When Hermione Fights

The Feast and a Rendezvous

The Feast and a Rendezvous

When we stepped off the train, I breathed in the fresh, fragrant air of a mild summer night. Yes, as of late I knew how liberating it could feel to take a deep breath. Illuminated by torches and lanterns the platform of Hogsmeade was bustling like usual with small first years, who were running around like headless chickens. They were heading for Hagrid, who stuck out of the crowd like a beacon and showed them the way with his cry of "First years, to me!"

Taking this all in, I left the train lost in thought and followed the others to the waiting, black carriages that would take us to the castle. I halted, because this year the formerly seemingly horseless carriages were no longer horseless, but pulled by horselike creatures. Black, glossy skin stretched directly above their bones, whereby their whole skeleton was outlined. The stunning, leatherlike wings reminded me of bats. But the most fascinating for me was the bony head, it had resemblance to a lizardlike dragon's head. The white eyes had no pupil and looked void and spooky. It knew exactly what creatures they were, had read all about them in the book "Magical, Dangerous Beasts".

They were thestrals, only visible to those people who had seen death, and because of that these animals were thought to be dangerous and creepy. Their carnivorous diet didn't help their reputation. But for me, they were simply fascinating and seemed pretty docile. I tried to hide my surprise over this unexpected discovery, while observing that Harry was less successful with the same endeavour. He stared at the thestrals as if they were ghosts. My pity for him was somewhat limited at the moment. If he only once in awhile looked into his school book he would have known he wasn't hallucinating, but that those were just thestrals, no more and no less, definitely no figment of his imagination.

Now Luna assured him as well in her own dreamy way that he was not fantasising, that she was able to see them as well, but she looked so spaced out, Harry and Ron were exchanging pitiful looks and one could clearly determine that they were very doubtful about Luna's claims.

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't let on about my ability to see the animals for fear that the question would arise what had happened during the holidays as somebody had to die in front of your eyes before you would be able to notice the creatures. A vicious circle.

Eventually we all had taken a seat in the carriage and we were approaching Hogwarts, which was soaring high above us, its silhouette stood out against the starlit sky. It was a magnificent, ancient, imposing castle. The warm glow of myriads of torches and candles escaped invitingly through the paned windows and conveyed an unreal, romantic atmosphere.

When the carriage stopped with a stutter, we joined the ceaseless stream of students pushing into the Great Hall.

Time and again it was overwhelming to walk through the massive portal, to pass through the stone antechamber and finally to enter the Great Hall through the tall double wing door. The weather outside was mimicked by the enchanted ceiling, causing a very impressive, mystical atmosphere. I let myself be captivated by the comfortable feeling.

Determinedly we headed for the Gryffindor table. There I tried to choose a seat that had a good view of both the Slytherin table and the teacher's table that throned elevated on a pedestal in front of us all. When finally all the Second to Seventh Years had taken their seats and the noise had more or less ceased, the double wing doors opened one more time and permitted McGonagall and the really tiny looking First Years to enter. Those walked nervously along the long aisle before facing the old, talking hat and being sorted with major fuss into one of the four Hogwarts houses. While the procedure dragged along I looked around curiously and noticed Malfoy holding court like a king at the Slytherin table. Once more our gazes crossed and I thought to see an amused expression alighting in his. I responded with a smile. It was too funny, I was holding a silent conversation with Draco in the Great Hall, who would have ever dared to think.