In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 19: The end is at the castle

The wagon with no horses visible was like a big boat travelling on ocean waves, and the rice fields, bent by the wind, rose and fell, truly giving the appearance of waves.

"Do we have any destination?"

Jon sat on the stool on the long couch, the top of his head just barely reaching Hagrid's chin, but that was high enough to allow him to see high above the wooden cabinet in front of him and to see the view in the distance.

Hagrid smiled nostalgically when he heard Jon's question, and his gruff voice was unexpectedly soft.

"I asked Dumbledore the same question at the beginning when I started to drive this wagon, and he told me that the moment we stepped into this wagon, there would be only one end to this journey, and that would be to return to that Hogwarts castle that was originally ours."

The breeze blew the bangs from Jon's forehead and a smile appeared on his face as he gently brought his hand upwards with the cup of tea, as if he was saluting someone at a distance.

"It has a very poetic feel to it, I like it!"

"Oh yes, I was almost in tears when I heard him say that. Well, actually I did burst into tears for a while."

"Don't you get bored driving the wagon all by yourself out here?"

"Well, sometimes I do get a bit bored, but it's all right, I've got Beech to keep me company, and I've named every Thestrals in front of me. I almost forgot that you shouldn't be able to see these lovely fellows, the horses that are pulling us are called Thestrals, magical creatures that can only be seen by those who have witnessed death."

Jon really couldn't see the Thestrals, he had never seen anyone die in front of him in his two lifetimes back and forth, but he had died once before, though that didn't seem to help him actually see death and thus be able to witness Thestrals in their full glory.

"What kind of horses are they?"

"Black, with heads that actually look more like dragons, skinny bodies, and a pair of bat-like wings, they are one of the kinds of Pegasus. We can't have them carry us up though, it's not that we can't fly, it's just that the Ministry of Magic has stricter controls on the sky compared to the ground, and if we flew in the sky we'd be an easy target for the Aurors and Death Eaters."

"They can keep running without resting?"

"Of course not, there are eight Thestral pulling the wagon in front of us, but there are over twenty Thestral on Hogwarts, they are kept in a separate room with grass and an open sky to nurture them, every week they will change shifts, when they are not working they will be given plenty of rest and meat, pulling the wagon is same as activity walking outside for them, and their life is much better than ours."

Hagrid was very enthusiastic about educating Jon about these magical creatures, and as he spoke he took another plate of small cakes out of the cupboard and put them in Jon's hand.

"Try some more Jon, I made these myself in the kitchen during the night, my speciality is actually rock crust cakes, unfortunately, you didn't arrive at a perfect time and I had already eaten the last bit of my stock this morning."

"Thanks, but I'm full Hagrid."

Jon really couldn't eat any more of the creamy honey cake he was carrying, he didn't have much of an appetite to begin with, and it was only a small cake in the eyes of Hagrid, it wasn't small in any way for the 11-year-old.

Niffler looked like he was salivating over the cake in Jon's hand, and when Jon put it in front of him, he jumped on the plate and pawed at it, taking the cream into his mouth.

Jon and Hagrid chatted for a while longer, and then it wasn't long before he decided to take his leave.

He had nothing else to do in the afternoon, but if Neville and the others hadn't seen him after lunch, they might report him to the professor.

Hagrid did not stop him, and just sincerely invited him to come and talk to him at the front of the wagon whenever he had time, before opening the door to the wagon for Jon and sending him inside.

After a rare breath of fresh air, Jon was in a good mood as he walked along the corridor, and he didn't intend to go back to the great hall, as Hagrid's small cakes and black tea were enough to fill him up, and he planned to go straight back to his dormitory to wait for Neville to return after supper.

And just as he was passing through the storeroom, a chubby figure happened to walk out of it.

Slughorn had a lot of things in his hands, a large box of Crystallised Pineapples in his arms, packets of toffees in his mouth, and what looked like two large bottles of lemonade-like drinks beside him, controlled by a levitation charm.

Jon looked at the now busy professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and asked hesitantly.

"Uh, Professor, do you need some help?"

"Aha!"

Slughorn opened his mouth in surprise, and at the same time, the toffee packets he was holding in his mouth fell down, which Jon subconsciously caught in his hand from below.

"You're right on time, Jon, the students have gone to eat, and I couldn't find anyone who would help. Go on, take this packet of sweets and follow me, maybe I will share a few with you."

This somewhat snobbish professor treated Jon quite well, as the History of Magic assignment Jon had handed in last week had been much appreciated by him, which, combined with a notable performance in Defence class, had led Slughorn to put Jon on the list of students who could be taken care of, just like Neville.

Justin and Lavender, with their mediocre talent and more common backgrounds, were not on this list.

Jon followed behind Slughorn with the packets of toffees that would have lasted him more than a year if he had been allowed to eat them alone, in his mind, he quietly grumbled that with such a sweet tooth it was no wonder he had such a body.

Slughorn's office is not far from the storeroom, it seems to be a room that he has chosen deliberately.

The office was simply furnished with a set of desks and chairs and a row of bookshelves, although there were a number of pictures of him with other wizards on the walls, and all of them smiling at him with a wink and looking like celebrities, but Jon didn't recognise any of them.

"Just place them over here, don't laugh at me for enjoying them at my age, that's all I have left, one of the terms Dumbledore offered when he recruited me here was that there would be enough sweets to go around, good thing he didn't lie about that."

Slughorn put his things away and invited Jon to sit down, pouring him a cup of black tea in the process, as if he was going to take the opportunity to talk to him about his homework.

"You did quite well on the Defence class homework you handed in last week, Jon, you have gained great knowledge about Dark Magic curses very well."

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