Luna's Eclipse: Light as a Fjäder

Luna's note is a blue feather that, when you touch it, poufs into flame.  A faint voice--Luna's--whispers, "Come to the edge of the forest at nightfall" as it disappears into the air.


Naturally, you come whenever Luna beckons.  Thus far she has not steered you wrong, and often she shows you wonders you never would have imagined.  She waits for you at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, holding another blue feather and looking placid as always.


"I have to pay a visit," she says. "Will you join me?"  When you say yes, she holds out the feather and counts down from three, and your portkey is on its way before you can take a breath.  It throws you out into a place that looks markedly similar to the one you just left--this could be the Forbidden Forest, except there is no Hogwarts behind you--only more woods.


"It's through here," Luna says, and you follow.  She leads you through darkening woods, where sunlight barely penetrates.  Then suddenly you emerge into a bright copse, and you hear...


It is phoenix song.  It must be.  Nothing else could be this beautiful.


Luna puts a finger to her lips, unnecessarily.  You do not want to speak.  You do not want to make any sound that would interrupt the phoenix's song.  You simply want to listen to it forever.  Gently she takes your hand in hers, because you might not move if she did not compel you, and leads you through the copse to the other side.


The phoenix song comes to an impossibly lovely end just as you enter the trees.  Its spell broken, you are able to look around you a bit.  You see moss-covered trees, many of them hollow, many with large nests of golden wheat and fragrant grasses.  The little grove you are in is illuminated by a faint glow, as well as by the sunlight behind you, so that as you move among the trees, you are still able to see. Most of the nests are empty, but Luna heads toward the farthest hollow tree, and you see inside a deep blue-violet glow, and hear a soft, low sound that reminds you very much of the phoenix's song.


"When Professor Dumbledore died," Luna says softly, "his phoenix, Fawkes, sang a lament on the Hogwarts grounds.  And then he flew away, and no-one at Hogwarts ever saw him again.  It is very difficult to own a phoenix," she continued.  They aren't easily tamed, and often, I believe, it helps if the person has a phoenix Patronus, as Dumbledore did."


Luna gestured around the copse.  "Fawkes came here," she said, "when he left Hogwarts.  This is a sort of... phoenix nesting ground.  It's a safe-haven, magically protected.  Rolf's grandfather, Newt Scamander, discovered it years ago and visits frequently.  The phoenixes don't mind us coming, as long as we're gentle and respectful.  Sometimes wild phoenixes come here on burning days to regenerate from their own ashes... and every once in a while..." she grows quiet a moment.  "Every once in a while, a phoenix comes here to nest."


"Phoenixes are almost always male," Luna explains.  "Male phoenixes are red, and when we see a phoenix in the outside world, it is always a male phoenix.  In fact, when he wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Papa Scamander believed that they were all male.  It wasn't until many years later that he discovered a blue phoenix, and after weeks of observing, discovered that she had laid an egg.  Eggs come about only once every fifty years or so, and this phoenix, who Rolf and I have called Fjäder--it's the Swedish word for feather--is only the second recorded female phoenix to lay an egg.  We have reason to believe that the father of the baby is Fawkes."


You are astounded.  You learned a little bit about phoenixes in Care of Magical Creatures, and indeed, no one had ever intimated that phoenixes could bear young, let alone that the famous Fawkes might have offspring on the way.


"But," says Luna, "something is not right here.  This grove should be full of phoenixes, but only Fjäder is here, caring for her egg.  We don't know where the others have gone.  The father of this phoenix baby should be here to protect the mother and egg... and there should be more."


She turns to you, her eyes full of tears.  You have never seen Luna look more distressed, and you reach out your hand to touch her arm in comfort.


"You can help," says Luna.  "Help us find the phoenixes!  Tell us all about the phoenix you find, and how you help him return home safely, and perhaps you can help us name the baby."

Ravenclaws, unite!  Bring your Order of the Phoenix mission to completion--or even to 25%!  Turn it in to your Mission Chief by March 24, and then send Soprano1 the story of how you helped a missing phoenix return to safety!  A randomly selected winner from among those who save a phoenix will be allowed to choose the baby's name!

Tell it... For Luna!

