~First of all, thank you to my beta, SemiCharmedLife442.~
So I had an idea for Linny which I really enjoyed writing. In this, Luna is blind, and she and Ginny are becoming friends. Also, a preword, I don't have any experience with blindness or interacting with people who are blind. I'm sorry if this uses any stereotypes or untrue facts, please just shoot me a PM, or just review if you feel things are unrealistic or a scene would have gone a different way. That being said, I hope you enjoy!
OH, AND ALSO THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS AND ANY OTHER PLOT STUFF IS IRRELVANT UNLESS SAID OTHERWISE
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, I don't own the HP universe, or any of the characters.
Luna smiled contently as she skimmed across the great lake in a small boat, the water rippling soothingly. She could see some light reflecting off what must be the water and heard the other few people in her boat talking quietly.
"How long will we be in here?" She wondered aloud, leaning back and placing her hands by her sides, the wood smooth beneath her palms.
A soft voice to her left answered, "I'm guessing it'll probably still be 10 minutes until we arrive."
"Thank you!" Luna beamed. Hoping to strike up conversation, she added, "What'd you think of the train ride? The trolley witch was ever so nice to me. Oh, and did you know she often has Nargles from wandering around the carriages so much?"
Not knowing how to respond to that, Ginny decided to sidestep it entirely. "Really? I didn't chat with her much. The view was amazing though. It made me feel as though I was floating."
There was a small pause, and then the girl -Luna assumed- added on, "Oh and my name's Ginny! Weasley, actually. What's yours?"
Luna turned slightly towards the girl -Ginny- as she replied, "Luna Lovegood. You may recognize my father, Xenophilius. He edits the Quibbler and writes some of the stories!"
"The Quibbler? Isn't that the conspiracy theory magazine?" Ginny sounded interested, despite so humorous, so Luna decided to enlighten her.
"Well yes actually, but it's much more informative than you'd think! It's all about the hidden creatures of the world, and what the ministry refuses to tell us. It's published weekly." She rustled around in her book bag and pulled a copy of it from one of the many pockets, THE QUBBLER emblazoned in purple and yellow on the cover.
Ginny flipped through the tabloid, amused at some of the headlines she saw. Something titled "THE BOY WHO LIVED: ANIMAGUS AT AGE 12?" particularly caught her eye. She scoffed. "People have to work years and years to become animagi. And it requires a lot of tricky spell work. I doubt Harry'll ever be one, and him being one now is laughable."
Luna laughed politely and said, "Well I don't think any of us can properly judge him without knowing him, but my dad did a lot of research. Some say his scar may have infused him with extraordinary magical powers."
Ginny rolled her eyes and was about to retort before realizing that Luna must have been hearing these types of things for years. She decided to go for a different approach. "Have you ever actually met him? He's... not exactly what the newspapers write about."
Luna looked inquisitive, and opened her mouth, presumably to ask more about Harry, but the boats were starting to shake a bit, as they were gliding into the dock, so she stopped and turned back to the quickly approaching castle.
As they were getting onto the docks, Ginny noticed Luna taking out her wand. She was worried because although most of her older brothers had reassured her that the sorting didn't require any magic, she had heard otherwise from Fred and George. However, she took their stories with a frog's egg, and decided to ask Luna about it.
"Hey, um, your wand? -", Ginny grimaced and restarted, "Why d'you have your wand out right now? Is it for sorting?"
"Oh. Um, no?" Luna replied with a tinkling laugh, looking off into the distance. "It's so I can see, see?" She started waving her wand about, and she heard Ginny jump back. "Are you okay?" she asked kindly, hoping Ginny was still there.
Ginny stumbled forward, still avoiding the swinging wand. "Yeah, fine. Just startled is all." As she watched closely, she could see a faint blue light emitting from the end of Luna's wand, highlighting the stones and other things in her path. She tried to examine it from a distance but couldn't figure it out.
She finally gave up trying. "How does your wand do that?" She asked Luna, wishing she had a better word for it.
"It's a simple spell really. See what you do is-", she paused for a moment, hearing someone come up beside her. "Is anyone there?" she called out.
Her words hung in the air for a moment, then she heard a loud, gruff voice to her right, "Erm... Hello. This's Hagrid, an' I was just wondering if you needed some help to the castle?"
"No, I'm okay on my own!" She smiled and breezed past him, beckoning towards Ginny and shifting to her left when her wand signaled a tree stump and some flowers in front of her. She called over her shoulder, "But thank you Hagrid!"
