Hello, readers! This is Harry here. I’ve got a recipe I’ve been wanting to share, and even though now really isn’t a good time, I’ve apparently decided to type it up at this moment. I’m currently on this crazy magic bus thing? I don’t really know entirely what’s going on– I didn’t mean to get here. I’ve kinda had a hectic couple of days.

See, I’ve got this form I need signed for school. I’m about to go into my third year of Hogwarts and third years get to visit the neighboring wizarding village Hogsmeade. It requires a parent or guardian to sign it, and I couldn’t think of anyone I could ask besides the current bomb factory warden. I would have preferred asking our old warden Fennec; she used to work at the factory. We’ve all gotten closer with her over the years. Well, besides Bond; they’re not on good terms because of something that happened in the past. Anyway, Fennec left some years ago to pursue other opportunities in her career, though she still keeps in touch.

The warden I asked was actually quite rude to me and said it would get signed at the end of summer if I met my bomb making quota. I’ve got loads of summer work, though, and keeping up with the bomb making is harder without my brothers around to help. As a result, I’ve been falling a bit behind in my work, and, if I’m being completely honest, I’ve been a little snippy because of it. So today when the warden got on my case about it again, I lost my temper. But that can be dangerous for untrained wizards; you can lose control of your magic. Which I sort of did.

The warden wanted more bombs, so I sort of accidentally made one bomb grow really big. I blew it up like it was a balloon. But that was pretty dangerous because if it had gone off, the explosion would’ve been colossal. But I don’t know how to deflate it, so I figured the best thing to do would be to just leave… Now I’m on the run. The Ministry of Magic will expel students for using magic outside of school before they graduate, and this is my second offense. (The first was last summer, but it wasn’t really my fault. I’m not going to get into it now, I’m still a little bitter about it.)

I had no choice but to run. I’m a fugitive now! It might be quite thrilling if I wasn’t still so nervous. I don’t know how James does this all the time.

Leaving the Bomb Factory in a rush, I made up a plan as to what I’ll do next. I refuse to hand over my wand to the Ministry, but soon I bet I’ll be on a wanted list or something. So before word gets out about my new life of crime, I’m going to take as much money as I can (without it being suspicious) from Gringotts. Then I figured my best bet was to show up at James’s place; he’ll know what I should do. He does this sort of stuff all the time; I love having such capable big brothers! And besides Frodo, M16, and me, no one knows where he lives! So I should be safe over there for now. If I’m being honest, I’m hoping to cheer him up a bit too. He’s really sad, though he won’t talk about it or let it show. Frodo and I can tell though. We think his first mission as a 00 agent went really badly: he even almost quite the force! We’re kinda worried about him.

I left the Bomb Factory in a panicked rush, fleeing through the trees. I was so scared, I even thought I saw this big scary dog behind me. It was huge, with gleaming eyes! I got so scared, I tripped over my trunk and fell backward. My hand flew to the side as I tried to catch myself, and, then, before I knew it, there was a deafening BANG! and a gigantic tire almost drove over my face. I rolled away just in time to see a massive, triple-decker purple bus towering above me. There was gold-lettering over the windshield that read “The Knight Bus.”

I thought I’d lost my mind. Or was maybe concussed from my fall. But then this guy popped out in the same colour purple uniform and started reciting this spiel.

““Welcome to the Knight Bus,” he began, “emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve—”

Then he paused, looking down at me weirdly. “What’re you doin’ down there?” he asked me.

“I fell over,” I said as I scrambled back to my feet.

“‘Choo fall over for?” he said, sniggering.

“Well, I didn’t do it on purpose,” I huffed, a little angry. I suddenly remembered the big black dog I had saw, but when I turned around quickly to peer into the woods, I couldn’t see anything.

“‘Choo lookin’ at?”

“There was a big black thing. Like a dog… but massive…”

The conductor– Stan Shunpike– glanced at me weirdly, and I saw his eyes flick up to my forehead. I have a scar there, and I’m kinda well-known for it in the wizarding world. I flattened my hair nervously– I didn’t want him to know who I was.

