Black and Potter | H. Potter

51 ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆ pink bitch.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

| PINK BITCH |
song: say yes to heaven by lana del rey.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

HARRY DID NOT WANT TO TELL THE OTHERS THAT HE, ARA, AND LUNA were having the same hallucination if that was what it was, so he said nothing about the horses as he sat down inside the carriage and slammed the door behind him and Ara, not letting go of her hand. Nevertheless, he could not help watching the silhouettes of the horses moving beyond the window.

"Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" asked Ginny. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"

Ara stayed quiet, as much as she wanted to tell them about the topic of Hagrid being gone, she knew it was too risky with Neville and Luna present, so instead she started to tug at Harry's watch band to distract herself.

"I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna. "He isn't a very good teacher, is he?"

"Yes, he is!" said Harry, Ron, and Ginny angrily.

"He's great actually," added Ara, trying not to show her irritation.

Harry glared at Hermione; she cleared her throat and quickly said, "Erm . . . yes . . . he's very good."

"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," said Luna, unfazed.

"You've got a rubbish sense of humour then," Ron snapped, as the wheels below them creaked into motion.

Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron's rudeness; on the contrary, she simply watched him for a while as though he were a mildly interesting television program.

Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy up the road. When they passed between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the gates to the school grounds, Harry leaned forward to try and see whether there were any lights on in Hagrid's cabin by the Forbidden Forest, but the grounds were in complete darkness. Ara sighed as she watched him, she had already told him that Hagrid wasn't here but Harry was stubborn.

The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of the carriage first, offering a hand to Ara as she climbed out after him. Then he turned his eyes instead upon the strange, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming.

Harry had once before had the experience of seeing something that Ron could not, but that had been a reflection in a mirror, something much more insubstantial than a hundred very solid-looking beasts strong enough to pull a fleet of carriages. Ara said she could see them too and if Luna was to be believed, the beasts had always been there but invisible; why, then, could Harry and Ara suddenly see them, and why could Ron not?

"Don't fuss about it," he heard Ara whisper behind him.

"But—"

"Are you two coming or what?" said Ron beside them.

Ara nodded and looped her arm around Harry's as they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.

The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.

The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other Houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again Ara noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as they passed; she gritted her teeth and tried to act as though she neither noticed or cared.