On the sixth day Harry reached a village that seemed vaguely familiar. He wondered how that could be, for he did not remember having been to any village in this part of the country. He stood for a while on the market-place, racking his brains.
Suddenly he heard the sound of a train slowly going by, and then he knew why this village had seemed familiar. The Hogwarts train also passed it, and due to some special speed limit, it always went very slowly. Harry had seen the village out of the window for ten times so far. It was not surprising that he thought he knew it.
What really was surprising was the fact that Harry was not far from Hogwarts. Although Harry had constantly been moving northwards, it had never once crossed his mind that he was bound to come through Hogsmeade, or at least pass close to it. And he knew that this village was not very far from Hogsmeade.
He was just about to ask someone when he remembered that Hogsmeade was the only village in Great Britain where not a single muggle lived; therefore it was very unlikely for these muggles here to know where the village was - or that it even existed, for that matter. So Harry restrained himself from just walking over to someone and ask for it. He did not want to draw too much attention to himself.
He checked his money. He had about fifteen pounds in one pocket, and six galleons, fifteen sickles and a few knuts in the other one. Enough to get some breakfast here.
Harry went into a café and ordered a cup of coffee and ham and eggs. The waitress eyed him warily and insisted that she take the money first. Harry smiled politely, but he gave her not a single penny to spare.
After he had finished, he stood up and went through the village, further northward, following that odd knowledge inside him that told him exactly when to turn left or right or to take a break. The knowledge Yehudiah had given him during that dream. Yet Harry knew now what Kingsley had meant when he had talked about forgetting things. Harry couldn't have given an account of his journey, either. Every time he tried to remember where he had been the previous hours, everything just vanished from his mind. He only knew that he had to go on. What lay behind him did not matter.
xxx
Harry estimated that it was past six o'clock in the evening when he noticed that he somehow must have passed Hogsmeade without noticing it. But this was impossible... Harry loved Hogsmeade; he would have noticed it if he'd come through it. Yet it was clear - he was standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, no doubt. He could even see the lake shimmering through the trees. Oddly enough, Harry felt no urge to go over to Hogwarts and visit Hagrid or Dumbledore. He supposed that this also was Yehudiah's doing. He would only tarry if he went over to the grounds now. So he continued his path that led him straight into the forest.
Harry looked up. The sun was already starting to set, and the trees cast long shadows on the ground. Harry was constantly walking in the shade. From time to time, he heard noises from the animals, and he once thought he'd caught a fleeting glimpse at a unicorn that sped by in the distance. But he kept walking on, never once looking back or wondering where the path may take him. He still knew exactly where to go without knowing how he knew.
After about thirty minutes, Harry reached a meadow. He stopped dead. This was the meadow where he had met Yehudiah in the dream. This was actually no big surprise, as Harry had, during the dream, recognized the meadow as the one where Hagrid sometimes took them for his lessons. But he had completely forgotten about that fact. Now, thinking about it, Harry found it completely reasonable that his journey had taken him to the Hogwarts grounds. There must have been a reason why Yehudiah had chosen this location for their first meeting.
Harry had barely finished this thought when he heard a rustling in the leaves behind him. He turned and saw a black horse emerge from between the trees. It was very thin and had two wide, bat-like wings: a Thestral. It neighed softly and trotted over to him.
"'lo," said Harry quietly and looked into its dark eyes. The Thestral calmly returned his gaze, and Harry suddenly remembered that there had also been a Thestral in his dream. This surely wasn't a coincidence.
"Did the angel send you?" asked Harry. The Thestral neighed again and nudged Harry with its nose.
"Were you in my dream?" Harry continued and stroked it. The Thestral shook its mane and nudged Harry again.
"What do you want?" asked Harry dully. "Have you come here to show me the way?"
For Harry had just realized that he could not go any further. The strange knowledge in him had led him here, but that was it. And if he wasn't going to meet Yehudiah here, he needed someone to show him the rest of the way.
The Thestral remained on Harry's right side and continued looking at him.
"Am I supposed to continue the journey on your back?" asked Harry. The Thestral neighed loudly.
