"I got the Thestrals some food." Hagrid set a large bucket full of assorted fish by the door and shook the rain off himself outside before coming in. "This'll feed them for two days. Remus, did you try the biscuits I baked?"
"Er, yes. They were delicious." Lupin stood up and helped Hagrid hang his raincoat to one side. "You went out in weather this awful?"
"The Thestrals need to eat," Hagrid said matter-of-factly. "And Will's been coming by a lot lately. That boy gets on so well with them, I almost wonder if he's got Thestral blood in him—just a figure of speech, of course."
Black lifted several slightly charred steaks from above the fireplace and handed one to Hagrid. They were threaded onto enormous iron skewers, but smelled delicious.
"That boy's special, isn't he?" Black said as he ate. "So young, but he seems to know a little about everything. I hear he's pretty popular at school, and the professors all like him. Oh, of course, getting too close to Snivellus isn't such a good thing."
"Will has a real talent for potions. He can learn a great deal from Snape." Lupin shook his head. "He loves learning, and he really needs that knowledge."
Black tore viciously into his steak as though it were Snape. "If he really needs it, I can give him a whole pile of books on magic. They're just going to waste sitting at home anyway."
"So you'd be willing to let me look through the Black family's collection, Mr. Black?" Will's voice came from the doorway, accompanied by a gust of cold wind.
"Of course, lad," Black said generously. "You're a good friend of Harry's, and you gave me food and somewhere to stay when I was at my lowest. For that alone,