Minerva McGonagall was distressed. "We're having students coming over today, Pomy", she complained to the Herbology teacher, who'd been trying to calm her down. "Those accidents aren't normal. Three roosters were killed and Filius was attacked. How can I be sure that nothing will happen to a thousand students?"

"But we don't know if there actually is something behind these accidents!" protested Flitwick, who did not like very much the idea of being considered unable to defend himself.

"How can you be so thick, Filius!" cried the Head Ministress, getting up from her chair and starting to make little revolutions around the fireplace. "Roosters don't naturally die from strangulation! And you certainly are be able to come up with an effective counter-curse to a back jinx!"

"But that's the point!" insisted Flitwick. "Was it actually a jinx? It mitght've been some strange defense charm the castle has – it wouldn't be the first time either if  I recall correctly. We can't be sure".

"Yes, but we can't be sure of we being safe either!" shouted back McGonagall. "For Merlin's sake, Filius, you were locked in the nursery for two weeks!"

"I think we should tell the students" suddenly said Sprout. McGonagall almost fell off of her chair.

"Well – did you just lose your sanity completely? Tell the students! As if! They're all going to be wanting to leave!"

"Yes, but they are not stupid" Professor Sprout was very dignified for one who had been called mental just a few seconds beforehand. "They'll find out eventually on their own. And they'll tell their parents. And we'll be in great trouble".

"We could tell the Head Boys, at least" considered Neville Longbottom. "To me, they have proven to be trustworthy".

"I do see your point, Neville – otherwise I wouldn't have chosen them to begin with! –, but what you've got to understand is that they are still young! They might let a few words slip unintentionally or something, it's normal!" reasoned the former Gryffindor and current Headministress.

"Then we could just tell them part of the story" proposed Madame Pomfrey. "This way, they'll still know something's not right, but the risk of them getting absolutely terrified would be reduced. Besides, I really do think we can trust them".

"I also think we should tell the Head Boys" agreed Yuna. She was the new Head House Teacher for House Slytherin, and taught Potions. Her dark brown hair and deep grey eyes were able to captivate even the most distracted of students. "They ought to know. Besides, I don't think it's wise to leave Hogwarts unprotected. We need to be sure we are not running too many risks! If a teacher was knocked out for two weeks, imagine what might happen to a student!"

"What's your plan then? D'you wanna close the school? Go back home?" asked a pretty annoyed Neville Longbottom, who disliked the authoritarian and pessimistic tone the woman had used.

"No one will close this school!" sentenced Poppy Pomfrey, the nurser. "It'd be wrong. We need to give young witches and wizards the right education, for them to be able to cope with these situations themselves".

Before anyone could protest, McGonagall, seizing the opportunity, quickly continued: "And here comes the reason as to why I've gathered you all here – not to quarrel with each other, although you clearly have not grasped it" and she shot an angry look at the Gryffindor and Slytherin Head teachers, "but to instruct you on how to act should something happen: protection will be our key word" she explained. "I want you all to cast as many shield spells as your bodies can handle. By tomorrow night, when the students come, I want Hogwarts to be completely impenetrable. Now go, quick!" she gestured towards the exit of her office "Let's get this over with now!"

And she hurried out of the room, followed closely by the rest of the teachers.

At the end, only Neville and Yuna were left in the now empty room. "I wonder what it is that's causing all this" murmured Neville. "Hogwart's never been attack-free, that I know; but I wish it'd be, for a change. I can't stand the thought of students potentially getting hurt!"

Yuna turned towards Neville and put one of her long, skinny hands on his shoulders. "Don't despair, Neville. Not all hope is lost".

And she exited the room quietly, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.

"Ohhh come on!" yelled y/n, her fist tight and up in the air, cursing the bad wather. "It wasn't even raining before! How did it happen?"

"You should probably ask when" giggled Felix, who was rather enjoying himself by letting his hand out in the open, allowing it to get all wet.

"Stand still" ordered y/n, who'd now started to look through her bag, that had an (invisible) expansion spell applied to it that made it possible for it to contain all the stuff she wanted while still mantaining its original size. "I'm trying to find my umbrella. This way we won't get all wet and muddy".

Felix sadly walked back to her. "Isn't there some spell?" he questioned. "I think some guy in my House's Team uses it during matches when it rains so his glasses can stay intact".

