Chapter 271: The Knight Bus
The vault was piled high with gleaming Galleons, enough to make even the goblins lose themselves in quiet awe.
This was the sort of wealth a true master alchemist ought to have amassed—though the young wizard in question seemed entirely unaware of it.
Professor Snape stared at Sean with heavy intensity. He still remembered his last visit here, not long ago, when the vault had been nearly empty save for the few Galleons he had brought himself.
"Give me… a reasonable explanation."
The words came out clipped and low.
The goblin had already withdrawn to a discreet distance. In principle, goblins did not permit vaults to remain long out of their sight, but principles had their limits.
"I… made a few simple alchemical creations…" Sean admitted frankly.
"Hmph. Crude…" Professor Snape's lip curled in preparation for a cutting remark, only to halt once more. "Galleons do not fly into vaults because of a few simple alchemical trinkets. Tell me… the truth—"
His face darkened, cold eyes sweeping every corner of the underground chamber.
Of course, it was only Galleons here… an enormous sum, true, but not enough to trouble Severus Snape.
What truly mattered to him was—
"I've opened a shop with Fred and George at number ninety-three, Diagon Alley."
Sean answered steadily.
Severus Snape betrayed the faintest flicker of surprise, though his expression remained otherwise unchanged, his thoughts inscrutable.
"And… we've sold some notes."
Sean continued, clutching the vault inventory the goblin had handed him before departing.
Even he had not quite anticipated how well Green's Notes were selling.
Snape regarded him, his gaze growing more layered, more complicated.
Hundreds of miles beneath London, the occasional rumble of mine carts echoed along the tracks. Severus Snape seemed to stare not merely at the boy before him, but through him, into some distant void.
Green's Notes… Weasley & Green's Wizard Wheezes… They had become the talk of the wizarding world lately, yet he himself had known nothing—or rather, he had heard whispers but paid them no mind.
"But that isn't the most important part."
Sean's next words snapped Snape back to the present. A vein throbbed at the professor's temple.
"What else have you been keeping from me?!"
For once, Sean felt the full weight of Snape's presence pressing down harder than ever. His voice dropped.
"I made some simple alchemical creations."
Compared to the vast, profound future of magical creature transfiguration, Sean genuinely did not feel he had ventured very far. That was why he still considered his work mere "simple creations."
"Speak!"
"Fairy Tale Biscuits."
Snape went utterly still.
A torrent of information flooded his mind—
Thrice-Greatest Hermes… the Chocolate Frog Card Committee's nominee for the greatest wizard of the twenty-first century…
Gold Award for Pioneering Contribution at the Uagadou International Alchemy Conference, special guest of the Century of Transfiguration (interview declined), the alchemical legend who had seized dominion over magical creatures.
From his robes, Snape drew out an invitation, his expression shifting through a dozen emotions before settling into something like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
"Take your Galleons—come—"
Snape turned on his heel and strode from the vault.
His footsteps echoed sharply.
All along the way, only the chill draft of the underground vaults accompanied the pounding of his heart.
He felt an unprecedented irritation. How could he have known nothing? In the end, what did he truly understand?
The irritation lingered, undiminished, even as Sean emerged from the vault behind him.
Soon their figures vanished from the Gringotts entrance and reappeared not far from King's Cross Station.
Apparition could carry a wizard to any place he knew well, but Severus Snape was not familiar with a certain district called Croydon.
Thus they were forced to rely on more… particular means of transport.
The thought that Minerva McGonagall most likely knew the place only heightened his agitation.
Inside King's Cross Station, trains roared and crowds hurried in and out. Two figures in long robes inevitably drew curious glances from the lightly dressed Muggles passing by.
They had stood there for over ten minutes. Snape remained silent throughout; Sean asked nothing.
It was precisely this lack of questioning that deepened Snape's sense of something complex and inexpressible.
The fool had always placed absurd trust in him. Just as in the vault, he had answered every question without a hint of evasion or falsehood.
The feeling had come before and vanished before, leaving him deeply unsettled. His thoughts churned like a lake stirred by an unseen force—restless, yet the true cause eluded him.
Suddenly, a brilliant light flashed from the street beside the station.
Sean's quiet suspicion was confirmed.
Wizards in the Muggle world once had many choices for travel, but after the International Statute of Secrecy, their eccentric modes of transport had been severely restricted.
When heading to unfamiliar places—or when young wizards needed to travel—they often chose one particular conveyance: the Knight Bus.
A violently purple triple-decker bus had appeared as if from nowhere, its windscreen emblazoned in golden letters: **The Knight Bus**.
Curiously, aside from the tall man and the boy in robes, no one around seemed to notice the vehicle at all.
At that moment, a conductor in a purple uniform leapt down from the bus and addressed them loudly.
"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus—emergency transport for stranded wizards! Just stick out your wand hand, hop on, and we'll take you anywhere you want to go. Name's Stan Shunpike, your conductor today—oh—Professor Snape!"
He approached with a mixture of deference and apprehension.
It was Sean's first ride on the Knight Bus. The last time he had seen one was at the alchemy conference, where he had glimpsed its blueprints.
"To—Croydon."
Professor Snape ordered in his low, resonant voice.
"Six Sickles each," Stan replied, casting a curious glance at Sean. "Seven gets you a packet of peppermints…"
A few shiny coins were tossed into his hand. Delighted, Stan pressed a peppermint into Sean's palm.
Sean was still examining the magical vehicle.
The interior was a jumble of mismatched chairs scattered everywhere.
When he took the peppermint, Sean wondered briefly why they sold such things—until he discovered the reason soon enough.
Up front, the driver, Ernie Prang—an elderly wizard with enormously thick spectacles—nodded to the handful of passengers. Then the Knight Bus began its signature "low-flying" journey.
Ernie appeared to have only a loose acquaintance with the steering wheel. The bus careered onto the pavement again and again, eliciting shrieks from the young witch seated to Sean's left.
Fortunately, nothing was ever struck; lampposts, postboxes, and dustbins leapt nimbly aside as the bus approached and sprang back into place once it had passed.
Then came a great leap, accompanied by a deafening bang. The young witch nearly flew from her seat, only to be yanked back by the wizard beside her.
Once the bus steadied for a moment, Sean quietly bit into his peppermint. The sharp mint brought a small measure of calm.
(End of Chapter)
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 400 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you