She heard him jog past her, and then continued her explanation of her wand. "Anyway, it helps me feel things on the ground, so I don't run into anything. If there's anything there it kind of vibrates and points slightly to one side so I know where to go. It's a very simple spell, and nonverbal. It's easy to use so anyone can use it if they need. I notice it also slightly moves when blibbering humdingers are trying to infest the holder."
Ginny was giggling as they approached the castle through some trees. She was looking forward to the sorting, but as she was passing through the doorway, she couldn't resist turning around to look at the stunning view once more. As she was surveying the great lake, she noticed she was still holding the copy of the quibbler.
Luna had just stepped through the large doorway when she heard Ginny call out slightly behind her. "Oh, um, I forgot to give you your magazine back."
There was an awkward pause as Luna just stood there and then Ginny stammered, "Oh uh, it's on your... right." Luna reached over to take the magazine and stowed it away in one of her robe's deep pockets.
"Thank you Ginny!" Luna said as she glided forward toward the pack of new students. "Are you ready for the sorting?"
Ginny followed close behind, replying "I hope so. All my brothers are in Gryffindor, and I really want to get in." She lined up behind a boy with long black hair.
One by one McGonagall called them up to the sorting hat. Luna listened closely for her name, and 15 minutes later she heard it called after Sophia Lowe (RAVENCLAW!). She made her way over to where she heard the woman speaking. She felt her way around to the stool and sat on it.
"I'm going to set the sorting hat on your head now dear" said the Professor at the front. Luna felt a weight settle on her head and then suddenly the hat started to move.
Luna jumped slightly in her seat, and the hat began to talk. "Ah, a bit skittish now, are we? Maybe not a Gryffindor, not so brave it seems. Oh, and Slytherin defini-"
Luna cut it -him?- off. "You know it isn't very fair of you to judge people so quickly. For all you know I could have been infested with wrack spurts and that's why I jumped. And if you're judging on that, how do we know we're being sorted fairly?"
"Yes, yes, I assure you that you are. By the way Ms. Lovegood, were you facing rack sparks?" The hat seemed to bend down, and it felt as though it was right in front of her face.
"No, merely lost in my thoughts.". She seemed to get lost in them for a second more before contemplating, "What were you going to say before that? Am I going into Slytherin?"
The hat paused for a moment and then said "Of course not my dear. You have no place in it. You seem kind and have judgement of what's right. So now the question is Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Hard decision but we'll get it made."
"Please Gryffindor. I want to stay with Ginny. Please." Luna thought hopefully.
"Ah I see you want to stay with your friend very dearly. I'm sorry Ms. Lovegood, but you'd better be-", The hat's volume seemed magnified as it announced to the great hall,"-HUFFLEPUFF!"
Luna froze on the stool, certain there must be some mistake. She tried to think back at the sorting hat, and even muttered aloud, but it had fallen silent.
Ginny faintly heard McGonagall telling Luna to move along, but mainly she was sad they wouldn't be together. All the Weasleys as far back as she could remember were Gryffindors, and she assumed she would be no different.
When it came time for Ginny to be sorted, she walked slowly up to the stool and sat heavily upon it. The sorting hat was placed on her head, and she heard it come to life.
"Another Weasley, a girl this time, I see." Ginny was annoyed at being compared to her brothers, and the hat seemed to notice. "A fiery spirit, jealous too. Oh, and I see you're grumpy at me as well for sorting your friend.", The hat took a pause, seemingly deep in thought, and then continued, "You admire your brothers as well, and seem to be a compassionate. Slytherin doesn't seem to be the house for you, and you seem very fiery over your friend. Now which to choose, what house is best?"
The hat muttered quietly to itself, and it seemed not to notice that Ginny was shocked. She had never thought of the possibility of not being a Gryffindor. Now it was in her mind she couldn't stop thinking of it. Her brothers might not like it, but she knew they would go no farther than teasing.
The sound of the sorting hat faded back in."...Your brothers can rely on you, and you want to help someone you've just met. You, miss Weasley, seem to be quite the... HUFFLEPUFF!" It shouted to the room.
Ginny smiled as she looked over at the table, where Luna was beaming towards the front. She couldn't wait to talk with her again.
Okay so I hope y'all enjoyed reading, I really enjoyed writing! If you enjoyed or had any feedback, please review so I can know your thoughts!
-Again, if I stereotyped anything or got things wrong, please let me know so I can improve!-
Also I know that y'all are reading this, and I would really appreciate it if you'd review. Also to the one person from Germany who keeps looking at this story, I'm genuinely curious as to why.
((Also, just a small note, this probably won't happen, but feel free to use this story idea with credit, I would 100% like to see it. If you do though, send me a PM please!)