Professor Dumbledore jogged briskly down the corridor on his way to Ravenclaw Tower. Normally, he wouldn’t get involved in a disturbance in the student dorms, but Flitwick said that this was no ordinary disturbance. He climbed the spiral staircase from the fifth floor and arrived at the large wooden door. He placed a thin, bony hand upon the brass eagle and knocked twice. A voice from nowhere asked:
“At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?”
“The stars”, Dumbledore said in his ever calm and reassuring voice. The door found satisfaction with his answer, and swung open before him. A large crowd was gathered in the common room. Gently pushing his way through the confused mass of students past the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, he opened the door to the girls’ room. The students had already been evacuated from here, leaving Filius Flitwick alone between two rows of four-poster beds lined up on either wall. The abnormally short man breathed an audible sigh of relief as he saw Dumbledore enter.
“You’d better have a look at this” he said, gesturing to one of the beds near the centre of the room. Dumbledore stood in front of him, his tall, lanky form dwarfing that of the Charms professor, and turned his gaze to the bed, which was magically inscribed with L. LOVEGOOD upon a small brass plaque upon the footboard. He raised a single brow with inquisitiveness and bewilderment.
The bed was occupied, not with the student whose name graced the frame, but rather by a small equine creature, deep blue in colour, with a shadowy mane that shimmered in the morning light. The creature was wearing no clothing, save for four slippers of luminescent blue glass, a necklace bearing the image of a crescent moon, and a tiara of midnight blue that highlighted the horn on her forehead. She seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully. Dumbledore was at a loss for words.
“What do you suppose?” asked Professor Flitwick, ever curious of the labyrinthine workings of the great wizard’s mind.
“I suppose,” said Dumbledore, “that there is a horse in this bed”.
Flitwick frowned at the headmaster’s quip. “The student, Luna Lovegood, has disappeared”.
“Interesting” was all that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School and former Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, could verbalize.
Suddenly, the interesting creature in the bed began to stir. Professors Flitwick and Dumbledore responded immediately by drawing their wands at the same time. They looked as if prepared for a duel, when the thing in the bed finally regained consciousness.
“Ugh… what a strange dream” thought Princess Luna, still a bit asleep. “I should have the Night Guard bring some tea before I raise the moon tonight. If Celestia thinks–” Her train of thought was instantly derailed, killing hundreds of metaphorical civilians, when she opened her eyes to the sight of two strange creatures, dressed in ridiculous costume and pointing some sort of sticks towards her. “Uh– Hello?” she said, a bit nervous and very confused. The creatures reeled back, as if surprised by the very fact that she could speak. She looked around. She was no longer in her own bedroom, but in some strange, communal one.
“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” asked the short one, still holding that ridiculous twig in his hand.
“Uh– I am Princess Luna, and, er, frankly–” looking around again at her surroundings, “I don’t know, really”. The tall, bearded one put away his stick, but the short one still remained in a defensive position.
“What do you think, Headmaster?” he said, looking to the tall one.
“I think,” he said, straightening a pair of glasses that hung in front of his deep blue eyes. “that she is just about as confused as we are”.
It was almost dusk, and the brilliant sun was approaching the horizon in cloud of red, orange, and purple. Princess Celestia breathed deeply, and sighed.
“Luna should be up by now. I wonder where she is?” she thought to herself. Suddenly, she was almost knocked off of her feet by a loud BANG emerging from the lower floors of the castle. She galloped as fast as she could, trying to find the source of this cacophony. She was close to falling down the castle stairs when the percussive hammering repeated. She followed the noise, until she found herself in the corridor leading to her sister’s room. To her surprise, she found a large company of Royal Guards, hoisting a large tree trunk towards the door. The Guards were about to have another go at the oaken portals when they suddenly heard a thunderous voice exclaim “STOP!”
They dropped their makeshift battering ram and turned to Princess Celestia.
“What is the meaning of this‽” She said, confused and slightly afraid.
“It’s Princess Luna. She’s locked the doors and she won’t say why”.
Typical, thought Celestia. My little sister, up to her old antics.
“I’ll settle this” she said, giving a sigh. She approached the door, and tried to listen in. Nothing.
“Luna, what are you doing in there?” she asked, trying to find out what her sister was doing in her room when it was almost time for her to perform her royal duties. No answer. She gave another sigh, and raised her magic horn. With a cloud of cream-coloured magic, the door unlocked. She nudged them open, and was surprised by what was inside.
She was not greeted by the sight of her younger sister, but by a confused-looking young girl. The stranger did not seem very troubled by her appearance. She turned her head like a deer in the road approached by an oncoming car. She was wearing long robes, with a strange coat of arms on the left breast. Light blonde hair fell over her shoulders, and two blue eyes were transfixed upon the sight of Celestia.
“Oh. Hello” she said, apparently undisturbed by the sudden appearance of a large equine deity in the room.