Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Curious Case of Luna Lovegood
Luna awoke in a daze, she wasn't sure how long she had been out, it might have been seconds, it may have been hours. As she struggled to her feet she realized she was in a dark room, and chunks of debris was all around her. It was either that or these boulders were supposed to be here. Then Luna remembered the explosion and immediately started calling out. "Harry!? Harry!?"
A voice squeaked out in response. "Evan went boom, Evan sorry."
Luna looked up and to her shock saw Evan looking down from a ledge that must have been 20 feet up. Evan spoke once more. "What are you doing up there."
Luna shook her head. "I don't know? Is Harry up there with you, is he OK?"
"Evan don't know OW!" Evan was tossed backwards by the deathly figure of Kingsley. "Are you OK Minister?"
Luna spun around as she saw Umbridge slowly rise to her feet from the rubble behind her, "Do I look bloody OK you twat!"
Umbridge was red with anger, her face partially burnt and she was missing a small but noticeable portion of her hair. Her eyes however were manic with madness as she saw Evan poke his head over the ledge. Umbridge pointed up to Evan and hissed. "Toss that thing into the pit with the girl. Then levitate me out of this death trap and summon the Mutants, I think it's about time they had their dinner."
Kingsley slowly looked from Luna to Evan before finally locking eyes with Delores. "No...Delores."
Umbridge almost smiled before the words registered and struck her like a bullet. "What?"
"I said...No Delores" Kingsley uttered with a small but sinister smile, "I'm afraid I can not do that."
"Why not!?" Umbridge shouted befuddled. "You mean you can't or won't!?"
Kingsley drawled. "Both really, I won't do as you request and help you out of the pit because you have lost your usefulness. Now you are just a danger to the Totalitar cause as well as the Wizarding world."
"How dare you, I am the Totalitar and it's my cause. Now get me out of here. That is an order!" Umbridge commanded.
"That's just it, you have no order, not anymore. Order is meaningless without the power to enforce it and without power you are...obsolete." Kingsley said with pride. "I have the power now,and once more the Ministry is mine."
"YOU TRAITOR, WHEN I-"
"Be quiet Minister, you don't want to wake them up...oh that's right. The reason I could not do as you ask and summon the Mutants, is because they are already here." Kingsley uttered with a hint of mirth. "But if you wish to keep shouting, then I shall wake them for you Minister."
Umbridge paled as she looked around her while Luna frowned in confusion. "What mutants?"
Kingsley gesture with his scythe and a wave of magic vibrated through the pit. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Goodbye Miss Lovegood, I'm sorry it must end like this, but it was a true pleasure to have known you.,.and Delores, it was a pleasure working for you."
Kingsley then turned around and strolled out of the the room, dragging Evan out of the room and repairing the door which had shattered from the Squib's explosion, plunging the room into blackness.
Umbridge started clawing at the wall feebly trying to climb out of the pit, while Luna remained still. Luna could still see the faint outlines of the debris around her and froze when a horrible realization struck her, it wasn't debris, but bodies, sleeping body's beginning to stir...
Evan feebly fought to free himself of Kingsley's grip when he tossed Evan into the center of the curricular room. Kingsley looked around him. With the exception of Pandora's box, all the doors had all been blown off their hinges from Evan's episode, but the room was relatively unscathed. The Dursleys were beginning to stir, obviously recovering from the effects of being stunned.
Kingsley frowned as he realized who was missing, but shrugged and turned to Evan first. "You are dangerous, If I tossed you into that pit you would blow up half the mutants in there, well never you mind. Your suffering is at an end."
Kingsley raised his scythe as Evan let loose a pitiful squeal when Harry pounced. Harry whipped off his invisibility cloak before knocking Kingsley to the floor. Harry jumped on top of Kingsley, who reached for the Scythe he had dropped. Harry was quicker, reaching into Kingsley's robes and retrieving the Elder wand, which once more called him master. Harry aimed the wand at Kingsley's throat and uttered. "I just reclaimed the Elder wand, but a few minutes ago it was you it called master, even when Luna held onto it. So why did you try to kill Umbridge?"
Kingsley grinned. "For the first time in 9 years, I feel free, Umbridge has lost control of the Ministry and without that she is worthless."
Harry felt a wave of power send him flying off Kingsley hitting the floor. The Deathly figure rose, and summoned his Scythe. Harry glared at the man with hatred as he drew the sword of Gryffindor. "You have no honor, if you truly believe you are free I suggest you take a look in the mirror. You are a slave to your own power."
"I am a slave to the power of death Harry Potter, soon you shall be too." Kingsley replied morbidly.
Harry grinned. "But I am the Master of Death."
Kingsley smirked. "You don't believe that anymore than I."
"Oh I do." Harry said with wisdom beyond his years. "The last enemy that shall be conquered is death. I have conquered it thrice now, not because I survived but because I excepted and embraced it. I have danced with death so many times, I have nothing to fear from it, not because I fear Death, but because I simply love life, and I won't let you take that from Luna and I."
"I'm sorry Harry, but their is no escaping your destiny, just as Luna is discovering right now, we are all doomed to die."
Harry's expression froze. "Where is Lu-
Kingsley pounced slashing with his scythe with the speed and ferocity of a master of the blades. Harry parried and thrust his as the battling figures clashed blades. Evan and the Dursleys watched on the sides. The Dursleys seemed to be overwhelmed by the magic they were seeing Harry wield. Kingsley knocked Harry off balance and with a blast of magic from his hand, sent Harry flying through one of the doorways.
Harry smashed into a a shelf and felt glass fall down on him, shattering as the Hall of Prophecy's seemed to cave in on him. The shelf shaking as more Vials of Prophecies fell. Harry raised his wand and cast a shield, causing the falling vials to hit the magical barrier. Harry rolled to his feet and ran towards Kingsley, just as the towering shelf was beginning to fall upon him. Kingsley raised his hand again but this time Harry slashed out, taking one of Kingsley's skeletal fingers out of the equation. Kingsley cried out in pain as Harry attacked with his sword, Kingsley blocking as he retreated, both Wizards escaping the room just as the shelf collapsed to the floor with an earth shattering thud.
Harry slashed with his sword like a man on borrowed time before kicking Kingsley into a different room. Before Harry knew what hit him, a tentacle wrapped around his throat, a disembodied brain attacked him, trying to squeeze the life out of him. Kingsley seemed to have a similar problem but did not seem to be effected by the lack of oxygen. He raised his scythe and swung. Harry dodged the blade, causing it to impale the brain. The creature let out a shriek before falling to the floor with a splat.
Kingsley readied to swing his scythe again as Harry gave his sword a twirl. The blade spun in a circle briefly embedding into the splattered brain before launching it right into Kingsley's face. Harry smirked, only to step back as Kingsley started blindly slashing with his scythe with reckless abandon, roaring in anger as the scythe began to destroy everything in the room.
Harry left the room as Kingsley seemed to glide towards him, his eyes red as he lunged. Harry parried the strike but the force sent both tumbling into the next room. Harry hit the floor and begun to roll. Harry came to a stop as he heard faint whispers of people he long thought dead. When Harry opened his eyes he felt the blood rush from his face and quickly scrambled away from the veil, he so nearly rolled through. The Veil of Death, the only known resting place of Sirius Black, for no one dared go look for him.
Harry tried to hear what the voices whispered, and suddenly picked up three harsh words. "Harry watch out"
Harry spun around and raised his sword just in time as Kingsley tried to cut him in two. Even as the blades clashed, Kingsley tried to force his blade through the sword of Gryffindor and slowly started forcing Harry backwards, towards the veil. Harry started pressing forward but Kingsley seemed to have the upper hand on him, as he forced him back further and further.
Harry suddenly pushed the blade off against Kingsley and rolled to the side, allowing the momentum to send Kingsley stumbling forward towards the veil of Death. Kingsley seemed to lunge himself upwards and flipped backwards, before landing ten feet in front of Harry. Kingsley bore down on him with his scythe. Harry deflected the blows and slashed a few of his own.
Kingsley backed off and smiled. "Impressive, most impressive indeed. Filius has taught you well."
"Filius never taught me about sword fighting." Harry replied, in truth he suspected the Hallows had something to do with his increased sword fighting ability. "Filius did teach me other things, he taught me how to live and how to die. How to Fight for what's right. How to become the man I was meant to be. He taught me about true greatness, and true power. No matter how much power you may believe you have gained, you will always be weak."
Kingsley glared before uttering darkly. "Then lets put that to the test."
Kingsley raised his Scythe and a blast of lightning emerge from it. Harry blocked it with his but dropped the sword as the lightning burnt him through the sword. Harry quickly drew the Elder wand and sent his own spell at Kingsley, who already launched another burst of lightning. The spells locked and power seemed to course through the spells and shake the room around them.
The priori incantatem filled Harry with a sense of deja vu, as he remembered his duel with Voldemort...unless...No...it wasn't just that, Harry remembered Kingsley's duel with Filius. Harry met Kingsley's shrunken eyes who smile triumphantly as he raised his right hand from the Scythe. The Deathly weapon trembled under Kingsley's weakened grip and the power coursing through it but Kingsley didn't have to worry about that much longer. "Goodbye old friend."
Kingsley slashed out with a separate burst of magic, Harry took one hand off the Elder wand and Kingsley laughed, knowing Harry wasn't strong enough to block the second curse without a wand. Then Harry winked as his hand reached into his robes and pulled out a second wand. A wand of 11 inches with the feather of a Phoenix residing within it's carefully carved wood. Harry cried out. "Expelliarmus"
Harry felt his spells impact with Kingsley's and easily overpower the stunned Wizard. Kingsley's eyes widened and before he could react, the spells collided into him and sent him flying through the air, before cracking his head on the rocky floor. Harry walked up to Kingsley and with the elder wand, bonded the unconscious Wizard with ropes before casting unbreakable charms on the robe. Only then did Harry let out a sigh of relief.
"YEAH!"
Harry looked up and saw Evan jumping up and down cheering. Behind him the Dursleys looked on with shocked expressions on their faces. Dudley's was one of shock and awe while Petunia's was one of fear.
Harry levitated the unconscious and bound body of Kingsley back to the circular room as Harry channeled his magic and jumped up to join them, causing Petunia to give out a startled shriek. Harry rolled his eyes and spoke to Dudley awkwardly.. "Listen...uh...If he starts to wake...can you shout out, or, hell...punch him? I have to find-"
Harry's sentence was cut off by the sound of screaming, and the blood rushed out of Harry's features. "Luna..."
Luna was trying to stay as still as humanly possible as the bodies of what Kingsley called Mutants, began to move around her. Luna looked for a way out but could only see darkness. Suddenly a pair of yellow eyes emerge from the darkness and Luna let out a startled cry. She took a step backwards and felt her ankle trip over something slimy, sending Luna spinning as she crashed to the floor, landing on her stomach. Luna lifted her head off the floor and took in a harsh breath as fear froze her.
Luna looked deep into the yellow eyes just inches away from her own, the eyes of the mutant. Luna was as pail as a ghost as she looked upon the creature which seemed to drool at the sight of her fresh uncooked flesh. The Mutant leaned forward and sniffed Luna's face, it's eyes seemed to bore into Luna's before it growled, baring his teeth.
"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAKS!" Umbridge shouted causing the startled Mutant to leap away from Luna. Luna looked up and realized most of the Mutants were staring at Umbridge expectantly, either with hunger or fear. "No, I don't have food, now go away you disgusting animals."
One of the Mutants growled at this but whimpered when Umbridge glared at the creature. Luna saw the fear in the Mutants eyes and Luna couldn't help but notice how Human they looked. It was this thought that slowly turned Luna's gaze to her Mother. "You did this to them. This was what you were going to do to me wasn't it."
Umbridge looked up abruptly, having forgotten Luna was there, and suddenly grinned. "Actually my dear pets, I do have food for you. See that girl over there? She's all yours."
The Mutants turned to Luna, and hungrily approached her. Luna spared Umbridge a glance before taking a deep breath and kneeling down in front of the nearest Mutant. The Mutant salivated as it licked it's lips when Luna looked the Mutant in the eye and whispered. "Hello there, what is your name?"
The Mutant looked at Luna as if she had grown a third head while Umbridge laughed in the background. "It doesn't have a name it's not even human."
The Mutant started growling when Luna rested a hand on the Mutants face, causing it to flinched at the contact and growled louder. Luna cooed softly. "Don't listen to the mean lady, I know you are human, you just can't remember your name can you?"
The Mutant frowned and Luna felt her breath hitch as the other Mutants began to surround her, just waiting for the moment to pounce. "I'm sorry but I don't have any food right now, but I promise you, I will help you get better. I will fix what she has done to you. And if I fail, I shall at least make sure you can live a free life."
Luna smiled as she saw the glimmer of light in the iris of their yellow eyes, even as she felt breath on the back of her neck. "Yes I know what you are. You're a person, just as human as I am."
