12

Thestrals

Inhaling deeply, the smell of breakfast tantalized Harry's nose, as he lay in his bed. The sun hit his face, as he stretched his arms above his head. His muscles felt tight. Groaning, Harry pushed back the warm covers and started his morning routine. Pulling on his despised school robes, he then preceded to brush his hair, which proved to be a useless endeavor. With one brief look into a mirror, he left the bedroom.

By the time he made it to the living area, Harry found the table laden with food. James Potter was already seated and silently eating. His eyes rose from his plate when he noticed Harry watching him.

"I thought I would have a house elf bring breakfast here." Potter stated casually, as he lifted a teacup to his lips.

Harry nodded, feeling somewhat grateful. He pulled back a chair and sat. Grabbing a plate, Harry filled his plate. The pair remained quiet. The only sound was their silverware hitting the plates.

James broke the silence first. "Looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures?"

Harry paused, his piece of toast suspended in midair. "Not especially." Harry lowered the piece of toast back to the plate. "Just another distraction provided by Dumbledore."

James laid his fork beside his plate, before leaning back in his chair. "Harry, try to prevent another incident."

"What I did was in self-defense."

"I know it was, but you could have easily avoided the confrontation."

"Weasley, then, would not understand that is in his best interests to leave me alone."

"You can not afford to teach 'lessons'."

"Why do you care?"

James shrugged his shoulders.

Harry frowned, but chose to not press further.

After a time, James rose from his chair. "Ready?"

Harry nodded, pushing his plate away. "Let's get this over."

As the two walked through the corridors, Harry noticed an extremely pale first year Slytherin boy watching him apprehensively. His frame was shaking, though his face seemed to reflect that he had come to a decision. With his eyes partially closed, the first year barreled toward Harry. Tilting his head in astonishment, Harry did not react qucik enough, and the two collided. The first year's books and parchment scattered across the floor along with Harry's.

"I'm so sorry." The boy stammered, as he hurried himself collecting his things. He was too terrified to even look at Harry. "I was running late to Herbology… I'm so sorry." The boy, having collected his items, turned to Harry and extended his hand.

Harry frowned, but still grasped the boy's hand. After a brief shake, the boy quickly released and ran down the hall at breakneck speed. It was after the boy had vanished from sight that Harry realized that he had a piece of parchment pressed into his hand. Harry bent down, and picked up his Care for Magical book. He stuffed the note in between the pages, being careful not to draw James's attention. His guard was too busy helping pick up Harry's parchment to notice.

"That was odd." James stated, as he causally handed Harry his papers.

Harry shrugged. "Most of the people here are."

Potter looked briefly at Harry for a moment, suspicion evident in his eyes. In the end, he said nothing and continued to lead Harry out of the castle. Harry blinked his eyes at the harsh sunlight. It seemed so long since he had seen the sun, and he was enjoying every moment of its warmth. Across the lawn, Harry saw students walking to what appeared to be a hut. His thoughts were later confirmed by James.

"That is Hagrid's home. He holds the lessons there."

Harry nodded. "I think I can manage it from here." He continued, when James seemed about ready to disagree. "I am not stupid enough to run. I am certain there are plenty of Aurors lurking around. Wandless, I would not have a chance."

James nodded and allowed Harry to proceed to the gathering.

Among the students, Harry recognized Weasley, Granger, and Longbottom. He noticed how Granger's face paled, while Weasley's face took a livid red color. Longbottom appeared to not even notice him, and Harry planned to keep it that way. As he approached the croup of students, Weasley grabbed Granger's arm and pulled her until they were a good distance away from him.

A gap separated the Gryffindor group from the Slytherins. Harry did not have to look at that Slytherin group to know that Draco would not be there. He had heard his friend's Hippogriff story enough to know that the young Malfoy would drop the class at the soonest opportunity.

Unexpectedly, a huge ominous figure came into the midst of the student, carrying half a dead cow with him. To Harry's horror, he realized that this had to be the instructor. Draco had described him enough for Harry to immediately recognize him without difficulty.

Hagrid jerked his head toward the forest. "We're workin' in here today!" His face stretched into a happy smile. Hagrid seemed to be brimming with excite, which only made Harry nervous. According to Draco, this Hagrid did not have the same sense most normal people had. "Ready? Right, I've bin planin' this trip inter the forest fer quite some time now. Thought we'd see these creatures in their natural habitat. What we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britian who's managed ter train 'em."

