Chapter 21: Ch21. Of Moons and familiars
As Harry pondered about the dangers of the muggles, he suddenly felt someone gently tugging his sleeve. He looked to the side and saw a head full of pale-blond hair gently flowing around a cutely-shaped childish face. Harry thoughtlessly noted a pointy button nose between two dreamy yet warmly-pale sapphire orbs, boring into him intently. The little girl who interrupted his thoughts and stole his attention away, gave him a shy smile with her thin pink lips and her cheeks meekly reddened.
"Hello." She greeted, her eyes still disturbingly peering right through him.
Harry blinked owlishly at her in discomfort due to her focused gaze, taking a half-step back to distance himself from her.
"Hello?" He greeted back unsurely, earning himself a happy nod from her.
She just silently observed him for the next few seconds. He was about to open his mouth when he saw her biting her lips to push away her shyness. His mind stopped at the cuteness overload he just received, almost missing her next sentence.
"Will you take me to save the ugly chicken?" She asked out of nowhere in childish excitement.
Harry's mind received another kind of shock and he didn't know how to react.
"I... Wha-"
"Or would you prefer eating books with our minds?" She shot Harry another eager question and then she suddenly frowned, tilting her head as her eyes narrowed.
Harry was about to react, somehow... anyhow, when the girl shook her head in exasperation, again stopping his mind in its tracks.
"I don't think befriending the brown beaver will work." She dreamily stated and shook her head sadly. "The weather may get too letter-y for that."
"Is that so?" Harry asked incredulously, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Yes." She said, completely self-confident. "Badgers are cool though. I like their fur?" She added in a questioning, unsure way.
"I... do you?" Harry tried to respond as his eyebrow arched in befuddlement but the topic somewhat eluded him.
"No wonder. They are good at hiding!" The girl nodded nonchalantly, making Harry flabbergasted. Again.
Harry did the only thing he thought would give him a slight time-out. He gently patted her head. It worked and the girl stopped, somewhat surprised. She gave Harry a longing look as she subtly leaned into the head pat.
Harry noticed it though and his eyes flashed in pitty. From her reaction, he gleaned she probably lacks physical attention. As fast as his pitying look appeared, it disappeared. It wouldn't do, to make her sad because of it.
Harry proceeded to give her an inviting smile.
"Fancy some ice-cream?" He asked her in an attempt to distract her and before he could react he was engulfed in a tight hug, desperately pressing herself into himself.
Harry awkwardly rubbed her back when it all went blurry. He didn't even know how or when she managed to drag him into the ice-cream store! Nor when she managed to devour ten bowls of vanilla ice-cream. As they were sitting and spooning away the ice-cream, he deemed the girl calm enough to inquire about some basic information. He was about to ask her name when she exclaimed happily.
"Ah, the Nargles quieted down around you." The girl quipped, a spoon of ice-cream an inch in front of her mouth. "Are you perhaps trying to see what makes Luna-tick?"
Harry face-faulted onto the table, as she continued to happily devour another bowl. Nevertheless, he at least knew who she was.
Luna Lovegood.
She looked... kinda like the actress? Maybe if he closed his right eye and squinted his left? Nay. She was totally different. And yet, not really. Harry thought it was because she is still too young. Or maybe it was her childish attitude? Nay. She was definitely different!
Probably.
As he contemplated her likeness towards the actress from the movies, she interrupted his thoughts with something Harry would describe as a knowing smile. But that can't be right, can it?
"The moon likes your offering." She told him in pure satisfaction, confusing him again. "Come." And dragged him away before he could even start to ponder on his newfound confusion. He barely managed to throw a galleon at the stunned shopkeeper when Luna purposefully, he thought, slowed down near the counter. The shopkeeper's shock doubled itself as if Harry used Gemino Charm on it when he realized Harry paid seven times the worth of the ice-cream they ordered.
"Lucky magical number." Little Luna skipped happily towards a pet store.
As they entered, she started looking around the cages with owls as if looking something while Harry barely caught his breath. As he finally regained his composure, Luna yet again took hold of his sleeve and hauled him after herself.
They finally stopped in front of a cage with a single small raven.
"I like the talons," Luna said with a dreamy smile, having a staring contest with the bird. "I doubt I would fit in into her nest, however. Not after meeting you." She told Harry who was not paying attention to her anymore.
The raven was perfect. He needed a bird who could carry his mail but after Hedwig... let's just say, he had something against owls.
"Could you tell me more about him?" Harry asked the closest shop attendant while Luna was surprisingly silent, showing only a content smile as she stared... nowhere.
"Ah, this little guy..." The attendant looked at Harry with a complex expression. "It is costly." He unhelpfully pointed out after seeing Harry's muggle clothes.
Harry just rolled his eyes and took out a magical cheque, redeemable at Gringotts. The cheque was magical, it would not contain the sum if he couldn't afford it. He wrote the exact sum the plaque under the cage said and handed it to the attendant.