As you walk through the Hogwarts grounds near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Luna steps out from behind a tree, smiling her usual slightly vague smile.  "Luna!" you say, delighted.  It has been weeks since you saw her, and after all your adventures together last month and last term, you were starting to feel a little bit forlorn.

Luna hugs you, something she hasn't done before. "I was off visiting Daddy," she says.  "The boys are there now; Rolf is off... doing things..." she glances up at the sky briefly, but when you follow her gaze, she takes your hand suddenly and looks you straight in the eye.  "And now you can come visit too!" she says.  "I've fixed Floo transport with SadieLou.  We can have a lovely weekend together, and there's something I want you to see."

You take the stairs to the dorm two at a time, arranging to meet Luna in SadieLou's office in fifteen minutes.  You pack your bag full of clothing and a couple of project bags (your OWL won't knit itself, after all!), and dash back down the stairs.  MightyGoodYarn and FricknFrack wave from the Sky Chairs as you sprint to SadieLou's office door, where you stand panting for a moment, a little afraid that Luna, in a moment of vagueness, will have gone off without you.  But you knock and enter at SadieLou's response, and there is Luna, waiting as if she had all the time in the world.

"Oh," she says, "you're ready, then!"  And she tosses a pinch of Floo Powder into the fire and waves you in.  "Lovegood House!" she shouts, and you are whisked away by the green flames.

You emerge in the odd rook-shaped house's kitchen, whose windows overlook the hills around Ottery St. Catchpole.  Xenophilius Lovegood, very very old now, sits in a rocking chair by the fire and smiles as you step out of the fireplace.  "I made some tea," he says in a creaky voice.  "Pour some for me and for yourself.  Will my Luna be along presently?"

In answer, Luna steps out of the fireplace a moment later.  "Hello, Daddy!" she says brightly.  "Where are the boys?"

Mr. Lovegood points up the wrought-iron spiral staircase in the center of the room, and Luna smiles.  "Oh, just right!" she says.  "We'll be back down for tea in a moment, Daddy."  She looks at you.  "What I wanted to show you is up here."

You hand Mr. Lovegood his cup and follow Luna up the spiral stairs.  At the top is the room that once had been Luna's.  You remember that this house was blown up by an Erumpent Horn back in the Second Wizarding War.  "Oh, yes, Daddy had it rebuilt.  The kitchen's a little less bright than it was--I'd had it painted with murals, you see, when I was very young, but after it was rebuilt I was in my seventh year at Hogwarts and after that I met Rolf, so Daddy just did a nice yellow.  But this room... this one I came back and repainted.  I wanted it just like it was."

You look around; it's a cheerful little room, and Lycan and Lysander obviously use it when they visit now.  Their books and things are scattered about, and they come hug you when you climb the last step into the room.  And then you look up, and you see it:

Just for fun | Luna Lovegood’s friends mural (by San Smith) (clipped to polyvore.com)

Luna's "Friends" mural.  You can see Harry Potter, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Neville in a circle, connected by a golden chain of the words 'friends friends friends.'

"This is a great month for friends, isn't it?" Luna says.  "My Ravenclaw friends are trying their hardest to bring the House Cup back to my friend SadieLou, and I hear that many have already turned in their OWL progress!  And I hear there's a Knit-Along for friends this month as well!"

You nod.  You've made something for the Knit Along and you reckon you'll be turning in OWL progress tomorrow afternoon.

"And something else.  I hear that Convocation has changed a bit this Term.  People are recording their own scores and the badges are for all sorts of things, big and small, and I mean to keep issuing challenges as the Term continues.  But the other part of Convocation has always been the stories, hasn't it?"

This is true.  The stories have always been amazing and fun; you're a little sad that they're not happening this Term.

"I have an invitation.  You know, you're not the only one of the Ravenclaws I've been having adventures with.  Ariadne Drake told about the time she came to see me with her bees last month, for example.  I love to have adventures with all my Ravenclaw friends!  And I think it's time they came forward to share their stories.

"From now until the end of Term, Ravenclaws can post their stories as part of their turn-ins, or in the Common Room, and send Editor-in-Chief Soprano1 an earburn in their post, and she'll begin compiling the stories in the Tower Pages for all to see.  Perhaps I'll even give a prize to a randomly selected participant at the end of the Term."

