"Fighting has no rules, and you aim to win by any means necessary" Sirius whispered, his eyes wide.
"Exactly" Harry confirmed darkly as they reached the paddock are where the class would take place.
"Alright class, gather round" Professor Merrythought instructed. He was a rather squat man, probably around sixty years of age and was covered in a variety of scars, even missing a few fingers.
The class that consisted of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students complied and the man continued.
"Today we will be studying a creature that most of you won't be able to see" he explained excitedly.
Harry smiled in recognition knowing immediately what it was they would be working with.
"Wait here and keep back" the professor told them firmly as he disappeared into a thicket of trees, emerging a few moments later leading a Thestral towards them.
The class looked at the squat man as though he had gone insane when he seemingly returned empty handed. "How many of you can see this beautiful fellow?" Merrythought questioned jovially.
Out of all the students Harry was the only one to raise his hand.
"Ahh Mr. Potter, I do hope you are much more responsible than your brother" he stated flatly. "Would you care to explain the Thestral to the class?, If you can of course" he asked.
Harry sighed.
"Thestrals are considered dark creatures because you can only see them if you have witnessed death" he began. "But that is a load of crap" he added with a shake of his head.
The was a lot of murmuring amongst the students after the concept of death was mentioned.
"And what is your opinion on them?" Merrythought inquired interestedly. "They are very gentle and intelligent creatures that are simply misunderstood because of their association with death, but you would not want to provoke one, it would probably be the last thing you do" he finished sincerely.
"My thoughts exactly" the professor replied with a smile. "You sound as though you have experience with them" he said questioningly.
"I do" Harry confirmed with a smile, remembering riding one of the creatures.
"What does it look like?" a blonde Ravenclaw girl asked.
"Ahh, of course" Merrythought exclaimed. "This is what one looks like for those of you that cannot see it" he explained, unrolling a large piece of parchment with a drawing of the beast etched into it.
"That's creepy" the girl surmised, shivering slightly. "It's beautiful" Lily disagreed.
"Indeed" Merrythought concurred. "Probably one of the most misunderstood creatures in our world" he mused sadly. "They are truly wonderful and very loyal if they are respected" he finished warningly. "I want you to spend the rest of the class discussing the physical characteristics of it and what you think of them" he instructed.
"What do you think Wormy?" Sirius asked.
"I think it would eat me the first chance it got" he replied worriedly.
"So would Moony, but you still knock around with him" Sirius pointed out. "I won't even ask what you think" he added with a look towards Harry. "You like weird things" he concluded with a shake of his head.
"I have to hanging around with you" Harry returned smartly. "Why can't you let me have the last word?" Sirius grumbled.
"I will if you ask out McKinnon" Harry countered.
"Will you bloody shut up about McKinnon" Sirius retorted heatedly.
"You should just do it Padfoot" Peter advised. "The sexual tension between you to is disgusting, I'm sure I can smell the hormones coming from you both" he finished with a cringe.
"Imagine how bad it must be for Moony, poor guy" Harry cut in.
Peter chuckled.
"I didn't think of that, see Padfoot, you're being a bad friend now" he chided mockingly.
"I swear I will curse the pair of you in a minute" Sirius growled irritably. "Fine" Harry conceded. "But you should just do it" he suggested.
Sirius spent the rest of the class in silence, occasionally glaring at the two others.
Once the class had been dismissed the trio made their way to the Great Hall for lunch where they met with Remus and James.
"How was creatures?" Remus asked as he helped himself to some potatoes.
"Fine" Harry shrugged.
"Only because you didn't have to put up with you idiots" Sirius grumbled moodily.
"What did they do now Padfoot?" Remus sighed with a smirk.
"They won't shut up about McKinnon" he huffed irritably.
"We won't until you admit you like her" James chimed in. "I do not bloody like her, I'm not like you with Evans, asking her out every five minutes" he pointed out.
"She'll cave eventually" James returned confidently.
"Not likely Potter" Lily called from further up the table.
Harry shook his head.
"You know, if you want her to go out with you, you need to show a little maturity" Harry whispered. "You need to be more serious about things" he added knowingly.
"I'm always telling him he should be more me" Sirius piped up with a grin.
Harry face palmed and shook his head.
"A name joke, really?" he sighed. "He always does it" Remus explained. "He's the only one that thinks it's funny though" he said exasperatedly.
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