Slytherin Weasley

Chapter 36

The next morning was crisp and clear. After getting our timetables from Snape, we wandered down to Hagrid's hut for our fist Care of Magical creatures lesson.

"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."

"What prefers the dark?" Addy sharply whispered, a trace of panic in his voice. "What did he say prefers the dark – did you hear?"

"Ready?" said Hagrid cheerfully, looking around at the class. "Right, well, I thought I'd start with 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 a brown haired Gryffindor boy, the panic in his voice clear.

"Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to Hogwarts, would it?" A Slytherin girl muttered behind me. The Slytherins murmured agreement and a few Gryffindors looked as though they thought she had a fair point, too.

"Course they're trained," said Hagrid, scowling and hoisting the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder. "Now, if yeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!"

He turned and strode straight into the Forest. Nobody seemed much disposed to follow. I glanced at Fred and George on the other side of the clearing, who sighed but nodded, and the three of us set off after Hagrid, dragging Daph, Addy and Lee Jordan, leading the rest of the class.

We 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 at all on the ground. With a grunt, Hagrid deposited his half a cow on the ground, stepped back and turned to face his class, most of whom were creeping from tree to tree towards him, peering around nervously as though expecting to be set upon at any moment.

"Gather roun', gather roun'," Hagrid encouraged. "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, I nudged Daph 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 darkness. 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.

He looked eagerly at Daph, but she was still staring around into the trees and after a few seconds she whispered,

"Why doesn't Hagrid call again?"

Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions as confused and nervously expectant as Daph's and were still gazing everywhere but at the horse standing feet from them. There were only two other people who seemed to be able to see them: a stringy Gryffindor boy standing just behind Fred was watching the horse eating with an expression of great distaste on his face; and Addy, 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?"

I raised his hand. Hagrid nodded at me. "Yeah ... yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Immy," he said seriously. "An' you too, Adrian, eh? An' –"

"Hagrid?," said Fred, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"

For an answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on the ground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, then several people gasped and Daph squealed. I 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?" Daph demanded in a terrified voice, retreating behind the nearest tree. "What's eating it?"

"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly and Fred gave a soft,

"Oh!" of comprehension at my shoulder.

"Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows –?"

"But they're really, really unlucky!" interrupted Daph, looking alarmed. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once –" I rolled my eyes. Daph all but worshiped Trelawney.

"No, no, no," said Hagrid, chuckling, "tha's jus' superstition, that is, they aren' unlucky, they're dead clever an' useful! Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly jus' pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin' a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate – an' here's another couple, look –"

Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one of them passing very close to Daph, who shivered and pressed herself closer to the tree, saying, "I think I felt something, I think it's near me!"

"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," said Hagrid patiently. "Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' yeh can see 'em an' some can't?"

I raised my hand.

"Go on then," said Hagrid, beaming at me. "The only people who can see Thestrals," I said, "are people who have seen death."

"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "ten points ter Slytherin. Now, our Thestral herd started off with a male an' five females. This one," he patted the first horse to have appeared, 'name o' Tenebrus, he's my special favourite, firs' one born here in the Forest."

The rest of the lesson passed quickly. Hagrid asked us to sketch and label a thestral and gave us little stories of how he had raised the herd.

At the end of the lesson, I was stood next to Tenebrus, my hand stroking along his scaly neck.

"They're kind of beautiful in a way." Addy said, coming to stand next to me.

I nodded. "They are." At the that moment the skeletal beast moved away, disappearing into the shadow of the trees with the others.

Hagrid escorted us back to his hut for the end of the lesson, and we were making our way up to the castle for lunch, when Daph finally spoke up.

"I never want to go back in there again."

I chuckled, "Hey It's not all that bad," and she looked at me scandalised.

"Fred and George," I said in explanation.

"Oi Oi" Fred said, coming up and wrapping has arms around me.

"Did my ears deceive me or are you talking about me, little sis." George said.

"Nothing but the bad stuff, big bro, I promise" I said and stuck my tongue out.

"So Thestrals huh?" Fred said,

"I wish I could see them," George said.

Addy and I stared in shock.

"NO! Not like that!" He back tracked, just like you know, what they actually look like not that" He trailed off.

"I know what you mean," Daph said. "I almost wish I could too. You look so peaceful, Immy at the end of the lesson. I want that."

"It's strange," I said, "I guess they help you find peace with the things you may have done. With the things you've seen."