"What in Merlin's name, are you waiting for." Umbridge barked out. "Are you things hungry or not. Eat her! EAT HER!
Luna leaned forward and kissed the stunned Mutant on the top of it's bald green head, before rising to her feet. " Don't worry Delores, they won't hurt either of us."
"Like Hell they won't, animals eat animals, and Squibs eat Squibs." Umbridge cursed.
The Mutants growled at Umbridge as she said this, only causing her to lose her temper. "Don't look at me, the girl is the Squib you savage dogs."
"Delores stop." Luna warned as the creatures left Luna's side, their eyes slowly turning red. "Don't upset them."
"Don't upset them?" Umbridge repeated incredulously. "They don't have feelings?"
One of the Mutants let out a human sounding roar and lunged forward, sinking his teeth into Umbridge's arm. Delores cried out in pain as she banished it away with her wand. Umbridge looked at her arm in shock. "It bit me! How dare it bite me! You...You dammed Halfbreeds."
"MOTHER STOP IT!" Luna shouted as another Mutant reached up and slashed at Umbridge with it's clawed hands, scratching Umbridge's face. Umbridge cried out as her wand fell to the floor.
Umbridge lunged for it but a Mutant picked it up first. It raised the stick above it's head before snapping it in two. The Mutant let out a triumphant cry that was quickly echoed by the others.
Luna's eyes met the Earth Mother's as she pleaded. "Please..."
Luna's voice seemed to fade as she saw the hopelessness of it. Umbridge was already screaming at the creatures even as they backed her into a corner. "That's my wand?! You broke my wand you Filthy Squibs. I am Your Master and I shall have OrdAAAHHHHH!"
Luna closed her eyes and turned away. Crouching to the floor as she pressed her hands against her ears. Yet no matter how hard she pressed, she could still hear the screams. Luna started humming as her body began to tremble. She didn't know what she hummed only that it was loud enough to block out most of the horrible sounds, but tears still fell from her eyes.
Luna tensed as she felt something touch her, but when two hand pried her own from her ears she heard Harry's voice whisper. "It's OK Luna...it's over."
Luna opened her eyes and met Harry's. Luna numbly felt Harry pull her into his chest as she cried. She wasn't sure why she cried, nor did she question it. She just let herself cry in Harry's arms. He gently lifted her off the floor and levitated out of the pit, from which the Mutants watched on with a vague sense of hope.
Harry gently placed Luna back on the floor of the circular room as he turned to Evan, who watched on silently. "Can you look after her for a moment. I need to deal with the Dursleys,"
Evan looked back from the room Harry and Luna had come from. "Sister..."
Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry Evan...No you don't want to look."
"I...must...hear...no...see." Evan uttered as he struggled to his feet.
"There is nothing to see Evan." Harry insisted as he looked into the elfish man's eyes. "Nothing recognizable anyway."
Evan gulped as he took in Harry's words. "Oh..."
Harry looked at Luna who's eyes looked at nothing and kissed her. "It's OK to cry Luna, and it's OK to mourn her, like when I mourned Uncle Vernon, remember."
Harry saw his Aunt and Cousin watching a few feet away, tears in their eyes as they mourned the head of their family. Harry looked back at Luna. "I know what we feel doesn't always make any sense, but to feel is to be human."
"I don't mourn her." Luna whispered softly. "I...I..."
"You mourn the Mother she never was, and the dreams that will never came true." Harry answered with empathy, as he thought of his Uncle.
Luna nodded and gave a small smile at Harry. "Thank you."
Harry nodded sympathetically before rising to speak to the Dursleys. The three stood awkwardly looking at each other for a moment before Harry looked down to Kingsley. "Still out."
"Yep..." Dudley replied, trailing off before saying. "I missed you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow at the question in Dudley's statement mockingly replying. "I missed you?"
Dudley frowned as Harry chuckled. "You don't have to pretend to like me, I promise I won't turn you into a frog...but maybe a pig though..."
Dudley quickly replied. "I'm not pretending, I really did miss you. So did Mom and...and Dad?"
Harry gave a pointed looked to Petunia who looked away and muttered. "Vernon did mention last summer that it was rather odd you weren't there, that he'd grown accustomed to your presence."
"Wow...I'm flattered. " Harry replied sarcastically. "I guess you know what they say, you don't know what you've got till it's gone."
Petunia shot Harry a quick glare before saying. "What, do you want me to apologize for mistreating you, for not being a good aunt!? Apologize for not understanding or excepting your freakishness, because I won't!"
"It's not necessary." Harry uttered with simmering anger. "Your apology wouldn't be excepted anyway."
Harry turned to start walking away taking in a deep breath. He had not moved five feet before he rounded back upon Petunia. "Maybe you can answer something though. Why? Why was nothing I ever did good enough for you? It's bad enough you made me your bloody slave, but I never got one moment of gratitude, of kindness, of love from any of you! MY OWN FAMILY!"
"Merlin knows you don't like Wizards but you'd think you could make an exception for your bloody newborn nephew! Why does being normal appeal to you. I know you wanted to go to Hogwarts, you even wrote to Dumbledore begging to go. What was trying to crush my dreams going to accomplish, your dreams would still be unfulfilled. Just tell me why? Why do you hate me?" Harry replied heavily breathing as he finished his tirade.
Petunia looked at Harry her expression unchanging before she replied. "I don't hate you."
Harry let out a dark laugh and just shook his head. "Never mind, you're never going to change. But nether am I. I'm a Wizard and a strange one at that. I'm as abnormal as you can get, and I'm proud of it, thank you very much. So once we are out of here, don't get accustomed to my presence."
Harry turned to Dudley who looked sadly between the two of them. Dudley uttered. "Harry...I..."
Harry looked into his cousins eyes and said. "Dudley, maybe in another life we could have been brothers, but I honestly don't want to be friends...but like it or not we are family. So if you really are ready to grow up...who knows... maybe..."
Dudley smiled as Harry wordlessly offered his hand and the two shook hands. Harry didn't know what would come of this but at least he knew the two had finally buried the hatchet. Harry gave Petunia another look and said. "You know, for so long all I wanted was you to say one nice thing to me, but now I..I honestly...I don't give damn."
Harry began to walk away when he heard Petunia reply curtly looking at the ceiling. "I don't object to your girlfriend, she is...interesting."
Harry looked back at her with a surprised expression before he replied with a healthy amount of suspicion. "Uh...thanks."
"I think she's brilliant." Dudley replied with a little too much enthusiasm.
"I...Uh...thanks?" Harry replied awkwardly as he turned away.
"I mean really brilliant!" Dudley blushed,
"Ok..." Harry uttered as he gave Dudley a disturbed look before turning again.
"I mean really..."
"Dudley!" Harry cut him off with a raised voice. He raised his hands and gave an exasperated whisper of. "...Thanks..."
Harry walked away shaking his head breathing out. "Wow..."
"Why you cry." Evan whispered as he wiped away Luna's tears, replacing it with an unpleasant green slime.
Luna giggled in spite of herself as she wiped the slime from her eyes, before sighing. "Despite everything, she was my Mother... at least she was supposed to be. She was supposed to love me and raise me."
Evan let out a labored breath. "OK to cry...easy to hate...but blood hurts."
"Ain't that the truth." Harry muttered to himself as he let the two have their moment.
"You don't mourn her...you mourn what she did..what could have been, I mourn the sister, I lost long ago." Evan replied showing his hidden wisdom.
Luna looked away and whispered. "I guess I really have no family now."
"Better you have no family...than to have her for sister..let alone Mother. Besides...you have boy." Evan retorted with a wink, causing Luna to blush as she glanced at Harry. "Yes...I guess I do."
"It is Evan, who has no family." The Squib replied solemnly.
Petunia frowned as she looked between the two strange souls.. "Wait...wouldn't that make you-"
Harry raised his finger to silence his Aunt."Wait for it..."
Dudley looked between the two vacantly. "Wait for what?...I don't get it?"
Luna and Evan sat in silence for another ten second before they both gasped. "I just realized."
Luna stopped as Evan exclaimed with pride. "Evander was the name of my OLD PET CAT! Named her ourself... I mean myself."
Luna giggled at Evan's antics before leaning forward and whispering in Evan's ear.
The Elf like man pulled back and shouted. "I'M YOUR AUNT!"
Luna shook her head quickly. "No...Uncle, you are my uncle, and I'm your niece."
Evan smiled so widely Luna was worried it hurt. "I'M AN AUNT...POTTER HARRY I'M AN AUNT."
Luna felt more tears run down her cheeks, though she wasn't sure if it was the discovery of a long lost relative, or just from how hard she was currently laughing.
"I'M AN AUNT! I'M AN AUNT! I'M-"
"For the last time Evander you are not an aunt, You are a human being and...wait...What in Merlin's name are you doing here?!" Hermione scolded from the door, causing everyone to jump and Harry to quickly draw his wand before realizing who it was.
Luna calmly answered Hermione with a smile. "I suspect Nargles."
Hermione was stunned as she looked from Harry, to Luna to the Dursleys and Evander, to the tied up Kingsley in the corner. Hermione uttered weakly "Where's Umbridge?"
"In the stomach of those bloody Mutants." Harry replied crassly before pulling Hermione into a hug which she quickly reciprocated. Hermione whispered "I was so worried."
"So was I." Harry replied before pulling back and said. "I'm so proud of you."
Hermione went to hug him again but stopped herself. " We don't have time for sappy reunions. For Merlin's sake you know just up those stairs is the LLR, half the Goblin army and a swat team of Muggles."
Harry paled. "On the same side."
"Thankfully." Hermione replied ignoring Harry's look of relief.
"Though for the record, Miss Granger doesn't fight fair." Ragnok croaked as he entered the room from Hermione's side. "She uses cruel human tricks, like guilt and empathy, it is a vulgar tactic."
Hermione snorted. "Ragnok's just upset he was exposed as a big old softy."
"Say that again and I'll feed you your own flesh!" Ragnok growled.
Hermione looked at Ragnok before giving a mock whisper to Harry and Luna. "Big softy"
Ragnok growled as he walked over to Kingsley, giving the fallen Wizard a kick and waking him from his forced slumber. "Hello Kingsley, I'm in a particularly violent mood right now and since your master is no more, it seems you are in charge of the Totalitar. So you better cooperate or you shall bear witness to my violent mood."
Kingsley looked up at Ragnok and uttered darkly. "The Totalitar shall liberate the Wizarding world from the Muggle overlords. No more shall we live in the sewers like rats. Muggles shall serve the master people, as you Goblin's will too. In the new world, you may even be superior to the Muggles. Let me go and you shall be a king of the underworld. Release me, or you shall all be consumed in hell fire."
Ragnok snorted as he growled. "I was once a king of the underworld, your kind forced my people to dwell in. I would rather burn in Hades then be lesser than scum like you."
Suddenly Kingsley's deep, dark laughter filled the room. Filling Luna and Harry with dread. "The Hellfire I mention is no idle threat. If Umbridge is indeed dead, then her final order has been activated. As we speak the death of Delores has been made known to every member of the Totalitar, including those who have infiltrated the Muggle government. They shall use their control of the Muggle Government to send the most powerful of Muggle weapons to consume all of London with the fire of Hades."
As Kingsley spoke, The Weasleys and Muggle generals had entered the room. Kingsley closed his eyes and took in a deep breath whispering to the horrified room. "You shall all die, as shall every Muggle, Wizard and Goblin in this Godric forsaken city. Do not worry though, your deaths shall not be in vain. The resulting war shall destroy the Muggle race and from the ashes the Wizards shall rise to rule over a scorched earth."
Hermione hissed. "You are mad!"
"You can't do this." Luna yelled desperately.
"I have done nothing." Kingsley laughed. "Umbridge was mad, I'm the only sane person among you lot."
Luna approached Kingsley and pleaded. "If you're as sane as you claim, then you do not wish for this to come to past. As misguided and twisted as you are, you believe you are doing good. No good can come from this grim prophesy you spout."
Kingsley grinned kindly. "Too right you are Luna. Only I and I alone can stop this weapon from destroying all we hold dear. Set me free, and I swear on my magic while there is life in me, I shall use the power of the Ministry to save you all from the hell fire."
Luna looked to Ragnok, Hermione and finally Harry. "Set him free..."
Ragnok growled. "You trust him!?"
Harry also spoke to Luna only softer. "Are you certain about this?"
Luna shook her head as she answered them both. "No, but he made an oath on his magic, outside of this, there's no telling what he will try to do...but what choice do we have."
Luna looked to Kingsley who smiled. "You show your wisdom Luna. Your Mother would be proud-"
"Don't mention my Mother." Luna hissed with pain. "You took her from me, and nothing you do will ever bring her back. I try to be kind and forgiving but I can not ever forgive you for what you did to her and to my Father...and to me."
