Patrick Stump and the Flying Car Brigade

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A week had passed, and the day had come. I was finally going off to Diagon Alley to get all of my books and spend some time with my friends and my boyfriend. I put some Floo Powder in the fireplace, and as the flames turned green, I stepped inside. "Diagon Alley!" I shouted, as clearly as I could, hoping that I would actually end up in Diagon Alley this time.

Of course, that didn't work. The Floo Network never seemed to understand what I was saying. This time, I ended up in Knockturn Alley, just like I did the year before. I had to maneuver myself out of Borgin and Burkes and back into Diagon Alley, hoping that I wouldn't run into anyone too frightening. Other than a group of people in black ski masks and a man with long blond hair who told me to "Get busy living or get busy dying," I got out of Knockturn Alley without too many problems.

I finally entered Flourish and Blotts and found Andy, Pete, and Joe. They were all looking for their books. More accurately, Andy and Joe were looking for their books while Pete was being attacked by the Monster Book of Monsters. "OW!" Pete screamed as the book bit his leg. "WHY DID I DECIDE TO TAKE CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES AGAIN?!?"

"It's your fault that the book's attacking you," Joe said as he searched for his Defence Against The Dark Arts textbook. "You just need to stroke its spine."

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?" Pete yelled. "THIS THING IS TRYING TO KILL ME!!"

"Here you go," I said as I walked over to the book and stroked its spine. The book opened calmly, and Pete sighed in relief. "Are you okay, Pete?"

"I'm not okay, I promise," he replied. "I just have to find my Potions and Defence Against The Dark Arts textbooks, and then we can go." He quickly found those two books, while I looked for the books on my own supply list. It took me a while to find Confronting The Faceless, but I found it eventually, and all of us left to look for the rest of our supplies.

"Want to stop over at Wiseacre's?" Andy asked. "I heard that they have a sale on musical instruments."

"Sounds great," I said, and the four of us walked over to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. We looked around for a while, and I found a guitar that I liked. The guitar that I had at the time wasn't great, so I was glad to get an upgrade. Thankfully, it wasn't too expensive. I bought the guitar, and we went to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

To my surprise, Frank and Gerard were there. "We should get a Pygmy Puff," Gerard said as he went over to the WonderWitch display and picked up a pink Pygmy Puff. "Isn't she cute? I'm naming her Lola."

"The Pygmy Puff is cute, but can't we get another dog instead?" Frank said.

"Lola's easier to take care of," Gerard argued. "We won't have to buy more dog food."

"Good point," Frank said.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I can't tell what gender this thing is," Gerard said. "I'll just use they/them pronouns, but I'm still naming them Lola!"

"Whatever Gerard," Frank said, taking a few Galleons out of his pocket. "We can get Lola."

Gerard smiled. "Thank you Frank," he said. "You're the best."

"No, you're the best," Frank said. They went over to check out, and both of them started chatting with one of the managers. George and Ron Weasley ran the shop now, and they were both pretty cool.

I spotted Pete, Joe, and Andy browsing in the store. "I should get Patrick one of the Anti-Gravity Hats for our anniversary," Pete said. "He loves his fedoras."

"I wouldn't do that unless you want Patrick to polite you to death," Andy said.

"Let's just get some candy then," Pete said as he took some candy off of the shelf.

"That sounds lovely," I said.

"It sounds good to me too," Pete said, smiling. "I don't know what you're doing to me, mon chéri."

We were interrupted by Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun entering the store. It seemed like all of our classmates and former classmates were going to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes that day. "Pete!" Tyler exclaimed. "Have you heard the news?"

"No," Pete said. "What is it?"

"I have this new idea," Tyler said. "Then again, I have these thoughts so often I ought to replace that slot with what I once bought..."

"Get to the point," Josh said. He turned to us. "His idea is completely insane, but it's brilliant," he said.

"Just tell us, Tyler," Joe said.

"I have a great new idea on how to sneak Butterbeer into the Gryffindor Common Room," Tyler whispered. "We may be the few, the proud, and the emotional, but we need Butterbeer too!"

"What's your idea though?" Pete asked.

"I can't tell you right now. Not with the Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff here," he said, gesturing to Andy and I. "No offence."

"None taken," I said.

"I'll let you know all about it at the Start of Term Feast," Tyler said.

"I'm telling you - it's really a brilliant idea," Josh said.

"You're not helping Josh!" Tyler shouted. "You're out of the band!"

"No, you're out of the band!" Josh shouted back.

The two of them kept bickering, and the four of us left the shop. It had been an eventful day already, and we didn't need Tyler and Josh and their drama. We stopped at the ice cream parlour, but it was getting late and I had to leave. I gave Joe and Andy hugs and kissed Pete before using the Floo Network to get back home. As I carried my books up to my room, I wondered what I would do without them, trying not to think about the fact that I wouldn't see them next year. I pushed those thoughts out of my head and crashed onto my bed. I might as well savor this feeling while I had it.