𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

five

I followed Professor Hagrid through the Forbidden Forest. My classmates and I were all nervous since last night had been a full moon and the werewolves had come out, plus the last time we were in the Forbidden Forest was when Buckbeak attacked Draco Malfoy and almost got executed.

We tromped over tree stumps and thick patches of leaves, when suddenly Hagrid put a finger to his lips, shushing us, and stopped.

I looked around, scared of what he was trying to show us. Leaves were crunching under someone's--or something's--footsteps.

Hagrid pulled a large piece of meat out of his thick winter coat. He sniffed it, then tossed it onto the ground about ten feet away from himself.

I glanced at Fawn with worry in my eyes. She wore the same expression.

"Courtney's lucky. She is in Herbology right now."

At that moment, Hagrid began to whisper. "Students, quie' down. These creatures don' like loud noises, it'll scare 'em away."

I was confused now. What type of creature could we be looking at? They must be large creatures, considering the slab of meat Hagrid threw at them, and the sound their feet made when they walked, but if so, how would a loud noise scare them?

My eyes widened as I looked back up. A grey horse-like creature had appeared in front of us, with large wings and it seemed to be a skeleton. There were two babies jumping around the adult, and they all looked the same.

"Who here can see these?" Hagrid asked as the creatures started eating the meat.

I raised my hand. I was alone at first, but then two Slytherins put their hands up. A single Ravenclaw joined us, and finally, a Gryffindor.

"Jus' you five? Well, these here're thestrals. You can only see 'em if you've seen death before."

I took another look at the beautiful creatures. They were so graceful and elegant, they moved with such soft sounds, but they brought an omen of death around. I loved them.

"Can we pet them?"

Hagrid looked surprised. "I suppose ya can, but be careful."

I slowly walked up to the front of the crowd, trying to keep my eyes on the thestrals. I passed Hagrid, who seemed scared for a repeat of last year. I continued to pace myself towards the skeletal pegasi. The eldest looked straight at me, its eyes bright yellow. Its face resembled a reptile's, almost, and its wings looked like a bat's.

I took another step. The two baby thestrals stopped playing and backed up to their mother, but one dared to run up to me. I looked down at its small face and stuck my hand out. The baby thestral put its head into my hand and I started petting him. His brother cautiously followed his actions, walking up to me with fear. The two thestrals were soon rubbing their heads against my hands and arms while their mother watched.

I stood up and turned to the mother. She was taller than me by a foot, and I knew that her wings could take me out in seconds. Still, I reached my hand out to her nose and paused, waiting for her to close the gap.

I opened my eyes again when I felt her cold skin rub against my hands. I started petting her, and I was glad she didn't recoil from my touch. She slowly began to sit down on the ground, folding her legs under her, and I continued petting her.

"Y/n, I think you should come back now," Hagrid whispered, and I turned my head to look at him. I slowly began to rise and back away from the thestrals, but a large, grey wing blocked my path. I reached down and rubbed the mother's head. She let me go.

~~~

Word got around. Y/n: The girl who could tame thestrals.

Students of every house would walk up to me and ask me to explain and describe thestrals, others would ask me how I tamed them, and some wanted to see the thestrals themselves.

However, how was I supposed to answer how I tamed them if I didn't even know how I did that?

Of course, I described how beautiful the thestrals were, and I said that the students should talk to Hagrid if they wanted to meet them, but I was stumped as to how I did what I did.

The thestrals are an omen of death. What does this mean for me?

"Hey, Courtney, is it possible for a student to be an omen of death?"

"Um, I would think so, yes. Why?"

"I-I was just curious."

"Y/n was taming thestrals earlier, and apparently you can only see them if you've seen death," Fawn added.

"Ah. Well, from what I've read, you have to be a pureblood in order to be an omen of death. It's a strong, dark magic, and even the smallest taint of Muggle gene can ruin it. You're a Muggleborn, so I don't think you have to worry about it," Courtney answered with a smile.

"Thank you. I guess I'm just paranoid. The thestrals and I just seemed so . . . drawn to each other, you know?"

"Actually, I don't know, but I'm sure I can try to understand," my red-haired friend said. Courtney's blue eyes went well with her hair, and they stood out.

"Whatever. I just felt connected to the thestral. Almost like there was a large part of me that I didn't know about and that the thestral was the key to finding that. Is that weird?"

"A little bit," Fawn responded, laughing. Her dark hair bounced in its ponytail. I laughed with her, but there was still a nagging feeling inside of me: What if there was something I didn't know?