Disclaimers: See the first chapter.

Snippets From the Potterverse

Chapter 22 - The Expedition

Luna Lovegood was in her element.

She and her father were in the mountains of Sweden, on an expedition to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. They had gotten a lovely sum of money from the Daily Prophet for their interview with Harry, and this expedition was what they had decided to spend it all on. So far, there had been no luck, even though they had been searching for almost a month. The local villagers in the places they stayed always rolled their eyes and dismissed it as nonsense when asked, but a few old-timers claimed there were Crumple-Horned Snorkacks up in the mountains.

If there was one thing that would make Luna's next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable (especially since she was fast approaching O.W.L.s), it would be concrete evidence of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks to wave in everyone's face, especially Hermione Granger's. Hermione wasn't a bad sort; in fact, Luna rather liked her. But she was quite hard-headed and unaccepting, and Luna wouldn't mind bringing her down a peg. A whole peg!

We're doing great, Luna! Mr. Lovegood waved frantically at her from a few feet ahead. Let's go, darling!

Coming, Daddy! Luna said happily, scrambling over boulders to reach her father. He was loaded down with cameras and things, ready to document the Snorkacks as soon as they were found.

But they just couldn't seem to find any. Though they came across a large herd of mountain goats, crossed paths with a couple of surly trolls (barely escaped that one), and narrowly missed being fried by a Swedish Short-Snout, there were no Snorkacks to be seen.

Luna and her father set up a tent in the woods that night, since they were far away from a town with an inn. Luna busied herself making eggs and bacon for supper, while her father put on his swimming trunks and went for a swim in the nearby lake (which was freezing cold; but Mr. Lovegood didn't seem to mind).

It was a lovely night. It was almost worth it, not finding a Snorkack, Luna thought. At least if they didn't manage to get proof of Snorkacks, she'd have a nice holiday in Sweden to tell her friends about. A meteor shower began around eleven, and Luna tried her best to take some pictures of it.

She had just set the camera down when there was some loud rustling in the bushes. Her father, who had started to doze off, sat up with a snort. What was that?

Out of the bushes came an enormous creature. It looked like a cross between a horse and a pig, with odd stripes running along its chunky body and big, silvery eyes. Two strangely-shaped, crumpled-looking horns protruded from above its eyes.

Luna and her father gasped. A Crumple-Horned Snorkack! At last! Luna reached for the camera and quickly snapped some pictures of the creature as it stood still, surprised.

We did it! We did it! Luna cheered, jumping up and down. Her father joined her, grabbing her hands and spinning her around. Proof at last! Everyone will believe us now!

CRUNCH.

The Lovegoods stopped dancing and whirled around. The Crumple-Horned Snorkack had stomped on their camera, breaking it into a trillion pieces.

Shut up, the Snorkack said, before turning and lumbering off into the night, leaving the Lovegoods to stare speechlessly after it.