Gloom Shroom

After the last class that day, Ginny found the trio and dragged Luna out of Ravenclaw Common Room. In an empty classroom, she excitedly retold everything that happened in the morning.

Then, she festively went to Ron's side, patted his shoulder, and sighed earnestly, "Ron, Ronny, Comrade Ron, hear that? She wants to embarrass all the Gryffindors, including her brothers–and you of course! That's your precious little sister I'm talking about~~~"

"How…Why… " Seemingly Ron wanted to defend his sister, but was lost for words.

"Ask Dumbledore if you don't believe that~~~"

Ginny looked at Ron with schadenfreude, and Harry, standing on the other side, wrote a new poem.

Family and love

These two are considered a must.

For my love I'll sacrifice

My family, without thinking twice.

But if I were Snape

They can both go away.

Afterwards, he held his chin and concluded seriously, "I finally understand why Snape dislikes me. It turns out that my dad's friend nearly turned him into Mr. Furry. But I didn't know he's so delicate on the inside since he's so…indelicate on the outside. That's surprising, very surprising."

"Speaking of that, isn't it more surprising that Professor Lupin is a werewolf?" Ginny asked.

"I've already known." Hermione replied lightly, "At the beginning of the term, Parvati and other girls watched 'Twilight,' and they frantically collected information about vampires and werewolves. Soon, they found out that Lupin was a werewolf."

"Then why didn't the words spread?"

"It did spread, but not in the way you think. Those girls loved werewolves so much that they founded the 'Little Red Riding Hood Association'. In short, that's an underground organization supporting Lupin, which acts discreetly but is quite influential."

"I sincerely look forward to the day when they avenge Professor Lupin~~~" Ginny clapped her hands, "My dear little sister's happy days are running out, and we will take our revenge on he ~~~ Everyone listen, you've all been working hard to research these days. Now our project is completed~~~ "

"Completed… " Hermione was unsatisfied with the result.

"Forget it. We found nothing." Ron was instead thrilled that there's no more work.

"That's why it's weird. Since so many people know about Mary Sue, it doesn't make sense that there is no written record." Hermione opened the notebook she brought with her, "Moreover, I'm still curious about Astoria. Not long ago, I sneaked into the school archives to look for her profile. Nothing special on her content, but I found the color of the bindings was different from that of others. As far as I know, before we entered school, everyone's profile was collected from the local management, and then delivered to Hogwarts to be bound. The colors of the bindings should be the same. I also looked through her sister Daphne's profile. Oddly, there's no Astoria among Daphne's immediate family members. Therefore, I think her profile might be fake."

"Who cares, if that can bring love and peace back to the earth, then what matters~~" Ginny answered heedlessly, immersing in her imagination of the future.

"I don't think you can take a break. Didn't Dumbledore invite you to talk with him when you have time? What do you think he's gonna do, talk about weather? Obviously, I think he wants to learn more about Aquamarine. You can tell the headmaster that you can read her mind or memories sometimes, so that he may get more information from you two's connection. You should find out the secret as soon as possible."

"As you command~~~"

Ginny answered responsively, but actually she was thinking of revenge plans and numbered them for later use. By dinner time, the plan A to Z had almost been completed.

I will ask her to do my homework~~~

I will ask her to message my shoulder~~~

I will finally do what an elder sister does!

Hahahahahahahaha~~~~~

Ginny walked into the hall brightly, and saw a group of students gathered around the long table of Gryffindor. She squeezed into the crowd to watch the fun, and found her twin brothers sitting in the middle. George was holding a sketchbook, while Fred was struggling to block Neville, who was trying to reach the sketchbook with his arm overstretched. Everyone was staring at the book, and they were overjoyed.

"Stop it. Give it back to me." Neville resisted softly.

"Just a minute, just a minute."

Students coaxed Neville away, continuingly commenting on the sketches. Ginny craned to see through gaps–she was dazzled at once.

