Luna's year

The following morning found the students crowded outside among the carriages in preparation for the ride to Hogsmeade village, Harry and Ron searching through the throng of students in search of Hermione. It was a chilly mid-October morning, cold enough that most had brought along their scarves and had bundled up appropriately. Harry could see the misty vapours rising wistfully in the air whenever someone spoke.

"I don't think she's here yet," said Harry said at last.

"Let's wait over there," suggested Ron, pointing to the castle entrance, "We'll catch her when she comes out."

"Yeah, okay," agreed Harry, rubbing his hands together and starting to wish he'd brought his gloves along. They walked back up to the castle entrance and waited along the ancient wall.

Harry looked back at the bustle of students scrambling into the black, Thestral-drawn coaches. He'd been surprised to see the familiar purple form of the Knight Bus there, looming conspicuously over the carriages, but with most of the staff coming along, there weren't enough carriages for everyone.

"G'day, 'ere, Harry, Ron," said Hagrid, emerging from the courtyard. "Ye'd best get yourselves on a carriage, don't wan' te be left behind now, do ye? Yer all comin' to Hogsmeade right?"

"Hi, Hagrid," answered Harry. "Yeah we are, we're just waiting around for Hermione."

"Och, well then, ye won't be waitin' long," said Hagrid, pointing a thumb back over his shoulder. "She was in the hall 'ere talkin' to Professor Flitwick a minute ago." He strode over to the Knight Bus to talk to Professor McGonagall, Harry wondering if Hagrid would be able to squeeze himself through the bus' rather normal-sized door.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione's voice called out from behind them. Harry turned as she ran up to them, her face beaming. She waved a wand in front of them. "I've got it!" She said excitedly, "Compliments of Professor Flitwick!"

Harry's spirits lifted. "Hermione, that's great! So it all worked out like you planned, then?"

"Well, not quite," she admitted, "As it turns out, Peeves was in the Great Hall when I spoke to Flitwick. I was telling him what happened, and Professor Dumbledore was sitting right there, so..."

Ron's eyes widened. "Whoah! Dumbledore got the wand back himself?" He looked gleefully to Harry. "I would have given a galleon or two just to see the look on Peeves' face! And we missed it!"

"Well no, not exactly," Hermione continued. "Peeves saw me and left rather quickly. But anyway, Professor Dumbledore asked the Bloody Baron to talk to Peeves, and this morning Flitwick had it! He was going to give it back to Luna when she came out, but I asked him if I could."

"Cool!" said Harry. "But I still wonder what Peeves did that for." Vandalism and pranks were Peeves modus operandi, theft was not in his character, as far as Harry knew.

"Well you know Peeves," said Ron, "He never needs a reason to do anything now, does he?"

"I suppose that's true," Harry conceded.

"Look," said Hermione, pointing at the nearest carriage, "You two save us some seats, I'm go find Luna, I won't be long." She ran back into the courtyard.

Harry moved to the unoccupied carriage Hermione had indicated, pulling Ron's arm so he didn't walk into the Thestral. Harry's ire rose sharply as they arrived at the carriage door at the same instant as Draco Malfoy and his ever-present cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, hulking menacingly behind him.

"Where do you think you're going, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. "That's our carriage!"

"That's the Hogwarts crest, Malfoy," Harry answered back, pointing to the carriage's door. "I don't see a sign that says 'Reserved for Slytherins'."

He put his hand firmly on Ron's shoulder, as the red haired boy had taken a half step towards Malfoy. Getting into trouble now was not a wise move, Harry realized.

"Let him go, Potter," said Malfoy, his two henchmen fanning out to either side of him. "Let's see what King Weasley here can do."

Harry glanced over Draco's shoulder and saw Snape walking towards them. "Go get yourself another carriage, Malfoy," he said, trying his best not to draw attention to himself. Great, he thought, Snape's sure to give the carriage to Malfoy. He needed to get Malfoy away from there promptly.

"You go get yourself another carriage, Potter!" Malfoy shot back, a sinister grin on his face, his two companions chuckling malevolently.

Harry quickly shoved Ron away from the carriage and spun around, pointing at the Thestral, which he knew Draco couldn't see.

"Thestral! I command you! Attack!!" He pointed straight at Malfoy.

Malfoy hastily drew his wand, a look of apprehensive uncertainty on his face. Crabbe and Goyle took a hesitant step backwards. "You can't control those things, Potter!" spat Malfoy, "Just because you can see them doesn't mea - "

There was a loud bang of hoof striking wood as the Thestral gave a lurch, the carriage getting a severe shaking in the process. "Attack!" ordered Harry again, pointing once more at Malfoy.

