Early Saturday morning sunlight filtered through the windows of the unused classroom Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves in. The door was closed and warded against any unwanted eavesdroppers by several well-placed silencing charms. The castle however was still relatively quiet, most of its students taking advantage of the weekend reprieve to catch up on some much needed sleep. That however was not enough to keep Harry from checking the wards on the door one last time.

“Harry, what’s going on?” Hermione asked, slightly concerned by her friend‘s unusual behavior.

“Yeah, mate,” Ron yawned, his mouth opening so wide Harry wondered if his friend’s head couldn’t come unhinged at the jaw. “I was planning on sleeping-in today. Why’d ya have to go and wake us up and drag us down here? Why couldn‘t we have just stayed up in the tower and talked in the common room or at breakfast?”

“Because I needed to talk to you guys where no one else could hear…” Harry said.

“About what?” Hermione asked.

“My Occlumency lesson last night…”

Ron’s mouth abruptly snapped shut from another jaw breaking yawn and straightened up in his seat, suddenly alert. “Oh yeah… I forgot… You got back so late last night I didn’t get a chance to talk to you before I’d already gone to bed. What happened?”

Harry didn’t immediately answer, but agitatedly tugged at his shirt cuff, his restlessness apparent to both his friends.

“Did something happened?” Hermione worriedly asked.

“I guess…” Harry murmured, his expression troubled and distant.

“Did that greasy git say or do something to you?” Ron demanded, leaning forward in seat.

Harry shot Ron a dark look at the name he’d used, but didn’t call him on it. “No. Snape didn’t do anything to me,” he said. “Well…” he then thoughtfully amended, “he did kind of look through my memories, but I guess that was the whole point of the lesson - to learn how to push him out. Even though he really hasn’t taught me how to do that yet…”

Ron and Hermione both cocked their heads at him, not really sure what he was talking about. Seeing their blank looks Harry gave them a brief summary of his lesson the night before.

“So Snape was actually looking through your mind?” Ron said, looking horrified at the thought. “That must have been horrible. Did he say anything about it?”

“No. He just kept saying I wasn’t trying hard enough, and that I had to try harder,” Harry said, getting frustrated just by the memory of his bruised knees and his numerous failed attempts to push Snape from his mind. “It was only after an hour or so that I finally got so frustrated that I think I kind of… lashed back at him. That’s what I wanted to talk to you guys about…”

“Why? What happened?” Hermione said, leaning forward.

Harry gave a heavy sigh and stared at the floor, the images he’d seen still playing like a movie in his head. “I think when I pushed back I somehow looked into Snape’s mind myself… I saw some of his memories…”

“You what?” Ron exclaimed, his jaw dropping in surprise. “What did you see? Anything good? Tell us!” Though he might have never liked their surly Potions master, there was no denying Ron didn’t hold a certain amount of curiosity for the dark haired man. Hermione also leaned a little bit closer, eager to hear.

“I think I saw some of his memories from his childhood…” Harry slowly replied, still trying to understand some of the visions he’d seen himself. “But there was one… the last one I saw before Snape pushed me out of his mind and threw me out. I think it’s from the night of the Azkaban attack - when I saw Voldemort put him under an Imperius Curse.”

“Are you sure, Harry?” Hermione said, her eyes wide with excitement. “What was it?”

Harry‘s eyes narrowed in concentration. “I saw a man wearing a Deatheater’s mask coming toward Snape. He was holding something in his hand. It kind of looked like what I remember Malfoy and Voldemort using on Snape in my vision. It was small and black. It kind of looked like it may have been some kind of stone…”

“A stone…” Hermione thoughtfully murmured, stroking her chin as she thought. “I wonder what kind of stone You-Know-Who would have tried to use on Snape… I mean, I‘ve heard of wizards using magical objects to help increase their strength or to help facilitate some kind of spell before, but I’ve never heard of anyone using a magical object on another person quite like this before…”

“Why would You-Know-Who use a stone like that on Snape?” Ron asked, glancing between his two friends.

Harry frowned. “Snape’s too good of an Occlumens to be kept under a simple Imperius Curse for long. I remember Voldemort saying he could throw it off within only a few minutes.”

“Like how you did when that fake Moody put that Imperius on you last year in class…” Hermione said.

