Sanity ~ A Luna Lovegood Fanfiction

The Headmistress

It was the middle of November. I remember because the first snowfall of the winter was sprinkled across the castle grounds that very morning. I was so excited to get outside and see how each of the forest inhabitants were adapting to the snow.

I was sitting in class. Actually paying attention for once. Professor Trelawney was harping on about the history of crystal balls and the origins of her own. I kind of had to pay attention, there were no windows in her classroom for me to stare out of.

But the shock came when a knock was battered on the door. It was a glad distraction for me. Usually, a class interruption was a sign that one of the students was about to get in trouble.

Professor Flitwick pushed open the door. It had been quite a forceful knock for a man of such small stature.

"Professor Flitwick," Professor Trelawney professed, "how splendid of you to grace us with your presence."

Professor Flitwick looked stern but he couldn't get a word in before the other professor butted in again.

"Just on time, of course. Shall I do the honours?"

He grunted in reply, swallowing a sour expression, as Professor Trelawney spread her arms wide and gazed purposefully through the room. She squeezed her eyes shut and allowed her fingers to dance across the room until they outstretched and stabbed pointedly at me.

"Luna Lovegood, dear, Professor McGonagall would like to see you." She opened her eyes, eyeing me through her thick glasses. A misty smile spread across her face.

Every head in the foggy classroom turned. They were all staring at me piercingly. I froze in place, staring aimlessly at Professor Trelawney.

"Go on, dear," she urged, her smile intact.

I blinked and nothing changed. Cautiously, I pulled myself out of the smothering armchair, picked up my crystal ball and tucked it back into the empty shelf it came from. Eyes were following me. All of them were questioning, What did you do?

Well, they could wonder all they liked, I had no idea. I got to the front of the room. Professor Flitwick nodded wordlessly and Professor Trelawney shooed me out the door.

Professor Flitwick's heel clacked on the tiles, echoing through the empty halls, pinging from one bare wall to the next. 

"Are you sure it's me Professor McGonagall wants to see?" I asked. "Maybe she meant to say Lance Linwood? Our names are quite similar..." 

Professor Flitwick ignored me, shaking his head as he bore on down the corridor. I followed, hanging back so he could lead the way. 

We arrived outside the the ornate passageway to Professor McGonagall's office. Professor Flitwick took this opportunity to look up at me. "I expected better from you, Lovegood," he said with finality. He pranced away, leaving me to my own devices. 

The door was open, a stocky gargoyle standing aside and eyeing me with distaste. I stepped through and heard the grinding of the door shutting behind me. 

It was a cavernous room, full of ostentatious columns and gilding, but I could easily distinguish that Professor McGonagall had cleared the office of some of the frilly bits left behind from Dumbledore's era. 

She was as still as a statue at her desk, her shoulders pulled back and her spine straight. Stiff-necked, her eyes traced my footsteps until I was stood right in front of the huge desk.  It was much more pleasant to gaze at the portraits on the wall. Their eyes were fixed on me and some of them were wearing kind smiles. Their faces hung from the wall, each so diverse and unique, it would have been entrancing if I wasn't aware of the Headmistress' cold eyes still staring at me.