Sanity ~ A Luna Lovegood Fanfiction

News

The next morning, news reached Hogwarts that there was a new threat to the Wizarding World. 

Outside of London, a high-up Ministry official by the name of Quentin Ormerod was found dead, his cloak ripped open and a Dark Mark scored into his chest. He was a Muggle-born. 

The Daily Prophet reported that a rogue group of Death Eaters; crazed and ruthless were responsible for the attack. Voldemort's mission had been revived and the remaining extremists were out for blood. 

It was like a bomb had struck the castle. Shock enveloped us. The only words spoken were lowered to hushed whispers. Students couldn't walk to their common room without looking cautiously over their shoulders at every turn. We all thought it was over. We thought we were safe. After years of suffering, we thought we deserved to be at peace. 

McGonagall controlled the news quickly. She stood as unwavering as a statue at the head of the Great Hall and reminded us that we are stronger together, that Hogwarts will never be destroyed. 

The news that we were at risk, once again, struck me in a different manner. I refused to believe that we were to be hiding and cowering from more dangerous and raging radicals. I knew that we would overcome it. But hearing the news, I realised how essential it was that I reconcile with my father as soon as possible.

That weekend was the first Hogsmeade trip of the term. I didn't have a permission slip so I couldn't go but it gave me the time that I needed to figure out how I was going to reunite with Daddy. I needed to do something fabulous and extravagant - it's the way Lovegoods always do things. 

Before Hermione and Ginny set off, content in the knowledge that they were finally about to have some free time with their respective boyfriends, I slipped them a few sickles and asked them to buy me a Howler.

My dorm room was empty. It would be the first time I got a chance to properly insert myself into the room without feeling on-edge about the other girls. Each bed had a blank cork board pinned to the wall beside it. The emptiness unnerved me. I would have to start getting creative and devoting more of my time to the hobbies I used to love. All my paints, glittery pens and coloured gemstones were still in my trunk. 

Before settling myself in front of the blank canvas on my wall, I looked out the window, saw the beautiful grass and trees spiraling below me and I realised it would be a waste to spend my Saturday indoors. 

I grabbed the only empty notebook I had - a Divination copybook that I had not yet used - and poured my sketching supplies into a satchel. I set off, smiling at the portraits I passed in the hall, stumbling over the stone step out of the courtyard and marching down the sloping lawn at the back of the school. The sun was peeking its pale face out from behind patchy clouds in the sky. It was going to be a good day. 

I rounded the hillside and found the herd of thestrals grazing in a secluded spot on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. They heard my approach and their arched ears perked up.

I smiled and said my hello's before sitting down, cross-legged, on the vibrant green grass. Then I opened up my notebook and unrolled my case of pencils. Casos was intrigued and he skulked over, nudging my knee with his pointed nose.

I told him what I was doing and he seemed to understand. He stepped back from me and posed so that his whole body was in view. My agile fingers picked up a pencil and began to sketch his outline onto the page.

The pencil guided me over the corrugation of his spine, the emphasis of joints in his knees, the leathery tail that lapped coolly from side to side, the thick-skinned wings that sprouted and stretched from his back. Each bone in his skeleton thrust outwards from under his sleek grey skin. I drew his features and joined them together until it resembled the thestral before me. I darkened the rims of his eyes, the end of his gaunt snout and filled in the tufty mane that grew from his neck.