Luna Lovegood

Disclaimer: These characters are owned by J.K. Rowling and some of the dialogue between certain characters is hers as well.

Luna ran through the front hall and out the door.  To some she may have only seemed a blonde streak rushing by.  She did indeed have long, blonde hair that crinkled at the ends and would often times get quite frizzy at the end of a humid day.  She had startling gray eyes.  One could not look into them without curiosity, or the longing to look deeper within them.  Her light brown eyebrows curved up in an ever-present questioning look.  Her bright red hoodie matched her red sneakers and she wore a tattered pair of blue skinny jeans.  There was a messy bun formed from her thick hair that bobbed up and down as she ran towards her father and into the car.

“Hello, darling?  Got everything?” Her father said, dressed in a bright, fairly obnoxious, yellow suit.  He started the car.

“Yes, Daddy, and I just managed to avoid the nargles on my way out,” she replied with a pleasant smile as they began driving down the road, her voice like a dreamy whisper.

“That’s my girl.”  They sat in silence for a few moments before her father said, “So, Luna, are you ready for your fourth year at Hogwarts?”  Hogwarts was the boarding school that Luna attended.  But it wasn’t an ordinary school, like the ones in London, it was Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Yes, Luna Lovegood was a witch.

“Why of course, Father!  This year is going to be absolutely wonderful!  I just know it.”

“Maybe this year you can bring back a picture of some of the friends you’ve been writing to me about.”

Luna nodded and smiled, avoiding her father’s gaze.  Truth be told: Luna had no friends.  She had just been telling her father she did because she didn’t want him to be concerned.  He had a difficult job as sole editor of The Quibbler.  She didn’t want to bother him, but people just didn’t seem to like her; they thought she was weird.  Some people even called her Loony Lovegood.  Ahh, well, she could handle it.  But she did so wish that she could perhaps bring Daddy home some pictures of actual friends.  And Luna really, truly did want friends.

Soon enough they had arrived at King’s Cross and unloaded Luna’s crates and boxes onto a cart.  As the odd pair walked through the passages at the train station, Luna spotted the occasional child and parents with great crates and carts like hers.  But they all avoided her gaze.  With her orange turnip earring swinging back and forth with each step, Luna thought she might know why.

Luna frowned to her own disappointed thoughts.  She must not let others get her down.  She must be proud of who she was.  It was what Mum would have wanted her to do.  She would be proud.

As she and her father approached platforms 9 and 10, Luna pulled out her train ticket and smiled down at the familiar words: Platform 9 ¾.  Then, without hesitation, Luna sprinted forward at a brick column.  Many would expect a complete wipe-out, connection with solid wall, etc.  But instead she found herself on a lively Platform 9 ¾, bustling with witches and wizards.  Some were dressed in Muggle clothing, like her, and others had already changed into their Hogwarts robes.  Luna grabbed her satchel that contained her uniform, a few silver sickles and a Quibbler and left her luggage with her father as she dashed off to a ladies room to change.

She came back in a black skirt, tights and shoes.  Luna was also wearing her white blouse with her gray cardigan and a blue and silver striped tie.  Her long black and blue robe with the Ravenclaw crest rested in the crook of her arm and her bag hung limp from her shoulder, with less bulk than before.  Luna smiled up at her teary-eyed father.

“I’ll miss you, Daddy,” she said as she wrapped him in a hug, his larger arms surrounding her.

“I’ll write to you every day, sweetie.  And I’ll make sure a Quibbler gets to you every month.  I love you, honey.”