Kingsley looked at Luna sadly as Harry released him from his bonds. Kingsley rose to his feet as he spoke. "Everything I have ever...ever done, I did for my people. For the future of the Wizarding world I have stood alone in preserving it."
"No Matter your intentions, no deed is worth doing if it sacrifices one's soul." Luna uttered sorrowfully. "Good intentions does not make you good, nor does it hide that your soul is black and cold."
Kingsley snorted as he grabbed his Scythe. "The world his black and cold, only by excepting it can we learn to survive. There is no good or evil, only power and those too weak to seek it."
Luna shook her head. "If you truly believe that then you are lost."
Kingsley drawled. "Then let me show you true power, Luna Lovegood. Then we shall see how your morality compares to the Might of Magic!"
Kingsley walked up to the door of Pandora's box and everyone suddenly backed away, even if only Harry and Luna knew why. Kingsley raised his scythe. "Pandora's Box, give me the power to save the world."
Kingsley brought his scythe down and impaled the blade into the door, causing a large crack to appear. Kingsley pulled out his scythe and Luna could see nothing but whiteness from the doors crack.
Kingsley cried out. "Give me the power to rule the world as it's saviour!"
Kingsley brought the Scythe down again and this time the light seemed to be sucking the energy of the room into Pandora's box. Kingsley raised his Scythe again and shouted. "GIVE ME THE POWER TO SHOW THE WORLD THE MIGHT OF MAGIC!"
Kingsley brought down the Scythe one last time and the door crumbled before being sucked into Pandora's box and turning into dust. A low deep rumbling shook the room as a buzzing sound filled everyone's ears. Luna squeezed Harry's hand who squeezed back as they looked on with grave trepidation. Pandora's Box had been opened at last.
Kingsley smiled as he looked into the bright white light and slowly stepped into the room. As he did so his movements seemed to change, like he was a film on fast forward but otherwise moving slowly. Luna noticed that his small movements were jerky, as they happened at lightning speed. The air seemed to spark and sizzle around them. Kingsley's laughter rose above the rumbling of power and he raised his Scythe. He seemed to glow as he absorbed power into him, blowing back his hood.
Ragnok yelled out to him. "You have enough power yet?!"
"NO!" Kingsley yelled, his voice deep and unearthly. "NEED MORE POWER!"
Kingsley started laughing as as the room started to shake. "NOW YOU SEE, NOW YOU SEE THE GLORY OF POWER, HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO YOUR MORTAL MORALITY!"
The skin on Kingsley's head and hands started to peel and wither away as he laughed. "THE SLAVE BECOMES A MASTER! FOR I AM DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS."
Kingsley slowly felt himself pushed from Pandora's Box as he laughed. Then he turned around and Luna screamed, she was not alone however, All the flesh had left Kingsley's face, even his eyes were gone, Standing before them was the skeletal figure of Death itself.
Kingsley, or the being that used to be Kingsley laughed. "BOW BEFORE DEATH!"
Then something odd happened. Kingsley started to float away from them, and from Pandora's box. It was hard to tell with Kingsley's lack of facial features but he seemed rather confused by this. As Kingsley started floating through one of the doorways surrounding the circular room, he started to panic. "Wait no...what is this Magic!"
Luna slowly followed Kingsley into the room, followed by Harry and Luna. Everyone else seemed too scared to follow, whether out of fear or the will of the Magic that filled the air, Luna did not know. Luna look down as she entered the room of Death, and saw Kingsley slowly floating towards the Veil. As Kingsley saw the Veil he started screaming as he dropped his Scythe to the floor. "NO, WHATS HAPPENING!? I HAVE POWER! I WON...HELP!
Then as Kingsley was feet away from the Veil of Death, he began to unleash his magic and shook the room as he began to break free from the Veil's magnetic pule. Then to Luna's horror, a ghostly arm reached out from behind the Veil and grabbed Kingsley's Deathly robes. Kingsley fell forward onto his knees as another hand grabbed him by the legs. Kingsley cried out for help as he reached forward clawing at the rocky floor ,feebly fighting the hands as they dragged him further and further into the veil.
As Kingsley's legs entered the veil. Kingsley yelled. "HARRY!...LUNA!...SOMEONE! ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME!
Luna numbly shook her head, what ever was happening was beyond anyone's control. She and Harry could feel the power, far greater than even Pandora's Box. Kingsley's body had all but entered the veil when he grasped onto the veil's archway with his brittle bone hands. Then something happened that Luna would never forget.
A ghostly figure emerged from the veil, a figure which resembled a woman of golden hair and large silver eyes. Luna's breath caught in her throat as she uttered. "Mum?"
Harry looked at Luna confused.. "What did you say?"
Luna pointed in horror. "Don't you see her?"
Harry shook his head before pulling Luna close to himself. Luna wanted to look away but she couldn't, she had to see this.
Kingsley looked up and seemed to plead with the spirit only he and Luna could see. "No...Not You...Please...Have Mercy on Me...I'm Sorry for Everything I've Done but I Can Change! I Swear I..."
Suddenly Pandora smiled before letting out an inhuman cry that had Luna coveri that had Luna covering her ears. Harry suddenly tensed as his eyes widened. He heard the Banshee cry. The spirit bared it's long razor sharp fangs and hissed at Kingsley, who screamed in absolute horror as he saw an otherworldly blue fire in the spirit's eyes. Then it happened. The Scythe Kingsley had dropped suddenly shot from the floor and toward Kingsley's skeletal skull, blade first. Kingsley let go of the archway and was sucked behind the veil. The blade entered just as quickly and seemed to hit something, the handle stuck through the veil and shook from the impact. Then it too...slowly disappeared behind the veil, and every went silent and still.
Luna was certain of only one thing. What ever had emerged from the Veil to claim Kingsley's soul... was not Pandora's.
Harry whispered. "What the bloody hell was that?"
"I can't say for certain, and I reckon we will never know for sure." Luna spoke softly. "When one is surrounded by too much death, it can consume them. It was as if he was more dead than alive, and death rectified that. He sacrificed all trace of not only humanity but life itself. He was dead the moment he stepped out of Pandora's Box. All this desire for power, and in the end he was just a slave to the power of death."
Luna uttered. "When one is surrounded by too much death, it can consume them. It was as if he was too was more dead then alive, and death rectified that. All this desire for power and in the end he was just a slave to the power of death."
"Harry? Luna?" Ron's voice called out. "We have a situation here."
Harry and Luna glanced at each other before running back into the main room. The noise that hit them was made all the more jarring from the sudden silence from earlier. The the buzzing hum being emitted from Pandora's Box was deafening, and the room as shaking viciously, as if the gates of Hell had been opened. The air sparkled with electricity and the shadows of the room flared with light.
Hermione struggled to remain on her feet but managed to reach Luna and Harry. "It's going haywire, Ragnok, says if it doesn't stop it's going to wipe out the whole country, that is unless the Bomb doesn't destroy it first."
Harry shouted over the roaring magic. "How long before the Bomb strikes."
Hermione's eyes looked hopelessly into Harry's. "1 minute."
"1 Minute!" Harry repeated.
Hermione nodded drearily. "I don't know what to do...no one does..."
The three remained silent as Hermione glanced over at Ron. It was Luna who spoke somehow being heard with just a whisper. "Go to him Hermione."
Hermione threw her arms around Harry briefly before running to Ron. Both resembled scared children and not the leader of a rebellion. Harry looked to Luna who's eyes revealed nothing. "You aren't going to do what I think you will..right?
Luna tilted her head before nodding softly. "Probably..."
Harry grasped onto Luna's hand tightly causing her to look up at him. "Luna...I...there's nothing I can say that will change your mind is there."
Luna smiled softly before looking up into Harry's eyes. "No...I don't think there is..."
Harry nodded before whispering. "Please don't do it Luna..."
Luna looked tearfully at Harry and kissed him. "I have to try...You know I have to. I feel it in my very soul. This is my destiny, what I've been destined to do. This is the end of the journey..."
Harry felt tears start to fall as he whispered meekly. "I'll go with you."
Luna chuckled. "You would dare, I'd never forgive you if you did."
Harry heard one of the Muggle Generals call out. "30 seconds."
Harry gripped onto Luna's shoulders and whispered. "I'll wait for you."
Luna shook her head. "I know...but don't wait too long...I don't think I'll be coming back."
Harry shuddered as he hugged Luna. "I can't let go.. I can't go on without you..."
"You won't have to." Luna whispered before whispering into his ear. "The ones who leave us never truly leave us. I swear to you Harry. I will never leave you again. I love you Harry Potter, with all my heart and soul."
Luna then kissed Harry passionately before before turning around and marched towards Pandora's box, her eyes fixed firmly on the blinding white light.
"Luna!"
Luna heard voices call out to her but she ignored them, grimly focusing on her destiny. The Muggle General began to count down to the Muggle Bombs destruction. "12...11...10..."
Luna frowned as she felt the counting begin to slow down before stopping all together. Luna looked back and saw everyone moving at a glacial place. As if time itself was slowing, which it probably was. Luna felt every laborious step as electricity seemed to shoot through her, slowly filling her with Magic that felt familiar to her, the magic of her Mother.
Luna heard the General slowly call out. "9..."
Luna took a deep breath as her very soul seemed to vibrate and gave one last look to Harry...before entering into Pandora's box...and everything went white.
It took over a minute of Luna's time before her eyes adjusted to the brightness. Luna looked around her and felt her mouth drop. The room was infinitely large, in fact Luna was certain the only way it fit in the Ministry of Magic was some very powerful warding spells. The room was at least the size of the Muggle Auditorium if not larger and a seemingly infinite Number of Runes had been carved into the walls, overlapping each other in ways only Pandora understood. Not even those crafting this great work of art and innovation could possibly understand. Luna surmised however, that they understood more than she did.
Luna raised her hand and noted distantly that her hand was blurry and the buzz of energy was tickling every inch of her brain. Luna felt her eyes move with a will of their own, looking upon the bright ball of light in the center of the room. Luna slowly approached it, with every step she took, she felt herself appear in a different part of the room, yet for ever step she took, she was always one step closer.
())%(I(OIO)I(OLOI(IUIOIIO)(IOII"(I()OI0IO^OI^UUI(O)(UIOIOIO)IOI((&^)(IO^OI^&(OIOIOI)(IO^*IOI&OIU)(OIUO)()OIUOUIO)(^
Suddenly with another step Luna was thrust into the white light and felt her soul cry out as her body vibrated with Magic like she had never known. Luna's sight was awash in a wave of colours and visions like she had never seen before. She saw things that were impossible, she saw things inconceivable.
She saw what only dead men know, and she witnessed the birth and fall of the Universe. "She felt like she saw everything but her mind retained nothing, no mortal could. Luna felt herself start to scream for no reason, but had a vague feeling her soul had gone mad. Gravity seemed to implode on her and her spirit seemed to expand. She felt her body leave her, or did she leave it. Luna wasn't certain of anything anymore.
Luna wished she could faint, lose consciousness, anything to prevent the overwhelming power from conquering her weak soul. Her spirit was bludgeoned by darkness, and suddenly she felt like she was falling into the Iris of Cyrus. Which seemed to cover a vastness of space thousands of feet below her, but she had no feet, and time had no meaning. She felt darkness consume her as she fell into the blackness of the eye and Luna almost felt relief that she might be dead, even if it was just for a moments rest.
LUNA LOVEGOOD
WELCOME TO PANDORA'S BOX
Luna wearily looked up, every nerve in her spirit twitching . Her nerves were on fire and her mind was awash in ice. Luna felt as if she should reply but she could not think rational thought, rationality seemed like a stranger to her. She just panted as her voice shook, despite having no body to breath from. Luna heard the voice speak again and her mind latched onto the voice, clinging onto it desperately with what ever sanity she still possessed.
MOON-CHILD
YOU HAVE DONE WELL
I AM IMMENSELY PROUD OF YOU
Luna felt her mind start to hum a random tuneless melody of notes as her consciousnesses slowly regained control of her shattered spirit. It felt like an eternity before Luna was able to comprehend the being
before her. She felt herself spin as she waved phantom arms through the air, letting laughter flow through her very being. Finally after a long manic laugh exploded from her mind, Luna finally uttered. "I thought you were imaginary. Cyrus"
The being Luna had only met once before, again spoke.
"Of course I'm imaginary
just like the Nargles
but that does not mean
We are not real"
The Cyclops seemed to breath Magic as she whispered.
"Warned you of the Nargles, that they would mislead you. I never told you I would as well, nevertheless you did leave Harry, and the Nargles made certain your father set in motion the events that revealed the Earth Mother to you, and ended the Earth Father's life."
Luna felt her mind regain a vague sense of clarity, enough so she could ask the question. "What are you, why did I have to leave Harry...why did Father have to die."
"Everything that has happened, needed to happen, veer from the course even slightly, and it could very well lead to the destruction you must prevent. As for what I am? I, like the Nargles, am apart of your Mother... Your true Mother...The Moon Mother."
