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(Enchanting Melodies) Chapter 441: Silver Moon
🕑 Added 2025-03-13 14:00:08 +0000 UTCChapter 441: Silver Moon
18 June 1995, Hogwarts
Harry left Dumbledore’s office feeling a mixture of suppressed rage and vindication. For one, the man’s self-delusions had to be on another level. Seriously, how the hell did Grindelwald manage to convince him that bringing out the end of the world would somehow save it from itself? It made Harry wonder what kind of justification Dumbledore could have come up with to accept this plan, of all things.
To be honest, the man he had met had been a far cry from the political titan he had faced just a few years prior. Maybe it was because Harry was more of a threat now, and that he’d actually fought the man and won their duel, but he just didn’t seem that intimidating. His flaws felt more accentuated, more pronounced, more obvious, for the lack of a better word.
It had to be a combination of Dumbledore slowly getting unstable over the past year. The depth he had to go through, the murders, the deaths, he had to personally deal with, must have affected him, deeply.
He probably wasn’t as detached as he was back in Britain, where he ruined lives with a couple of words and maybe even a letter or two. He didn’t end family lines, the Death Eaters did, Voldemort did, and there was always a form of detachment, even if he arranged for horrible things to happen. It was all going according to a plan, a road to his dream of what Magical Britain was meant to become.
Now, he directly massacred students and arranged for children to die, and there was very little he could hide behind, very few arguments he could manage other than it was for ‘the greater good’. He collaborated with vampires, and he had indirectly even impeded the Light by destroying Olympus. After all, had he let the Olympians be fully corrupted and subsumed by the Light, he’d have very powerful allies during Ragnarök. It was probably why Grindelwald chose this prophecy to destroy in the first place. This was probably Grindelwald’s greatest achievement. He took the Champion of Light and brought him down to his level, made him sink into doing the dirty work for him, and now he was reaping the results.
Honestly, Harry had always assumed that the headmaster was a man with a heart of stone, unfeeling for the suffering of others, unable to appreciate the possibility of progressing past his designs. He hadn’t expected him to be like this and slowly spiral down because of his actions. It was just so sudden. The man had been fine for over a year, so why now?
It didn’t make him any less dangerous. If anything, it even made him more dangerous, but Harry could use that. It was a delight to see the fall of Albus Dumbledore. The man had probably committed more atrocities than most Dark Lords in history, and Harry could see the small cracks in the man’s self-delusions, which he planned to pry off one by one, relishing the pain the former headmaster would suffer.
And wasn’t it wonderful that Dumbledore obviously didn’t know about Grindelwald’s true plan? He thought that he was saving humanity and then fighting with his nemesis. It was sad that Harry knew more about his own plan than himself. He had planted the seeds of doubt, showed him that there was obviously more to Grindelwald’s ambition than just ‘saving the world’ and all he had to do was to let things fester and reap it during the final battle.
Still, the meeting was pretty odd, all things considered. Dumbledore must have known that Harry had no intention of stepping aside and letting him take control of things and that nothing would be achieved by speaking with one another. Was he planning on getting Harry to reveal something without meaning to? Every single word the young wizard said had been calculated to make sure that it wouldn’t happen, even if he might have been carried away a bit near the end.
Was it some form of trap, a distraction for Harry, maybe a plan to kidnap Daphne before that fateful day? It was likely not. Harry was fully ready to deploy his countermeasures and get the entire task cancelled. It was why he was sure that Daphne wouldn’t be kidnapped until the prophecy was broken. It was the only time when the small leverage Harry had on Grindelwald and Dumbledore would disappear completely. They would be under the protection of Nurmengard and there was very little Harry could do about it.
That’s what they thought anyway.
He had to suppress the urge to grin at the thought. His musings were interrupted by someone tapping his shoulder, “Hello, Harry Potter.”
The voice was familiar and had a dreamy quality to it. It took him a bit too much time to recognize it. It wasn’t exactly his fault; he hadn’t really heard her speak in over a year.
“Hello, Luna Lovegood,” he retorted with a faint smile on his lips.
He turned and saw her. Luna had definitely grown up since the last time he saw her. She was taller, her blond hair got a silver tinge to it, as if it was glowing, and it flowed down to her waist.
Most of all, she seemed a bit more confident. He hadn’t heard anything happen between her and her housemates recently, but he wasn’t exactly actively looking for them. He had asked Tracy and Blaise to keep an eye on her when the tournament began. According to them, a few people tried to bully her, but she held her own most of the time, and they backed off after that.
“And here I thought that you forgot about me,” the girl asked with an amused tone.
“Forget about you? Never,” Harry replied honestly, even if he felt a bit bad about not speaking with her for a very long time.
