Dedicated to my dear Raven!❤
Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Pride of Portree
Chaser three: Troll Doll
Optional prompts:
3. (colour) mauve
5. (word) cryptic
7.(colour) powder grey
Words: 2,924
Betaed by: Shannon, Jessica, Oni,Heather and Sarah! Thank you!
Author's note:
The story is an AU after Harry comes to Hogwarts to get the diadem. Also of course Luna is a bit different.
Mauve brings purity and devotion, but also moodiness of the deeper purple. In interior decorating mauve can have many personalities from antique to quirky. Combined them with the fact that Luna just her father and many friends in the war and Hogwarts is destroyed gets her more than desperate to make people believe her words so she could have at least Hogwarts the same. Also she's passionate since this was something her mother passed down to her; Pandora being the former mallow girl. She's still dreamy because that's her, she's grieving in her own way and focusing on task at hand.
I used part of these symbolist meanings of the colours in my story:
Mauve(rhymes with grove) is a pale, bluish purple that sits between violet and pink in the color wheel and also has a grey tint.
The word comes from the Latin malva, the term for a common flowering plant that produced blossoms with light purple petals. Malva evolved into the French mauve, referencing the same flower, which is known in English as mallow.
Mauve invokes feelings of romance, nostalgia, and sentimentality. It balances its complementary color yellow very well.
In interior decorating, mauve can take on many personalities: antique, quirky, feminine. It goes well with tawny gold and cream pieces, as well as darker purple accents. As a wall color, mauve provides a subtly regal ambience. It is a soft spring color that's not as girly as pastel pink or as loud as yellow.
Mauve is the hue of decadence, youth, and femininity. It evokes feelings of purity and devotion, with the moodiness of a deeper purple. Mauve brings to mind the ethos of renewal associated with springtime.
People who choose mauve as their favorite color are hopeless romantics. They are idealistic and pure. Likely, they retain their childlike sense of wonder at the world. They may be criticized for being too dreamy and having their heads in the clouds.
(Powdered) Grey is the colour of intellect, knowledge, and wisdom. It is perceived as long-lasting, classic, and often as sleek or refined. It is a colour that is dignified, conservative, and carries authority.
Grey is controlled and inconspicuous and is considered a colour of compromise, perhaps because it sits between the extremes of black and white. Grey is a perfect neutral, which is why designers often use it as a background colour.
Grey is a cool, neutral, and balanced color. The color grey is an emotionless, moody color that is typically associated with meanings of dull, dirty, and dingy, as well as formal, conservative, and sophisticated. The color grey is a timeless and practical color that is often associated with loss or depression.
"There's no black and there's no white…
Friends are what keeps this world together…
Cause they only see powdered grey in the blackest holes and instead of red,
Mauve"
The Mallow Girl
The end of the battle brought with it something that no one had thought could ever happen: a ruined Hogwarts. The survivors stood with tears in their eyes, looking around for friends and family. The air was heavy and stifling with grief. The castle that had stood the test of time was now a grey ruin, as dirty and dull as everything else around. A feeling of loss hung in the air and was reflected on every face. It was overwhelming. The Light had won, but at what cost? How much has been lost?
In the midst of the crowd, there was one face that stood out. Luna Lovegood had always been different from her peers, and this time was no exception. She didn't cry and her eyes weren't filled with sadness. They shone with wisdom and she stood, with the elegance of a swan, in the middle of the destruction. Her gaze was dreamy and filled with wonder at the world, but at the same time it was wise beyond her years.
She knew what had to be done. She needed to find the Dam Trolls, the creatures that had helped create Hogwarts in the first place. Her parents had mentioned them many times when they had told her about the mysteries of the cryptic world they lived in, a world that didn't merely encompass the magical world one could see, but rather the unseen one. Everything was connected to the flowers her parents had loved; in Latin, it was called the Malva, or Mallow in English.
"My little mauve flower…" Luna could hear her father's voice in the wind. It brought her back to a time before he'd died in a war without her by his side. A time when her mother was still there to tell her stories of their lost homeland. As though offering her a sign, a mallow flower was carried on the breeze into her hands.
