|Lovegood and the Genius Giant|
This is canon to the main Lovegood storyline and uses a the same OC's. If you are reading my stuff for the first time, then you probably won't know the characters unless you read Lovegood: Building strength. So please go read that before reading this.
Authors note:
Ok so here's the deal, I've made a few changes to my writing style for this mini story. For example, everything is in third person for this story, give me feedback on whether you like it or not. Also, I feel that this one is going to be much better thanks to the feedback that I received from everyone :) Anyways, thanks for choosing to read.
Shepard stood at the stove, making tea for his guests, rosehip, a favorite for the group. The kettle sat on the stovetop, quickly heating up, while he was waiting for the water he brought over the teacups placing them first in front of Luna, and then in front of Nick. He placed the teabags into their cups and walked over to the cupboard pulling out a bowl full of sugarcubes. Shepard decided that the silence had dragged on for too long.
"Luna how's your vacation been?" He asked as he placed the the bowl on the table and started walking towards the refrigerator.
"It's been really good," She said with a smile. "My father and I have been in Scotland researching a way to get a good look at Wrackspurts." Of course, Luna would be the one to research Wrackspurts. Shepard had heard of them as a child, magical creatures that went into your ears and made your brain go fuzzy. As he had gotten older he had dismissed them simply as one of those stories that parents tell their children to explain something, but seeing as how there were so many magical creatures, he believed that there may be a possibility for their existence.
"That's interesting." Shepard replied. "How about you Nicky boy?" He said, placing down the milk he had retrieved from the refrigerator.
"It's been rather boring," He replied. "I haven't gone out much, in fact, I think this is the first time that I've legitimately gotten out of the house." He looked down at his cup. That wasn't surprising, from what Shepard remembered, his parents were ministry workers so he imagined that most of their time was wrapped up in work.
"Well I'm glad that we've gotten you out of the house." He said, removing the steaming kettle from the stove and placing it on a pot holder.
"So what've you got planned for us today?" Asked Nick, grabbing the kettle and pouring some water into his cup.
"Well it's a fair day, I thought we'd go for a fly on some broomsticks." Shepard said, hiding a smile, he couldn't wait to show them the surprise he had lined up for them. They sipped tea and caught up on the small details, when Nick brought up something interesting.
"Guys, I got an owl from Alexa inviting me over for dinner." He said, sipping his tea.
"What?" Shepard asked incredulously. "Thats great man! When?"
"Tomorrow evening." He said. "I'm afraid to go."
"Why?" Luna inquired.
"I'm afraid I'll make a fool of myself." He said, looking down at his nearly empty tea cup.
"Nick, if only you had more confidence in yourself. Don't you think her parents want to meet the boy who saved their daughter's lives?" She asked.
"Yes but-" He began. Shepard cut him off before he could finish.
"Listen Nick, just remember, that no matter what, whoever you meet while you're over at their house will think you're a hero. Use that to your advantage." Nick smiled.
"Yea, you're right, I just need to work on my confidence."
"Attaboy!" Shepard laughed. "Now shall we go outside? I haven't gotten to ride a broom in ages!"
They grabbed the brooms that Shepard had laid out previously, and headed outside. The brooms themselves weren't great, but they were good enough to have some fun with. As they mounted the brooms, Nick cleared his throat and spoke.
"Any general direction we should be heading?" Shepard looked behind him, making sure his parents were nowhere nearby, then turned to his friends.
"Ok, we're going to a forest just outside of my family's property that's said to have all sorts creatures, some good, some bad." He said excitedly. They all knew that they weren't suited for regular wizarding life anymore, they needed a bit more adventure in their lives.
"Let's get going then." Said Nick with a smile. We started to fly, shakily at first having not been on brooms in a while, but soon enough we were flying at a steady pace. Shepard looked over at Nick, he had a devilish smile on his face.
"Check this out!" He yelled. Luna and Shepard looked over to see Nick kneeling on his broomstick, he then pushed himself up until he was standing. Shepard and Luna exchanged a look of awe.
"That's incredible!" Luna yelled. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"I don't know!" He shouted. "I just felt like I could!" It became apparent to the two observers that Nick was a natural flyer.
"You should try out for the quidditch team" Shepard yelled.
"Do you think so?" Nick replied.
"Absolutely!" Luna chimed in. Finally, we reached the forest. It was a tall pine forest that grew over a mountainous region of the land. I had occasionally seen creatures flying out of the forest as a child and been curious as to what was lurking in its mysterious depths. Looking now into the forest, I understood why my parents didn't want me entering. Past the first few trees the forest got much thicker, letting very little light enter the foreboding forest.
"Shall we?" Shepard asked, pulling out his wand. Nick and Luna exchanged a nod, and stepped forward next to him, pulling out their wands in return. As they entered the forest, a sense of unease came over them, there seemed to be something unnatural about the forest, but that's what the trio lives for. As they pushed through into the thick of the woods it became much darker, and the trees around them seemed to close in. This went on for about twenty meters before clearing up, and leaving the trees spaced out around two or three meters apart. They pressed forward finding a small clearing filled with thestrals. They were grouped together in pairs and it looked as though they were communicating. Luna and Shepard approached the group closest to us cautiously, they seemed to stop their conversation to look at the two creatures now moving towards them. Nick stood behind them looking confused.
"Guys, whats going on here?" He asked.
"You can't see them, but this clearing is filled with thestrals." Luna replied. Nick nodded, he had heard about the thestrals from stories Shepard and Luna told. The pair stepped up to the thestrals who didn't seem to mind their presence. Shepard raised a hand and began petting the thestral closest to him on it's beak, it whinnied and stepped into Shepard's outstretched hand. As Luna stepped up to her thestral, he bucked, causing Luna to step back, the other thestrals started to buck as well. They started running and took off towards the sky.
