After Hermione had joined Ron and Harry's weary group, the three began making their way toward the Great Hall together.

"By the way," Hermione suddenly paused mid-step, her sharp mind catching onto something that had been nagging at her, "why are you both up so early today? Is there some special activity I should know about, or have you two finally decided to take up early morning studying?"

It seemed that apart from Ron's critical words about her various enthusiasms, Hermione hadn't overheard any of the more significant parts of their earlier conversation.

Harry patiently explained to Hermione everything he had already told Ron, describing the chilling voice that had torn him from sleep and driven him to wander the castle's endless corridors in search of answers.

As he spoke, he could see her expression growing more serious.

"This could be a major discovery," Hermione nodded seriously. "You absolutely should tell Professor Westeros or Dumbledore about this immediately. Perhaps the voice you heard was made by the very culprit who petrified Ray."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Harry agreed, relief obvious in his voice at finding someone who took his concerns seriously. Then his expression darkened, and he smiled bitterly. "I was planning to find a professor to discuss it with as soon as possible. But what I still can't understand is why only I seem capable of hearing that voice. Ron, you're absolutely certain you didn't detect anything, not even the slightest whisper?"

Ron shook his head insistently. "Absolutely nothing, mate. Complete silence except for your tossing and turning. If there had been any kind of voice echoing through the castle, I would have heard it, my hearing's perfectly fine."

Just then, the sound of light footsteps came floating toward them from further down the corridor, sounding like someone was skipping or dancing their way through the halls.

The three looked curiously in the direction of the approaching sound and saw a girl with dark golden-brown hair bouncing toward them.

She wore odd radish-shaped earrings that swayed gently with each step, and had her wand was tucked casually behind one ear.

Harry's memory stirred with recognition as he observed this unusual figure approaching them. He remembered this girl quite clearly now—he had seen her several times around Hogwarts, usually drifting through the corridors with that same dreamy, otherworldly expression that made her seem like she was continuously listening to music only she could hear.

Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw girl whose reputation for eccentricity was well-known.

When Luna passed by Harry, moving with that floating step that made her seem to barely touch the ground, Harry gave her a polite smile as a greeting.

At this moment, Luna suddenly paused in her graceful progress and turned around to face them, her pale silver eyes focusing on Harry. "Good morning, Harry Potter," She said in her typical, dreamy voice.

"Um... good morning," Harry responded, clearly taken aback by her direct address. He hadn't expected Luna to speak to him at all, let alone greet him by name, and he found himself scratching the back of his head. "Do you... actually know me?"

Even as the words left his mouth, Harry realized he had said something rather foolish. Everyone at Hogwarts knew him, of course after all, he was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

Luna nodded slowly and then tilted her head. "Of course I know you. You're Harry Potter."

She paused, observing his face with those silver eyes. "You look deeply troubled this morning. There are already many Wrackspurts floating above your head—more than I've seen around anyone in quite some time."

"Wrackspurts?" Harry repeated, his voice carrying a note of complete bewilderment as he unconsciously glanced up.

"Yes," Luna explained with the patient tone of someone discussing something perfectly obvious. "They're small, invisible creatures that gather around your head or nearby when you're troubled or confused. They're quite common, actually."

Harry and Hermione exchanged meaningful glances, and he could see the same mixture of confusion and skeptical concern reflected in her eyes.

This was clearly a thing that even Hermione's reading hadn't prepared her for.

However, Luna didn't seem particularly interested in providing further explanation on these mysterious creatures. Instead, she smiled slightly. "Being troubled isn't good for anyone—it makes the Wrackspurts multiply exponentially, and eventually they might even attempt to burrow into your ears."

"Sounds like complete nonsense to me..." Hermione muttered under her breath.

Luna didn't pay attention to Hermione's murmur. Instead, she waved cheerfully at the small group with her absent-minded friendliness and immediately turned to continue on her way.

As she began to turn away, however, the wand that had been tucked behind her ear suddenly slipped from its position and tumbled toward the floor.

"Ah—" Luna let out a soft cry of surprise and instinctively tried to catch the falling wand.

However, the wand slipped past her reaching fingertips.

Just then, something extraordinary happened that made all three looking at her freeze in astonishment. A green vine extended smoothly from the back of Luna's left hand and wrapped itself steadily around the falling wand.

"Thank you," Luna said warmly to the vine, as naturally as if she were thanking a helpful friend, and carefully took her rescued wand from the plant's grip.

Recently, this little fellow seemed to be getting more and more perfectly synchronized with her thoughts and needs.

She found this deeply satisfying.

Then Luna continued walking away while simultaneously controlling the Devil's Snare vine with unconscious ease, making it perform a series of loops and coils before finally turning it to tie itself into a decorative bow.

