𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | l. lovegood

ix

𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀, 𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐀, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄 met up again outside the Great Hall. Neville handed them Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, saying that he wouldn't be able to go with them since he was so much taller than them, but that it would be big enough for the two of them.

Dorothea threw the invisibility cloak over her and Luna's shoulders. Together, they left the school, the older girl whispering Alohomora and Colloportus to unlock and relock the front door. Once they were onto the grounds, Dorothea took the phial out of her bag. Luna lifted the invisibility cloak up so that it could absorb the pure rays of the moon as Dorothea spit the mandrake leaf into it.

"Wow...I'd almost forgotten what it was like not to have that thing in there," Dorothea said, rubbing the roof of her mouth with her tongue. "It feels like a piece of my mouth is missing."

They headed into the forest. Once they were concealed by the dense trees, Luna took the invisibility cloak off of them and stowed it away into her bag. They both pulled out their wands and muttered Lumos to light up their path the deeper they got into the forest.

"See how the leaves and branches overlap to make kind of a roof?" Luna pointed her wand up at the treetops. Hardly any sky was visible at all. "It rained a couple nights ago, and the ground is still wet. There's sure to be some dew around here somewhere."

Dorothea's footsteps left prints in the mud as they walked. She went over to examine the leaves on one of the bushes, which were covered in dew. She took a silver teaspoon out of her bag to collect it, and Luna held the phial for her as she carefully poured the water in. The blonde then added the Death's-head Hawk Moth chrysalis.

"What now?" Luna asked.

"I have to put it in a dark, quiet place where it won't be disturbed and leave it there until the next electrical storm. It could take months," Dorothea explained, sighing as she placed the phial in her bag. "I've been trying to think of where to keep it, but I can't figure out any place in the school that would be quiet enough."

Luna thought for a moment before gasping. "The Shrieking Shack! There's a secret passageway in the Whomping Willow that leads there. There's a knot on the tree that you press to stop it from attacking you. You should be small enough to get to it."

Dorothea's eyes lit up. "That's brilliant, Luna! No one ever goes there!"

"We'll have to hurry," Luna said as they rushed out of the forest. "If we're fast enough, we'll barely make it back in time for curfew."

"I just hope Neville's not waiting for us to get the cloak back." Dorothea cast a nervous glance in the direction of the castle as they reached the Willow. "I'd hate for him to get in trouble."

Dorothea crouched down as she made her way to the trunk of the tree. She pressed the knot, and it stopped flinging its branches. With their lit wands out in front of them, they ran down the secret passageway that led to the Shrieking Shack.

When they got there, they stopped to catch their breaths before looking for the perfect hiding spot.

"One of these floorboards looks loose," Dorothea observed. She got down on her knees and pulled it up. She took the phial out of her bag and placed it inside, praying quietly to Merlin that this was going to work.

"We should mark it, that way we know which one it is when we come to get it," Luna said. She took a rock out of her bag and used it to carve a sign into the rotting wood.

"'We'?" Dorothea frowned.

Luna smiled. "You didn't really think I'd miss the transformation, did you? I'm curious to see what your animagus will be."

They entered the secret passageway again and started to make their way back to the school, walking this time since they were still a little worn out from running there.

"What happens now?" Luna asked, her voice echoing a little.

"I have to say an incantation every sunrise and sunset while holding my wand over my heart," Dorothea said. "I've been practicing every chance I get. I have to get it right every time, otherwise I have to start all over, which is difficult because 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' is a tongue twister."

When the world outside could be seen again, Luna and Dorothea ran the rest of the way through the passageway and rushed to the front doors of the castle, opening them with Alohomora.

"There you guys are," Neville whispered, revealing himself from the shadows. "I was starting to get worried. Filch has started patrolling the halls, and his cat is around here somewhere."

Luna returned the invisibility cloak to him, and just as they were making their way down the hall to return to their common rooms, a voice shouted out.

"Students out of bed! Students in the corridor!" Peeves was floating above them, cackling as he raised the alarm. "Oh, good luck wiggling yourselves out of this one!"

Neville could only think of one word as he exchanged looks with Dorothea and Luna. "Run."

The three broke out into a fast run, Peeve's laughter following them down the corridor as he taunted them.

"Hold it right there," a light, girly voice said. With a flick of a wand, the trio all froze in place, unable to move. Footsteps approached them from behind, and when the person came into view, they saw that it was Umbridge. "This really is quite a pity. I was expecting much better from you three," she said with faux sympathy. "Detention for a week, all of you. Starting Monday in my office."

"A week?" Neville gasped once he was able to move and speak again. "Just because we missed curfew?"

"Naughty children deserved to be punished," Umbridge stated with that awful giggle Dorothea loathed so much. "Maybe you'll learn your lesson after a week of well deserved detentions. And I will be writing to your families as well. Now, off to bed, or it'll be another week."

"My mum is gonna murder me," Dorothea mumbled with worry in her voice.

She laid in bed that night feeling worse than she's ever felt in her entire life. She blamed herself for this. If she had never told Luna and Neville what she was up to, they wouldn't be in detention because of her.

There was no way either of them would want to be friends with her anymore by the time the week was over.