The Other Snape

Chapter 28

"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called happily to the approaching students, jerking his head back at the dark trees behind him. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark. . . ."

Hagrid had come back from dealing with Giants, something Harry could barely wrap his head around. Apparently he went with Madam Maxime and came back empty-handed because of some Death Eaters morons.

"Ready?" said Hagrid happily, looking around at the class. "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em —"

"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" said Malfoy, "You don't exactly bring tamed animals to this class."

The Slytherins murmured agreement and a few Gryffindors looked as though they thought Malfoy had a fair point too.

" 'Course they're trained," said Hagrid, scowling and hoisting the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder.

"So what happened to your face, then?" demanded Malfoy.

"Mind yer own business!" said Hagrid, angrily. "Now if yeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!" He turned and strode straight into the forest.

Nobody seemed much disposed to follow. Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, who sighed but nodded, and the three of them set off after Hagrid, leading the rest of the class.

They walked for about ten minutes until they reached a place where the trees stood so closely together that it was as dark as twilight and there was no snow on the ground at all. Hagrid deposited his half a cow with a grunt on the ground, stepped back, and turned to face his class again, most of whom were creeping toward him from tree to tree, peering around nervously as though expecting to be set upon at any moment.

"Gather roun', gather roun'," said Hagrid encouragingly. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me. . . ."

He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out of his face, and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird. Nobody laughed; most of them looked too scared to make a sound.

Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again. A minute passed in which the class continued to peer nervously over their shoulders and around trees for a first glimpse of whatever it was that was coming.

And then, as Hagrid shook his hair back for a third time and expanded his enormous chest, Harry nudged Ron and pointed into the black space between two gnarled yew trees. A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing larger through the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face, neck, and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the dark-ness. It looked around at the class for a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with its pointed fangs. The thestrals.

He looked eagerly at Ron, but Ron was still staring around into the trees and after a few seconds he whispered, "Why doesn't Hagrid call again?"

Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions as confused and nervously expectant as Ron's and were still gazing everywhere but at the horse standing feet from them. There were only three other people who seemed to be able to see them: a stringy Slytherin boy standing just behind Goyle was watching the thestral eating with an expression of great distaste on his face, Malfoy who was looking at the thestral with resignation on his face, and Neville, whose eyes were following the swishing progress of the long black tail.

"Oh, an' here comes another one!" said Hagrid proudly, as a second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, folded its leathery wings closer to its body, and dipped its head to gorge on the meat. "Now . . . put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"

Harry raised his hand, as did Neville and the two Slytherins.

"Yeah . . . yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Harry," he said seriously. "An' you too, Neville, eh? An' —"

"Excuse me," said Zabini, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"

Malfoy mumbled something to him and the boy nodded, a bit pale.

Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on the ground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, then several people gasped and Parvati squealed. Harry understood why: Bits of flesh stripping themselves away from the bones and vanishing into thin air had to look very odd indeed.

"What's doing it?" Parvati demanded in a terrified voice, retreating behind the nearest tree. "What's eating it?"

"Thestrals," Harry whispered.

"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly, "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows—"

"But they're really, really unlucky! They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once —"

"No, no, no," said Hagrid, chuckling, "tha's jus' superstition, that is, they aren' unlucky, they're dead clever and' useful! 'Course, this lot don't' get a lot of' work, it's mainly just' pulling' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's taking' a long journey and' don't' want to Apparate — an' here's another couple, look —"

The class was soon interrupted by Professor Umbirdge, who talked to Crabbe and Goyle on how Hagird was a horrible teacher. Harry and his friends left the class angry and needing to vent.

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"So are we going to go back to Camp or can I go see my dad and mu— Alice?" Neville asked after a taxing spar with Draco.

Luna stopped throwing her knives. "That's true. I would like to go see my father also."

"Yeah, we aren't going back for Winter break," Amelia stretched, "I'm supposed to...yeah, you can see your parents."

"Great," Neville said, "Though it'll be a bit...weird knowing she's not really my mum."

Amelia sighed. "Yeah, well, it happens to almost all of us, you know."

"Did it happen to you?"

"Nah," Amelia waved her hand at one of the walls, concealing the targets on them, "Well, how I first got to camp...I saw my father die first. Always thought my mother left us."

"Oh," Neville shifted on his feet but Amelia would have none of the awkward silence and started them on arrows. Luna was the best at them, obviously, even though Amelia and Draco descended from Athena. Draco preferred his xiphos and kopis while Amelia used her own xiphos and bow if she needed it.

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