Knight Bus
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The Knight Bus is a heavily enchanted, violently purple, triple-decker bus which transports magical folk in the Harry Potter fiction novels by J. K. Rowling.
The bus functions as public transportation for the wizard or witch in need everywhere in England, Scotland and Wales, bringing passengers to the destinations of their choice with seemingly no set route. It bolts through the streets, entirely invisible to Muggles and causing other objects to dodge it instead of the other way round, to cover short distances. For long ones, the Knight Bus makes hundred mile (160 km) leaps accompanied by a great bang and jolt, possibly similar to Apparating. The interior of the bus changes or is changed depending on the time of day, with chairs by day and beds by night. Its only limit in travelling is that it can't enter water.
The Knight Bus is generally used only by those who can't or won't choose other means of transportation. Most importantly, the jolts make travelling a severely uncomfortable experience. While the bus is lightning-fast by Muggle standards, still faster are near-instananeous Floo powder and Apparating. It charges for the service, albeit not heavily.
The conductor of the Knight Bus is Stan Shunpike, and its driver is Ernie Prang. The bus makes its debut along with its staff in the third book as Harry Potter unwittingly "hails" the Knight Bus by holding his wand out in front of him as he is standing on Magnolia Crescent. Harry also rides on the Knight Bus with a number of his friends in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
The Knight Bus's name is probably a play on the London night bus (see Buses in London).
In the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film, Stan and Ernie are accompanied by a talking shrunken head voiced by Lenny Henry.
The Knight Bus will not reappear in the 5th movie.
Stan Shunpike
Stan Shunpike (born 1975) is the young, pimply conductor of the Knight Bus. He speaks with a tough Cockney accent, and converses with Harry as he travels to London in the first part of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He also appears briefly in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the Quidditch World Cup and again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
The name "Shunpike" implies that his family has had a long tradition of running around turnpikes to avoid paying road tolls.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Stan Shunpike is arrested on suspicion of Death Eater activity. However, Harry and Dumbledore believe him to have been making untruthful boasts, as he had been known to do in the past. Even so, he is kept in Azkaban in order for the Ministry of Magic to look like progress is being made in the capturing of Death Eaters.
Ernie Prang
Ernie Prang is the driver of the Knight Bus. Ernie apparently doesn't speak very much and he has no lines in the film. In the book he speaks briefly, mainly to utter that famous West Country affirmative "Ar". He is shown to drive recklessly and is only able to work due to the fact the bus is enchanted to make objects jump out of its way.
Name meanings
Stan and Ernie are the names of JK Rowling's grandfathers. A shunpike is a back road used to avoid tolls on a turnpike, while "prang" is British slang for crashing a car.
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