Luna's eyes are shining, and she turns once more to look at her mural.  "This Term, Convocation is in your hands, and the stories are yours!  We can't wait to read them all!"

Tell it ... For Luna!

Quidditch

Silverwing26 comes soaring in on her broom and lands gently on the Quidditch Pitch.

Well 'Claws, I'm here to say congratulations and well done. At last count we turned in 61 projects for challenge one!!! I thought I would take a moment and highlight a couple of projects that just happened to appeal to me!

Thank you to everyone who turned in projects. We need to Soar Together if we are to take the Quidditch Cup!!

Piranha Plant by SadieLou!

A string of love by TangledSkein!

Fractal Spun Purple Yarn by IAmACuttlefish!

Foxy is his Flying Bed by GazeboGal!

Mossy Cardigan by Pyai!

All You Need is Love by RavenclawPrefect!

All of the projects turned in were absolutely wonderful. See you on the Pitch!

One more... for Luna!

It has become familiar: the whisper in a quiet Common Room, the glimpse, from the corner of your eye, of blond hair disappearing between bookshelves.

Luna awaits you, smiling serenely as always.

"It is nearly the end of the first month of Term," she says.  "How is the quest to reclaim the Cup going?"

You know you have worked this Term.  But they Slytherins, the Gryffindors, and the Hufflepuffs--they are all working as hard as they can, as well.  You think: have I handed in all my homework?  Have I done everything I could? Is there a small project somewhere I could whip up at the last minute?  How's OWL and NEWT progress? Is my Phoenix ready to fly?

"If there's one more thing you can do," Luna says, smiling, "go an do it.  And don't wait till the last moment of Term to turn in your work if it's done.  The Silken Hornneedle loves to come in and steal your camera cable at the last possible moment.  Don't let it get you!"

You promise to do your best, and Luna says, "Take the badge above to show the rest of Hogwarts that we know where the Cup belongs!"

And suddenly, startlingly, you are alone in the Breakfast Nook.

Luna's Tarot Readings

Luna Lovegood Scamander is good at many things--did you know she gives Tarot readings?

Luna’s Tarot Reading 2: 

Luna draws a card for you to help you determine what path you should take. It is the Fool.

“Oh,” says Luna, “this card is one of my favorites. Do you know why?”

She waits, but it just seems too large a guess. There are so many facets to Luna’s imagination that you have a hard time knowing where this will go, so you shake your head.

She smiles. “It’s because it reminds me of Harry!” she says, and you look at her quizzically. In no way can you imagine Harry Potter ever being considered a fool.

“Ah,” says Luna. “I see you know who I mean. And of course, Harry is not a fool, but for so much of his life at Hogwarts, he was an innocent. Imagine him, setting off for the first time on the Hogwarts Express, getting ready to join a world that, one month before, he knew nothing about. So often he learned the ways of Wizards on the fly, unlike many of his friends who were brought up around magic. The Fool is the innocent one, ready to step off into an unknown world, always with an eye behind him--you see his walking stick, don’t you? It looks behind! And the Fool has an animal--in this case his dog--nipping at his heels, guiding him toward the future, just as Harry had Hedwig.

“I’ll tell you something else,” Luna adds. “Harry was better off once he found his friends--once he had Ron, and Hermione… and Ginny.”

“And you,” you add. “And Professor Longbottom.”

Luna smiles again. “Yes, we stood with him, and sometimes we saved him, and often he saved us. I don’t know if he would have had the strength to face He Who Must Not Be Named without his friends, without his love for us.” She looks at you piercingly. “You can imagine, now, can’t you, how this card applies to your life?”

And you can. You see a young couple, starting out in their life together, with the future stretched out ahead of them in all its uncertainty. You see that you can help wrap them in love--but only, only if you have the yarn first.

You can see what Soprano1 did with her Tarot Reading in the Quidditch Thread.

Luna's Eclipse: The Bee Hums a Tune

A few days after Term starts, SadieLou sends a message to your dormitory.

