Luna woke up the next morning to breakfast. Howl had gotten up before her it seemed...that or he wanted to show that he wasn't a completely hopeless case.

She had had the oddest dream last night...

"Morning," she said.

"Good morning," he said in return.

Howl had overheard part of the conversation Luna had with Calcifer, having heard voices over the water. He had caught the bit about his animal form being that of a bird like a crow or a raven, but he didn't understand what she was talking about. It was as if she knew of a spell that would allow such a transformation without losing your mind to the form.

That was impossible as far as he knew.

Luna noticed the state of the pantry. It looked like she would have to have another food run again.

Markel came with her this time, if only because he was bored. She ignored his sniping comments about his dislike of vegetables and fish.

She only paid half a mind to the battleship coming in as a wreck. Her mind was entirely on the Blob Men she had just seen nearby.

Too bad she couldn't follow them to that blasted hag, otherwise she would have gone after them.

"Let's head back Markel," she said irritably.

"But I want to see the ship!" said Markel.

Luna rolled her eyes.

Suddenly three bombs landed on the water. It was close to the ship but it didn't hit it.

"Well that's one way to get people's attention," she said dryly.

They returned to the house and Luna was about to make a cup of tea when they heard Howl's scream of rage.

Howl ran downstairs in a panic, towel around his waist. His hair wasn't the usual blond, but a ginger color that could put the Weasley family to shame.

"Luna! I thought you said you didn't touch the potions!" he yelled.

"I didn't even open them you idiot! You must have mixed them up yourself!" she shouted back at him. He had nearly given her a heart attack with that scream!

Howl was so upset over his hair color that his magic went out of control.

'Definitely a raven or a crow...' she thought.

Seeing him having a pity party, her limited patience snapped.

"You complete and utter idiot! Who cares if your hair is a different color? Do you think I complained when that spell went wrong and landed me in this damn world? Do you think I went into a depression over the fact I might never see my friends again?" she shouted at him.

Howl was so into his misery that he didn't hear her words...but Calcifer did. Luna slapped Howl before leaving the house to cool off. She didn't care if she got wet, she was just too furious for words.

Finally she came back in to deal with the cranky Howl.

"Markel, get the bath running for a bit. We had better clean up this slime off of him before I get back to work on the house...again," said Luna tiredly.

"Okay!" he said racing upstairs to perceived safety.

"Don't expect me to clean him!" she shouted after him. She chuckled when she heard Markel curse.

Once he was safely in the bathroom (having seen the towel fall off as it hadn't been that secure in the first place) Luna took one look at the downstairs and scowled.

She was not cleaning this up in her bad mood.

She simply cast a few cleaning spells and got rid of the slime the easy way.

"Too lazy to clean?"

"More like I'm not in the mood to clean up after that pity party," she clarified.

"So...another world?" he asked.

"Transport spell caught by something else. Woke up with only my bag and the clothes on my back with no idea where the hell I was," she said.

"That explains a lot. So are you a witch?"

"Got a problem if I am? Not like I'm fully trained anyway," said Luna.

"Can you help Howl?" asked Calcifer seriously.

"Depends on whether or not he knows to ask for it. My best friend once said I have a 'saving people thing', but it's hard to save people from themselves," said Luna.

"Seriously?"

"Yup. By the way...who was stupid enough to teach someone as vain as Howl how to call on the spirits of Darkness?!" she had to ask.

"His teacher Madam Sullivan," said Calcifer.

"Why am I not surprised?" she asked to no one in particular. Sullivan was an idiot, one who wouldn't hesitate to use others to get what she wanted.

Luna made a glass of warm milk for Howl.

"You up?" she asked.

Howl was splayed on his bed. His room was an antique nightmare. She couldn't even tell what half this stuff was.

Howl shook his head. He didn't want to get up.

She was about to leave when he grabbed her hand.

"Don't go."

"So tell me, exactly why were you so set on blond?" she asked.

"I like gold," he said.

"It's a ridiculous color. Black suits you better," she told him.

One of his toys started to flare above him.

"The Witch of the Wastes is trying to find my castle again," he said.

"Even if she did find it, she would have to deal with me first," scowled Luna.

"Are you a witch?" he asked. It had been bothering him for a while now.

"A half trained one. Calcifer told you?" she asked.

"No. I guessed it," he said. It explained quite a bit. How she knew Sullivan, the fact she left the potions alone, her treatment of Calcifer...

"I'm not completely without my tricks," she smirked.

"What did you mean when you told Calcifer that my animal form had to be a raven or a crow?" he asked. That had been bothering him ever since she said that.

"You mean you... I have a better question for you. Why on earth do you keep willingly messing up the transformation part? It's supposed to be a full transformation into the animal, yet when I saw you in that form you looked more like you were simply putting your human head on a bird's body!" she asked.

"What?" said Howl, actually looking at her in surprise.

"I can get someone just learning how to be an animagus screwing up the most basic part of the transformation, but the way you turned back tells me that you've been messing it up on purpose!" said Luna completely irritated.

"What do you mean, messing up the transformation? A full transformation would make me lose my mind!" he said.

She rolled her eyes.

"Only an idiot would lose their mind in their animal form. I know two people who can take the full form of their animal side, and one of them spent weeks as a dog without forgetting he was human! Why do you keep forcing the transformation like that?" she asked.

Howl stared at her in shock. She knew someone who could turn into an animal for weeks without losing themselves?

"Can you teach me that spell?" he pleaded.

"I haven't found my animal form yet, but I know the basics of the spell itself. Sirius taught me to keep my mind off of a few things before I landed here," she told him.

Howl looked at her with hope in his eyes. Perhaps this was a way to prevent becoming a cursed beast for the rest of his life.

"Now what are we going to do about the King? I saw those invites," she said.

"I can't avoid going to the palace. I took an oath that I would serve the king when I attending the Sorcery Academy," said Howl.

A sudden thought occurred to her.

"You don't think that the Witch of the Wastes got an invite as well...do you?"

"Most likely," he said.

"Good. I can probably take your place and tell Sullivan where to stick that cane of hers. And if I'm lucky I can break that hag's nose in the process," said Luna vindictively.

"You're not going to force me to face Sullivan?"

"That old crone is a manipulative witch. I thought I recognized that magical signature on that turnip-headed scarecrow, and now that I think about it, it matches hers perfectly. I wouldn't be surprised if she cursed the other country's prince at an attempt to force you out of hiding," said Luna.

Howl's eyes went wide.

"You think she would go that far?"

"She almost cursed me when I refused to be her apprentice after she picked up on my magic," said Luna.

"You would go into the palace for me? Why?"

"Like my friend Hermione once said, I have an annoying habit of jumping into the worst situations to save people," said Luna with a shrug.