Snape in a long ruffled dress appeared on the paper.

"Impressionism?" Luna asked curiously.

"Realism!" Dean answered enthusiastically, telling her all about the funny story happened in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class this afternoon.

Just as they were talking, Ginny felt her back was being scorched to two burns. When she turned back, her eyes met Aquamarine in the distance. She was sitting at the Slytherin table, with her eyes widely open like two guns, aiming straightly at the Gryffindors.

I will give the whole Gryffindor a piece of my mind, including my brothers and sisters!

The voice echoed in her mind.

Hermione also sensed the threat in the air. She tapped the table, and whispered to the crowd, "Hey, remember what could be said, and what could not be said here." Her eyes quickly swept at the Slytherin table. Being aware of the super-caliber sniper rifles, the crowd scattered.

The dinner bell rang. The smell of food concealing the smell of gunpowder, but the high temperature did not fade at all. Even if Ginny took off her coat, she could not feel any cooler. She ate without tasting the food. Suddenly, Ginny saw Hermione and Ron got up to leave, so she followed.

"Let's go back together."

"We're not going back to the Common Room. We're going to deliver some files to Hagrid." Hermione said.

"Anywhere is okay. I just want to leave here."

Outside the castle, the sun was sinking, leaving only a glaring glow in the sky. They walked towards the edge of the forbidden forest in the twilight. From far away they saw Hagrid's hut pitch-dark, gleaming no golden shimmers like before. A wisp of smoke rose from the back of the storage, with the fragrance of plants everywhere.

"Hagrid is eating goodies!"

Ginny ran to the storage and saw Hagrid sitting on a moss-covered crossbar with Fang lying beside him. Before their gigantic shadows, a small fire burning in front of them.

Hagrid listlessly greeted the guests, and continued throwing leaves from a basket beside him into the fire.

Lately, he had been troubled by the complaint of Buckbeak, whose case would be heard for the first time next week by the Committee on the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. So far, the best defense Hagrid could think of is "Buckbeak didn't mean it. He's always docile." He became more and more depressed, complaining about his own incompetence. All he could do for Buckbeak was to feed him better. This afternoon, when Hagrid was feeding a dozen dead mice to Buckbeak, he suddenly recalled what his father said long time ago when he was a child:

When you are unlucky, burn some…and everything will be fine.

Burn some what? He only remembered that it was a plant burning with fragrance. Thus, he picked all kinds of grass and leaves he could find, and threw them into the fire, praying that Buckbeak would have a brighter future.

"Hagrid, that's superstition, why don't you come inside and read the defense materials we prepared?" Hermione patted Hagrid's broad back and handed him the thick files

Ron on the side picked up a mushroom and a few leaves from the basket, sniffed it, contemplated, and threw them back. "Come inside and have a talk. I'll burn for Hagrid." Ron patted his chest confidently. "I know what to burn to bring good luck!"

Holding Hagrid's big hands, Hermione and Ginny went into the cabin. Hermione showed Hagrid all the materials she got and analyzed them patiently. They talked for a while, and Hermione began to write a new defense. Ginny sat next to her, having nothing to do. To spare the time, she took a cabbage to feed the Flobberworms by the wall.

Since Buckbeak's rampage, Hagrid's class had been timid, only teaching about boring Flobberworms. The students were all complaining.

Flobberworms were round and sluggish creatures, and the only thing they do all day long is to eat. When there was no food, they stood motionlessly looking at the sky, until the next cabbage came. This strange behavior often made Ginny think that there was something in the sky, but when she looked up, she saw nothing but blue.

"Eat, you little liars, there's nothing on the sky."

Ginny shredded the cabbage and looked at Ron through the window, who crouched by the fire, humming songs and sticking something sword-like into the fire.

What the hell?

The clock ticked away, and when Flobberworms nearly ate themselves to death, Ron crashed into the door screaming.

