Rowena's Quill

Ginny Weasley walked aimlessly to the end of the corridor where Luna was standing. She shuddered and blinked and took a few moments before noticing Luna.

"Hello," said Luna. "Wrackspurt got you?"

"Huh?" said Ginny.

"A wrackspurt. It's invisible. It flies around and makes your thoughts go fuzzy."

"Oh," said Ginny. "Are there a lot of them at Hogwarts?"

"There might be. I'm not a very good judge. We have loads of them at home. But there are all sorts of things here I've never seen before. Like those." She pointed out the window to the winged horses grazing on the lawn.

"Like what?" asked Ginny, looking out the window, too.

"Those horses. They're rather friendly, you know. They come out of the forest sometimes. Someday, I would like to try flying one."

"I don't see any flying horses," said Ginny.

"You're looking straight at them," said Luna.

Ginny, confused, turned away from the window.

"Is that a diary?" Luna asked, looking at the small book Ginny was holding.

"Yes," said Ginny, grabbing it and tucking it into her pocket.

"I won't tell anyone," said Luna. "I keep a diary, too."

"You do?"

"Yes. My father gave me one as a present for starting Hogwarts. He's a writer, actually. So was my mother. That's why I'm so used to wrackspurts."

"Does your diary write back to you? Does it send you messages and give you advice?"

"No," said Luna, thinking that sounded like a rather outlandish thing for a diary to do, though it was interesting. But she knew better than to ask to look in another person's diary. Instead she pointed to a red-haired boy who was coming toward them. "Isn't that your brother?" she asked.

"That's Percy, yeah. But who's that girl?"

"Penelope Clearwater. She's a prefect in my House," said Luna. And before Percy and Penelope were close enough to hear, she added, "She's rather ineffective, actually. Some of the others have been calling me 'Loony,' but she never stops them, and I'm quite sure that name-calling is against school rules."

Ginny nodded sympathetically as Percy and Penelope walked up to them.

"You're not looking very well," said Percy.

"She's recovering from a very strong wrackspurt," said Luna, "but she's getting back to herself now."

"Stay out of this, Luna," snapped Penelope. "Nobody asked you."

"I think you'd better go to the hospital wing," said Percy.

"I'm fine," said Ginny, folding her arms defiantly. It looked to Luna that she really was getting back to herself. "Anyway," Ginny went on, "I have Lockhart's class soon."

"For your health, you can miss it. I'll even go and get you excused."

"I can do that," offered Penelope. "You take her to the hospital wing."

Luna could see that Ginny didn't like this arrangement at all. "I know how to make you feel better," she said, and she began to sing, "Ephemeral justice, elusive truth, take time to be uncovered" but before she could finish, Penelope burst into giggles.

"Is that a healing spell, Luna?"

"Yes, it is, actually. I heard it once in a very terrible situation, but somehow, it made it feel a little better."

Penelope and Percy smirked at each other, but Ginny was staring at her in wonder.

"I've read that . . . somewhere."

"In that case, you ought to be more careful about your choice of reading material," said Percy, and in a barely-concealed mutter, he added, "and your friends."

He grabbed hold of Ginny's elbow and began to gently push her along. Luna felt sad as Ginny was led away. She had just made and lost her first friend in a matter of minutes.

She sighed and began to gather her own things before heading to class when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Professor Dumbledore appeared.

"Twenty points to Ravenclaw, Miss Lovegood. Ten for your kindness to Miss Weasley and ten for enduring Miss Clearwater's derision. Of course, I will have to take ten from her - alas, an illustration of how infighting hinders progress."

He nodded at her gravely, and Luna stared at him, awestruck. He cast a wondrous presence up close, just as she remembered him. Had she not already been standing, she would have risen for him reverently, just the way her mother did when he appeared at Granny's funeral. She'd done it for him at her mother's funeral and again just recently on her first day at Hogwarts. That time, the older students laughed and called her "ickle firstie."

"You are quite right that name-calling is against school rules. I shall be having a talk with Professor Flitwick about it, oh yes."

"My Dad said I should think of it as another code, sir," said Luna.

"Indeed, that is an excellent way of thinking of it, but I must try to stop it anyway."

Luna smiled. He was just as kind as she remembered him, too.

"And do not worry about losing Miss Weasley's friendship," he continued. "It is not her nature to be bullied for long. Now, off to class."

"Yes, sir," said Luna. But as she turned the corridor and walked away, she realized that she'd just missed her chance to ask about the flying horses.

