Worthy Of Magic

Part 44 - Goodbye Friend

-A human bond cannot be described with written words.

Hogwarts, Time Unknown.

Harry finally understood what those words meant when he reunited with his wand.

He gently ran his fingers along its length and felt the lonely wood thrum in resonance to his magic.

This was the instrument used by witches and wizards to connect with magic.

How they had misused it, he mused. There were a rare few like him who could connect to magic without a wand. Where had the world gone wrong? He wondered. When had they forgotten what magic really was? Did they ever understand what magic was?

Harry was discovering it on his own until he had a conversation with Luna Lovegood.

He could see a mystery in her eyes. Her colours changed languidly, in a manner, he could not read. It intrigued him.

They were in the astronomy tower. Luna had returned him his wand and was now staring at him expectantly. It seemed like she was waiting for something and Harry could not decipher what is was.

Usually the colours told him what it was but now, he had nothing. It was a first for him.

"Why are you here," he asked finally.

His voice was hoarse and soft.

"It's my home," she replied.

Home, Harry thought. It was certainly a powerful bond. The Desert had taught him it's value.

"It was home to the other's as well, until you came back," she added.

Harry scoffed. He was beginning to form an understanding of what was important and what wasn't. To him, magic was important. It was a gift and Hogwarts gave it freely. There were those who valued it and those who didn't. Those who left didn't.

"So why did they leave," he asked with mild scorn.

"The valued their lives more," Luna said.

This girl was reading him, Harry realised. How?

He could see that he had a choice. On one hand, ignore this unnerving girl, leave her to her devices and move towards finding the source. On the other, he could try and understand what Luna Lovegood saw in magic. Was she like him or could she show him a whole new perception to magic that would help him get closer to the source?

"Why did you stay?" he asked her. Those who left were not important. The one who did, was. Why was she here? What made her bond to her home so strong that she refused to abandon it even when a monster came to take it?

Luna looked into his eyes with piercing understanding.

"I stayed," she said softly. "Because I'm not afraid of you. To me, magic is all that matters. Friends make that magic stronger and I'm sad they're gone. I had a choice, magic or friends. I chose to stay and make new friends."

That's right, Harry thought. Magic was important. He was beginning to like this girl more. She was the conversation he wanted his whole life.

He had never wanted to talk. Everyone he ever met was Unworthy. Dumbledore was the only other and the old man feared him and threatened him. There was conversation waiting to happen there.

Luna Lovegood on the other hand. "Do you know what the source is?" he asked.

He turned away from her and walked to the balcony. It was post noon and the sky was bright yellow in-spite of the strange storm clouds that flew far above. He noticed the forest had grown wild. The grounds were being overrun with sprouting trees and further on, massive trees swayed in magic that exuded danger.