At this moment, she seemed to be recalling the scene from back then.
The crowd had instantly lost its leader, pushing them to the brink of collapse. The scene had seemed like a building on the verge of crumbling, beyond saving.
An atmosphere of despair had filled the dimly lit room, making it difficult to breathe. She hated that feeling.
"More worthy than Potter or even Weasley? And even Professor McGonagall and the others?" Malfoy frowned and pressed on.
"Of course."
Luna nodded, answering briefly and firmly. For once, her hazy eyes became clear.
Malfoy was momentarily stunned, but before he could continue, Luna raised another question.
"But Ravenclaw's common room isn't really a safe haven. They'll be here soon. Aren't you going to find a chance to leave?" she continued.
"We need to find an opportunity."
Malfoy nodded.
He did not want to confront these professors head-on. That would be extremely troublesome.
Especially since Hogwarts had the home-field advantage. If he really fought them, escaping would take considerable effort.
"So where are you planning to go now? Professor McGonagall seems to care about you a lot. The corridors are full of guards she has Transfigured."
"How about you take me hostage again? Let me think… This time, we could escape to an unexplored primeval jungle and search for those uncharted magical creatures. They definitely won't find us there. And besides, that would be my reward, wouldn't it?"
Luna covered her mouth and chuckled softly. Her gaze, which had become hazy again, turned toward Malfoy as she offered the rather comical suggestion.
Her pale cheeks flushed slightly with excitement.
Only magical creatures could ignite such passion in Luna.
"That joke isn't funny at all."
Malfoy raised an eyebrow and shook his head, clearly unwilling to accept the suggestion.
The topic ended with Malfoy's refusal.
He then raised another question.
"So…"
"Now I need to ask you something. Can everything you just said be kept confidential, Miss Lovegood?"
Malfoy narrowed his grey eyes and stared intently at Luna. He no longer addressed her by her first name, but by her surname.
"If I say no, are you looking at me like that because you're planning to cast a Memory Charm on me? Like you did to Miss Delacour? The newspapers say she has amnesia. You did that, didn't you?"
Luna spoke nonchalantly, looking down as she fiddled with the cork necklace around her neck.
"To be honest, that's not the case," Malfoy said calmly.
"That Miss Fleur is really pitiful."
Luna sighed.
"How about this? I'll give you my earring. If I reveal anything, you don't have to give it back."
Luna reached up and removed the carrot-shaped earring from one of her ears.
Malfoy's eyelids twitched rapidly, and then he seemed to understand what Luna was thinking.
His gaze lowered slightly, focusing on the earring lying in her outstretched palm.
"Oh? Then I hope that one day in the future, I'll be able to return this earring to you in person."
Malfoy reached out and took the earring from her palm.
A tingling, electric-like sensation instantly flowed from his fingertips and spread throughout his body.
A wonderful connection suddenly formed between the two of them.
"You've learned Ancient Runes quite well."
He glanced at the intricate patterns carved into the earring, then looked at Luna and praised her.
He still could not understand Luna's inexplicable trust in him, but ultimately, it was a good thing.
The magic contained within the earring had created an invisible vow between the two of them.
It might not be as unbreakable or possess the almost insurmountable binding force of an Unbreakable Vow, but it still had a sufficiently powerful effect.
"Are you relieved now? Let's not talk about these things anymore. How about we have a cup of Gordigan tea? My dad sent it to me. You might like it!"
She spoke excitedly, as though she had something wonderful that she could not wait to share with her friend.
Luna then walked briskly over to a table, picked up a boiling ceramic teapot that was emitting white steam, poured a cup of tea, and placed it on the table in front of Malfoy.
"Thank you."
Malfoy nodded slightly and accepted it politely.
However, after lifting the teacup and looking at the pale-purple tea, which resembled beetroot juice, he still took a small sip.
It was a wise decision.
To put it politely, the taste of this tea was quite peculiar.
He quickly placed the teacup back on the table and decided not to touch it again.
The two of them then sat there leisurely, chatting idly, seemingly waiting for something.
"Looks like you've had a tough time. I thought you'd gotten a bug stuck in your head or something, but after meeting you just now, I feel like you're perfectly normal, just like when I first met you."
Luna began chatting casually.
"Oh, right! How can we have tea without pastries?"
She sounded excited, as though she had only just remembered something.
She produced several silver platters filled with pastries from somewhere and placed them on the wooden table.
The baked cookies were shaped like animals Malfoy had never seen before, and they looked rather cute.
"This is a Christmas present my dad made and sent to me. Would you like to try one?"
She invited Malfoy to taste them.
One particular type of cookie was especially common. It had a round body and a curved horn protruding from its forehead. The cookie was also intricately carved with the creature's scales, which were rough and uneven.
As for the other shapes, Malfoy saw a cookie shaped like a fish with its mouth wide open and its eyes bulging out. It looked rather funny, as though it had seen something terrifying.
Then again, perhaps the fish simply had a naturally enormous mouth.
The cookies also seemed to have been enchanted.
When Luna tried to eat the "horn" of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack-shaped cookie, the "horn" dramatically retracted on its own, only to bulge out again from the other end of the cookie.
"It's rather interesting."
Malfoy raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise appearing on his face.
He then picked up a cookie shaped like a colourful, big-mouthed fish and tossed it into his mouth.
The cookie's bulging mouth seemed to shrink rapidly out of "fear," returning to the shape of an ordinary fish and restoring its normal appearance.
"It tastes good."
He then praised it.
"That's not how you eat it. You have to do it more suddenly, like this."
Luna demonstrated, quickly popping a puffed-up cookie into her mouth.
"You have to do it before they react. It tastes better that way."
The cookie did not seem to return to its original state.
"Okay, I'll try again."
Malfoy reluctantly picked another cookie from the plate and tried it.
Malfoy seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was being hunted.
Luna, on the other hand, seemed to have absolutely no awareness that she needed to hide it.
The two of them calmly held a tea party in the Ravenclaw common room.