Harry nodded. “Almost any kind of spell can be fought. But if Voldemort’s using something on Snape to make him unable to fight back, there’s no telling what he might make him do.”

“Harry…” Ron hesitantly began, “maybe you should go to Dumbledore about this. If what you saw in your vision was true then Dumbledore would almost have to believe you. He’d know what to do about Snape.”

“I agree,” Hermione said. “Dumbledore would be much better equipped to deal with this than we are.”

Harry violently shook his head. “No. I don’t trust him anymore. I’ve told him twice now that there’s something wrong with Snape, but each time he’s refused to believe me. He even set me up to start taking private lessons with Snape right after I told him Voldemort was controlling him!”

“But, Harry, if Snape really is being controlled by You-Know-Who, then Dumbledore would be the best one to help him,” Hermione said.

“I already told you! Dumbledore won’t listen to me!” Harry shouted, starting to get annoyed. “He’s not going to do anything until he actually sees Voldemort’s controlling Snape for himself, or Voldemort orders Snape to kill someone! I’m not going to tell him, and neither are you two. We’re just going to have to figure this out on our own.”

“What about McGonagall?” Hermione tried. “Or Sirius, or Lupin or Tonks? They’re all in the Order. They’d listen to us.”

“Anyone in the Order would just go straight to Dumbledore,” Harry said, shaking his head as he restlessly got up to pace. “Plus it’s not like anyone else seems to care about Snape right now. I know for a fact Moody doesn‘t like him, and would probably take any excuse he got to lock Snape up rather than actually help him.”

“Well, it’s not like Snape is Mr. Congeniality or anything,” Ron muttered. “You have to admit he’s not very nice - to us or anyone else we know. He always goes around sneering at people like he’d rather slice them up into potion ingredients before ever talking to them...”

Harry abruptly stopped pacing and glared at his friends, anger flashing through his eyes. “You know…” he hissed, “it’s comments like that that sometimes make me wonder if Snape really doesn‘t have a reason to act like he does if this is how people treat him…”

Ron looked slightly taken aback by his friend’s reaction, and sat there stunned as Harry angrily continued. “So you think just because Snape isn’t the nicest guy in the world that he doesn’t deserve someone else to help him?” he hissed. “I admit he’s not the nicest person, but he helped me this past summer when no one else could! He risked his life for me when he could have just as easily turned his back and walked away! It’s because of me Voldemort found out he was spying for Dumbledore in the first place and put him under this curse. I owe him! If you think I’m just going to pretend like nothing’s wrong or leave it for someone else to take care of while Voldemort goes around using Snape as some kind of puppet, then you can just go sit on the wrong end of a broom!”

Ron goggled for several seconds at his friend before hurriedly sputtering, “It’s not that I don’t want to help him or anything…”

Harry gave Ron a doubtful, very knowing look.

Ron actually did his friend the favor of looking guilty, his cheeks turning a brilliant shade of red. “Look, Harry,” he softly amended, “it’s not like I want to see Snape under some kind of Imperius Curse or anything - especially from You-Know-Who - but… do you really think we can help him ? We’ve never actually learned how to break another person out of a curse like this. We could do more damage than good if we don’t know what we’re doing - not to mention what Snape might do to us if we don’t get it right! This is something for Dumbledore or someone else to deal with…”

Harry’s angry face softened somewhat, and dropped his gaze to the floor. “I know… I’m at as much of a loss what to do as you are... But we can’t trust Dumbledore. He’d only blow us off again and say I was imagining things.”

“I can try doing some research in the library,” Hermione tentatively offered. “There has to be something about what you saw You-Know-Who use on Snape. I’ll check and see if I can’t find any information about objects being used to control people.”

Harry gave Hermione a small smile. Leave it to her to think that the answer to any question could be found in a book. But he wasn’t about to pass her up on her offer just yet. “Thanks, ‘mione,” he murmured, suddenly feeling very tired. He hadn’t managed to get much sleep the night before. He’d stayed up almost the entire night laying in bed thinking about what he’d seen when he’d thrown Snape’s Legillimens back at him. So many more questions had been raised by what he’d seen than just that of the mysterious black stone.

