The Hogwarts Lonely Hearts Club

Desperately Seeking Harry

"Though you do think he actually wants to play?" Hermione asked, to which Luna nodded back. Then Hermione frowned. "Wait a minute ... did you say people steal your things?"

"Yes," Luna confirmed.

"But that's awful! That's terrible! They shouldn't do that," Hermione cried, vehemently.

"I know, but my things always turn up in the end," Luna replied, brightly. "And Harry stops people in Ravenclaw doing it. He's so good, you know."

"I'm starting to see it," Hermione smiled. "It is a shame that he wont let himself play Quidditch though. Is there any way to change his mind, do you think?"

Luna crinkled her brow as she considered it. "I don't know Harry all that well, but I think he stays away from attention because it only adds to his legend, and he hates all of that. I think it might be different if he was playing Quidditch just to play Quidditch, without all of that other stuff on top. But I don't know how that might be done."

Hermione tended to agree, but then a thought crept into her mind. She grinned at Luna as it took root.

"I think I might have a way. Thank you, Luna, for telling me this. I have to go now, I have some work to finish."

"Alright," Luna smiled. "Miss Hermione ... would it be okay if I talk to you sometimes? I think I'd like that if I was allowed."

"Of course you're allowed!" Hermione beamed. "You can speak to me anytime you like ... but only on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You stop calling me 'miss'! Just Hermione will do."

"Alright, I can do that. Bye then."

And Luna turned and skipped away, leaving Hermione to hurry back to her private booth in the library. Her half-written letter was still in her satchel and she pulled it out quickly, dipping her quill into her ink pot and then promptly snapping the nib in her eagerness to write. She frowned as she looked down at it.

"Oh, bother! And I don't have any spares on me ... as usual! Where's Harry when I need him?"

***

In fact, that was a question that most of Ravenclaw House was also asking. They wanted to continue badgering him to change his mind about Quidditch, but his knowledge of the secret passages was second to none. Even Filch didn't know them as well as he. Harry had explored the castle extensively in his solitary existence at Hogwarts, and soon he had a virtual map in his mind of the labyrinth of underground passages and secret chambers beneath the school. He now used this knowledge extensively to escape crowds and the attention of others.

Plus there was that time in his Second Year when he'd accidentally found the mythical Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk who lived there, but that was another story.

Today he'd used them to escape the persistence of Lisa Turpin and Mandy Brocklehurst. They meant well, but they couldn't half be annoying when they went on so much. It was enough to make the ears bleed. But even that wasn't the main reason that Harry wanted to put distance between them today.

No, that honour fell to the fact that Harry would have loved nothing more than to don the Royal Blue team robes of Ravenclaw House and soar around the Quidditch pitch in search of the Snitch, bringing glory to the House by helping them win the game. It was a temptation so fierce that he might even have given in in the end. But that would lead to toasts and parades and people slapping his back, and Harry was deeply against being fawned over.

And physical contact was an absolute no-no in his world, and the risk of celebratory hugs was enough to make him nauseous.

So Harry used his escape route to get away from the school, only to find himself emerging in the store room of the Quidditch equipment bunker. He pushed his way past the mass of spare brooms and musty old kit and broke out into the fresh air of the pitch itself. From there he hurried up to the stands, deciding that one of the VIP viewing booths was as good a hiding place as any.