- September 1, 2007 -

"Firs' years, this way!" 

"Come on," Kibum said, helping the young students off the Hogwarts Express. "Follow Hagrid!"

The first years were in a single file line, the Prefects standing between them and the Black Lake to guide to the boats, where the Head Boys and Girls were waiting to steer them to the castle. Kibum waited until the stream of them ebbed, then glanced over to where Minho was sitting on the bench. 

"I just gotta do a quick sweep and we can go." 

He sat back on the bench and smiled. "Okay. Take your time!" 

Kibum hopped up the stairs, looking up and down the hall before starting for the passenger compartments. There was no one left in the first car or the second, but in the third, he found a young boy -- a first year, if he had to guess -- sitting alone and clutching his bag. He tapped on the window, unfortunately startling the boy, and opened the door. 

“It’s time to head into the castle now,” Kibum said from the doorway. The boy sniffed loudly. “Is this your first time to Hogwarts?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer to that question. He nodded, and Kibum came into the compartment and knelt before the boy. “My name is Kibum, what’s your name?” 

“D-danny.” 

“Have any of your brothers or sisters been to Hogwarts before, Danny?” He shook his head. “Are you the oldest?” 

He shook his head again and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “No one in...in my...my family has magic.” 

Oh, ...a Muggleborn. Kibum started to get up. “Hold on for just a second, Danny, I’ll be right back.” He hurried into the hallway and to the nearest door, poking his head outside. “Hey!” Minho looked up from his cell phone in interest, standing when Kibum waved him over. 

“What’s up?” he asked once he reached him. 

“There’s a scared first year inside. Muggleborn. I thought you might be able to help him?” 

Minho’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah, sure, I can try?” 

Kibum led him inside to the compartment, and let Minho inside first. He plopped down on the bench beside him, crossing his legs beneath him, as Kibum crouched before Danny again. “This whole magic thing is kinda scary, huh?” he asked when Danny looked up at him. “I totally understand. I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it, either, when I was first starting out. But, I promise that it’s not as terrible as you’re imagining.” 

“Promise?” 

Minho put his hand over his heart and nodded solemnly, smiling down at Danny when he opened his eyes. “Magic is really cool, too, once you get started learning it. Like…” He pulled his wand out of his robe pocket and then his phone, which he then tossed to the opposite bench. “Bummie, can you -- ” he gestured for Kibum to scoot over, which he did, balancing himself against Minho’s knee. “Accio...phone!” he said with a swish of his wand, catching it when it came hurtling toward him. 

Danny’s eyes widened with awe as he looked up at Minho, who simply grinned as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. 

“Did you like Diagon Alley when you went to get your school supplies?” Kibum asked. 

“Yeah, it was really cool!” 

“Hogwarts is probably like...ten times better.” 

“Woah…”

Minho chuckled. “Yeah. Plus, at Hogwarts, you’ll make all kinds of friends.” Kibum smiled to himself as he glanced up at Minho. “I don’t know how many friends you have at home, but I know I felt a little left out by the Muggles. But here...here you’ll make friendships that will last a whole lifetime.”

“It’s true,” Kibum added, tearing his gaze away from Minho when he started to look his way. 

“It’ll take you some time to adjust, for sure, but Hogwarts will really be a second home for you.” 

“Okay.” 

Kibum caught Minho’s gaze then, a small smile curling his lips until he looked back at Danny. “Okay. Let’s get you to the boats, alright?” 

Danny nodded, looking noticeably less frightened than he was when Kibum found him. Once they were off the train, Kibum started jogging, both Danny and Minho following him. Lars, Slytherin’s Head Boy, met them at the docks. “I thought we were one short.”

“Sorry,” Kibum said breathlessly. "He was just a little nervous." 

"Understandable." He smirked and looked past Kibum to where Minho was standing a few steps away. "You two better get to the carriages before they're all gone." 

", yeah!" 