Luna countered weakly. "My Mother wouldn't have had my Father killed."
"You are right about that, Your Mother knew it was necessary. If Xenophilius did not act the way he did...that he would die anyway, along with you and all they both held dear. She knew this but she wasn't strong enough to do such a thing...but I could."
"The Nargles were her drive, her madness, her love of anarchy. I am Pandora's sight, her vision, created by the runes that surround us. I am also the darkness of her soul...The strength to do what must be done long after she is gone. We all have darkness in our souls. Pandora was no different. Now my work is done, for you are here at last. The secret of Magic is all around you, but the answer is already in your mind."
"Did she envision my death? Do I need to die...for her cause...for the secret of Magic?" Luna asked bitterly.
"Pandora did not know what would happen. I however find it unlikely, you will ever be the same again." Cyrus answered with what was either a wink or simply the blinking of it's only eye.
Luna looked around and whispered. "I don't know the answer...the secret of magic. The more I search, the more I have come to understand one truth, there is no secret to magic."
Cyrus chuckled. "Though not the correct answer, you are right. That was as far as even Pandora ever got. Even I do not know the answer, and that is part of the secret. Magic isn't meant to be known, it isn't meant to be understood. If it was...it wouldn't be magic now would it."
Luna felt her spirit grow cold with failure. "Then there is nothing I can do...I failed."
"You condemn yourself too fast, you must discover the secret to our ability to use magic. But know this, by discovering the secret to magic...you will be unable to take advantage of it, unless you can truly let go of any and all concept of reality. You must forget the difference between, dreams and reality. Only by letting go completely can you both understand...and still wield Magic. Only then, can you save your friends from destruction...and give Magic to the world. Only then can you fulfill your Mother's dream."
Luna remained silent in deep thought almost panicking when Cyrus again spoke. "Time does not exist here, if you remain here, it would take a life time before the bomb strikes. Take your time."
So Luna did, she let her mind wander. She thought of her Mother and how she seemed to go mad as she delved further and further into the secrets of magic. How she cursed herself with the Memory charm...
"It's madness." Luna realized coldly. "The secret to magic is madness."
Cyrus laughed darkly. "You are closer than you realize...and could not be more wrong. That sadly was the mistake you Mother made. By the time she learned otherwise, she had damaged her mind to much, to wield the secret of Magic without having to erase it from her mind. I will give you the clue. Madness and the secret of Magic, are two sides of the same coin. You see...Madness is not the secret to Magic...but Power. Power and Magic are two sides of the same coin."
"That is why you live, you entered Pandora's box seeking Magic. Kingsley desired power, and he got it. All the power he ever wanted and then some. The world is not lacking in power. Everyone has power, and most desire more of it. Be they Wizard or Muggle. It is Magic, that all of us seem to lack. It is Magic that will save the world, for without it, we are animals and we will destroy each other."
Luna felt herself frown. "You make it sound so simple."
Cyrus laughed with mirth and sorrow. "That is because it is so simple, we all have it, we are all born with it. Yet somewhere along the way, we lose it. Whether it's from lost souls of adults telling us to grow up. Whether its the society that sees it as a threat, and beats it out of you. Sometimes life itself crushes our spirit and we lose what made us so special. Once we lose magic, we forget how to love, we forget how to care, we forget how to feel empathy and compassion. Worst of all, we forget how to be human, and that is the greatest crime of all."
Luna felt she would cry if she had a body to cry from. "Have I lost this?"
"Maybe...I wouldn't know...if you have...you never lost it for long. That is why we are so special. The one you love, he lost it...He never truly got it back until he met you. It is contagious in that sense."
Luna questioned. "Is it not love then?"
"No...but love inspires and fuels it, like nothing else. That is how Lily protected his son from the Dark Lord. She never understood what she was doing, nor did she care. She wished with all her might and all her magic for her child to survive. Her Magic protected her child and the rest is history."
Luna felt as if the answer was on the tip of her nose when she shouted. "FAITH?"
"HA!" Cyrus laughed harshly like a Nargle."Close...so close it burns...but so wrong.. Like your beliefs in your magical creatures, even if many are right, there are many that are not. Moon-Frog, are a laughable proposition. Your faith misled you as often as it steered you home."
"I don't understand." Luna snapped defensibly.
Cyrus sighed wearily. "Faith is rigid...it does not bend. Faith is a stick, try to bend it and it breaks. People fight to defend the stick, they kill to protect the stick, and they die for the stick. They do all these things, to keep the stick intact. When that stick is broken. Then they simply hold it together, and pretend they don't see the crack. Better than admitting that they have been wrong and foolish all along."
"As similar as faith is to the secret of magic, it is the enemy of magic. The world is not rigid, it is round, and largely made of water...it flows..." Cyrus whispered.
Luna was silent, taking most of the cyclops words, though she was certain Moon Frogs were real. Luna's mind seemed to fade from consciousness as she pursued the answers she sought.
...Yes...Yessss..Yessssss...Yessssssss.. Yesssssssss...Yessssssssss...Yesssssssssssssss...Yesssssssssssssssss
...L...e...t...Y...o...u...r...M...i...n...d...
...FFFFFFFFFllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
...L...i...k...e...
...WTRAE...waTer...WaTeR...water...WATER...wAtEr...Retaw...wateR...WAtEr...
Luna felt her mind spinning, she felt the Iris of Cyrus open up and she felt her self fall in. She felt herself claw at the emptiness as she pleaded for an answer. No answer came, nothing but darkness and emptiness. Nothing but failure, broken hearts and broken dreams. She heard the screams of every soul that she would fail if she did not discover the secret, souls screaming out as the bomb struck. She saw what was about to happen if she failed and it began to tear her soul apart.
Then she heard another voice, a calmer voice, a voice Luna knew only too well.
"Luna...let...go..."
Luna looked to her side and saw her Mother looking at her with tears of pride. "Luna you are indeed special and it is not because of your magic, but your mind. You have an incredible imagination and that is the key."
"Mother?" Luna whispered reverently, reaching out to her.
Pandora slowly began to float away as she whispered. "Remember Flamel's teaching, let your mind go. Remember the answers you seek are not on a piece of paper but in your heart."
Luna focused her mind and let everything fall away from her. She remembered her Mother, and she remembered her Father. She smiled at the thought of her newly found Uncle Evan...but most of all her heart went out to Harry and the desire to finish this all for him. To finish her quest and live the rest of her life with him. Luna let her mind race on everything her family ever said, and in that moment...Luna remembered the words her newly found uncle told her.
Luna felt her heart ache as she whispered the deepest and most desperate desire of her young heart. "Family..."
Luna suddenly let her mind spin away from her quest, from magic, and only thought of the man she loved. She imagined the future, him proposing in the paradise of Xanadu. She imagined the wedding day, she prayed would come to pass. She even imagined the children they would have. She imagined what she dared not dream before. These were not things children dream of but Luna knew better. She stopped being a child a long time ago...Luna remembered What Harry had told her.
"Dumbledore told him that it does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live...but he was wrong. Dreams are what we live for...in the darkest point of of our existence, our dream is the small speck of light that guides us. Dreams are what makes the world go around, it is what makes us aspire to greatness and allows us to pursue happiness. Without dreams...we would never have learned to stand...What are dreams..."
Luna suddenly laughed, her spirit's laughter echoing in the emptiness of Pandora's Box. Luna was euphoric with bliss, as she realize the secret of magic, so simple she had to laugh. After everything she'd been through, after all that had happened...the answer was stupidly simple. It can't be so simple though...could it?
Luna heard Pandora's voice echo through her while the Nargles cackled behind her.
"It should be simple dear child. Doubt is the enemy. We have been taught so much doubt...and as long as we doubt, even a little. Witches and Wizard's are slaves to the laws of Magic. Only now...after everything you've seen and after everything you've experience...can you truly understand...with every ounce of your being..."
Nothing is Impossible / elbissopmI si gnihtoN
Everything is Infinite / etinifnI si gnihtyrevE
The Reality of Magic / cigaM fo ytilaeR ehT
Defies Reality / ytilaeR seifeD
...
..
.
Imagination / noitanigamI
That is the Key / yeK eht si thaT
...
.
...
METATSETOP OITSANIGAMI
.
.
.
OITSANIGAMI METATSETOP
.
.
.
OITSANIGAMI
METATSETOP
...
...
..
Imaginatio Potestatem
.
.
.
.
IMAGINATIO POTESTATEM!
Hermione cried out as she saw Luna run into Pandora's Box... she cried out in shock and horror. Everyone except Harry, who's eyes remained unblinking at Pandora's Box. Hoping beyond hope, he did not just see Luna for the last time. The Muggle General continued counting down. "9..8..7-"
Ragnok roared as he rounded on the Muggle. "WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT-"
Then they heard it. A voice unlike any they heard before. A voice of power, of determination of otherworldly knowledge. A voice only Harry could recognize. The voice cried out with all of it's being, and Harry felt the floor beneath him shake.
"IMAGINATIO POTESTATEM!"
Then there was a blinding light that forced everyone's eyes closed. The voice Harry knew that was Luna's kept going, as if time was speeding up, as it rose in pitch, higher then a banshee's and more beautiful than a Sirens. Then everything went silent and the light was gone.
Harry opened his eyes and saw Pandora's box was empty...the walls were void of all Runes, and no White light was inside...only the light of the sun. Harry ran inside and looked up. The ceiling of Pandora's box was missing, as was the ceiling of over nine stories worth of ceilings...and the roof of the Ministry itself had a huge hole in it.
"Really, oh the Jolly good sir. Jolly good indeed." The Muggle general exclaimed with pride before announcing to the eerily quiet room. "The Nuclear Missile seems to have vanished...It just...flickered before vanishing from existence."
"Where is she.?" Harry asked, his voice empty as he looked around him.
No one responded to him, they all just looked at him. Harry turned away from the looks and raised his wand. "She's here somewhere, "
"Harry..." Hermione whispered, Harry could hear the tears in her voice which caused him to spin around.
Harry's eyes blazed as he stared down Hermione. "Don't you say it Hermione. Don't you dare... Luna's fine, we just have to find her."
"She saved the Goblin's." Ragnok uttered reverently. "The Goblin Nation owes her spirit a life dept."
"Your damn right, and you can tell her that when we find her Ragnok!" Harry yelled with a hoarse voice.
"Come to your senses, and don't be a Human." Ragnok snapped. "Don't let your heart blind your mind from the truth you know. The girl is dead."
"RAGNOK!" Hermione yelled appalled at the Goblin.
Harry shouted. "SHES NOT...D..."
"DEAD!" Ragnok roared. "If you truly believed she lived you could say the damn word. The sooner you except it the sooner you can honour her life."
Someone started wailing in a high winy voice as Harry drew his wand at Ragnok, blinking back tears. "TAKE IT BACK!"
"She did not give her life for you to ignore the existence of her Sacrifice." Ragnok growled.
"SHE..." Harry was cut off by an even louder wail, Harry saw it was Evan crying and shouted. "SHUT UP!"
Everyone stared at Harry stunned, but none more so than Harry himself who was mortified. "Evan...I'm...I'm sorry I...I'm sorry...I..."
Before Evan new, Harry wrapped his arms around him and started crying repeating "I'm sorry...I'm sorry."
Hermione realized he wasn't speaking to Evan anymore as Ginny took Harry into her arms and Harry cried. Hermione felt tears run down her own cheek and in the corner of her eye caught Ragnok rubbing his eyes. The Goblin snorted with a thin voice. "What...my eyes are itchy."
"Do Goblin's get itchy?" Hermione asked.
Ragnok growled. "Just die already."
"Really? You certain? Well that's most unordinary now isn't it." The Muggle General uttered. "Well of course it is. It's not everyday a girl falls from the sky now isn't it?"
Harry looked up. "What did you say?"
"A girl's falling from the sky now excuse me." The Muggle returned to his Walkie Talkie. "No the song's called Raining Men...No I don't know what song your thinking of..."
Ragnok looked up as he walked back into the empty room of Pandora's box. "Well I'll be dammed."
Harry ran to Ragnok with everyone else hot on his heels as he looked up. Harry's jaw dropped as he saw the lithe form of Luna plummeting towards him. Harry raised his wand and cried out. "Aresto Momentum!"
Harry watched as Luna's decent slowed until she softly floated to the floor like a feather. Harry gently caught and rested her on the floor. Luna cried as he looked up. "She's alive."
Hermione knelt down and took in Luna's unconscious body. She fired some charms and whispered. "Her brain is in shock...like it's been overloaded."
Luna opened her eyes which crossed before she shut them and muttered. "Cyclops's have gorgeous eyes,"
"Of course they do." Hermione replied before looking to Harry. We need to get her to Saint Mungo's...she needs serious medical attention."