"Hot hot hot—"

Ron's iron tray clunked as it hit the table with a loud bang, and he jumped up and down holding his earlobes with both hands. Hermione frowned and moved her files away, being afraid that they would be stained. She rebuked him unhappily:

"Look at what you have done. What are you doing?"

"That's are the magical plants that will bring good luck after being burned~~~" Ron proudly pointed at the tray in front of him, inside which several corns, potatoes, green peppers and onions were strung by iron drills, like swords. They were just taken off from the fire, with pleasant burnt scents and oil shimmering.

"The most magical plants can only be found in your own vegetable garden. "

"How is this magical…"

"Of course it's magical!" Facing Hermione's suspicious eyes, Ron argued, "Hagrid is in a bad mood, so he definitely doesn't want to eat dinner, then his mood will be even worse. If he's in a bad mood, he will have bad luck! I, Ron, who is chaste, beautiful, and caring, smart, brave and does not worship money, invite him to eat Weasley's vegetable feast. When his stomach is filled and vitamins is supplemented, Hagrid would be much happier, so of course good luck will come. That's not eating, but performing a sacred ritual! My dad always says—"

"Good mood brings good luck!" The two siblings said together.

Smiled gently, Hagrid went into the kitchen to get all kinds of spices, and everyone sat around the table to hold the sacred ritual. Halfway through the ritual, probably because of the green peppers, or it was the black peppers' fault, Hagrid looked a little teary. After a while, he stood up and said he wanted to go inside and laid down.

"Hagrid, are you okay?" Hermione asked with concern.

"I'm fine… " Hagrid walked away silently.

Hermione gave some potatoes to Fang, and took a plate to reserve some food for Harry, who would come later. Just at this moment, she saw Ginny was about to put a weird mushroom into her mouth. She stopped her immediately.

"Don't eat it!" Hermione snatched the mushroom from Ginny's hand.

"Ah…Why?"

"See the two windows and the curtains hanging inside? Aren't them obviously problematic?"

The three broke out in cold sweat and quickly put the mushroom on the table to observe carefully. It was extremely strange, with doors and windows, and even a chimney. It looked like a small house. It shall be cute, but it was scorched black by the fire. Recalling that she almost put it in her mouth, Ginny feel sick.

"I killed someone!" Ron held the mushroom in despair. With frighten Ginny hurriedly found a toothpick to open the door.

"No no no…the owner of the house is not there." Ginny quickly comforted Ron. A charred bed of straw and a few cherry pits fell out of the mushroom, with nothing else.

"What is this? Where did you get it?"

"In Hagrid's basket. It was dark, so I couldn't see… "

"Was a goblin living in it?"

"We should go to the library and check it."

As they were discussing, they suddenly heard the whimpering of Fang. At the meantime, their feet suddenly felt cold. When they looked down, they saw water, gurgling from Hagrid's bedroom, over the top of their feet, over their calves…

Ginny waded forward, knocking Hagrid's door loudly, but no one answered. The water continued to rise. Ron kicked the door open, and a waterfall poured out, knocking the two to the ground.

"What happened…Hagrid?!"

In the bedroom, the water was waist-high. With tables, chairs and benches floating around, Hagrid sat on his big bed, like an isolated island. Tears slid down from his face, causing a splash of water soaking himself.

"The water is your tears?" Hermione yelled.

"Hermione…" Hagrid looked up and then continued to cry. "I feel so sorry…your front teeth…you must be very distressed, right? If only I could help you!"

Ron grabbed Hermione's hands quickly, fearing what she would react.

Now Hagrid looked at Ron and cried, "Poor Ron…your face look so sad…you must feel so sad too!" He finally looked at Ginny, saying nothing, but crying even more bleakly.

The three of them returned to the living room in a strange atmosphere. They looked at each other and remained silent for a while. Finally, they concluded that Hagrid's abnormal behavior must be related to the mushrooms, so Hermione went to the library to find a solution, while Ron and Ginny stayed to look after Hagrid.