"Yaagghh!" screamed Malfoy as the carriage lurched again, snow kicked up from the ground where the Thestral was bucking wildly. He almost ran over his two cronies, bolting past them in a panic. The two hulking Slytherins immediately followed Malfoy's lead, screaming as shrilly as their ringleader.

Snape gave them a look of disgust as they ran, shrieking, past him. The Potions Master glared at Harry before reluctantly turning about and making his way back to the Knight Bus.

Ron was beside himself with laughter. "Oh, blimey, Harry!" he said, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "How'd you manage that?"

"Actually, I'm not really sure," admitted Harry, looking at the Thestral in bemusement, which had now inexplicably settled down peacefully once more.

"Oy! Harry!"

Harry heard Hagrid's gruff voice coming from the other side of the carriage. Harry peeked around the corner and saw the gamekeeper hunched behind the carriage, as inconspicuously as someone his size could manage.

"I thought ye could use a hand," said Hagrid, smiling. "Just slap 'er backside like so and she'll tend to kick back...'course Malfoy couldn't see, but could hear jus' the same."

Harry grinned up at him. "Thanks, Hagrid!"

Hagrid winked at them and shuffled back to the Knight Bus.

Harry and Ron scampered quickly up into the carriage in case anyone else tried to lay claim to it. More than once, they'd had to turn people back, telling them they were saving the other seats, but thankfully there were no more encounters with any obnoxious Slytherins.

A few minutes later the door opened, admitting Hermione and Luna into the coach's cozy confines, as they took the empty seats opposite Ron and Harry.

"Good morning," said Harry.

"Hello," said Luna vaguely as she removed a pair of woolly yellow mittens that clashed terribly with the fuzzy pink earmuffs she was wearing. She placed her mittens on the seat next to her and pointed to the wand tucked in its traditional lace behind her ear.

"Thank you, for this," she said, smiling dreamily. "Now I can get my own owl again, I didn't have had enough galleons to get both an owl and another wand, you know. And Daddy will be able to give Percival some rest...he is getting rather old."

"Well, the main thing is that you've got your wand back," said Harry, smiling at her. "Any idea why Peeves would take it though?"

Luna stared at him. "Well, it is rather an old wand," she said. "It belonged to my great-grandmother, Mum said...it's hickory, and it has a dragon's heart string and a unicorn's hair embedded, which makes it rather different from most..."

Harry thought about that. As far as he knew, wands normally had one main element, he'd never heard of one with two...

"I wonder..." said Hermione softly a few moments later.

Harry looked at her. "What?"

She hesitated, appearing pensive. "Well, it's probably not...no, it's nothing. Anyway, Luna," she said, pointing at the lightly stained copy of The Quibbler Luna had pulled out of her bag, "You did say you were going to show me that article on the Kraken, didn't you?"

Harry blinked. He knew Hermione held little interest in Luna's fictitious creatures; he had the distinct impression that Hermione had an idea about the wand, but for whatever reason wasn't willing to discuss it here.

Maybe she doesn't want to scare Luna? He mused, but then quickly discarded that theory upon glancing at the straggly-haired blonde across from him. Luna wasn't one to scare easily, if at all; the clash in the Department of Mysteries had certainly proven that.

Maybe because I'm here? He thought, feeling his temper rising. He quickly forced himself to push the thought aside, though not without some difficulty. He decided to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

Patience, Harry, he willed to himself.

Luna was staring at him, holding The Quibbler open across her lap as Hermione was reading the Kraken article. "What?" she asked, a curious look in her silver eyes.

"I didn't say anything," Harry replied quickly. Luna nodded serenely and drew back to her magazine. Had he been thinking out loud? He glanced over at Ron, but the redhead was observing the last stragglers through the coach's window.

Ron then stretched out, his long arms bumping the cabin's ceiling. "Three Broomsticks, here I come," he yawned with a sleepy grin as their carriage lurched forward.

Luna looked up at him, "You'll save me your butterbeer caps, won't you?"

"Yeah, sure," said Ron. "Why, are you going to make yourself a matching bracelet?" He asked, laughing.

Hermione glared at Ron, whose laugh quickly turned into an ungainly series of awkward coughs.

"Are you all right?" asked Luna.

"Yep, fine," said Ron quickly, whose eyes suddenly narrowed. "Hey...where is your necklace by the way?"

