"Good morning, dear."
"Good morning, Luna."
"Morning Mum and Dad," Luna said with a yawn, plopping herself down at the kitchen table.
Her dad sat across the table from her, his face obscured by the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. Not that he took anything in it seriously; it was simply another form of entertainment, and he often treated it as such, usually with a chuckle or a remark about its absurdity as he turned the pages.
Luna had tried to read it once – much to the amusement of her parents – but she never saw what was so amusing about Ministry re-elections.
"Breakfast is served!" her mum shouted as she placed a full plate in front of Luna. "You got your sausage, your beans, your eggs fried just the way you like it, some black pudding, hash browns, the full monty."
Luna looked down at her plate, savoring the sight and smell of her breakfast. She picked up the fork, and let hover over her plate in indecision. When she finally settled on a choice, her fork swiftly jabbed down towards one of the thick, bloated sausages. Instead of sinking down into the meaty flesh and juices flowing outward from the puncture site, her fork felt an unusual resistance before it slid off.
Luna repeated the action, growing more cross as she did so, but the effect was replicated with each attempt. The sausage remained strong, its bounty unyielding.
The sound of muffled giggling made Luna look up, her attention directed at the source. A pale, dainty hand covered her mum's mouth, fingers spread wide enough that Luna could see her smile. Her entire body shook with suppressed laughter. In her other hand, not completely out of sight, was the end of a wand pointed at her plate.
Luna tried to make her displeasure known, but she couldn't help but smile; the absurdity of the situation called for it.
Her mum leaned towards her and whispered in her ear, "Watch this."
Luna watched intently, as her dad reached out for an English muffin on his own breakfast plate. Her mum waved her wand around in a circle, before jabbing it through the middle.
"Ack! Rubber!" her father shouted not long after, as the English muffin flew through the air. She followed its trajectory, and gasped in surprise when it bounced a couple of times on the floor, before coming to a rolling stop.
Her mum was the first to laugh, no longer trying to hide it. It was a light and warm, her curly blonde hair bouncing along with her. When she turned to look at her dad, his bewildered face caused her to laugh as well.
The laughter spread like a virus. Her dad's lips started to twitch, before his loud, boisterous laughter joined their own.
Their chorus rang throughout the house.
"Looks like it's going to rain," she said morosely.
Luna looked up at the overcast sky, and couldn't disagree. In the brisk autumn morning, the sun was nowhere in sight; the sky was populated only by clouds, and pockmarked by varying shades of gray that could only mean one thing.
Her mum sighed. She ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair, looking up at the sky with an expression of frustration and defiance. "Bugger the rain. We'll continue our walk, rain or shine, right Luna?"
"Right," Luna replied, tightening her grip around her mum's hands as a sort of comfort. The gesture brought a grin to her face; its child-like vibrancy was one of the few things that shined through even this overcast.
Luna made sure to capture the moment within her memory; it would make for a good painting, maybe somewhere in the kitchen.
They walked through the gardens amongst the hills that shielded their home from the rest of the village; it was similar to the foliage that surrounded the Weasley's home in The Burrow, but their gardens were more aesthetically pleasing; even more so this time of year.
When they both sat down on top of two tree stumps, with a calm stream running nearby, Luna found it best to ask her question. "Do you know why it rains?"
Her mum turned to look straight at her, a playful smile on her face. It was a precursor, a tell that Luna had noticed since she was younger. It only happened when she would answer a question with another question; not to be evasive, but so that the other party could work it out on their own.
"I certainly do. What about you?"
"Dad says that the aquavirus maggots are the cause of it."
She hummed in amusement. "I was asking if you knew, not if your dad knew."
Luna's face scrunched tightly as she thought. When she came to a realization, she looked up at the sky again, as if to confirm it was true.
"It rains because the sky is crying," Luna said.
"Why is the sky crying?"
"It's sad. Because something bad happened. Or something bad is going to happen." Luna turned to her mum. "Nothing bad is going to happen, is it?"
Her mum frowned, before reaching into her shimmering purple and yellow cloak, pulling out spectacles with lenses that were round and large, like an owl's eyes. She held it out for Luna.
"What's that?" Luna asked, eyeing the item curiously.
"They're magical spectacles. My mother gave them to me when I was about your age. She told me to wear these whenever I felt sad or troubled about anything. And now I'm doing the same."
She took the glasses from her mum's hands and wore them. They were larger than she thought, almost comically so, and they threatened to slide off the bridge of her nose already. Yet nonetheless, as she looked at the surroundings around her, the sight was captivating.
The overcast was gone, replaced with a bright blue sky and an ever-shining sun. The colors seemed to gleam with increased magnificence, with orange and red, purple and yellow and brown dancing, with even more colors popping out at her with gusto.
When she turned to look at her mum, she appeared exactly the same as she did without the glasses.
"That was amazing," Luna said breathlessly as she reluctantly took them off.
