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Looking around, Ted saw no seats inside the Knight Bus, instead, a few copper-made beds filled the space of the base floor, standing near the covered windows. Illuminating the room and the wood-paneled walls, near each bed were candles, creating a cozy and warm atmosphere.

On the bed closest to the entrance, an old man was sitting, picking behind the curtained window, mumbling something he couldn't hear. The rest of the beds were empty, covered in neat white sheets. 

Ted walked until he reached the front of the bus where he sat on a bed that was placed right behind the driver seat. Cedric than passed him, taking out a bottle of water that released a little steam into the cold night air and a small leather sack.

"What color for the toothbrush?" Cedric asked, looking through his bag. "We have light blue, blue, dark blue, indigo blue, and orange."

"I'll take the blue," Ted said, giving the man a judging side glance before turning to the driver's seat. There, he saw an old man wearing a very thick pair of glasses.

"This is Ernie, our driver. Ern, this is—" but Cedric stopped as he realized he hadn't asked for his name.

"Ted, nice to meet you," Ted continued the man's sentence. Ernie nodded at him before turning back to the road. Then, there was a tremendous 'Bang,' and the bus shot forward at an incredible speed toward the dark roads of London.

Ted held tightly onto the brass frame of his bed, expecting the speed after what he had seen before. Unfortunately, he was still thrown backward by the sudden acceleration, dropping the bottle of water he received onto the floor.

With the speed stabilizing in a moment, Ted could now see the bus rushing through the busy streets. They passed through several roads full of cars, not slowing down in any situation.

Cedric, who was looking at Ted's face, couldn't help but sigh with disappointment at the child's reaction. He usually had great fun looking at the stunned faces of newcomers, but Ted's expression wasn't one of shock but one of wonder.

Looking at the road, he couldn't help but imagine the enchantments that might have been used to make the magical bus.

'Is it a spell that makes it invisible, or just hard to notice? And that speed, there must be a ton of speed charms and the like, maybe even safety charms in case of a crash...' Ted couldn't help but think of all the magic-related books he had ever read, trying to make sense of how what he was seeing was made into reality.

He thought of asking the conductor or driver, but he found Cedric to be annoying. Ever since he heard where he was going, the man didn't stop staring at him. On the other hand, Ernie didn't seem to speak much, not to mention that Ted wasn't sure how much concentration was needed to keep this bus-shaped 'rocket' from bumping into a wall.

After a few short minutes, Cedric finally decided to leave Ted be as he moved up the stairs to the upper floor. Ted, relieved, watched through the window as they seemed to be riding through an open grassland, no road was in sight. than the Knight Bus came to a sudden stop, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

An old man wearing an emerald robe walked down the stairs, followed by Cedric, he waved Ernie who returned the gesture with his right hand before he walked out. Meanwhile, Cedric took out a large trunk and followed the man outside. Ted, on the other hand, took the chance to pick up the bottle of water that had rolled to the back of the bus.

A minute later, the bus moved once more, shooting in a seemingly random direction, heading towards the next stop. Ted realized with slight amazement that when Cedric said they could take the passenger anywhere they wanted to go, he actually meant it.

Figuring he might as well take the time and fix himself a little, he brushed his teeth, took some water, washed his face, and tidied his clothes. Next, he had to figure out what he was going to tell his father upon his return.

<================ >

It was already hours later when the Knight Bus returned to London. Ted, who all this while was reading the potions book he bought earlier today, was awoken by Cedric's voice standing right next to him, reading a paper.

"Next stop is yours, kid," he said grumpily. He was already tired when the night had just begun, and now it was already nearing midnight. Over the last few hours, he had to carry tens of bags in and out.

Apparently, even during the night, the top floor was still made of seats and not beds, creating room for a lot more people. Most passengers were also not great fans of the squawking brass beds that weren't anchored to the floor, making the first floor the least popular.

Ted stood up. He had already figured out how to keep his balance on the Knight bus, even during the sharp turns and stops. Holding onto a nearby bedpost, he waited patiently as the bus passed unaffected through a heavily reinforced gate that stood at the entrance of the street.

Finally, it stopped in front of a tall Victorian-styled mansion surrounded by a silver fence. Looking at his house, Ted let out a sigh that he didn't know he held, realizing a lot of tension that was built on him over the last day.

Walking down, Ted gave one last look at the triple-decker bus and Cedric, who was standing at the bus entrance behind him, giving him a complicated, bewildered look filled with a touch of envy and contemplation.

Ted walked towards the gate, waving at the guard who in turn gave him a stunned look before saying something into the radio and opening the gate. At his back, Ted could hear the Bang as the Knight bus left once more, heading towards its next station.

Walking into the house, Ted looked at the familiar marble floor that decorated the main hall. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or sad, as this signaled the end of his magical adventure. For now, at least.

"Welcome back, Master Theodor. I'll inform Lord Cassius of your return," Nigel, the head butler, greeted with a slight formal bow.

Ted nodded at him courteously and turned to his side, spotting Lora, his personal maid.