Just who were those other people he’d seen in Snape’s memories? He had a fair idea of who the boys in Gryffindor colors were, but who had that other man been that was yelling at that woman? Could those have been Snape’s parents? And had that been Snape crying in the corner? Somehow those images - so far removed from the cold, harsh man he knew today - were somehow disturbing…

“When do you think you can start?” Harry asked, forcing himself to shake himself out of his - no, Snape’s!- memories.

“Well, today I guess,” Hermione replied. “There shouldn’t be many people in the library since it’s only the first week of classes, so- OW! Ew! What is this stuff?”

Cackling laughter filled the room as the three teenagers ducked for cover. Harry hid under a desk just in time as another water balloon filled with some unidentifiable sticky substance exploded on the ground right where he‘d been standing only several seconds before.

“Ha ha! The bushy-haired girl wasn’t fast enough! I’ll get you again!”

“Go away, Peeves!” Hermione yelled over the poltergeist’s laughter as he sped around the room, throwing more sticky-filled balloons at them.

“Ooo, and what are the little kiddies going to do to make me?” Peeves cackled as he sent another balloon flying at Ron’s head. “I’m just having some fun!”

“Stop it, Peeves!” Ron yelled, chancing a glare from under the desk he was hiding behind. “I’ll go get the Bloody Baron!”

Peeves laughed and did a somersault in the air. “The Bloody Baron is all the way down in the dungeons with the Slytherins. He can’t do anything to help you!” the poltergeist laughed as he sent another balloon exploding against the top of the red-head’s desk.

A hail of balloons rained down on them, coating the classroom in sticky goo.

“I’m warning you, Peeves! Beat it!” Harry yelled, shaking a fist at the jeering poltergeist.

The poltergeist puckered his lips and blew a raspberry at the dark-haired teen. Then winding up, he threw another sticky filled water balloon at Harry.

The balloon hit the desk Harry was hiding behind and exploded into a spectacular mess, a glop of wet, sticky stuff spattering Harry’s face and glasses. Peeves whooped in triumph and did another set of handsprings in the air.

Wiping the sticky goo from his glasses, Harry felt his anger begin to slowly boil. Standing up from behind the desk, Harry turned to face Peeves, his hands clenched into fists by his sides. “I. Said. Beat it!” he yelled, a wave of magic surging through him as he did.

There was a loud clap of energy, and as though hit by some kind of some kind of invisible Stinging Hex, Peeves gave a startled yelp and grabbed his bottom with both hands. The mischievous spirit stared at Harry for several moments as though suddenly seeing him as a potential threat. A mixture of shock, fear, and anger flashed through the poltergeist’s beady little eyes.

“Nasty wizard!” he yelled. Then turning tails, he disappeared through the ceiling, only sparing one last glare at Harry before disappearing from sight.

Silence reigned in the goo-splattered room for several moments until Ron finally found the voice to speak. “Harry… How’d you do that? That was amazing! No one except the Bloody Baron and maybe Dumbledore has ever been able to control Peeves like that!”

“Harry, you didn’t use your wand,” Hermione said, staring at her friend almost in awe. “That was wandless magic you just did! But it was really powerful. Even I felt the magic coming from you. How did you do that?”

Harry seemed just as stunned as his friends and stared at his hands as though in some sort of daze. “I don’t know…” he stammered. “I mean, I don’t remember even doing anything…”

“Well, whatever you did, that was awesome!” Ron exclaimed. “I doubt Peeves is ever going to bother you again by the look he gave you before he ran off!

“I guess…” Harry murmured. “It must have just been some kind of fluke. I mean, he was starting to get on my nerves…

“Harry,” Hermione said, coming out from behind the desk she’d been hiding behind and eyeing him carefully, “only really powerful wizards can do wandless magic like that. Usually wandless magic is uncontrolled and chaotic; but you managed to focus your magic just on Peeves without even realizing it. And…” Hermione noticeable hesitated. “Technically you shouldn’t have even been able to do what you did at all…”

“What do you mean?”

Hermione was pale, staring at her friend in nervous trepidation. “Peeves is a poltergeist. He doesn’t technically have a corporeal body. In a way, he’s like a ghost. And wizards can’t hex or curse ghosts - they don’t have any kind of body for magic to work against…”

“What are you trying to say, Hermione?” Harry said, feeling a small knot of unease beginning to curl in the pit of his stomach.