Come to my office immediately

--SadieLou

Naturally you can't refuse your Head of House, so off you set down the staircase and through the Common Room.  A sense of trepidation fills you.  You try to remember if you have done anything wrong.  No recent lab accidents... you haven't spilled coffee on any of the books... you weren't even late getting back for the start of term, though that was a near miss.  Thanks to Luna you were just fine.  You can't imagine what SadieLou would think you'd done wrong, so perhaps it's something entirely different.  

You steel yourself and push open her door.  SadieLou, sitting at her desk, waves you inside.

There, beneath the empty spot on SadieLou's mantel where the House Cup should be, in a chair by the fire, is Luna.

"Oh, lovely," she says airily.  "I'm so glad you've come!"

You are rendered momentarily speechless... but Luna has this effect on people.

"Er," says SadieLou, clearly struck dumb as well.  Then she shakes herself, smiles, and says, "Luna asked me to call you here.  She tells me that you've been rather helpful in aiding her in her Magical Creatures research in the past.  She is here in Scotland doing some research, and she asked specifically if you could help her."

Of course, Luna isn't here just to research Magical Creatures--she's here to help Ravenclaw win the House Cup.  And--you suspect that she may be doing some special assignment for the Order of the Phoenix, too... but Order operatives don't generally talk about their Missions.  Still, learning about magical beasts is Luna's life's work, with her husband Rolf, so it makes sense that she would turn her attention there while abiding in Scotland.  Perhaps it's her cover story.  

"You do lovely work," Luna says to you, and you blush.  "And careful!  I need someone who can work carefully on this research, because Rolf and I are trying to learn about some creatures the Muggles know about.  They're called Bumblebees.  They're small, and they live in hives, and they make an interesting humming noise.  They're rather like the Billywig, except they're not blue, of course.  And if they sting you, it will hurt, but it won't make you float."

"Hmm," you say.  "How strange!"

"Yes, isn't it?  The Muggles know quite a bit about them: their habits, and their lifespan, what they eat, the honey they make.  Rolf and I have suspected for some time that Bumblebees have some magical qualities.  They seem to dance in order to communicate with each other, for example.  And their homes are simple tessellations--repeating geometric patterns.  Rolf and I are working to find out how much magic they possess."

"What can I do?" you say.

"I'd like you to capture some Bumblebees, or perhaps a bit of one of their honeycombs.  If you do, please bring it on over to the Arithmancy class, where they're helping me compile my data."

SadieLou says, "And await further instructions.  The more information we can help Luna collect, the better!"

Luna's Eclipse: The Journey to Hogwarts

Luna looks around at the little cabin she has shared with her husband and sons.  It is very clean.

"Oh, good," she says.  "Now the rubbleum alotum won't have anything to feast on while we're gone.  They love eating dirt and grime, you know."

You are not sure if there really is a 'rubbleum alotum...' it sounds like it might be an Alot of Rubble--do those live in Norway? But it doesn't matter.  You wouldn't want to leave Luna's house dusty.

"We has better go," Luna says, looking at the sundial at the window.  "Your classes started yesterday."

"What?" you sputter, but it is hard to maintain panic while looking into Luna's mild eyes.

"Don't worry," she says. "We'll travel by snowflake express, which should get us there sometime on December 31."

There is quite a bit about this statement that you wish you could ask questions about, but Luna is handing you all your handknit clothes and tucking your blue and bronze scarf firmly around your neck. It covers your mouth, so you can't ask, and you have to wonder whether she's done it intentionally.  You are bundled from head to toe, and Luna is soon similarly bundled.  She holds out her hand and leads you to the door, which she locks as soon as you are standing on the front porch.  "Don't worry about Rolf and the boys," she says.  "They'll snowshoe to France and take the ferry from there.  The boys love Muggle transport."

It is colder than you have ever experienced; are they really going to snowshoe? But Luna seems unconcerned for their safety, and although she is slightly vague, you know she would never stand for her family putting themselves at risk.

Luna pulls down her scarf for a moment so she can speak.  "I'm sure you've never traveled by snowflake."  You shake your head, not wanting to breathe in the icy air. "I hadn't either until we moved here.  It's chiefly a Scandinavian mode of travel.  When I bring the snowflakes in, grab hold.  It's all right to close your eyes if you like, but you'll miss a lovely journey."

