𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝟐.𝟕 - 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭

"What was that?" You gulped. Harry shrugged and took one step closer to the edge of the forest.

Without thinking much of it, you began following him. Subconsiously, you pulled your wand out from the interior pocket of your cloak and held it tight at your side as you inched along. Even though you had no idea where to begin in terms of defending yourself, you still felt better knowing you had your wand on you. 

 It only occurred to you that wandering into the forbidden forest might be a bad idea when the light from the sun was no longer visible through the dark tree branches. Roughly five minutes into your walk, the trail opened up into a shadowed glade. You stepped out from behind Harry and watched with bated breath as a pack of skeletal horses passed by without sparing the two of you a single glance.

 They were the same creatures that had pulled your carriage on the first day of school. In the weak light of day, you could see that not only did they have a boney, skeletal appearance, but that their blackened skin was nearly translucent. Most of them were lounging about on the ground, stretching their wings and napping underneath trees. 

 A splotch of color stood out amongst the dark animals and you looked over to see none other than Luna Lovegood petting the snout of one of the beasts. You and Harry shared a look before drawing closer to her.

"Hello Harry," she said without turning around. "Hello (Y/N)."

 Luna was an odd girl indeed. Friendly and kind, but still odd. You two shared a History of Magic class. You were the only Slytherin in the room of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs due to a rare and honestly annoying scheduling issue. On your first day, she offered to let you sit next to her. It seemed that she was even considered avoidable in her own house which made you sad. 

While her back was still turned, you looked down and saw that Luna's feet were bare against the cold forest floor. "Aren't your feet cold, Luna?" You asked as politely as you could.

"A bit," she sighed, pulling her hand back and stepping away from the shorter creature. "Unfortunately, all my shoes have mysteriously disappeared. I suspect Nargles are behind it."

Or, you thought to yourself, maybe it was those bratty third year Slytherin girls that you had heard scheming on your way to breakfast that morning. You nodded at Luna's prediction, silently making a mental note to approach them about it later.

The animal that Luna had been petting stretched its wings and walked further away from you. You watched in awe. It's skin almost glistened in the patches of sunlight that filtered down through the tree branches. 

"What are they?" Harry asked before you got the chance.

"They're called thestrals," Luna answered. "They're quite gentle, really. People only avoid them because they're a bit..." Her voice trailed off as another baby thestral began wobbling over to her. "Different," you finished for her. Luna crouched down so that she was at eye level with the thestral.

"Why can't the others see them?" You asked, remembering the night of your arrival. Everyone besides you and Harry acted as if you were crazy for being able to see the mysterious beings that pulled the carriages. Luna hummed, balancing on the balls of her feet. After a moment, she turned her head and smiled sweetly up at you. "They can only be seen by people who have witnessed death."

You blinked and wrapped your arms tightly around your middle, suddenly feeling cold. You took a deep breath and watched as the air turned visible as it left your mouth, floating up to join the rest of the atmosphere. Harry had yet to say anything but you knew that he was thinking about Cedric Diggory.

Slowly, you took a step forward and crouched down beside Luna. "When I came here last year," you said, quieting your voice so as to not scare away the baby thestral. "I had already seen someone...die. How was it that I couldn't see them then?"

Luna thought for a minute, not moving her eyes away from the creature bowing its head in front of her. "Sorry, I misspoke. They can only be seen by those who have seen death and understood it." She smiled sympathetically. "So, whoever you saw die, you hadn't fully processed it until this year."

"Oh," you pondered her statement for a moment, falling back onto your heels when balancing became difficult. Luna's faint smile never left her face as she turned and pulled something from her bag, handing it out to you.

"Would you like to feed him?"

You eyed the slab of red meat hanging from her pale fingers. She nudged it closer to you and you hesitated before taking it from her hands. The baby thestral made a loud clicking sound as it eyed the treat. You waved it in the air for a moment, watching as it scrambled to its feet before tossing the meat in it's direction.

As you watched it eat, you found a smile growing onto your lips and you observed it for another moment before rising to your feet. "Thanks Luna," you said, rejoining Harry where he stood a few feet away.

"Don't mention it," Luna turned her head to the side and waved faintly. "You seem like nice people."

You waved back just as Harry reached for your hand and began guiding you back to the exit of the glade. "C'mon," he said, eyes distant and cloudy. "It's getting cold."

Neither of you said it, but you knew Harry felt it too; the bond growing even stronger between you. You squeezed his hand tighter and he looked down at you with a sad smile. The cold was barely noticable as you held hands all the way back to the castle.

 (A/N: Short chapter but look!! Harry content!! I took that personality type quiz on that website and it said that I have the same personality type as Luna which is awesome. I love her).