"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.
