Harry Potter and the Loathsome Lobster of Leeds

Harry watched irritably from Hagrid's hut as various members of the faculty erected booths and rides on the Hogwarts lawn.

“ What on earth is that?” Ron asked in awe, looking at the Ferris wheel.

“ It's what the muggles call a ride,” Hermione explained patiently. “People sit in those seats there, and the Ferris wheel spins.” Ron's eyes widened.

“ Doesn't it dump them out?” he asked. Hermione giggled.

“ No, silly. The seats are on hinges that adjust to the angle of the wheel,” she said. Ron nodded.

“ Well, it looks like wicked fun then. Have you ever ridden on one of those things, Harry?” Ron asked. Harry frowned.

“ No, I haven't actually. The Dursleys took me to a carnival once on Dudley's birthday, but I always has to hold his ice cream, or whatever he wasn't quite finished stuffing his face with at the moment, while he rode the rides,” he said. “ Why are they putting up all that muggle stuff here anyway?”

“ It's so the muggle families will feel more welcome,” Hermione explained.

“ Well I'm sure any of those muggle rides will be pretty anti-climatic after riding a broom anyway,” Harry muttered.

***

“ Awright now children. Dumbledore has asked for my help on the buildin' goin' on over there, so you'll 'ave to make do wi'out me today,” Hagrid announced, quieting the students gathered around his dwelling.

“ And what exactly are we supposed to do out here for an hour? Pick flowers?” Draco asked with a sneer and the obligatory laughter from his cronies.

“ You'd like that, wouldn't you, Malfoy?” Ron asked.

“ Oh, you're so clever with comebacks, Weasley. I just can't win,” Draco said, rolling his eyes.

“Er -- anyway, what I 'ave 'ere is a mackled malaclaw,” Hagrid said, leading them to a chicken wire covered pen, where an unhappy looking lobster-like creature scuttled about, looking for a way to escape its confinement.

“ Don't touch 'im unless you want a nasty bite that'll give you bad luck fer a week. I just want you to read about 'im in yer textbook and write an essay,” Hagrid said, his large form making strides towards the carnival site.

Harry smiled, cocking his head slightly to get a better look at the small gray and green spotted beast.

“ So this is what the Loathsome Lobster of Leeds looks like,” he said, getting a quizzical look from his friends.

“ What on earth are you talking about, Harry?” Hermione asked, with a look of concern as if she feared he'd suddenly lost his mind.

“ Luna Lovegood told me that one of those things lives in a sewer in Leeds and that the muggles are terrified of it,” Harry said. Ron laughed.

“ Scared of that little thing?” he asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“ Oh, please. Everyone knows that mackled malaclaws live in the mountains,” she said.

“ Well, not this one,” Harry said firmly, leaving Hermione speechless for a moment.

“ You can't be telling me you believe something Loony Lovegood says?” she asked.

“ Don't call her that,” Harry said. “ It's bad enough all those prats do.” Hermione looked ashamed.

“ You're right, Harry,” she said in a small voice.

“ What's the point in hanging around looking at this ugly thing?” they heard Draco Malfoy protest. “ Let's get out of here.” Draco and his entourage haughtily made their way back towards the castle, leaving the Gryffindor students behind.

“ For once, I actually agree with the git,” Ron murmured, looking after them. Harry stared into the shiny, black segmented eyes of the mock crustacean, as it swirled its antennae about to explore its cramped surroundings.

“ Yeah, let's go,” Harry said. Grabbing the sleeves of Hermione's robe before she could protest the irresponsibility of cutting class, they drug her along as they went back to the school.

“ Well, we should at least go to the library and write our paper,” Hermione said. Ron and Harry groaned.

“ Come on, I'll help you,” she said, leading the reluctant boys up the stairs.

