24 Luna Lovegood

I am now in King's Cross again. Trunk in hand and Logan in tow, I proceeded to the magical pillar again and entered Hogwart's Express. I've also withdrawn some gold from my trust vault for some expenses I would make. New books, school supplies, and the likes. I already bought them during summer break because I don't want to go to Diagon Alley and be squished by the crowd since I still go there in disguise.

I quickly stepped inside the train and searched for Cho. Unfortunately, I arrived at the station quite early so there are only a few people inside the train. So I just sat inside one of the empty cabins. I would just meet with them at the feast, I guess. Being the ever studious I am, I just opened a book and read.

It took only a few minutes until it was opened by the familiar girl I saw back at the Malfoy Manor. The same blonde girl with an ever playful look in her face, and oddity feeling you get when you're near her. She wore that same butterbeer caps as a necklace, and the fact that she has her wand stuck in her ear that I immediately knew the girl. Luna Lovegood.

"Is this room occupied?" The girl asked. She was a little surprised that she saw me. She recognized me from the party of course.

"No." I just smiled at her. After hearing my answer, the girl sat down in front of me.

"It looks like you're a Ravenclaw. But I think you're more of a Slytherin. You look quite devious." The girl said frankly.

"Well, I get that a lot. I'm Frederick Grindelwald by the way, but you can call me Fred." I said as I offered a hand. She shook it before speaking.

"I'm Luna Lovegood. My father told me stories about you and your grandfather. He even has the same necklace as yours. I also wear a necklace to keep away the nargles." She said while pointing to her own necklace.

"Well nice to meet you, Luna. I hope I meet you as my housemate." I joked.

"My father also thought that they are quite a weird bunch, but I think they are quite brilliant." She admitted.

"We are all weird, so you're very welcome to join us," I said while chuckling. We stayed quiet after that, so I just kept reading my book. I am thinking of finishing my project before November starts, so I can just visit the Room to practice my dueling. But will I be able to really finish it before the basilisk goes out of the Chamber?

"You looked bothered, Fred. Must be the nargles flying around your head. You can borrow my necklace if you want." Luna offered.

"It's okay Luna. I have some protection myself." I said while holding the Diadem-turned necklace.

"Do you remember the boy you danced with back at the party? He's in the same year as me." I spoke again.

"Oh, Neville. It looked like the wrackspurts liked playing with him. Daddy told me not to bring my spectrespecs, so I couldn't help him." We fell silent again, it's kinda awkward when there's only the two of us. We're not even close enough to chat so casually.

Sometime after that though, Luna skipped outside the cabin and went to who knows where. She said she has a friend named Ginny and decided to go to her. She didn't come back though.

My cabin then was filled with a bunch first year students. I let them stay in the cabin since I'm alone. It seems they are all muggleborn since they don't have the haughty attitude of a pureblood. What I did then was I produce them to Hogwarts and the magical side of things. All of them were still new to these things and being informed that magic actually exists just flipped their world upside down. I then decided to answer their questions to distract myself. After the long ride, I had them change into their robes. By then, they already consider me a helpful senior in the school. I rode the Thestral carriages with other students. Some are the same year as me and some are older. They recognized me though, and they kept quiet during the whole ride.

We walked towards the great hall. Once the older students were inside, the huge entrance door of the hall closed shut. I still remember the day I was sorted. The huge uproar that came after that, and the first months of my stay in the castle, but I already learned to come in terms with those eventually.

I met with Cho in the table and chatted. We exchanged stories on how our vacation went, but I made up stories and told her the same things I wrote to her during the break. Which is a very big lie. I roamed the whole world and searched for lost treasure and artifacts I almost beat Indiana Jones on how many adventures I had. Add to the fact that I picked up what must be the most precious thing that ever existed. Something that was crafted by Morgana Le Fey herself.

