A/N: This story has been written for the Golden Snitch Forum - Ollivander's Wand Challenge.
A/N 2: I do not own Harry Potter. It solely belongs to J.K. Rowling!
School and House: Hogwarts, Slytherin
Prompt: Wand Core - Threstal Tail Hair - Write about a character seeing a threstal
Word count: 813
The first time Neville had seen a threstal, he'd totally freaked out. Yes, he knew about them well, but their big, bony figures and their dragon-like face bearing white glittering eyes - that lacked both expression and pupils - made them look pretty horrible and spooky. In addition to that, threstals were only visible to those who had seen death, and were considered an omen for misfortunes.
This always made Neville upset. He was hurt by the fact that he lost his innocence at such a young age in life. Wasn't it already not difficult for him? First, his parents being subdued to a condition worse than death itself. And then the expectations everyone had from him - especially his grandma. A young Neville was very much upset with his life and his failures.
Over the years though, things changed. Neville's relationship with his own self and with that of the odd creatures developed. He would often encounter them in the Forbidden Forest when he would either accompany Hagrid or go into the depths of the forest in search of fascinating plants. He understood the bony creatures up to the point, where he also carried some fresh meat with him to feed the younger threstals.
It was one of those days when he was just sitting on a rock in the forest - a place where he often came, to clear his head - observing as a youngling devoured its food. There was a noise of twig snapping and he looked around to find a troubled Harry standing there awkwardly. Judging by the expression on his face, he clearly wasn't expecting Neville of all people to be out there.
"Heya Harry." Neville waved a little at him and was rewarded by an awkward smile.
"What are you doing here, Neville?" Harry asked as he moved to sit beside him.
"Same as you, I guess. Came here to clear my head. The toad lady is definitely taking a toll on all of us it seems," he just shrugged and guided his attention back to the threstals. The duo sat in comfortable silence, that was broken by Harry's sudden question.
"How are you able to you know...see them?" Harry asked, internally cringing - asking someone a question like that was definitely not appropriate and Neville's expression changing to a sad one, proved him right.
"Well, I...I saw my grandfather dying when I was a child. I was very close to him, you know...so his death hit me pretty hard, even though I didn't exactly know what losing him meant to me at that time." Neville swallowed hard when a memory of him and his grandfather playing all kinds of games came to his mind.
"I'm very sorry," Harry said sincerely, even though he did not know what it meant to have a normal childhood. He could only imagine what it meant to lose someone you loved, because even though he was an orphan, he didn't exactly remember his parents.
"It's quite alright, it was a long time ago anyway. I miss him but I know he wouldn't have wanted me to feel upset over his death." Neville said and Harry was left speechless, like always. He may not say that out loud, but Harry respected Neville's humble and gentle attitude greatly.
"Can I ask you one more thing, Neville?" Harry voiced, the interest clear in his tone, but he was still wary. He didn't want to make the situation any more awkward.
"Sure, go on."
"How come you didn't get into Hufflepuff?" He asked because according to him Neville was one of the most loyal person. But Neville smiled at that.
At first, he'd thought the exact same thing too. He considered himself more of a puff and not a Gryffindor. It wasn't because he didn't like the house or anything, but because he considered himself not worthy enough to be called brave. In his opinion, the sorting hat definitely had made some mistake and Neville wasn't courageous enough to even ask for a resorting, because what would his grandma say?
But as earlier said, things changed. His frequent visits to the spooky creatures, that were considered an omen of death, made him realise great things. Neville realised that seeing threstals isn't only because someone saw a death.
A sign of their visibility to someone also meant that someone understood death and accepted it. He might not be courageous and brave and outgoing like others of his house, but Neville had certainly lost the fear of facing death and maybe that was why he was a proud Gryffindor. And he was certainly ready for a war that was approaching fast their way.
"I'm not exactly sure but I think the hat was right." He said in a small voice and Harry didn't budge him any further. Their attention was taken by the young threstal nudging their legs lovingly.