They settled around a table near the back of the room, Hermione flipping through an enormous, dusty book while Harry and Ron squirmed like they were in pain. As Hermione read aloud an entry on the mackled malaclaw, Harry's mind and eyes wandered. A little further down the table, he spotted a familiar title printed on the cover of a magazine that laid there. Quickly snatching up the copy of the Quibbler, he looked around the room, seeing if he could spot the disheveled blonde mane of the girl who had likely left it there. Seeing no sign of her, he flipped through the pages, hoping Hermione would be too absorbed in her reading to notice. He turned the page, finding a crudely rendered pen sketch of the creature they'd just seen, the menacing quality of its sharp claws greatly exaggerated. He smiled to himself, reading the ridiculous account of the malaclaw's hideous deeds in the muggle community. Pulling a parchment sheet from his bag, he had finally distracted Hermione.

“ If you're not going to listen, I'm not going to read,” she said.

“ Go ahead and help Ron,” Harry said. “ I've just thought of an interesting angle for my essay.

***

Harry, Ron and Hermione watched from the common room window in fascination as night fell over the carnival grounds. The lights flickered on, illuminating the booths and rides, and the Ferris wheel began to revolve.

“ Wow, never seen anything like that,” Ron murmured. Hermione nodded.

“ It is pretty, isn't it?” she said. Harry numbly observed.

“ How are they powering everything without electricity?” Harry asked. Hermione's brow furrowed.

“ I'm not really sure. You'll have to ask Hagrid,” she said.

“ Who cares? I can't wait until Saturday,” Ron said.

Later that night in his dorm room, Harry found it difficult to sleep. He wasn't exactly relishing the thought of seeing everyone at school smiling and happy with their parents, while he walked around the carnival alone. Maybe he wouldn't even go, he thought to himself, then remembered the alluring scene beneath his window with a sigh. It did look like loads of fun.

He got out of bed, careful not to disturb anyone, and fished his father's invisibility cloak out of his trunk. Using the Marauder's map, he made it down to the grounds unobserved. Glancing at it again to be safe, he noted three little dots bearing names he hadn't expected. What were Fred, George and Luna doing out there? The twins were the nearest to him on the map. He made his way around the now darkened booths, spotting the red haired boys fumbling about with a table laden with bottles, near a large cauldron.

“Kind of spooky out here isn't it?” Fred said, looking around the deserted booths.

“ Nothing like our haunted house is going to be,” George said and gave a maniacal cackle.

“ Do you think the boggarts will stay where we left them?” Fred asked. George shrugged.

“ It's dark and dusty in there, just the way they like it,” George said.

“ Think we can sneak one into Snape's room? “ Fred asked. George grinned, but shook his head.

“ We promised Dumbledore we'd keep mayhem to a minimum, remember?” he said. Fred sulked.

“ Stupid, stupid promise,” Fred muttered. “ Can't we at least do something to scare Ron?”

“ Not tonight,” George said, measuring a teaspoon of powder carefully.

“ Who are you and what have you done with my twin?” Fred demanded. Harry cleared his throat, sending Fred jumping and causing George to drop his teaspoon.

“ Bloody hell, Harry! I thought you were Dolores Umbridge, escaped from St. Mungo's and on a murderous rampage!” Fred cried, clutching his chest. George carefully tried to gather the scattered powder from the table.

“ That's not a bad idea for the spook house, Fred,” he said.

“ What are you guys doing?” Harry asked.

“ Dumbledore's put us in charge of fireworks and the haunted house,” Fred said.

“ That alone should make anyone afraid,” Harry said with a laugh.

“ Hey, there's a full moon that night. We should get Lupin to come scare the bejeezus out of the muggles,” George said. Fred's eyes grew wide.

“ And he's the sensible one,” Fred said in wonder.

“ Have either of you seen Luna Lovegood out here?” Harry asked. Fred furrowed his brow in thought.

“ Tall, skinny, blonde, wears vegetables as jewelry?” he asked.

“ Yeah, that's her,” Harry said.

“ Nope, haven't seen her then,” Fred said.

“ Um, thanks,” Harry said, consulting the map and finding that she was near the lake. He walked towards the tree where he’d found her the day before.

