"Are you sure about this, Daddy?" Luna asked as she gazed at the thestral in front of her. "I've only ridden her a few times."
The thestral snorted as of it could not believe her lack of faith. They had known each other since Luna had been extremely young.
"Of course. No one will know that you weren't on the train since no one will see the thestral. I heard there was a heard of them in the Forbidden Forest anyway. Come on, up you get," Xenophilius said, completely misunderstanding Luna's apprehension as he lifted her onto the back of the skeletal creature and handed her the shrunken and lightened trunk that held all her belongings. "If you get lost, I'm sure the Nargles will help you. I would never want any harm to come to my only daughter."
They had left their home late after Luna had some trouble saying goodbye to the nearby creatures and, as a result, ended up missing the Hogwarts Express by a several seconds despite apparating.
Luna had never liked trains anyway. They were loud with awful clouds of smoke, and filled with people who all already had any friends, or wanted friends who were normal. No one else seemed to believe in the creatures her father had taught her to see, but Luna supposed that was all right. She liked the idea of having something only shared by her father and herself.
"Are you sure she wouldn't mind being away from her herd though?" Luna asked, biting her lip worriedly. She hated separating the creatures from their families, thestrals especially. They had always seemed like such lonely creatures since they weren't seen by everyone like every other creature was.
"Don't worry. This one has been waiting for a good adventure for some time now. She'll be able to make her way back home of she wishes anyway."
Luna patted the thestral on its head lightly. "Okay then. Bye Daddy!"
The thestral began galloping to take off almost as soon as the words left Luna's mouth. Luna giggled at the wind that brushed her hair backwards to tickle her back and neck.
"We're going to Hogsmeade Station, okay? I need to catch up with the rest of the students."
The thestral snorted again, and Luna simply assumed that the short meant that the thestral had understood. Luna grabbed the thestral's neck tighter when they left the ground, and they were off to a place Luna had never seen before.
It wasn't too long after that Luna realised that she really should have brought a warmer cloak. Being as high up in the sky as she was, to ensure no one spotted a random girl floating in mid-air, meant that it was much colder than Luna had expected. The thestral didn't seem to notice the change in temperature and Luna didn't want to be spotted, so she shivered silently as the sun continued to sink on the horizon, dragging the temperatures down with it.
Suddenly there was a dark outline of a castle and the steaming red train ahead of them with a strange blue car that seemed to almost be flying next to the train. Luna momentarily wondered if that was normal, or there if there was simply too many people on the train that year and was suddenly thankful that she had been late.
The train began slowing to a stop, but the car seemed to show no signs of doing the same. Luna shrugged, and urged the thestral to slow with the train. The car was probably able to land and park somewhere else. Those were probably older students who knew what they were doing.
Luckily, the thestral landed not too far away from the station, only a street or two, and the milling students managed to hide the fact that she hadn't arrived on the train with them. It was really hot and stuffy among all those jostling bodies, making Luna once again thankful for not taking the train.
"First years! Over here! First years!" a voice called above the din, and Luna sighed gratefully as she followed the voice to a less crowded area near the end of the station.
AN: Written for Triwizard Tournament: choosing another means of transport to travel to Hogwarts