The Curious Case of Luna Lovegood

Chapter 21: The Dueling Champion

Harry entered Flitwick's office to see the professor pouring himself a glass of firewiskey. "Luna's not taking all this well is she."

Harry sighed as Filius poured him a glass as well. "She keeps repressing her grief, it's not bloody healthy."

"Luna's magic is becoming more unpredictable," Filius said. "One moment she is invincible, the next moment Draco Malfoy gets the upper hand on her. Then before the confrontation is over she shields us all from a colliding reducto explosion. From what I've seen there are only two things that could have weakened her enough to let Draco get the upper hand. First she could have lost her magic a little sooner than anticipated, but as we all saw she gained it back to stop the explosion from killing us. This leaves option two, that she was weakened by her own emotions. Anger for all its flaws cannot do this and judging by the look in her eyes when we arrived, she experienced fear."

"What made her so scared then?" Harry asked.

"Judging from what Lupin told me back when he was teaching DADA, Luna had a nasty reaction to the Bogart. Next to Dementors, it is the only thing that was able to get a genuine fearful reaction for most of her time in Hogwarts." Filius eyes glazed as he took another drink. "The Bogart took the form...of Pandora."

"Her Mother?" Harry muttered almost to himself. "Why?"

"Her last words she said to her mother was 'you are mad'. On the surface it wasn't that bad, Pandora most likely found her nine year old saying this quite amusing. However minutes later Pandora was dead and Luna...changed." Filius whispered.

"Luna's greatest fear is being alone. She lost her mother and was completely alone. Even though she still had a father, she still hardly sees him. After Pandora died Luna would be hard pressed to find anyone who did not call her Loony. A part of her feels that she deserves to be lonely for what she said to her mother."

"She shouldn't be!" Harry blurted out. "She shouldn't feel guilty, she shouldn't be called Loony, and she shouldn't have to carry all these burdens. She should have a mother who loves her, a father who is always there for her, and friends who stand by her. Luna deserves to be happy. She doesn't deserve all of this, it's just not fair."

"It isn't fair that you became the Boy-Who-Lived but you did. It isn't fair that I am a second class citizen because I'm a Halfbreed but I am. Life isn't fair but I find the world has a funny way of giving us what we need to live. I think tonight Luna will get what she needs." Filius spoke calmly.

Harry's eyes narrowed curiously. "What do you mean?"

Filius leaned forward and whispered with an ancient look in his eye. "Harry we both know why tonight is so important. We both know what shall happen tonight and what needs to be done. Harry, I know that you know what you must do."

A dark look appeared on Harry's face. "It may have crossed my mind. I made my own vow Filius, to never use it again."

Filius raised an eyebrow, "Was it an unbreakable vow."

"No..."

"Then stop being a baby and break that breakable vow. This is more important than your fears." Filius yelled with mirth. "Vows like rules are made to be broken!"

Filius could see the fear and worry in Harry's eyes as he spoke, "But its dangerous Filius..."

"Danger? Since when did you care about danger dear boy?" Filius scoffed.

"Since I took YOU up on YOUR offer to look after LUNA! TO PROTECT HER!" Harry shot back. "Since I befriended, then fell for her. She's been through so much already and the danger involved..."