Harry nodded distantly as he took Luna back into his arms. "Don't worry I've got you. I've got you Luna.. I'm not going anywhere."
"Harry Lurves Looney." Luna giggled deliriously before finally passing out.
A voice squeaked out in response. "Evan went boom, Evan sorry."
Luna looked up and to her shock saw Evan looking down from a ledge that must have been 20 feet up. Evan spoke once more. "What are you doing up there."
Luna shook her head. "I don't know? Is Harry up there with you, is he OK?"
"Evan don't know OW!" Evan was tossed backwards by the deathly figure of Kingsley. "Are you OK Minister?"
Luna spun around as she saw Umbridge slowly rise to her feet from the rubble behind her, "Do I look bloody OK you twat!"
Umbridge was red with anger, her face partially burnt and she was missing a small but noticeable portion of her hair. Her eyes however were manic with madness as she saw Evan poke his head over the ledge. Umbridge pointed up to Evan and hissed. "Toss that thing into the pit with the girl. Then levitate me out of this death trap and summon the Mutants, I think it's about time they had their dinner."
Kingsley slowly looked from Luna to Evan before finally locking eyes with Delores. "No...Delores."
Umbridge almost smiled before the words registered and struck her like a bullet. "What?"
"I said...No Delores" Kingsley uttered with a small but sinister smile, "I'm afraid I can not do that."
"Why not!?" Umbridge shouted befuddled. "You mean you can't or won't!?"
Kingsley drawled. "Both really, I won't do as you request and help you out of the pit because you have lost your usefulness. Now you are just a danger to the Totalitar cause as well as the Wizarding world."
"How dare you, I am the Totalitar and it's my cause. Now get me out of here. That is an order!" Umbridge commanded.
"That's just it, you have no order, not anymore. Order is meaningless without the power to enforce it and without power you are...obsolete." Kingsley said with pride. "I have the power now,and once more the Ministry is mine."
"YOU TRAITOR, WHEN I-"
"Be quiet Minister, you don't want to wake them up...oh that's right. The reason I could not do as you ask and summon the Mutants, is because they are already here." Kingsley uttered with a hint of mirth. "But if you wish to keep shouting, then I shall wake them for you Minister."
Umbridge paled as she looked around her while Luna frowned in confusion. "What mutants?"
Kingsley gesture with his scythe and a wave of magic vibrated through the pit. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Goodbye Miss Lovegood, I'm sorry it must end like this, but it was a true pleasure to have known you.,.and Delores, it was a pleasure working for you."
Kingsley then turned around and strolled out of the the room, dragging Evan out of the room and repairing the door which had shattered from the Squib's explosion, plunging the room into blackness.
Umbridge started clawing at the wall feebly trying to climb out of the pit, while Luna remained still. Luna could still see the faint outlines of the debris around her and froze when a horrible realization struck her, it wasn't debris, but bodies, sleeping body's beginning to stir...
Evan feebly fought to free himself of Kingsley's grip when he tossed Evan into the center of the curricular room. Kingsley looked around him. With the exception of Pandora's box, all the doors had all been blown off their hinges from Evan's episode, but the room was relatively unscathed. The Dursleys were beginning to stir, obviously recovering from the effects of being stunned.
Kingsley frowned as he realized who was missing, but shrugged and turned to Evan first. "You are dangerous, If I tossed you into that pit you would blow up half the mutants in there, well never you mind. Your suffering is at an end."
Kingsley raised his scythe as Evan let loose a pitiful squeal when Harry pounced. Harry whipped off his invisibility cloak before knocking Kingsley to the floor. Harry jumped on top of Kingsley, who reached for the Scythe he had dropped. Harry was quicker, reaching into Kingsley's robes and retrieving the Elder wand, which once more called him master. Harry aimed the wand at Kingsley's throat and uttered. "I just reclaimed the Elder wand, but a few minutes ago it was you it called master, even when Luna held onto it. So why did you try to kill Umbridge?"
Kingsley grinned. "For the first time in 9 years, I feel free, Umbridge has lost control of the Ministry and without that she is worthless."
Harry felt a wave of power send him flying off Kingsley hitting the floor. The Deathly figure rose, and summoned his Scythe. Harry glared at the man with hatred as he drew the sword of Gryffindor. "You have no honor, if you truly believe you are free I suggest you take a look in the mirror. You are a slave to your own power."
"I am a slave to the power of death Harry Potter, soon you shall be too." Kingsley replied morbidly.
Harry grinned. "But I am the Master of Death."
Kingsley smirked. "You don't believe that anymore than I."
"Oh I do." Harry said with wisdom beyond his years. "The last enemy that shall be conquered is death. I have conquered it thrice now, not because I survived but because I excepted and embraced it. I have danced with death so many times, I have nothing to fear from it, not because I fear Death, but because I simply love life, and I won't let you take that from Luna and I."
"I'm sorry Harry, but their is no escaping your destiny, just as Luna is discovering right now, we are all doomed to die."
Harry's expression froze. "Where is Lu-
Kingsley pounced slashing with his scythe with the speed and ferocity of a master of the blades. Harry parried and thrust his as the battling figures clashed blades. Evan and the Dursleys watched on the sides. The Dursleys seemed to be overwhelmed by the magic they were seeing Harry wield. Kingsley knocked Harry off balance and with a blast of magic from his hand, sent Harry flying through one of the doorways.
Harry smashed into a a shelf and felt glass fall down on him, shattering as the Hall of Prophecy's seemed to cave in on him. The shelf shaking as more Vials of Prophecies fell. Harry raised his wand and cast a shield, causing the falling vials to hit the magical barrier. Harry rolled to his feet and ran towards Kingsley, just as the towering shelf was beginning to fall upon him. Kingsley raised his hand again but this time Harry slashed out, taking one of Kingsley's skeletal fingers out of the equation. Kingsley cried out in pain as Harry attacked with his sword, Kingsley blocking as he retreated, both Wizards escaping the room just as the shelf collapsed to the floor with an earth shattering thud.
Harry slashed with his sword like a man on borrowed time before kicking Kingsley into a different room. Before Harry knew what hit him, a tentacle wrapped around his throat, a disembodied brain attacked him, trying to squeeze the life out of him. Kingsley seemed to have a similar problem but did not seem to be effected by the lack of oxygen. He raised his scythe and swung. Harry dodged the blade, causing it to impale the brain. The creature let out a shriek before falling to the floor with a splat.
Kingsley readied to swing his scythe again as Harry gave his sword a twirl. The blade spun in a circle briefly embedding into the splattered brain before launching it right into Kingsley's face. Harry smirked, only to step back as Kingsley started blindly slashing with his scythe with reckless abandon, roaring in anger as the scythe began to destroy everything in the room.
Harry left the room as Kingsley seemed to glide towards him, his eyes red as he lunged. Harry parried the strike but the force sent both tumbling into the next room. Harry hit the floor and begun to roll. Harry came to a stop as he heard faint whispers of people he long thought dead. When Harry opened his eyes he felt the blood rush from his face and quickly scrambled away from the veil, he so nearly rolled through. The Veil of Death, the only known resting place of Sirius Black, for no one dared go look for him.
Harry tried to hear what the voices whispered, and suddenly picked up three harsh words. "Harry watch out"
Harry spun around and raised his sword just in time as Kingsley tried to cut him in two. Even as the blades clashed, Kingsley tried to force his blade through the sword of Gryffindor and slowly started forcing Harry backwards, towards the veil. Harry started pressing forward but Kingsley seemed to have the upper hand on him, as he forced him back further and further.
Harry suddenly pushed the blade off against Kingsley and rolled to the side, allowing the momentum to send Kingsley stumbling forward towards the veil of Death. Kingsley seemed to lunge himself upwards and flipped backwards, before landing ten feet in front of Harry. Kingsley bore down on him with his scythe. Harry deflected the blows and slashed a few of his own.
Kingsley backed off and smiled. "Impressive, most impressive indeed. Filius has taught you well."
"Filius never taught me about sword fighting." Harry replied, in truth he suspected the Hallows had something to do with his increased sword fighting ability. "Filius did teach me other things, he taught me how to live and how to die. How to Fight for what's right. How to become the man I was meant to be. He taught me about true greatness, and true power. No matter how much power you may believe you have gained, you will always be weak."
Kingsley glared before uttering darkly. "Then lets put that to the test."
Kingsley raised his Scythe and a blast of lightning emerge from it. Harry blocked it with his but dropped the sword as the lightning burnt him through the sword. Harry quickly drew the Elder wand and sent his own spell at Kingsley, who already launched another burst of lightning. The spells locked and power seemed to course through the spells and shake the room around them.
The priori incantatem filled Harry with a sense of deja vu, as he remembered his duel with Voldemort...unless...No...it wasn't just that, Harry remembered Kingsley's duel with Filius. Harry met Kingsley's shrunken eyes who smile triumphantly as he raised his right hand from the Scythe. The Deathly weapon trembled under Kingsley's weakened grip and the power coursing through it but Kingsley didn't have to worry about that much longer. "Goodbye old friend."
Kingsley slashed out with a separate burst of magic, Harry took one hand off the Elder wand and Kingsley laughed, knowing Harry wasn't strong enough to block the second curse without a wand. Then Harry winked as his hand reached into his robes and pulled out a second wand. A wand of 11 inches with the feather of a Phoenix residing within it's carefully carved wood. Harry cried out. "Expelliarmus"
Harry felt his spells impact with Kingsley's and easily overpower the stunned Wizard. Kingsley's eyes widened and before he could react, the spells collided into him and sent him flying through the air, before cracking his head on the rocky floor. Harry walked up to Kingsley and with the elder wand, bonded the unconscious Wizard with ropes before casting unbreakable charms on the robe. Only then did Harry let out a sigh of relief.
"YEAH!"
Harry looked up and saw Evan jumping up and down cheering. Behind him the Dursleys looked on with shocked expressions on their faces. Dudley's was one of shock and awe while Petunia's was one of fear.
Harry levitated the unconscious and bound body of Kingsley back to the circular room as Harry channeled his magic and jumped up to join them, causing Petunia to give out a startled shriek. Harry rolled his eyes and spoke to Dudley awkwardly.. "Listen...uh...If he starts to wake...can you shout out, or, hell...punch him? I have to find-"
Harry's sentence was cut off by the sound of screaming, and the blood rushed out of Harry's features. "Luna..."
Luna was trying to stay as still as humanly possible as the bodies of what Kingsley called Mutants, began to move around her. Luna looked for a way out but could only see darkness. Suddenly a pair of yellow eyes emerge from the darkness and Luna let out a startled cry. She took a step backwards and felt her ankle trip over something slimy, sending Luna spinning as she crashed to the floor, landing on her stomach. Luna lifted her head off the floor and took in a harsh breath as fear froze her.
Luna looked deep into the yellow eyes just inches away from her own, the eyes of the mutant. Luna was as pail as a ghost as she looked upon the creature which seemed to drool at the sight of her fresh uncooked flesh. The Mutant leaned forward and sniffed Luna's face, it's eyes seemed to bore into Luna's before it growled, baring his teeth.
"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAKS!" Umbridge shouted causing the startled Mutant to leap away from Luna. Luna looked up and realized most of the Mutants were staring at Umbridge expectantly, either with hunger or fear. "No, I don't have food, now go away you disgusting animals."
One of the Mutants growled at this but whimpered when Umbridge glared at the creature. Luna saw the fear in the Mutants eyes and Luna couldn't help but notice how Human they looked. It was this thought that slowly turned Luna's gaze to her Mother. "You did this to them. This was what you were going to do to me wasn't it."
Umbridge looked up abruptly, having forgotten Luna was there, and suddenly grinned. "Actually my dear pets, I do have food for you. See that girl over there? She's all yours."
The Mutants turned to Luna, and hungrily approached her. Luna spared Umbridge a glance before taking a deep breath and kneeling down in front of the nearest Mutant. The Mutant salivated as it licked it's lips when Luna looked the Mutant in the eye and whispered. "Hello there, what is your name?"
The Mutant looked at Luna as if she had grown a third head while Umbridge laughed in the background. "It doesn't have a name it's not even human."
The Mutant started growling when Luna rested a hand on the Mutants face, causing it to flinched at the contact and growled louder. Luna cooed softly. "Don't listen to the mean lady, I know you are human, you just can't remember your name can you?"
The Mutant frowned and Luna felt her breath hitch as the other Mutants began to surround her, just waiting for the moment to pounce. "I'm sorry but I don't have any food right now, but I promise you, I will help you get better. I will fix what she has done to you. And if I fail, I shall at least make sure you can live a free life."
Luna smiled as she saw the glimmer of light in the iris of their yellow eyes, even as she felt breath on the back of her neck. "Yes I know what you are. You're a person, just as human as I am."
"What in Merlin's name, are you waiting for." Umbridge barked out. "Are you things hungry or not. Eat her! EAT HER!
