Not a Witch

Not a Witch

"Luna?" Harry stood outside of the Headmistress' office, the door slightly open. He had been sent there by McGonagall, to keep Luna Lovegood, a strange young witch, company, and to make sure she didn't leave or do anything strange. Harry wedged his fingers into the door and wedged it open slowly, to find Luna leaning against the desk, her head tilted to the side and looking forward blankly.

"Luna?" Harry asked again, moving towards her. Finally, she took some notice of Harry's presence.

"Oh, hello Harry," she answered after a short pause, still looking forward the same way as she had before. She pulled her knees closer to her body and tried to give a small smile.

It was official - the final battle would be the very next day. What sparked it? Luna's father, the Editor of the Quibbler, a strange Wizard magazine, had been taken as a hostage early that morning. They received the news from a Death Eater, who was sent to a cell in Hogwarts, being guarded by Hagrid. The state of Luna's father remained unknown.

Harry made his way towards Luna. She had been crying, it was clear to see, but her tears had dried with time. Now they had melted away into shock, a worse state for those who have experienced it. Her father was her final family member, aside from a few cousins, and her mother had died in a magical incident years before.

He kneeled down in front of her, not knowing what to do or say. Harry, too, had lost his parents, but he really didn't want to bring up the subject for fear that she would begin to cry, leaving him to not know what to do for her. She watched him, her eyes concentrating on his face, as if waiting for him to say something. Harry searched for the proper words.

"How are you feeling, Luna?" he finally asked, repeating words that had often been said to him after he faced many of his battles. Luna's eyes turned away from his face, and concentrated on the wall just behind him.

"I've just been thinking," she answered in her airy voice. Harry had expected for her to sound harsh, to perhaps yell at him for not knowing what to do, but she remained so calm. It was almost unnerving. For a moment, Harry wished she had been crying, instead. There was more silence. To Harry's great surprise, Luna was the one to break it.

"My mother used to tell so many stories about this room. She came here a lot, you know."

Harry tried not to stare. He knew what had happened to her mother since his fifth year at Hogwarts, only a few months after he had met Luna. She was always so open about her life, and her feelings, yet never seemed to really be affected by things. She was so strong. Luna began again.

"She wasn't a trouble-maker or anything," she said, her eyes resting back on Harry. "She just had a lot of problems. It wasn't her fault," she added. "She was just born differently than others would expect."

Harry had succumbed. He was staring at Luna, completely amazed. Why was she talking about her mother at a time like this? Shouldn't she be more worried about her father? Harry wanted to tell her this, but didn't. Instead he simply listened, hoping that it would help her somehow. Luna took Harry's silence as an invitation to continue, which she did.

"Did you know she wasn't a witch, Harry?" Once again, Harry stared. He had never really listened to Hermione about her favourite book, but he did remember some bits of information which confused him at the moment.

"If she wasn't a witch, how could she-?"

"Come to Hogwarts?" Luna finished. She began to laugh. Only at her laugh did Luna begin to seem hoarse, and it was quite apparent that she was not as calm as she seemed to be at first. She stopped.

"I know. Strange, isn't it? They all thought she was a witch. The wizards, I mean. They got the wrong information. They sent her a Hogwarts letter, and they all thought it was true, both her and her parents. They were all Muggles, and they thought it was true!"

Luna began giggling again, this time more darkly. She finished her laughter, and started shaking her head.

"I seem to have gone quite mad, haven't I?" She joked. Harry smiled with her, not knowing what else to do. "No, she wasn't a witch. They all believed the letter, because she was always so strange. She never did anything magical, but she was different...she wasn't like the other children. She was unique, a lot like me."

Luna looked up at Harry, as if waiting to see his response. He nodded to her, figuring that this topic of conversation would make her content, and continued to listen as politely as her could.

"Did you know, Muggles don't usually get wands...there aren't any that choose them. But my mother received a wand. She always told me that getting her wand was the best thing that ever happened to her. As a little girl, she would always run around, pretending to do magic. At least, that's what she told me. She told me that her parents, when they got her letter, believed it almost right away because of her childhood dreams. They figured it was a sign of some sort. Not that they cared," she added. "My mother didn't have a very nice childhood.

"I've always loved the story about her first day. How wonderful it felt to walk through the pillar onto the platform, get on the train. Actually, she even met my father that day. He didn't have any friends, so he invited her into his compartment. Of course," Luna added. "They hadn't fallen in love yet. They were only eleven, after all."

Luna looked up and smiled at Harry. Her hands were relaxed around her pulled in legs and her chin was resting comfortably on her knees. Harry returned her smile, and there was silence. Luna was, once again, the first to break it.

"I talk too much," she said to Harry, and remained silent.

"No...finish your story, Luna," Harry said to her. It was better for her than thinking about what was really happening. Luna lifted her head and continued speaking.

"She liked to talk about the first time she saw Hogwarts. From the moment she got off the train she was looking all around for it, and didn't actually see it until she and my father were on the boats. She told me that the moment she saw it, it felt like a weight had been lifted from her body. She told me that it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to her.

"Then her classes started. She had made a couple of friends in her House. She was a Ravenclaw, like I am. After they chose Houses, she didn't get to see my father much. He was a Griffindor - kind of like you, Harry."

Harry blushed at these words. Was she trying to tell him something? Her blank stare at him answered the question no, and he gave a small laugh and nodded for her to continue her story.