In another life perhaps, Luna Lovegood would have been part of his close friend group. She would have been with him as he fought in the tournament, helped him fight off vampires, or helped him investigate Dumbledore’s actions. Unfortunately, for all her intelligence, Harry found her to be a bit too innocent to fight at her age, which was something he didn’t want to ruin. Well, calling her innocent was a bit of an exaggeration. It was more like the fact that she’d been possessed by the Diary, betrayed by someone she considered to be her friend, and Harry hadn’t wanted to put more burdens on the girl. There was also the fact that her magical education was always a bit behind that of Daphne, Blaise and Tracy, and it would have made her feel like she had to catch up constantly.
Feeling a bit awkward, he asked, “So, how have you been?”
“I’m alright, at least now that I know that Dad is alright after the war with the lockdown finally ending. The Lycans and Death Eaters didn’t attack him, thankfully, but the ICW made him stop printing the Quibbler for lack of investigative works, whatever that means. He’s been trying to renew the license at the ministry but it’s a pretty slow process. What about you?”
Harry gave her an incredulous look, which made the Ravenclaw burst into laughter, “Oh, you should have seen your face. It was just so funny.”
He rolled his eyes at that, “Let’s just say that the last few months were exciting, to say the least.”
“I was worried when they said that you disappeared in Durmstrang. You were also in Olympus too, right?”
To say that he was surprised was an understatement, “How the hell did you figure that out? Even Blaise and Tracy didn’t know until I told them.”
The blonde rolled her eyes, “As if you’d let Daphne run around on her own. And I watched a few illegal Omnioculars on the first day of the Sixth task, and that sealed the deal. Anyone who knew anything about Carmichael would know that he tended to crumble under pressure. Even then, he wouldn’t have been able to do a tenth of what you did while holding back, even on a good day. I’m guessing you used some Polyjuice.”
Harry shook his head, “No, I used an enchanted artefact. It was a lot more stable than a potion that I’d have to take every hour or so. Was it really that obvious?”
“Not really. Carmichael didn’t exactly have a close group of friends, and even the few who knew him would have a very hard time getting the Omnioculars. I got mine from Blaise a few weeks ago, and it cost me a lot just to borrow them for a day, let alone, buy one. I just happen to be more observant than most.”
And wasn’t that an understatement? Luna was a clairvoyant, someone who saw more of the world than most people. In general, clairvoyance is a magical skill that allows someone to perceive the world differently, to see beyond what can be perceived with the naked eye. In a way, Harry's Arcane Hearing might be a form of clairvoyance since he could perceive magic in a way others just don't, but the general definition involves a more conceptual nature of the skill. Luna, for example, can just discern the true nature of something. Whether someone is good or bad, kind or mean, hateful or loving.
The girl had tried to stay away from her gift as much as possible before the incident with the Diary, but she had grown out of her shell after that, probably moving past her slight resentful over her skill, probably having seen something during her mother’s death.
This made Luna a very easy girl to befriend, to say the least. She could easily see through him, and understand his motives, something that saved a lot of arguments in the long term. They spent months together where he helped her practice her skills slightly, but even he knew that he was a bit over his head with that one. Nevertheless, while they didn’t make any magical progress, Luna stopped being so overwhelmed by what she could see.
And now, he was seeing the results; the girl had obviously grown far more confident with her skill and definitely stopped spacing out as much as she used to. Staying in Hogwarts had obviously been good to her, and that reassured Harry of his decision not to include her in his pretty messy affairs.
He did miss spending time with her, surprisingly more than Tracy and Blaise. Those two had their own thing figured out and had grown into people with their own priorities, which hadn’t really matched Harry’s own. It was probably why their conversations were a bit awkward since he came back. In contrast, in just a few sentences, he and Luna felt like old friends, as if the year of separation hadn’t mattered. In a way, for someone like Luna, whose ability let her see the world differently, she could see exactly how much he had changed and adapt to it with ease.
As if she was reading his mind, which she wasn’t – he checked, the girl smiled knowingly before muttering, “It seems that we chose a good night for our stroll.”
Harry snorted and just nodded, “The weather is quite good.”
The girl nodded as if he had said a very sage comment and started skipping towards the school grounds. Harry followed her without any issues, noticing that the sun had started to set slowly. Minutes later, they had left the castle and made their way towards the forest. They walked past the Black Lake, its dark waters reflecting the silver glow of the stars that had started to appear in the sky.
