Submitted for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

House: Thunderbird

Subject: Magical Theory - #Task 3 — Incantation

Prompt: Write about someone learning a new language

Bonus prompts: 15. [Pairing] Victor Krum / Luna Lovegood

Word count: 1,178

Warnings: AU for Second Task, OOC

Learning how to make friends

Luna Lovegood always felt like she was destined to be alone; she didn't have many friends — she only had Ginny Weasley, and sometimes Luna felt like they were only friends because they lived close to each other. She was used to people making fun of her or sitting by herself at the Ravenclaw table. She thought it would always be like that... until the TriWizard Tournament started.

Luna waited with everyone to see the students who were arriving, excited to meet them, even if they would never spare her another glance. The students from Beauxbatons were beautiful and preferred to be left alone, but the students from Durmstrang were the ones who caught her attention most — more importantly, Viktor Krum.

After the Quidditch World Cup, everyone had been talking about the youngest seeker, and Luna wasn't immune to the excitement. She had seen the way he had played and how he had held himself, and she wanted to be like him somehow. She wanted to be able to just be herself, without caring about what people said about her.

It was one of the reasons why the little blonde started to spend some time in the library. She saw that Viktor was there most of the time, and she hoped to maybe talk to him, even if he was always surrounded by a crowd of fangirls, which made Luna smile when she saw how little attention Viktor gave to them. That's when she had an idea that might help her: she would learn Bulgarian, and then, she could start a conversation with Viktor.

Learning a new language wasn't something new to Luna, since her father was always teaching her a language they might need for when they were searching for new creatures, but Bulgarian was something that would take time for Luna to understand because it was so different from English.

Luna didn't rest until she could at least introduce herself to the Bulgarian; it took her three weeks, but finally, Luna was ready to have a conversation with him. So, with all the courage she possessed, she approached his table one afternoon and introduced herself to him.

"Zdraveĭte, kazvam se Luna. Kak si?" Luna said with a smile, stumbling a little over her words, but she realized she had Viktor's attention.

"Dobre sŭm, blagodarya za vŭprosa. Kak si? Iskash li da sednesh?" Viktor replied, and Luna just stood there, blinky owlish at him, confused by what he had said. She didn't know he had asked her if she wanted to sit with him, and he realized that, so he repeated his words slowly, for which Luna was very grateful.

"I'm sorry, I haven't learned many phrases in Bulgarian yet, just the basics that would allow me to communicate with you," Luna said, blushing under Viktor's stare. "I hope you don't mind, but could you teach me?"

"I vould be honoured," Viktor replied in his thick accent. Luna beamed at him, never missing an opportunity to learn something: it was the Ravenclaw part of her. "Do you vish to start now?"

"Molya te," Luna said with a smile, and a smile appeared on Viktor's face. Luna didn't know it yet, but it was the beginning of a nice friendship.

Luna and Viktor started to spend more time together at the library, and everyone realized that. Some people from Luna's House even started to talk to her, hoping she would introduce them to Viktor, but Luna wasn't going to do that to her friend. Viktor, on the other hand, was enjoying spending more time with Luna, happy that he had a friend who didn't care about his fame, and teaching her his native language was refreshing.

"You're doing well, malka sestra," Viktor said to Luna one day after she had read a paragraph from one of his books without stumbling. He had started calling her his little sister, and Luna was more than overjoyed at that.

"Blagodarya ti, Viktor," Luna said, thanking him with a wide smile. Luna was always a perceptive girl and could see that something was bothering her friend, but she had a feeling she knew what it was. "Is everything alright?"

"You know about the Yule Ball, right?" Viktor asked, and Luna nodded. "I vish to ask a girl, but I don't know how."

"It's Hermione Granger, right?" Luna asked with a little smile, which made Viktor's eyes wide with surprise as if he was asking her how she knew that. "I see you stealing glances at her, Viktor, you aren't very subtle. Why don't you go and ask her?"

"She'll reject me, malka sestra! Vhy she vould go with me?" Viktor said, forlornly. It broke Luna's heart, and she thought how she sometimes felt the same way as Viktor.

"You're a great guy, Viktor, and she would be very lucky to go out with you, and I know she's a bookworm just like you… Why don't you try teaching her Bulgarian too? I bet she would love to learn a new language." Luna was happy to see that Viktor seemed to be considering her idea, and maybe, she could make a new friend.

"I don't know… this makes me feel a little veird, and I don't know vhy," Viktor whispered to Luna when she just gave him a look to go talk to Hermione. "Vhen she rejects me, vould you consider going to the Ball vith me?"

"If she rejects you, I'll go to the Ball with you. But I know she isn't going to reject you, so just go already!" Luna said, pushing Viktor in Hermione's direction. She gave him a thumbs-up and wished him luck. "Kŭsmet!"

Viktor only groaned, regretting teaching that particular sentence to Luna, but he knew very well that he couldn't blame Luna for his situation. He was the one who had told her about his little crush, and now he needed to do something. He was a TriWizard Champion — he had fought a dragon and survived! He could ask a girl to a Ball; it was nothing. He just hoped Luna was right.

After the Yule Ball, where Hermione Granger had made an appearance on Viktor Krum's arm, everyone thought she would be his hostage for the second task, but the crowd was very surprised to discover that Loony Lovegood was Viktor's hostage. When Viktor pulled Luna out of the water, he looked both concerned and terrified.

"Dobre li si? Ne me lŭzhi, Luna!" Reverting back to his native language, Viktor demanded she tell him if she was alright, and Luna was grateful for all the time she had spent learning Bulgarian just so she could keep up with him.

"Dobre sŭm, nyama nuzhda da vikam. Blagodarya ti, che me spasi, bratko," Luna replied, reassuring him she was perfectly fine and that he didn't need to yell. Thanking him for rescuing her, she smiled, her heart full of happiness. She now had a friend who acted like an annoying older brother to her, but she couldn't be happier than when she decided to learn Bulgarian.

Translations:

*Hi, my name is Luna. How are you?

*I'm fine, thanks for asking. How are you? Do you want to sit?

*Please

*little sister

*Thank you

*Good luck!

*Are you alright? Don't lie to me, Luna!

*I'm fine, no need to yell. Thank you for rescuing me, brother.