Hermione Voldemort's Daughter

Chapter 32: Thestrals and Crab cakes

"Sophia! Sophia! Hi," Draco greeted Justin's parents.

"Sophia we just got a letter from your father!" Blaise told me, "He wants you home right now!"

"That may be so, Mr. Zabini, but there's still days until the end of term." McGonagal repreminded.

"But professor this is urgent!" Draco protested.

"There are tests to do, Mr. Malfoy!" McGonagal continued.

"Professor McGonagal is right, Draco, I couldn't possibly go while there are tests to do! I will leave you now, Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchly, I have wasted enough of your time." I steered the two Slytherin boys out of the entrance hall.

"So are you going?" Blaise looked at me. I looked back.

"Since when have I declined a summons from my father, Blaise?" I asked him.

"Never," he shrugged.

"Well I'm not going to start ignoring him now." I grinned.

"But how will you get out?" Draco wondered. I looked around as we walked across the dewy grounds, and I spotted three skeleton-like black horses standing beside the Forbidden Forest, their wings folded neatly behind them. I had an idea. Grinning, I motioned for them to follow me as I ran down to the horse things. I petted one of their noses.

"She's gone crazy!" Blaise whispered. I hit him on the arm. "Ow."

"Hi," said a dreamy voice. We all turned to see a girl who seemed to be in her third year, with long wavy blond hair and a vacant expression on her round face, coming out of the forest.

"Who are you?" Draco asked. I knew who she was. Luna Lovegood, a third year Ravenclaw who most people called Loony because of her eccentric ideas.

"Luna Lovegood. I see you can see the Thestrals," Luna said to me. I nodded, "they have a marvellous sense of direction."

"What are Thestrals?" Blaise asked.

"You can't see them?" I gasped.

"You can only see them if you've seen someone die," inputted Luna, "so most people associate them to be with death, but really their quite harmless."

"Luna, if I wanted to, could I perhaps ride one of these all the way across England to my house?" I phrased the question carefully.

"Well I think so." She shrugged. I grinned. They were my ticket out.

"Oh crud." Draco looked up to the castle and pointed. Harry and Ron were walking down towards the forest- and us- chatting aimlessly with Hagrid. "Me and Blaise will go head them off."

"But-" Blaise protested.

"Come on!" Draco grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him up the slope. I clambered onto the one I had been petting's skeleton like back. It stood up and I wobbled.

"Need some help?" Luna asked, patting it's neck.

"Yes please," I grinned and Luna expertly jumped onto it's back.

"I'll ride with you to your house then ride back here before dinner." Luna said. "So where do you live?"

"I'm... I'm not sure where it is exactly... It's called Riddle Manor." I replied uncertainly. I knew it was somewhere kind of near The Burrow, but that was all. The Thestrall jolted and unfolded it's wings.

"That's all it needs to know, as I said before; a wonderful sense of direction." Luna smiled, "are you that Sophia person everyones talking about then?"