Luna and her Woona

by Teyeson Bee

Mr. Filth- er...I mean...Filch

It didn't take long for the rest of the school to learn of Snape's act of mercy towards Woona. As Luna expected, Ginny wasn't the only one to see it as an incredible event. No one wanted to believe that a teacher like Snape was even capable of showing mercy to anyone other than his own house. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione had confronted Luna about it, they were practically besides themselves with shock. Harry, who had always hated Snape the most, was even more unconvinced than Ginny about the possibility that Snape had actually taken a liking to the alicorn ("I would sooner believe that Umbridge had become a saint over Snape showing fondness toward Woona," he had said). As for the rest of the school, it was pretty divided. Half the students seemed to think it was some kind of miracle, while the other half, including the entirety of Slytherin, believed the alicorn had confunded the potions master.

Either way, Luna and Woona received many stares from the students as they made their way down the halls during the next few days, even more than usual. The looks ranged from impressed shock to indignant loathing (guess which one belonged to the Slytherins). Luna had grown used to the many eyes falling on her and Woona though, and just continued on with her classes as usual.

Snape, like Luna, was carrying on like nothing had even happened. Though he started to not really acknowledge Woona's presence when in his classes. If ever he couldn't ignore it, like when Woona happily greeted him, "Goo' morning, Pwofessor," the familiar twitch would appear in his eye. When it came to the other students, Snape's attitude hadn't changed a bit. However, he did seem pretty keen on punishing anyone who had been talking about his act of mercy. One could possibly pass it off as his usual routine, but it seemed a little too coincidental when he gave lines to Hufflepuff's Justin Finch-Fletchly and Ravenclaw's Terry Boot, who both had to the write the sentence, I must not be irrelevant.

After a while though, the shock had died down, and everything returned to the Hogwarts norm. All in all, by the time October had arrived, mostly everyone had grown used to the addition of Woona. While many students still found time to goggle and swoon over the baby alicorn, most others, including the teachers, had just started treating her like an average day the week. However, that didn't mean that there weren't moments where Woona didn't grasp some unplanned attention.

One particularly rainy afternoon, Luna had taken Woona outside during free period because she wanted to play in the rain. Luna watched as Woona happily jumped in puddles and slid on the cobblestone, giggling wildly, as Luna sat under the canopy and worked on her O.W.L homework. Afterward, Luna called for Woona to come back into the castle, but before Luna could perform a drying spell on her, Woona excitedly ran right into the entrance hall, mane matted to her face, dripping madly, and trailing mud behind her. Then, before Luna could stop her, Woona shook her body like a dog so that water sprayed in all directions. Luna sighed.

"Oopsie. Sowy, Mama," Woona said, trying to hold back her giggles. Luna just shook her head exasperatedly, but lovingly. She then noticed that they were not alone in the hall. A shabby-looking cat with big, yellow eyes was watching them from the corner by the main staircase. Luna's smile fell slightly. She immediately knew what that meant. Wherever the cat Mrs. Norris was, her owner, the grumpy caretaker Mr. Filch, was usually not far behind. Filch always looked for an excuse to punish students, and a wet and muddy entrance hall was perfect for him.

"Ooh!" Woona suddenly gasped. Luna looked down at the alicorn to see her staring in the direction of the stairs; directly at Mrs. Norris! Luna's eyes widened.

"Oh dear," she whispered under her breath.

Before Luna could even say anything, Woona bolted towards Mrs. Norris, a big smile plastered on her face. The cat reeled back and ran for the other side of the room. Woona, thinking this as another game, chased Mrs. Norris around the hall, still trailing mud behind her and laughing playfully. Luna was trying to calm the creatures down when...

"FILTH! FILTH EVERYWHERE!"

Luna winced slightly and turned around to see the all to familiar, angry scowl of Mr. Filch. He was stomping down the stairs with a mop firmly grasped in his hand. Apparently, he had already been cleaning, possibly for the whole afternoon. Now he was facing the whole hall with muddy hoofprints trailing all over. He looked even more livid than usual.

"Hello, Mr. Filch," Luna greeted, trying to sound as friendly as possible. Filch continued to scowl.

"Do you know how long I've been cleaning up muck and mess today?" Filch spat, advancing on Luna. He didn't give Luna a chance to answer. "All morning! But none of you wicked children care, do you?" He then put on a fake smile and made his voice more shrill to sound like a child. "It doesn't matter! Just dirty it up again! It's just Filch!" He dropped the demeanor. "Didn't you think that I have more important jobs to do than just to clean up after you brats?!"

