Luna shook her head sadly. "That's the problem. We haven't had very many competent DADA professors, and no one has any ideas about who could lead us yet," the Ravenclaw said with a pointed shift of her eyes over to Harry that only Hermione saw.
"Ah, yes, that is a problem," Hermione nodded with a little smile to Luna. "I'll give it some thought as well. I'm sure we can come up with something."
"What do thestrals eat, Luna?" Harry asked between bites. "I'd like to bring something along for them."
"Don't worry, I got it covered," Luna grinned. "Do either of you want to come?" She asked Ron and Hermione.
"They can't see them," Harry shook his head, answering for his friends.
"What are thestrals?" Ron asked, mouth still full of mashed potato.
Everyone grimaced in disgust as Hermione went into a long lecture about an animal she couldn't see herself. "And…they're really very lovely," Harry added onto the end.
"Unless the picture drawn in the textbook was completely wrong, I'm going to have to disagree with Harry on that one," Hermione raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"What is beauty?" Luna questioned with a far-away look on her face. "Many say the crumple-horned snorkack isn't beautiful, but the frazzelbees are drawn to them. They must find their host beautiful in some way…"
"Ok, start with the crumple-horned snorkack and then tell me all about frazzelbees," Harry asked in interest as he finished his dinner. Ron and Hermione shared a look before talking about the twins' new joke product and tuning the other two out.
Half-way to the forest, Luna started skipping backwards in front of Harry with a broad grin on her face. "So…Harry. I'm very interested to know, how exactly does a person become a dementor when they've always been a human before?"
Harry threw his arms up at a loss. "No clue…one minute I'm getting the soul sucked out of my body and knowing it's game over, then the next, I'm checking out my nose less and eyeless face while the dementor who turned me strolled away all unconcerned and unhelpful."
"That's odd…" Luna frowned in consideration. "I thought dementors spawned in mist, and that's how they multiply. I've never heard of someone being turned into a dementor before."
Harry shook his head as he forcibly turned Luna around again before she ran into a tree. "I looked around my godfather's library but couldn't find anything about it. I'm checking Hogwarts library next, but I was more concerned with wards for Jamie last night, so I haven't looked yet."
"Jamie?" Luna asked as she peered around trees, looking for the thestrals.
Harry blushed, not realizing his slip. "Er…well, I kind of named the Harry-suit. It's not really a part of me anymore and well…I feel bad for the poor bugger…er, old me, I guess. Anyway, I've come to think of him as like a pet, sort-of. If I don't take care of him, he'll just waste away and die. Plus, you know, I'd like to keep him around so I can still pass as human at least a little."
Luna stopped at the edge of a clearing and smiled brightly at Harry, her blue eyes sparkling. "It's good to meet you, Jamie," she said to her friend.
"Yeah…he can't answer you back," Harry chuckled. "Soulless, you know."
"I'd love to study him sometime," she cocked her head musingly. "To see what's left in there and how it's still connected to magic." Seeing Harry's frown, she quickly added in nervous explanation. "I'm sorry; it's a fairy thing. Seeing magic all around us makes us curious how things interact. I didn't mean like study, study, just you know…observe…I'm not making this any better, am I?"
Harry smiled again as a couple thestrals wandered into the clearing. "I just don't like the idea of being studied," he shrugged. "I'll think about it, ok…?"
"Sure," Luna breathed out a sigh of relief and pulled some raw steak from her bag. "Here you go, lovely," she said to a small, awkward colt that stumbled forward.
"He is beautiful," Harry breathed out in wonder at the tiny horse. His aura was so full of life and wonder. "I can't wait to see one fly sometime."
"Here, give them this and they will definitely let you pet them," the fairy handed over a piece of raw meat.
Harry and Luna stayed and played with the baby thestral until the sun sank down below the horizon. It was so peaceful and uncomplicated with the horses in the forest. After thanking her for showing him where the thestrals live, Harry made plans to visit with Luna again the next week. "Don't eat anyone I wouldn't," Luna called after him with a wave as they parted in the entrance hall. Harry just shook his head and made his way back to Gryffindor Tower to tell Ron, Hermione, and Neville all about the baby thestral.
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