The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

At the front of the stage, the pumpkin lantern beneath Professor Flitwick's feet suddenly flew up.

But Professor Flitwick remained firmly atop the jack-o'-lantern, swaying his body to the music and making increasingly exaggerated hand gestures.

Cook twice as fast as you can.

Flames roared and foam billowed from the pot.

Suddenly, all the pumpkin lanterns of various sizes that were originally placed throughout the auditorium flew up and floated in mid-air to the rhythm of the music.

The black bats that were originally among the candles dispersed and flitted among the pumpkin lanterns.

Cook twice as fast as you can.

Flames roared as foam poured from the pot.

Cook twice as fast, twice as fast.

Flames roared as foam poured from the pot.

Misfortune follows the wicked.

As the last line of the lyrics ended, Professor Flitwick's gestures froze, the jack-o'-lanterns that had been floating in the air came to a standstill, and the swarm of black bats flew back to the candles with a whoosh.

Professor Flitwick turned and bowed, and the pumpkin lantern beneath his feet, along with the other pumpkin lanterns, slowly descended.

Deafening applause erupted in the auditorium.

The Toad Choir and the Classical Music Club members bowed and left the stage.

Professor Flitwick jumped off the jack-o'-lantern, waved his wand gently, and the dreamlike stage vanished into countless specks of light.

The cheers and applause lasted for a long time without stopping.

“Oh, I loved this show! It was so much better than last year’s Skull Dance Troupe!” Eddie said to Milton as he returned to his seat.

Roger said with great interest, "If I heard correctly, the lyrics are from Shakespeare's play Macbeth? That's amazing."

“Yes,” Milton said with a smile. “To this day, we still don’t know whether Shakespeare was a Muggle or a wizard; this topic is always a subject of debate.”

The Halloween dinner ended in a joyful atmosphere.

That night, before going to bed, Scott was still thinking that the curse of something always going wrong at Hogwarts on Halloween Eve in the original books had finally been broken.

The next morning, Scott woke up early and left Ravenclaw alone, only to encounter Luna walking out of the hallway leading to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Scott,” Luna greeted him with a smile.

Her hair was messy, and she had a small knitted handbag hanging on her body.

“Good morning, Luna. Where are you going?” Scott asked.

"I grabbed some fruit and meat from the kitchen and's heading to the Forbidden Forest to feed a little guy." Luna patted her knitted bag. "Want to come with me?"

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Little guy?"

“It’s a Thestral,” Luna said with a smile. “Uwu had a baby with a female Thestral. Oh, Uwu is the leader of the Thestral herd.”

Scott nodded. “I’ll go with you to see it. I saw a car accident in Spain during the summer vacation, and when school started, I found out that I can see them now.”

He did witness a car accident during the summer vacation, but that wasn't the reason he was able to see the Thestrals.

"Let's go then!"

Luna walked forward cheerfully.

She skipped and hopped forward for a while, then suddenly stopped, turned around, and asked, "What is a car accident?"

Scott explained the meaning of the car accident to her.

"Cars, do you mean Ginny's car?" Luna asked curiously. "Then why can't Muggle cars fly?"

“Because Muggles don’t know magic,” Scott replied succinctly.

Luna nodded, though it was unclear whether she accepted the explanation.

The two walked through the garden behind the castle and into the forest where white morning mist drifted.

"This way."

Once inside the Forbidden Forest, Luna acted as if she knew the place well.

“I saw them at the dinner party yesterday, through the window,” she said to Scott in a vacant tone. “The way they were flying in the night sky was perfect for Halloween.”

"Do you often come here to play with those big guys?" Scott asked.

“Sometimes,” Luna said. “I like them. A lot of people hate how they look, but I think they’re cool.”

Scott nodded.

In the wizarding world, Thestrals have never had a good reputation. Besides the fact that "only those who have seen death can see them," their appearance is also not very appealing.

Thestrals have enormous bodies, but no flesh on them; their black fur clings tightly to their bones, making each bone clearly visible.

Its head, resembling a dragon, is ferocious, with white eyes without pupils, a long black tail, and huge bat wings growing from the bulge between its shoulder bones.

The two gradually ventured deeper into the forest, passing through a dense grove of trees and arriving at a wide clearing.

However, they did not see Thestrals.

“Oh…they don’t seem to be here,” Luna said hesitantly. “That’s strange.”

Scott guessed, "Maybe they went somewhere else?"

Luna shook her head. "No, Thestrals are nocturnal; they hide in dark places during the day."

She walked quickly forward, calling out "Huer, huer" in her mouth.

"Where did you go?"

She imitated the call of a Thestral while looking around.

"Neigh, neigh."

Her call was answered quickly.

A young Thestral, calling out, wobbled as it emerged from the nearby bushes.

Judging from its tender voice and unsteady steps, this little guy is probably only a few days old.

"Oh, little one, you're here!"

Luna quickly ran over, took an apple from her bag, and fed it to the little Night Styx.

"Slow down, eat slowly." She fed the little one while asking, "Where are your mom and dad? Where have your people gone, little one?"

The little Thestral quickly finished the apple and started barking again.

It rubbed its ugly head against Luna, its voice sounding somewhat anxious.

"Don't rush, there's more."

Luna then took out an apple and fed it to it.

She turned to Scott and said, "Something's not right. All the adult Thestrals are gone. Normally, they wouldn't leave their young behind."

"They are a herd of Thestrals tamed by Hagrid, aren't they? Maybe someone at the school needs them to pull a carriage."

Scott said.

“Okay.” He also felt that the reason was a bit far-fetched. “You stay here with the little guy, I’ll go ask Hagrid.”

"Then I'll leave it to you." Luna waved her hand.

Scott turned and strode quickly out of the Forbidden Forest to Hagrid's cabin.

Hagrid didn't seem to be up yet, because Scott could already hear his deafening snores.

Scott raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Wang Wang Wang Wang..."

The sound of fierce barking immediately filled the cabin.

"Shut up, you woke me up, Yaya!"

Hagrid was awakened by the barking of the dogs and roared angrily.

Scott knocked on the door a few more times and called out.

"Professor Hagrid, Professor Hagrid!"

"Oh, someone's looking for me, I'm coming right now!"

Immediately, the sound of a chair or stool falling over echoed inside the room.

"Get out of the way, Tooth!"

Hagrid called to his dog as he opened the door to the cabin.

"Who is it? It's not class time yet!"

He looked down at Scott.

“Oh, you are… oh, Ravenclaw…”

He reeked of alcohol, clearly having drunk quite a bit at the banquet the night before.

Scott looked up and said, "Good morning, I am Professor Hagrid Trollope of Ravenclaw."

"Oh, good morning, Trollope."

Hagrid ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"What do you need?" He turned and walked into the house. "Oh, come in and tell me."

Scott heard him mutter loudly, "Where did I put my tea leaves?"

“No need, Professor Hagrid,” Scott said loudly. “I just wanted to tell you that the Thestrals in the Forbidden Forest have all disappeared!”

"What?" Hagrid retorted even louder.

He burst out of the house like a beast, gripping the doorframe with both hands, looking down and staring at Scott with wide eyes, asking, "You mean...you mean Thestrals are missing?"

His huge hands creaked as he squeezed the wooden door frame.

Chapter 292 The First Week of November