Luna waves her wand and then points it at the sky, and three heavy snowflakes drift lazily down toward you.  As they descend, they get bigger and bigger.  Luna quickly places her trunk on one and climbs on a second, and then you, finally seeing what to do, take the third just before it reaches the ground.  As you climb on, it suddenly turns lighter-than-air and hovers, trembling slightly, poised to take flight.

Once more, Luna's wand waves in a precise pattern, and then you are flying, backward, through the sky--at the speed of sound, it feels like.  You do close your eyes for just a few moments, but then you open them.  You are clutching the snowflake, your face pressed against it, and through it you can see everything below: the night, the ground... you are over ocean, then over land, and you are pretty sure you can see Scotland before you know it... and the snowflake slows as it comes in for a landing on the steps outside the front entrance of Hogwarts.

Luna has gone elsewhere.  You wonder where--and you are very sure that you will find out.

You climb the front stairs, and then you climb once again to Ravenclaw Tower, feeling slightly dazed, but happy.  SadieLou is sitting in the Common Room, which is strewn with confetti and empty glasses.  "We were worried," she says, glancing at her wristwatch.  "When you didn't come on the Hogwarts Express this afternoon, we thought you might have had trouble in the holidays.  Well, seems you're all right," she adds.  "You'd better head off to bed.  It's well past midnight, and there are classes to start in the morning."

You've arrived on January 1, just as Luna said you would.  Travel by snowflake is cold, but terribly effective.

Quidditch Unraveled

Greetings New Claws and Returning Claws!!

Silverwing26 here. Let's talk about Quidditch!

This term Quidditch is flexible and yet straightforward at the same time. There are two aspects to playing this term. There is regular Quidditch, and challenge Quidditch. You can do one, or both if you choose.

Regular Quidditch revolves around divination this term. There are three kinds of divination that we will be concentrating on for Quidditch.

The three areas of divination that are the focus of this terms Quidditch are Cartomancy, Oneiromancy, and Palmistry.

Cartomancy is the use of tarot cards to foresee the future. This is the prompt to head to if you are crafting for an upcoming event. Some examples of upcoming events might be birthday, holiday 2012, a craft fair or your own personal business. Spinning is accepted for this option provided the yarn has a specific purpose. Know what you want to give everyone for Christmas this year? Head on over to Cartomancy and rack up those points.

Oneiromancy is divination through dreams. This is the prompt to look to if you want to create something you have been dreaming about. Have a design in our head you MUST make reality? This is where you want to be. This is also the place to go if you have something on your queue that you have been wanting to make for a while. (It must be in your queue or your favorites on or prior to October 1st, 2011) And since we all dream about being WIP free, this is also the place for WIP busting. There are specific guidelines for WIP busting. Please see the post in the Quidditch thread for details on that.

Finally, Palmistry is art of fortune telling through studying the lines in ones palm. In this case, the use of palmistry has revealed that you are selfless and giving. This is the charity crafting prompt. If you have items you are crafting to be given to charity, or sold for charitable purposes, this is where you want to be. Remember though, gifts for friends or loved ones should be up in the cartomancy option. This is just for charity.

Now some clarification about the above methods of divination. Please remember that once you choose a method to follow, you must stick with that method all term. This term Quidditch allows us up to 15 new projects or 22 WIPS. If you are perusing Oneiromancy and intend to combine WIPs and new projects, please be sure to contact suenosdejmi as is stated in this post.

Challenge Quidditch is based on prompts given to us at certain times. The first prompt is already available to us even though crafting cannot begin until January 15^th. We will all have 7 days to get our projects turned in. The Snarfalumps are invading. Craft something to leave behind so future civilizations will have an idea of who was there before!

Keep an eye on this space for highlights of projects throughout the term! Remember, in Ravenclaw we have our own Quidditch thread where we will keep you posted on all of the important aspects of Quidditch. Please feel free to pop on in and ask questions as well as cheer for your fellow players and get some cheering for yourself!

Let's see that Quidditch cup come home this term. Let's do it for Luna!

Luna's Eclipse: Entr'acte

You and Luna finish up putting away all the spare WIPs and organizing your stash, and come up for air.

"Thank you for all your help," says Luna.  "Our house should be just fine while we're in Scotland.  Everything's all put away."

