Transparent

Transparent

Exactly how Harry found himself in the middle of a Swedish forest, trying to follow the dim lights of Mr. Lovegood's wand, he couldn't quite recall.

There was something about a letter to the Dursleys, and Dumbledore saying that being out of England was just as safe as being at Privet Drive, and then Luna Lovegood and her father showing up at the door with a rather oddly shaped Muggle car idling at the curb.

"Mr. Lovegood!" Harry shouted, panting. How could the old man run so fast? "Wait up! I can't see you!"

The forest was now completely dark. Harry wondered if Mathilda Hopkirk's wrath extended this far. Dare he light his wand? He heard footsteps behind him and instinctively whirled, raising his wand and lighting it--Hopkirk be damned.

"It's only me," said Luna. She had her wand up near her chin, and the way it lit up her face made her skin look almost transparent.

"Oh," said Harry, swallowing and breathing hard. "We--we can light our wands, then? And the Ministry doesn't care?"

"Of course," she said.

"Oh," he said again. "Good." There was an awkward moment where Harry looked at Luna, and Luna looked at Harry. "Er... where'd your father go?" he asked, gesturing vaguely up the shadowy path.

"Shall we find out?" she asked, her head tilting to one side. The light of her wand now made her hair transparent.

"Okay," said Harry, wrenching his eyes from the hair.

Luna set off up the path, humming, with a lilt in her step. Harry fell in beside her, and decided that he might as well ask her now.

"Er... Luna?" he began.

"Yes, Harry?" she said.

Hearing his name from her lips was... odd. Nice, but... odd. "Why did you invite me along?" he asked.

"Because you like it," she said.

"What?"

"Aren't you enjoying the hunt?"

Was he? Was he enjoying his first day in Sweden, grimy, sweaty, and tired, chasing after Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Addle-Minded Fathers?

"I guess."

Luna smiled in a way that said she thought the matter was settled.

The forest was very dark around them, very dark and silent. The only sound came from their footfalls padding along the new summer moss. In the daylight the moss was bright green, almost emerald, but in the middle of the night, by wandlight, it was grey, like the mottled walls of a plastered room.

Harry and Luna padded along, on the new summer moss, their wands held out in front of them. Where was Mr. Lovegood?

All of a sudden, there was a loud CRACK! beside them. Harry turned sharply to see what had made the noise, but there was nothing there.

Luna gripped his arm. She was trembling.

"Who's there?" called Harry.

No answer.

"Hello?" he said. It had sounded like a breaking twig, or like someone Apparating.

There was another, less loud crack, and then the sound of branches being broken off trees.

It sounded like something was moving towards them through the underbrush that lined the path.

Harry raised his wand up higher, felt Luna doing the same, but still couldn't see anything.

"Hello?" he called again. "Anyone there?"

Without warning there came a loud rumbling noise, like several boulders grinding past each other. A tree in front of them snapped sideways, and the moss appeared to move. What felt like a warm slimy thing plastered itself to Harry's face, and he thought he would suffocate.

"Ffaugh!" he said, slapping at it and choking. His glasses came off, and he heard them fall to the ground. "My glasses!"

"I'll get them," said Luna.

Harry could barely see, but she appeared to bend over to reach for something on the ground, then stop.

"There's something here," she said. "Something big, and soft."

"Can I have my glasses?" Harry asked, a little piqued. If they weren't in deadly danger, he wanted to be able to see. Come to think of it, if they were in danger, he still wanted to be able to see.

"Here," said Luna, and pressed them into his hand.

Harry put them on, and stared through the wandlight at her.

She had her hand out and was rubbing it over something in mid-air. "Feel," she said, and her voice was transparent with wonder. Her eyes glowed as her hands ran along the length of whatever it was.

Harry moved to stand beside her. "Where?" he asked, feeling rather stupid as he put out a hand beside hers.

"Here," she said. Luna took his hand in her smaller one, the fingers curling around the back of his hand, and placed his hand on it.

It was soft. It was fuzzy. And as Harry ran his hand along the length towards what he assumed was the thing's head, he felt something like a horn.

But it was oddly smashed, even crumpled.

"They're transparent..."

* * *

"Harry! Luna!"

Harry and Luna both turned at the sound of their names.

Mr. Lovegood appeared just at the edge of their vision, clutching his wand, a black, old-fashioned camera bouncing from a strap on his neck.

"Luna! Where are--" Mr. Lovegood broke off. "There you are! Are you all right? I was following the sound, and I lost track of Harry--"

"I'm fine, Mr. Lovegood," said Harry, his hand still resting on the transparent Snorkack. "Luna found me."

"Thank Merlin for that," Mr. Lovegood panted, and wiped his brow. "I heard this tremendous crashing, and I thought the worst..."

