"Me neither, but the Knight Bus was a good solution," another one of them said.

"I agree!" the third one said. "I'm so glad we have Billie Joe."

"Where are you going?" Stan asked.

"London," all three of them said in unison. Stan gave them the price, and they handed him some coins and went to the back of the bus.

"OH MY GOSH!!!" Frank screamed. "IT'S GREEN DAY!!!"

"Yes, we're Green Day," Tré said.

"I am such a huge fan of you guys," Frank said. "I even named one of my dogs Jesus of Suburbia!"

"That is possibly the worst name for a dog that I have ever heard..." Mike said.

"We're glad to have fans like you though," Billie Joe said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Frank, and this is my boyfriend Gerard," Frank said.

Billie Joe smiled. "It's so nice to meet both of you. Wait a second, why aren't you at school?"

"It's a long story, but we got attacked by a former Death Eater..." I began.

"Gerard almost had his soul sucked out!" Frank interrupted.

"He's going to be looking for us, so we're taking the Knight Bus to Frank's house," I said. "Why are you riding the Knight Bus?"

"Our tour bus broke down," Tré said.

"We have a show in London tonight, and we needed to get there as quickly as possible, so Billie Joe called the Knight Bus," Mike added.

The bus took off again. It was still swerving around like crazy, so we all had to hold on tightly. "I almost forgot how much fun it was to ride the Knight Bus!" Billie Joe exclaimed.

"It reminds me of our old Hogwarts days," Mike said.

"Remember when we killed the DJ with 21 guns during fifth year?" Tré said. "That was awesome!"

"And we never got into trouble because the DJ was a basket case!" Billie Joe said. All three of them laughed, while Frank and I looked at each other in confusion. "Sorry, it's kind of an inside joke. So do either of you play any instruments?"

"I play the guitar!" Frank exclaimed. "I learned how to play by copying off of Billie Joe!"

"What about you, Gerard?" Tré asked.

"I can sing," I said. "Frank and I are actually in a band together."

"Oh really?" Billie Joe said. "What's your band called?"

"My Chemical Romance," I said.

"I'll have to check that out," Billie Joe said.

I saw Stan running to the back of the bus. "Where in Battery City were you planning to go?"

"27 Cemetery Drive," Frank said.

"Wait, the street you live on is called Cemetery Drive?" I said.

Frank nodded. "I don't know who thought that was a good name for a street, but whatever."

The bus came to a halt, and after saying goodbye to the members of Green Day, Frank and I got off of the bus. The Knight Bus flew away almost as soon as we got off, and we watched it disappear into the night.

We had been dropped off right outside of Frank's house, so the two of us walked up to the door. Frank's home seemed like any other small, suburban house. Unlike Way Manor, it really wasn't anything special.

Frank knocked on the door, and an older woman who kind of looked like Frank but was even shorter than he was opened the door. "Frankie!" she said as she gave him a hug. "I didn't expect you to be back from school so soon. Who's your friend over here?"

"Hey, I'm Gerard..." I began.

And that was when I was attacked by an army of puppies.