Hermione held her friend’s worried eyes with her own. “Just that you shouldn’t have been able to do that…” she said, her voice ringing with a strange sort of finality through the empty classroom. “Normal magic doesn’t work on spirits.”

As Harry, Ron, Hermione drew near, Harry was dismayed to see that they were once again cursed to share classes with the Fifth Year Slytherins.

“Well, well, well… If it isn’t little baby Potter finally come to grace us with his presence!”

Harry inwardly sighed, already anticipating such a greeting when he’d first spotted Draco Malfoy and his gang of cronies standing in a group in front of Hagrid’s hut.

The other students - both Slytherin and Gryffindor - who were already waiting there for their professor to arrive turned to watch as Harry, Ron, and Hermione came to a stop in front of Malfoy and his gang.

“Have any more bad dreams, Potter?” Malfoy snickered. Crabbe and Goyle both chuckled behind their leader.

“Just one about seeing your ugly mug,” Harry smoothly replied. “But I got over it pretty quick…”

Malfoy’s upper lip curled into a snarl worthy of Professor Snape. “You’re acting pretty smart for someone who woke up his entire House screaming and crying in his sleep.”

“Well, like I said, you do have a pretty frightening face…”

The Slytherin’s cheeks flushed a nasty shade of red. “Watch it, Potter…” he hissed. “There are worse people in this world than me you should be afraid of…”

“I know. Just look at those ugly gorillas you call friends behind you,” Harry replied, pointing at Crabbe and Goyle. “At least I didn’t have any dreams about them yet… Madam Pomfrey would probably have had to drug me to get me back to sleep if I’d seen either of them…”

Crabbe and Goyle both looked ready to lunge at Harry, but Malfoy motioned them to stay back with an angry wave of his hand. “You know what I mean, Potter,” Malfoy hissed under his breath so low only Harry could hear him. “I know what happened the other week before school started. I know about what really happened with your little… accident in London… Don’t think He won’t send others after you. You’d better be careful. You never know when another “accident” might happen…”

Harry narrowed his eyes at blonde. “Are you threatening me, Malfoy?” he hissed.

The Slytherin boy gave him a sly smirk. “Maybe… But then again, I don’t want to ruin your surprise, so I won’t say anything else. Just know that there are people out there eager to… meet your acquaintance…” then turning his back on Harry, the Slytherin sauntered away. Crabbe and Goyle hesitated a moment before sullenly following after their leader, disappointed about not getting the chance to use their fists on their least favorite Gryffindor.

Harry angrily glared after Malfoy for several minutes before the blonde finally disappeared behind a group of other Slytherins.

“What was that all about?” Ron asked.

“I don’t know, but that’s the second time Malfoy’s mentioned my accident in London. He must know it was really a Death eater attack and not just a car accident like all the papers said.”

“Do you think Lucius might have told him about it?” Hermione asked.

“Probably,” Harry replied. “He probably went and gloated to Draco all about it after McCourn went back to Voldemort and told him he’d “killed” me.”

“If Malfoy keeps dropping all these hints about another “accident” happening, do you think he might know about some other plan You-Know-Who has to get to you?” Hermione whispered, careful so no one besides the three of them heard.

Harry thoughtfully ran a hand through his messy hair. “Maybe… But it’s hard to tell if he’s serious, or just being cocky and making things up to rile me.”

“Do you think he might know about Snape?” Ron whispered.

Harry stared at his friend for a long moment of silence. The idea had also crossed his mind. “Who knows,” he replied. “Snape certainly is in a position to be ordered by Voldemort to kill me - and right under Dumbledore’s nose too… But if Voldemort was after me right now, don’t you think he would have already had Snape attack me?”

Ron and Hermione both shrugged their shoulders, just as perplexed as Harry was. The three of them might have continued analyzing the Slytherin’s cryptic warning but a loud voice rang over the milling students and forced them to end their conversation. “All right, e’ryone! Gather roun‘! Great lesson fer ya taday!”

As everyone looked up, the towering form of the giant Hagrid emerge from the shadowy boughs of the Forbidden Forest beside his hut.

“E’ryone follow me. Our lesson taday’s waitin’ fer us!”

“We’re going into the forest?” someone asked.

