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GOBLET OF FIRE.
HOGWARTS was so magnificent she couldn't help but get lightheaded. Ron had cheered up laughing at her silly face, mouth open and eyes like saucers, and Harry and Hermione were reminiscing about their first year and something about a stone. They wandered down a path, surrounded by other students, and the rain was still coming down, thick and heavy. Thunder rumbled in the clouds overhead and Arthur curled inside Lia's sleeve, meek.
"I'm not going with the First Years," Ophelia said under her breath to Hermione, as a very, very tall man (she learnt his name after Harry greeted him) gathered the young children. Hagrid didn't look her way and she thanked the stars.
"I'm sure at least Professor McGonagall will help sort you," the girl replied helpfully, head bent against the downpour. "I wouldn't worry."
The forest path they walked down took them to a cluster of carriages, pulled by these skeletal horses with wings. Their skin was thin and grey and stretched across their bones, virtually impossible to see unless up close, and they possessed wings not unlike a bats, flapping at their sides. Ophelia made a face upon seeing them - both curious and slightly unsettled.
"What are those?" She pointed at them, coming closer.
Harry sent her a funny look. "A carriage?"
"No, the horses pulling them," Ophelia shot back. "I've not seen them before in my books."
"There's nothing there," Hermione answered slowly. "The carriages pull themselves."
Ophelia paused and a horrible feeling of embarrassment came over her. Was she publicly going mad? She grew even more worried. Was this a vision? Rarely did the visions cross her eye so realistically, so ingrained with her actual world.
She put her hand down. "Nevermind." She didn't miss the three friends exchange looks behind her back.
She clambered onto the carriage, opting to sit next to Hermione, despite the other girl's wide hair occasionally obscuring her view. The winged horses never disappeared, however, and the movements of the carriage always coincided with the delicate steps their bones took. Either she was getting crazier or there were creatures no one could see but her. Both options sounded awful.
The ride to the castle distracted her. Hermione kept giving her little facts and Ophelia gladly received the information, happy to know more though she wasn't sure if she needed to know how many staircases there were. When it grew darker in the forest, several wands lit up in other carriages, and excitedly, Ophelia gently cast the spell. Up and down, lumos. Her wand flared to life and Harry winced opposite her. She quickly apologised and focused on it dimming. It obeyed after a moment. Hermione shuffled closer to the light to flick a few more pages of her book.
They reached Hogwarts some fifteen minutes later, and Ophelia flicked her light away, hiding her elation at using her own wand. She hopped down from the carriage and tried not to stare at those strange creatures, pretending not to see them like everyone else. They all passed tall gates flanked by metal winged boars, and the four of them used the huddle of students to shelter from the biting rain that was now being blown sideways by the wind.