"Very sorry, Mr. Filch," Luna bowed her head apologetically. "I meant to dry Woona off before she came in, but she just gets so excited-"

"WOULD YOU CONTROL THAT LITTLE BEAST?!" Filch interrupted, pointing at Woona, who was still chasing a now hissing Mrs. Norris around the room.

As Mrs. Norris sprinted towards Filch's legs, Luna scooped down and snatched up Woona, who had just past under her legs. Woona was still giggling and trying to reach for Mrs. Norris, who in turn was hissing and snarling. Filch picked up his cat and held her close to him.

"Why Professor Dumbledore let that little pest in the castle is beyond me," he grumbled, turning his scowl towards Woona. Instantly, her smile disappeared as she shrank back in Luna's arms. Mrs. Norris' fur was still standing on end. "That pet of yours needs to be kept in your dormitory with the other animals!"

Luna's expression hardened a bit. She had grown to not enjoy the word pet to describe Woona. She wasn't like a common cat or owl; she was special.

"She's not my pet, Mr. Filch," Luna said, straightening herself up. "She's my-" she looked down at Woona, who met her eyes and cuddled closer to her.

"She's my daughter," she finished firmly.

It was just as she said it that Luna realized something; it was the first time that she had officially announced Woona as her daughter. She had been addressing herself as a mother since that first night, but she hadn't called Woona her child until now. As soon as she said it though, a sudden wave of undying affection rushed through Luna like a swarm of Wrackspurts. Something about it just felt, there was no other word for it, right. Woona must've felt it as well, for as soon as Luna had said it, Woona's smile widened and she nuzzled against Luna's chest. Luna smiled and squeezed Woona affectionately.

The touching moment was broken however, by the sound of Mr. Filch snorting indignantly.

"Daughter indeed," he grumbled. "What a load of tosh."

"It's not tosh, Mr. Filch," Luna retorted calmly, but with a hint of motherly protection. "Just because she's of a different species, it doesn't mean she can't be family."

Filch scoffed again and shook his head. Without missing a beat, Luna pointed to Mrs. Norris. "Don't you think of Mrs. Norris as your own daughter? What's the difference?"

Quite taken aback, Filch straightened up and looked affronted. He started to splutter, obviously trying to come up with a comeback, but failing. He looked down at Mrs. Norris and then back at Luna while words tried to leave his mouth, his scowl never leaving.

"Well...I...that's not...entire besides the...completely..."

Luna didn't need an answer. She had seen it for herself since her first week of her first year at Hogwarts how much Filch cared for his feline companion. During her first year, Mrs. Norris had been petrified by a basilisk from the hidden Chamber of Secrets, and Filch was in misery without her. It was clear that while he let it be shown, he cared for Mrs. Norris like his own daughter, no matter how much he may have denied it.

"I apologize again for Woona dragging dirt through the hall," Luna continued. She held Woona up to look Filch in the eyes. He was still trying to find words. "Say sorry, Woona."

"Sowy, Mr. Filth," Woona said innocently.

Filch instantly looked furious. Students passing by and who heard started to giggle.

"It's FILCH!" he barked, his face growing slightly purple. "Not Filth!"

"Filth!" Woona said again cheerfully, proud of her new word. Filch, however, was beside himself.

"Filch!"

"Filth!"

"Ff-ill-ch!" Filch said slowly, over-articulating every syllable.

"Ff-ill-th!" Woona repeated with the same amount of emphasis.

Filch looked ready to explode as he stared daggers at Woona, but the fear that Woona had towards the caretaker had completely disappeared. She just looked at him cheerfully, and even started to giggle. Luna had a sneaking suspicion that Woona was mispronouncing his name on purpose. If so, it would seem that Woona had developed a mischievous side. Passing students who had stopped to watch the conversation were clutching their sides from laughter. Filch's face, meanwhile, had turned such a violent shade of purple that his head almost looked like an overgrown eggplant.

Just then, something suddenly swooped down from the ceiling above, causing everyone, including Filch and Woona, to jump in surprise. As soon as the culprit was brought into view, almost everyone relaxed a little. It was Peeves the Poltergeist; a small, troublesome being, whose goal was to cause as much mischief as possible for all, especially Filch.

"Oooooh!" Peeves cackled wickedly, whirling around toward Filch, who had clutched his chest from the sudden shock. "Mr. Filthy, Filthy Filch! Why didn't I think of that before? Oooo what a wonderfully nasty name!" He then started to circle around Filch and chant, "Filthy, Filthy Filch! Filthy, Filthy Filch!"

Filch had finally found his voice as he rounded on Luna, his jowels quivering with rage.

"Now you see what your little beast has done?!" he howled as Peeves cackled around him. "Peeves will never forget that name! He'll never let me live it down!"