“A’ course! The animals wer’ studyin’ taday don’t really like sunlight, so wer’ gonna go inta their natural environment. You‘ll luv em!”

Harry saw several other students exchange uncertain looks. Hagrid was not known for presenting the most tame of animals to teach, and any animal that did not like sunlight did not bode well…

“Al’ight! Ev’ryone follow me!” Hagrid merrily called, oblivious to his students’ nervous looks as he disappeared back into the shadowy forest.

The students stood there uncertainly for several moments before tentatively following after their giant professor.

“What do you think Hagrid has planned for us?” Ron nervously whispered to Harry as the class delved into the forest, crashing clumsily through the underbrush. “Hopefully not one of those giant spiders he seems to be so friendly with…”

“I don’t know, but knowing Hagrid, it’s probably something with sharp claws, three heads, and a nasty disposition towards people,” Harry whispered back, trying to hide his own nervousness. Why couldn’t Hagrid just teach a normal class for once? he helplessly wondered.

“Well, I just hope it’s something that’s actually going to be on our OWLs,” Hermione said, pushing a low hanging branch out of her way. “This is a very important year for us academically. Care of Magical Creatures is a substantial part of the exams, and we can’t afford to miss out on anything.”

Ron and Harry both rolled their eyes. Not even the second week of classes and already Hermione was stressing out about their tests at the end of term…

The class continued to follow Hagrid deeper into the dark forest for what felt like forever.

“Are we these yet?” Ron desperately panted half an hour later, his hair sticking to the sides of his face with perspiration. Scratches crisscrossed the red-heads face from several low hanging branches he’d encountered during the course of their trek. Harry glanced at his friend’s sorry state and knew he probably looked no better. His shirt was sticking uncomfortably to his skin under his robes and he felt like he was getting eaten alive by bugs. Beside him Hermione was trying to fight off a swarm of nasty little bugs flying around her head. Around them the other students were all looking a little worse for wear themselves - their faces all covered in varying degrees of dirt and sweat. Even the perfect little prince of Slytherin, Malfoy, looked like he’d just survived three months alone in the jungle.

“We have to be,” Harry replied, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “Any farther and we’re going to come out the other side of the forest!”

“All ‘ight, e’ryone!” Hagrid called from the front of the group. “’ere we are!”

A groan of relief went through the class as everyone gathered around the giant. They were standing on the edge of a small, gloomy clearing. The area was dark, the sun barely visible through the trees the canopy was so thick. In the middle of the clearing, there were several unidentifiable skinned animal carcasses laying on the grass, their bloody bodies glistening dully in the weak light.

Everyone huddled closer around Hagrid, not liking the dark atmosphere or the ominous dead animals.

Hagrid however seemed unfazed, and lifted two fingers to his mouth before whistling sharply into the forest. The whistle echoed into the distance, nothing moving or making noise in its wake.

The class stood in tense silence as they waited for whatever animal Hagrid had decided to teach them today. For several minutes, nothing happened. The students began to get antsy. Several began to exchange skeptical looks. Harry was about to glance at Ron and Hermione to whisper something when he suddenly heard a branch snap softly underfoot.

The class instantly became quiet, everyone looking in anxious trepidation towards the other side of the clearing. Harry squinted into the gloom. For a moment, he could see nothing. But then he suddenly saw movement from in between the trees. From the distance, he couldn’t immediately tell what it was. Squinting harder, he watched as another dark shadow passed between two trees, weaving its way slowly closer to the clearing. Whatever it was, it seemed to move like liquid shadows - one minute there, the next minute not. It was only when the mysterious animal came almost to the very edge of the clearing that Harry suddenly realized what Hagrid was teaching that day.

Glowing red eyes stared back at Harry as two black, bat-winged horses slowly emerged from the darkness and sniffed the air, their dragon like snouts flaring at the scent of fresh blood.

Harry gasped and took an involuntary step backwards.

“Thestrals!” he sputtered, staring at the skeletal horses in horror. A wave of unpleasant memories from the day at the train station assaulted him.

Everyone else in the class stared at him, not understanding what he was talking about.

“Ah, so you can see ‘em, can ya, ‘arry?” Hagrid said, nodding his burly head. “Kind of expected that afta wha’ happened las’ year with that Diggory boy… Can anyone else see ‘em?”