Luna leaned forward and kissed the stunned Mutant on the top of it's bald green head, before rising to her feet. " Don't worry Delores, they won't hurt either of us."
"Like Hell they won't, animals eat animals, and Squibs eat Squibs." Umbridge cursed.
The Mutants growled at Umbridge as she said this, only causing her to lose her temper. "Don't look at me, the girl is the Squib you savage dogs."
"Delores stop." Luna warned as the creatures left Luna's side, their eyes slowly turning red. "Don't upset them."
"Don't upset them?" Umbridge repeated incredulously. "They don't have feelings?"
One of the Mutants let out a human sounding roar and lunged forward, sinking his teeth into Umbridge's arm. Delores cried out in pain as she banished it away with her wand. Umbridge looked at her arm in shock. "It bit me! How dare it bite me! You...You dammed Halfbreeds."
"MOTHER STOP IT!" Luna shouted as another Mutant reached up and slashed at Umbridge with it's clawed hands, scratching Umbridge's face. Umbridge cried out as her wand fell to the floor.
Umbridge lunged for it but a Mutant picked it up first. It raised the stick above it's head before snapping it in two. The Mutant let out a triumphant cry that was quickly echoed by the others.
Luna's eyes met the Earth Mother's as she pleaded. "Please..."
Luna's voice seemed to fade as she saw the hopelessness of it. Umbridge was already screaming at the creatures even as they backed her into a corner. "That's my wand?! You broke my wand you Filthy Squibs. I am Your Master and I shall have OrdAAAHHHHH!"
Luna closed her eyes and turned away. Crouching to the floor as she pressed her hands against her ears. Yet no matter how hard she pressed, she could still hear the screams. Luna started humming as her body began to tremble. She didn't know what she hummed only that it was loud enough to block out most of the horrible sounds, but tears still fell from her eyes.
Luna tensed as she felt something touch her, but when two hand pried her own from her ears she heard Harry's voice whisper. "It's OK Luna...it's over."
Luna opened her eyes and met Harry's. Luna numbly felt Harry pull her into his chest as she cried. She wasn't sure why she cried, nor did she question it. She just let herself cry in Harry's arms. He gently lifted her off the floor and levitated out of the pit, from which the Mutants watched on with a vague sense of hope.
Harry gently placed Luna back on the floor of the circular room as he turned to Evan, who watched on silently. "Can you look after her for a moment. I need to deal with the Dursleys,"
Evan looked back from the room Harry and Luna had come from. "Sister..."
Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry Evan...No you don't want to look."
"I...must...hear...no...see." Evan uttered as he struggled to his feet.
"There is nothing to see Evan." Harry insisted as he looked into the elfish man's eyes. "Nothing recognizable anyway."
Evan gulped as he took in Harry's words. "Oh..."
Harry looked at Luna who's eyes looked at nothing and kissed her. "It's OK to cry Luna, and it's OK to mourn her, like when I mourned Uncle Vernon, remember."
Harry saw his Aunt and Cousin watching a few feet away, tears in their eyes as they mourned the head of their family. Harry looked back at Luna. "I know what we feel doesn't always make any sense, but to feel is to be human."
"I don't mourn her." Luna whispered softly. "I...I..."
"You mourn the Mother she never was, and the dreams that will never came true." Harry answered with empathy, as he thought of his Uncle.
Luna nodded and gave a small smile at Harry. "Thank you."
Harry nodded sympathetically before rising to speak to the Dursleys. The three stood awkwardly looking at each other for a moment before Harry looked down to Kingsley. "Still out."
"Yep..." Dudley replied, trailing off before saying. "I missed you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow at the question in Dudley's statement mockingly replying. "I missed you?"
Dudley frowned as Harry chuckled. "You don't have to pretend to like me, I promise I won't turn you into a frog...but maybe a pig though..."
Dudley quickly replied. "I'm not pretending, I really did miss you. So did Mom and...and Dad?"
Harry gave a pointed looked to Petunia who looked away and muttered. "Vernon did mention last summer that it was rather odd you weren't there, that he'd grown accustomed to your presence."
"Wow...I'm flattered. " Harry replied sarcastically. "I guess you know what they say, you don't know what you've got till it's gone."
Petunia shot Harry a quick glare before saying. "What, do you want me to apologize for mistreating you, for not being a good aunt!? Apologize for not understanding or excepting your freakishness, because I won't!"
"It's not necessary." Harry uttered with simmering anger. "Your apology wouldn't be excepted anyway."
Harry turned to start walking away taking in a deep breath. He had not moved five feet before he rounded back upon Petunia. "Maybe you can answer something though. Why? Why was nothing I ever did good enough for you? It's bad enough you made me your bloody slave, but I never got one moment of gratitude, of kindness, of love from any of you! MY OWN FAMILY!"
"Merlin knows you don't like Wizards but you'd think you could make an exception for your bloody newborn nephew! Why does being normal appeal to you. I know you wanted to go to Hogwarts, you even wrote to Dumbledore begging to go. What was trying to crush my dreams going to accomplish, your dreams would still be unfulfilled. Just tell me why? Why do you hate me?" Harry replied heavily breathing as he finished his tirade.
Petunia looked at Harry her expression unchanging before she replied. "I don't hate you."
Harry let out a dark laugh and just shook his head. "Never mind, you're never going to change. But nether am I. I'm a Wizard and a strange one at that. I'm as abnormal as you can get, and I'm proud of it, thank you very much. So once we are out of here, don't get accustomed to my presence."
Harry turned to Dudley who looked sadly between the two of them. Dudley uttered. "Harry...I..."
Harry looked into his cousins eyes and said. "Dudley, maybe in another life we could have been brothers, but I honestly don't want to be friends...but like it or not we are family. So if you really are ready to grow up...who knows... maybe..."
Dudley smiled as Harry wordlessly offered his hand and the two shook hands. Harry didn't know what would come of this but at least he knew the two had finally buried the hatchet. Harry gave Petunia another look and said. "You know, for so long all I wanted was you to say one nice thing to me, but now I..I honestly...I don't give damn."
Harry began to walk away when he heard Petunia reply curtly looking at the ceiling. "I don't object to your girlfriend, she is...interesting."
Harry looked back at her with a surprised expression before he replied with a healthy amount of suspicion. "Uh...thanks."
"I think she's brilliant." Dudley replied with a little too much enthusiasm.
"I...Uh...thanks?" Harry replied awkwardly as he turned away.
"I mean really brilliant!" Dudley blushed,
"Ok..." Harry uttered as he gave Dudley a disturbed look before turning again.
"I mean really..."
"Dudley!" Harry cut him off with a raised voice. He raised his hands and gave an exasperated whisper of. "...Thanks..."
Harry walked away shaking his head breathing out. "Wow..."
"Why you cry." Evan whispered as he wiped away Luna's tears, replacing it with an unpleasant green slime.
Luna giggled in spite of herself as she wiped the slime from her eyes, before sighing. "Despite everything, she was my Mother... at least she was supposed to be. She was supposed to love me and raise me."
Evan let out a labored breath. "OK to cry...easy to hate...but blood hurts."
"Ain't that the truth." Harry muttered to himself as he let the two have their moment.
"You don't mourn her...you mourn what she did..what could have been, I mourn the sister, I lost long ago." Evan replied showing his hidden wisdom.
Luna looked away and whispered. "I guess I really have no family now."
"Better you have no family...than to have her for sister..let alone Mother. Besides...you have boy." Evan retorted with a wink, causing Luna to blush as she glanced at Harry. "Yes...I guess I do."
"It is Evan, who has no family." The Squib replied solemnly.
Petunia frowned as she looked between the two strange souls.. "Wait...wouldn't that make you-"
Harry raised his finger to silence his Aunt."Wait for it..."
Dudley looked between the two vacantly. "Wait for what?...I don't get it?"
Luna and Evan sat in silence for another ten second before they both gasped. "I just realized."
Luna stopped as Evan exclaimed with pride. "Evander was the name of my OLD PET CAT! Named her ourself... I mean myself."
Luna giggled at Evan's antics before leaning forward and whispering in Evan's ear.
The Elf like man pulled back and shouted. "I'M YOUR AUNT!"
Luna shook her head quickly. "No...Uncle, you are my uncle, and I'm your niece."
Evan smiled so widely Luna was worried it hurt. "I'M AN AUNT...POTTER HARRY I'M AN AUNT."
Luna felt more tears run down her cheeks, though she wasn't sure if it was the discovery of a long lost relative, or just from how hard she was currently laughing.
"I'M AN AUNT! I'M AN AUNT! I'M-"
"For the last time Evander you are not an aunt, You are a human being and...wait...What in Merlin's name are you doing here?!" Hermione scolded from the door, causing everyone to jump and Harry to quickly draw his wand before realizing who it was.
Luna calmly answered Hermione with a smile. "I suspect Nargles."
Hermione was stunned as she looked from Harry, to Luna to the Dursleys and Evander, to the tied up Kingsley in the corner. Hermione uttered weakly "Where's Umbridge?"
"In the stomach of those bloody Mutants." Harry replied crassly before pulling Hermione into a hug which she quickly reciprocated. Hermione whispered "I was so worried."
"So was I." Harry replied before pulling back and said. "I'm so proud of you."
Hermione went to hug him again but stopped herself. " We don't have time for sappy reunions. For Merlin's sake you know just up those stairs is the LLR, half the Goblin army and a swat team of Muggles."
Harry paled. "On the same side."
"Thankfully." Hermione replied ignoring Harry's look of relief.
"Though for the record, Miss Granger doesn't fight fair." Ragnok croaked as he entered the room from Hermione's side. "She uses cruel human tricks, like guilt and empathy, it is a vulgar tactic."
Hermione snorted. "Ragnok's just upset he was exposed as a big old softy."
"Say that again and I'll feed you your own flesh!" Ragnok growled.
Hermione looked at Ragnok before giving a mock whisper to Harry and Luna. "Big softy"
Ragnok growled as he walked over to Kingsley, giving the fallen Wizard a kick and waking him from his forced slumber. "Hello Kingsley, I'm in a particularly violent mood right now and since your master is no more, it seems you are in charge of the Totalitar. So you better cooperate or you shall bear witness to my violent mood."
Kingsley looked up at Ragnok and uttered darkly. "The Totalitar shall liberate the Wizarding world from the Muggle overlords. No more shall we live in the sewers like rats. Muggles shall serve the master people, as you Goblin's will too. In the new world, you may even be superior to the Muggles. Let me go and you shall be a king of the underworld. Release me, or you shall all be consumed in hell fire."
Ragnok snorted as he growled. "I was once a king of the underworld, your kind forced my people to dwell in. I would rather burn in Hades then be lesser than scum like you."
Suddenly Kingsley's deep, dark laughter filled the room. Filling Luna and Harry with dread. "The Hellfire I mention is no idle threat. If Umbridge is indeed dead, then her final order has been activated. As we speak the death of Delores has been made known to every member of the Totalitar, including those who have infiltrated the Muggle government. They shall use their control of the Muggle Government to send the most powerful of Muggle weapons to consume all of London with the fire of Hades."
As Kingsley spoke, The Weasleys and Muggle generals had entered the room. Kingsley closed his eyes and took in a deep breath whispering to the horrified room. "You shall all die, as shall every Muggle, Wizard and Goblin in this Godric forsaken city. Do not worry though, your deaths shall not be in vain. The resulting war shall destroy the Muggle race and from the ashes the Wizards shall rise to rule over a scorched earth."
Hermione hissed. "You are mad!"
"You can't do this." Luna yelled desperately.
"I have done nothing." Kingsley laughed. "Umbridge was mad, I'm the only sane person among you lot."
Luna approached Kingsley and pleaded. "If you're as sane as you claim, then you do not wish for this to come to past. As misguided and twisted as you are, you believe you are doing good. No good can come from this grim prophesy you spout."
Kingsley grinned kindly. "Too right you are Luna. Only I and I alone can stop this weapon from destroying all we hold dear. Set me free, and I swear on my magic while there is life in me, I shall use the power of the Ministry to save you all from the hell fire."
Luna looked to Ragnok, Hermione and finally Harry. "Set him free..."
Ragnok growled. "You trust him!?"
Harry also spoke to Luna only softer. "Are you certain about this?"
Luna shook her head as she answered them both. "No, but he made an oath on his magic, outside of this, there's no telling what he will try to do...but what choice do we have."
Luna looked to Kingsley who smiled. "You show your wisdom Luna. Your Mother would be proud-"
"Don't mention my Mother." Luna hissed with pain. "You took her from me, and nothing you do will ever bring her back. I try to be kind and forgiving but I can not ever forgive you for what you did to her and to my Father...and to me."
Kingsley looked at Luna sadly as Harry released him from his bonds. Kingsley rose to his feet as he spoke. "Everything I have ever...ever done, I did for my people. For the future of the Wizarding world I have stood alone in preserving it."