After Hermione left, Ron and Ginny tried their best to amuse Hagrid, but Hagrid always saw the saddest side of things in every word they said.

"One day a bun had a car accident, and his last words were 'Now I am a bun with red bean stuffing'!"

"I feel so s-sorry for the buns…oh…I r-really do…"

"Oh my God! Forget the buns. Look at my four fingers. It's a four, I wiggle them so they look like they're wondering what to do and it becomes a 'wonderful'!"

"I'm also sorry for fours, they're wondering…what are they wondering about… "

Ron kept trying to make up bad jokes, and Ginny scooped tears out of the window with a wooden bucket. Not long they were both sweating and waiting eagerly for Hermione or Harry to arrive.

When Ron was about to cry as well, Hagrid stopped crying and stared at the water carefully. Ginny walked near and saw a spider floating on the water, drowned.

"Hagrid, you… "

Hagrid's tears gushed again, flooding like the apocalypse.

"I'm so sorry for him! He's still so young… " He gently picked up the spider's body, feeling so distressed that he didn't know what to do. He frowned for a long time, and suddenly rushed out.

Fang immediately rose and chased after him, knocking Ron into the water.

"Come back! Where are you going?"

"He may still be alive! He should at least see his family for the last time!"

"Alright, that's it!" Ron rushed out angrily as well, looking back at Ginny and yelling, "You stay right here! I'll get him back!"

Before Ginny could respond, the two had disappeared in the shadow of the forbidden forest. She had no choice but to take off her shoes and socks, continuing cleaning up Hagrid's tears.

Only she stayed in the wooden house, and the ticking of the cuckoo clock was amplified louder and louder during the long wait. The windows were not closed. Winds sneaked in quietly. It was not until Ginny shivered that she realized she had left her coat in the hall. She found an old blanket to cover herself, and walked out barefoot, staring at the Forbidden Forest. It was like another world, pitch black, hiding unknown things.

Please, please, come back!

However, even when Hermione had returned with Luna, Ron didn't come back.

"You let them go to the Forbidden Forest? And they haven't come back yet?"

"I can't stop them!"

While they were arguing, they heard crying of children from the forbidden forest.

"Hagrid? Ron?" Hermione yelled to the forest.

"It's not human voices, it's Moaning Fruit," Luna said calmly. "Hagrid ate Gloom Shrooms, which always grow under moaning fruit trees. They make people extremely sad and compassionate. Only the Thalia Fragments living inside the Gloom Shroom can heal it… "

Then, she pointed at the Forbidden Forest, "Go and find Thalia fragments!"

"Go inside the forest? Wait, we shouldn't go into the Forbidden Forest. We have to tell professors!" Hermione tried to stop her.

"Professors are very busy," Luna said, dragging a long bench over. "Let's gp find it by riding a horse. I promise it's fast and safe."

"A horse?"

Luna didn't explain more, she tied the bench with a sturdy twine, and asked Ginny and Hermione to straddle like herself. She also instructed them to hold the waist of others tightly. Afterwards, she untied a necklace with a mirror inside. She let the necklace sag naturally, whispered unknown words with her wrist stayed still. The necklace began to sway mysteriously from side to side, drawing an incredible curve. Then, the bench began to quiver restlessly.

"You are an aurora shining brighter than stars and a steed faster than the North winds!"

After Luna's last cry, the bench rose up to the air, four slender legs prancing up and down, with even mighty neighs compared to which Hermione and Ginny's screams were so low.

"The Lovegood's secret weapon, Furniture Hypnosis!"

Luna tightened the reins like an ancient emperor, and headed straight for the forbidden forest.

The three rode a steed…a bench, galloping under the moonlight of the forbidden forest!


【Author's words】

In fact, it is elderberry that can bring good luck after burning, but some people say that burning it will attract demons. It is sage that wards off disasters and evil spirits after burning~~~