Harry was surprised to see Neville tentatively raise his hand, as did another boy Harry didn’t know from Slytherin.

Hagrid nodded again. “Neville, thought you might be one. Heard from Dumbledore ‘bout yer grandfather dying when you wer‘ young... And Mr. Kaslin I see…”

“My aunt…” the boy murmured under his breath.

Hagrid gave him a sympathetic nod.

“What are you talking about?” Lavender Brown spoke up, looking confused by the exchange. “We can’t see anything. There’s nothing there.”

“Ya sure about tha’?” Hagrid smiled. “Take another look,” he said, pointing to the middle of the clearing where the dead animal carcasses were.

What the class saw had many student gaping in horror at what they saw. Harry could only imagine what it must be like to see strips of flesh being torn from the dead animals and then disappearing into thin air. The Thestrals, meanwhile, didn’t pay the gawking class any mind as they continued to enjoy their meal.

“What’s going on?” Malfoy cried, staring at the disappearing animal carcasses. “What’s eating those things?”

Hagrid gave the gaping boy a wide grin as though he enjoyed the opportunity share his knowledge of (arguably dangerous) magical creatures. “As I think ‘arry said, these beauties ‘ere are Thestrals. Only tame herd in all of England. Trained ‘em myself. Does anyone know why only some of ya ‘ere can see ‘em?” Hagrid then asked the class, although he automatically looked to Hermione.

“Thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen death,” Hermione replied.

“Correct,” Hagrid nodded. “Ten points ta Gryffindor.” Glancing back at the middle of the clearing, the giant then said, “Well, it looks like the Thestrals are almost done eatin’ so I want e’ryone ta go up an’ give ‘em a pet. Thestrals are usually pretty friendly once they’ve eaten, so don’t be ‘fraid.”

The students exchanged skeptical glances. ‘Usually friendly? Coming from Hagrid, that meant they were almost guaranteed to bite…

“Now how ‘bout we ‘ave the three that can actually see ‘em go first?” Hagrid suggested, still blissfully unaware of the children’s unease.

Harry, Neville, and the Slytherin boy all shared slightly panicked looks.

“Now don’t be shy!” Hagrid smiled, nudging the three towards the two Thestrals that now stood eyeing them curiously. “They won’t bite ya!”

Swallowing nervously, Harry slowly inched towards the two Thestrals with Neville and the Slytherin boy following close behind. The Thestrals didn’t take their eyes off the three students as they drew near. Harry saw their nostrils flare as they sniffed the air. One of them stamped its hoof and bat its wings.

“Now just hold out yer hand an’ let ‘em come to you,” Hagrid called encouragingly as the three finally came to a stop several paces away from the winged-horses.

“This is crazy!” the Slytherin boy hissed under his breath.

Harry couldn’t help but find himself agreeing. But he nevertheless did as Hagrid suggested and held out his hand, trying to hide his fear from the two dragon-like horses. Neville and the Slytherin hesitantly followed his example.

For a moment, the Thestrals just stared at them. Harry was unnerved to see that they seemed to be staring directly at him and not at either of his companions. He felt their blood red eyes boring into him and was once again reminded of the day at the train station. It was like they sensed something different about him…

Slowly, one of the Thestrals took a step forward. Neville and the Slytherin boy both ducked behind Harry. Harry meanwhile stayed his ground. He’d heard about dogs being able to smell fear and attacking if they sensed any weakness from their prey, and wasn’t about to test that theory being the same with Thestrals. He didn’t think he would get very far if he ran before the two horses overtook him anyway…

The one Thestral slowly came forward, sniffing Harry’s hand when it finally came close enough. Harry felt its warm breath puff against his skin and fought against his natural instinct to retract his hand before the horse-thing could bite. But the Thestral didn’t bite. Instead, it took several steps closer and gently nudged Harry’s hand with its nose, letting the boy tentatively touch its head. Harry was surprised to find the Thestral’s skin slightly scaly like that of a snake’s, but surprisingly warm at the same time.

The other Thestral slowly came forward and nudged Harry too, butting him in the side with its nose. Harry suddenly found himself surrounded by both Thestrals, petting them as they jockeyed with each other for his attention.

Neville and the Slytherin boy meanwhile both looked on in amazement, as did the rest of the class.