Harry looked, surprised he hadn't noticed himself, but sure enough, Luna's familiar butterbeer cap necklace was missing.

"Oh," said Luna as Hermione straightened up from reading The Quibbler, "It went missing last night, so if you two are going to gorge yourselves on butterbeers, I'll take the caps, if you don't mind."

"Eh...sure, Luna," said Ron sombrely, evidently regretting his earlier jab at her.

"I can't believe they're still doing that," said Harry hotly. "Why do they keep hiding your stuff?" His temper was rising dangerously.

Luna stared at him vacantly, as if not understanding the question.

Then Harry realized she'd explained all that to him last year. "Well," she said, "they seem to think I'm rather odd, you know. I suppose they were still upset at me for losing points for Ravenclaw in Potions class, too."

Hermione looked strange. She was staring at the floor in front of her, but there was nothing there worth looking at that Harry could see.

"Luna," she said at last, "Wasn't that necklace a gift from your mum?"

"No," said Luna conversationally. "Actually, it was a present I made for her birthday. She didn't get to wear it very long though...I kept it after that."

She then retreated back behind The Quibbler, holding it close to her face, trying to make out the words through the dried cranberry stains.

This scarcely made Hermione feel any better. She looked at Harry, her eyes glittering and swallowing hard, trying to keep her emotions in check.

The group went silent. Harry was feeling a rather despairing helplessness, angry as he was at those responsible for the theft, but also acutely aware that he wasn't a Ravenclaw, much less a girl, so there was little he could do about it, at least directly.

They rode on, only the wooden creaking of the moving carriage permeating the cabin, until Harry heard Luna softly humming the familiar tune of "Weasley Is Our King" from behind her magazine. He looked at Ron, who rolled his eyes and shrugged.

Well, he seems to be getting over that, at least, Harry thought.

The humming was interrupted by a small giggle. "Pink bunny slippers..." Luna muttered giddily under her breath.

Harry smiled.

* * *

They arrived in Hogsmeade a short while later. Hermione headed for Scrivenshaft's immediately, telling Harry to save her a place at the Three Broomsticks. Ron said he'd catch up with them later, as he went looking through the crowd in search of Ginny and Neville.

"Well," said Luna dreamily, carefully tucking The Quibbler away in her bag, "I suppose I'll go see what they have in owls. I'll see you later, Harry." She smiled at him and turned to leave.

"Luna, wait," said Harry. She turned around again. "I wanted to talk to you about something, but I wanted to wait till there wasn't anyone around...um...we can go inside, if you like?"

She was staring at him, her permanently surprised look now truly appropriate. She nodded, still staring at him curiously. They then crossed the street to the bustle outside the entrance to the Three Broomsticks.

Harry was surprised at the number of people already in the place when they entered. The little inn was a flurry of activity, but in the far corner a single small table still sat unoccupied. Turning to make sure Luna was still following, he led her to the small alcove. She took a seat to his left, looking at him attentively.

"I wanted to ask you," said Harry, keeping his voice low to avoid being overheard, "How did you see me that night in the hallway with Filch? It was like I wasn't wearing an invisibility cloak at all." He waited for her reaction.

Instead, all he got was an unblinking stare from two large, silvery eyes.

"Er...Luna, are you okay?" He said at last.

For one of the few times he could remember, Luna blinked. She nodded. "Oh, yes...well, I'm not really sure how to explain it, really," she said, her gaze dropping to the table, for once not meeting his eyes. Harry was getting the distinct impression she didn't want to discuss the matter.

"It's okay," said Harry hastily, not wanting to upset her. "I'll just order us a couple of butterbeers, I - "

"No, it's all right," said Luna, looking at him once more. "It's just that...well, some people are just born with it, Harry. Mum had it too..."

"Had what?" asked Harry, his curiosity getting the better of him.

She stared at him, her pale eyes exhibiting a seriousness he'd rarely seen before. She seemed hesitant, which in itself was so unusual for Luna.

"Some...people can just see things for what they are, Harry..." she said softly. "I really wish I could explain it better. Mum was really quite good at it. You couldn't get anything past her at all..."

She thought carefully. "But then, she had a really good mentor when she was growing up, you know; I think he helped her perfect it very well."

Harry sat dumbfounded. "Wow," he said finally. "I didn't know."

She smiled at him. "Well, it's not something I normally talk about," she said. "I've found it's more useful if people don't know..."

