The Mysterious Thestrals

Chapter 45 The Mysterious Thestrals

When Avada returned to Cedric's compartment, he unsurprisingly heard the three of them still excitedly discussing flying broomsticks and Quidditch, with a pile of snacks spread out on the table. So Avada had no choice but to join their discussion in despair, stuffing Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs into his mouth while occasionally agreeing with "Yeah, right."

After several hours of waiting, and with everything outside the window completely dark, the train finally slowed down and came to a stop in front of that familiar little platform.

"The letter from the school I received said that students above the first year don't need to take a boat; they can go directly to Hogwarts by carriage..." Qiu asked Cedric curiously while straightening her clothes, "How do the carriages cross the Black Lake to get to school? Do they run on water? Or are they actually pulled by kalpa monsters?"

"They will fly straight there."

Cedric explained, "The chariot is pulled by a magical animal called a Thestral, which is said to be a winged, horse-like creature with a strong ability to fly..."

"I heard? Didn't you ride in one of those horse-drawn carriages last semester?"

"I can't see it."

He smiled and said, "The Thestrals have a peculiar characteristic: only those who have witnessed death can see them. Otherwise, they are invisible to you... To be honest, I'm quite glad that I can't see the Thestrals."

As they talked, the group followed the flow of people off the train. They saw the first-year students, led by Hagrid, heading towards the road to the port, while the large group of upperclassmen walked confidently towards the horse station on the other side. The students who had just entered their second year and didn't know the location of the horse station followed closely behind the upperclassmen, afraid of getting lost.

The horse-drawn carriage station was not far from the train station. Less than a minute later, Avada saw hundreds of empty carriages neatly parked in a large open space, each with a bright aura of life and spirit in front of it—

"Wait, I can't see the Thestrals?"

Looking at the empty front of the carriage, where only under the influence of magical senses could life and spirit be revealed, Avada couldn't help but feel puzzled.

He himself had died once, yet he still couldn't see the Thestrals?

The transaction volume you generate for yourself doesn't count, right?

As Avada boarded a carriage, he carefully observed the magical structure of the Thestral, trying to understand the principle behind its magical properties. Then, after only a short while, his brow began to furrow.

The magical structure on Thestral's body was a chaotic mess—if it weren't for the fact that its most basic life force and mental energy were still intact, he wouldn't have believed that such a structure existed in a living being. And Avada couldn't find any meaningful part within this chaotic structure; it was more sloppy and disordered than the most rudimentary graffiti…

Forget about "death" and "invisibility," the fact that this thing can even run is unbelievable!

Is this thing a complete bug?

Avada rubbed his head in frustration. He discovered that once his research into the world reached a certain level, his magical senses were almost completely ineffective—whether it was the magical void in his mental power, the splitting of his soul, time and fate, the protective charm on Harry, or the Thestrals' principle of "being seen only after witnessing death"... it was all the same.

It's as if there exists something more fundamental than magic in this world, subtly influencing how everything works. This makes Avada even more eager to open the book left by Professor Beck and see what is called the "most fundamental and essential secret."

"Once I return to school, I'll suspend all research and focus all my efforts on breaking the seal in the book!"

He had been held back by other matters during the previous summer vacation, which prevented him from casting spells without restraint, thus slowing down the progress of breaking the seal. If he were to focus all his energy on this one thing, he was confident that he could completely break the seal before Christmas!

As the students boarded the carriage, the faint smell of mustiness and straw began to rise smoothly, crossing the Black Lake and heading towards two imposing wrought-iron gates flanked by stone pillars topped with winged boars. Passing through the gates, the carriage continued its ascent up the long, uphill road leading to the castle. From the window, Avada could see the towers drawing ever closer.

Finally, the carriage came to a shaky stop, and Avada, along with the other senior students, jumped down. The second-year students followed the crowd up the stone steps, through another oak gate, and into a spacious and deep foyer. There, torches were lit, and a magnificent marble staircase led upstairs—another entrance unlike that of the first-year students.

"We're much faster than the first-year students; they'll probably have to wait a few more minutes..."

This time, the Weasley twins excitedly explained to the second-year students: "Due to the tradition of the wizarding world, the first-year students don't know how the Sorting Ceremony actually takes place, so they're already incredibly nervous. Then we upperclassmen sit down beforehand, all dressed up neatly, and then, when the new students enter the hall, we remain silent, just watching them with solemn eyes..."

"Don't look at me like that. It's a fine tradition at Hogwarts; everyone has to go through it once..."

Perhaps feeling a little uncomfortable under the resentful gazes of the group of second-year students, Fred explained with a smile, "See, aren't you all going to experience the fun of this tradition too?"

"Let's go, let's go, or we'll be too late!"

This time, it was actually the prefects who started urging them—it seems that everyone has a surprisingly consistent opinion on this almost prank tradition.

So Avada had no choice but to follow the others and straighten his wizard robes, put on the black pointed hat that he hadn't touched all year, and after showing his wand and tucking it into his waistband, he sat down quietly and elegantly at the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey, remember? There was Harry Potter in this year's freshman class!"

With some time still remaining before the freshmen arrived, the upperclassmen, already seated, began making the most of the time to whisper among themselves, discussing a topic that had been on their minds since the end of last semester: "Which college will he be assigned to?"

"It has to be our Ravenclaw! He possesses the terrifying talent to defeat Mystic right after birth, how could he not come to Ravenclaw?"

"Nonsense, it should be us Gryffindors! I've inquired, and almost all members of the Potter family are Gryffindors, including his parents. Harry Potter is definitely no exception!"

"I hope it's us, Hufflepuff. Look, he defeated the most evil Dark Lord at birth, ending a terrible era, which shows he must have a great heart that cares for the world..."

"Haha, stop guessing, he definitely belongs to Slytherin! He was born to end the previous Dark Lord and then ascend to the throne himself..."

"Shut up! Is this something you can say in public?!"

After a Slytherin student was pushed aside by someone nearby, everyone started discussing how terrifyingly Harry Potter's magical abilities had grown in the past eleven years, and whether he would directly replace Dumbledore as the headmaster of Hogwarts...

While pretending to be discussing this seriously, Avada turned her magical senses to look at someone in the classroom.

In that person's life force, besides his normal golden spiritual power, there was also a mutated spiritual power that had turned dark gold and was more stable, containing a magical void that was smaller than that of an ordinary person.

"Finally, I've met you... Voldemort!"

(End of this chapter)