The Free State of Tylo

The sudden sight of a Thestral sent a shiver through Gavin.

It wasn't particularly strange that he could see Thestrals.

But their appearance was unsettling enough at night.

There was a reason they were considered an ill omen.

Gavin wasn't sure whether it was because he had witnessed Quirrell's death six months ago or because he had personally ended the Black Dragon's life in a valley in Romania.

Perhaps both had left him close enough to death to see them.

"What's wrong?" Cedric Diggory stopped and looked back at him.

Gavin pulled his gaze away and pointed beneath the carriage shafts. "Can't you see it? There's a—horse."

Cedric looked where he was pointing, then shook his head in confusion. "There's nothing there, Gavin. Are you joking?"

"So you can't see it?" Gavin asked, his voice strange.

"Of course not. There's only a harness there." Cedric frowned. "Are you all right? Did you get too much sun in Romania?"

Gavin didn't answer. Instead, he turned to Cho Chang, who had just walked over.

Cho was holding a book and about to board another carriage. Finding the two of them blocking her way, she blinked curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"Is there something over there?"

Gavin pointed to the same spot.

Cho looked, then shook her head too. "Just a harness and the shafts."

Gavin was silent for a moment. "Then you're both lucky."

Cedric wanted to ask more, but Gavin had already climbed into the carriage. As he passed, he gently patted the Thestral's bony neck.

The creature let out a faint breath, like wind passing through a hollow space.

Cedric climbed in after him. Cho went to another carriage with her roommates.

The carriage shuddered slightly, its wheels crunching over the gravel as it headed toward the castle.

"Did