The Rescue
Luna riffled through the wooden desk, shifting papers aside in her attempt to find the key that would unlock the gilded cage that stood upon a plinth in the middle of the room. Within the cage was the reason for why she'd come here in the first place. Two days ago she had arrived in Paris as part of her second world tour. While she hadn't found any evidence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack during her last adventure around the world, she was hopeful that this time she would have better results. She'd only been in Paris for a few hours when she had heard the news; a group of poachers had managed to subdue and capture a phoenix.
Having finished examining the desk drawers, Luna looked up to stare at the beautiful, sleeping bird that was held within the cage. She'd seen Professor Dumbledore's old phoenix once when she'd been in his office, though she couldn't quite remember its name. Felix? Felicia? Bob? Either way, it didn't matter now. The phoenix had disappeared once Dumbledore had died. Luna had thought that she'd be unlikely to see another phoenix again. They were, after all, very rare. And yet, there was one now, right in front of her eyes. Unlike Professor Dumbledore's bird, this phoenix's feathers weren't scarlet. Instead, they seemed to be a beautiful shade of poppy. Luna suspected that was why the poachers had wanted the bird in the first place.
Luna turned away from the bird and continued to search the room for the key to the cage. She needed to get into the cage before she could break the enchantment that had been placed upon the bird. Fortunately, her contacts in the magizoological world had been able to provide her with several counterspells for induced sleep. All she had to do was figure out which spell to use. Just as Luna picked up a large glass tumbler she heard a sound behind her. The tumbler dropped from her hand as she pulled out her wand and whipped around.
"Luna?"
"Rolf?" Rolf Scamander was standing at the entrance to the room, his hand held up in surrender.
"What are you doing here?" asked Rolf, a mixture of shock and concern in his voice.
"I've come to save the phoenix," said Luna matter-of-factly. "What about you?"
"The same," said Rolf. "Umm, can you lower your wand?" Luna appraised Rolf for a moment before dropping her arm.
"What were you doing with that glass anyway?" asked Rolf.
"I was looking for the key," said Luna.
"Oh, you won't find that in here. The lady in charge of these bastards keeps it on her at all times."
"How would you know that?"
"Let's just say that I've run across these buggers a few times."
"Well if the key isn't here, how are we going to get that cage open. I've already tried moving it. It's stuck."
"I think I might be able to open it." Rolf crossed over to the cage, examined carefully for several seconds, pulled his wand, and tapped the lock. The cage door immediately swung open.
"How'd you know what spell to use?" asked Luna as she drifted over to stand next to Rolf.
"My grandmother taught me several different spells for opening locks and how to detect which spell to use," explained Rolf. "She taught me a lot of cool tricks. She was an Auror. One of the best according to my granddad. She would always wave his compliments away though. Now then, how do we get Coquelicot out of here?"
"Coquelicot?"
"It's what the Brisbone, the lady in charge, calls the phoenix. Probably because of its coloring. Coquelicot means poppy in French."
"Oh, you know French? I've been thinking I should learn some more languages, especially if I'm going to be traveling around the world."
"You should. It's very helpful. I know about twenty languages myself. Most of them are magical languages like Mermish and Gobbledegook but I also know French, Gaelic, Welsh, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Italian."
"That's very good," said Luna. "As for getting Coquelicot out of here, I think we should just try waking it up. That's probably why it's been kept asleep, so it doesn't just vanish on its own."
"Good point," said Rolf. "But there are dozens of spells that it could be under. And who knows how long we've got until Brisbone comes back. We'd better hurry." Luna nodded. Together she and Rolf began to cast variety spells at Coquelicot, both of them hoping that they'd find the right spell sooner rather than later.
"Oh it think that last one worked," said Luna as Coquelicot began to stir.
"Thank goodness," said Rolf. "Now we can—" A jet of red light shot through the air and struck the cage, missing Rolf by inches. Both he and Luna turned around to see a tall, intimidating woman standing at the entrance to the room.
"Zat was merely a warning zot," said the woman in a thick French accent. "Now step away fwom my pwecious Coquelicot or I will not be so jenerooz next time."
"No," said Rolf, shifting so that he stood squarely between Brisbone and Luna. "We are tak—" Another jet of red light interrupted him. This time, however, it came from behind him. Luna had shot a stunning spell straight at Brisbone, who blocked it at the last second with a shield charm.
"What the—" Before Rolf knew what was happening, he'd been shunted to one side as Luna and Brisbone began to duel, their wands slashing through the air like swords. Jets of light were bouncing around the room as their spells collided and ricocheted off at angles. It was all Rolf could do to keep from getting hit.
"Not bad little girl," said Brisbone as she sent a series of stunners at Luna. "You 'ave talent."
"Thank you," said Luna, blocking the spells with a wave of her wand, "I had a very good teacher." She gave her wand small flick and the rug underneath Brisbone feet flew out from under her, sending the poacher toppling backward. Luna shot a final stunning spell at her opponent who, unable to defend herself, crumpled before she hit the ground. Luna turned back to Rolf, who was staring at her in awed silence.
"What?" asked Luna. "Do I have something in my hair?" She absentmindedly reached up and started running her fingers through her long, blonde locks.
"No, no, not like that," said Rolf. "I just didn't expect you to be such a good duelist." Luna stopped messing with her hair and struggled.
"My friend Ginny is better at it then I am." Rolf looked like he was about to say something but was interrupted by the sound of flapping wings. Coquelicot had taken flight. The poppy-color, swan-sized bird soared around the room once before swooping down upon Luna and Rolf. It clasped its talon gentle upon their shoulders. The world around them vanished in a whirl of crimson flames. They felt their bodies been being pulled along at great speeds. A split second later, the flames had subsided and they were standing upon a mountain cliff.
"This must be where Coquelicot was taken from," said Rolf as the phoenix soar off into the sky.
"Do you know where we are?" asked Luna.
"Not a clue," said Rolf as he looked around.
"Oh good, that means this will be a proper adventure." Rolf looked over at Luna, a mixture of respect and exasperation on his face.
"I think we can go down that way," said Luna, point toward sloping path in the side of the mountain.
"Wouldn't it be easier just to apparate?" asked Rolf.
"Probably," said Luna as she headed towards the path, "but where would the fun be in that?" Luna had already traveled several feet down the path before Rolf joined her.
"So, how did you get into Brisbone's room?" asked Rolf. "I used an invisibility cloak myself."
"One of the guards let me in," said Luna. "I think his name was Jean."
"Jean LaRue?" asked Rolf in shock.
"Yes, that's him."
"But how-what-he's one of the most vicious, cruel, bloodthirsty members of Brisbone's gang."
"Is he?" asked Luna. "He didn't seem that bad to me. We had a nice long chat over tea and cookies actually. Did you know that he hasn't seen his daughter in over five years? I think he really misses her. Poor man. Is something wrong?" Luna turned to look at Rolf, who hadn't moved since she'd told him that Jean had let her into the camp.
"Rolf?" asked Luna, waving a hand in front of Rolf's face. Rolf blinked.
"I hope you know that you are amazing," said Rolf. "Truly and utterly amazing." Luna blinked once, twice, three times, and then smiled.
Ravenclaw, Rescue/Coquelicot/Dropping a glass object, 1472