Challenge Prompt: Write about a child / scene from a canonical character's childhood
Setting: Ottery St. Catchpole, Lovegood residence, summer of 1987. Luna Lovegood, age 6.
Luna loved to go for walks with her mother. Sometimes they just walked around the house, but today they were going for a longer walk in a nearby patch of woods. Luna loved to see all the animals in the woods, almost as much as she loved hearing her mom talk about them.
"Mom, I had a question… I found one of Grandma's old drawings, of the Crumpie… "
"Crumple-Horned Snorkack." Pandora smiled as she gently corrected her daughter.
"Yeah, that, and it didn't look like the one you showed me! Which one was right?" Luna asked
"Well, why can't they both be right?" Pandora asked. "They weren't that different were they? You and your friend Ginny don't look the same, but you're both witches."
"Yeah, but Ginny and I both have the same number of legs! Yours had 4, Grandma's had six!"
Pandora laughed. "I should have known you'd pick up on that. Well, the answer is that I don't know. I've never actually seen one. Neither has your Grandmother. The last member of our family to see a Snorkack was your Great-Great Grandmother, and there are no records that show what it actually looked like."
Luna tipped her head. "Ginny said they aren't even real, that they're something I just made up."
"Oh, is that why the two of you were fighting the other day?" Pandora asked. She knew her daughter was already very good at hiding her feelings, but she was still just a child; the fight with one of her only friends obviously hurt her quite a bit. When Luna just nodded, Pandora sighed. "Luna, there will always be people who don't believe until they see… but if nobody ever believed until there was proof, where would we find proof in the first place? I believe my Great-Grandmother saw a Snorkack, and eventually I'll find one myself. Or maybe you will. Either way, our family has always looked for the unexplained. Whether I ever find one or not, I'll never stop believing that they're real."
"Neither will I mom!" Luna exclaimed as she pulled at Pandora's hand. "Maybe there's one in the forest today! Oh, maybe they have wings and they can fly!"
Pandora laughed. "They don't fly, my little moon, I can tell you that much! But yes, perhaps today is the day we'll find one."
The sun was setting by the time they returned to the house. Xenophilius was waiting for them, smiling. "Any luck finding a Snorkack dear?"
Pandora smiled as she shook her head. "Not today dear. Perhaps next time."
"Ah, well, we'll find it eventually. Tomorrow's edition of the Quibbler is ready, and so is dinner! Come in, we'll talk while we eat."
As Pandora started to walk toward the house, Luna pulled on her hand, and Pandora turned back to look at her daughter.
"Don't worry mom, we'll find them. I'll never stop believing, I promise!"
Pandora smiled as she hugged her daughter. "I know you won't, Luna. And don't worry, your mother is pretty clever with spells; who knows, maybe someday I'll invent a spell to lead us to the Snorkacks!"
"I know you will mom!" Luna said, smiling as they went inside together.