They started to run, Minho reaching the carriage first and clambering inside. Kibum skidded to a halt once the creature came into view. He had forgotten about that, over the course of the summer. He had been distracted, he…

He blinked, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of the bat-winged skeletal horse. It was terrifying during the day, but now, as night was setting in, it melded with the shadows of the Forbidden Forest, the last rays of sunlight gilding its bony back and shining through its translucent wings. He didn’t notice Minho hopping off of the carriage, not until he was standing between him and the creature. His body didn’t block it entirely from his view, but it helped break the sort-of trance. 

“Is it the creature? From before?” 

“You still can’t see it?” 

Minho shook his head. Kibum tensed when the...horse let out a screeching whinny, and Minho grabbed his upper arms, rubbing them back and forth until he relaxed. “It’ll take a little longer, but we can walk back to the castle. If you’d rather do that.”

"No...no, I'll be fine." 

Minho eyed him for a moment before he pulled away, stepping back so Kibum could get on the carriage first. With a heavy sigh, he did, the carriage jostling beneath him and Minho, who immediately followed him. The horse started trotting as soon as Minho made himself comfortable. Minho laid his hand on Kibum’s knee and started to tell him about Minseok’s last couple of days at the house before he and their dad left for Korea. The combination of Minho’s voice and his gentle touch were just distracting enough to keep his attention off of the creature. 

He bounded off the carriage just before it came to a stop at the front door of Hogwarts, and Minho jogged to follow him inside. Once the doors boomed shut, the locks clicking into place, Kibum relaxed against them, the tension in his shoulders dissipating as he caught his breath. 

"You good?" 

Kibum closed his eyes, nodded, and pushed off of the doors. 

The first years were gathering at the front of the Great Hall as they parted ways at the door. Kibum watched Minho walk away for a second before he turned himself, hurrying to his usual spot beside Analecia. She gave him a concerned frown and he shook his head, looking up to McGonagall as she started to explain the Sorting Hat to the first years. 

“You look a little pale, are you alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“RAVENCLAW!” the Sorting Hat’s voice rang through the Great Hall, and Kibum clapped with the others around him and stretched a little to see who the first year was. 

When Danny’s name was called, Kibum sat up a little straighter, as he was curious to see where his little buddy would end up. As he made his way to the stool, Kibum’s mind took him back to their first day at Hogwarts, when Minho was called up to be Sorted. Even though he was farther away from the front now, he could still see Danny’s expression, if only barely. It held the same nervousness that Minho’s had had -- a quick glance across the Hall showed him that Minho was just as interested as he was to see where Danny would go.

"SLYTHERIN!" 

Kibum's eyebrows raised in surprise. There weren't many Muggleborns in his house. A few, sure, and far more than there had been previously if he had to guess. But, it was still a bit shocking... 

If anyone said anything, he'd go straight to McGonagall. 

The feast appeared before then once the last student was Sorted and he dug in eagerly, hungry after a long day and barely having eaten anything since breakfast. Analecia caught him up on her summer, as did Aaron and Callum, but Minho came over and sat beside him before he could get into his. 

"So, I was thinking," he started in quiet Korean, the others averting their eyes at the switch in languages -- they knew this conversation wasn't meant for them. "O'Neely probably knows what those creatures you keep seeing are." Kibum nodded, dipping his mashed potatoes in a pool of gravy before he ate them. "You could go ask him? And if he doesn't, then we could always search the library for answers…"

Answers would be nice...but, he was honestly a bit scared of what they might be. The possibilities were endless and, frankly, terrifying, given the creatures' appearance. It would be a relief, though, to know that he's not just imagining things.

Kibum sighed and sipped his pumpkin juice as he glanced toward the dais. O'Neely was talking happily with Prof. Chanin, but he never seemed to mind when a student had a question. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and looked Minho's way. "You'll come with me?"

"Of course." 

Kibum turned to his other friends. "Hey, I'll see you guys back home." They nodded as he and Minho stood, and went back to eating as they walked away. 

