𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐏 𝟑𝟐

Harry wound his hand tightly into the mane of the nearest thestral, placed a foot on a stump nearby, and scrambled clumsily onto the horse's silken back.

It did not object, but twisted its head around, fangs bared, and attempted to continue its eager licking of his robes.

He bent down and lifted Emily up and allowed her to get comfortable behind him, holding onto his waist tightly.

She found there was a way of lodging her knees behind the wing joints that made her feel more secure and looked around at the others.

Neville had heaved himself over the back of the next thestral and was now attempting to swing one short leg over the creature's back.

Luna was already in place, sitting sidesaddle and adjusting her robes as though she did this every day.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, however, were still standing motionless on the spot, openmouthed and staring.

"What?" Harry said.

"How're we supposed to get on?" said Ron faintly. "When we can't see the things?"

"Oh it's easy," said Luna, sliding obligingly from her thestral and marching over to him, Hermione, and Ginny. "Come here. . . ."

She pulled them over to the other thestrals standing around and one by one managed to help them onto the backs of their mounts.

All three looked extremely nervous as she wound their hands into the horses' manes and told them to grip tightly before getting back onto her own steed.

"This is mad," Ron said faintly, moving his free hand gingerly up and down his horse's neck. "Mad . . . if I could just see it."

"You'd better hope it stays invisible," said Harry darkly. "We all ready, then?"

They all nodded and he saw five pairs of knees tighten beneath their robes.
"Okay . . ."

He looked down at the back of his thestral's glossy black head and swallowed. "Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance, London, then," he said uncertainly. "Er . . . if you know . . . where to go . . ."

For a moment his thestral did nothing at all. Then, with a sweeping movement that nearly unseated him, the wings on either side extended, the horse crouched slowly and then rocketed upward so fast and so steeply that Emily had to squeeze her arms tightly around Harry to avoid sliding backward over the bony rump.

She closed her eyes and put her face into the crook of Harry's shoulder as they burst through the topmost branches of the trees and soared out into a bloodred sunset.

Emily did not think she had ever moved so fast: The thestral streaked over the castle, its wide wings hardly beating.

The cooling air was slapping Emily's face; eyes screwed up against the rushing wind, she looked around and saw her five fellows soaring along behind her, each of them bent as low as possible into the neck of their thestral to protect themselves from its slipstream.

"You okay?" Harry shouted looking down at Emily's head in his neck "Great!" Emily replied.

They were over the Hogwarts grounds, they had passed Hogsmeade. Emily could see mountains and gullies below them. In the falling darkness Emily saw small collections of lights as they passed over more villages, then a winding road on which a single car was beetling its way home through the hills. . . .

"This is bizarre!" Emily heard Ron yell from somewhere behind her, and she imagined how it must feel to be speeding along at this height with no visible means of support. . . .