328 Chapter 328

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After arriving at Hogsmeade station and seeing the poor future first years go to the boats to suffer in the cold of the Black Lake, my friends and I headed towards the carriages along with all the other students.

"Hey big boy," I said, patting the Thestral who was going to lead our carriage.

And Luna, who came up beside me, took out a piece of dried meat from who knows where and gave it to him.

"What?" she asked seeing me looking at her with a raised eyebrow, continuing to feed the creature in front of her.

And shaking my head I smiled wryly, before getting into the carriage.

"Hmm, I didn't know Luna could see Thestrals" Stephen commented, and when Luna got into the carriage he opened his mouth to say something to her, only to receive an elbow in his side, courtesy of Sue.

"Ow!" he groaned, rubbing his side with a pained expression, before looking at Sue in annoyance.

And ignoring his gaze she just stared at him, gesturing with her eyes at Luna and then at me, who was looking at him with a blank expression.

And without understanding, Stephen looked at us confused, until Sue whispered to him.

"Did you forget the criteria for seeing a Thestral?!" she asked.

"Huh? The criteria isn't..." and remembering the specific part where someone needed to have seen their own death, realization hit Stephen.

And realizing his mistake he looked a bit surprised and sad at Luna, who was oblivious to everything that was happening in favor of looking out the window happily.

Realizing that it would be unwise to ask Luna about who the person she saw die was, Stephen returned to his quiet spot, but not before giving me an apologetic look.

'Good thing Sue didn't let him continue with his question' I thought, a Silencing Charm on the tip of my tongue.

And turning to Luna I saw her still looking out the window while mumbling something, and I wasn't the only one who noticed this strange action of hers.

"Hmm, Luna? What are you doing?" Lisa asked, making the blonde girl turn to her.

"Oh, I'm counting the trees outside," she replied.

And listening to her, Lisa and I looked out the window, seeing the hundreds of trees that covered our vision, because we were passing through a road in the forest.

""..."" Lisa and I then looked at each other, before I shrugged.

"Well...that's interesting" Lisa said awkwardly.

"Isn't it?" Luna said excitedly, turning to look outside with a smile, leaving a confused Lisa looking at her strangely.

And I could hear, thanks to my powerful senses, Luna muttering softly, "One thousand three hundred and forty-two, one thousand three hundred and forty-three, one thousand three hundred..."

'Is she really counting the trees?' I wondered, before realizing it was Luna I was talking about.

'Well, this is actually quite normal compared to the other things she does' I thought, still listening to her murmurs, already being in tree number fourteen hundred and twelve.

'Now I don't know if that means she has a lot of focus or if she's very easily distracted'

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-Hogwarts – Great Hall-

After a carriage ride to the Hogwarts grounds, we all made our way to the Great Hall, and after a few minutes of waiting, the first years walked through the doors of the Great Hall following Professor McGonagall like ducklings.

And smiling at that nostalgic and somewhat funny scene, Professor McGonagall brought the Sorting Hat to start the sorting ceremony.

After all the first years were sorted into their houses, the Headmaster started the feast, with everyone starting to eat the delicious food prepared by the school's house elves.

Well, not everyone, as I could see Hermione at the Gryffindor table frowning at the plates in front of her.

'So she found out about the elves' I thought, before shrugging, 'Well I just hope she doesn't piss me off that I have an elf in my house'

And finishing thinking about it I went back to eating in silence, sometimes stopping to answer some of my friends or add something to their conversation.

And so the minutes passed, and after the desserts disappeared from the table signifying that the feast was over, the Headmaster rose from his great throne in the center of the staff' table, calling all attention to him.

"What is he wearing?" I overheard one of the first years sorted into Ravenclaw ask his classmate.

'I've asked myself that question since my first day, little first year' I thought, trying and failing to ignore the cyan robe with orange polka dots that the Headmaster was wearing.

"Well, now that we've all eaten and drunk" he began to say, smiling at everyone, "I would like to draw your attention to some important announcements"

After that he started talking about the school's ground rules, terrifying some of the new students by saying that the Forbidden Forest, full of dangerous and mysterious creatures that could kill an adult wizard in less than a second in a painful way, was, in a simple way of saying, forbidden.

And when he said that he made sure to look directly at me, and I just smiled innocently as I nodded at him.

And at his side I could see Professor McGonagall watching our short interaction as she sighed and shook her head in exasperation.

"And now, with great regret, I must inform all of you that this year we will not be holding the Inter-House Quidditch Cup" and the Headmaster didn't even finish his sentence before the Great Hall broke into an uproar.

And looking around I could see that there were quite a few students looking calmly at the Headmaster, and all of them were from influential families or important in the ministry.

And with that knowledge it wasn't hard to see that they were calm because they knew why we wouldn't have the Quidditch Cup this year.

And among those students I could see Malfoy looking at everyone who was yelling and complaining with a look of superiority.

'Seriously, can't he be less obvious?' I wondered, rolling my eyes.

Seeing the disturbance his news had caused, the Headmaster opened his mouth again, his calm voice echoing off the walls of the Great Hall.

"The reason we won't have the Quidditch Cup this year is due to an event taking place in October and continuing through the end of the school year, which will consume a lot of time and energy from all teachers, but I'm sure all you will enjoy this event immensely." he said, and his eyes began to twinkle as he paused to add more suspense to his revelation.

However, as this short pause followed I felt a magic approaching the doors of the Great Hall, and it was a magic I was already becoming familiar with.

"And I'm pleased to announce that this year, at Hogwarts, we..."

And before he could finish his sentence the doors to the Great Hall were abruptly opened, with the sound of thunder deafening my hearing.

'Damn dramatic effect!' I thought, rubbing my ears.

And there, walking through the door, his every step bringing with it a metallic clang that echoed through the Great Hall caused by his wooden leg, was a man I had only seen once in this life, and that was on the day of Pettigrew's trial.

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Or at least his face, as the magic coming from the person walking up to the staff table belonged to Barty Crouch Junior.

"Who's that man?" Padma asked in a scared tone.

"How can someone have that many scars?" Terry asked no one in particular, looking at Moody in horror.

"Hmm, where did that thunder sound come from?" and Luna, showing again why she was one of the most sensible of the group besides me, asked the main question that everyone should have asked.

But none of these questions could be answered easily, so they continued to stare tensely at the two strange old men as they shook hands.

A smiling old man with terrible fashion sense who had an unnecessarily long beard, and a scowling old man who looked like he'd spent some vacation in a meat grinder.

'Well then this is where the main plot truly begins I thought.

End.

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