As they passed Danny, he looked up, and Kibum waved at him with a smile. Once they stopped at the dais, Minho crossed his arms and looked back over the Great Hall while Kibum watched O'Neely and Chanin. Prof. Chanin noticed them first, and she pointed at O'Neely with a questioning raise of her eyebrow. Kibum nodded, and she must have told him because O'Neely looked their way. Kibum patted Minho's arm when O'Neely slipped out of his seat. 

"Do you two have a question?" 

Kibum glanced at Minho, who gave him an encouraging smile. "Yeah, actually. Could we talk in private?" 

"Certainly. Come to my office once we are dismissed." 

"Yes, sir," they said at the same time. 

Minho stopped to chat with Danny on their way back to their seats, crouching down behind him, and Kibum, although curious, left him to it. To no one's surprise, Minho sat beside him after he finished his discussion with Danny and picked a carrot from the mixed vegetables off of Kibum's plate. 

"Please, eat them all." 

"I will." 

Kibum sniffed, amused. "What'd you tell Danny?" 

"That if he had any problems that he could rely on you to help him," he said, picking up another carrot. Kibum started to melt a little, he could feel it in his expression and in the slight droop of his shoulders, until...

"So," Analecia said, clearing . "What'd you two do this summer?" 

"Oh," Aaron nodded to Minho. "Tell them about Diagon Alley!" 

Kibum smacked his arm. "You already told him?" 

"We ride the same train to Kings Cross!" 

The rest of the feast concluded with Minho and Kibum taking turns to fill the others in on what happened this summer. When McGonagall dismissed them, Analecia and the rest of the Prefects guided the younger students out of the Great Hall. He and Minho followed them at a distance, but only to the door. There, they broke free of the group and headed to the stairs, verging off to head to O’Neely’s office on the third floor. The door was left ajar, and Minho knocked quietly before they stepped through the doorway at the same time. 

Two cups of steaming tea were placed before the armchairs on the opposite side of Prof. O’Neely, who was already there, sitting with his tea in hand and his feet propped up on his desk. “What can I do for you two?” he asked as they took a seat. 

“Well,” Kibum started, looking Minho’s way when he handed him his tea before picking up his own. “I’ve...I’ve been seeing things. Minho can’t see them, but I only see them around the carriages.” O’Neely’s eyebrows raised, his forehead unwrinkling. “They’re, like, these big black horses, that, uh, have wings like a bat? I don’t know what they are and I think I’m going a little crazy…” 

Minho sputtered on his tea, and probably would have said something in response to that  if O’Neely hadn’t said, “You’re not crazy, Kibum.” 

“Do you know what they are?” 

“I do. In fact, I can see them, too.” Kibum sat back in his seat, knocking a bit of the air from his lungs. “Most, if not all, of the professors here can see them. And, I’m not surprised you can.” He set his tea aside and stood, making his way over to his bookshelves. Kibum took a couple of quick sips of his tea, his eyes darting over to meet Minho’s, who gave him a thumb’s up. Cute. “Ah, here it is.” He couldn’t catch a glimpse of the book title before O’Neely set it on his desk to flip through it. “This is it, right?” he asked as he turned the book around. 

Kibum and Minho leaned forward, looking at the image of the horses he had seen, only this one was with its young. Which was a very strange concept. It’s tail flicked in the picture, then its wings fluttered before Kibum drew his attention to the text. “Thestral?” 

“Yes. Because of their appearance, people are quite afraid of them and think them to be ill omens.”

“You mean they aren’t?” Kibum asked as he looked away from the book, letting Minho pull it closer to him. 

O’Neely chuckled. “No, not at all. I mean, they are associated with death -- “ Kibum blinked at that. “ -- but that’s because they can only be seen by people who have experienced loss themselves.” Kibum gulped, and O’Neely’s expression softened slightly. “I was here, fighting in the Battle in 1998. That’s why I and the rest of the professors can see them. I’m sure there are other students as well who can see them, too.”

“Really?”