The three friends stood frozen in place, completely stunned by what they had just witnessed. Their mouths hung slightly open.

They were all far too familiar with that type of vine on Luna's hand.

This was undoubtedly Professor Westeros's Devil's Snare!

Immediately, Harry called out urgently to Luna, who was already beginning to drift away down the corridor.

"Wait, Luna!" He shouted urgently. "Please, just wait a moment!"

Luna stopped and turned around slowly, her face wearing that familiar expression of dreamy curiosity.

"What's wrong?" she asked in her usual floating voice. "If you want to ask me more about Wrackspurts—you can find quite detailed information in The Quibbler."

"No, it's not about those... creatures," Harry said quickly, stepping forward several paces. He pointed at the vine that had now retreated to wrap itself decoratively around Luna's wrist. "This vine—where did you get it?"

Ron also moved closer. "It looks incredibly similar to Professor Westeros's plant, actually, it looks exactly like it."

At this point, Luna looked at her Devil's Snare vine and showed a look of sudden realization: "Ah, you mean Mimi Gugu?"

"Mimi Gugu?" the three friends repeated in unison.

"That's its name," Luna nodded with complete seriousness, as if naming magical plants with such whimsical appellations was the most natural thing in the world. "Very fitting, don't you think?"

Actually, Harry thought that this was quite possibly the strangest name he had ever heard for any living creature, magical or muggle.

Glancing at Ron and Hermione's expressions, it was obvious that they shared his opinion but were too polite to say so directly.

"How did you get it?... I mean, Mimi Gugu." He couldn't help asking.

Luna thought for a moment, then blinked and said airily, "Oh, Professor Westeros gave it to me."

"What?" Harry's voice rose sharply in surprise.

Professor Westeros would actually give Devil's Snare to Lun, this was quite strange.

Luna didn't seem surprised by his shocked reaction at all. She just nodded lightly. "I helped Professor Westeros with something, and then I received this."

"Can we take a look?" Harry couldn't help saying.

"Of course you may," Luna agreed readily. "But you'd better be quite gentle—Mimi Gugu is still a bit shy around strangers."

As if responding to her words, the vine emerged from Luna's hand, moving like an elegant snake as it swam back and forth.

Watching this scene, Harry nodded thoughtfully.

This particular section of Devil's Snare vine appeared to be only about a meter in total length, completely different in scale from the massive one that was with Professor Westeros.

He had seen Adrian's Devil's Snare in its complete—the sky-covering network of vines had been so long that they could literally block out sunlight when fully stretched.

But this vine section was clearly quite precious and represented a significant gift.

The level of magical control required to separate a living piece from the parent plant without causing damage to either portion was considerable.

Somehow, Harry felt a bit sour.

"I've always felt that Professor Westeros's plants don't conform to any kind of common sense," Hermione observed thoughtfully. "None of my textbooks have ever mentioned that Devil's Snare would show this kind of independent, intelligent behavior."

"Maybe you should trust your own eyes rather than relying exclusively on those dusty old books," Ron suggested with a casual shrug. "What's written in books isn't necessarily accurate or complete—just look at Lockhart's published books for a perfect example. Compare the glorious adventures described in those pages with the reality of Lockhart, and you'll see exactly what I mean about the reliability of written sources."

Hermione immediately turned to glare at Ron. Although she didn't say anything, her face clearly showed some displeasure.

Ron, seemingly oblivious to the danger he was wooing, continued his observation with the tactless persistence that had gotten him into trouble countless times before, "I remember when school started this term, you circled Lockhart's name on your class schedule with little pink hearts drawn all around it. You were practically swooning over his photograph in his books."

Hermione's face immediately flushed red. She glared at Ron with fierce intensity, and her lips pressed together in a thin, dangerous line that anyone with sense would have recognized as a clear warning sign.

Obviously, she had no desire whatsoever to be reminded of that particularly embarrassing chapter in her academic career, when she had briefly fallen victim to Lockhart's fake charm and celebrity appeal.

"Don't you dare mention that incident ever again," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

Ron, finally recognizing that he had pushed his luck far enough for one morning, adopted an expression of exaggerated innocence but wisely chose to shut his mouth before he could dig himself into an even deeper hole.

Luna observed this interaction between Ron and Hermione and smiled lightly. "Well, goodbye then, I really should continue on my way. Do be careful of those Wrackspurts I mentioned—they seem to be multiplying around your group at an alarming rate."

She paused thoughtfully, as if remembering something. "Oh, and I should mention—I just saw quite a large crowd of students gathered around the main notice board in the entrance hall."

After delivering this interesting piece of information, Luna immediately began walking away.

________________

You can read more chapters on:

/IamLuis