A Ravenclaw Reads The Riot Act

Or,

The Patil Prefect's Perfect Plan Prevails

Do unto others before they do unto you.

Terry Pratchett – Small Gods

"For when our plan succeeds –"

" – Prevails!"

Team StarKid – 'Different As Can Be', A Very Potter Musical

That evening, Padma Patil strode purposefully towards the Ravenclaw tower. She was determined to put a stop to the bullying of Luna, and quite ashamed that she had hardly noticed it before Harry had brought it to her attention. The DA was about making a difference and defending each other because the Ministry and the education system was letting us down, she thought angrily. Well, I'm part of the problem now. The Prefects are part of the system at Hogwarts, and we're here to deal with petty misdemeanours and act as the first line of defence against bullying. How didn't I notice this? And why didn't Luna feel that she could talk to me about it?

Truth be told, she was seething. She had known that there were bullies in Hogwarts, but she had childishly assumed it was a Slytherin thing. That's where most of the obnoxious rich pure-bloods were, and she'd seen them in action, usually picking on high-achieving Muggle-borns like Hermione Granger. And there was Malfoy's endless feud with Harry, of course, which had apparently started on the Hogwarts express in September '91. She had to admit that that was impressive. Arriving from the Muggle world, where you didn't know a single wizarding child, and making an enemy before you even got Sorted? It had to be some sort of record.

She stormed into the common room (she had already checked that Luna was safely out of the way in the library).

"All the fifth-, sixth- and seventh-years stay here. Everyone else, clear out for a few minutes," she tapped her Prefect badge for emphasis, "Now."

She had calculated that the students in the top three years were the most likely to be involved in bullying Luna, since they were the people who had known her since she was in first year, and Harry seemed to think that this had been going on for a few years. Hopefully some of them who weren't involved would have the maturity to back her up. She waited until the last of the younger students had left (a couple of first-years giving her frightened glances as they exited) and then stood in silence, watching the other students.

Cho spoke first.

"What's this about, Padma? Is it serious? Only I've a huge Transfiguration essay to write…"

"Luna Lovegood," snapped Padma, "Luna is what this is about."

Terry Boot frowned.

"Is something wrong with her?"

"I haven't spoken to Luna directly about this," replied Padma, "but I was approached this morning by Harry Potter. Harry is a friend of Luna's, and he was concerned because all her footwear had been stolen. Apparently a lot of her possessions were stolen last year, and she was putting up signs asking for their return just before the Leaving Feast. Now, this is my second year as a Prefect. Luna knows who I am, and I would hope she knows that I'd look out for her, but she hasn't reported it to me. I assume she hasn't spoken to you about it either, Anthony."

He shook his head and she continued.

"Right, so she didn't report it. I highly doubt she was too afraid to do so. Therefore I must assume that she considered it a regular occurrence, which leaves me with two questions," she paused for effect, "how long and who."

She looked around at the stunned faces of her fellow-students, scanning each expression for any indication of guilt.

"Let me tell you something about Luna Lovegood. Remember last year? When the Prophet was telling everybody that Harry was nuts" – she felt a twinge of guilt for having doubted him herself – "and Umbridge was ruining everything? Well, Luna stood up for Harry. She believed in him. And I'm sure you've all heard of Dumbledore's Army standing up to Umbridge last year. Luna was a member. So was I. And Luna did much more than I did. She went to the Ministry with Harry and a few others and fought Death Eaters. Didn't you hear all the stories about You-Know-Who and Bellatrix Lestrange being involved in a fight in the Ministry, and a bunch of Death Eaters being arrested? Harry says Luna was there with him. So let me tell you all, picking on her was a very stupid idea. Because DA members stick together. Not to mention Harry. You know, Harry Potter? The Boy-Who-Lived? Beat You-Know-Who when he was a baby? Has faced him again since? Killed a Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office? Triwizard Champion? The guy who taught the DA how to fight? Yeah, whoever you are, you've pissed him off. Congratulations."

She paused to let this sink in, noticing that one of the fifth-year girls was squirming. Cho, Terry, Michael and Anthony looked at each other and then stood up.

"We were in the DA too," said Cho, "and we're with Padma. Whoever's picking on Luna needs to lay off."

This earned her a glare from Marietta, but Padma put that down more to fact that the word 'SNEAK' was still visible on her face beneath layers of make-up than anything to do with Luna. She was pleased, really, she hadn't expected such a strong reaction from the other former DA members. This was good, and good for Luna's future too.

At that point Su Li muttered "I don't see what all the fuss is about, it's only Loony."

Emboldened, the guilty-looking fifth-year, who Padma was pretty sure was called Melanie, nodded.

"It's just a bit of fun," she said.

"Fun?" snapped Padma. "It might be fun for you – and if it is then quite frankly you're as bad as Draco Malfoy – but d'you really think it's fun for Luna? Harry said she spent the day barefoot! It's the middle of November, for Merlin's sake! The poor girl must be freezing!"

Probably-Melanie flinched. Su Li stood up and opened her mouth, but Michael and Cho drew their wands and she sat back down abruptly.

"I want all of Luna's possessions returned to her before breakfast tomorrow, is that clear? And this is not to happen again. The next time someone in this house bullies somebody else, Anthony and I will be going directly to Professor Flitwick, and you can all make sure that the younger students hear that too. I will not tolerate this sort of behaviour."

She glared at everyone until she was satisfied that they were taking her seriously.

"I'm going to bed. When I get up tomorrow morning, this had better be resolved, or you'll both be hearing from the DA before you hear from me or Flitwick. Harry doesn't like people picking on his friends."

With that parting shot, she swept from the room, pleased that she'd started to make up for her failure to do her job as a Prefect.

A/N: These chapter titles are getting a little out-of-hand, but I enjoy coming up with them, and they do have added alliterative appeal…

Props to Vukk for working out Padma's plan!