Luna ran forward and took her father's hand. "Daddy! Have you seen them! Well, you can't see them, but have you felt them?" Luna bubbled, pulling him towards Harry. "Touch!"

Mr. Lovegood touched. His eyes widened, and Harry saw his fingers tremble as they wound themselves in the Snorkack's transparent hair. "Merlin," he breathed. "They're transparent."

A moment later, Harry asked, "How are you going to get a photo?" and pointed at the camera.

Mr. Lovegood pursed his lips and rubbed his stubbly chin thoughtfully, one hand still stroking the Snorkack. "We could put the two of you on top," he suggested.

"But, Daddy," said Luna, "that could be anyone levitating."

"True," he said. "Very true." Mr. Lovegood paused thoughtfully.

Harry thought, too. "We need to make them solid somehow," he said. "We need them to show up."

"You mean make them opaque?" Luna asked, tilting her head to one side.

Harry watched her hair fall from one side of her body to the other. He liked it down. "Er, yeah. Opaque," he said vaguely.

"Yes," said Mr. Lovegood, rubbing his chin again. "Yes, that's what we need to do. Opaque."

Harry looked at him. He was frowning and his brow was furrowed.

Luna walked around and around the Snorkack, patting it, feeling what Harry assumed were the horns. A breeze ruffled the clearing, and overhead, a cloud moved aside to let the starlight through.

Suddenly, the Snorkack made a loud lowing sound, like a cow that had swallowed a foghorn. Harry yelled, jumped backwards several feet, tripped over a tree root, and landed hard on his bottom. Luna giggled and squealed in delight, and Mr. Lovegood, with what was apparently a reflex, flipped the camera up and started clicking pictures frantically, his chunky torso twisting from side to side.

Harry had a sudden, horrible vision of a front-page photo: Harry Potter Falls for Crumple-Horned Snorkack, arms flailing, a continuous loop of indignity. He felt his face flush.

"All right there, Harry?" asked Luna.

"Fine," he muttered, getting to his feet and brushing the twigs off his seat. Then he saw what Mr. Lovegood had actually been photographing.

It was silvery, and the starlight appeared to travel through it, leaving pinpoints of brightness on the leaves. The horns at the front were crumpled, like it had rushed headlong into a brick wall. It was about seven feet long, with thick cat-like fur, a head structure that reminded Harry of a duck-billed platypus, and a short wirebrush tail that was currently swishing back and forth.

"It's amazing," said Luna dreamily.

"Blimey," said Mr. Lovegood, shaking his head. "Luna, quick, get on its back." He gestured with one hand, the camera still at his eye. "Harry, you too."

"What?"

Luna had already clambered up the side and was adjusting her robes. "Come on up," she said calmly, as though she did this every day. "Take my hand."

Harry did so. Her hand was warm, soft, and not quite as delicate as he'd've thought. Her grip was quite firm. Harry tentatively placed a foot at the joint of one thick leg and pulled himself up to sit behind her.

"That's beautiful," said Mr. Lovegood enthusiastically. "Put your arms around her, Harry, don't be shy." He stuck his wand between his teeth

Harry knew he was bright red as he hooked his arm around Luna's waist. Girls were so small! He brushed a few strands of her hair out of his face and turned to grimace at the camera. Mr. Lovegood clicked and clattered, muttering excitedly to himself as he scampered around the two of them.

Another breeze ruffled the clearing, and Harry looked up to see the clouds beginning to cover the sky again. In a matter of seconds, the starlight had gone, and the only light in the clearing came from the three lit wands, Luna's behind her ear, Harry's on the ground where it had fallen, and Mr. Lovegood's stuck between his teeth.

"That's it, I suppose," said Mr. Lovegood through his wand. "What an amazing creature!"

"Yes, it is," agreed Luna.

"Erm, yeah," said Harry, trying to get his mind off his hands.

"Come on down, you two," said Mr. Lovegood, then knelt to fuss with the camera. "Let's get back to the tent and see how these came out!"

Harry reluctantly unhooked his arms from Luna's waist and slid down the side of the Snorkack. He looked up at Luna, who was gathering her robes up. "Want a hand?" he heard himself say.

"Thank you, yes," she said. Her voice came from far away.

Harry felt his arms stretch out and up, saw Luna's eyes calculating the distance and the drop, and then watched as in slow motion as her face and hair grew nearer and nearer.

Girls were really so small.

And then she was extremely close, somehow seeming much closer than Cho, and her eyes were bright, and her lips looked so soft and appealing, and he was simply curious...

The camera clicked.

Harry groaned.

"Daddy, you're not selling that one," said Luna in a matter-of-fact voice.

~fin~