"Last time I checked," the young man said with a grin. "You gettin' in or not?"
"Absolutely!"
"Well, hop in then," Stan gestured to the door beside him.
If the outside had been impressive the inside was even more bizarre. Large chintz chairs in various patterns were strewn about in no particular order and several witches and wizards looked to be picking up their shopping where it had fallen when they stopped. One old wizard looked to be… wet.
The door closed and the young man grabbed a shiny silver hand-hold.
"Take 'er away, Ern."
Bang! Harry found himself thrown back into the crush of chintz chairs. Seeking safety in one of them Harry pulled his feet and legs up away from the rampaging recliners.
The young man named Stan made his way over.
"So where'bouts choo headed?"
"Gringotts," a breathless Harry said.
"Leaky Cauldron close enough?" Stan asked as another bang had them rambling down a distant country lane. Stan slightly swayed.
"Perfect," Harry replied.
"'Leven sickles ter get 'choo there," Stan said, seemingly unaware of the bus's turbulence. "Firteen gets you 'ot choc'let. No, wait," he corrected himself. "That's only at nigh'. By day it's tea."
Glancing at the wet wizard from before, who now had a greenish twinge to him as he swayed back and forth, Harry decided against the tea and handed over the lesser amount.
"You have a loo?" Harry asked, feeling the lump of his Hogwarts robes behind him.
"In the back," Stan replied, handing Harry his ticket.
"Thanks."
Keeping a firm hand on anything remotely stable, Harry stumbled his way to the back of the bus where he found the lavatory blessedly empty. It was ten turbulent minutes before Harry had his robes on properly and he considered just ditching his hand-me-downs until he thought of trying to explain to the Dursleys why he was wearing robes when he got back there.
Blessedly soon - though not soon enough to save him from more bumps and bruises - Stan was calling out their arrival at the Leaky Cauldron. It was on wobbly legs that Harry found himself in front of the grimy London pub.
"Righ' then, be good," Stan called before the giant purple passage to paralyzation banged its way off again.
"Is it always like that?" Harry asked the green-tinted wizard that had gotten off when he did.
"Better than Apparition," was all the man said as he wobbled his way indoors.
The wizarding world, Harry decided, was insane. 'But at least they're not the Dursleys, ' he added as an afterthought.
The Leaky Cauldron was as dark and dingy as ever and Harry wondered if they ever cleaned. The hunch-backed gap-toothed barman smiled his way over, pointing at Harry's school robes.
"Bit early for that, innit?"
"Better early than late," Harry said embarrassed, wishing he had thought to hide his Gryffindor crest before entering for all the attention he was getting. 'At least it's better than looking like a deflated rhinoceros, ' he reminded himself.
"Think I could go through?" he asked, pointing towards the back.
"Sure thing," the barman smiled. "This way."
Soon enough the back wall was opened and he was in Diagon Alley proper. 'Made it with time to spare, ' Harry thought glancing at his watch to find it just past nine.
The feeling from his dream the night before returned and a smile crept onto his face. He had almost an hour before he had to go to Gringotts and he still had money in his pocket. There might not be an arcade or a three-story fountain but there were no screaming Dobbys in the windows either. This wasn't an opportunity Harry was going to waste.
The small shop directly to his right had a large wooden shoe over a sign saying Cadogans Cordwainery. Deciding anything was better than another day in Dudley's peeling leftovers Harry stepped inside.
He had been expecting to see rows upon rows of shelves, filled to the brim with every sort of shoe imaginable, what he found was a small, balding mustachioed man dozing in a chair and footprints on the wall. The smell of leather hung heavy over everything.
"Come in, come in!" the man cried now cheerily awake. "We're open."
"Er- You sell shoes?" Harry asked, uncertain he had interpreted the sign correctly.