Lunch could not have been more different than breakfast.
Not too long after Luna had arrived, the Great Hall was pandemonium. Neurotic streaming gusts of pink and blue, red and gold flew by shrieking students. Wheels and tendrils shot out at irregular intervals down the rows of benches. Whether the cries of the Hogwarts attendees were of joy or fear, it didn’t seem to matter because in a matter of minutes, an out of breath Dolores Umbridge ran in with hair askew and a tea stain down her once neatly ironed pink dress. Filch wasn’t far behind.
But as soon as they made it through the door, they were stopped in their tracks, apparently stunned into silence. And just by chance a new firework was shot up at that exact moment, forming into several enchanted, glittering dragons which proceeded to chase Filch and Umbridge out of the door.
With that, all of the kids stood up and cheered, and not to anyone’s surprise, Fred and George emerged from behind an empty crate of firecrackers and took their bows.
Later that day, Luna realized with dismay that tonight would be her first detention in which Umbridge had so randomly prescribed to her a few days ago. Then, a mischievous thought crossed her mind. Perhaps she could take a lesson from the Weasley twins: a little rebellion couldn’t really cause any harm.
Throughout the rest of the day, Luna felt a bounce in her step as she walked through the halls. She felt free! The firecrackers let off by the Weasleys continued to go off at irregular intervals throughout the day, adding a certain sparkle and sort of rebelliousness to the air.
That evening about a quarter past five o’clock, Luna was walking from her Charms class in the corridor by Umbridge’s office when she heard shouts coming from inside. Then, the door burst open, and Luna ducked as a whooping Fred and George came flying out on their broomsticks.
“SEE YOU LATER, HOGWARTS!” George shouted.
“VISIT US AT WEASLEYS’ WIZARDING WHEEZES!” Fred exclaimed.
Oh, how much more bland the school without those two.
---
But the school wasn’t quiet at all. It seemed that Fred and George had set the bar high, and everyone and their brother wanted to try and reach it. Every amateur in the school was setting off stink bombs and Bubble-Head Charms in the corridors.
But Luna didn’t get to see much of her fifth year friends. OWLs were coming up, the biggest test for their year, and they were all madly studying. But everybody turned up later that week at the final Quidditch game: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Luna knew she should be loyal to her own house, but it was difficult seeing as poor Ron was playing on the other team—or, trying to play.
Luna didn’t really have any friends in the Ravenclaw section so she decided to stand with Neville, Hermione, and Harry. But she did wear her raven hat to show she wasn’t a complete traitor.
Ron’s Quidditch abilities were heartbreaking to watch. The poor boy tried so hard, but never seemed to be able to block a single Quaffle. Neville was shaking his head.
“If I could fly a broom straight, I’d happily take the bloke’s place just to even try and save some of Gryffindor’s dignity,” Neville groaned. Luna laughed.
“We must at least give Ronald credit for trying.”
“Yeah, I suppose we should. Hey, Luna, you’d probably be fine at Quidditch! You’re a pretty good flyer, fast too. Have you ever tried it?”
“Oh no, Quidditch is too violent for me. I prefer to be a spectator.”
“Fair, fair. So, did you—“
“Hey! Where did Hermione and Harry go?” Luna interrupted. Neville turned around to where they had been standing minutes before.
“Huh….I dunno. Maybe they went to grab a bite?”
“Would they be looking for Cho?”
“Nah, they’re at it again. And anyways, Cho’s in the game.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. So, are they having a row again?”
“I guess.”
Towards the end of the game, by which point Luna felt that if one more person burst out into the chorus of “Weasley is Our King” she would scream, Harry and Hermione returned.
“Where were you guys?” Neville questioned.
“Oh, um, Hagrid wanted to—er—show us something,” Harry eloquently replied.
The game continued on and Luna watched in awe as it began turning to Gryffindor’s favor. There seemed to be a new fire in Ron and he didn’t miss the next several shots on goal. Then, then the Chasers actually began getting the ball and the Ravenclaws began to slow down, overconfident in their lead. That was when the lions began scoring. And scoring. And scoring until they were two dozen points ahead.
And then, Ginny darted out and straight past Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker and reached out, snatching a shimmering object out of the air: the snitch. The game was over. And Ron wasn’t a failure after all.
He was carried off the field to the tune:
Weasley is our King;
He didn’t let the Quaffle in;
Weasley is our King!
Luna smiled as she walked back to the dormitory, thankful that everyone’s day had just been made just a little bit brighter.
YOU ARE READING
Luna Lovegood
Fanfiction[BOOK ONE] Loony Lovegood--the girl everyone made fun of. The girl with more to her than what meets the eye. She's different, you know (although I presume you already figured that out for yourself). She's special, and she has a story, too. Foll...