“Wow, Harry,” Neville whispered. “They seem to like you.”

“A little bit too much if you ask me,” Harry replied as he struggled to indulge both horses at the same time. He was once again butted in the side as one of the Thestrals tried to regain his attention and moved its head so Harry could pet its neck.

“How’d you get them to do that?” the Slytherin boy asked. “I wouldn’t have ever thought Thestrals were so friendly…”

“Neither would I,” Harry replied, still petting the two. “Why don’t you guys try and pet them before they knock me down.”

Neville and the other boy stepped forward and held their hands out towards the Thestrals, but before they could even touch them, both Thestrals reared out of their reach and glared at them with blood red eyes. One of them pawed the ground and bat its wings threateningly at the two. Neville and the Slytherin both quickly backed off, able to take the hint that the Thestrals didn’t to be touched.

When the two other boys were far enough away, the Thestrals slowly returned to Harry’s side and nudged him again, urging him to continue petting them. Harry hesitantly did, completely confused by the two Thestrals.

“Huh,” Hagrid grunted from the side of the clearing as he and the rest of the class looked on in wonder. “That’s strange…”

“Those things almost bit us!” the Slytherin boy cried, staring at the two black horses fighting for Harry’s attention. “Why won’t they let anyone besides Potter near them?”

“Don’t know…” Hagrid shrugged, mystified by the Thestrals’ actions himself. “Usually they treat e‘ryone the same… Plus I can’t say I‘ve ever seen ‘em this friendly before. Even towards me… They must just like ‘arry ‘s all…”

Harry however wasn’t sure if he really liked that idea. The Thestrals were still nudging and butting him with their heads, fighting for his attention. “Hagrid!” he called. “What should I do? They won’t leave me alone!”

The giant pulled his burly beard nervously. Harry suddenly realized that this had never happened before and the giant really wasn‘t sure what to do. “Try walkin’ away,” he called.

Harry tried to do so, but the Thestrals just moved so that he was once again caught between them and forced to pet them. “Hagrid!” he helplessly called.

“Just ‘old on, ‘arry! I‘m comin‘,” he said and began to move towards them. As Hagrid approached though, the two Thestrals suddenly looked up and snapped their teeth at him, halting the giant mid-step. Hagrid stared at the two horses in surprise as if they really had bitten him.

This was starting to get out of hand.

The Thestrals were once again butting Harry with their heads, batting him back and forth between them. This had to stop. If Hagrid couldn’t help him, then he was going to have to do something himself…

In a rash act of bravery, Harry grabbed both Thestrals by their snouts and said in a loud, commanding voice, “Stop it!”

Both Thestrals froze. Harry felt them tremble slightly under his hands as if suddenly afraid. Their warm breath tickled his hands as he stared into their eyes, not daring to blink and break eye-contact. Slowly, both Thestrals bowed their heads to him in submission.

Harry wasn’t sure who was more surprised; himself, Hagrid, or the rest of the class.

Did he just get these Thestrals - one of hardest to train magical animals there were - to actually listen to him?

The Thestrals didn’t move, their heads submissively bowed under Harry’s touch.

“It’s alright…” Harry softly murmured, suddenly feeling bad about yelling at the two horses. He gently pet their scaly heads to show he wasn‘t angry with them anymore. “It’s alright… Just stop being so pushy…”

The Thestrals slowly rose their heads, reassured by Harry’s voice, and tentatively nudged his hands again with their noses.

“It’s alright… It’s alright…” he continued to murmur, gently stroking their scaly necks. “Now go on. Get out of here,” he then said, giving them one last pat and motioning them away. “Go on.”

As if actually listening to him, the two Thestrals bat their wings and trotted off, disappearing back into the shadows of the surrounding forest. Harry stared after them a moment before slowly turning back to face Hagrid and the rest of the class.

All of them were staring at him with something akin to awe.

“Not bad, ‘arry,” Hagrid said, staring at the young Gryffindor appraisingly as if suddenly seeing him in a different light. “I’ve never seen Thestrals listen to anyone like that before. They sometimes listen to me, but even then they’re kind of ‘ard to control… They‘re kind of like Hyppogriffs like that…”

Harry meanwhile had nothing to say in reply and could only stare after the two black shadows disappearing into the forest…