"Merlin's beard!"
Neville followed Rock's pointing finger and his jaw dropped.
Hermione stood frozen for a second, then let out a sharp scream. "How could they be so reckless?"
Rock raised an eyebrow. That sounded exactly like something Professor McGonagall would say.
High above the Hogwarts Express, a Muggle car was circling lazily, dipping and rising every so often like it was testing its wings.
Hermione bolted out of the compartment without another word. Neville scratched his head, then dropped into the seat beside Rock.
"You're not going with her?"
Rock smiled.
"Nah. Hermione's probably off to find Ron's brothers." Neville shook his head. "Still… those two never do anything halfway."
Rock gave a quiet laugh. With his own interference last year, Neville hadn't managed to stop the trio from sneaking out to the fourth-floor corridor, so the comment carried a little extra weight.
"Don't worry. If they're flying that car, it means Mr. Weasley's already worked his magic on it. It should land safely enough."
He turned back to Luna and picked up their conversation like nothing had happened.
Neville pulled out his own notebook. He'd learned the trick last year—when Rock was talking about anything academic, you wrote it down. You could never go wrong.
The compartment settled back into its earlier rhythm, though Neville looked a little lost. Whatever Rock and the first-year girl were discussing went straight over his head.
What the hell? Had he regressed over the summer or something?
Time slipped by. The train finally slowed and pulled into Hogsmeade station.
The moment it stopped, Rock spotted Hermione dragging Ron's older brothers toward Hagrid, who was already gathering the first-years.
The group clustered around the half-giant, talking fast and overlapping each other. Hagrid had to lean down to catch the gist of it.
"Merlin's beard, I—" Hagrid started, clearly about to go fetch a professor, but he had his own responsibilities with the new students.
"Hermione, if you all take the carriages right now you might still catch them," Rock called from the window.
In their panic they'd forgotten the obvious solution.
Percy smacked his own forehead, then he, Fred, and George took off at a run toward the carriages.
"Thanks, our resident consultant!"
Fred and George waved dramatically before disappearing into the crowd.
Rock watched them go, noting how little concern they showed for their little brother joyriding in their father's car. If anything, they looked excited.
"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley must be exhausted," he muttered, at a loss for anything else to say.
They climbed down from the train. Hermione rejoined the group a moment later, still muttering under her breath about reckless idiots.
Theo and the others looked confused until Neville filled them in.
"Cool!" Theo said, eyes bright.
"A Muggle car can be modified with magic?" Adam looked genuinely fascinated.
The boys immediately launched into an animated discussion while Padma stood to the side looking exasperated.
"Honestly, you lot are like single-celled organisms," she said. "Can't you see Hermione's worried sick?"
"Don't stress too much," Rock told Hermione. "If Mr. Weasley worked on that car, he would've put protective charms on it."
Hermione took a slow breath and nodded. The group started walking along the path through the trees toward the waiting carriages.
Out of the corner of his eye Rock caught a flash of pale-blonde hair standing near Hagrid. He shook his head and kept moving.
Word had already spread. Thanks to Hermione and the Weasley brothers, half the students getting off the train now knew that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had flown to school in a flying car.
Gryffindors were buzzing with excitement. Slytherins wore smug, mocking smiles. Arthur Weasley's big Muggle-protection push over the summer had already made plenty of pure-blood families furious. Now his own sons had handed them fresh ammunition.
Draco Malfoy looked like he was about to burst with glee—until he met Rock's gaze. He immediately sat up straighter in his carriage, expression carefully blank.
Rock's eyes lingered on the carriage pulling Draco. The Thestral hitched to it had twisted its head around and was gently nuzzling the boy's hair.
I wonder what would happen if I told Draco what's actually pulling his carriage right now. Would he jump out?
Theo leaned over. "What's up? Malfoy family piss you off again?"
"No."
Rock shook his head and settled back into his seat.
The carriage gave a little lurch and began moving.
Adam stared around with wide, suspicious eyes. "This is magic, right?"
"No," Rock said quietly.
Theo and the others turned to look at him too.
Rock blinked. Adam not knowing was one thing, but why were the rest of them—
Right. Another one of Hogwarts's little traditions. Parents loved keeping the surprise.
Thestrals were only visible to people who had seen death. That wasn't exactly the kind of thing adults rushed to explain to eleven-year-olds.
"The carriages are pulled by a magical creature called a Thestral," Rock said, pointing at the faint shimmer of the harness ropes in front of them.
"Well, that's a relief," Adam said, patting his chest. "As long as it's alive."
"Adam, relax," Theo said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Besides, ghosts pulling carriages would be kind of messed up, wouldn't it?"
Everyone stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing.
When you put it that way, it did sound a little inhumane.
"Shut up," Adam grumbled, shoving Theo away.
"Seriously though, Rock—what exactly is a Thestral?"
"Only people who've seen death can see them," Rock answered. "That's why they used to be considered bad omens. People thought they brought misfortune to anyone who could see them."
"Of course that's not true."
"The superstition came from a mix of fear and the Thestrals' appearance. They're basically skeletal black horses with dragon-like heads and huge bat wings. Easy to mistake for something out of a dark fairy tale."
Adam chewed on that for a moment, then leaned forward, trying to spot the creatures again.
"Still can't see anything."
"Count yourself lucky," Rock said. "The people who can see them have all watched someone die."
Theo had been about to make another crack at Adam, but the words died in his throat.