"Now, will you tell me more about him?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed.
"Ah, yes!" The attendant answered, startled out of his mind. Since when did muggle-borns have so much money! He wondered about it, seeing the nice sum of 1000 galleons on the cheque. Hell, this particular bird was here more for showing off than hope somebody would buy it!
"First of all, this is a female Wraith Raven. It is a very rare beast that is very rarely found around Azkaban." The attendant started explaining. "Because of its ability to coexist with Dementors, it can release the same chilling aura Dementors can and rumors say it has some kind of connection with soul magic. Hence its feathers are used in many rituals aimed at soul modification. Not that anyone performs them in this day and age. The raven has the ability to phase through objects by becoming intangible, like a ghost. We contain it here only thanks to the specific cage that prevents it from using its ability." He showed an annoyed expression and gave a slight glare at the raven, earning himself a relentless unblinking stare from her. "It can also shape-shift like a Boggart, therefore has a very strong yet subtle Legilimency. I wouldn't look into its eyes if I were you. Unlike a normal Boggart, this bird is not harmless. Its beak and talons are insanely sharp and hold some kind of weakening curse. Man, is it annoying to handle the bird!"
After hearing the general description, Harry ignored the shop attendant and snatched a key from his hand. He opened the cage and reached his hand for the raven. The second Harry touched his new pet, he could clearly feel the bond between them as the raven became his familiar. It made him smile in content.
"I will call you Rowena." Harry informed his new familiar. "After Rowena Ravenclaw." He received an acknowledging and pleased caw in return.
"I see, that's very baffling indeed." Luna said joyfully, her dreamy smile widened. Rowena cawed and... nodded? Harry had a glaring suspicion he missed something important. Again.
He sighed. Being in the vicinity of the blonde dreamy sunshine just might not be exactly well for his mental health. Harry turned back to the fidgeting attendant and noted Rowena did the same. The attendant was desperately trying to avoid her eyes, afraid of her shape-shifting boggart-like ability. She apparently noticed and took it as a challenge, following him with her amused stare.
"Does Rowena have all the necessary charms done?" Harry asked him. "I will need her to act like a post owl."
That earned him a quite gentle but still painful jab, courtesy of Rowena's beak.
"Of course, you are no petty owl. That's silly. You are a proud raven!" Luna exclaimed, getting another pleased... nod from Rowena.
Harry wondered whose familiar Rowena is. The only thing keeping his doubts at bay was the bond with her that pulsed strongly between her and himself.
"Yes, the bird will be able to function as a post owl." The attendant answered, flinching at the angry caw he received when he compared Rowena to a common post owl. Harry decided to vacate the store before it loses an employee because of his angry raven.
Luna, Harry, and Rowena, perched on Harry's shoulder, left the store and were instantly on alert when a blond-haired man grabbed Luna. They relaxed when they saw the resemblance between the man and Luna though.
"There you are, sunshine! Come, it's time to go home. I am late for my interview because of your wanderings!" He told her and started to drag her away, completely ignoring Harry and the indignantly cawing raven.
"Write to me, Harry!" Luna shouted cheerfully at Harry as she followed the man.
"So... does she actually see magic," Harry asked Rowena in uncertainty, receiving a mental shrug from her. "True, she might be a somewhat of a seer."
After a while of pondering caws from Rowena and getting into daze from thinking about the way Luna's head works, Harry just gave up and shrugged.
"There is always the possibility she is just a lucky headcase." He remarked and received a positive caw in return when he suddenly froze in his tracks. He looked Rowena straight into her eyes, completely flabbergasted as he received a mental head tilt. "I never told her my name."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KasiCair
KasiCair This is fairly long so if you don't care about the change in appearances of some characters, no need to read:
Okay, before someone blows his head off and says something like 'the author doesn't even know how his character looks like!' due to the paragraph where Harry is trying to find Luna's likeness to the actress from movies.
First of all, I have read many fanfics and gotta confess, I do not picture the characters of Harry Potter as their actors from movies. I mean, yeah, they give the general outline, something akin to base.
But when I picture Harry Potter, I see shining emeral-green eyes and expressive messy black hair. Something Daniel Radcliffe just doesn't project. At all.
When I picture Hermione I imagine bushy hair, buck-teeth and yes, to a small degree I see Emma Wattson, the older, somewhat. Not really. Maybe close likeness. But that's only for her older form. The younger Hermione thought, Nah, I don't see the actress. At all.
My point being: My protagonist remembers the appearances from the movies so his mind tries to connect them to their counterparts. Which is not really working because there are differences, making MC confused.
I WILL try to overhaul the appearance of several characters like Narcissa and Ted Tonks. It is done either because of the plot or my personal vanity. I just want to portray them as I imagine them.
*shrug.* what can you do...
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