"We'll be taking carriages pulled by Thestrals along a different path to Hogwarts," Hermione explained as she led the three boys down a rough, muddy trail. Before long, a long line of carriages came into view—easily over a hundred of them.
"Superstitious people often consider these creatures to be extremely unlucky, believing they bring terrible misfortune to anyone who sees them. They're seen as harbingers of doom," Hermione continued, explaining to the group. "But in truth, Thestrals are invisible to most people. Only those who have witnessed death with their own eyes can see them."
Hermione glanced at the empty space in front of the carriages. Like her, many couldn't see the Thestrals.
She then turned to look at Glenn. She knew very well that Glenn had ended the life of a mountain troll with his own hands during last year's Halloween. By that logic, he should be able to see them.
Glenn didn't need to rely on his eyes to see them—he could sense them perfectly well. But to confirm Hermione's guess, he shifted his black silk blindfold slightly, revealing his left eye. Sure enough, he could see the Thestrals.
The Thestrals were large and skeletal, their entire bodies pitch black. They had no flesh, and their black skin clung tightly to their bones, making every bone visible. Their heads resembled those of dragons, with pale, pupil-less eyes that stared unblinkingly. Large, bat-like wings sprouted from their bony shoulders, giving them an eerie yet majestic presence.
After describing the Thestrals' appearance to Hermione, the young girl listened intently. However, when she glanced at Draco and Neville across from her, she noticed that both of them were staring fixedly at the spot where the Thestrals should be.
"Neville, Draco, can you both see the Thestrals too?" Hermione hesitated for a moment before asking, aware that it might be a sensitive question.
Neville and Draco were briefly stunned but nodded.
Of course they could see them. After all, they had accompanied Glenn into the Forbidden Forest and slain at least twenty giant Acromantulas. If that didn't count as witnessing death, those Acromantulas would be rolling in their graves.
Polite Acromantulas: "Seriously?"
#*@!%&...?!%
"Should we thank you for this?"
However, neither of them elaborated further. They both knew that Glenn had been keeping certain things from Hermione to spare her from unnecessary worry.
"So, I'm the only one here who can't see the Thestrals?" Hermione looked visibly upset, feeling a bit left out.
At that moment, she felt a small hand take hers. Glenn, standing beside her, removed his blindfold entirely.
A familiar sensation washed over her—it was Glenn's Heightened Perception. In an instant, Hermione's field of vision seemed to expand. Within the blink of an eye, the previously empty space in front of the carriages now revealed a pitch-black Thestral.
"Now you can see them," Glenn said calmly, holding Hermione's hand.
The young girl's face lit up with joy. "Mm-hmm!"
Across from them, Draco's expression grew increasingly complicated. "Neville, I think we shouldn't be in the carriage…"
"…We should be under it," Neville finished, his face equally peculiar.
Urgh~
Damn it, the feast hasn't even started, and we're already being force-fed. Glenn, Hermione, look at what you've done!
Feeling the strange gazes from Neville and Draco, Hermione took advantage of Glenn's distraction to shoot them a warning look.
Hermione: Don't you dare say anything weird!
Neville and Draco: …We weren't planning to say anything, though…
Fine, fine, we'll behave.
We'll eat. We'll eat, okay? It's just an extra serving, that's all!
After silently enduring the metaphorical "meal" all the way, the Thestral-drawn carriages finally arrived at the lawn in front of Hogwarts' main gates. The young wizards disembarked, chattering excitedly, and instinctively lined up by house and year.
Of course, Glenn, the odd Slytherin, remained with the Gryffindor group. Fortunately, the students' uniforms didn't yet display house crests, so Glenn's presence didn't stand out too much.
Older students typically entered the Great Hall faster than the first-years. Just like last year, they took their seats at their respective house tables, waiting for the Sorting Ceremony to begin.
Following the crowd into the Great Hall, Glenn and Hermione noticed that the professors were already seated at the staff table. The students found their seats one by one. Despite the large number of people, the atmosphere remained orderly.
Once Glenn sat down, the young girl beside him seemed to have noticed something unusual. She pointed at the staff table in surprise but quickly realized Glenn couldn't see through his blindfold. Without hesitation, she gently turned his head toward the staff table and helped remove his blindfold.
Glenn: ......
But he didn't argue with her. Instead, he directed his gaze to the staff table, where someone who shouldn't have been there—but whose presence made sense upon reflection—was seated. This must have been why Hermione wanted him to look.