He nodded, and Minho looked up from the book. “I understand being frightened by them. They’re not easy to look at, especially when you don’t know what they are. But, they’re truly quite gentle to interact with, especially if you bring them meat as a treat. What are you planning on doing tomorrow?” 

Kibum glanced at Minho, who shrugged. “Not sure,” he said when he looked back at O’Neely. “Probably just settling in before class starts on Monday.” 

“If you want to, you could meet me in the courtyard after lunch, and I could take you down to the Dark Forest to see them. I could explain them a bit more, then, too.” Part of him wanted to look over at Minho, to see if he wanted to join them. But it would have been pointless. He couldn’t see them, after all. 

No, this was something he’d have to do without him. 

“Sure,” he finally said, giving O’Neely a small smile. “I’ll see you then.” 

“Thank you, sir,” Minho said as he stood.

“Yes, thank you.” 

“It’s what I’m here for,” he said with a smile before he met Kibum’s eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Neither of them said a word until they were back out in the hallway, the door to the Defense classroom closed behind them. “Well?” Minho asked, his voice quiet in the empty corridor. 

“I feel a little bit better. Hopefully tomorrow will help, too.” 

“I think it will.” 

Together, they returned downstairs, reluctantly parting ways at the corner of the corridor. Kibum let himself inside Slytherin and slipped off his shoes as the wall closed up behind him. 

In the morning, after breakfast had finished and everyone was off to relax before the start of term, Kibum followed Minho up to their study closet on the second floor, relieved that when the door opened, nothing inside had changed. They arranged their notebooks and parchments and quills and pens as if they had never left for the summer. 

Candlelight flickered on the walls, the golden light dancing over them as they talked, fully catching up from their month and a half apart. It was nice to be alone with Minho, far away from prying eyes and curious ears. Quite a relief, if he were being honest. This was the only place he could think of -- both here and back home in Nottingham -- that he was always truly at ease, here in the tranquil sanctuary they had found on the seventh floor. 

When the bell rang for lunch, the sound quiet yet unmistakable, Minho scooted away from the wall and pushed himself up before he offered his hand to Kibum. He pulled him up and they hurried down the stairs, both hungry. 

Minho didn’t bother to go to Hufflepuff’s table -- lunchtime on the weekends was generally more relaxed, in that aspect. He grabbed two sandwiches as he took the seat beside Kibum and started to eat one of them before he was even seated. 

“Hungry, are we?” 

“You heard my stomach grumbling earlier. Don’t judge me.” 

Kibum smirked as he took two sandwiches for himself. 

Lunch came and went, some of them dispersing to do their own thing and some staying in the Great Hall to catch up with their friends that they hadn’t seen all summer. Minho followed Kibum as he left the Hall, picking up his pace to catch up to him as they made their way to the courtyard. O’Neely was already there -- it was strange to see him out of his regular robes and cap and in regular clothes. He smiled at them both, waving at Minho as he started to walk away. 

“I’ll catch you later,” he said, pointing finger guns at him before he turned around. Heading back downstairs, most likely.

“You ready?” 

Kibum took a deep breath and tore his gaze away from Minho to look up at O’Neely. “Sure.” 

The trek from the castle to the Forbidden Forest was a quiet one...mostly because Kibum was unsure what to say. He knew that if he started to talk he would just talk endlessly, because of his nerves, and that was something he doubted that either of them wanted at the moment. 

He held his breath as they stepped into the shadows of the Forbidden Forest. 

A damp chill settled around him, and he shuffled closer to O’Neely when the weight of a thousand stares settled on him. “Yes, stay close,” O’Neely whispered, his eyes scanning the gaps between the trees. “The herd isn’t too far in, but you never know what might be lurking in here.” 

Kibum gulped and resisted the urge to latch onto his professor’s arm. Who better to explore the Forbidden Forest with, though, other than the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? He was safe; he knew that… This was simply uncharted territory. 

