Chapter 26
"Yo, Potter! Were you having fun over the Forbidden Forest on your broom again?" Padma Patil greeted me with a teasing grin in the main lounge of our common room. We got along fairly well, so I took her provoking tone calmly—though I still hadn't figured out why this Indian witch disliked my little hobby so much.
"Hello to you too," I waved lazily, not even hiding the slight fatigue on my face. "Did something happen while I was relaxing, or are you just being snarky?"
"Hmph. Only you would call hours of broom flying in pouring rain 'relaxing,'" she snorted, casually inviting me to drop not into the armchair beside her, but onto the small sofa right next to her.
"You don't understand male romance," I smiled, long ago starting to think of magical brooms as the wizarding equivalent of a proper bike—fast and dangerous, but unforgettable. "So? What already happened?" I lowered my voice slightly as Milo suddenly leapt onto my lap.
The rascal had claimed the warmest spot in the common room again, shamelessly driving most other pets away from the fireplace. Still, between the hearth and my knees he always chose the second option—something that amused and charmed almost anyone I spoke to.
Though that wasn't really the point now. Padma clearly hadn't called me over for casual banter. She wanted a more private talk.
"Nothing huge, but…" Padma began just as quietly, sweeping the room with a calm but quick glance to check whether anyone was eavesdropping. "Your 'old friend' decided to show off today. She bullied one of our first-years—made a big show of hiding her robe and then tore into her verbally."
"Cho Chang? Why would she do something that stupid? And no one stopped her?" I frowned, surprised. I knew Cho had a… very specific temperament, but… even she should understand that bullying younger students wasn't something Ravenclaw tolerated. A third-year openly tormenting a first-year, and nobody stepping in… sounded almost impossible.
"Well… how do I put this…" Padma hesitated, struggling to explain. "Cho was acting like a complete bitch, but… our first-year is Luna Lovegood. She's… kind of not all there. Weird, dreamy, not from this world. You must've met her by now."
"You won't believe it, but I actually haven't," I grimaced. Lately I'd been too focused on trying to quietly and safely get one specific diary away from Ginny Weasley…
Confiscating it during our Diagon Alley trip hadn't worked—Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley never got into their canonical fight. But the Horcrux still found its owner, and taking it back now… that little red-haired fool had a whole school's worth of older brothers, so grabbing anything from her directly wasn't an option. And the professors might not understand my behavior if it blew up. So yes—I'd been busy, and I hadn't watched my own House drama too closely.
"Then you're lucky… Some of us are already tired of Luna and her 'Wrackspurts.' Don't even ask me what Wrackspurts are. She keeps telling everyone these 'creatures' liquefy your brain and… something else. I didn't listen closely, but a lot of people don't like it," Padma explained, folding her arms under her not-yet-there chest. "From what I understand, she said something like that about Cho today, and Cho snapped."
"Hm. That does sound like Cho… So nobody defended the girl because Luna's already annoyed everyone?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I didn't fully buy that explanation.
"Not exactly. Most people don't care about her Wrackspurts at all, but… Luna didn't look like she needed help. She didn't react to Cho's insults and didn't seem worried about her missing robe… even though I still feel a bit sorry for her," Padma exhaled, essentially admitting she wasn't eager to challenge a third-year—especially not Ravenclaw's Seeker.
"I see. And that's why you decided to tell me?" I grinned, leaning back into the sofa. "You want me to help her?"
"Not really," the Indian girl shook her head, knowing Ravenclaws didn't usually stick their noses into other people's lives. "It just seemed like something you'd want to hear—new information about your sworn enemy."
"Yeah, sure. I totally believe you," I shook my head, gesturing lightly to pull my broom back into my hand. The broom could fly to its owner on its own, so no one would suspect wandless casting. "Still, it is interesting… Later I'll think about how to put that arrogant idiot in her place."
"Hmph. And someone recently told me he didn't care about Cho Chang," Padma laughed quietly. She knew that even after tryouts ended, my conflict with the annoying Chinese girl hadn't disappeared. The witch had started spreading rumors that I'd been too scared to show up for tryouts because of her…
Which was nonsense and didn't truly bother me, but… a teenage group, especially one mixed with blood-status tension, had its own rules. To "save face" and keep life calm, I had to respond somehow.