As per canon, the sorting ceremony began and Luna was sorted in the Ravenclaws. I was quite far from her seat, so I just congratulated and welcomed her to the house. It seems I have to watch out for Cho's gang though. It seems some kind of plan for mischief is starting to form. I had already warned them when I saw them once bullying another student, and they were very mad at that. Now that they're planning to start again, I think I'll have some talk with Professor Flitwick.

Speaking of the House Head, there's still the dueling club that will start sometime after Halloween. I need to convince the Professor into being the supervisor and teacher of the club. He's the most suitable teacher since he's a dueling champion himself.

When the feast started, Dumbledore introduced Lockhart as the new DADA Professor. The girls were swooned by the man and some of the boys looked at him with admiration and respect. He may be a fraud, but he sure knows how to charm people. The people in my house were more level headed though. They think that the man's 'feats' were admirable, but they were not too swayed by the others' reactions.

The next day, things came back to normal. Except for the howler that was heard through the great hall. It seems the car incident made it to the Daily Prophet. How the Aurors in the area had to obliviate countless people just to erase the memory of the flying car, and Ron's broken wand. The topic of the burning forest in Bulgaria is still fresh, so it also made it to the newspaper. How both the governments of Bulgaria, muggle and magical, were still baffled on how the forest burned and who the culprit was. The magical side made progress though, as they found traces of magic in the scene. Meaning, a battle happened there that resulted in the forest burning.

The highlight of the day must be the DADA lesson we had. Slytherins are scheduled to join the Ravenclaws inside the class as Gilderoy introduced himself. I didn't bother arriving early since the teacher is obnoxious, and I don't want to be alone inside the room with the man. When the whole class arrived, what greeted us was a very ridiculous sight. The room was filled with Lockhart's portraits and his every trophy he received from the Ministry because of his 'heroic' deeds. The most outrageous sight though was the portrait of himself painting a portrait of... himself. He introduced himself in class as he captivated the young girls of our class with his smile. Some of the boys grimaced at that.

Then he went on scaring the students because of the shaking cage he was holding on the desk. Telling us that the thing in the cage might be the worst thing we could've seen. The students laughed when Lockheart revealed the cage that turned out to be filled with cornish pixies. I have seen far worse things than pixies, and the students felt it was ridiculous to find the pixies threatening and scary. It all changed though when Gilderoy opened the cage and released all of them. Panic ensued as the pixies caused chaos within the classroom. Books were ripped apart, the hanging skeleton of a dragon was destroyed, and they also broke some pieces of furniture. They even tried to snatch Lockheart's portraits, the man tried to stop them but failed.

I just sighed and stood up as I watched the students try to get out of the room. With a flick of a wand, I cast an Immobulus charm to all of them. Then, a quick incarcerous spell bound them all as I quickly returned them to their cage and locked it. The fraud teacher decided to applaud me shortly.

"Well done, Mr. Frederick. Quick thinking and action proved yourself of your wit and bravery. I could've done it myself. But as a teacher, I must be responsible for guiding the students to be a good wizard. I award you 10 points for that. I'll have to dismiss the class a little bit early to clean this mess. Goodbye." He said as the other students practically ran out of the room. I was stopped by none other than Daphne Greengrass. I have already met her parents back at the party, and they were good people knowing that they took a neutral stance when the war began. Though their financial and political status was slowly declining. The reason must be their younger daughter, Astoria. I remembered that she was terminally ill, but I can't remember what her disease was. I only remembered the bigger details from the book because I've already forgotten a lot of details by the time I learned Occlumency. I only remembered the fanfictions because I read a lot of them when I was a teenager, trying to quench my thirst for fantasy.

"I didn't know you're quite advanced in transfiguration. Conjuring spell is NEWT level you know?" Daphne said.

"I've been practicing all summer." I shrugged. I've learned the spell even before I went to school, so NEWT level spells are very easy for me.

Daphne was still suspicious of me but sighed. She won't get anything from me.

"Anyway, my father would like to invite you to attend mom's birthday," Daphne said as she gave me the invitation card.