Her mum nodded. "If you spent every day worrying about every bad thing that might happen, you'd never be able to enjoy the good. And there's a lot of good in the world, Luna. A lot of good and wonder. All you have to do is just find it."
"Why don't you wear these all the time?"
She stared at Luna, before pulling her into a hug. "Why would I? When I'm with you and Xeno, I'm never sad or troubled."
After what felt like forever, they finally broke the embrace. "Now, you should put those glasses to good use," her mum said. She tapped her chin with an index finger. "How about you start with a scavenger hunt?"
Luna sat up straighter. "What am I looking for?"
"That's the thing…" she started. She scratched the back of her head as she laughed nervously. "You'll need to find my wand."
It was only then that Luna noticed that her mum's wand wasn't tucked behind her right ear. "You dropped your wand?"
"Now, now, let's not get confused. Children drop things. Adults simply…misplace them. Not that I misplaced it. This was a perfectly calculated maneuver by your mother."
"So you dropped it, and want me to find it," Luna replied flatly.
"You better hurry up; else the Tickler might show up."
"I'm not five anymore, Mum. The Tickler doesn't scare me anymore."
Her mum gave Luna a sly smile. "Is that so? Oh no! I feel…I feel it taking over!" She bowled over dramatically, tightly clutching the wrist of her left hand, the fingers curled into a claw-like shape. "I-I can't hold it back any longer! The Tickler is too strong for me! Run, Luna! Run!"
Luna screamed as "The Tickler" was raised high in the air above her. She ran in the opposite direction along the stream, glasses on, as her and her mother laughed and ran in every which direction they fancied.
It would be the last walk they would take together.
It was Luna's first funeral.
People and umbrellas alike (both in black) gathered around as they lowered the casket into the ground. A small, tufty-haired man with a singsong voice presided over the ceremony, and while his lips moved, Luna couldn't hear a single word that he was saying.
After it was over, family and friends came over to them to offer condolences, including a tiny man with a bushy beard and a tall and thin man with a long, silver beard. They were both from Hogwarts, she later overheard, a school that her mum and dad said she would go to when she was old enough.
They lingered in front of her gravestone, long after everyone had left.
HERE LIES
PANDORA LOVEGOOD
1960 – 1990
BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER
BROUGHT HOPE TO EVERY HEART SHE TOUCHED
Neither Luna nor her dad cried at all during the funeral processions.
The sky cried enough for both of them.
It had been a year since Pandora left them, and for Luna's sake, Xenophilius Lovegood did his best to parent for the both of them.
Whenever Luna wasn't with him, she was either in her room painting, or in Pandora's personal study, devouring every page while wearing oversized glasses.
They were the same ones that Pandora used to wear when she was at Hogwarts.
They settled into a sort of routine. Every morning, they would eat breakfast together, sometimes discussing the finer points of the latest issue of The Quibbler, other times going over his ever-increasing bestiary. If he didn't have anything for her to do, they would part ways; Xenophilius would head his workplace, while Luna would go to the room above his.
They would meet each other again for lunch and dinner. Once the dishes were washed and put away, Xenophilius would tuck Luna into her bed, and read to her passages from a book that she had been reading until she went to sleep. Afterwards, Xenophilius would return to his workplace for a few more hours, before heading to a bed that used to be ours, but was now his.
The routine was disrupted when Luna asked, "Dad, do you know anything about alchemy?"
He lowered his copy of the Daily Prophet – marked with red circles and hastily scribbled notes – and stared at his daughter, whose comically oversized glasses made her look like an owl.
He cleared his throat. "I can't say I do. Why are you asking?"
"I was reading Mum's journal, and it mentioned alchemy as a field of study she wanted to explore."
"I see," Xenophilius responded, taking a sip of coffee from his mug.
"I'd like to learn about it as well."
He sputtered, spitting coffee from his mouth all over the table and the Daily Prophet. Luna stared at him dreamily, remaining unfazed by her father's sudden surprise.
"You have to understand Luna, that alchemy is a very esoteric branch of magic."
"Esoteric?"
"Specialized. Only a few can really grasp the concept."
Luna titled her head to the side. "We won't know until we try, right?"
Xenophilius sighed. It wasn't Wrackspurts; he had replaced the repellent last night, and those were the strongest ones he had.
Luna is her mother's child, he thought as he rubbed his forehead with a free hand. How could he make her understand? Pandora had dabbled in creating spells, and had suffered the grisly consequences. He never wanted to repeat that moment again, not with Luna. Stepping into the room on that day…
He shook his head. He knew how futile an effort it was to stop Pandora from pursuing whatever interested her, and if Luna was indeed her mother's child, it would be the same with her. If Pandora was here, he'd know exactly how she'd react.
"I know someone who might be able to help you, Luna. If this is truly what you wish…"
Luna walked up to him and wrapped him in a warm embrace. "It is. Thank you, Dad."
Truly her mother's child, Xenophilius thought as he returned the gesture.