"Yeah, there is" y/n in the meanwhile had managed to find and open her umbrella, which was a nice shade of orange. "But I don't know the formula. Nor do you, by the looks of it. Now get under here, so we can go to the carriages. Sungie, you okay?"

The expected answer did not come: y/n and Felix turned around puzzled, but there was no sign of the friend. "Oh, brilliant!" sarcastically said the Gryffindor. "He got lost. Again".

"Don't be too harsh on him" suggested Felix, who did not want the friend to get too angry: there was a beautiful and yummy banquet waiting for them – it was worth getting there in the right mood to celebrate! "I'm sure he'll be fine".

"I just wish he'd be less care-free!" insisted y/n, still looking around searching for the friend. But after a few minutes, when the crowd had already diminished importantly, she was forced to give up by the evidence: Jisung was not there.

"Well, his to lose" she murmured, resigned. "Let's go Lixie, before it gets too late".

The two friends started walking on the well-known path that led from the train station of Hogsmeade to the clearing where all the carriages set off from. The rain was now pouring down thicker than ever, threatening to rip the light umbrella apart.

Felix, who was holding the umbrella's handle, suddenly felt y/n's grip on his elbow getting tighter. Surprised, he looked up, and saw why the friend had had that strange reaction.

Some carriages were still there waiting for the late students, but that was not the focus of the two: the tall, mysterios horses with big white eye balls, so skinny you could see their skeleton was. Thestrals – probably the most fascinating yet intimidating fantastic animal there was.

Felix had spent his first three years ignoring completely their existence: as a muggle, he'd come to Hogwarts convinced of the fact that every kind of magic was therefore possible – making carriages move by themselves? A piece of cake!
Reality had hit him hard the previous year: that summer he'd had a hard time due to his beloved granny passing away: it had probably been the darkest period in his short life, and when he came back to School that Semptember he'd only started to recover from the shock.

Seeing the hourses had really both surprised and scared him; but luckily, Wonpil had been with him at the moment (the older had discovered about the younger's loss and had tried to make him feel better all day long), so he'd got all the explanation he was needing immediately:
Thestrals in fact could only be seen by people who had suffered a serious and saddening loss in their lifes: that was why most students didn't even know of their existence – because those who instead knew, were usually either too scared, or afraid of being judged from the more 'normal' students.

Felix at the time hadn't asked Wonpil about why the Head Boy knew; but now, looking at the majestic animals for the first time in a year, he kind of wished he had – had Wonpil suffered a serious loss himself? Or had he just discovered their existence thanks to his friends' witnesses?

Y/n's tight grip made him come back to reality – only one reason would push her to act that clingy: she could see them too.

"Hey, it's okay" he reassured her. "There's nothing wrong with them. They're just a little bit... ehm... extravagant".

Y/n's eyes got suddenly bigger. "Can you see them too? Well, that's a first".

In the meanwhile, they'd reached an empty carriage. Y/n quickly got her umbrella back and pocketed it, before carefully entering the vehicole. Felix followed suit.

"For me too, to be honest" agreed the Hupplepuff, making himself comfortable. "But I had Wonpil explaining me at the time, so it was less shocking than how it would've been if I'd been alone".

"When did it happen?" curiously asked y/n. She was now looking out of the window – Felix couldn't see what she was staring at, but he assumed her eyes were stuck on the Thestrals.

"Last year" he murmured. "My granny passed away that summer, so..."

"I've been seeing them since the very first day", she confessed. "At the time I didn't really notice, I just thought it was normal, that everyone could see them. But whenever I'd mention them, people would look at me as if I was mental" the Gryffindor smiled at the thought of those wistful memories. "Well, everyone apart from Jisung, of course. He immediately sent a letter home and that's how we found out what Thestrals were" she finally shifted her gaze back to the friend. "Jisung. I'd really like to know what he's doing".

In that moment, the carriage started to move, proceeding calmly towards the Castle.

Felix looked out in the pitch-dark sky, the sound of rain filling his ears "I guess we're going to find out shortly".

He smiled. He was finally at home again.

~♡~
Heyoooo!! This is where things get a little interesting, what do you think this 'thing' is? And where's Jisung?

Vic🌙.