Just like the three years before, the Hogwarts Express left King’s Cross Station and steadily made its way towards Hogwarts. Like always, the compartments were filled with students of every year as they awaited their new year at Hogwarts.

“Oi, Sol!” Cormac nudged him.

“What do you want?” Sol who had been looking out the window turned around and asked him.

“What did you do throughout the holidays anyway?”

“Why do I have to do anything? Just stayed home and spent time with the folks,” Sol shrugged.

“You could’ve visited us, you know!” Katie pouted.

“You know…” Sol smiled sarcastically, “I’ll be sure to do that the next time a basilisk roams around in the sewers of London. Hell, I’ll even ask him to give me a ride.”

“The Basilisk got caught!” she stressed her point.

“You live in Newcastle. Do you know how long it would take me to get there?”

“Uhh…instantly?”

“Are you talking about Floo Powder? Don’t you live in an apartment? Where’d you get a fireplace?”

“Oh…uh…” Katie was stumped.

“And if you want me to come by car, it’s a 6-8 hour drive. Do you want me to stay in your house then?” Sol raised an eyebrow.

“Well, of course!” she threw a question back at him.

Sol face-palmed. Cormac, on the other hand, started laughing uproariously. He held his side as he leaned on Sol’s shoulders.

“…Christ, Katie,” Sol shook his head exasperatedly.

“That’s a good of a confession as any,” Cormac tried really hard to get those words out amidst his laughter.

“No, asking ‘will you go out with me’ is the best one. And why are you laughing? She invited you as well.”

“Huh?” Cormac looked at Katie. Her eyes were filled with coldness and disdain.

“Oi, oi, oi!” Cormac protested. “What’s with that expression?”

“You can come if you want,” Katie scoffed and turned her head around.

“See?” Sol returned his gaze to the scenery outside the window. He understood what was happening but did not want to think about it. He was essentially running away from the problem.

After a lot more chatting and some snacking, the train reached Hogwarts in the evening. And like always, the first years would be taken to Hogwarts by boats while the students from the other years will take carriages.

As Sol and his two friends were about to board a carriage, they heard someone behind them ask, “Can we ride with you?”

They turned around to see a girl with dirty blond hair and a dotty expression. If her expression wasn’t enough, she had her wand behind her left ear and a necklace of Butterbeer caps. She had what appeared to be a magazine in her hands as she looked at them. Ginny was right behind the girl looking at them as well.

“Nothing says you can’t,” Sol shrugged. He got on the open carriage and sat at one of the edges. He looked at the Thestrals who seemed to be waiting for everyone to get on board.

Soon, one by one, they got on the carriage. Once everyone was seated, the Thestrals started moving with a grunt. Their bony wings were folded by their side. With the addition of two more girls to their party, the carriage became lively. Well, Ginny, Katie, and Cormac seemed to be talking. Sol kept looking at the thestrals and the girl was reading her magazine. The only problem being was that it was upside down.

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“Can you see them?” her voice suddenly reached his ears.

Sol said absentmindedly, “I do.”

“Fascinating,” she closed her magazine. It was a copy of the Quibbler. Ginny stopped talking to Katie and looked at her.

“What’s fascinating, Luna?” Ginny asked the girl, Luna.

“Did you know that Thestrals are moving the carriages?” Luna asked back.

“Thestrals?” Ginny looked around. Katie and Cormac who were near them did the same as well. But all three of them saw nothing.

“Where?” Katie scratched her head.

“Over there,” Luna pointed in front of the carriage. But there was still nothing there. As soon as Katie was about to ask again, Luna continued, “Though they’re invisible.”

“Huh?” Ginny was startled, “Then how can you see them?”

“Only people who’ve witnessed death can see them,” Luna said. Although she said that casually, her words had made the atmosphere heavy.

“Then-” Ginny turned around to ask but before she could do so, Luna answered, “My mother. She died when I was nine. She messed up trying to experiment with a spell she created. After that, my dad raised me alone.”

As they didn’t know what to say, each of them said either ‘I see’ or, ‘I’m sorry’. In this depressing atmosphere, both Katie and Ginny remembered what Sol had said at first. As they turned to look at him, small balls of light emerged from his hands and danced in the air. They weren’t too straining to the eye and felt soft.

“Mediocris Gloria,” Sol quietly mumbled under his breath. The small lights that came out from his hand changed colors periodically. They danced in the air like small, playful fairies.

“Wow…!” the girls looked enchanted. A bubble came close to Ginny who poked it. The light popped, startling her. The small light had extinguished as soon as it was popped.

The bubbles came out at a slow but steady pace. Sol controlled them so they only stayed near the carriage. At one point, he withdrew his hand. He had achieved his goal. He sighed and laid his head down on the sides of the open carriage.

He knew what they were going to ask him and it was going to be a troublesome question. He wasn’t going to underestimate Luna. One could guess when someone else was staring off into space or was looking at a specific something if they were attentive enough. From the looks of it, Luna might’ve been paying attention to him before asking that question.

Sol sighed. He wished he didn’t have to answer positively in the first place. As they reached the gate, Sol extinguished all the lights and said, “Get down.”

Like before Professor Flitwick was in front of the gates taking everyone’s attendance. As he fiddled with the attendance book in his hand, he looked up when heard footsteps approaching him.

After Sol and his group stood in front of the professor, the latter looked at Sol and asked, “Sol Balor.”

This process went on until all five of them had registered their names. The Professor told them to go ahead and the group started walking towards the castle. As they walked inside the castle, Luna looked at Sol and said, “You feel…odd.”

“I…” Sol was stumped by this sudden statement. But he finally said what was on his mind, “I do not want to be told that by you.”

“Why not?” Luna asked innocently.

“You should focus on who the teacher for Dark Arts will be,” he changed the topic. “Since Lockhart is out, it means someone new has come.”

“Bloody hell, please don’t let it be another Lockhart,” Cormac clasped his hands and prayed.

“That wally is one of a kind. Don’t think there will be another one like him.”

Katie chose to stay silent when Lockhart came up. But out of the five of them, she was the one raging the most.

As they walked, they soon joined the other students. Everyone was here except the first years. They collectively entered the great hall. Sol sat down on the Gryffindor table.

Katie and Cormac sat at his side along with the rest of the fourth-year students. The students sat according to their years. There was a joyous atmosphere in the Great Hall. Friends gossiping, lovers reuniting, eager expressions of the students all livened up the Great Hall.

Looking at this, no one would think that a student died in this school. Sol smirked inwardly. However, he frowned in the next second. Seriously, is the death of a student not enough to disrupt the flow of events?

Soon, Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall with a bunch of first-year students. They all had dreamy, bewildered, or excited looks on their faces. They were marveled at the sight of the huge hall. After they were standing in front of the Sorting Hat, Headmaster Dumbledore stood up and walked towards the podium.

When he saw the Headmaster, Sol’s eyes bulged out. W-Who is this? He rubbed his eyes as he looked at him again. Wait, no. It’s his fashion sense that changed. Sol could’ve sworn he saw someone different for a split second.

The Headmaster was now sporting a grey wizard's robe and a tassel hat instead of his usual red wizard's robe with the star pattern and pointy wizard’s hat.

The Headmaster raised his wine chalice and tapped its side with a spoon three times. After the hall became quiet, the Headmaster spoke up, “Firstly, I will address a few things.”