Harry nodded, understanding quite well. He himself had wished that his own gift for speaking Parseltongue had been kept secret, the anxiety and frightened stares he'd received during his second year still fresh in his mind.

"Mum's the...word," he said, wincing inwardly at his choice of words.

Luna, though, smiled dreamily back at him.

Despite the personal nature of the conversation, Harry was very comfortable talking to Luna. Nothing really seemed to faze her, which made him feel very much at ease. Since the end of last year, he'd had the feeling that she seemed to understand him.

"Who's Aragog, anyway?" she asked out of the blue.

"Aragog?" asked Harry, suddenly recalling their encounter with the spiders at the start of term. It amazed him the way she could jump right back into the middle of a conversation that had been interrupted weeks ago.

"Oh, yeah - he's this really huge spider that lives in the forest, he's a friend of Hagrid's. All those spiders you saw are his offspring," he leaned close to Luna, lowering his voice even more, "but don't mention that name around Ron though, okay? He has this thing about spiders..."

Luna nodded knowingly, her eyes them glancing over his shoulder. "Hermione's looking for us," she said as Harry turned, barely catching a glimpse of Hermione's brown hair through the crowd near the door.

Harry and Luna both waved, Hermione not catching sight of them until Luna had stood on her chair and called out loudly, startling Harry and most of the patrons in the establishment. Hermione couldn't help but notice such a scene and came over, looking quite irritated. She sat down heavily, letting her bag fall to the floor.

"Well, that was a waste of time," she said, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Why, what happened?" asked Harry.

"Oh, there were just about fifteen thousand other students who happened to want quills today too," she gave an abrupt sigh. "I'll just go back later when everyone's quite done pushing and shoving." She looked around the crowded inn. "Where's Ron, by the way?"

"Still looking for Ginny and Neville, I guess," said Harry. He saw Madame Rosmerta walking towards them, her face lighting up once she recognized the faces at the table.

"Well hello!" she smiled at them. "I haven't seen you three here since the middle of last term, with that Skeeter woman. It's always nice so see returning customers! What'll you be having today?"

"A small cherry syrup for me, thanks," said Hermione, straightening up in her chair.

Harry looked to Luna. "Oh, a gillywater with onion for me, please," she said dreamily.

Harry grinned at Madame Rosmerta. "I'll have a butterbeer."

She smiled back at them. "Coming right up," she said as she made her way back to the bar.

Hermione turned to Harry, her frustration slowly ebbing. "I saw Mundungus Fletcher at the door outside," she said. "I think he was waiting for someone. Either that or he's standing guard. Anyway, I thought he looked a bit nervous."

"That's reassuring, Mundungus standing guard and looking nervous," said Harry. "How does a guy like that get in the Order, anyway?" he asked.

"I've asked myself the same thing," said Hermione. "But Ginny says Mr. Weasley has confidence in him...anyway, they must have a reason for having someone like him there."

Harry shrugged. "If they do, it's sure a secret." He looked at Luna, who was fiddling with her napkin, trying to make some sort of shape with the soft material that he couldn't as yet guess. The napkin wasn't firm enough to hold its shape, however; he saw her repeatedly re-fold corners to try and make them stick, with little success.

"May I join you?" a voice near them asked.

Harry looked up to see Albus Dumbledore of all people, smiling down at them.

"Professor Dumbledore! Of course, please - " Hermione indicated the empty chairs at the table.

Hermione glanced at Harry with a shocked smile. "I didn't know you were coming to Hogsmeade, Professor," she said.

"Ah yes," said Dumbledore, taking his seat. "As Hogwarts is virtually deserted, I have decided to permit myself the luxury of one of Madam Rosmerta's exquisite concoctions." He shifted slightly in his chair. "Alas, I'm reminded of why I have studiously avoided riding the Knight Bus all these years...it wouldn't rank as the most comfortable way to travel, would it?"

Harry grinned, remembering quite vividly his own rather rough ride in the bus and trying to imagine Dumbledore going through the same experience. "No, definitely not."

Madam Rosmerta returned with their drinks. "Well, Professor," she beamed. "Now here's a rare visitor to my premises! Hogwarts has almost made you a stranger, I daresay! What can I get for you today?"

"I believe a nice hot chocolate will be just the ticket on a morning such as this, Madam Rosmerta", said Dumbledore. "Oh...and with a dash of nutmeg on top, if you please."

The pub owner laughed at that. "With nutmeg, of course. Coming right up!" She returned to the bar.

Harry noticed Dumbledore glance curiously at Luna.

