Chapter 254 - Luna Lovegood!

{1st September 1992}

{Rigel's POV}

The silence that followed Luna's statement was not the comfortable kind, awkwardness flooded the air as everyone just stared at one another.

For the moment that everything stilled, Rigel could hear the wheels of the train clicking rhythmically beneath the wooden floor, steam hissed faintly outside the window, and the soft sway of motion as the train moved through the countryside. Everyone seemed unsure what they were supposed to do with what had just been said.

Ginny, however, who was maybe used to the awkwardness and absurdity that came with living with the twins, bounced back the fastest.

She jolted upright suddenly, the movement so abrupt that Ron startled in his seat, and before anyone could ask what she was doing, she had already crossed the narrow space and wrapped Luna in a quick, enthusiastic hug.

"Luna!" she said brightly, as if no time at all had passed since they'd last seen each other. "You made it! I was worried you might miss the train!"

Luna blinked once, slowly, as if processing the idea of being hugged, then accepted it with mild curiosity rather than surprise.

"Oh. Hello, Ginny," she said serenely, returning the embrace with a gentle pat that demonstrated how unused she was to this way of greeting. "Your aura feels brighter than last time. Did you play with the Dewglimmers alone again?"

Ginny beamed, pulling back just enough to keep her hands on Luna's shoulders. "Yes, I did! You have no idea how boring the Burrow gets when there aren't any invisible creatures to hunt."

Ron let out a long-suffering sound from his seat as he used the air quotes to emphasize the craziness. "You mean when there aren't any 'imaginary' creatures to chase."

"They're not imaginary," Ginny shot back automatically. It was a retort lacking any heat, like something she had said countless times, then turned toward the rest of us with barely contained excitement. "Everyone, this is Luna Lovegood — she lives near us, not far from the Burrow. She's my first real friend who wasn't one of my brothers or their friends."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, they both seemed still put off by talks of imaginary creatures, clearly unused to the names being thrown around.

"A pleasure, I'm Hermione," Hermione said politely, though her eyes were already darting toward Luna's vacant stare with mild concern.

Harry nodded. "Hi. Harry here." 

Luna smiled faintly at Hermione, her pale eyes drifting lazily over her face without quite focusing on her, but her almost serene motions paused for the first time since she had walked into the room. She squinted as she moved toward Harry, her eyes unfocused, and her gaze sharpened as she leaned forward, squinting at Harry's forehead.

'Hmm, she's curious and afraid.' I detected her emotions, which had been stable up till now, fluctuate, and so did Harry's as he leaned back, his wide eyes looking toward everyone, asking for help as the back of his head pressed into the leather headrest.

'Wait, is it the Horcrux?' I thought as Ginny pulled Luna away and pulled her into the seat next to her.

"What is it, Luna?" She asked with curiosity, likely finding the serious look on Luna's face a bit unnerving.

"There is a creature... I haven't seen anything like this before." She replied in her serene voice, though a hint of curiosity peeked through as she tilted her head, her eyes still focused on Harry's forehead.

'She can tell there is a Horcrux there... can she see magic? That would make a little bit more sense.' I thought as she looked lost in thought. I looked down at my hands, 'She said that there were a lot of Dabberblimps floating around me, that could probably be attributed to either the magical resistance that I gained due to the Ritual, or my Metamorph powers.'

"So a new discovery?" Ginny exclaimed, breaking the silence again, "Will you tell Uncle Lovegood and print this in the Quibbler?" 

"Wait, Luna." I said, cutting into the two first-years' discussion, "Can you tell me if you can see a new creature around me now?" I asked, then focused, and spoke in Parseltongue, "Helllooos mikeeess testingsss mikeeess testingsss."

Harry gave me a weird look while everyone else jumped slightly as I hissed. Luna's gaze lowered down to my throat for a moment, confirming my hypothesis, "Ooo, a Veilskimmer. Father said they went extinct a long time ago." She nodded as she looked at me with curiosity now.

"Wait, what?" Ron questioned, not following up on my experiments, and Hermione rolled her eyes and started speaking.

"Rigel was just speaking in Parseltongue, Ron. That means that whatever ability Luna has, she can distinguish between different types of magic." She replied, there was a hint of jealousy seeping into her tone at the end, but her mind quickly connected the dots further, and her head whipped to her left as she looked at Harry's scar. She hesitated for a moment before she continued.

"She likely wouldn't have seen a curse scar ever, so that's why she was curious about Harry's forehead." She concluded, and I noticed Harry's mana settle down in relief. It had been that way ever since that declaration. The compartment stilled once again as Ron processed her words.

"So she can see magic, and the 'imaginary' creatures are real?" His voice dripped with sarcasm at the end, but he just received a glare from Hermione and Ginny.

Eventually, I spoke, trying to diffuse the tension for now. I was still debating if I should breach the topic of Horcrux with Harry and the rest before I decided against it for now, maybe just talking with Sirius and Harry over next summer would be a better idea.

"So," I said calmly, leaning back slightly as the train rocked gently beneath us. "What exactly is a Dabberblimp?"

Luna's gaze slid toward me once again, she wasn't looking at me directly but close enough that I could tell she was addressing me.

"Oh," she said lightly. "They're invisible, mostly. Very old creatures. People say they're extinct, but they're not really gone. They just learned how not to be noticed."

"That's… convenient," Ron muttered, still not believing her words, getting himself an elbow jab from Hermione.

"They like sad places," Luna continued, unbothered. "And lonely people. They drift around them and nibble on the excess feelings by clinging to their skin. Keeps things from getting too heavy."

The compartment stilled again for a moment. I thought back on her words, it could be related to both of the powers, so I couldn't rule it out.

'But, I'm leaning more towards magical resistance from the Ritual, maybe I can talk to her later and display my Metamorph powers and see if another elusive name pops up from her tongue.'

Harry shifted uncomfortably. Hermione's fingers tightened slightly in her lap. Ron stared at Luna as she had just announced she could see ghosts living inside the walls.

I felt Ginny stiffen beside her for a moment. For a few heartbeats, no one said anything. Then Ginny scoffed loudly and gave Luna a light nudge with her elbow.

"Oh, please," she said, a little too brightly with a hint of teasing in her voice. "Rigel? Lonely? You've clearly never heard of the rumors floating around about him and his harem, wait once we get to school."

I blinked.

Hermione coughed and hid her gaze away, giving away that she was the one who had told her about some stuff, likely to satisfy her curiosity. They had been gossiping around the house a lot this past month.

Harry suddenly found the window fascinating.

Luna simply smiled faintly.

"Oh, a harem," she mused over that word. "Can I join?" She asked with a bright smile, causing everyone to stare at her.

Ginny opened her mouth, probably to argue, then hesitated and shut it again, frowning faintly as she studied Luna's expression. Then she turned with me with an eyebrow raised in question, and this time I decided to look away from both of them...

'Yeah, this year is certainly going to be interesting.'

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AN: Introduction to Luna, decided to give her a version of Mage sight, will explain her quirkiness a little bit, and thus also explain why Quibbler could survive out there as a Magazine.