Horseplay [OPEN 5th Years]

[charles septimus weasley]

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January 22nd, 2026

It was a frigid January afternoon, but Charlie was intent on holding his class outside today. And he had very good reason to do so, despite the irritated and frozen looks that some of the fifth year students had on their faces. They should have been used to this sort of weather by now, but the fresh blanket of snow and constant blowing of a cold wind were admittedly annoying. Luckily this was the sort of lesson that could be very fast if it needed to be. “Looks like everyone is here, so let’s get going,” Charlie waved over his head as he started walking towards one of the many narrow paths that crossed into the Forbidden Forest.

He had a specific path to follow, and one that he was positive most of the students had never taken before. Not because of what was at the end of it, but because it sometimes took a lot of explanation. Surely after the events of the last few years, a good portion of the Hogwarts students would already know what the lesson would be on, but he still couldn’t gauge the Ilvermorny transfers. They were a different crowd, and he suspected that the curriculum they had back home was vastly different. Charlie hadn’t spent much time in the United States, seeing as dragons weren’t really a thing there, but he did know that their beasts weren’t comparable to the ones here. If anything, the American kids were getting an excellent education when it came to certain topics at Hogwarts, and were even able to continue some of their classes that they had previously had back home.

But the thestral herd that existed at Hogwarts was about as Hogwarts as it could get. They had been around for as long as he could tell, and there was a varying degree on former professor’s notes about how classes reacted. Technically they weren’t even supposed to be taught until sixth year, but he wanted to get a head start on the creatures he knew best. So he wasn’t sure how this lesson would go. He hated that it was in the curriculum because it would very clearly show what some of the students had been through. During his time in school, Professor Kettleburn had been surprised that one student in the class could see them, and most everyone else had thought the boy was in on some joke set up by the professor prior to the start of class. Admittedly, Charlie couldn’t see them until after the war. He couldn’t even remember who the first was, but that hardly mattered by the end of the day.

Rounding the last corner into the clearing, he stepped to the side to make room for the class to enter the circular patch of forest. The herd was directly in front of them, barely paying attention to the wandering eyes of the students (some already glaring, others clearly confused). He remembered that exact feeling too, both times. A pang of guilt was already stabbing him in the chest, because he knew that he would eventually have to explain why some could see the skeletal horses and others could not. “In front of us, is the Hogwarts herd of thestrals,” Charlie explained, clearing his throat as he stepped closer to the nearest horse and patted it on the back. Even though he could see them, he was sure the sudden stop of his hand in midair would solidify that there was indeed a creature there. “Some of you may recognize them. Others, not at all. And that’s perfectly fine. Would anyone care to tell me what their function at Hogwarts currently is?” he asked, figuring that was a safe enough question. One didn’t need to see a thestral to know that they pulled the carriages at the beginning and end of every term. Students talked, and he was sure there were a few that couldn’t see the horses that still knew of them and what they did at the school.

[If you need a refresher on what it takes to see a thestral: LINK HERE ]

5th Years ● 670 ● Stealing the Orca by Bear McCreary

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

January 22, 2026

Chrissy had been at Hogwarts for over a year, officially, having started at the school a semester later than most of her peers from Ilvermorny due to reasons outside of her control. Being from Southern California originally, she couldn't say that she was a fan of the freezing cold, and it seemed that their new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Weasley, had chosen the coldest day possible to take them out of the castle and all the way to a clearing in the forest.

To say that the Gryffindor was apprehensive was putting it lightly, and her desire to get out of that situation quickly was quashed only by the fact that she could barely feel her face because of the bitter chill. She didn't think that she could have run if she tried, and she had to remind herself constantly that it would look really stupid of her to run off from a Care of Magical Creatures class session for seemingly no reason at all. She liked the class, or she wouldn't have chosen to take it as an elective, and she genuinely liked being outdoors, too. Still, she couldn't help but flinch occasionally as she heard the snow crunch beneath some of her classmates' feet.

As everyone gathered around where the professor had indicated, Chrissy could feel that some people's eyes were already on her, though hers were focused on trying to figure out what it was that she was supposed to be seeing. She could see that some of the other students in the class were looking in Professor Weasley's direction with wide-eyed expressions, and she didn't fully understand why. Was there anything there? She really didn't want to go any deeper into the forest.

What they were looking at, explained Professor Weasley, was a herd of Thestrals. "Some of you may recognize them. Others, not at all. And that’s perfectly fine. Would anyone care to tell me what their function at Hogwarts currently is?"