"Professor," said Hermione, "I was wondering...do you have any idea who will be Minister of Magic now that Cornelius Fudge has been sacked?"

"Well," replied Dumbledore, "As of now, no decision has yet been rendered. But, I'm happy to say that the Wizengamot Executive Council has reduced their list of potential candidates to just three individuals, so I believe it safe to assume that we shall know shortly."

"It's going to be Professor Lupin, isn't it?" chimed Luna, stirring her gillywater with her impaled onion.

Dumbledore looked at her with a particular twinkle in his blue eyes, staring at her for a moment before speaking.

"You would not happen to be related to a certain Annabelle Lovegood, perchance?"

At that Luna looked up from her gillywater, her silver eyes wide and smiling as she nodded happily. "She was my mother," she said.

"Ah, I'd imagined so. The resemblance is striking, I must say," said Dumbledore. "I recall quite vividly when your mother was attending Hogwarts some years ago...I daresay she was one of the most gifted students to pass through those ancient halls in a great many years."

Luna's smile brightened and, though it hardly seemed possible to Harry, she seemed to be blushing slightly; clearly it pleased her to no end to listen to Dumbledore's glowing references to her mother.

"But, as to your question," continued Dumbledore, "Remus Lupin is indeed one of the final three candidates for consideration. I see you have your mother's insight, Miss Lovegood. You wouldn't, perchance, share her beliefs in the existence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"

Hermione almost choked on her cherry syrup. "P - Professor?" she managed to blurt out.

Dumbledore turned to her. "Oh yes, I've wondered about their existence for a great many years myself," he said quite seriously, although Harry wondered if he'd caught a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

Hermione was staring back and forth between Dumbledore and Luna, gaping open-mouthed. Luna seemed particularly delighted.

"You - you really believe - " stammered Hermione.

"One must not gauge the truth only by what our eyes and ears tell us, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore sagely. "While there is indisputable value to learning through books and teachings, that is only the beginning of knowledge. On occasion, there are things that one must accept on faith, even when no explanation is forthcoming."

Hermione seemed to be in a state of shock. Although she had stopped openly disputing Luna's beliefs, sharing them was an altogether different matter.

"Knowledge is my village, but wisdom is my kingdom," said Luna in a melodious voice, twirling her onion around in her gillywater.

The innkeeper returned with Dumbledore's nutmeg-topped hot chocolate. "Ah, thank you, Madam Rosmerta," said the Headmaster as she smiled and retreated back to the bustling bar.

"Professor Dumbledore," began Harry, as the Headmaster lightly sipped the top of his drink, testing its temperature. "I've been meaning to ask you...the D.A. lessons I gave last year, I was wondering if..."

"If you could continue with the lessons," Dumbledore finished for him. Harry nodded.

Dumbledore seemed pensive for a moment. "Well, Harry, in view of the lack of proper Defence Against the Dark Arts teachings for most of the last few years, I certainly believe it to be a worthwhile endeavour. However, I must ask you to coordinate your lessons with those of your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Harry and Hermione smiled at each other. While initially reluctant, Harry had quickly become the enthusiastic teacher of the D.A. classes the previous year whilst they were all suffering under the corrupt teachings of Dolores Umbridge. He had even poured through books to acquaint himself with new material in his spare time, something he rarely did for any of his regular classes.

"Who is the new teacher, Professor?" asked Hermione, knowing that Grubbly-Plank was only filling in as a favour for Dumbledore until a permanent replacement was found.

"Well," said the Headmaster, "There is a candidate currently in Denmark finishing up some urgent business, but should be ready to start teaching duties in about a month's time. He has little teaching experience, though I have full confidence in his ability to instruct the required material."

Harry silently hoped so. Lupin had been the only teacher under whom they'd received high quality teaching on the subject. As there were only two more years left before their N.E.W.T.S., they could ill afford another sub-par Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Harry saw Mundungus Fletcher making his way quickly to their table. "Sorry to interrupt," the crotchety member of the Order said, "But he's jus' arrived, Professor."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, rising from his seat, hot chocolate in tow. "I must attend to an important matter, if you'll excuse me." He smiled down at them before following Mundungus out of the crowded inn.

Harry wondered if this 'matter' could be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but no, he thought, Dumbledore said he wouldn't arrive for another month, didn't he? He looked over at Hermione, who was also looking at the departing Headmaster with curiosity. Luna, on the other hand, was contentedly sucking on her onion, staring at him over her glass of Gillywater.