"I hate politics," I grumbled. That's one of the downsides of being an heir of a pureblood family. Having good connections and power will be useful in having political fights. The more powerful your allies have, the more formidable your party will be. And they all see me as either a potential threat or an ally to protect their interest.

"You're not the only one who feels the same," Daphne said as she broke her usual stoic mask. I feel bad for her though. Being the eldest child of the family and a female at that, she will surely be taken advantage of the more clever people. The concept of patriarchy is very important in the wizarding families since the father is the one who can continue the family line. So most probably, some of the pureblood houses are thinking of ways to take her place and absorb the Greengrass family.

"As a sensible heir I am, I'll accept your invitation." I smiled as I took the invitation from her hands.

"Later, Greengrass," I spoke as I walked away to the next class.

"Yeah, " she mumbled as she went back to her housemates.

The whole day became monotonous at that. The only exception was the fact that I managed to conjure ropes in my DADA, which spread across the whole school. It certainly caught McGonagall's attention and the other teachers. After all, casting a NEWT level spell was almost unheard of, and by a second year student at that. It just makes people wonder what I am truly capable of. One side thinks I'm gifted enough that I will be like Dumbledore when I grow up. There's also the side where people think that I'm already following grandfather's footsteps and I will be the next Dark Lord. Although I'm amused, I just ignored them all.

"Mr. Grindelwald, may I excuse you for a moment?" McGonagall asked as the transfiguration class ended. Some people wondered why the professor wanted me to talk. Maybe because of the fact that I managed to conjure?

"Yes, professor," I said as I waited for the classroom to be empty before McGonagall talked.

"I've heard about the endeavors you had during the DADA class, Mr. Grindelwald. I must say that I'm certainly impressed and bothered. However, conjuration is a very advanced level of transfiguration, and I recalled that I warned you with your classmates to never do transfiguration outside the classroom. There's a reason students are not allowed to practice transfiguration until fifth year Mr. Grindelwald. For that alone, I must take 20 points for your carelessness and disobedience," the Professor said in a stern voice. She started at me for a few good seconds. It's not like I can tell her the truth. Anyone who learned my secrets won't end up well. Dumbledore is a very powerful man, and grandfather trusted him. That's why I was allowed to tell those things to him. I also know Dumbledore won't divulge things very easily. He liked keeping his cards near him.

"I'm very sorry. Professor." Is the only thing that went out of my mouth. My voice got stuck in my throat that I can't manage to say anything at all. After a few seconds, the cat professor can only sigh.

"From what I've heard, you are far more advanced in the subject than your peers. I can only refer you to more advanced books regarding transfiguration. I'm only doing this so I can supervise you and not let yourself get blown up, but I must warn you that only you can read and learn from the book. I'll immediately take it back once I heard that you've been disobeying my instructions. Now off you go." She said while giving me the book she was referring to. It was almost the same as the books I've found within the Room. There's also the process of being an Animagus. I certainly should try being one.

I was walking along the corridor when I met with a skipping Luna, who was not wearing her shoes.

"Hello there, Luna. Why are you bare-footed?" I inquired.

"Hello, Fred. My shoes just mysteriously disappeared. I suspect the nargles are behind this." she explained. It seems the others are now bullying her.

'Accio Luna's shoes.' I thought as a pair of blue sneakers quickly moved towards me. I caught my hand and gave it to her.

"You can tell me who's bothering you, Luna. I'll help you." I spoke as I handed her shoes.

"It's okay. Things always find a way to come back, if not only in the way we usually expect. Still, thank you." She smiled as she continued skipping along the corridor. I just shook my head at that. Sometimes, directly confronting them is the only way, but Luna's too nice for that. So I'll have to deal with them myself. If still not effective, I'll have them reported to the Professors.