Although she might not have been able to melt into the snow, Chrissy wished that she could have, and she glanced around again in the hope that someone would raise their hand to answer Professor Weasley. If not, there was always a chance that he would have to call upon someone at random, and Chrissy really didn't want to be that person.

charles septimus weasley

[Deleted]

@chrissy & charles septimus weasley

the cold was the least of sunday's thoughts as his care of magical creatures class made their way down towards the forbidden forest. he knew his mind should have been on what they were doing and not on the fact that his sister had just left hogwarts with just a text to let them know she was alive. he was worried about her but it wasn't like they were allowed to leave on a whim, though he was planning on doing whatever he could to see her when he next went to hogsmeade, regardless of where she was. he scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck as he saw the students around him finally stop and he stopped with them, glancing back up the path and thinking it had been a miracle he hadn't gone head first down the slope because he hadn't been watching where he'd been going.

it had taken him all of a second to see what today's lesson would be about and there was an odd but familiar twinge within him as he remembered why he could see them. with the family he had, it was sometimes a little too easy to forget his life before them but every now and again there was a reminder that brought that realisation front and centre really quickly and this was one of them. he shifted and took up a space on the edge of the group, crossing his arms lightly across his chest as he watched professor weasley interact with the thestral that was closer to him. he waited a second for someone else to answer the question that had been posed to the group but when he didn't hear anyone speak he raised his hand briefly before dropping it. "they pull the carriages." he'd seen them the first time the transfer students had come to the school.

he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, heard the hooves of the animal against the brush underneath it and he turned his head to watch one of the thestrals regard the students with something that looked like a lazy curiosity as it walked towards them. it was close within a few beats and sunday couldn't help but turn towards it and he took a step to meet the creature, reaching his hand up to lay it against the dragon like muzzle of the spooky looking being that stood before him.

[charles septimus weasley]

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It was unclear at first if the hesitation from the class was due to the fact that none of them knew what the thestrals were (which seemed odd, being fifth years, since students mused about these beasts even back in his day), but that silence was quickly cut when he saw the hand of one of the boys at the edge of the group raise his hand. Charlie quickly pointed at him as he began to speak, and went on to explain that they pulled the carriages. A murmur of half-confused voices, some clearly with the look of realization that the possibility of invisible equines that led the procession of autonomous carriages at the start of every term now made a lot more sense now, bubbled out of the crowd of students. He was beyond pleased by that reaction, because that meant most of them didn’t actually know what it took to be able to see them. While he didn’t believe in preserving the total innocence of his students when it came to death, since it was a naturally occurring thing, it was also somewhat relieving to see that not all of them had been forced to witness it yet.

“That’s correct Mr. Weekly,” Charlie commended the Slytherin boy before continuing, “Thestrals do indeed pull the carriages all of you ride in whilst traveling between the castle and the Hogsmeade station. The Hogwarts herd has been here longer than Professor McGonagall, some say, if that gives any indication of how important they are to the school,” he explained to a few muffled giggles at his gag. “So while you may have thought that was a series of charms cast on the carriages, it was indeed just these thestrals.” As he finished talking, he felt the chilly breath of one of the winged-horses play across the back of his neck. He hadn’t heard it approaching over his own talking, but turned to face it as it tried nudging him in the back of the shoulder. Giving it a pat on the side of the head, he knew that it would look like he was pretending to be a mime, except that there was definitely a solid object that he was touching. “Because this one wanted to come say hello, could someone tell me what it takes for one to be able to see a thestral?”

@chrissy @sunday & Anyone Else! ● 394 ● Ghuleh/Zombie Queen by Ghost

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

January 22, 2026

It was one of the other Ilvermorny transfer students, Sunday Weekly, who answered Professor Weasley that the Thestrals pulled the carriages at Hogwarts. Chrissy had heard that, too, through the grapevine, but not being able to see the beasts to confirm that for herself made it a little bit more complicated. It was unfortunate, she thought; she really did like horses, but Thestrals were like anti-horses, almost. She had heard people describe them as being like skeletons, and she wondered if they were like one of those No-Maj thought experiments, where they were both dead and alive at the same time.

Not too focused on Professor Weasley's explanation of the herd, she was surprised—and slightly unnerved—by how relaxed Sunday seemed to be around the Thestrals, even walking up to one of them and petting it. While curious as to what it must have felt like, especially as another one seemed to be interacting with their teacher, Chrissy wasn't about to be the next person up there.