Twigs snapped and leaves crunched beneath their feet. Something galloped past them, he caught a glimpse of them between the trees, but he only saw shadows and silhouettes as they passed. “Centaurs,” O’Neely said once the hoofbeats faded away. “They don’t take kindly to humans, after everything that’s happened.” He didn’t expound, he only stepped forward and Kibum followed, not even thinking to ask about an explanation. 

There came a screech, and Kibum tensed, his eyes widening as O’Neely started toward the sound. Once they broke through the underbrush and happened upon the herd, Kibum stopped in his tracks and O’Neely continued on. He dug into the satchel at his side and tossed a scrap of meat to one of the thestrals. Its jaws snapped as it caught it, and Kibum blinked rapidly. 

“Come here, Kibum,” he said, glancing over his shoulder and nodding at him. “It’s okay, they’re tame.” Cautiously, Kibum approached, stopping when he reached O’Neely. “Would you like to?” O’Neely asked, holding a chunk of steak out for Kibum. He shook his head, and O’Neely tossed it to the herd. “I know I said last night that they can only be seen by people who have experienced loss themselves, but that’s not entirely accurate.” 

Kibum watched one of the young thestrals stumble after what he presumed was its mother, much like a gangly foal would do. “What...what do you mean?” 

O’Neely crouched, holding out the meat in his hand to the foal a few meters away from him. Its mother nudged its hindquarters, sending it toward O’Neely. Tentatively, it stretched out its neck to take the meat from his hand. “I mean that they can only be seen by people who have seen death themselves, and have fully realized and accepted what happened.”

“Oh…” 

“Truth be told, I was somewhat expecting to have this conversation with you. At some point.” Kibum nodded mutely, ignoring the stinging tears in his eyes. “I’m proud of you, you know that, right?” It seemed to be a rhetorical question, so he didn’t bother answering. Instead, he gulped. “You’re kind, thoughtful, and a damn good student. You look out for your friends and stand up for what’s right, no matter the possible consequences. I’m sure they would be proud of you, too.” 

“She is, or...” he said, sniffing and wiping at his eyes. “Grandma said she was, but I don’t know about...about my dad.” 

“I’m sure he is, too. You’ve given him no reason to think otherwise.” 

The foal nudged at O’Neely’s hand, and, when it was empty, it plodded over to Kibum and did the same. He jumped at the contact, then slowly petted up its smooth yet bony snout. “So, it’s not a bad thing, like, an omen, to see thestral?” he asked as he scratched the foal behind its ears.

O’Neely shook his head, brushing his knees off as he stood. “Not at all.” 

Kibum sniffed again, then took a deep breath. The foal shook its head and Kibum pulled his hand away until it stopped and pushed its head into Kibum’s palm again. He smiled softly as it ran off after its mother, and let out a sigh. A sense of calm settled over him as he watched the herd move along, deeper into the shadows of the forest. 

He wasn’t going crazy, he was just...a little different than his classmates. 

And that was okay. 

“Are you ready to head back?”

Kibum nodded, smiling up at O’Neely. 

The journey out of the Forbidden Forest was much nicer than the journey in. Not only was it much quicker, but also Kibum could see daylight glimmering between the trees, shining like a beacon and guiding them out toward the light and the lawn. As they drew nearer to the castle, Kibum glanced toward Hufflepuff and the little, round windows facing the gardens and the forest. His attention was drawn to the balcony of the loft when someone stood, his breath catching when he saw it was Minho. 

His first instinct was to go run to him, but it seemed rude to abandon O’Neely like that. “Go ahead,” he said with a chuckle, and Kibum looked up at him. “He’s probably worried.” 

“Probably...thanks, Professor!” he called over his shoulder as he quickened his pace and ran over to where Minho was leaning on the banister. He craned his neck to look up at him and smiled as he raised his hand to block his eyes from the sun. 

“So...did it help?” Kibum nodded, and Minho’s smile grew. “I’ll meet you inside?” Kibum nodded again and started to run, grinning when he heard the scuffle of Minho’s footsteps.