A lot of writers hang out on the Discord and while Christmas shopping, I found a couple of books of writing prompts in the bargain section and I thought it might be fun to post one a week to encourage some creativity with existing writers and those who want to write.
The first prompt I posted was: Have you ever spoken up when you saw something going on that was wrong? Were you scared? What ended up happening?
A conversation about the late Francois Mitterand’s last meal somehow segued into Thestrals and the eating of them and how something like that could have a tinge of the forbidden. Anyway, here is what I’ve come up with so far.
Ginny walked quickly down Montague Street, her head down and chin buried in her scarf against the chill morning. Just a few more minutes and I can stop at the cafe for a lovely hot mocha. Stepping onto the pathway that ran through Russel Square, she saw something completely unexpected.
A thestral stood on the winter-brown grass, its skeletal figure seeming somehow appropriate for this gray, dismal day. Ginny slowed her walk and stared at the creature, the mocha no longer quite as important as it had been a short time ago. What is one of those doing here? As she watched, the pupil-less white eyes seemed to grow sharper and the leathery wings shivered.
A squirrel shot out of the flowerbed and the thestral pounced, looking like a bony, leathery cat with wings as it crushed the unfortunate squirrel beneath its hooves. Ginny let out a shocked gasp and stood, transfixed as the animal bent its neck down, scooping up the morsel in its beak-like mouth, tossing its head back and swallowing the squirrel whole.
“Well, that’s not something you see every day,” Ginny murmured as she continued on to the cafe. The thestral was strolling slowly around the park, its wings tucked close to its body. Glancing around, she saw that no one else seemed to see the beast and she briefly wondered if she should shoo it away. The ones at Hogwarts were friendly enough, but those had been handled by Hagrid all their lives and she didn’t feel confident enough in her Care of Magical Creatures marks to walk up to a wild thestral and convince it that a park in the middle of London might not be the best place for it.
Shrugging, she went into the cafe and ordered her drink, her thoughts turning to her busy day at St Mungo’s, forgetting all about the strangeness of the squirrel-hunting thestral in Russel Square park.
The next morning, it was there again, or rather there still, she mused as she cut through the park to the cafe. This time it was dozing under a tree, its nose tucked under a wing. Ginny slowed as she passed it, eyes darting around to see if anyone else could see it and once more, no one betrayed its presence. Over the next couple of weeks, she gradually became used to the creature’s presence and even began to look forward to seeing it each morning as a bit of a reminder of Hogwarts.
Ginny started to wonder if there were enough squirrels in the park to support it. Perhaps I should bring it a steak? she thought, feeling a bit like a little old lady leaving out a saucer of milk for the neighborhood tom cat. She was sure it frequented other parks because she never saw it on her way home in the evening. Or maybe it goes home to … its burrow? I should really learn more about them!
One Sunday evening at the Burrow, she almost told Harry about the thestral in the park, but didn’t. She knew that they were considered dangerous creatures and if she told Harry then he’d have to tell his boss who would tell the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures who would send someone out to capture the thestral when it wasn’t even bothering anyone and really, what was a few missing squirrels in central London, anyway?
So she didn’t.
It was finally turning to spring and the mornings were more fresh than dreary, the first daffodils starting to poke through the still brown grass when she realized something was missing when she crossed the park. Trying not to seem too conspicuous, she kept up her pace, eyes darting around. You can’t unsee them. One you can see them, you don’t stop. But … it wasn’t there. She glanced upwards, thinking it might be up in the air, circling the park as it zeroed in on another squirrel, but saw only a clear blue sky.
Well, maybe he ate all of the squirrels here and had to move on. She had a strange sense of a stinging betrayal, as if the creature were being disloyal to her by choosing to expand his hunting grounds. Shrugging it off, she continued on to the cafe and her usual morning latte.
Later that evening, she was out for a post-dinner stroll with Harry through Regent’s Park, heading towards Queen Mary’s Rose Garden which was just starting to bloom. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large black shape and turned. “Oh, there he is!”
“What? Who?” Harry asked, turning to look.
“That thestral over there. I’d been wondering where he’d got to.” Ginny nodded her head to where the thestral was standing, silhouetted against the ornate wrought iron gate.
Harry frowned. “I didn’t realize there was a thestral in the city. I’ll have to contact Regulation—”
“No, don’t!” Ginny tugged on his arm, trying to make him look at her rather than the unregulated magical creature. “He’s just minding his own business and eating squirrels. And other things, probably.”
Raising an eyebrow, Harry looked at her. “Squirrels?”
“Well, I’ve only see him eat one, really,” Ginny said, sliding her eyes away from Harry’s. “He’s been at Russel Square since January and I hadn’t seen him for a few days, so I thought he’d gone.”
“Gin, a wild thestral has been in the middle of London for months and you didn’t say anything?” Ginny winced at his disappointed tone.
“Oh, leave him alone! The ones at Hogwarts never bothered anyone!”
“The ones at Hogwarts are fed and maintained by Hagrid and have the whole Forbidden Forest to run around in,” he said, using his ‘I’m sorry, but I’ll need you to come to the department and explain how this happened’ voice.
The thestral trotted down the path away from the gate, his great wings fluttering with the motion. “See, he’s not—” Ginny began, cutting herself off when the creature darted his head out, snatching a squirrel right off the tree it had been climbing. “—hurting anyone. Except that squirrel …”
Harry watched it, eyes narrowed before shaking his head. “A week, Gin. And then I have to tell Regulation, yeah? They don’t belong in the city.”
Ginny sighed, watching as it turned a corner around a hedge. “I know. I thought they usually avoided populated areas.”
“They usually do. Regulation will look him over and make sure he’s healthy before they send him home. I’ll recommend he go to Hagrid, all right?” He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.
“All right.”
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