She also didn't want to be the next person to speak, but the silence after Professor Weasley's question to the class made Chrissy feel as though she had been left with little choice in the matter. "Because this one wanted to come say hello, could someone tell me what it takes for one to be able to see a Thestral?" he had asked them.

Chrissy looked around, swallowed heavily, and slowly inched her hand into the air. She knew the answer and wished that she didn't, but she guessed that some of her classmates probably expected that she could see the Thestrals just as obviously as Sunday and Professor Weasley could. She couldn't, because she hadn't actually witnessed her parents' deaths, but her peers didn't know that. Her mouth already felt dry, though she didn't want to look around to see if anyone else had raised their hand when she had.

charles septimus weasley
@sunday

[Deleted]

@chrissy & charles septimus weasley

he hadn't been wrong. well without trying to sound like he was to prideful, how could he. he'd asked about them the first time he'd seen them when they'd been transferred to the wizarding school. he rubbed his hand down the nose the the skeletal creature that he was standing close to, the bumps and gaps were a little weird at first but it was easy to ignore when you could actually look into the eyes of the animal. he listened as professor weasley kept talking about them and eventually asked the class how one could come to see the thestrals that were before the class. he knew the answer to that as well, another side effect of his curiosity of being able to see them but this time he kept his mouth shut.

he wasn't about to sit there and tell the class why he could see the black horses. he knew he wasn't the only one in the class that could see them but it didn't appear any of them were going to say the answer either. he waited more than a beat before he lowered his hand from the nose of the animal and he stepped back to the group and he was about to open his mouth again when he saw chrysanthemum raise her hand slowly next to him and he stayed quiet, looking at her then looking back to the professor.

[brody christopher dubois]

January 22, 2026

Brody lived for the outdoors. Having grown up in Maine with parents who trained owlets for a living, he was more comfortable outside than inside most of the time. Going on a "trek"—if one could even call it that—out to the Forbidden Forest for Care of Magical Creatures class had him incredibly eager to see what their new teacher, Professor Weasley, had in store for them. Except for the fact that he literally couldn't see what it was they were studying, since, as it turned out, they were Thestrals.

On the one hand, he was grateful that he couldn't see the Thestrals. He knew that not all of his classmates were in that position, but he knew that he preferred not being in their shoes. On the other hand, he was a little bit disappointed that they had gone out there to see a creature that only some of them could see. It felt as though he had been ripped off, in a way, although he didn't think that there would have been any particularly tactful way for Professor Weasley to determine beforehand who in the class could see Thestrals and who couldn't.

Trying to keep that in mind, Brody kept his frustrations to himself and watched as Sunday Weekly and the professor looked like mimes with the creatures. Though Brody knew that they existed and that they were supposed to look something like skeletal horses, it almost felt like he was having a joke pulled on him. He had to wonder how it must have felt for the No-Maj-borns, who must have been even more confused by the whole thing.

Professor Weasley asked the class what it took for someone to be able to see a Thestral. Although prepared to raise his hand, he saw Chrissy, one of the Gryffindor girls, raise hers and refrained from raising his hand after that. Instead, he looked between her and Professor Weasley, remaining silent.

charles septimus weasley
@sunday

[charles septimus weasley]

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He was starting to realize that maybe his jokes were better than his actual questions for the class, because it seemed that almost no one wanted to raise their hands for it. In their defense, it was rather cold out and wanting to pull your hands away from your body to raise your hand wasn’t exactly what none of them looked like they wanted to do. Charlie had realized pretty quickly over the last few weeks of teaching that his ability to deal with any type of weather or outdoor climate had been greatly expanded on due to his decades of dealing with dragons in Romania. The chilly but temperate mountains that his specific sanctuary was situated in ticked off all the four seasons and even some that Scotland didn’t dare touch, like second winter in April. That was his personal favorite because it was funny to watch the young dragons get used to the warmer temperatures, just to get snowed into the caves once again for one last week. So needless to say, he understood the apprehension from the students when it came to exposing themselves to the January air.

One girl eventually raised her hand though, a Gryffindor, and Charlie pointed at her quickly with the hand that had been patting the thestral only moments earlier. He felt its head follow his arm, probably thinking he had a carrot or chicken thigh in his hand, before bonking itself back into the side of his own head. Regular horse or invisible bone horse, they still had equally hard heads, and he stumbled to the side slightly in order to regain his footing. He quickly went back to the pats he had been giving it in the hope that it wouldn’t repeat that action again. “Sorry about that. This one likes the attention I guess,” he laughed. Pointing with his free hand this time at the girl again, he tried to continue, “Yes Miss…Lake?” Charlie ended with a question, knowing her name had something to do with a body of water, but not what size it was. “How can someone come to see a thestral?” he repeated.

