Sarafina Weasley: Book 5

Thestral Herd

Sarafina's POV

I gave Draco his necklace back and he'd been trying to talk to me ever since. He has some nerve, after what he did. Anyway I'm on my way to care of magical creatures with the others. When we get there Hagrid said we were going into the dark forest. Saying he'd been saving it for our fifth year. So we follow him into the forest. While he was carrying a dead cow.

We walked for about ten minutes until we reach a place where the trees stood so closely together that it was as dark as twilight and there was no snow at all on the ground. With a grunt, Hagrid deposited his half a cow on the ground, stepped back and turned to face us. "Gather roun', gather roun'" Hagrid encourages us. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o the meat but I'm going ter give em a call anyway, cause they'll like ter know it's me" he explains. He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out of his face and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird. That's when I realized we were studying Hogwarts thestral herd.

Harry and I soon see a thestral appear and it starts to ate the dead cow Hagrid had brought. "Oh, an here comes another one" Hagrid says proudly. As a second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, folded its leathery-wings closer to its body and dipped its head to gorge on the meat. "Now put yer hands up, who can see em?" he asks and I raise my hand along with Neville & Harry.

"Excuse me" Malfoy says in a sneering voice. "But what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?" he asks. Hagrid points to the dead cow and the others gasp seeing chucks of meat disappear into thin air.

"What's doing it?What's eating it?" Parvati asks in a terrified voice, retreating behind the nearest tree.

"Can anyone tell me what they're called?" Hagrid asks us.

"Thestrals" I say smiling.

"Exactly ten points to Gryffindor, Hogwarts has got a whole herd of em in here. Now, who knows..." Hagrid starts to ask. Only to be cut off by Parvati.

"But they're really, really unlucky!" she exclaims looking alarmed. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once" she states and I roll my eyes.

"No, no, no" Hagrid says chuckling. "Tha's jus superstition, that is, they aren unlucky, they're dead clever an useful! Course, this lot don get a lot o work, it's mainly jus pullin the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin a long journey an don want ter apperate an here's another couple, look" he explains pointing.

Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one of them passing very close to Parvati. Who shivered and pressed herself closer to the tree, saying. "I think I felt something, I think it's near me!"

"It won't hurt you" I assure her.

"No can anyone tell me why some can see them and others can't?" Hagrid asks. Hermione raised her hand and Hagrid pointed to her.

"The only people who can see Thestrals, are people who have seen death" she states.

"Tha's exactly right, ten points to Gryffindor" Hagrid says. "Now, Thestrals..." he goes to continue and is cut off by a 'hem hem'. We all turn to see Umbritch with her clip board. "Glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see or, I dunno can you? We're doin Thestrals today" he tells her smiling.

"Are you aware" Umbridge says loudly. "That the Ministry of Magic has classified Thestrals as dangerous?" she asks Hagrid.

"They aren't dangerous, sure they'll take a bite out of you if you annoy them. But so would a dog" Hagrid states.

"Same with cats Professor Umbridge, besides Dumbledore has approved us to learn about Thestrals. Once we reach our OWL year, and they're perfectly tamed" I assure her. "Why not just watch and see how Hagrid teaches us. After all that is your job" I state.

"Very well, please continue teaching as usual. I am going to walk, she mimed walking among the students and ask them questions" Umbridge says. Treating Hagrid like a child by miming and pointing.

"So Hagrid you were saying how clever thestrals are and how useful they can be" I say smiling.

"That's right, they never get lost. Just tell them where you want to go and they'll take you there. As I said Dumbledore has used them himself when he doesn't want to apperate. And they can always find their way home" Hagrid states. Class went on smoothly, dissipate Umbridge's stupid annoying questions.

When we got back to the castle Padma came over to me. "McGonagall says you're on detention duty tonight in her classroom" she states. I thank her and she goes over to her twin sister.

A/N

Picture above of a thestral.