Luna stood, watching the sunset. It was so beautiful and pure. The sky was stained a deep mauve which faded to orange and pink. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets she had ever seen. Mauve was Luna's favourite colour, because of her father's nickname for her.
"Luna! You should go to sleep. It's getting late!"
"Why should I go to sleep, Mum?" the nine year old asked, looking at her mother with big silver eyes that held so much wonder for the world.
Pandora laughed and smiled at her daughter.
"Because, if you don't, the Trolls will take you away!" she exclaimed. "They like to get up after dark and steal away little girls like you!"
The girl giggled. "No, Mummy! Norfin would protect me! He'll tell them I'm one of them!"
"Yes, Little Mauve, he will," Pandora said, an air of nostalgia enveloping her, remembering the time when she'd had her own Norfin.
"Mum, can you tell me more about King Nolaf and his magic Troll warriors?" Luna said, hugging Norfin to her chest. He was a Troll doll with pink hair and a blue bathing suit. Her father had made it for her fifth birthday, four years ago, but Luna had always believed he was more than just a toy with glass eyes.
"Sure, my mallow flower. And I'll tell about his fiery wizard Troll Craven, and his best friend old Russ Berrie. Don't forget them, Mauve, their land is in the bridge of time. Time stands still there. And the secret to it all is in the flowers…"
Luna smiled at the memory. Soon after that, her mother had died but Luna knew that despite her having left this world, her spirit would forever live in the good deeds she had done in this life and in the hearts of the many persons who loved her.
The secret of the mystic land of the Dam Trolls was very well hidden. One had to speak a cryptic language to be able to understand the magic involved. The story had been passed down from parent to child, from generation to generation. Luna knew the legend by heart. Her parents had visited the land of the Dam Trolls once, long before they had her. Their family had been chosen to guard the secret entrance to the Dam Troll land, to guard the secret of the mauve flowers.
The Dam Trolls had been created by an ancient and powerful wizard, the Grey Man Dam. A person with no name or face, he was a legend in the wizarding world. He was dignified, held authority and more magical power than anyone could imagine. He had created the Dam Trolls as toys at first, for his daughter, Mallow, a princess with mauve eyes and tawny gold hair. He had made them for her amusement and joy and animated them to keep her company. They lived in a secluded mallow field near the line of the horizon. The girl had continued to ask for more of the little Dam Trolls with their coloured, furry, combed-up hair until there was practically a little nation. Realizing that they had souls of their own, he knew he had to set them free. Mallow hadn't wanted to lose her friends, especially Nolaf and Craven. The latter had magical powers and...they were her only friends.
So the Grey Man had decided to spirit them all away to the land he had left as a child for his mortal wife. The land was a magical world of ogres, gnomes, dragons, and fairies akin to the Wizarding World, but it was peaceful and all of the creatures loved each other. Time stood still there for the creatures, but while the humans that lived there lived longer, they still died. This land became the new home for the Dam Trolls.
Nolaf had become king, as he was the eldest and the wisest. They created a nation, and he was their ruler. Living in this new land had increased their magic; they were no mere toys or dolls, they were true living beings.
Both the Grey Man Dam and his daughter eventually died, but they knew their little friends were safe in their own world. It was Mallow, however, who decided that the land shouldn't be lost to the Wizarding World.
Before she died, Mallow created her very own Dam Troll and she called him Norfin. She gave him to a little girl with fiery auburn hair and wonder in her eyes, together with a mallow flower. That girl had passed him down to her children, and to their children as well, until one day Norfin was passed into the hands of Helga Hufflepuff. When she and her friends had decided to create a safe haven for the witches and wizards in Britain, away from the Muggles who wanted their deaths, Helga had asked Norfin for help and in turn he had asked his king.
That was how Hogwarts Castle had been created. The Dam Trolls had never appeared in history books. Only Helga, and the other girls lucky enough to meet Norfin, knew the truth.
