Luna drifted into consciousness slowly, gradually becoming aware that something was horribly wrong. Usually when she woke up, she could hear her father banging around in the kitchen, or her mother tinkering with a new spell or potion in her laboratory in the basement level of their rook-shaped home. That was what was missing. Noise… there was none.
Quickly putting on her purple crumple-eared snorcack slippers and her yellow fluffy dressing gown, Luna climbed down the 14 rungs on her oak ladder into her dad's study, and then further down into the kitchen. It then became clear why there was no noise – smoke and an awful smell wafted out of the cracks around the basement door.
Luna tried to wrench the door open, but her mother had obviously locked it. As she was only nine, there was no way she could open the door by herself. She began to scream. "Mother, please open the door!" she shrieked, banging desperately on the door. She had no idea where her dad was…
Using the floo, she shouted "The Burrow" and stuck her head through. Mrs. Weasley turned at the sound and smiled at her. "Hello dear –" She noticed that Luna's face was streaked with tears, and she seemed to be hysterical. "What's wrong, dear?" she asked, rapidly approaching the fireplace. "It's my mother, Mrs. Weasley… something went wrong. She's trapped in her laboratory. Please come over right away – I don't know what to do!" she finished, and started crying again. "I'll be there right away." Said Mrs. Weasley efficiently, pulling the first aid kit down from the top of the kitchen cupboard.
As Luna pulled her head out of the fire, Mrs. Weasley stepped through, and immediately they both rushed through the smoky haze to the laboratory door. "Stand back, Luna." Said Mrs. Weasley, and muttered the door-unlocking spell. Smoke billowed out, causing them both to cough and their eyes to water. Casting a ventilation spell, Mrs. Weasley carefully stepped onto the staircase, and stared in shock. Before she could warn Luna, the girl stepped through the door and stood next to her. There was nothing recognizable left of the room except for the staircase on which they stood. In one corner, and splattered across the walls, was a sticky-looking red substance intermingled with the charred black of what had obviously been the experiment. There was no body that was identifiable.
Luna just stood and stared, taking it all in.