The Knight Bus
As the smoke clears from its alarming entrance in the Knight Bus Depot, a conductor in a purple uniform would jump out of the purple triple decker, introducing
himself as Stan Spunpike and calling loudly for passengers to get
ready. Anybody unable to collect their tailored robes and hat before the arrival of the bus would have their garments delivered to them at the end point of the bus ride.
Passengers boarding the Knight bus would be struck by its cosy interior, what with the wood pannelling, curtained windows and armchairs. The mismatched chairs, rather than lined in utilitarian rows, would be scattered haphazardly across level but placed near enough to each other that even a large group would be able to remain close without leaving their chairs. With another great bang and flash of light, the bus would burst out of the depot, causing every chair on the bus to slide forward as well.
Attached to the bottom of each armchair would be rollers, which would be confined to roll within a recessed circle in the floor. The chairs would roll in tandem with the bus movement, but only in an area barely larger than the chair itself. To comply with safety regulations, each chair would have safety belts and would also be discretely and loosely tethered to the ground with strong flexible cables, such as climbing rope, so that the chairs and passengers would not go flying, even though it might seem very likely to the people seated in the chairs :)
From the depot, across the causeway and into Sentosa, a lane would be reserved for the Knight Bus, allowing it to whiz pass all the other vehicles driving into the smaller island. Once in Sentosa, the reserved lane would end facing a row of shops that can be seen from a distance. But the bus would continue racing down the lane, showing no signs of slowing.
Two adjacent shops would shy away from each other in fright, squeezing up against the shops on the other sides. While appearing solid from the outside, each shop would actually just be a border of tall retractable fences, covered on all sides with a painted tensile fabric, such as polyester mesh. The same tough material would also be used to counterfeit a solid roof by holding up a square fabric by four poles connected to its four corners and joining in its middle to form a tip. As the walls compress, so would the roof.
Activated by remote control or motion sensors, two giant spools would spin simultaneously, each winding a thick cable that would retract the fences. Between each panel of the fences would be several springs that would compress as the panels press against each other during the retraction. Once the bus roars past the shops, the pressure keeping the cable taut would be released and the cable would uncoil itself rapidly, allowing the springs between the panels of the fences to expand.
As the two shops snap back into their original places and shapes behind it, the Knight Bus would burst onto a busy London street revealed by the shirking shops. Lined on both sides with typical English stores and buildings, the road itself would be blocked from public use, a most prudent measure considering the bus's heedless and breakneck pace :)
As the bus barrels down the road, it would skid perilously close to the pavement. Though a heavy wrought iron railing would protect pedestrians from the bus, there would be vehicles parked along the pavement that would not have the same protection. Fortunately, this is the Knight Bus and the vehicles would jump aside to let the bus pass harmlessly through.
Like one of those vintage wind-up toys that are able to do back flips, each parked vehicles would have a built-in spring loaded mechanism. Small and made of light-weight but sturdy materials, once the springs are released by remote control or motion sensor, the vehicles would flip sideways and land back on its tires, but away from the pavement and deeper onto the empty road. A loose suspension would ensure a nice bouncy landing. As the bus zooms pass, their springs would be rewound and the vehicles would flip back into place once the bus is safely past them.
The bus would swerve into a side road and head right for two adjacent houses. The houses would jump apart, squeezing up against the houses on either side. Shooting right through the suddenly open passageway, the bus would barrel down a secluded, shadowy road, until it stops at one end of a remote lane. The other end leads right to High Street, the main thoroughfare of Hogsmeade Village.
Passengers boarding the Knight bus would be struck by its cosy interior, what with the wood pannelling, curtained windows and armchairs. The mismatched chairs, rather than lined in utilitarian rows, would be scattered haphazardly across level but placed near enough to each other that even a large group would be able to remain close without leaving their chairs. With another great bang and flash of light, the bus would burst out of the depot, causing every chair on the bus to slide forward as well.
Attached to the bottom of each armchair would be rollers, which would be confined to roll within a recessed circle in the floor. The chairs would roll in tandem with the bus movement, but only in an area barely larger than the chair itself. To comply with safety regulations, each chair would have safety belts and would also be discretely and loosely tethered to the ground with strong flexible cables, such as climbing rope, so that the chairs and passengers would not go flying, even though it might seem very likely to the people seated in the chairs :)
From the depot, across the causeway and into Sentosa, a lane would be reserved for the Knight Bus, allowing it to whiz pass all the other vehicles driving into the smaller island. Once in Sentosa, the reserved lane would end facing a row of shops that can be seen from a distance. But the bus would continue racing down the lane, showing no signs of slowing.
Two adjacent shops would shy away from each other in fright, squeezing up against the shops on the other sides. While appearing solid from the outside, each shop would actually just be a border of tall retractable fences, covered on all sides with a painted tensile fabric, such as polyester mesh. The same tough material would also be used to counterfeit a solid roof by holding up a square fabric by four poles connected to its four corners and joining in its middle to form a tip. As the walls compress, so would the roof.
Activated by remote control or motion sensors, two giant spools would spin simultaneously, each winding a thick cable that would retract the fences. Between each panel of the fences would be several springs that would compress as the panels press against each other during the retraction. Once the bus roars past the shops, the pressure keeping the cable taut would be released and the cable would uncoil itself rapidly, allowing the springs between the panels of the fences to expand.
As the two shops snap back into their original places and shapes behind it, the Knight Bus would burst onto a busy London street revealed by the shirking shops. Lined on both sides with typical English stores and buildings, the road itself would be blocked from public use, a most prudent measure considering the bus's heedless and breakneck pace :)
As the bus barrels down the road, it would skid perilously close to the pavement. Though a heavy wrought iron railing would protect pedestrians from the bus, there would be vehicles parked along the pavement that would not have the same protection. Fortunately, this is the Knight Bus and the vehicles would jump aside to let the bus pass harmlessly through.
Like one of those vintage wind-up toys that are able to do back flips, each parked vehicles would have a built-in spring loaded mechanism. Small and made of light-weight but sturdy materials, once the springs are released by remote control or motion sensor, the vehicles would flip sideways and land back on its tires, but away from the pavement and deeper onto the empty road. A loose suspension would ensure a nice bouncy landing. As the bus zooms pass, their springs would be rewound and the vehicles would flip back into place once the bus is safely past them.
The bus would swerve into a side road and head right for two adjacent houses. The houses would jump apart, squeezing up against the houses on either side. Shooting right through the suddenly open passageway, the bus would barrel down a secluded, shadowy road, until it stops at one end of a remote lane. The other end leads right to High Street, the main thoroughfare of Hogsmeade Village.