"Shant forget it indeed, Filth!" Peeves said with a wide smile. He then turned and glided toward Woona, who had since recovered from her own shock, and was finding the poltergeist quite funny.

"Thank you, ickle, alicorny Woona!" he said, reaching for her nose playfully. Woona giggled harder and swatted Peeves' hand away. Filch was still standing there, fuming even more now. Luna didn't know whether to feel sorry for the caretaker, or try not to chuckle from how his contorted expression was almost comical. Controlling herself, Luna sighed and tried to sound empathetic.

"She didn't mean anything by it," she said, though she still had a feeling that Woona was rather enjoying this. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Filth-" Luna quickly clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oops."

It was too late. The damage had been done. Instantly, Filch rose himself to his full height, his body quaking under the fury that had finally burst, and roared, "IT'S NOT FILTH! IT'S FILTH! I mean- FILCH! GAHH!"

With one final furious grunt, Filch turned around and stomped up the stairs and out of sight, Mrs. Norris still clutched in his arms. Peeves quickly followed, still cackling and chanting, "Filthy, Filthy Filch," all the way down the hall. The foyer was still trodden with muddy hoofprints, though Luna had a feeling it was probably best for Mr. Filch to do it at a later date, when his face had returned to its normal, pale color.

"Poor, purpur Filth," Woona said, looking up at Luna with innocent, though not completely innocent, eyes.

"Oh, Woona," Luna sighed. She then took out her wand, pointed it at Woona's legs, and said, "Scourgify."

The mud vanished instantly, leaving Woona's hooves sparkling clean. Luna then placed her daughter on her head, picked up her school bag, and headed up the stairs for the Ravenclaw common room.

As she walked, Luna could hear Woona softly singing an unknown tune, whose words couldn't help but make Luna chuckle.

"Purpur Mr.Filth. Purpur Mr. Filth. He has a kitty, an' he's purpur, an' his name is Mr. Filth."

Comments

[astromormy]

Loved it. Do you have any greater plans for this story, or do you plan to keep as small slice of life segments?

[TheDragonSage]

I also did love it, though can you do more magic for woona

[Teyeson Bee]

8965174
Oh I have bigger stuff planned. Gonna incorporate Woona into some events from the book. And there's gonna be development for little Woona.

[the other sans]

She had addressing herself as a mother since that first night, but she hadn't called Woona her child until now

1, She had been addressing herself/She had addressed herself.

[Magthere]

mild point of order you said that half the school was the Slytherins when they would only make up one quarter of the school. Ordinarily I'd let it slide as simply being meant as two factions but since you said the halves were roughly the same size I had to point it out.

Now half the half could be Slytherins with a spattering of people from other houses but there is no way Slytherins made up half the Hogwarts population.

[Teyeson Bee]

8965529
8965572
Fixed.

[Maran]

Cute chapter. I like how Luna tried to reason with Filch. Unfortunately it didn't work too well.

[NicLove]

Wait, Filch is a Squib/Muggle, they can't see Ghosts

p.s. Also maybe you shouldn't have a character that was only in the book

[Teyeson Bee]

8969268
Peeves is a poltergeist. It's different from a basic hogwarts ghost. Peeves doesn't look transparent like the other ghosts and can actually touch things.

[Noctis Prism]

Beautiful job here!

[Sparkle91]

Looking forward to the next one

[coder65535]

8969268
In SS/PS, Filch clearly speaks with Peeves:

"Say 'please.'"
"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"
"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.
"All right- PLEASE."
"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

[Ni-kun]

Hey, just added ur story 2 read it later! And don’t worry, I will!

[Teyeson Bee]

9008615
Much obliged!

[twilightaura]

I hope to see more of this soon!! very adorable!!

[Teyeson Bee]

9327504
Not to worry mon ami! More on the way!

[NicLove]

[MyLittleBronyDude]

"Purpur Mr.Filth. Purpur Mr. Filth. He has a kitty, an' he's purpur, an' his name is Mr. Filth."

Best song ever! I shall market this and make millions!

[Sozmioi]

8969268

Squibs aren't the same as muggles, and people can use characters from whatever source they please.

Anyway, milestone! First time we have someone who doesn't like her rather than resenting the privilege.

[Kentavritsa]

"Oooooh!" Peeves cackled wickedly, whirling around toward Filch, who had clutched his chest from the sudden shock. "Mr. Filthy, Filthy Filch! Why didn't I think of that before? Oooo what a wonderfully nasty name!" He then started to circle around Filch and chant, "Filthy, Filthy Filch! Filthy, Filthy Filch!"

Gotta love this side of Peeves!