"She started her classes. Her first one was Charms. She was so excited to get to do magic, only to realize that she had no real talent in the subject. She was still just a muggle, though nobody knew that. They just thought she was muggle born, and that the spells were simply coming harder for her."

"Luna," Harry asked, then mentally kicked himself for having to now ask his question. "Could your mother do some magic?"

"Yes, Harry. Even though she was a muggle, she still had a wand. The powers she could use were from her wand and her determination. She wanted to do magic so badly, and she was doing well in her non-magic classes. History, Muggle Studies, Herbology. She worked on her classes all of the time, and even studied for her courses the next year every summer. I guess you could say she was a lot like Hermione with her classes, but I know that she was also a lot like me in her personality.

"She was first sent here in her third year. They had figured it out. At first they thought she might be a Muggle Born Squib. That's common, actually. People with Wizarding Blood, but no talent. So they sent her to the Hospital Wing. She wasn't a Witch. None of them understood it. She could see Hogwarts, after all! No other Muggles could see Hogwarts! It just wasn't right...it wasn't normal.

"Imagine - waiting your entire life for something magical to happen, then having it all taken from her, just like that.

"But she was passing all of her classes. Her wand was still producing simple spells, and she was great with learning from all of the books for her other classes. She never failed anything! So she started working harder, practicing spells that the other students in her grade hadn't even seen before. She wanted so badly to be a Witch - she became addicted to it. Every day she would try something new, and it would almost never work out. But she kept trying, and was eventually producing impressive spells. She fell in love with magic itself, and became obsessed with the feeling of it. She was doing so well, and her teachers, who still didn't understand her, decided to let her stay at Hogwarts. That's when she met my father, again."

Luna stopped speaking. She looked at Harry, her eyes focused harshly on his. Her eyes began to water.

"I'm so sorry, Harry." her index finger massaged her lip as she closed her eyes, trying to hold in her emotions. Harry didn't know what to do, until her noticed her free hand. He picked it up with his own two hands and held it softly. Luna opened her eyes.

"You're such a good friend, Harry."

"Finish your story, Luna."

"She was outside one day, in her fifth year. He came up to her, asking about the spell she was trying to produce. He was a pure blood, and didn't know she was just a muggle. They became friends again. She told him about herself about halfway through that year. He didn't care, and asked for her to go to Hogsmeade with him. They fell in love, Harry.

"They were married right after they both graduated. By that time, my mother had become a talented magic maker, but everyone knew she would never be a witch. Within the year, I was born. I never really noticed it, but I always knew that I was a lot like my mother. We shared so much in common...my whole family did. We went on so many trips together, and enjoyed every one of them.

"My mother continued trying to perform magic. I'd sit in the basement, always watching her. She would get so angry after she failed. At the time I thought I understood her, why she wanted to do magic, but now I know the truth. Magic made her mad. She was obsessed with it, addicted to it's feeling. It wasn't the size of the spell that she loved, it was the feeling it gave her. She always wanted to feel it inside of her, and not just from her wand. She wanted to be a real witch. Then...

"She wanted to try out a new spell one day. It was the Killing Curse, Harry. She got a large cockroach from the backyard, and just decided to try it out. I was there with her, in the basement. She didn't kill the insect. The spell backfired, and she died. Just like that."

Once again, Luna stopped, still looking at the wall behind Harry. Harry assumed she just needed a moment, until he realized that her story was over. He had enjoyed it, and was interested in Luna's life. He did want to know more, but was too afraid to ask at the moment.

"Are they going to find him, Harry?" Luna finally asked.

"Of course they are...we all are. Voldemort is going to give him back once we get to the battle ground. He'll be alive, Luna," Harry added, seeing the questioning look on her face. He stood up. "If there's one thing I know about Voldemort, it's that he won't lie about something like this. He has before, I'm sure, but I trust him this time. He just wants your father as bait, and he's a pureblood. He won't kill a pure blood."

Luna nodded. "Thank you, Harry," she said softly. She reached out her hand, and Harry took it, pulling her from the floor.

"We have to leave the school now, Luna."

"I know. It's no longer safe here."

Harry realized he was still holding Luna's hand. He was not in love with her, not like he was with Ginny, but he had affection for her. She was a friend, a great friend, who would stick with him until the end. He looked down at her, only to see a small tear fall from her eyes. Instead of saying anything, he pulled her into a tight hug. She accepted quite gladly.

After kissing her softly on the forehead Harry led Luna out of the room. Just before he opened the door, however, he decided to ask one final question. A question which had bothered him all through her story.

"Luna, if your mother wasn't a witch, how could she even see Hogwarts?"

"Nobody ever really knew, Harry. But I think...I think that she was able to see Hogwarts because she had to. She needed to believe that there was something magical in the world, something that was worth believing in. Hogwarts wasn't just a school for her, Harry, it was a place where she could belong, where she could be accepted. Where she could love somebody, and be loved by them. She needed this school. Things just didn't work out as well as they could have."

We all need this school, Harry thought as he opened the door and helped Luna to walk through it. He glanced into the office one final time before leaving, worried that he would never see it again. But for some reason, what Luna had said had an affect on him, and he believed that he would be in the school many more times. He needed to believe it.

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Well, I hope you all enjoyed the story. If you will, please click on that little button below this screen...you know, the one encouraging you to review this little fiction. Say anything you would like, anything at all! I'll appreciate it!