Professor Dumbledore was right about Ginny, and the proof of it came much sooner than Luna had dared hope. Ginny missed Professor Lockhart's class, but after lunch, she turned up for flying lessons with Madam Hooch and stood right next to Luna. She didn't care what her brother said. Luna beamed at her.

Ginny was easily the best flyer in their year. Luna was the worst. After an hour of struggling to get off the ground, and then hurtling around uncontrollably once she had, Luna was tired and frustrated.

"All you need is practice," Ginny told her. "It might be tricky to borrow one of my brothers' Cleansweeps, but if I can do it at home, I think I'll be able to do it here."

"How do you know the brooms will stay with us?" Luna asked.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Whenever someone takes something of mine, it always comes back to me sooner or later. It's been happening since the first week."

"Oh," said Ginny. She said that often, Luna noticed.

"I'd prefer to practice flying on one of those horses, actually. Let's go to gamekeeper's hut." Luna knew that Ginny would not refuse. She spent much of her free time there, hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry Potter. Luna hoped to catch a glimpse of the horses.

Once there, Hagrid grinned at the two of them knowingly.

"Nice ter have company! It's just been me 'n Fang all day."

Ginny could not hide her disappointment.

"Wanna come in fer tea?" Hagrid asked.

"No thanks," said Ginny. From where they were standing, she could keep a good watch on the castle in case Harry Potter came down. Luna wanted to stay outdoors, too. A pair of horses was already approaching the hut. They stopped near a platter of raw meat Hagrid had left out for his dog.

With no sign of Harry Potter, Ginny turned and looked where Luna was staring. She jumped when the larger horse chomped loudly on the meat.

"Are those wrackspurts?" she asked.

"Wrackspurts are invisible," said Luna.

"Those are thestrals eatin', Ginny," said Hagrid. "An' if they're invisible ter you, you can count yerself lucky," Looking at Luna seriously, he asked, "What's yer name?"

"Luna Lovegood."

"Ohhh," said Hagrid as though the name meant something to him. Luna wondered how much he knew. Many of Professor Dumbledore's friends knew about The Quibbler's mission when it first started, but most of them abandoned it after her mother's death, thinking her father had become unhinged from grief. Her father said it was a useful pretense, just like "Loony" Lovegood.

"There are invisible horses eating the meat?" asked Ginny.

"Well, they're not invisible to everybody. Some people can see 'em. People who've seen another person die."

Ginny looked horrified, and Luna hummed a little of the quill's song. When she felt a glimmer of the better place, she asked, "May I ride one?"

Hagrid was a bit taken aback, but he seemed to be considering it. "Well, I can't deny they could do with the exercise. And they know yer not allowed out of bounds. Arright."

Luna was delighted. She approached the smaller thestral and let it nuzzle her.

"Yer a natural!" Hagrid boomed. "She'll let you mount her. Mind you stay above the forest. Don' go in."

Luna mounted easily, and the thestral flapped its wings gently and lifted her into the air. They sailed over the entire forest, and Luna was exhilarated. She was now higher than any broom had ever taken her, and the ride was much, much smoother.

"Let's do this every day," she said to the thestral, stroking it. The thestral seemed to bob her head, as if she agreed.

Luna looked at the forest below them. The splendor of autumn colors was breathtaking in itself, but the thicket made it difficult to distinguish the different magical creatures below. The silvery unicorns were easiest to pick out, and once Luna got used to their galloping movements, she could see other thestrals and even centaurs. How she longed to speak to a centaur - the wisest creatures in the world! But Mummy said they spoke to humans only when they chose. There was no point in seeking one out.

Luna looked back at the castle. Students were milling about all over the grounds. Among them, Luna spotted a striking threesome: a boy with flaming red hair like Ginny's, a girl with frizzy brown hair, and, recognizable from his dark-rimmed glasses, Harry Potter. They were heading toward Hagrid's, and if Ginny was busy watching her riding the thestral, she would miss seeing that Harry was coming.

The thestral must have sensed that Luna was thinking of returning because she turned them around and steadily lowered them. They touched down from the same spot where they'd left, and Luna dismounted, her eyes shining up at Hagrid.

"Thanks!" she said.

Ginny, meanwhile, had spotted Harry Potter.

"C'mon Luna, let's go!" she said hurriedly.

Luna couldn't understand why Ginny was in such a rush to leave. Hadn't she been waiting for Harry Potter that whole time? Ginny sometimes behaved very oddly. But she was a friend, and Luna was grateful.