Harry watched Luna's graceful movements, feeling a sense of calm wash over him. The familiar sound of her humming echoed through the night, harmonizing with the soft rustling of leaves and the distant hooting of an owl. Tension that he forgot was even on his shoulders started to dissipate slowly until the girl plumped down beneath his favourite tree, “I liked to come here when you were gone. It always felt a bit more familiar.”
The young wizard didn’t really know what to say to that, and he just let her continue, “You’re my first friend, you know. I know that I’m not exactly your first priority and that we have completely different lives, but I wanted you to know that I will never forget what you did for me. You saved me from that Diary, and I will always be in your debt.”
“There are no debts between friends, Luna,” Harry calmly answered, while squeezing her shoulder to try to comfort her slightly.
“Maybe. But I wanted you to know that you’re a good man Harry Potter.”
Again, the young wizard was struck speechless by the young girl’s proclamation before muttering, “I’m not sure I am, not anymore. I hate that I’m like this now, worrying about fights and politics. I am a scholar. I’m meant to do some research, experiment with magic, not whatever the hell I’m doing now.”
The girl gave him a sad smile, “Destiny is very rarely kind, but you’re managing your role very well, far better than others have before you. I can see that very clearly. You’re a good man, Harry. I thought that I needed to tell you that.”
The young wizard didn’t know why he was feeling so choked up, but he gave the girl a vulnerable smile, “Thank you.”
Luna returned his smile with a dreamy one of her own, and Harry spoke up without even thinking, “He’s dead, you know. Tom. He died a few weeks ago, alone and afraid.”
Her smile disappeared slightly, “You’re talking about Voldemort. They are very different people. Tom has been dead for years, after all.”
“I suppose you’re right. The difference between Tom Riddle and what he became is like night and day.”
The blonde smiled softly, “Thanks for telling me, though. I was scared that Tom’s fascination with me would get Voldemort to target me as well. When I heard he was back, I’ll admit to being very afraid. I stopped Dad from taking me out of Hogwarts. I knew that it was safer here.”
They stood in silence until the girl spoke up with an eery tone, “There’s a storm coming.”
Harry nodded. She could probably see it, the beginning of something as massive as Ragnarök, “I suppose that’s an apt way to call it that.”
“It feels like the very world is holding its breath. It’s funny that so many people don’t know that their lives will change very soon, and at its centre, there’s you, like the eye of the storm.”
“It feels like it’s about the swallow me up,” he spoke with a bit of hesitation in his voice.
Luna turned and gave him one of the most serious looks he ever saw on her face, “It cannot swallow you if you accept that you are its master. The storm is you, Harry Potter. Soon, you’ll have a choice to make, the choice that will decide your fate, whether you will live or die. When the moment comes, you’ll need to make terms with who you are, and what your role is in the story is. Promise me you’ll remember that.”
“It’s a bit vague, Luna,” he muttered.
However, she seemed insistent, “Promise me!”
“I promise,” Harry answered with a bit of hesitation.
And just like that, the seriousness in Luna’s face vanished, and it was replaced with her normal dreamy expression. She then pulled Harry’s hands and started to sway while humming.
Harry gave her a confused look, “What are you doing?”
“Dancing, of course,” she uttered as if it hadn’t been out of the blue, “You look like you could use a dance.”
Harry let out a small chuckle, shaking his head, but he didn’t resist when Luna pulled him into the gentle rhythm of her swaying. The wind whispered through the trees, carrying the distant hum of her melody, and before he realized it, he was moving with her, his steps light, unthinking.
For the first time in what felt like years, the weight on his shoulders seemed to lift. The storm, the war, the looming choices—none of it mattered in that moment. There was just the soft glow of the moon, the cool night air, and Luna’s laughter as she twirled him unexpectedly, making him stumble before catching himself.
He laughed, really laughed, and Luna beamed at him.
When the song in her head seemed to end, she stilled, looking up at him with knowing eyes.
“See?” she whispered. “Not all storms are meant to drown you.”
Harry exhaled, something unspoken settling in his chest. He squeezed her hand lightly.
“Thank you, Luna. What do you feel about you and your father taking a small trip to Greece?”
She just smiled knowingly, as if she had expected him to ask all along. In a way, maybe she did.
AN: I decided to take a suggestion from MonolithV (Thank you) and write a final scene with Luna Lovegood. I hope it came out like I wanted to and that I portrayed her character properly (I haven’t written her in a while), but I don’t mind rewriting it depending on your feedback. Now is the time to tell me your suggestions if you want me to write any chapters before the final battle. I’m talking about unresolved plotlines you’d like to see finished or just saying goodbye to certain characters. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
Comments
Afterdark230
Aaaawww Luna scenes are always fun and head ache inducing lol. It’s good that he is protecting her.
Monzter E
Nice, a little break before the shitshow...
