Reaper's Heir (Book 2)

Chapter 3

Chapter III

It was dark by the time we got to the station. Hermione had returned to her compartment and I had rejoined Daphne and Blaise after changing into my robes. Students streamed out of the train, the first years following Hagrid's booming voice to the boats that would take them across the lake. The rest of us were directed to a line of carriages. It took a while for the mass of students to clear enough for me to see what was pulling the carriages, but once I could, I stopped short, causing Daphne to bump into me.

"What the hell are those?" I asked, eyes glued to the skeletal horses hooked to the front of the carriages.

"What?" Daphne asked, following my gaze. "There's nothing there."

"Of course there is," I pointed at the horse thing again. "It's right there, pulling the carriage."

Blaise and Daphne exchanged confused looks before pulling me towards the carriage and we climbed into it, settling into our seats. I moved to the front and reached out to the skeletal horse, waiting for my hand to pass through it, as if it were an illusion. Instead, my hand connected with leathery skin. The horse whinnied and snorted, partially unfurling giant wings that resembled a bat's. White, pupilless eyes watched me curiously as the horse stomped a hoof, before starting to walk forward.

"Maeve."

I turned to Daphne, momentarily ignoring the skeletal horse. "I swear there's something there. It looks like a horse." Daphne sent Blaise a concerned look, but he shrugged, shaking his head. I scowled, "When did you two meet anyway?"

"When you decided to spend all of second term studying," Daphne replied shortly. "I got tired of listening to Pansy."

"I don't think I've ever not been tired of listening to her," I replied, which earned a snort from Blaise.

We rode the rest of the way to the castle in silence, occasionally breaking it to point out something in the woods or mention something strange from over the summer. Blaise asked at one point if I knew which wizarding family Dobby belonged to, but I told him that I didn't and that I hadn't even known about house elves before Dobby had shown up in my bedroom, much less how they worked or who they belonged to. He seemed unimpressed with my answer but dropped the subject anyway. We were led across the grounds to the great hall, our things already being taken to our dorms. I found myself sitting in between Daphne and Blaise as we waited for Professor McGonagall to bring the first years in to be sorted. Eventually, the doors swung open and the first years came in, wide eyes darting around the room. Several students pointed to the ceiling while others spoke in awed whispers.

"Is that how we looked last year?" I asked Daphne.

She shook her head but was cut off by Blaise groaning. "I wonder if this is how all the older students felt. I just want to go read my book." Daphne and I snickered at Blaise's face. Despite his scowl, he still looked rather handsome.

The hat began sorting the first years, though I hardly paid attention to them. Occasionally, a student would join our table and the room would be eerily quiet. "Luna Lovegood." Professor McGonagall called. A head of blonde hair moved through the crowd and sat on the stool at the front.

"That's the girl from the train," I said, standing up to get a better look. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head and it squirmed to life, mumbling to itself.

"Ravenclaw!" The hat shouted finally. 'Luna' hopped up from the stool and skipped over to the Ravenclaw table. I sat back down, feeling oddly disappointed, yet relieved at the same time. Once the sorting was done, Professor Dumbledore made his yearly announcements and started the feast, food materializing on the platters in front of us. Blaise and Daphne were far more reserved than I was in the amount of food they put on their plates. While Mrs. Weasley's food had been amazing, it took more than a couple of days to recoup an entire summer of getting the bare minimum of food.