"Umm.. Guys?" Nick's voice was weak. There was a sudden crashing coming from the opposite side of the clearing as a huge form came crashing through the trees. It was a sight to behold, a giant about six meters tall was grasping for the thestrals that were flying away, he missed them by just around a meter. He turned to us, and the group could really get a good look at him, he was an odd looking giant, most were rather round and monstrous, but this giant was more slender than any giant they had ever seen or heard of. Before they could make any more judgements about him, he charged, Nick and Shepard didn't even bothering drawing their wands, they knew that it took many powerful wizards to be able to stop a charging giant. Luna stood in the front, and was perceived to be the one that would take the brunt of the charge. The giant raised his fist to strike, but then stopped, breathing heavily. Luna was standing in front of the giant, she hadn't moved to defend herself in any way shape or form, she just stood there, with her hands clasped in front of her, smiling. The giant looked confused, he put down his fist, and stood up.
"Hello, my name is Luna, what's yours?" She extended her hand, as if to shake his. The gesture was sweet, but impossible, seeing as his hands were the size of her body.
"You are one weird human." He said. His voice was deep and gentle.
"So people keep telling me." Luna replied. Shepard and Nick had a hard time from keeping their jaws from hitting the floor, here they were, thinking that they were going to die a gruesome death, and yet, Luna, defying all logic, was having a conversation with the giant that had charged them not ten second ago. The giant laughed, it was a hearty and warm laugh.
"Then you are like me!" He said through chuckles.
"Why's that?" Luna inquired. The giant sat down across from the trio causing the ground to shake and tremble, as if a small earthquake had just run through the area.
"Well in my clan, I was considered a genius, which is something that you don't want in a world of idiots." He said with a shrug. "Eventually, when I started to ask too many questions about why we giants do what we do, they outlawed me." Luna looked saddened.
"That's terrible." She said, and then turned to Shepard and Nick. "These are my friends Shepard," She said pointing to him. "And Nick." She pointed to Nick. The giant looked up, and noticed the two standing behind Luna for the first time.
"Hello gentlemen." He said with a smile. Nick could only manage a weak wave. Shepard stepped forward.
"You still haven't told us your name." The giant looked over at the trio and smiled.
"You know, I usually kill all humans I see on sight, because they try to hurt me. So when I saw you three, I immediately charged, prepared to kill you, and if I hadn't seen Luna over there, you'd probably all be dead." He laughed. "I'm glad I didn't kill you humans, you are interesting." He paused, and sat up straight. "I used to be known as 'Krag', but I now reject that name, as I am no longer part of my giant clan, so you may call me Richard." Shepard had many questions running through his mind, but the most important came forth.
"Do you want a job?" The other two looked over at Shepard, dumbfounded. Shepard had a smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear. The giant looked over at the young boy standing before him.
"What?" Richard asked incredulously.
"I asked if you wanted a job."
"Like a real job?"
"Is there any other kind?"
"I suppose not."
"Do you have an answer?" Shepard was still smiling.
"I guess having a place to call home would be nice." He said with a sigh. "Why would you offer a giant like me a job? Don't you know what my kind did? They sided with lord Voldemort in the great wizarding war. They killed hundreds!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, obviously frustrated.
"I know." Shepard replied.
"Yet you still offer me residence and companionship?" He asked.
"Yup." Shepard smiled even wider. The giant looked at Shepard and laughed.
"What a weird group of humans I have encountered today. Alright then, I'll take you up on your offer." He said with a smile. "I assume you work on the farm that lies in the fields to the south?" Shepard nodded.
"We should go tell my parents, they might draw their wands at first, but they're good people, I'm sure they'll come around."
"I'm used to it" The giant replied with a smile.
As they drew near the house, Richard walking, the trio on their brooms, Shepard's parents came running out with wands drawn.
"No! Mom, Dad! Don't, it's ok! I got us a new worker from the forest!" The parents looked at each other, nodded, and slowly lowered their wands. The trio landed next to the confused parents.
"Shepard…" His father started. "Why did you bring a giant to our house? Are you crazy?"
"It's ok Mr. and Mrs. Jaraba," Luna chimed in. "Richard is a smart giant, he's very civilized." The husband and wife looked at each other, and looked back at the trio. Richard sat next to them, and introduced himself.
"Hello, parents of Shepard, I am Richard." The giant smiled. Shepard's father stepped forward and spoke.
"Hello Richard, I am Matt, and this is my wife, Julia." Matt said with a worried smile. "I understand you wish to work for us?"
"If at all possible," Richard replied. "I can do any major heavy lifting you need on account of my size." He said flexing one of his arms. "I can also build my own housing given the direction." Matt considered this for a while, then turned to Shepard.
"How did you meet Richard here?"
"Well he tried to kill us…" Shepard started, and upon seeing his father's confused expression continued in earnest. " But he didn't you see, because he saw Luna and decided not to attack us." Shepard finished with a smile. His father put his head in his hands.
"Shepard, I wholeheartedly believe that you are the only person on this earth that could befriend a giant moments after he tries to kill you."
"Thanks!" Shepard replied. "Can he have the job?" Matt looked up, exchanged a glance with his wife, and looked at his son.
"Why not."
The trio cheered.
"Hear that Rich? You got the job!" Luna shouted. The giant looked up and laughed. Shepard rose his hand looking for a high five from the giant. The giant laughed and obliged, but carefully, and with only one finger, as to not break every bone in his new friends body.
END
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