"No Matter your intentions, no deed is worth doing if it sacrifices one's soul." Luna uttered sorrowfully. "Good intentions does not make you good, nor does it hide that your soul is black and cold."
Kingsley snorted as he grabbed his Scythe. "The world his black and cold, only by excepting it can we learn to survive. There is no good or evil, only power and those too weak to seek it."
Luna shook her head. "If you truly believe that then you are lost."
Kingsley drawled. "Then let me show you true power, Luna Lovegood. Then we shall see how your morality compares to the Might of Magic!"
Kingsley walked up to the door of Pandora's box and everyone suddenly backed away, even if only Harry and Luna knew why. Kingsley raised his scythe. "Pandora's Box, give me the power to save the world."
Kingsley brought his scythe down and impaled the blade into the door, causing a large crack to appear. Kingsley pulled out his scythe and Luna could see nothing but whiteness from the doors crack.
Kingsley cried out. "Give me the power to rule the world as it's saviour!"
Kingsley brought the Scythe down again and this time the light seemed to be sucking the energy of the room into Pandora's box. Kingsley raised his Scythe again and shouted. "GIVE ME THE POWER TO SHOW THE WORLD THE MIGHT OF MAGIC!"
Kingsley brought down the Scythe one last time and the door crumbled before being sucked into Pandora's box and turning into dust. A low deep rumbling shook the room as a buzzing sound filled everyone's ears. Luna squeezed Harry's hand who squeezed back as they looked on with grave trepidation. Pandora's Box had been opened at last.
Kingsley smiled as he looked into the bright white light and slowly stepped into the room. As he did so his movements seemed to change, like he was a film on fast forward but otherwise moving slowly. Luna noticed that his small movements were jerky, as they happened at lightning speed. The air seemed to spark and sizzle around them. Kingsley's laughter rose above the rumbling of power and he raised his Scythe. He seemed to glow as he absorbed power into him, blowing back his hood.
Ragnok yelled out to him. "You have enough power yet?!"
"NO!" Kingsley yelled, his voice deep and unearthly. "NEED MORE POWER!"
Kingsley started laughing as as the room started to shake. "NOW YOU SEE, NOW YOU SEE THE GLORY OF POWER, HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO YOUR MORTAL MORALITY!"
The skin on Kingsley's head and hands started to peel and wither away as he laughed. "THE SLAVE BECOMES A MASTER! FOR I AM DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS."
Kingsley slowly felt himself pushed from Pandora's Box as he laughed. Then he turned around and Luna screamed, she was not alone however, All the flesh had left Kingsley's face, even his eyes were gone, Standing before them was the skeletal figure of Death itself.
Kingsley, or the being that used to be Kingsley laughed. "BOW BEFORE DEATH!"
Then something odd happened. Kingsley started to float away from them, and from Pandora's box. It was hard to tell with Kingsley's lack of facial features but he seemed rather confused by this. As Kingsley started floating through one of the doorways surrounding the circular room, he started to panic. "Wait no...what is this Magic!"
Luna slowly followed Kingsley into the room, followed by Harry and Luna. Everyone else seemed too scared to follow, whether out of fear or the will of the Magic that filled the air, Luna did not know. Luna look down as she entered the room of Death, and saw Kingsley slowly floating towards the Veil. As Kingsley saw the Veil he started screaming as he dropped his Scythe to the floor. "NO, WHATS HAPPENING!? I HAVE POWER! I WON...HELP!
Then as Kingsley was feet away from the Veil of Death, he began to unleash his magic and shook the room as he began to break free from the Veil's magnetic pule. Then to Luna's horror, a ghostly arm reached out from behind the Veil and grabbed Kingsley's Deathly robes. Kingsley fell forward onto his knees as another hand grabbed him by the legs. Kingsley cried out for help as he reached forward clawing at the rocky floor ,feebly fighting the hands as they dragged him further and further into the veil.
As Kingsley's legs entered the veil. Kingsley yelled. "HARRY!...LUNA!...SOMEONE! ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME!
Luna numbly shook her head, what ever was happening was beyond anyone's control. She and Harry could feel the power, far greater than even Pandora's Box. Kingsley's body had all but entered the veil when he grasped onto the veil's archway with his brittle bone hands. Then something happened that Luna would never forget.
A ghostly figure emerged from the veil, a figure which resembled a woman of golden hair and large silver eyes. Luna's breath caught in her throat as she uttered. "Mum?"
Harry looked at Luna confused.. "What did you say?"
Luna pointed in horror. "Don't you see her?"
Harry shook his head before pulling Luna close to himself. Luna wanted to look away but she couldn't, she had to see this.
Kingsley looked up and seemed to plead with the spirit only he and Luna could see. "No...Not You...Please...Have Mercy on Me...I'm Sorry for Everything I've Done but I Can Change! I Swear I..."
Suddenly Pandora smiled before letting out an inhuman cry that had Luna coveri that had Luna covering her ears. Harry suddenly tensed as his eyes widened. He heard the Banshee cry. The spirit bared it's long razor sharp fangs and hissed at Kingsley, who screamed in absolute horror as he saw an otherworldly blue fire in the spirit's eyes. Then it happened. The Scythe Kingsley had dropped suddenly shot from the floor and toward Kingsley's skeletal skull, blade first. Kingsley let go of the archway and was sucked behind the veil. The blade entered just as quickly and seemed to hit something, the handle stuck through the veil and shook from the impact. Then it too...slowly disappeared behind the veil, and every went silent and still.
Luna was certain of only one thing. What ever had emerged from the Veil to claim Kingsley's soul... was not Pandora's.
Harry whispered. "What the bloody hell was that?"
"I can't say for certain, and I reckon we will never know for sure." Luna spoke softly. "When one is surrounded by too much death, it can consume them. It was as if he was more dead than alive, and death rectified that. He sacrificed all trace of not only humanity but life itself. He was dead the moment he stepped out of Pandora's Box. All this desire for power, and in the end he was just a slave to the power of death."
Luna uttered. "When one is surrounded by too much death, it can consume them. It was as if he was too was more dead then alive, and death rectified that. All this desire for power and in the end he was just a slave to the power of death."
"Harry? Luna?" Ron's voice called out. "We have a situation here."
Harry and Luna glanced at each other before running back into the main room. The noise that hit them was made all the more jarring from the sudden silence from earlier. The the buzzing hum being emitted from Pandora's Box was deafening, and the room as shaking viciously, as if the gates of Hell had been opened. The air sparkled with electricity and the shadows of the room flared with light.
Hermione struggled to remain on her feet but managed to reach Luna and Harry. "It's going haywire, Ragnok, says if it doesn't stop it's going to wipe out the whole country, that is unless the Bomb doesn't destroy it first."
Harry shouted over the roaring magic. "How long before the Bomb strikes."
Hermione's eyes looked hopelessly into Harry's. "1 minute."
"1 Minute!" Harry repeated.
Hermione nodded drearily. "I don't know what to do...no one does..."
The three remained silent as Hermione glanced over at Ron. It was Luna who spoke somehow being heard with just a whisper. "Go to him Hermione."
Hermione threw her arms around Harry briefly before running to Ron. Both resembled scared children and not the leader of a rebellion. Harry looked to Luna who's eyes revealed nothing. "You aren't going to do what I think you will..right?
Luna tilted her head before nodding softly. "Probably..."
Harry grasped onto Luna's hand tightly causing her to look up at him. "Luna...I...there's nothing I can say that will change your mind is there."
Luna smiled softly before looking up into Harry's eyes. "No...I don't think there is..."
Harry nodded before whispering. "Please don't do it Luna..."
Luna looked tearfully at Harry and kissed him. "I have to try...You know I have to. I feel it in my very soul. This is my destiny, what I've been destined to do. This is the end of the journey..."
Harry felt tears start to fall as he whispered meekly. "I'll go with you."
Luna chuckled. "You would dare, I'd never forgive you if you did."
Harry heard one of the Muggle Generals call out. "30 seconds."
Harry gripped onto Luna's shoulders and whispered. "I'll wait for you."
Luna shook her head. "I know...but don't wait too long...I don't think I'll be coming back."
Harry shuddered as he hugged Luna. "I can't let go.. I can't go on without you..."
"You won't have to." Luna whispered before whispering into his ear. "The ones who leave us never truly leave us. I swear to you Harry. I will never leave you again. I love you Harry Potter, with all my heart and soul."
Luna then kissed Harry passionately before before turning around and marched towards Pandora's box, her eyes fixed firmly on the blinding white light.
"Luna!"
Luna heard voices call out to her but she ignored them, grimly focusing on her destiny. The Muggle General began to count down to the Muggle Bombs destruction. "12...11...10..."
Luna frowned as she felt the counting begin to slow down before stopping all together. Luna looked back and saw everyone moving at a glacial place. As if time itself was slowing, which it probably was. Luna felt every laborious step as electricity seemed to shoot through her, slowly filling her with Magic that felt familiar to her, the magic of her Mother.
Luna heard the General slowly call out. "9..."
Luna took a deep breath as her very soul seemed to vibrate and gave one last look to Harry...before entering into Pandora's box...and everything went white.
It took over a minute of Luna's time before her eyes adjusted to the brightness. Luna looked around her and felt her mouth drop. The room was infinitely large, in fact Luna was certain the only way it fit in the Ministry of Magic was some very powerful warding spells. The room was at least the size of the Muggle Auditorium if not larger and a seemingly infinite Number of Runes had been carved into the walls, overlapping each other in ways only Pandora understood. Not even those crafting this great work of art and innovation could possibly understand. Luna surmised however, that they understood more than she did.
Luna raised her hand and noted distantly that her hand was blurry and the buzz of energy was tickling every inch of her brain. Luna felt her eyes move with a will of their own, looking upon the bright ball of light in the center of the room. Luna slowly approached it, with every step she took, she felt herself appear in a different part of the room, yet for ever step she took, she was always one step closer.
())%(I(OIO)I(OLOI(IUIOIIO)(IOII"(I()OI0IO^OI^UUI(O)(UIOIOIO)IOI((&^)(IO^OI^&(OIOIOI)(IO^*IOI&OIU)(OIUO)()OIUOUIO)(^
Suddenly with another step Luna was thrust into the white light and felt her soul cry out as her body vibrated with Magic like she had never known. Luna's sight was awash in a wave of colours and visions like she had never seen before. She saw things that were impossible, she saw things inconceivable.
She saw what only dead men know, and she witnessed the birth and fall of the Universe. "She felt like she saw everything but her mind retained nothing, no mortal could. Luna felt herself start to scream for no reason, but had a vague feeling her soul had gone mad. Gravity seemed to implode on her and her spirit seemed to expand. She felt her body leave her, or did she leave it. Luna wasn't certain of anything anymore.
Luna wished she could faint, lose consciousness, anything to prevent the overwhelming power from conquering her weak soul. Her spirit was bludgeoned by darkness, and suddenly she felt like she was falling into the Iris of Cyrus. Which seemed to cover a vastness of space thousands of feet below her, but she had no feet, and time had no meaning. She felt darkness consume her as she fell into the blackness of the eye and Luna almost felt relief that she might be dead, even if it was just for a moments rest.
LUNA LOVEGOOD
WELCOME TO PANDORA'S BOX
Luna wearily looked up, every nerve in her spirit twitching . Her nerves were on fire and her mind was awash in ice. Luna felt as if she should reply but she could not think rational thought, rationality seemed like a stranger to her. She just panted as her voice shook, despite having no body to breath from. Luna heard the voice speak again and her mind latched onto the voice, clinging onto it desperately with what ever sanity she still possessed.
MOON-CHILD
YOU HAVE DONE WELL
I AM IMMENSELY PROUD OF YOU
Luna felt her mind start to hum a random tuneless melody of notes as her consciousnesses slowly regained control of her shattered spirit. It felt like an eternity before Luna was able to comprehend the being
before her. She felt herself spin as she waved phantom arms through the air, letting laughter flow through her very being. Finally after a long manic laugh exploded from her mind, Luna finally uttered. "I thought you were imaginary. Cyrus"
The being Luna had only met once before, again spoke.
"Of course I'm imaginary
just like the Nargles
but that does not mean
We are not real"
The Cyclops seemed to breath Magic as she whispered.
"Warned you of the Nargles, that they would mislead you. I never told you I would as well, nevertheless you did leave Harry, and the Nargles made certain your father set in motion the events that revealed the Earth Mother to you, and ended the Earth Father's life."
Luna felt her mind regain a vague sense of clarity, enough so she could ask the question. "What are you, why did I have to leave Harry...why did Father have to die."
"Everything that has happened, needed to happen, veer from the course even slightly, and it could very well lead to the destruction you must prevent. As for what I am? I, like the Nargles, am apart of your Mother... Your true Mother...The Moon Mother."
Luna countered weakly. "My Mother wouldn't have had my Father killed."