"Very well then," Harry sighed. He remembered all too well how uncomfortable it was to ride on the back of a Thestral. But he did not have any other choice. "Alright, watch out, here I come," he murmured in a half-hearted attempt to make a joke. Then he groped a streak of the Thestral's mane and swung himself onto its back. The Thestral stood as if frozen to the ground until Harry had made himself as comfortable as possible, then it started trotting, then galloping, and then finally it spread its wings and took off into the sky. Harry clutched both sides of the Thestral's neck. After a while, he had gotten used to the rhythmic moves of the horse, and he relaxed a little. They were flying pretty high now; Harry could see the Forbidden Forest deep down below. To the right he saw the Hogwarts castle, but still he felt no longing to go there. Moments later, castle and forest had vanished out of his sight, and Harry saw the Scottish landscape spreading beneath him. At first, he looked down and enjoyed the sight, but it was getting darker and darker, and soon he could not tell cities from forests and lakes, so he leaned forward, put his arms around the Thestral's neck and laid his head down on its mane. He closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt very tired. Worn out. He longed for his bed, wanted to sleep and forget everything for a while. But then Sirius's image popped up in his mind, the way Harry remembered it best, with a little smile on his once-handsome face, his dark eyes shining with affection and care. The image vanished, but Harry did not allow the scene at the ministry to take over. He did not want the old pain to come to the surface again. After all, he was on his way to bring Sirius back. The thought remained on his mind, and he felt better immediately.
Harry sat up straight again. When he looked down, he could not see anything, just darkness. He patted the Thestral's neck. The Thestral neighed softly but did not slow down. Harry started to wonder if these creatures were ever getting tired at all. They had been flying for at least two hours now, and still Harry had no idea where they were going or how far it would be. From all he knew, they could go on like this for days.
On the horizon to Harry's left there was a dim light, the last rays of the setting sun, so Harry could tell that they were heading northward. It was getting colder and colder, and the wind was aggressively attacking him. Harry tried to cuddle in, but his hands felt like icicles. He ducked down and hoped that the Thestral's head and neck would block the wind, at least a little. It hardly helped. And still they were speeding through the night.
xxx
There was light. Harry squinted and saw that the sun was rising. He wondered how that was possible. Surely he couldn't have spent twelve hours on the back of the Thestral... Although it had felt like an eternity, Harry estimated that it could not be later than midnight. But the sun continued to rise, which meant that it must be about six o'clock in the morning. Harry figured that he must have slept for a while, although he didn't remember it. He was still freezing, but the air had warmed a little.
Harry looked down over the Thestral's shoulder and almost fell off. There was nothing but water beneath him. Wherever he looked, just the endless ocean.
Harry clasped the Thestral's neck and re-adjusted his position.
"Say, where are you taking me?" He whispered. His teeth were clattering. "Is it far?"
No answer.
Harry remained crouched for a while. Suddenly the Thestral slowed down and started to dive.
A thrill of hope rushed through Harry. Had they arrived at their destination? He peered out over the Thestral's ears and tried to see what it was aiming at. But he only saw a huge cloud. A moment later, they had dived into the cloud, and Harry did not see anything but gray haze. Moisture set in his hair and on his glasses, and when they were through the cloud, Harry was practically blind. He did not dare to take a hand off the Thestral's mane to polish the glasses. He just hoped that the problem would solve itself. And he was right, for the moisture evaporated, and he could see again.
What he saw made his jaw drop with surprise. The Thestral was about to touch down on an island that lay beneath them. It was rather big and very idyllic. Harry could see trees and meadows. The island lay on a kind of plateau; steep cliffs led down to a narrow beach that surrounded the whole island. As they went deeper, the Thestral slowed down and floated on the wind until it softly landed on one of the meadows.
Harry slid off the Thestral's back, and his legs immediately gave way under him. He collapsed on the green grass and lay there for a few minutes, outstretched on his back. The sun had risen and was thawing his frozen limbs. Harry closed his eyes.
Something warm and wet touched his cheek: The Thestral nudged him with its nose. Harry opened his eyes and made a tremendous effort to get to his feet. He felt that he could sleep for twenty-four hours now, but he had a mission to complete here.
Somewhere on this island he was supposed to find the way to bring Sirius back.