It hadn't been hard. Whenever people asked, I answered with a straight face that yes—I hadn't come because Cho Chang looked pathetic, terrified of losing her Seeker spot. That was my reply. And when she came to confront me personally, unable to swallow the humiliation…
I only had to remind her that Roger Davies—our new team captain—had seen me flying over the Forbidden Forest and still desperately wanted to drag me onto the team. That ended it, more or less. But the tension between us stayed.
And now a clever Indian girl was using that tension, obviously tired of Cho's behavior. I didn't really believe Padma cared about Luna Lovegood. I knew she had her own conflict with Cho too. Still, Padma's attempt to "manipulate" me—really more a request for help wrapped in a polite excuse—didn't change anything.
I was willing to play along for now, promising myself I'd call her out later. And it wasn't only about Cho. I genuinely wanted to meet Luna. From what I remembered, her Wrackspurts were supposed to be real, even if most wizards didn't believe her.
That interested me. I wanted to meet her—and I didn't mind protecting her from other people's attacks, especially since my reputation in Ravenclaw would make it easy… Though first I got distracted by the sports club, then came training, tedious homework, lessons, and watching Ginny. I forgot about Luna's situation for a few days. And then—
"You were looking for me, Harry Potter?" A small, pale blonde girl with a strange necklace—like it was made out of literal trash—approached me on the second floor, staring at my face with a slightly foggy gaze. "I came."
"Yes. I see," I looked at her, briefly thrown off, then recovered quickly and smiled. "How did you know I was looking for you? I didn't tell anyone."
"My Wrackspurts told me… Yours are very big and hungry, by the way. You should watch them, if you don't want them to liquefy your brain," Luna warned, studying my face with sudden confidence—like she'd come to save me from something terrible.
"How interesting," I narrowed my eyes, watching her closely as her gaze cleared and became a little more focused. "So everyone else's Wrackspurts aren't as big and hungry?"
"Not as big," Luna nodded firmly. "You're strange. Stranger than the Headmaster or the Horror of the Dungeons."
"The Horror of the Dungeons… Snape?" I smirked. I hadn't heard anyone call him that in a while. It was mostly a nickname meant to scare first-years. But Luna's words were genuinely interesting—especially the way she casually mentioned two Legilimens I knew were in the school. "What do his Wrackspurts look like?"
"Hm? You're really interested?" Luna looked surprised, suddenly reacting like an ordinary lonely girl her age. "Most people don't believe me. They think Wrackspurts are a joke…"
"I could think that too," I nodded easily, guiding her away from the middle of the corridor toward the nearest window so we wouldn't block other students. "But your Wrackspurts brought you to me, even though I didn't tell anyone I was looking. That's interesting."
"Mm. I understand… But it wasn't my Wrackspurts that brought me. It was yours," Luna corrected me in a lecturing tone.
"Oh? So my Wrackspurts brought you to me?" I kept my curiosity genuine. On one hand, saying those words out loud felt strange and awkward. On the other… this was a world of magic. Almost anything could be possible.
That was what I told myself as I listened to the odd first-year and her blurry explanations of what Wrackspurts were, how they differed, and what they looked like to Luna. She tried sincerely to explain the nuances of a world only she could see. But honestly, she wasn't very good at it.
She simply didn't have the vocabulary or the eloquence to describe what she perceived. Still, it was fascinating to listen. I understood easily that her Wrackspurts were linked to the mind, emotions, and feelings.
And as an aspiring, fairly successful mental magician, I was genuinely intrigued by Luna's ability to see what other wizards couldn't… Which led to an actually interesting conversation and even a small debate—one that likely made the random witnesses of it label me as crazy too.
In pencil, for now. But if I kept talking to Lovegood, that pencil note would probably be traced in ink soon enough… Not that I cared. Being odd in Ravenclaw wasn't a sin. Especially if, while being odd, you could still defend your right to your strangeness—unlike Luna, who didn't fight back at all and simply accepted mockery.
In that sense, the girl needed someone watching her. She didn't see any point in arguing with anyone… But that wasn't so important anymore. Now that I'd met her, I could protect my new little responsibility from bullying. The truth was, I liked Luna. And her ability sparked real interest.
And I won't even mention the guilt I'd feel if I left this little thing to suffer on her own. She was funny. And in her own way, pleasant.
Cute in her madness, you might say.
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