Gilderoy Lockhart sat proudly at the staff table, right next to Severus Snape. His expression was one of smug satisfaction as he basked in the delighted screams and chatter of many students. Meanwhile, he pretended to be nonchalant, sneaking glances at the crowd while boasting to Snape about his various achievements.
Ah, Glenn could clearly see the veins bulging on Snape's forehead. Snape's pale hand, resting on the table, was tightly clenched, turning even paler.
Hermione, observing this, analyzed the situation and stifled a laugh. "It seems Professor Snape is having a hard time. This is the first time I've seen him restrain his displeasure like this. Haha…"
At that moment, Dumbledore produced a copy of the Daily Prophet seemingly out of nowhere and handed it to Snape. The latter took it, flipping through its pages until his eyes narrowed. His face turned even paler as he quickly stood up, stuffed the newspaper into his robes, and left the staff table, weaving through the crowd toward the Great Hall's doors.
"That's strange. Where is Professor Snape going? Could it be that Lockhart annoyed him so much that he had to leave?" Hermione, who had been secretly watching Snape for amusement, noticed his unusual behavior and shared her observations with Glenn. "He looked at the newspaper and suddenly rushed out."
Glenn shook his head. He hadn't noticed anything else, but since the newspaper had come from Dumbledore, whatever Snape was doing must have been related to it. If Dumbledore entrusted the task to Snape alone, it likely wasn't something they needed to worry about.
"So we don't need to concern ourselves with it," Glenn explained to Hermione, who nodded in agreement. "True. Let's just let Professor Snape deal with his own headaches."
As the older students gradually took their seats, the lively chatter about the new school year began to die down, leaving everyone waiting for the Sorting Ceremony to start.
However, the Gryffindor table seemed to have some unusual commotion.
Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor male prefect, looked visibly anxious as he went from person to person, asking questions.
Glenn overheard his inquiries, as did Hermione.
"Harry and Ron are still missing?" Hermione looked surprised. If Percy hadn't mentioned it, she might have forgotten about it. She quickly scanned the room but found no sign of the two troublemakers. "Oh no, I have a bad feeling about this. What kind of trouble have those two gotten themselves into now?" Hermione sighed, already imagining Gryffindor losing points on the first day of term.
Across from them, Neville looked equally worried. Where could his two good friends have gone?
They hadn't been on the train… could they have missed the Hogwarts Express?
No, no, no, that's too ridiculous. They're not little kids anymore.
Sensing Hermione's unease, Glenn took her hand to comfort her.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall soon entered the Great Hall, leading a line of nervous-looking first-years. The Sorting Ceremony was about to begin.
This successfully diverted Hermione's attention. She shook her head, trying to shake off her worries. Her fluffy brown curls flew around, one of them landing with a soft smack on Glenn's face.
Glenn: ......
A faint, pleasant scent of shampoo reached Glenn's nose.
Ah, it was the one Hermione always used, Glenn noted to himself.
At that moment, a faint, discordant noise seemed to drift in from outside the Great Hall's windows. Glenn raised an eyebrow and activated his Heightened Perception.
The range of his perception expanded beyond the Great Hall, extending toward the source of the sound.
Eventually, his perception stopped at the Whomping Willow. The noise had come from there.
Focusing on the information his perception provided, Glenn discovered something unusual: a car, with its headlights on, was stuck in the branches of the Whomping Willow.
A car?
Before Glenn could analyze further, the car slipped from the tree with a series of loud crashes. Two figures tumbled out of it.
Ah, it was the missing Harry and Ron. Mystery solved.
Closing his Heightened Perception, Glenn quietly shared his findings with Hermione.
The young girl looked bewildered.
What? A car stuck in the Whomping Willow? And why were those two troublemakers inside it?
At that moment, several owls flew into the hall, dropping copies of the Daily Prophet. Glenn grabbed one and searched through it until he found the article he was looking for.
Spreading the newspaper on the table, Glenn pointed it out to Hermione.
Reading the headline, Hermione's eyes widened: Flying Ford Anglia Shocks Muggles! She read aloud the section Glenn indicated: "Two Muggles in London claim they saw an old car flying over the post office building… At noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty Bayliss spotted… Angus Fleet of Peebles reported to the police… A total of six or seven Muggles witnessed the flying car…"
Hermione groaned, holding her head. "So this is why they disappeared?!"
"Merlin's woolly socks!" the young girl exclaimed, exasperated.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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