"You are right about that, Your Mother knew it was necessary. If Xenophilius did not act the way he did...that he would die anyway, along with you and all they both held dear. She knew this but she wasn't strong enough to do such a thing...but I could."
"The Nargles were her drive, her madness, her love of anarchy. I am Pandora's sight, her vision, created by the runes that surround us. I am also the darkness of her soul...The strength to do what must be done long after she is gone. We all have darkness in our souls. Pandora was no different. Now my work is done, for you are here at last. The secret of Magic is all around you, but the answer is already in your mind."
"Did she envision my death? Do I need to die...for her cause...for the secret of Magic?" Luna asked bitterly.
"Pandora did not know what would happen. I however find it unlikely, you will ever be the same again." Cyrus answered with what was either a wink or simply the blinking of it's only eye.
Luna looked around and whispered. "I don't know the answer...the secret of magic. The more I search, the more I have come to understand one truth, there is no secret to magic."
Cyrus chuckled. "Though not the correct answer, you are right. That was as far as even Pandora ever got. Even I do not know the answer, and that is part of the secret. Magic isn't meant to be known, it isn't meant to be understood. If it was...it wouldn't be magic now would it."
Luna felt her spirit grow cold with failure. "Then there is nothing I can do...I failed."
"You condemn yourself too fast, you must discover the secret to our ability to use magic. But know this, by discovering the secret to magic...you will be unable to take advantage of it, unless you can truly let go of any and all concept of reality. You must forget the difference between, dreams and reality. Only by letting go completely can you both understand...and still wield Magic. Only then, can you save your friends from destruction...and give Magic to the world. Only then can you fulfill your Mother's dream."
Luna remained silent in deep thought almost panicking when Cyrus again spoke. "Time does not exist here, if you remain here, it would take a life time before the bomb strikes. Take your time."
So Luna did, she let her mind wander. She thought of her Mother and how she seemed to go mad as she delved further and further into the secrets of magic. How she cursed herself with the Memory charm...
"It's madness." Luna realized coldly. "The secret to magic is madness."
Cyrus laughed darkly. "You are closer than you realize...and could not be more wrong. That sadly was the mistake you Mother made. By the time she learned otherwise, she had damaged her mind to much, to wield the secret of Magic without having to erase it from her mind. I will give you the clue. Madness and the secret of Magic, are two sides of the same coin. You see...Madness is not the secret to Magic...but Power. Power and Magic are two sides of the same coin."
"That is why you live, you entered Pandora's box seeking Magic. Kingsley desired power, and he got it. All the power he ever wanted and then some. The world is not lacking in power. Everyone has power, and most desire more of it. Be they Wizard or Muggle. It is Magic, that all of us seem to lack. It is Magic that will save the world, for without it, we are animals and we will destroy each other."
Luna felt herself frown. "You make it sound so simple."
Cyrus laughed with mirth and sorrow. "That is because it is so simple, we all have it, we are all born with it. Yet somewhere along the way, we lose it. Whether it's from lost souls of adults telling us to grow up. Whether its the society that sees it as a threat, and beats it out of you. Sometimes life itself crushes our spirit and we lose what made us so special. Once we lose magic, we forget how to love, we forget how to care, we forget how to feel empathy and compassion. Worst of all, we forget how to be human, and that is the greatest crime of all."
Luna felt she would cry if she had a body to cry from. "Have I lost this?"
"Maybe...I wouldn't know...if you have...you never lost it for long. That is why we are so special. The one you love, he lost it...He never truly got it back until he met you. It is contagious in that sense."
Luna questioned. "Is it not love then?"
"No...but love inspires and fuels it, like nothing else. That is how Lily protected his son from the Dark Lord. She never understood what she was doing, nor did she care. She wished with all her might and all her magic for her child to survive. Her Magic protected her child and the rest is history."
Luna felt as if the answer was on the tip of her nose when she shouted. "FAITH?"
"HA!" Cyrus laughed harshly like a Nargle."Close...so close it burns...but so wrong.. Like your beliefs in your magical creatures, even if many are right, there are many that are not. Moon-Frog, are a laughable proposition. Your faith misled you as often as it steered you home."
"I don't understand." Luna snapped defensibly.
Cyrus sighed wearily. "Faith is rigid...it does not bend. Faith is a stick, try to bend it and it breaks. People fight to defend the stick, they kill to protect the stick, and they die for the stick. They do all these things, to keep the stick intact. When that stick is broken. Then they simply hold it together, and pretend they don't see the crack. Better than admitting that they have been wrong and foolish all along."
"As similar as faith is to the secret of magic, it is the enemy of magic. The world is not rigid, it is round, and largely made of water...it flows..." Cyrus whispered.
Luna was silent, taking most of the cyclops words, though she was certain Moon Frogs were real. Luna's mind seemed to fade from consciousness as she pursued the answers she sought.
...Yes...Yessss..Yessssss...Yessssssss.. Yesssssssss...Yessssssssss...Yesssssssssssssss...Yesssssssssssssssss
...L...e...t...Y...o...u...r...M...i...n...d...
...FFFFFFFFFllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
...L...i...k...e...
...WTRAE...waTer...WaTeR...water...WATER...wAtEr...Retaw...wateR...WAtEr...
Luna felt her mind spinning, she felt the Iris of Cyrus open up and she felt her self fall in. She felt herself claw at the emptiness as she pleaded for an answer. No answer came, nothing but darkness and emptiness. Nothing but failure, broken hearts and broken dreams. She heard the screams of every soul that she would fail if she did not discover the secret, souls screaming out as the bomb struck. She saw what was about to happen if she failed and it began to tear her soul apart.
Then she heard another voice, a calmer voice, a voice Luna knew only too well.
"Luna...let...go..."
Luna looked to her side and saw her Mother looking at her with tears of pride. "Luna you are indeed special and it is not because of your magic, but your mind. You have an incredible imagination and that is the key."
"Mother?" Luna whispered reverently, reaching out to her.
Pandora slowly began to float away as she whispered. "Remember Flamel's teaching, let your mind go. Remember the answers you seek are not on a piece of paper but in your heart."
Luna focused her mind and let everything fall away from her. She remembered her Mother, and she remembered her Father. She smiled at the thought of her newly found Uncle Evan...but most of all her heart went out to Harry and the desire to finish this all for him. To finish her quest and live the rest of her life with him. Luna let her mind race on everything her family ever said, and in that moment...Luna remembered the words her newly found uncle told her.
Luna felt her heart ache as she whispered the deepest and most desperate desire of her young heart. "Family..."
Luna suddenly let her mind spin away from her quest, from magic, and only thought of the man she loved. She imagined the future, him proposing in the paradise of Xanadu. She imagined the wedding day, she prayed would come to pass. She even imagined the children they would have. She imagined what she dared not dream before. These were not things children dream of but Luna knew better. She stopped being a child a long time ago...Luna remembered What Harry had told her.
"Dumbledore told him that it does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live...but he was wrong. Dreams are what we live for...in the darkest point of of our existence, our dream is the small speck of light that guides us. Dreams are what makes the world go around, it is what makes us aspire to greatness and allows us to pursue happiness. Without dreams...we would never have learned to stand...What are dreams..."
Luna suddenly laughed, her spirit's laughter echoing in the emptiness of Pandora's Box. Luna was euphoric with bliss, as she realize the secret of magic, so simple she had to laugh. After everything she'd been through, after all that had happened...the answer was stupidly simple. It can't be so simple though...could it?
Luna heard Pandora's voice echo through her while the Nargles cackled behind her.
"It should be simple dear child. Doubt is the enemy. We have been taught so much doubt...and as long as we doubt, even a little. Witches and Wizard's are slaves to the laws of Magic. Only now...after everything you've seen and after everything you've experience...can you truly understand...with every ounce of your being..."
Nothing is Impossible / elbissopmI si gnihtoN
Everything is Infinite / etinifnI si gnihtyrevE
The Reality of Magic / cigaM fo ytilaeR ehT
Defies Reality / ytilaeR seifeD
...
..
.
Imagination / noitanigamI
That is the Key / yeK eht si thaT
...
.
...
METATSETOP OITSANIGAMI
.
.
.
OITSANIGAMI METATSETOP
.
.
.
OITSANIGAMI
METATSETOP
...
...
..
Imaginatio Potestatem
.
.
.
.
IMAGINATIO POTESTATEM!
Hermione cried out as she saw Luna run into Pandora's Box... she cried out in shock and horror. Everyone except Harry, who's eyes remained unblinking at Pandora's Box. Hoping beyond hope, he did not just see Luna for the last time. The Muggle General continued counting down. "9..8..7-"
Ragnok roared as he rounded on the Muggle. "WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT-"
Then they heard it. A voice unlike any they heard before. A voice of power, of determination of otherworldly knowledge. A voice only Harry could recognize. The voice cried out with all of it's being, and Harry felt the floor beneath him shake.
"IMAGINATIO POTESTATEM!"
Then there was a blinding light that forced everyone's eyes closed. The voice Harry knew that was Luna's kept going, as if time was speeding up, as it rose in pitch, higher then a banshee's and more beautiful than a Sirens. Then everything went silent and the light was gone.
Harry opened his eyes and saw Pandora's box was empty...the walls were void of all Runes, and no White light was inside...only the light of the sun. Harry ran inside and looked up. The ceiling of Pandora's box was missing, as was the ceiling of over nine stories worth of ceilings...and the roof of the Ministry itself had a huge hole in it.
"Really, oh the Jolly good sir. Jolly good indeed." The Muggle general exclaimed with pride before announcing to the eerily quiet room. "The Nuclear Missile seems to have vanished...It just...flickered before vanishing from existence."
"Where is she.?" Harry asked, his voice empty as he looked around him.
No one responded to him, they all just looked at him. Harry turned away from the looks and raised his wand. "She's here somewhere, "
"Harry..." Hermione whispered, Harry could hear the tears in her voice which caused him to spin around.
Harry's eyes blazed as he stared down Hermione. "Don't you say it Hermione. Don't you dare... Luna's fine, we just have to find her."
"She saved the Goblin's." Ragnok uttered reverently. "The Goblin Nation owes her spirit a life dept."
"Your damn right, and you can tell her that when we find her Ragnok!" Harry yelled with a hoarse voice.
"Come to your senses, and don't be a Human." Ragnok snapped. "Don't let your heart blind your mind from the truth you know. The girl is dead."
"RAGNOK!" Hermione yelled appalled at the Goblin.
Harry shouted. "SHES NOT...D..."
"DEAD!" Ragnok roared. "If you truly believed she lived you could say the damn word. The sooner you except it the sooner you can honour her life."
Someone started wailing in a high winy voice as Harry drew his wand at Ragnok, blinking back tears. "TAKE IT BACK!"
"She did not give her life for you to ignore the existence of her Sacrifice." Ragnok growled.
"SHE..." Harry was cut off by an even louder wail, Harry saw it was Evan crying and shouted. "SHUT UP!"
Everyone stared at Harry stunned, but none more so than Harry himself who was mortified. "Evan...I'm...I'm sorry I...I'm sorry...I..."
Before Evan new, Harry wrapped his arms around him and started crying repeating "I'm sorry...I'm sorry."
Hermione realized he wasn't speaking to Evan anymore as Ginny took Harry into her arms and Harry cried. Hermione felt tears run down her own cheek and in the corner of her eye caught Ragnok rubbing his eyes. The Goblin snorted with a thin voice. "What...my eyes are itchy."
"Do Goblin's get itchy?" Hermione asked.
Ragnok growled. "Just die already."
"Really? You certain? Well that's most unordinary now isn't it." The Muggle General uttered. "Well of course it is. It's not everyday a girl falls from the sky now isn't it?"
Harry looked up. "What did you say?"
"A girl's falling from the sky now excuse me." The Muggle returned to his Walkie Talkie. "No the song's called Raining Men...No I don't know what song your thinking of..."
Ragnok looked up as he walked back into the empty room of Pandora's box. "Well I'll be dammed."
Harry ran to Ragnok with everyone else hot on his heels as he looked up. Harry's jaw dropped as he saw the lithe form of Luna plummeting towards him. Harry raised his wand and cried out. "Aresto Momentum!"
Harry watched as Luna's decent slowed until she softly floated to the floor like a feather. Harry gently caught and rested her on the floor. Luna cried as he looked up. "She's alive."
Hermione knelt down and took in Luna's unconscious body. She fired some charms and whispered. "Her brain is in shock...like it's been overloaded."
Luna opened her eyes which crossed before she shut them and muttered. "Cyclops's have gorgeous eyes,"
"Of course they do." Hermione replied before looking to Harry. We need to get her to Saint Mungo's...she needs serious medical attention."
Harry nodded distantly as he took Luna back into his arms. "Don't worry I've got you. I've got you Luna.. I'm not going anywhere."
"Harry Lurves Looney." Luna giggled deliriously before finally passing out.
Sign up to rate and review this story