For old times' sake, he chose to begin at the threstral enclosure.
The black skeletal horses with bat-like wings were milled around near the entrance when he arrived at their enclosure. There were eight, each one with their reptilian head pointed towards the gate, as though they were expecting something.
"Come to see the thestrals, have you, lad?"
Harry spun around at the sound to find a large, rotund wizard ambling towards him, a dead cow levitating in the air behind him.
"Yeah, it's been a while," Harry replied.
"Well, that answers my next question then," the man stated. "You can obviously see them."
"I went to Hogwarts, in Scotland," Harry supplied. "They've got a herd there that they use to pull the school carriages."
"Then I dare say that you know a fair bit about them already," he man smiled. "I'd offer to let you help me feed them, but there really isn't a lot to it."
With that, the wizard lowered the enchantments on the gate and levitated the dead cow inside. Instantly, the eight thestrals began tearing into it. As Harry watched, a mixture of disgust and fondness trying to coexist on his face, he noticed that the wizard leaning on the gate beside him was frowning.
"Is something wrong?" Harry asked.
The man's head turned to study the paddock before he replied.
"There should be nine of them here," he replied. "And I can only count eight. I was trying to work out where the last one was. It's not like any of them to fail to be here when it's feeding time."
"Would you like a hand looking for it?" Harry asked.
"Thanks, I'd appreciate it. Can't exactly ask all of the other keepers, for obvious reasons – if you can't see the animal, it's pointless looking for a lost one. Name's Scott."
"Harry," he replied as the two slipped through the gate.
After skirting the still eating herd, the two of them separated slightly, heading towards the wooded section at the back of the paddock. The light dimmed quickly in there and the temperature dropped as well, conditions that Harry was sure that thestrals would enjoy. He hadn't picked his way too far into the woods when he heard an angry shout and a lot of swearing.
Unconsciously, his wand dropped into his hand as he moved to find out what had happened to Scott.
He found the wizard, his hands on his hips, glaring at a section of fritzing magic between two large trees. The fact that a third had recently fallen and now lay in the midst of the erratic magical field told the story of what had happened here.
"A breach in the wards?" Harry surmised.
"Got it in one, lad," Scott replied sourly. "I'm guessing the threstral slipped out through here. The problem is that this enclosure backs straight on to the muggle woods. And with those wings of theirs, there's no telling where it might be. I've got no idea when the last disillusionment spell was cast on them, don't usually have to worry about it, not with them confined to the Reserve."
"I'm guessing that you're going to need to make sure this breach is sealed before you do anything else," Harry commented.
Scott nodded, drawing his wand. "Yep, don't want the others wandering off while we're looking for the other one."
"If you like, I can see if I can track it down while you fix this?" Harry offered, knowing that if Hermione was there, she'd be smirking at him and muttering about his 'saving people thing'.
"Thanks. I'd appreciate it," Scott smiled. "I doubt you'll have any trouble getting 'em back, they're all fairly docile. Just conjure a rope, slip it around their neck and lead 'em back."
"Will do," Harry replied. "Back before you know it."
With that, he slipped through the breach in the wards and disappeared into the muggle woods.
ooo00ooo
A hoofprint here, a broken branch there. It wasn't much, but it was something and Harry was surprising himself that he was picking up on the signs of the thestral passing.
His biggest worry was the fact that thestrals had wings, and if this one decided to go for a fly, there was nothing that Harry could do to find it or bring it back. It might have been different if he had a broomstick, but he'd never gotten around to buying a new one to replace his beloved firebolt, something that he thought that he should probably rectify.
Thankfully, the overhead canopy of this particular part of the woods was rather thick, meaning that the thestral would need to find somewhere much clearer before it could even think about stretching its wings.
A noise, foreign to the regular birds and small animals in the woods or the wind in the trees caught his attention and Harry paused. His head moved this way and that as he attempted to capture the allusive sounds. Yes, yes, it was definitely there, somewhere up ahead, but human or animal was impossible to tell.
Just in case, Harry flipped the hood of his cloak up and drew the folds close together, blending him into the background of the woods.
The tracks from the thestral, he found, veered off to the right, while the unidentifiable sounds continued on ahead. A snap decision had Harry continuing on. He slowed, instinctively sliding into the shadows as the noise that he was following grew louder.
Something had him pause just before he passed the next tree and his eyes darted about. And then he saw it. He blinked hard, shook his head and blinked again.
A young girl, probably in her early teens was seated on the ground, surrounded by tiny animals. Her bent head and deep reddish-brown hair hid her face. It looked like she was wearing an old leather bomber jacket over some brown and grey clothes. Her crossed feet were encased in a pair of fur-topped brown leather boots.
As Harry watched, he realised that she was pulling something out of a pouch on her belt. Whatever it was, the small animals definitely saw it as food. There were dozens of the little mammals, all darting about, taking their turns at getting their share and then sitting back and holding the food in their front paws and nibbling it.
Squirrels, Harry realised with a start. But squirrels acting in a way that he'd never seen before. Obviously, this girl had been making friends with them for a very long time if they were as tame as they were.
Ever so slowly, Harry backed away from the muggle girl, disappearing back into the woods. He was just glad that he'd neither spooked her or her little squirrel friends.
It didn't take too long to find the thestral's tracks once again and begin his quest once more.
It took another twenty minutes of tracking, with the occasional guess and hope for the best thrown in, before Harry lucked upon the missing winged horse.
Thankfully, Scott had been right – the animal was incredibly friendly and it was easy to get a rope around its neck.
"Come on, girl," Harry said to the thestral, giving a gentle tug on the rope, let's get you back. Scott's got some lovely cow there for you."
As though it understood, it began trotting back the way it came.
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