58 Chapter 58: Thestral's

The first meeting between Hermione and Luna was hilarious. The young blonde, in her very special way, could disarm all of Hermione's logical arguments. Especially her fascination and open mind with magical creatures were very refreshing. Since Harry was aware of some of the creatures Luna was mentioning, as some of them lived in the Underworld, it was a relief to him that Luna didn't reveal his identity as a Devil. The little blonde kept her promise to herself. Although he trusted his friends, he wasn't sure how they would react to the fact that he was a Devil. The perception in the non-magical world was very negative because of existing stereotypes that had some truth to them in the past. In the magical world, Devils became a myth as there hadn't been any successful summonings for centuries.

Devilkind only shared specific summoning circles with Wizardkind. After witnessing their more and more extreme ways and the development of their society, they broke all contact with them. Especially since they were considered a failed experiment.

Nothing notable happened during the whole train ride, besides Harry thinking he saw Dobby once watching through the train window from the outside, clinging to the moving Hogwarts Express. But after blinking, he believed it was only a hallucination of his subconsciousness since the small elf had promised to protect him.

Overall, with the addition of Luna, it was a highly entertaining few hours until they reached the castle. Watching Hermione getting visibly more frustrated as she tried to disprove anything Luna said but couldn't turned out to be very amusing. At some point, he had to step in and stop the small blonde from giving the bushy-haired girl a brain aneurysm.

When they discussed the House placement, none of the other members of the compartment, besides Harry, wanted to believe that Luna would be sorted into Ravenclaw. They even made a small bet for a few Knuts, which Harry was quite confident he would win. Although Luna didn't project what people would consider traditional smarts, the girl had a form of unconventional and otherworldly wisdom that made her probably the most fitting for Ravenclaw among all of them.

Harry, Daphne, and Tracey, with their hunt for knowledge to empower themselves, were more Slytherin-type Ravenclaws. They would fit into the House of Snakes quite well. While Hermione was pursuing knowledge for knowledge's sake, she was quite rigid in her pursuit, lacking the open-mindedness for the world outside of books that Luna possessed.

"Luna, you need to go with Hagrid. He will bring you and the other first years to the castle," said Harry as they stepped onto the dark platform of the Hogsmeade village, pointing out the friendly half-giant to the dreamy first-year.

"Okay," was all she said as she nodded and with a spring in her step walked towards Hagrid, who was gathering all the first-year students.

"So where do we need to go? To the Carriages again?" asked Hermione, as it was their first time as one of the higher years. They had returned last year with carriages that were pulled by strange creatures.

"Yes, besides the first years, students always use the carriages to get to or from the castle, although in some circumstances, they also walk," nodded Daphne, as she knew more about the general workings of the castle. Not only did both her parents attend Hogwarts, but her father also sat on the board of Governors, which regulated a large part of the administration of the school and was responsible for the finances as one of the main sources of money for Hogwarts.

As they approached the black carriage with an attached headlamp at the front, their tops open as the weather was quite nice today, there was a clear dark sky with the moonlight illuminating the dark platform. Once again, Harry noticed the strange creatures that were pulling the carriages. He had already noticed them last year when they used the carriage to return to the train.

The creatures had quite a disturbing appearance. They had big bony bodies with dragon-like faces bearing white, glittering eyes that lacked both expression and pupils. But they were horse-shaped with two large wings, a pair of vast, black, and leathery wings more similar to those of bats, quite similar to his own devil wings.

But the most interesting thing about them was the feeling of magic they emanated. Instead of the normal aura, their magic naturally flowed through their skin, giving them an unidentified effect.

"I wonder what these horses are called?" Harry asked the others as he stared at the skeletal horses in front of the carriages.

"What horses?" asked Hermione, confused.

"The ones at the front of the carriage. The quite scary-looking ones with bat wings and a skeletal body," said Harry, pointing at the horse pulling their carriage.

"I don't see anything. There is nothing pulling the carriage," replied Hermione, now worried if Harry was going mad.

"But I can clearly see it," he muttered as he approached the horse while it eyed him. "May I pet you?" he asked, and the horse nodded with its head a moment later. Harry patted its back, feeling the leathery skin beneath his hand.

Looking at Hermione, Daphne, and Tracey, who were staring at him in confusion, he said, "Come here. I will show you." The three girls approached him cautiously before he took their hands and placed them carefully on the back of the skeletal horse.

All three of them could feel the leathery skin, but none of them could see what they were patting. "There really is something pulling the carriage," said Hermione, baffled and blushing a bit after their recent discussion about the existence of invisible animals.

"I think I know what they are. My dad told me about them. They are called Thestrals," added Tracey after thinking for a moment, recalling what her father had told her. "They are usually invisible until a specific condition is fulfilled. Only people who have seen death can see them. That's why they're not really liked among wizards, as they often remind them of the deceased. They are also considered scary-looking."

"Who did you see die, Harry?" asked Daphne, worry reflecting in her blue eyes as she watched her friend.

"I don't know. Nobody that I can remember. I should have seen the death of my parents, but I only have a vague memory of a green light," he said thoughtfully, realizing that he hadn't truly seen anyone die. He was close when the Dursleys turned into bloody mist from an explosion, but he didn't witness their actual deaths.

"I'm not sure if it works that way. I'm not well-informed about them, but if this is the only time you've seen them, it must be the reason," said Tracey awkwardly, feeling sad for her friend.

Harry didn't feel awkward discussing his deceased parents. He had long since accepted their deaths, and he now had a place he called home so he didn't felt sad about their loss anymore, just grateful that they loved him and gave their lives to protect him. However, the fact that he had seen Death bothered him. He hadn't truly seen anyone die, except... himself.

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