"I'm afraid Hogwarts will be gone forever," said Hermione from Luna's right, her brown eyes, dull and pained. Luna startled; her head had been lost in the clouds.
Luna shook her head. "You're wrong. It's not over yet. We can rebuild the castle with the Dam Trolls' help. They helped to build it in the first place, after all. I'm sure together we can make Hogwarts shine again. It's in ruins, yes, but most of the things inside are still here and we have its image in our hearts and minds; it will be much easier this time."
Hermione laughed. "There are no Dam Trolls, Luna, it's just a legend."
"No, it is not! " Luna declared passionately, holding the flower in her hand like a torch, a beacon of hope. "It is true, perhaps truer than anything you've ever read in your life. They exist and they can help us rebuild Hogwarts. I know it. You have to believe!"
The brunette sighed. "Why can't you accept that there are no Dam Trolls, Luna? Why can't you trust me when I tell you that they're just a myth? You have to understand that the Hogwarts we both knew is destroyed forever. We cannot rebuild it! These Dam Trolls you speak of—King Nolaf and the wizard Troll Craven—are merely a legend!" Hermione looked sadly at the ruins of a castle that once had been her home. "Once Upon a Time—ha! Too bad fairytales aren't real!" Angry tears filled her eyes.
Luna looked away. Was there a way to make her friends believe the truth?
"Maybe some fairytales aren't real," she conceded, "but this one is real and I know they helped the founders build Hogwarts! My father told me the whole story when I was a child. Hermione, I do trust you, you're my friend! But can you trust me? Can you trust and believe me when I say that the place of legend it is true? I know it might sound cryptic, and that its origins are mysterious, but this is no mere fairytale!" she exclaimed, the flower shining in her hand.
The hidden nation of the Dam Trolls, the Gjøl land, existed beyond the clouds, and could be found by watching the mauve sky at sunset and at sunrise very carefully. Her parents had told her that the beautiful land resembled a wonderful Treasure Island, and it was full of mallow flowers.
The secret to the cryptic entrance stood in the Malva, mallow flowers who shared the same colours as the dawn and dusk. You just had to believe. And call them, of course. That was the law Mallow had created before her death. If the girl with dreamy eyes and mauve flowers and Norfin needed help, they had to come.
Tonight, Luna was that girl. She had to make her friends believe and call them so the Dam Trolls would come. Otherwise would she have to go to their land and get them herself. She wasn't looking forward to that. She had sent Norfin on an extended vacation and she hadn't called him back when the war started. It was silly and he was going to be mad, but she hadn't wanted him in harm's way. And now…he was her last hope. At one point she was afraid she'd die and the mauve flowers' secret would die with her. And her little friend wouldn't even realise it. Since time passed differently there, they would never know. Of course, they could see it on the humans who lived there, but it wasn't the same as feeling it.
Luna had to somehow stop this grey feeling that was threatening to take over. Loss, depression and the feeling of dirtiness in the air had to go. The flower in her hand seemed to agree, shining brighter.
"Indeed," Luna mused, as the flower opened wide, its light shining like a beacon, "mauve has always been a more beautiful colour than grey."
Hermione was staring as if seeing Luna for the first time. And she was not the only one—Luna and her flower had gathered the attention of everyone there, students and teachers alike.
"Luna? What do you mean?" Hermione asked, as Harry and Ron came closer. The others were all staring intently at her, though she didn't seem to notice. She had a dreamy look on her face while putting the flower behind her ear and taking her wand out.
"Look there," she said pointing to the East. "There's a land of myth and magic, where you can find Malva, mallow flowers everywhere, where the grey means wisdom and the white is sadness. The land of the Dam Trolls, creatures of purest magic, devoted and dreamy. Their King is very powerful and very old. You all know the legends, but what you don't know is that they're the absolute truth. And that they helped build Hogwarts. Every generation there is a girl, the mauve girl, mallow in English, that knows about their existence.
"Helga Hufflepuff was one of them, but this generation falls to me. She onced asked for their help and now I will too. The power of love and a true belief in them will bring them here. They were created with a father's love for his daughter, after all. Please, listen with your hearts," she pleaded and, at the same time, wished for Norfin to come to her.
