We all know more or less, how much truth there was in that article. But have you ever wondered where it came from? Well, here's one possible explanation. I'm probably going to write some more later on, if I have time (:
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even one Crumple-Horned Snorcack. I wish I did. Snorcacks are cool (:
1. Magical creatures
'I wonder what old Kettleburn came up with this time' said James as the group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws waited for the Care of Magical Creatures lesson to begin.
'I can't believe it! You're actually interested in the lesson?'
'Well, he said he'd prepared something special for today, you know. So I'd like to know what it is.'
'Maybe Crumple-Horned Snorcacks?' a Ravenclaw joined the conversation.
'What are Crumple-Horned Snorcacks?' Peter wanted to know.
'They're Lovegood's favorite animals of course,' James explained 'They are really fascinating!'
The Ravenclaw seemed happy to hear that someone agreed with him.
'But they are very rare,' James continued 'So rare that nobody's ever seen one!'
The four Gryffindors laughed. Lovegood was disappointed now.
'No, really,' Remus said 'I wonder if they really exist.'
James and Sirius looked at him oddly. Then Lovegood looked at all three of them in the same way.
'Why of course they do!' he said.
'Yeah, right,' Sirius laughed 'And my name is Stubby Boardman'
A few weeks later the whole incident was forgotten. In fact, nobody ever thought about it too much. Except maybe…
XXX
Some 20 years later…'Daddy!' Luna shouted as she entered the room.
Mr. Lovegood put down the newspaper he had been reading. Of course, he didn't believe in all the nonsense the Daily Prophet published, but he read it anyway, because he found some of those ridiculous ideas very amusing.
'What's the matter, Luna?' he asked.
'I was just walking in the forest,' the girl informed him 'and I found some Snorcack footprints. Maybe we could follow them and see if we can find the Snorcack itself,' she suggested.
'All right, let's go,' said the father, standing up.
And then he remembered… Crumple-Horned Snorcacks… He remembered that Care of Magical Creatures class back at Hogwarts. He remambered what Potter had said. And Lupin. And then Black…
He had always thought there's something fishy about Black. Something in the story just didn't seem right. He'd even considered a rather strange theory involving a supposedly dead Death Eater and some kid's pet rat, but he realised it was too incredible to publish. Nobody would believe it! This one however seemed to make sense. It explained why Regulus Black had always said 'He's not my brother!' about Sirius. It explained why Sirius had said the same about Regulus a couple of times. It explained many things.
'I get it now,' Mr. Lovegood thought 'For a while I thought he didn't believe in Crumple-Horned Snorcacks…'