She pours you a cup of tea, and looks around again.

"We'll leave tomorrow, of course.  Term starts for you anyway.  But... it's still a bit dusty here, don't you think? Dad could always tolerate dust, but I can't.  I think we need to start a cleaning spell for the New Year... and we should Welcome In the new as we Clean Out the Old..."

"And," you add, "It looks like there will be prizes."

"Prizes!" says Luna happily.  "I love prizes! All right, let's start scrubbing..."

Luna's Eclipse: Chapter 1

This time, you have an invitation, and as it’s between Terms, you think it would be fun to go.  No borrowing brooms for late-night flights, no (you hope) crazy mixed up Magical Creatures... just a few days in Norway with Luna and her boys.

You take Muggle transportation, because you’re not allowed to use magic outside of school.  The train fascinates you.  You watch the landscape outside the window change.  It is a nearly three-day journey from London, via Cologne and Copenhagen, to Oslo, and you enjoy the whole experience, including the sleeper car between Cologne and Copenhagen.  The Hogwarts Express takes a day, but you’ve never had to sleep on a train before.  The little bunk makes you happy.

Rolf Scamander, who is somehow more... solid than Luna, meets you at the station.  He takes you to a tavern in Oslo that, like the Leaky Cauldron, seems to be invisible to the passing Muggles.  Inside he sits at a table and orders soup and bread for both of you.  “Luna and the boys can’t wait to see you,” he says.  “We’re glad you’ve come.”  He tells you that this pub--the Heksebrygget, which roughly translates as “The Witch’s Brew,” is the gateway to Norway’s Wizarding community in much the same way that the Leaky Cauldron is the gateway to Diagon Alley.  “Someday you can visit the Veiviser Landsbyen--the Wizarding Village--with us, but for today, since you’re only up for a short visit, we’ll just use the Røykkanal Nettverk--the Floo Network to you!”  He leads you to a big fireplace and throws a bit of what you recognize as Floo Powder into the fire, and shouts “Scamandershuset!” and you step in and you’re speeding off in an instant, and then you see Luna’s happy face as you re-orient yourself after the usual bumpy Floo ride.  

You hug Luna and the boys, who come running as soon as you step out of the fire.  Rolf materializes behind you.  “All right, boys, grab your things!” Rolf  says joyfully.  “Snowshoes! Rucksacks! Everyone wearing their long johns? Luna, my dear, we’ll see you in a day or so, and give you two time to catch up!”

Before you know it, they are out the door.  You look through the window and see the three of them on snowshoes, shrinking away into the distant snow.

Luna smiles.  “Rolf and the boys hate tidying and packing,” she says, “and we have such a lot to do before we set out.”

“Where are you going?” you ask, befuddled.

“Oh!  Well, you know--Ravenclaw needs to win that House Cup back, dear one!  Rolf and I decided we’d be better off a little closer to Hogwarts, in case you need any help!  Now.  We’ll be setting off on January 1, of course, just in time for the new Term.  But there’s so much we can do right now to get things in order.”

And she begins a list...

1. Ielith’s Queue Revitalists thread--it’s a contest for those who get their queues usable before Term starts!  Miniskeins are at stake, my friend!  You should go do this!

2. The Advanced Studies thread--plan your OWL!  If you think OWLs won’t help us win that cup back, you’re kidding yourself.  Not enough fun? Plan a NEWT!  Too much? Plan an Order Mission!

3. The Chores Tag thread--get your house in order so you can craft, guilt-free, in January!

4. Stashdown!  Pledge to use your stash in 2012!  Craft smarter!

5. The Accountability Partners thread--to help you find a buddy to work with in your quest!

6. SadieLou Plans! You know you want one!  This magic link will take you straight to a fabulous idea of GazeboGal’s... a spreadsheet.  Doesn’t that make your Ravenclaw heart go pit-a-pat?

7. And don’t forget that you can finish a project on the first of the month for Detention!

You get excited... you will help Luna pack and get ready for her Epic Eclipse.  We will see that Cup back on our Mantel, to be sure!

Do It For Luna!

