The Curious Case of Luna Lovegood

Chapter 35: The Red in the White

They were being watched. Harry could feel a buzz of nervous energy, he could smell the sweat of fear, even as the snow continued to fall. The curious Witches and Wizards of Hogsmeade had slowly surrounded the podium. Hanging above the podium was a banner that said. "LLR"

Before too long, the streets were full of more of the Magical village's residents. As the news spread, the streets were packed with LLR supporters and curious onlookers. Harry was certain the Totalitar were among the crowd. Hermione had been relying on a large crowd, confident that the Totalitar would not do something drastic in front of so many witnesses and bystanders. Harry prayed to Merlin she was right...for Luna's sake.

It had been a week since his Uncle's death and the mood at LLR headquarters had been somber, as Luna set into motion her audacious plan. What really worried Harry however, was how little planning actually went into said plan. To him it was an impulse, and though he liked what Luna wanted to do, he feared the execution would be fatal.

The people had been gathering for over three hours, but it had merely taken just one before the vultures came out. Suspicious looking wizards with snake eyes and slippery tongs, wooed the gullible into purchasing their suspect products.

"Earwig Earrings, Get your Earwig Earrings! Only three galleons, buy three and you get a priceless Earwig Nose ring for FREE!"

"Wart Stew! Step right up and try some fresh Wart Stew, a cheap easy way to ensnare the warthog of your dreams."

"Step right up and get yourself a bonafide, modified, stupefied, mummified, ruby necklace, now on sale for only ten galleons. Charmed to help you resist the lure of Veela, Succubus and Milk Chocolate. If you're not the necklace wearing type, just tap it with your wand and you have a bracelet. Tap it again and you have a Ring. One more time and it's a bandanna."

"Get your very own Broomstick, Just like the Muggles use. They can't fly, but no broom collection is complete without it. Do not try flying it, you will die."

"Step right up for the autobiography of the year. "Living Up to Ones Name by Cornelius Fudge." A wonderful read...I'm sorry I can't do this...It's so awful...just awful."

Harry could see the necklaces/ring/bracelet/bandanna, had caught on and somehow so did the Muggle broom. No one touched the Wart Stew at all, though to Harry's delight the Earwig Earrings outsold the Fudge's autobiography.

In modest disguise, Harry and the rest of the LL integrated themselves among the crowd, waiting for Luna to appear on the podium. What the increasing impatient mob didn't know was that Luna Lovegood would not appear on the podium, she was already there.

Hidden under Harry's invisibility cloak, Luna was sitting in silence as hundreds of Witches and Wizards surrounded her, waiting for whatever was going to happen. Luna struggled hard to breath, as she suddenly felt a crippling wave of claustrophobia. Luna blamed this on the large concentration of Wrackspurts among the crowd. Luna would've laughed if she wasn't keeping silent and struggling to breath. She had far worse things to worry about than Wrackspurts or claustrophobia, like stage fright, messing up her speech, getting captured by Totalitar, getting killed by Totalitar, getting tortured by Totalitar while everyone is massacred by Dementors and Humdinger's and...

On second thought, this train of thought was not helping. Luna decided to go back to being claustrophobic while she mentally repeated the mantra that Harry had drilled into her for the last week. "I'll be absolutely still, make no noise, and pretend that I don't exist."

"But Harry I like existing." Luna complained with a frown on her face.

"Then you better pretend well, or you won't be pretending at all." Harry spoke in the solid confident voice he had used while teaching, yet his eyes gave away the anxiety that plagued him.