Five special dragon bloodwood wands had kept Robert in a good mood for days. He wasn't even mad that no one had accompanied him to the station on the first day of school.
Whether it was deliberate or not, this year on the first day of school, Garrick Ollivander received a letter from an old friend—Gregorovitch—inviting him to Norway to search for the legendary rowan forest that could only be seen under the aurora borealis.
Even Robert had almost decided not to go to Hogwarts after reading the letter. How could Garrick Ollivander possibly resist such a temptation?
That very evening, Ollivander packed up his belongings and left. When Robert woke up the next morning, the wand shop was empty—he was alone.
"It's getting worse every year. At least last year, he sent me to the entrance of King's Cross Station. This year, he couldn't even be bothered to get me to the front door…" Robert muttered as he made his way to the Leaky Cauldron to buy an egg sandwich for breakfast.
The Leaky Cauldron served breakfast, but only the egg sandwich was free of garlic.
After breakfast, Robert bought three bottles of butterbeer, stuffed them into his transforming lizard-skin bag, and strolled out of the pub. He extended his wand.
A gust of wind suddenly blew through the previously quiet alley, and the aging streetlamps swayed and creaked in the breeze.
Then came a louder creaking sound.
A bright purple triple-decker bus appeared out of nowhere and screeched to a stop in front of him. "Knight Bus" was emblazoned in gold on the windshield.
A conductor in a matching purple uniform leaned against the door.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus. I'm Stan Shunpike, your conductor."
"Where to?" Stan looked up at the Leaky Cauldron's sign and, without waiting for an answer, began loading Robert's suitcase onto the bus.
"King's Cross Station," Robert said as he followed him on board.
"I figured. Three Sickles," said Stan, turning back. "You don't need chocolate or a toothbrush, do you?"
"No, I don't," Robert replied, handing over three silver Sickles. He then casually took a seat on the first level.
All the passengers here were on short-distance rides. If the fare exceeded ten Sickles, they'd be seated on the second or third levels, which had bunk beds instead of chairs.
The driver was an elderly wizard whose glasses were thicker than butterbeer mugs.
The moment Robert sat down, a deafening BANG! echoed through the vehicle.
He suspected it was a sonic boom.
The Knight Bus was moving too fast—he had to grip the handrail tightly just to avoid being thrown backward against the rear window.
This was exactly why Robert disliked riding the Knight Bus; the experience was horrendous.
After a few moments of adjusting, he managed to glance at the other passengers.
There weren't many. Two witches sat whispering in the back; they must be regular riders if they could chat under these conditions.
Next to Stan was a father and son, likely also heading to King's Cross.
Robert didn't recognize them and had no memory of seeing them before. They were probably first-years or belonged to another House.
BANG!
Another explosive sound as the bus bolted through the London streets, dodging buildings and benches that bent sideways to clear a path.
At this rate, they arrived at King's Cross Station in no time.
The driver slammed on the brakes, and Robert gripped the handrail again to stop himself from flying through the front window.
Robert and the father-son duo stood up at the same time. The young boy, likely on his first Knight Bus ride, stumbled around and looked disoriented before nearly crashing into the driver.
"Thanks," Robert said to Stan, who had somehow already secured him a trolley.
In a place like King's Cross, having a trolley was incredibly convenient.
When Robert entered the station, there were still twenty minutes before the Hogwarts Express was set to leave—plenty of time.
From a distance, he saw a crowd gathered between Platforms Nine and Ten, and many of them looked familiar.
"Seamus, Neville…" Robert greeted them. "What are you all doing standing around here? Can't you chat after going through the barrier?"
"We want to—but we can't get through," Neville replied, looking close to tears.
"What? How's that possible?" Robert asked. "You're not Har…ry…"
Wait. That figure near the front, with his head covered—he looked familiar.
"Is that Harry?" Robert asked automatically.
"Yeah," Seamus nodded. "Harry was the first to try the barrier. That's when we realized it was… gone."
"Huh?" Robert froze, baffled.
What was happening?
Wasn't Harry supposed to arrive at the last minute, and then get blocked from entering by Dobby?
Robert had been looking forward to watching that unfold. But now… Harry was here early?
Although the result was the same—being blocked outside—the timing had changed, and more students were affected.
Robert scanned the crowd. Besides Harry and Ron, there were Seamus, Neville, Ginny, and a Hufflepuff girl.
Adding himself and a student who hadn't arrived yet, that made eight in total.
Minutes ticked by, and the Hufflepuff girl was close to crying.
"The train leaves in ten minutes… If we miss it… we'll be expelled…" she sniffled, her eyes red.
"Don't worry. My dad and Madam Longbottom went to find help," Ginny said gently, trying to soothe her.
"We got here on time," Seamus added loudly, trying to reassure both her and himself. "It's not our fault we can't get in. The school can't expel us… Right, Robert?"
All eyes turned to him.
"Yeah, you're an Ollivander. You must know something, right?" Ron chimed in.
No. What did this have to do with his last name being Ollivander?
Robert had no clue.
But seeing everyone's hopeful expressions, he still nodded.
"Don't worry. Hogwarts won't expel eight students over something like this, and we won't be late either."
"Even if we miss the train, we can just take the Knight Bus to school. We'll probably even make it in time for lunch in the Great Hall."
Every wizard who had ever ridden the Knight Bus had complained about its comfort—or lack thereof—but no one had ever said it was slow. Traveling from London to Hogwarts before noon was not only realistic—it might even be conservative.
What Robert didn't realize was that after he said this, a newly arrived young wizard behind him turned pale, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
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