Harry and I strolled through the trees towards the Ravenclaw girl who was standing bare foot on the dirt floor. Creatures similar to the skeleton horses that had pulled the carriages into Hogwarts stood around us, minding their own business as we approached the girl.
"Hello Potters." She said without looking behind her at us, her attention focused on the beast in front of her.
"Your feet. Aren't they cold?" Harry asked, snapping Luna's attention away from the animal and to us.
"A bit." She replied, looking down at her feet before answering. It was as if she hadn't even realised she had been bare foot. "Unfortunately, all my shoes have mysteriously disappeared. I suspect Nargles are behind it."
Nargles,what were they? Were they the creatures standing in front of us or something else?
"What are they?" I asked, pointing out the rather strange creatures. They seemed calm, and truly beautiful. As I spoke a rather large one spread it's wings to stretch before pulling them back to his long body.
"They’re called Thestrals." She told me, her head turning to face the creature that had walked from us to join another. "They’re quite gentle, really, but people avoid them because they’re a bit…"
"Different?" Harry asked, finishing her sentence.
"But why can't anyone else see them?" I interrupted the silence and approached one of the thestrals, waiting for a reply from Luna who seemed to know quite a lot about these new creatures. Maybe she could explain what a Nargle is too.
"They can only be seen by people who’ve seen death." She said. So, I could see them because of Cedric? Why did he have to die? I'd rather not see them and have him back.
"So you’ve known someone who’s died, then?" Harry asked slowly, trying not to upset Luna as we began to stroll towards a baby thestral that was slipping and sliding along the hard dirty ground.
"My mum." Luna answered with a slight dip in her voice. "She was quite an extraordinary witch, but she did like to experiment… and one day, one of her spells went badly wrong. I was 9." She explained, her voice regaining its usual pattern.
"I'm sorry." Harry and I muttered at the same time.
"Yes, it was rather horrible." She admitted. "I do feel very sad about it sometimes, but I’ve got Dad." The three of us stopped a few metres away from the young thestral, watching it as it watched us. Luna reached into a small bag hung over her shoulders and pulled out a shiny red apple which she held in her hand. "We both believe you, by the way. That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and you fought him... and the Ministry and the Prophet are conspiring against you and Dumbledore."
"Thanks. It seems you’re about the only ones that do." Harry replied but I didn't join in. I just stood there looking at the majestic creature before me.
"I don’t think that’s true." She told him, throwing the apple the thestral's way, but the creature shook his head as if to say he didn't want to eat it. The animal kicked it to the side before looking back up in search different food.
"Well it certainly does feel like it." I finally spoke, turning to face the two students to my left. Luna looked to me but Harry kept facing forward, mesmerized by the creatures surrounding the area.
"But I suppose that’s how he wants you to feel."
"What do you mean?" I asked her, I really didn't understand most of the things the girl came out with. Nargles, thestrals, what next? Unidogs?
"Well, if I were You-Know-Who… I’d want you to feel cut off from everyone else, because if it’s just you alone you’re not as much of a threat." Luna explained as she pulled a clump of pink meat from her bag and threw it towards the thestral, this time, the animal jumped at the meat and devoured it.
After that we made our way back to the school, so that we could have food in the Great Hall. Once we got there we went our separate ways to our separate tables, Ravenclaw for Luna, Gryffindor for Harry and of course, I went to the Slytherin table, taking a seat next to another Slytherin student. I would have sat by Draco, but Parkinson was there so I decided it would be better not to.
-
Prefects led their houses out of the Great Hall, but didn't get very far over the commotion of the students beginning to crowd around a argument in the making between Umbridge and McGonagall.
"Pardon me, professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?" Umbridge's voice rose over the crowds so I pushed my way to the front to see the two teachers standing on one of the middle steps in the set of stairs.
"I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices." McGonagall replied with anger in her voice. I had never seen her that annoyed.
Wait, how did she find out about- was she talking about Harry and I?
I looked over to Harry who was watching the argument a few feet away from me, his eyes darting between the two teachers.
"So silly of me, but it sounds as if you’re questioning my authority in my own classroom, Minerva." She said, climbing up a step which made her slightly taller to McGonagall.
"Not at all, Dolores, merely your medieval methods." McGonagall joined Umbridge a step up.
Medieval methods? She was definitely talking about us. Unless she'd done it to someone else too. I hadn't told anyone about the massive purple bruise covering the back of my hand so it must've been Harry. Or Ron. Or Hermione. Or anyone else who could've seen it.
I looked down, the faint patch of purple outlining the center of my hand. It had been weeks and the bruise still hadn't completely vanished.
"I am sorry, dear. But to question my practices is to question the Ministry, and by extension, the minister himself. I am a tolerant woman but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty." Umbridge snapped.
As she did a look of horror passed through Professor McGonagall's face. She looked at the lady dressed in pink standing in front of her, something have disturbed her. Before replying, she took a step down from Umbridge, giving her the satisfactory of winning the argument.
"Disloyalty." McGonagall muttered in disbelief.
"Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared." Umbridge stated, addressing the crowds of students around her. "Cornelius will want to take immediate action."
What the hell did this woman have in store for us? She couldn't do anything.
Could she?
YOU ARE READING
Wander || The Order of the Phoenix || DISCONTINUED
Teen Fiction"I watched the light fade from his beautiful eyes just before it faded from mine. Except I got the second chance he deserved. I walked away from the one I loved, leaving him in death while I chose life. I was the last person to see his pale corpse...