2011 Fall Convocation: Luna's Adventures

Editor's note: In September, 2011, the following story was published in the Convocation thread. Many of you followed it; some did not. Now we invite all Ravenclaws to read the story. You can follow links at the bottom of this post to the rest of the story.

At the very end of this tale, you will learn that Luna has a request, a hope, for us Ravenclaws. Will you rise to Luna's challenge? Will you sign her pledge? Will you Do It For Luna?

You are in the Common Room, just settling down with that great book on Muggle Particle Physics you’ve been hoping to have a chance to read all week.  The Common Room is quiet--everyone else must be down at dinner, or up in their dorms. You spot Ember sleeping in a ball up on the mantelpiece, and Foxy’s tail disappears up the stairway to the dormitories, but otherwise, all is nearly silent.  Ah, well, you think, this will make for excellent reading time.

As you sink down into a particularly comfy armchair by the fireplace, you hear a sound over in the corner by the bookshelves.  “Psst!” You look up, puzzled, and seeing nothing, you look down again.  “Psst!!”  There it is again, louder and more insistent this time.  When you look up, you see--something--disappearing between two bookshelves.

You put down the Particle Physics text and glance around to see if anyone else has seen.  Ember is still there, but she doesn’t even open an eye.  You rise, too curious to just let it go, and move quickly over to the bookshelves.  There! You had never noticed it before, but there’s a space big enough for one person to fit between the two book cases in the corner.  You take a deep breath and turn sideways, sliding in between the cases, and you emerge in a room with high ceilings and tall windows.  The evening’s last rays of the sun stream in through the windows and illuminate a small round table surrounded by several spindly ladderback chairs.

This is the Breakfast Chat Room, you realize.  It’s no wonder you didn’t recognize it: you’ve only ever been in here in the early morning.  The moon is rising over the Scottish countryside and twilight is creeping in, and yet here is the Breakfast Chat Room, ready for tomorrow morning.  Steam rises from the two cups of tea on the table.

“Sit down,” says a dreamy voice behind you.  You jump, heart pounding, and turn around to face...

Luna Lovegood.  That is, Luna Scamander.  She is married now.

The Pride of Ravenclaw is here, in Ravenclaw Tower.  You’ve seen pictures, of course, of the girl she was when she attended Hogwarts all those years ago.  The long blond hair still hangs to her waist, but on her head is a green pith helmet, and she wears a khaki vest and skirt as if she has just come back from safari.  Her voice is as soft and lilting as you’ve always imagined, even though she must be in her … you do a quick calculation … mid thirties now.

Luna gestures toward the table.  “Please, sit down.  Do you take sugar in your tea?”

You nod as you slip into a chair, your eyes glued on Luna.  She puts two cubes of sugar in your cup and hands it to you, and you sip.  The tea is warm, and tastes faintly of some exotic spice you can’t quite name.  Eightlegeddj would know, you think, and then you shake your head.  You seem to be drifting off, and it’s important to stay awake!  Isn’t it?  You wonder, briefly, how you know this, and then Luna speaks again.

“I need your help,” she says, her large silver-grey eyes meeting yours.  “Rolf and I have been off cataloguing Magical Creatures, and we have come across some... oddities... in the newest generations of several magical breeds.”

“Oddities?” you ask.  “What kind of oddities?”

“Well,” Luna answers, her eyes shining, “some of them are a little mixed up.  We don’t know how it happened, but we have found several Magical Creatures that... just... aren’t quite right.”  She grows suddenly serious.  “We need you,” she says.  “We know you’re still in school, but we’ve read some of your papers for Care of Magical Creatures and you’re just the right woman for the job.  Of course, it may be dangerous, tracking down these poor creatures and setting them straight, so naturally, you should only accept the challenge if you’re ready and willing.  You probably won’t get hurt... much... but still, it’s up to you.”

If you accept Luna’s challenge, follow this link (link now removed) to sign the Magical Waiver and Release Form.  If you do not wish to accompany Luna on her Quest, do nothing.  You will return to the Common Room.  That Particle Physics Book awaits.

The First Milestone

The Second Milestone

The Third Milestone

The Fourth Milestone

The Fifth Milestone

Resolution and Denouement

Epilogue (only this final document can be edited--add your name to let it be known that you will

Do It For Luna!!!