“Woss your name?” he asked me, still peering at my forehead.

“Um,” I stuttered, my mind racing, “Neville Longbottom.”

Now, dear readers, I’m not very proud of this moment. Desperate as I was to hide my true identity from this man, I said the first name that popped into my mouth. And it was my friend from school! How could I be so stupid?! I don’t want his good name associated with me now, since I’m living a life of crime. But it’s too late! I can only hope Neville will not suffer for my blunder.

“So — so this bus,” I added quickly trying to distract him, “did you say it goes anywhere?”

“Yep,” said Stan proudly, “anywhere you like, ’long it’s on land. Can’t do nuffink underwater. ‘Ere, you did flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand ’and, dincha?”

“Yes! Yes, of course I did,” I interjected as fast as I could. “How much would it be to go to London?”

So that’s how I ended up on this crazy bus! I’m sitting here right now. The inside is full of brass bedsteads instead of seats. There are candles lining the wall next to curtained windows, flickering and casting shadows on the wood-paneled walls. It would be quite comfortable, if it wasn’t so hard to type– the bus keeps making these horrible sudden stops and the whole inside lurches. I don’t know where the driver got his license, but he’s making me nervous.

Stan asked if I’d like hot chocolate, but I told him I was good. I’ve got a big bag of chocolate chips cookies I made at the Bomb Factory right before I left packed in my bag! I’m eating some right now (which is what prompted me to write this all up), and they’re bringing me comfort in this turbulent night I’m having.

These cookies are pretty straight forward as far as baking goes– it’s hard to go wrong with just good old chocolate chip cookies. But don’t let their simplicity fool you! These cookies are delicious, and they’d never last more than a few days back when all my brothers lived at the bomb factory.

Because they’re quite easy to bake, my brothers would make them all the time back in the day to cheer each other up! Why, I’m looking forward to giving some to James when I see him. Even I’m needing their comfort tonight: I just ate another one (about the tenth one I’ve had in the past hour) because Stan is telling me of a wizard murderer who just got loose. So I know what I’ll be dreaming about tonight.

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To start baking, you begin with 1 cup of butter. Soften it, but don’t melt it! For the batch I just made, I decided to make them vegan. This recipe wasn’t specifically designed to be vegan, but you can substitute vegan ingredients for the butter and eggs, which I’ll describe as I go. Because I made it vegan this time, the pictures will reflect that, but just know that you can do either and it will still taste delicious! For the softening butter stage, however, if you choose vegan, I use vegan butter. The brand I get already starts out very soft, so in that case, you can skip the softening part. Trust me, if you try to microwave it, it will just melt.

Next, put in the sugar and brown sugar, and then mix the sugar and butter together.

Add the vanilla. Frodo and I always love to add extra vanilla for taste, but the others, especially James, would always stick to the recipe. Then, the recipe calls for two eggs. If you’re doing it vegan, you’ll need to make a flax egg or some other egg substitute. Frodo loves making flax eggs; he says they’re really fun. I asked him to do a quick bfb post on them yesterday before I got in this mess, so click here to see the recipe. Mix together these ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda. Make sure to stir well.

After that, add in the chocolate chips. Technically, these are optional, but they’re not chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate! For those of you going with the vegan version, try and find some vegan chocolate to add to your batter.

Roll into balls.

Bake for 10 minutes. Then, ta-da! You’re done!

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Oh yeah– I just realized the last time I posted something, it was Christmas time and I mentioned the monster running around my school terrorizing students. That’s way over, though! In case anyone was concerned. We’re all fine! A couple students almost died, including my friend Ron’s younger sister, but we went on an epic quest to save her. So she’s all right now.

Now I’m kinda more worried about this Sirius Black (the murderer)… But I don’t think I’ll meet him. I’m going to James’s place, anyway, and I know he’ll protect me. Stay safe, readers! I’m almost at my stop, so stay tuned for the next recipe.