That Damn Weasley Charm II G.W

Part 5, Chapter 8- Thestrals

When we get to Hogwarts Emma and I run back to the boy's compartment and grab our trunks and things out and haul them down and out onto the platform.

"Violet, didn't Draco make Prefect this year?" Lee yawns as we walk to the self pulling carriages.

"Oh right. Yeah, I suppose he did." I say, "We got in a fight at the beginning of summer holidays so we haven't been speaking much."

George puts his arm around my shoulders and kisses my temple.

Emma stops in her tracks. I look at her but she's staring straight ahead. Curious I turn to see what she's looking at. Attached to the carriages are skinny black horse-like creatures. They don't seem to have fur or anything. They have big leathery wings coming out of their backs and a hooked nose that looks like a bird's beak.

"What are those things?" Emma asks. Everyone looks at where we are looking.

Fred laughs, "They're carriages Em, we've been riding in them for years?"

Lee, Walter, and George laugh too. George stops though when he sees the look on my face. "Violet?"

I shake my head, "Somethings pulling the carriages this year. Don't tell me you can't see those things." I say to my friends.

They all look back at the carriages, "There's nothing there Violet. Are you feeling alright?"

"They look like... if bats and horses had a kid." I explain to George, "Only their massive creatures."

We go up to a nearby carriage and load ourselves onto it. Emma and I keep staring at the horse things that are now pulling us up the trail to Hogwarts.

"They could be Thestrals," Lee suggests. "They sound like them from your description at least. Only people who have witnessed death can see them."

The boys all look at Emma and I. George knows that the Dark Lord killed someone in front of Emma and I but the rest of them don't. "What happened over the summer?" Fred says to Emma. He puts his hand on her leg but she brushes him away.

"I hope none of you ever see Thestrals," I grumble.

When we get to the castle George hops out of the carriage first and helps me down. We walk into the castle hand in hand before Emma, Walter, and I head over to the Slytherin table.

As soon as we sit down the sorting begins. Like usual the hat breaks out into song, something about the houses and how each of them is great in their own special way blah blah blah. After the sorting Dumbledore essentially just tells us to start eating and food appears.

"It just hit me... Cedric's not going to be around this year." Emma says.

People around us stop what they are doing and look over at her for a moment before going back to their own conversations. "No one to organize drunken study sessions..." Walter says sadly.

"To Ced." I clink my glass of pumpkin juice against Emma and Walters glasses and down the entire thing.

Once everyone is done eating the noise in the great hall starts to get louder. But when Dumbledore stands everyone shuts up

"Well now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start of term notices." Dumbledore says, "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students- and a few older students ought to know by now too."

"Tell that to the boys," Emma whispers.

"Mister Filch has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mister Filches office door."

"Give you a sickle that canary creams are on that list," I say to my friends.

"It's what Fred and George want, to piss Filch off with their candies." Emma snorts.

Dumbledore starts talking again, "We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank..." A few students giggle at the name, "...who will be taking care of Care of Magical Creatures lessons, we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Everyone starts to politely applaud the new teachers. Looking at the staff table I can make out the two new teachers but one of them stands out. "The hell is that woman wearing?" Emma whispers. I know exactly who she's talking about. There's a very short woman sitting at the staff table, wearing nothing but pink, head to toe. Now I'm not a very big fan of pink normally but this woman looks as if she just rolled out of an Easter egg basket.

"Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the-"

Dumbledore is cut off by a little 'hem hem' from the woman wearing the disastrous pink clothing. She's now standing at her seat and is walking around the table to the front podium where Dumbledore is standing.

"Jesus look at his face," Emma says smiling. Dumbledore looks as if he's just bitten into a vomit flavoured Bertie Botts every flavour bean.

The woman comes up to the podium beside Dumbledore. Dumbledore surprisingly takes a seat and lets her speak.

"Thank you, Headmaster. For your kind words of welcome." The woman says in her high pitched voice. I instantly frown, there's something about this woman that rubs me the wrong way and by the look on everyone else faces I can tell that this woman doesn't sit well with anyone else either.

"I want to punch her," I whisper. Walter looks at me with a smirk on his face. "What? She's got a very punchable face."

"As your Headmaster said, I am Professor Umbridge." She does another one of those stupid hem hem things and my wand hand twitches, how I want to hex her toad-like head off of her broad, pink shoulders. "It is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking up at me."

I look around the room, not a single person is smiling which makes me want to laugh really hard.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure that we will be very good friends!" The way that her voice got all high pitched when she said the word friends makes my entire body tense up.

"Fred and George are going to give her hell I can already sense it." Walter whispers which makes me laugh. I follow it quickly with a cough to try and cover it up. Emma snorts and immediately covers her face with her hands.

Umbridge hem hems again and I feel myself wanting to jump over the table and hit that damned hat off her head. But when she speaks her voice is a lot less airy and a lot more professional, "The ministry of magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

"Sounds a lot like she supports the idea of pure blood if you ask me," Walter whispers.