@chrissy @sunday brody christopher dubois ● 357 ● Caught In The Trap by Post Animal

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

January 22, 2026

Chrissy didn't know if she should correct Professor Weasley when he called her "Miss Lake" rather than by her name. She still wasn't completely used to being a Pond, and she didn't really want to call him out on his mistake in front of the class, lest everyone else take that as an opportunity to draw more attention in her direction. Lake was probably a more common surname anyway, she felt, and Professor Weasley was even newer to Hogwarts than she.

He had called on her, though, so Chrissy lowered her hand, quickly murmured her correction—"Pond…"—and continued to provide her answer. "And, um… People can see Thestrals if they've seen somebody die," she explained, focusing on Professor Weasley as she responded rather than on her classmates' reactions to what she had to say.

charles septimus weasley
@sunday

[Deleted]

@chrissy & charles septimus weasley

he listened as his fellow ilvermony classmate answered the question asked by professor weasley and he knew that she was right. he didn't know if she could see them though, she, like a few of the other students didn't seem to want to interact with the thestrals. there had to be other students in the class that could see them, didn't there? he settled into his spot at the back of the group as he watched one of the thestrals bump it's head against the professor and he laughed softly as he stumbled to the side. he glanced beyond the one in front of them towards a few that were still scattered in the tree's behind them.

[brody christopher dubois]

January 22, 2026

Although he couldn't see them, Brody found the Thestrals fascinating. They might not have been as interesting as owls, of course, but no creatures could compare to them; he knew the birds like the back of his hand. Thestrals, on the other hand, were interesting precisely because of how different they were. He didn't want to be capable of seeing them, but the very concept of being capable of seeing them only if one had witnessed death—as Chrissy mentioned—brought up even more questions in his mind about magic itself and the nature of it.

He wasn't someone who fixated on death, but even he couldn't help it as he gazed at Professor Weasley and Sunday's interactions with the equine beasts. The discomfort of many of the other students in the class was understandable. He couldn't imagine that anyone really wanted to admit to having seen someone die, though he couldn't tell from Chrissy's response if she had or not. He had heard enough about what had happened to her from other people's gossip back at Ilvermorny, and he wasn't sure how much of it was true.

Hesitating before speaking without raising his hand, Brody looked around and then addressed Professor Weasley after Chrissy had given her answer. "Sir," he began, trying to remain polite even though he might have been speaking out of turn, "are we, um, going to be expected to label diagrams of the Thestrals for our OWLs or anything if we can't see them?"

blaise leo zabini
@sunday

[charles septimus weasley]

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“Right! Miss Pond. Terribly sorry,” Charlie apologized as the thestral bonked him in the side of the head again, though much gentler this time. It was trying to nuzzle his winter hat, and he could tell that the equine was making its way towards the ball on the top of the cap, which was a nice shade of burgundy. A homemade Weasley family Christmas gift from a few years prior. While a bit scratchy here and there, it did its job keeping him warm, whether here at Hogwarts or back in Romania. “And correct. Those that can see thestrals have typically seen someone die. Now, I say typically because there are some nuances to this. One must have a solid grasp on the death they witnessed. Thestrals are also fairly uncommon in the world, so if you don’t see them now, I hope none of you ever will have to again.” For those like him and the few students that reacted, it was a little too late. But that was how life worked, unfortunately. He didn’t want to see them just as much as the next person, but here he was.

Another one of the American transfer students then raised his hand, and asked a fairly decent question. Would they be required to know the anatomy of a thestral for their OWLs? “Most likely not,” Charlie responded after pointing at the Hufflepuff boy. “I will say that a basic understanding of what thestrals are could appear. It did during my OWLs.” And Professor Kettleburn definitely hadn’t taken the amount of time to talk about the creatures because nobody in his class could see them yet. “I believe the book that your previous professor requested at the start of the year has a fairly decent depiction of them in it. If any of you want any extra supplements, feel free to reach out and I’ll see what I can dig up.” As he finished speaking, the thestral next to him pulled at the top of his hat gently, starting to pull it off of his head slowly.

@chrissy @sunday brody christopher dubois ● 346 ● Hearthfire by ASKII

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0