While this story is mainly about the Champions Closer Ties, there's also the aspect of Harry finding and becoming closer with other friends after the First Task. This chapter focuses on those friendships and one in particular.

On the morning of Saturday, February 19th, 1995, the day before the Second Task, Harry, Neville, Hermione, and Ginny all saw Luna walk into the Great Hall barefoot.

Luna approached them and Ginny said disapprovingly, "Let me guess, Luna, your Ravenclaw housemates have stolen and hidden all your socks and shoes."

"It's either that or nargles are behind it," answered Luna softly, "All I know for sure is that all my socks and shoes were missing this morning."

"OOH!" piped up Harry suddenly.

"What have you just realized, Harry?" inquired Hermione.

"Dobby?" called Harry cautiously.

Next nanosecond, there was a loud crack and Dobby appeared next to Harry.

"Harry Potter called Dobby?" squeaked Dobby excitedly.

"Yes, I did," confirmed Harry, "Dobby, I would like to ask you a favor on behalf of Luna."

"Name it, Harry Potter, sir,"

"Notice that Luna is barefoot," said Harry, directing Dobby's eyes to Luna's bare (and cold) feet.

"Yes, Harry Potter sir," replied Dobby simply.

"Luna told us that she woke up this morning to find that all her socks and shoes were missing," explained Harry, "Ginny, who is Luna's BFF and knows that Luna has a sad history of being bullied, suspects her housemates have stolen and hidden her socks and shoes. Luna herself acknowledges this as a possibility but also thinks that it could have been the work of wrackspurts. Either way, I want you to search all the Ravenclaw dorms and the Ravenclaw Common Room for socks and shoes that seemingly don't belong there. If you find any, bring them to us at lunch or dinner and ask Luna if they are hers or not."

"Dobby will do this, Harry Potter, sir, "And Dobby will also keep watch over Ravenclaw Tower for this next week to see if he can spot people stealing and/or hiding Luna's possessions. If Dobby sees this, he will put a stop to it."

"Thank you, sir," replied Luna politely.

"Sir," smiled Dobby, "I like her very much."

"Dobby has to get busy," said Dobby clearly, "See later, sirs and misses."

...

Harry, Neville, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna all entered the Great Hall ten minutes and ten nanoseconds early for dinner that night anticipating the possibility of meeting Dobby.

And sure enough, Dobby turned up holding multiple pairs of socks and girls' shoes that were clearly Luna's size.

These shoes included two pairs of tennis shoes, one set black and the other set pink, a pair of short black boots, a pair of yellow shoes with a very slight heel, and two pairs of unusual slide on sandals, both shaped like eagles, though one pair of sandals with blue and bronze and the other pair was a mismatching pair with a pink left sandal and a purple right sandal. The socks included three pairs each of pink, white, black, and Ravenclaw blue.

"Dobby assumes all of these are yours, Miss?" piped up Dobby as he handed all the shoes to Luna.

"Yes, sir," replied Luna gratefully, "Since it's cold, I'll put on a pair of socks and a pair of tennis shoes."

Luna proceeded to put the black socks and black tennis shoes on her feet, which immediately felt warmer and better.

"Dobby, sir," said Luna sincerely, "Thank you the time and effort you put into to finding my lost socks andbshoes."

"Dobby was surprised at where he found the shoes," admitted Dobby, "Dobby didn't find anything in Ravenclaw Tower. However, Dobby did search the other dorms and found all these socks and shoes in one of the Hufflepuff boys' dorms. Dobby found this curious as the shoes are all clearly shoes for girls. Dobby waited to see if anyone would come up to the dorm. A boy named Zacarias Smith came into the dorm around three o'clock because he wanted to retrieve a small bag of Lay's potato chips from his trunk for a small afternoon snack. He retrieved the bag of chips from the trunk under the bed with all the girls' shoes on top of it. Dobby confronted the bad Smith boy and used his magic to bind Smith to him. Dobby told Smith that he wouldn't let Smith go until he told Dobby the truth about where all those socks and girls' shoes on his bed came from."

"This is very fishy," said Luna matter of factly, "How did Smith get into Ravenclaw Tower? He's not smart enough to solve the riddles that people have to solve to gain entrance into Ravenclaw Tower."

"He could have tailgated behind someone who answered correctly," pointed out Neville.

"There's no need to wonder, sirs and misses," explained Dobby, "Smith confessed that two Ravenclaw girls had paid him to keep the socks and shoes hidden in his dorm over the weekend."

"Who were the girls, then?" asked Hermione sharply.

"Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe," answered Dobby.

"I'm not surprised, "spat Ginny bitterly, "Chang and Edgecombe have as much respect for Luna as Draco Malfoy does for muggleborns."

"Chang and Edgecombe paid Smith ten galleons to keep all of Luna's socks and shoes hidden in his Hufflepuff dorm for the weekend," explained Dobby.

"Dobby?" asked Harry, "Please keep watch over Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe through at least the end of March to see if you can pick on a pattern. Do what you can to help Luna with her possession security. And keep an on Smith as well. If any of them are clearly making a habit of picking on Luna, then let's see to it that they get some comeuppance."

"I don't want revenge on anyone," said Luna calmly, "But it would be nice to not have to worry about my possessions being stolen and hidden."

"I don't know who's scummier here," spat Harry, "The Chang and Edgecombe bitches or the Smith asshole."

"Good for Harry Potter for calling those people exactly what they are," said Dobby approvingly.

"Luna is so sweet and kind and she doesn't deserve this treatment," said Ginny sadly, "It was bad enough when my not so dear brother gave her that disgusting nickname."

"Ginny," said Harry proudly, "I am very proud of you for what a great friend you've been to Luna. Sometimes just having SOMEONE be nice to you makes all the difference in the world."

"I feel that," said Luna warmly, "I do like Ginny a lot. She's very nice you know."

"More people should be nice to you," Ginny told Luna, "And thank you to Harry, Neville, and Hermione for accepting her."

Harry, Neville, and Hermione all nodded happily.

"Dobby respects Harry Potter for looking after his friend by getting Dobby involved," said Dobby respectfully, "Dobby will continue to do what he can to help Luna Lovegood."

And with that, Harry, Neville, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna all just smiled at Dobby.

The next chapter will be the Second Task :)

A shout out to the following members who have added Harry Potter and the Champions Closer Ties to their favorites and/or follows lists since the last update:

blaketiger

emeyuna62

Ev3rn1ght1

GAGANALPHA

nsaifnabi

Renshaii

sasel

tanashlyn

Trooperjoker

twilightblossom86

Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :) ❤️