"Please prepare me a bath; I shall be there shortly," he said to the young maid who, in turn, nodded and walked into the hallway leading towards the kitchen.

Looking at the curved marble stairs where Nigel disappeared, Ted's eyes stopped at a big portrait. In it, stood a couple, smiling. The man, with raven-black hair just like his, and sharp features, was dressed in a formal dark maroon suit. His eyes black, like his hair, stared forward with a noble glance.

Next to him, dressed in a crimson dress, stood a young woman. Her hair silvery white resembled glittering snow, and her eyes, gentle and warm, were silver with the slightest tinge of blue, identical to Ted's. Around her neck was a bright red ruby necklace that made her perfect pale skin pop in comparison.

'Mom...' Ted's eyes lingered at her and turned sharp, resembling his father. 'I finally know what happened; I shall make them suffer pain far more than they caused you...' The screams of his mother rose to his ears, recalling that day once more...

<================ >

During dinner, Ted's father had actually shown himself, asking shortly of his whereabouts. Ted, who had already prepared for this, didn't bother to cover up for Jessie and explained how he got to be alone in the first place and how he spotted a suspicious-looking man who was following him by looking at the reflection on the storefronts' windows.

Eventually, he invented a story of how he took advantage of a passing bus and walked into a closing bookstore nearby, hiding behind the shelves at the back of the store until the shop was closed for the night.

Realizing that he was locked in, Ted chose to read and lost his sense of time, only noticing that it was already the next day in the afternoon when the shopkeeper announced closing the shop. When he left, he found that he didn't know how to get home, so he tried to find a way to call, but he had no spare change.

Taking advantage of his father's ignorance of his things, as he paid no attention to him, Ted made some stuff up. He had already destroyed his wallet while on the Knight bus by getting some help from Cedric in creating some fire for the cost of the rest of his sickles.

Finally, he continued narrating how when he asked around if anyone could switch his bill for coins, out of nowhere someone came and snatched his wallet, leaving him wandering the streets when a nice young woman who passed by gave him an underground train ticket, which she wouldn't be able to use.

He ended the story by how he got to Kensington using the underground and walked home from there.

It was past midnight, the window of the room hanged open, letting in a slightly cold breeze that brushed over Ted, who was now sitting near a reading desk in his room. He had already finished reading the potions book he bought today and had already taken a pile of books from his mother's library, starting with charms and potions.

He had passed over them before since he thought they were filled with 'fake' informative knowledge. Something like a book full of descriptions and exact statistics of something imaginary. At the time he found them boring; of course, that wasn't the case anymore.

Ted opened the window for the owls that might enter at any moment, sending his deliveries. He could only imagine the maids' reactions to a big owl flying through some random window, dropping a bunch of candies on the floor.

Taking a sip from his tea, Ted finally decided to head to bed. Many things happened that day, and he had to rest.

<================ >

Meanwhile, at the study, Cassius was glaring at two people like a hawk, his black eyes as if staring into their souls. The ones in front of him were Jessie, the maid, and Aron, the bodyguard sent to follow Ted.

"Not only did you fail to follow him, but you also neglected to tell me he was alone." Cassius's voice wasn't loud, but it was piercing, like an unsheathed sword.

"You two will leave this mansion tonight, and you will never show your face to me again," he said slowly in a commanding tone as he turned towards the window behind him that showed the majestic view of Kensington Gardens. His back seemed like a mountain in the eyes of the two siblings. "And if I ever see you again..."

Cassius didn't finish the sentence, leaving their imagination to run wild. "Now leave!" he finally said, this time he raised his voice slightly, making the two jump slightly, clearly nervous.

Hearing them leave the room, Cassius turned to his left. "Find a replacement and do a background check on all the workers. I don't want any similar incidents in the future. Also, make our little guest comfortable."

"Understood, sir." Out of the shadows, almost invisible before, walked Nigel, the butler.

Leaving the room, Nigel went to the basement, where he stood in front of a woman in her mid-thirties tied to a chair, her mouth gagged and legs bound together. If Ted were here, he would have recognized her. It was the shopkeeper from the second-hand bookstore Ted was in before.

Taking off her gag, Nigel looked at her with disgust. "You will tell us who your employer is, even if it takes some time," he said as he punched her in the guts, getting only a slight whimper.

The woman was an assassin sent after Ted. Nigel found her sniping position when he went to search for Ted the night before. She was stationed at the top of a building just a few buildings from where he disappeared, though so far they could only get her to confess to her target, not her employer.

"I hope it hurts, even though you would never leave here. The price for threatening the lord's family isn't so cheap. All I can promise you is that you will eventually speak. Anything in between will just prolong your suffering."

He hit her a few more times before he left. Meanwhile, the woman only glared at his back full of hate. She still hasn't lost hope, but that was just a matter of time.

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(a/n) Next chap will be a time skip, I have an important birthday party coming up so next chap will only be next week.

Hope you enjoy the story so far, If you do, please VOTE and give me some POWER STONES.