Blood Bound | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [5]

𝘃𝗶 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴

Gwen didn't want to tell the others that Luna could see the same thing that she and Harry could, for she knew they'd assume they were all having the same hallucination. Or they'd assume this was a feeble joke they were trying to pull. Gwen caught Harry watching the moving silhouettes of the horses outside, and as badly as she wanted to ask Luna what they were, she kept her mouth shut, settling for the feeling of relief that she was not alone in seeing them.

'Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?' asked Ginny. 'What's she doing back here? He can't have left, can he?'

'I'll be quite glad if he has,' said Luna. 'He isn't a very good teacher, is he?'

'Yes, he is!' said Gwen, Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

Gwen glared at Hermione; she cleared her throat and quickly said, 'Erm... yes... he's very good.'

'Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw,' said Luna, unfazed.

'You've got a rubbish sense of humour, then,' Ron snapped.

Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron's rudeness. On the contrary, she simply watched him for a while as though he were a mildly interesting book she was reading.

Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy up the road. When they passed the tall stone pillars with winged boars on either side of the gates, Gwen leaned forward to try and see whether there were any lights on in Hagrid's hut, but the grounds were in complete darkness. Hogwarts Castle, however, loomed ever closer, a towering mass of turrets, jet black against the dark sky, here and there a window blazing fiery bright above them.

The carriages rattled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors. Gwen climbed out first, turning back to look toward the Forbidden Forest, but the grounds remained dark. No hint of Hagrid's cabin. Gwen tried not to look at the skeletal horses, suddenly aware that she was no longer the only person that could see them. What had changed? They had always been there, why could Harry suddenly see them too?

Turning away, she joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps and into the castle.

The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start of term feast.

The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which mirrored the sky outside. Candles folate in midair, all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts that were drifting about, greeting the students as they took their seats. Luna floated away to the Ravenclaw table, while the others headed toward the Gryffindor one. Again, Gwen noticed people putting their heads together as she and Harry passed, interrupting their shouts and greetings to students from other houses, and the exchanging of summer news. Gwen kept her head high and followed behind Hermione, taking a seat with her at the Gryffindor table, while Ron and Harry walked up the other side and sat opposite them. Ginny was hailed by some fellow fourth years and left to sit with them, while Neville rejoined them. Gwen immediately looked up at the staff table.