Young Luna was beginning to grow content with her daydreams (the most dangerous thing to grow: content) when a lone figure began to make its way toward her. This figure would not have been noticeable had it not seemed to radiate light and order.
Upon further inspection, Luna recognized the figure as a rabbit. A bouncing bunny-rabbit made of light. It drifted closer and started nuzzling against her face; strange, because it actually seemed to have substance, warmth...
And it actually drew her undivided focus.
She ran her hand down the length of its body, and it suddenly dissolved, all of the light absorbing into her.
And the distractions fell away, enough for her to see where she really was: in a swamp that was full of nargles. And if she listened closely...were those wrackspurts? Speaking words of the past and promises of the future...And question words, asking Where is Harry Potter? Does your father know where he is? What has he said to you of the Dark Lord?
Luna started to move closer to the voices, struggling to make out what they were saying, when a hand pulled her up short. She whipped around to see...the Older Luna from the illusion, except less injured-looking and brighter-eyed.
Luna-of-the-Future shook her head. "Spoilers," she warned with her gleaming eyes. "In all your adventures with Mr. The Doctor, that's the one thing you'll learn: no spoilers." She appeared to think it over. "But also loads of fun and not nearly enough pudding. And you'll want to keep a journal."
Luna of the Not-Future pondered what was the most important question to address just now. She went with the immediate problem: "The Great Intelligence. How do I defeat it?"
"It's like Mr. The Doctor said," Older Luna answered. "You're master of your own mind, more so than most. Some might argue even more so than Hermione Granger."
"Who?"
"Just a friend. A particularly unimaginative one...but a friend." Luna of the Future seemed so at peace, Young Luna couldn't help but compare her to the injured, haunted Future Luna from the images. She wondered if this Luna came from before or after, but she decided not to ask because that, too, would be spoilers. Time travel was terribly mysterious. "What I mean," Future Luna continued, "is that our mentality is not bound by or confined to the realm of logic. We're able to expand past that. Our mind is like rubber; it's flexible and resilient. It's because of that that Mr. The Great Intelligence is having trouble keeping his purchase on it. Our mind bends and refuses to be confined, so he has to conform to its logic. Our logic. And we have power over that."
"Was that your Patronus?" Young Luna asked suddenly. "The rabbit?"
Older Luna beamed. "Saving my past self with my own Patronus; that's a lesson I learned from Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter?"
"Another friend."
"Really?"
"Don't seek him out at Hogwarts," Older Luna instructed. "In your time, you'll run into each other. And he'll need your help a few times."
Young Luna reached out to touch one of the radishes dangling from her older counterpart's ear. "Did you make these earrings?" she asked, awed. "I want a pair! They must be brilliant at-"
"Sorry!" called a voice as Mr. The Doctor stumbled into view. "Have we forgotten about the dark force that's thriving?" He planted his fists on his hips bossily.
"Intelligence isn't inherently dark or light," Young Luna said automatically. "But it is inherently limited."
"Pardon me, but I've encountered the Great Intelligence enough; I think I'd know...Oh!" Mr. The Doctor paused, seeming to realize something. "Oh, you're being clever over there, aren't you?"
"Do it," Older Luna said to Younger Luna with a grin that seemed like it could devour whole universes. "You know what to do. Go on!" Then Older Luna turned into a glowing rabbit, exactly like the Patronus, and hopped through the air, eating away the nargles.
"What are you thinking?" Mr. The Doctor asked the one remaining Luna, looking as though his Christmas had come early.
"A lot of things," Luna answered with a smile. "And they're all mad."
Then the world exploded.