104 Thestrals

"Nice to meet you. Do you want to be a reporter?" asked James.

"Yes! I want to have my magazine and work only with the truth!" replied Xeno with a smile.

"Oh Like the Prophet?" asked James. When that name came out of James' mouth, a disgusted expression appeared on Xeno's face.

"Tsch, those crappy reporters. They should be ashamed of themselves working for that corrupt and deceitful newspaper," said Xeno, spitting on the ground in disdain.

"..." James partly agreed with the strange boy, but found the part about spitting to show his contempt odd.

"You're right... Have you noticed that they provide very little cover from the Death Eaters?" asked James.

"Yes, they are an embarrassment to journalism. The Ministry controls the Prophet however they want. They wouldn't want to tarnish their image," said Xeno with a frown.

"Looks like you didn't get your head washed by them. Look at this," added Xeno, pulling out a notebook and passing it to James, who with an incredulous expression opened it to the first page and began to read.

In the compartment, silence reigned. Only James could be heard as he turned to the next page of the notebook.

'It's Hogwarts gossip and rumors...' thought James as he read with a strange expression.

Several of the rumors and gossip were about him. Some are not as good as others. It also talked about the forbidden forest and creatures that even Hagrid didn't see, so most likely they wouldn't exist, but it was best not to comment on that.

The Marauders' hobby was playing pranks and exploring the castle at night. Xeno's hobby was gathering the craziest rumors and gossip in the school, most likely by going stealthily so he wouldn't be seen.

"Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy...?" read James, a news item on one of the pages of the paper. Next to the note was a picture of Narcissa, and next to her was a tall blond boy.

"Those same ones. On one of my scans for a scoop, I found the two of them in one of the towers muttering. I didn't manage to overhear their conversation, unfortunately. I'm sure those two have a special relationship. It would be a great scoop if I could accumulate some more evidence," explained Xeno in a proud tone.

"Sure..." said James. He had thought Xeno wanted to be a journalist showing more serious news, but he remembered he was twelve years old. As was he who made some less-than-mature jokes.

Just then several people came through the door. They were the marauders: Sirius, Lupin, Toby and Peter.

"Guys!" said James with a slight smile, getting up from his seat. He shook hands with them all, and they sat down. Three in each seat. Lupin and Peter stayed seated with the Ravenclaw student, who was the only one in a different robe.

"This is Xenophilius," James said, introducing them to the boy who peculiarly greeted everyone.

"How has your vacation been?" asked James mostly looking at Lupin.

He had a deadline to talk to him. He had until the next full moon in September to know that the school staff knew about his situation. Otherwise, his mother would come and talk to the headmaster personally.

"Well. The best thing was to go to your house. After that boring stuff," said Peter, and Toby nodded in agreement.

"At the beginning it was bad. The best was the days we spent at my Uncle Alphard's. Though for that, my mother took away my royal owl for an indeterminate amount of time," Sirius said with a grimace, remembering his mother's yelling at him for attending a party where the husband was a muggle-born.

"Normal. I haven't done much. I got a bit ahead of myself with this year's books. Did you see the new Defense Against the Dark Arts books?" said Lupin.

"No. I'll have time to read later in the year," replied Sirius.

"I did read them. They're garbage. All theoretical and nothing practical," replied James with a frown.

Lupin nodded, "Wilbert's book seems more like a manual on how to negotiate to reach an agreement and not have to fight. The book issued by the Ministry is theoretical and without any defensive spells. The only practical thing it has are some strange moves," said Lupin.

"No way..." said Sirius, Peter, Toby, and even Xeno in unison.

"It seems that the rumor about the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher position is true," commented Xeno, who seemed to be fascinated by this, as it was a rumor he had researched.

"What rumor?" asked Toby.

"There is talk, especially from older students, that no DADA teacher can hold the position for more than a year without suffering an unpleasant fate. I don't think Professor Antennae sent out for those books," explained Xeno.

Everyone agreed about Antennae. The professor was a former auror and would not teach everything theoretical. Last year, the subject was entirely practical, only the beginning had more theory.

'Looks like I won't learn anything good in Defense Against the Dark Arts this year...' thought James. He would have to be more self-taught than before.

"Do you know since when that rumor started going around?" asked James since he saw that the boy seemed to know more about the subject than he did.

"I've interviewed a lot of older students, and even the seventh years got wind of the rumor in their first or second year. They too had one teacher per year of Defense Against the Dark Arts. The rumor could be ten years old quietly," replied Xeno.

"That's too many years. There's something odd about the position," said Lupin with a thoughtful look. There were professors like McGonagall, Slughorn, and Sprout who were many years ago at Hogwarts teaching. It was very rare to change professors every year.

"Yes. What is Dumbledore doing? He's the strongest wizard. He should be able to remove a curse," Sirius commented.

A name popped into James' head: Voldemort. He would be the only wizard who could cast a curse so powerful that not even Dumbledore himself or another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor could remove it.

'I must investigate this rumor further...' thought James.

If it was Voldemort, Why did he do it? Will he attack Hogwarts in the future? He must know. He must know his mortal enemy better.

As the boys chatted quietly (Xeno joined in all the conversations and gave peculiar contributions.) The train arrived at its destination: Hogsmeade station.

The train slowed down, and the usual commotion was heard. Everyone stood up to collect their luggage and pets.

James took his trunk and the cage with Shadow and together with the others left the compartment. They slowly made their way towards the doors. James noticed the smell of the pine trees lining the path, which descended to the lake.

He stepped down onto the platform and looked around. Just then he heard a familiar shout, "First years, line up here, please! All first years with me!" It was Hagrid doing his job year after year.

They walked across the platform with the rest of the students and out onto a dirt and uneven road. Waiting for them were at least a hundred carriages all pulled by an invisible horse or so most of the students saw.

James was one of the few who saw some creatures standing near the carriages. They had a certain reptilian air about them. Each creature had black fur that clung to their skeletons. Each bone was distinguishable.

The head looked like a dragon's, and they had eyes without pupils, white and fixed. From the withers, the highest part of the back of that species of animals, they had wings, huge, black, leathery wings that looked like gigantic bats.

Standing there, still and silent in the darkness, the creatures had a ghostly, sinister air. James stared at them in awe. It was the first time he had seen them. They were thestrals.

They are undeservedly known as an omen of misfortune and aggression by many wizards because they are only visible to those who have seen death (and fully understood the concept).

James had seen death with his own eyes and died. He had been wandering for an indeterminate amount of time in limbo until he was reborn as James Potter.

'What amazing creatures...' thought James, somewhat fascinated by the ghostly horses. He learned about them from Hagrid, who taught them about all sorts of creatures. Thestrals lived in the forbidden forest.

The marauders got into a carriage, and within a few minutes, two thestrals took flight and pulled the carriage.

The ride was comfortable and uneventful. The only thing was that the carriage smelled a bit musty and straw-like. Finally, they arrived at the castle. The carriage stopped, and they descended.

They joined a crowd making their way to the Great Hall, 'Here again...' thought James, entering the dining room and looking up at the enchanted ceiling.

In a few minutes, everyone was seated at their respective tables and waiting for the new students and the sorting ceremony to begin.

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