The Eerie Thestral

When Avada returned to the compartment where Cedric and the others were, he heard, as expected, the three of them still excitedly discussing Flying Broomsticks and Quidditch, with the table already covered in a pile of snacks. Avada had no choice but to despairingly join their discussion, stuffing Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frog into his mouth while occasionally offering "Mm, yeah, right" in agreement.

Just like that, after persisting for several hours and with the world outside the window having turned completely pitch black, the train finally slowed down gradually and eventually came to a stop at that familiar little platform.

"The school letter I received earlier said that students above the first year don't need to take the boats and can go directly to Hogwarts by carriage..." Cho asked Cedric curiously while tidying her clothes. "How do the carriages cross the Black Lake to get to the school? Do they run on the water? Or are the ones pulling the carriages actually Kelpies?"

"They fly straight across."

Cedric explained, "The ones pulling the carriages are magical creatures called Thestrals. They are said to be horse-like creatures with wings, and they have very strong flying capabilities..."

"Said to be? Didn't you ride in those carriages last semester?"

"I can't see them."

He smiled. "Thestrals have a magical property: only those who have witnessed death with their own eyes can see them; otherwise, they are invisible to you... To be honest, I'm quite glad I can't see Thestrals."

As they spoke, the group followed the flow of people off the train, watching as the first-year students were led by Hagrid toward the path to the docks, while the remaining large crowd of older students walked familiarly toward the carriage station on the other side. Those who had just advanced to their second year and didn't yet know the location of the carriage station followed closely in the footsteps of the older students, afraid of getting lost if they weren't careful.

The carriage station was not far from the train station. After walking for less than a minute, Avada saw several hundred empty carriages parked neatly in a large open space, with a bright cluster of vitality and mental energy in front of each one—

Wait, I can't see the Thestrals?

Looking at the front of the carriages, which appeared empty to the naked eye and only revealed their vitality and mental energy under his Magic Sense, Avada felt a surge of doubt.

He was someone who had died once himself; how could he still not see the Thestrals?

Does the "respawn" I gave myself not count?

As Avada boarded a carriage, he carefully observed the magical structure of the Thestral, intending to see what the principle behind this creature's magical property was. Then, after only a short while, his brow began to furrow.

The magical structure of the Thestral was so chaotic it was unbearable to look at—if not for the most basic vitality and mental energy still being present, he wouldn't have believed this was a structure belonging to a living creature. From these chaotic structures, Avada couldn't find any parts that might have meaning; it was even more sloppy and disorganized than the crudest graffiti...

Let alone anything related to "death" or "invisibility," Avada found it incredible that this thing could even run!

Could this thing be a bundle of bugs?

Avada rubbed his head in frustration. He discovered that once his research into the world reached a certain level, his Magic Sense almost never worked—whether it was the magical void in mental energy, the splitting of the soul, time and fate, the protection spell on Harry, or the principle of the Thestrals being "visible only after witnessing death"... it was all the same.

It was as if there existed in this world something more fundamental than magic, influencing the operation of all these things from the shadows. And this made Avada even more eager to open the book Professor Baker had left behind, to see the so-called "deepest, most essential mysteries" within.

"Once I'm back at school, I'll pause all other research and focus entirely on breaking the seal on the book!"

During the previous summer vacation, he had been held back by other matters and couldn't cast spells without restraint, which had caused the progress of breaking the seal to be slow. If he focused all his efforts on this one thing, he was confident he could completely break that seal before Christmas arrived!

As the students boarded the carriages one after another, the vehicles, which carried a faint smell of mold and straw, began to fly steadily. After crossing the Black Lake, they drove toward two magnificent wrought-iron gates, with stone pillars on both sides topped with winged boars. After passing through the gates, the carriages continued to accelerate along the long, uphill driveway leading to the castle. From the window, Avada could see the towers getting closer and closer.

Finally, the carriage swayed to a stop, and Avada, along with the other older students, jumped off one after another. The second-year students followed the crowd up the stone steps, passed through another oak door, and entered the spacious and deep entrance hall. Torches were burning there, and a grand marble staircase led to the floors above—this was a different entrance than the one for the first years.

"We're much faster than the first-year students; they probably still have a few minutes before they arrive..."

This time, it was the Weasley twins who excitedly began to educate the second-years: "Due to the traditions of the wizarding world, the first-year students don't know how the Sorting Ceremony is conducted, so they're already incredibly nervous. Then, we older students sit down early, get dressed up neatly, and when the newcomers enter the hall, we don't say a word, just watch them quietly with solemn expressions..."

"Don't look at me like that; this is a fine tradition of Hogwarts, and everyone has to go through it once..."

Perhaps feeling uncomfortable under the resentful stares of the second-year students, Fred explained with a dry laugh, "Look, aren't you about to experience the fun of this tradition yourselves?"

"Let's go, let's go! If we don't hurry, we'll be late!"

This time, it was the prefects who started urging them—it seemed that no matter who it was, their opinion on this prank-like tradition was surprisingly consistent.

Thus, Avada had no choice but to follow the crowd, tidying his wizard robes, putting on that black pointed hat he hadn't touched all last year, and after tucking his wand into his belt, he sat down quietly and elegantly at the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey, remember? Among this year's newcomers is that Harry Potter!"

With some time left before the first-year students entered, the older students who had already taken their seats began to make full use of the time to whisper to each other, discussing the topic that had been talked about incessantly since the end of last year: "Which house will he be sorted into?"

"Definitely our Ravenclaw! He has the terrifying talent to defeat You-Know-Who as a newborn; how could he not come to Ravenclaw?"

"Nonsense, it should be our Gryffindor! I've asked around; almost all members of the Potter family are from Gryffindor, and his parents were also from Gryffindor. Harry Potter will certainly be no exception!"

"I hope it's our Hufflepuff. Look, he defeated the most evil Dark Lord the moment he was born and ended a terrifying era, which shows he must have great kindness in his heart for the world..."

"Haha, stop guessing; he must belong to Slytherin! His birth was meant to end the previous Dark Lord and then ascend himself..."

"Shut up! Is that something you can say out loud?!"

After a certain Slytherin guy was pushed down by the person next to him, everyone began to discuss what terrifying level Harry Potter's magical ability had reached in these eleven years, and whether he would directly replace Dumbledore as the headmaster of Hogwarts...

Meanwhile, Avada, while pretending to be earnestly discussing, turned his Magic Sense perspective toward someone in the faculty seats.

In that person's vitality, besides his own normal golden mental energy, there was a cluster of more stable, mutated mental energy that had turned dark gold, within which was wrapped a magical void smaller than that of an ordinary person.

Finally found you... Voldemort!