"The entrance is hard to find, but they will come if called, and you don't need to understand further."
Everyone was staring at her and her puzzling, enigmatic words, but the students and the teachers knew Luna, a co-leader of the DA; they trusted and believed in her, so they believed her words as well.
Hermione looked at Harry and Ron and together they locked eyes with Luna, and she knew she had won their trust.
Hermione chose to trust her friend's cryptic words and called the Dam Trolls as well in her heart.
For Hogwarts, was the chant in hundreds of hearts.
And then, it happened. They appeared in mauve and powdered grey light right in front of Luna, their mauve flower girl.
A Troll with furry hair and a blue suit, no taller than a house-elf, tackled her to the ground, screaming, "Luuuuuunnnnaaa! Why didn't you call me sooner?" He hugged her tightly. "You could have died alone! What would I be without my little mauve flower?"
Luna smiled and hugged him as well.
"I'm sorry Norfin, but as you can see I'm alright. But we need your help," she said, directing the sentence toward an old Dam Troll who had stood while his younger companion re-acquainted himself with his friend. "Your Majesty."
"Hahaha!" another Dam Troll exclaimed, this one with grey clothes and pink hair. "Old Nolaf hasn't been called like that by a mallow girl since Helga!"
Luna chuckled. Her mother had been right, old Craven was a tease.
"Indeed, my girl," the old king said. "Now, if I am correct, you need us to rebuild Hogwarts."
Luna nodded, still on the ground and hugging Norfin.
"Back then, it was hard. We had to build it rock by rock, but now, we already know Hogwarts. All the materials are here and there's so much magic and love in the air. We certainly can manage before sunrise!"
Hermione looked at her friend and smiled. Luna had said the exact same thing before.
"What can we do, Sire?" She asked, mesmerised by these grey creatures with mauve flowers on their clothing.
Nolaf smiled.
"You have to make a circle around the castle and point your wands towards it while remembering Hogwarts how it once was. Remember your memories, be they happy or sad, your success and failures, your kisses and your hugs, everything that happened between these walls and outside them, every detail, and pour your magic into it. We will all work together to build it, and your magic will be our guide. "
Everyone nodded, mystified by the Dam Trolls' appearance and everything that had occurred.
Norfin finally freed Luna from his embrace, murmured to Hermione, but loud enough for anyone to hear in that absolute silence. "You can ask me any questions after," and smiled at her.
Everyone laughed at that and Hermione blushed. It was obvious that she couldn't wait to know more about them!
Luna smiled. "Come on, everyone," she said in a dreamy voice, looking at the sky. The sunrise wasn't far now. "Let's make that circle."
And they did just that. They surrounded Hogwarts and thought about every moment they spent together within its walls, every shared laugh, every smile, every bad mark...every student they taught, every colleague who left them, their own teachers… everything. All the while the Dam Trolls were working, their magic enhanced by the feelings in the air. No longer was the air filled with loss, no longer was it a grey world, but a bright one.
Hogwarts was engulfed in mauve and grey with yellow, and it rose until it was standing tall once more.
Soon enough the sunrise was over them, embracing the powdered grey with a vibrant mauve, giving them a new fresh start on the third day of May, the third month of spring. A new day, a renewal of life. The castle shone brightly in the cool morning light, exactly as it had done on its creation. The difference was that, instead of the four friends that had stood before it, now there was an army of friends who were looking at their home with eyes filled with gratitude toward the Dam Troll King and his people.
There would always be a place for the Dam Trolls in the Wizarding World, and people would always remember how they helped restore the United Kingdom's greatest school back to its original beauty. For many years to come, there would also be stories of Luna, the 'mauve' girl with wonder in her eyes, her head in the clouds, and her magical friend Norfin. Perhaps you've heard of them as well? If you have, then look around you and maybe, just maybe, you'll find the next mallow girl.
"Cryptic, obscure
Now you have the whole truth
The world is not black and white,
But rather mallow and grey,
Dreamers, romantics
They have the hope."