This last part did not settle Harry's nerves in the slightest. He shrewdly noted that the other students were just as edgy. For ten minutes, Hagrid lead his class deeper into the forest, until they reached a place where the trees stood so close together that it appeared to be almost night.

Hagrid placed the cow on to the ground, and then call, "Gather roun'! They'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat."

"Hagrid, this creature doesn't eat people does it?" Ron asked.

To this question, Hagrid looked extremely insulted. He turned to look amongst the trees. A few minutes passed before a smile crossed Hagrid's craggy face. "Ah, 'ere they come!"

Harry's breath seemed to catch in his throat when he saw a sleek black horse with gleaming white eyes come into his line of vision. The horse looked little more then a skeleton with wings. It eyed the class before turning its attention turned to the dead cow, its fangs ripping into the flesh. This had not been the first time Harry had seem the winged horse. He had wished that day so long ago that he would not see another, but today had ruined this wish.

"Why doesn't Hagrid call again?" Weasley whispered loudly to Granger.

Harry surveyed the class and noticed that besides himself only two others seemed to see the beasts. One of them was a stringy Slytherin boy, who watched the horse with disgust. Neville Longbottom, the second, seemed interested in the swishing movement of the horse's tail.

Movement returned Harry's eyes back to the forest, and he watched as another came out of the forest into view. This horse seemed to look directly at him, before joining its fellow in eating the carcass of the cow.

"Here comes another one!" Hagrid said gleefully.

"Hagrid, what are we suppose to see?" Hermione asked inquisitively.

"Thestrals," Harry whispered loud enough for most of the class to hear.

For the first time Hagrid seemed to fully see him. The professor's face displayed a wide variety of emotions most of which Harry could not distinguish. "That's right. I ain't surprised that you'd be able to see 'em." Hagrid said briefly. "The only people who can see thestrals are people who have seen death."

Harry tuned out Hagrid's booming voice and instead turned his attention to a third thestral, who was just approaching. This one's attention, however, did not go to the cow but remained focused on Harry. A sinking feeling entered Harry's gut, as the creature slowly approached him. The muscles in his legs tighten in anticipation. He was not the only one to notice the thestral's approach.

"Hagrid," Longbottom called to the Professor.

Hagrid turned to where the horse creature moved steadily toward Harry. "'Arry, be careful. Don't make any 'asty moves."

Harry did not need his advice in that matter. Standing perfectly still, he just looked intently into the creature's white eyes. Slowly, he lifted his arm and gently stroked the craven creature's cheek. He heard the students' gasps in the background of his mind, but quickly canceled them. As he stroked the horse, memories began to swarm before his eyes. His hand froze, resting on the thestral's cheek, as the dreams played out in partial fullness. He could see the long hallway reflected in the thestral's lustrous eyes.

The door was opened and emitted light into the closed confines of the hallway. His legs carried him forth. The room came into view its decorated walls, displaying various paintings and some wizarding family photos. One painting in particular caught his interest, as he traveled on. It was a pastoral scene… the very opposite of what would occur here this very night. Harry's youthful mind desperately wished he could disappear into its canvassed world. But his legs would not allow him to do so.

The two people now turned to look at him. Some emotion seemed to flicker in their eyes, but Harry did not understand…

His hand jerked away from the creature, breaking off the memory. Harry did a quick back step. The thestral turned a trotted toward the cow, his interest in Harry satisfied.

"Are you alright, 'Arry?" Hagrid asked concern evident in his voice.

Harry knew his face had to be pale. "Fine." He said shortly.

"Well," Hagrid began, eyeing Harry skeptically. "That ends our class fer today." With those words, the burly Professor led his class from the recesses of the forest.

Once back in the open, the students immediately relaxed. Harry though was not surprised to be greeted by James. Once the others were out of hearing, James turned to Harry.

"You have an appointment with Dumbledore."

"That wasn't apart of today's agenda." Harry replied coldly. He did not need another brain-picking courtesy of the revered Hogwart's Headmaster. Dread filled Harry. "What does he want?"

James just shrugged.