“ Luna?” he called. “ Where are you?” He searched the branches and found them empty. He was just about to check the map again, when he heard water splashing and turned around.

“ Are you talking to trees, Harry Potter?” Luna Lovegood asked with a peculiar smile from where she stood, knee deep in the lake. “ I do too, sometimes, you know. It’s okay as long as they don’t answer you.”

The moon hung low, glistening off the water and in her silvery eyes. The sight was breathtaking.

“ Um, no. I was talking to you,” he said, feeling slightly overwhelmed at the sight before him. She cocked her head to one side, her hair falling over her shoulder.

“But I’m over here, you know,” she said, wading towards him. He swallowed hard, watching the moonlit beads of water as they rolled down her long legs.

“I thought you were up a tree,” he said and winced, thinking how lame that must have sounded. What’s the matter with me? It’s just Luna, he thought to himself.

“ So, what are you doing out her so late?” Harry asked, looking at his feet.

“I lost track of time after dinner. There was a particularly interesting article about the rare venomous bowtruckles of Brazil, actually, in Fantastic Beasts Monthly, and I got there too late. They locked me out,” she said, reaching the shore and standing before him. Harry shook his head sadly.

“That’s not right, Luna. I think you should tell Professor Flitwick about this,” he said. Luna shrugged and sat beneath the tree.

“They do it all the time. I don’t mind as long as it’s not cold or raining,” she said. “Sleeping under the stars is quite nice, actually.” Harry sat beside her, feeling frustrated with her calm acceptance of the bullying she endured.

“How did you know I was here?” Luna asked, her unblinking eyes scrutinizing him.

“Oh, I – Fred and George Weasley spotted you from over there,” he lied, waving his hand vaguely in their direction. Luna nodded.

“They must have terribly good eyesight,” she said with a smile.

“ So um, Fantastic Beasts Monthly? I thought you mainly read The Quibbler,” he said, changing the subject. Luna gave him a wide eyed gaze.

“ Oh, I read everything,” she said. “You can never be too informed, you know.” She absently observed an inchworm that had crawled onto her arm, blowing on it gently and smiling. Harry looked at the serene surface of the lake.

“ I wasn’t able to sleep, so I thought I’d see what they’d done with the carnival,” he said. “I guess I was sort of wondering what it’d be like, you know, having my parents come to see me here, introducing them to my friends and showing them around.” Luna nodded, coaxing the little worm onto a blade of grass.

“My mum would have liked the carousel,” she said softly. “Have you seen it? It has all sorts of creatures, you know. My mum loved to tell me stories about animals. It’s one of the only things I can remember about her.” A broken beam of moonlight shone through the tree branches, illuminating her face.

“Have you had Care of Magical Creatures class yet this week?” Harry asked. Luna shook her head.

“I want to show you something, then,” Harry said and stood, offering her his hand. Luna accepted it, and he pulled her up and leas her to Hagrid’s hut. He pointed at the small pen by the pumpkin patch.

“Look in there,” he said. Luna sank to her knees beside the chicken wire and peered inside. She looked up at him, beaming, and turned back to the creature inside.

“Hey there, little fella,” she cooed. The mackled malaclaw scuttled toward her, his beady eyes watching her curiously.

“I thought of you when Hagrid showed him to us,” he said.

“Isn’t he sweet? Thank you, Harry,” she said.

They walked back to the lake, the moonlight giving everything an unreal look.

“Are you going to be okay out here?” Harry asked. “If you want I can let you into the Gryffindor common room to sleep. Under the circumstances, I don’t think anyone would mind.” Luna shook her head.

“I think I prefer it out here, actually,” she said. Harry looked away from her awkwardly.

“I was thinking,” he said. “Well, since you and I are both going to be on our own Saturday -- I was wondering if – well I thought maybe we could sort of hand out together.” Luna stared at him with wonder.

“That is, if you want to,” he added, wondering if he should have said anything. Luna smiled brightly.

“You can be in my family if I can be in yours,” she said.