Supernova: The Malfoy Twin's Story

Year 2 Part 7

     "Top shelf, Wren." I said as I handed her a book titled 'Tebo: The Hidden Beast'.

    "We're already at the T section?" She asked with wide eyes as she made her way up the ladder.

    "Yeah, it only took us a month and half to do it." I joked back.

     The past 6 Saturday's had blown by much quicker than I thought they would. Where I thought I would dread waking up every weekend to spend my time in detention, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

    After Wren racked up three more detentions within the first 15 minutes of our first one, I should've guessed she'd be sticking around just as long as I was. Yelling, running and trying to get into the forbidden section only elongated her time in here, and now we would both finally done with them by next Saturday, the weekend right before Halloween.

    I looked up as Wren dragged her fingers along the top shelf, humming quietly to herself as she did so. Never in my life did I think I would become friends with a Hufflepuff, but spending 6 weeks with someone really changes your perspective.

    "Next book!" She yelled from above.

    "Ms. Duke!" Madam Pince's voice screeched from her desk.

     "Sorry Madam." She yelled once again, immediately making me laugh.

     She winked at me as I grabbed the next book from the pile, but something in me made me freeze in my place. I couldn't even explain it, but something about the book I was holding drew me in. 'Thestrals in the Shadows' by Eleanor Ruston.

    "Any day now." Wren sang out.

     I help up my finger, signaling I needed a minute to see what this book was about. The front page looked as if it showed a picture of the Hogwarts' carriages, but something was off. There was a light drawing of a horse at the front of it, and it pulled me in to the first conversation I had been apart of as we entered the school year.

    Daphne and Theo talked about the horses pulling the carriages, but the rest of us thought they were playing a joke on us, or something. Now, looking at this book about these mythical creatures, I couldn't be so sure.

    "Hey, Em, if we want to finish by Halloween we should really speed this up." Wren said as she began to climb down the ladder.

    "Wren," I said, brushing aside her comment, "have you ever heard of a thestral?"

     Her face scrunched as she sat down beside me. She looked over the book I held closely in my hand and responded with a shake of her head.

     "No I don't believe so. What are they?"

     I shrugged my shoulders as I opened up the pages. It took me a few minutes to skim through useless nonsense, but eventually I landed on a passage that seemed to be more helpful than the rest.

    "Thestrals," I began to recite from the page, "are a breed of winged horse with a skeletal body, face with reptilian features, and wide, leathery wings that resemble a bat's. Thestrals are, undeservedly, known as omens of misfortune and aggression by many wizards because they are visible only to those who have witnessed death..."

     My words dropped almost immediately as a sick feeling appeared in my stomach. They can only be seen be people who've seen death? Then that means...

    "Wren, I have to go." I said quickly, grabbing my bag from the floor.

     "What? We only have a few more books to go and..."