Certainty filled Harry. The Aurors, who had followed him into the forest, had reported his interesting encounter with the thestral. He could only imagine what his expressions might have been, as he took his little walk down memory lane.

"I'm sure it will be short." Harry said with a clipped tone.

Dumbledore gazed serenely over the rims of his glasses "Is there anything you want to tell me, Harry."

"And around we go again." Harry said with a smile on his face.

"I am told you had a bizarre reaction to Hogwart's thestrals."

"They are creatures that relish death. Even so they are quite fascinating."

The aged Headmaster smiled. "You are quite a clever boy, Harry. Tom was too. You both use red herrings to move the attention away from what you do not others to see."

"I think we are done here."

"There will come a day, Harry, when we can not hide from the things we have done." Dumbledore said quietly. "We do not need to be reminded by others of our deeds. They have a way of cropping up within us on their own. I expect you already know this. I want you to know that I am always available to listen to you."

During that last part of Dumbledore's speech, Harry could feel a tug in his mind. He soundly barred the Headmaster's entry.

"That will be all, Harry. Enjoy the rest of your evening. We will be expecting you at dinner tonight in the Grand Hall."

"I can think of nothing better."

When Harry finally returned to his quarters, he collapsed on to his bed. Every meeting with the Headmaster left him exhausted. No matter how many times he was barred entry, Dumbledore never gave up on his endeavor to enter Harry's mind. Harry would be the first to admit that his Occlumency skills were lacking and took a lot of energy to maintain. 'One day he will find a way in,' Harry thought. 'It's amazing it wasn't today.' His lapse with the thestrals had left his shields weakened.

His hand dropped to the floor and blindly grasped his Care for Magical Creatures textbook. He glanced toward the door and was satisfied that James was not coming in. He flipped through the pages until he came to the note the frightened first year had pressed into his hand. Inquisitive, Harry quickly unfolded the piece of paper and read the words written upon it. He instantly recognized the hand writing, as Draco's.

'Meet me at the library this coming Monday just after lunch.

I know it will be challenging, but I know you will come up with something.

I will be in the Charms section… you should find the potions section interesting.

-A Friend'

Snape glared at the Headmaster. "Absolutely not!"

"Severus-."

"I will not have the child that the Dark Lord considers to be his in my classroom. It is absolutely out of the question."

Dumbledore sighed in annoyance. "I see no harm-."

"This 'thing' already hates me and suspects me of being traitor. It will not do to have him anywhere near my person." Snape hissed sharply. "It puts my position for you in unnecessary danger."

"Severus, I highly doubt that."

"Headmaster," Severus said shortly. "You are greatly misled if you think that he will come over to you."

"I have an idea, which was somewhat confirmed today." Dumbledore shuffled through some papers that where shattered across his desk. "It will be some time yet before I implement my plan."

"Be wary."

Dumbledore nodded his head. "Please, consider allowing him into your classroom."

Snape frowned. "It will be considered. I will tell you of my decision by this morning, in time for the class."

"Thank-you, Severus."

"So this is your plan, Bella?" Voldemort asked attentively. "You would have me attack Hogwarts?"

Bellatrix Lestrange smiled in a way only she could do. "Not exactly in that sense. It will be a small operation with some inside help."

Voldemort eyed the woman next to him. "And where is this inside help coming from?"

"Draco Malfoy is aiding us in this endeavor."

Voldemort snorted. "That boy is incompetent! He will be the weak spot of this plan."

"You underestimate the boy. He is completely loyal to both you and Harry. Harry also trusts him, which is an added bonus." Bellatrix paused. "It will work, though it might be a few months before we can act."

The Dark Lord turned away from Lestrange. "Time is the one thing that we are lacking. We are nearing to the end, Bellatrix, I can feel it in my blood. The deciding factor will be Harry. That is why he must be back in my hands."

"I promise you that he will be."

"Until then, Bella, we have places to be. You continue with your plans. As for me, without Harry, I have been forced to take certain matters into my own hands."

"Something reminiscent of the Bones, my Lord?" A gleam showed in Bellatrix's eyes.

The Dark Lord's laughter spread through the hall. The flash in his eyes made Bellatrix straighten.

"Dear Bellatrix, what I have planned is greater then what I did to the Bones. It is even greater then an attack on Hogwarts." Voldemort paused. "The Wizarding World is going tremble."