"Miss Lovegood, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Once more, I offer my condolences. Your mother was a bright student, and the world has lost a very good woman."
"Thank you. I'm sure she appreciates your words, wherever she is. Unless she's busy working on a new spell. Then you might have to leave a message."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Lemon drop?"
"No, our lemons are fine. We keep them in the refrigerator, so no chance of dropping."
The man chuckled. "It's a Muggle candy that I'm quite fond of. I brought a few with me if you like to try one."
She plucked one from the old man's outstretched hand, and popped it into her mouth, straight out of the plastic packaging. It was sour, with a bit of sweetness to counteract some of it.
"You were at the funeral," Luna said as she continued sucking on the lemon drop. "I remember. I would never forget someone with a beard like yours. And your robe looked like the night sky."
The man smiled. "You have exquisite taste in fashion, Miss Lovegood. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Luna Lovegood. You can just call me Luna. I'm not old enough to be a miss."
"And you may call me Dumbledore. Or Albus, if you prefer. I heard from Xenophilius that you were interested in alchemy? It's rare to find someone so young who has ever even heard of it, let alone become interested in such arts."
Luna nodded. "I read in Mum's journal about her wanting to explore the field of alchemy. After reading about that, I combed through the rest of her books, but was only able to pick up bits and pieces. She'll never get to now that she's dead. I thought maybe I could do it in her stead."
Dumbledore nodded sagely. He pulled out a wand, and with a flick of a wrist, transformed two wooden chairs into squashy yellow armchairs. After taking a moment to absorb the feat of magic, Luna took her seat in one of the armchairs. "Are you familiar with Transfiguration and Potions, Luna?"
"Transfiguration changes things, and Potions is what allows wizards to make magical liquids."
"A very simplified answer, but yes, that is the gist of it. Do you know where those two branches of magic came from?"
Luna thought for a moment. "People?"
Dumbledore's lips curled into a smile. "You are correct. But to be more specific, both Transfiguration and Potions originated from alchemy itself.
"You see, most alchemists had a magnum opus, the great work that they were striving for. Usually, this consisted of transforming base metals into gold, or finding the recipe for 'Panacea', an elixir that is said to grant immortality and cure any disease. When alchemy did not provide the results that they were looking for, some turned to more precise methods in order to achieve their goals. In the end, the branches of Transfiguration and Potions were derived from those efforts, though they never did reach their magnum opus."
"That's a very tragic story," Luna commented. "Forgive me if I don't cry. Diamondback Gnats sometimes like to steal tears away, and we have an infestation currently."
Dumbledore stared for a moment, before nodded. "That is quite alright, Luna. And yes, it is in a way tragic." He pulled at the hairs under his chin. "Do you know what the difference is then, between alchemy and the two branches it gave birth to?"
Luna shook her head.
"Transfiguration and Potions are often for the very scientific-minded. There are strict rules or guidelines you must follow, and experimentation can quite often be deadly if you are not aware of what you're getting into."
Luna leaned forward, enraptured by Dumbledore's words. "And alchemy?"
"Alchemy is the opposite. It's very whimsical, and spontaneous. It has some scientific processes like Transfiguration or Potions, but it benefits the most from those with an open mind. Sometimes the greatest creations come about from a happy accident.
"I would go so far as to say that alchemy in its purest form is like experiencing magic for the first time, over and over again. It is wonder come alive."
Luna's mouth was agape. A Tongue Twister could have escaped her mouth and wreaked havoc upon the room, but she didn't care.
"Before we move further, I'd like to know what your magnum opus is, Luna."
She closed her mouth, her face fixed into an expression of deep thought.
Her magnum opus. Her great work. What did she want to accomplish with alchemy?
Her thoughts drifted to her mum. They drifted to the gardens where they had their last walk, to the overcast sky, and the rain that followed.
And there's a lot of good in the world, Luna. A lot of good and wonder. All you have to do is just find it.
"I want to stop the rain, to stop the sky from crying," said Luna, staring directly into Dumbledore's eyes. "I want people to find all the good and wonder that the world has to offer. That is my magnum opus."
Behind his glasses, Dumbledore's eyes – a brilliant shade of blue – twinkled. "That is a very admirable goal, Luna."
"Thank you."
"I have already spoken with Xenophilius, and he has given me permission to take you somewhere if, of course, you are still willing to learn?"
"Where will we be going?"
Dumbledore smiled a warm, kindly smile, stretching out the same palm to her that held his lemon drops. "To meet an old friend."
She stared at the outstretched hand, a crossroads. Luna was gripped by a sudden apprehension. She turned to look around the room, and spotted her dad leaning at the doorway, for an unknown length of time. There was a sad, almost nostalgic expression on his face as he looked upon her. Then, after a brief length of time, he gave her a single nod of approval.
Luna turned to look at the kind, old man. Back at the crossroads.
She placed her small, pale hand into his, and they both disappeared.