After the class ended, I decided to visit the Room of Requirement again. God, I've missed it so much. Shortly after entering the room, I had the room make it a place for practicing dueling. A few hours of battling later, I flopped on the ground while panting. It seemed I improved more than when I left school. Real-life experiences certainly teach a lot more than self-training. I spent the last few hours training my telekinesis again and tried to float around the room. This time, the Room transformed into a large Quidditch field where I can freely fly around freely. I'm still as fast as a bird, but I experienced lesser migraines than I had when I first floated. Then I slowly increased my speed. I can speed up as fast as a standard broom, but doing maneuvers caused me a sudden severe headache. I quickly stopped and tried things slowly. I flew a straight path with the maximum speed I can muster. Then, I tried slowing down so I can change direction. I head hurt a little, but it was bearable. So I continued doing that until my mind can get used to it. I also tried casting different spells while flying. I even had the room conjure moving targets so I can practice my accuracy.

And I spent my next few weeks doing that. Professor McGonagall had me read the book she gave me while she taught the class. I got funny looks at that too. I mean, what's the use of teaching me that if I already knew it? She only told me to participate in practical lessons, which I passed quite easily. When the whole class was busy studying the spell, she'll go to my seat and give pointers on what I can study on.

The first time the class saw what McGonagall made me do, it became quite the topic among the students. It made Hermione to glare at me and got fired up. She even felt jealous that I have the book that Professor McGonagall herself gave me. Apparently, it was the book that she made herself. There's only a few of them since only those literate enough in advanced transfiguration can understand the subject. Even my housemates were envious. It seems those who were at the top of that subject have some form of privilege that can be given by the professors. Now, everyone seemed too determined to have that privileged. Learning in class and from the Professors themselves are very different.

My House Head didn't want to be left behind too, so he asked me about the charms that I've already mastered. Once I told him every charm I knew that pretty much covered almost the whole Hogwarts' curriculum, he was very excited to give me his own privilege. The reward is dueling lessons from the dueling champion himself. I was very happy at that, but I also talked to him if it was possible that he can make a club dedicated to dueling. The short professor felt happy at the idea but told me that it might be the DADA Professor who will make the club. So I just offered him to be the supervisor along with Professor Lockhart. At least he can give useful tips to students while demonstrating how dueling works.

Later in the dorm, I saw Cho sitting by the fireplace in the common room. She was reading the books from the mini-library and looks so focused. I noticed that she's been spending more time with Hermione rather than her group which is a very good thing. I don't know what happened, but her relationship with them soured. On the other hand, Hermione was the only female within her group, so she was very happy to finally have a female friend. She never expanded her circle of friends outside Harry, Ron, and Neville. I don't know what they think of me though. I'm only in talking terms with Harry and Ron, but I'm mostly close to Neville. Ron was still wary of me, especially when the school found out that I'm advanced in transfiguration. He might be wondering what other things I am hiding from them.

"Hello, Cho." I greeted her.

"Hi, Fred. Guess what? I heard some interesting things today." She smiled knowingly.

"I guess you heard it too," I spoke while rubbing my eyebrows with my two fingers.

"Yeah. That actually gave me an idea. What if I become the top of the class in charms. What would Professor Flitwick teach me?" She wondered.

"I wonder too myself," I smirked at her. We have been together for a long time that she understood what I meant.

"You didn't!" She said a little bit louder. Good thing we're on one side of the room, so not many people can hear us. They're too focused on studying their lessons. They must have been fired up too when they heard the stories about me. Some were even glaring in my direction.

"Yes, I did," I responded with a smug.

"Can you teach me?" Cho said with some puppy eyes she usually uses. No traps today honey.

"That won't work on me today Chang." I joked and she pouted at that. She's actually cute when she does that.

"Can you help me even a little? I know you won't have too much time on your hands because of the professors and I've been studying with Hermione, but we think it's still not enough." She pleaded. It's actually quite true. My private study sessions with the professors cut a good part of my time that I could be using the Room. I can now only go to the Room in the middle of the night instead of after classes and feast.

"Alright, but I'll only guide you there and you'll have to figure the rest yourselves. The professors even warned me to not tell anyone what they've been teaching me." I accepted. It's too lonely learning alone with the teachers, and it can be a form of challenge to anyone who wants to improve themselves. My study sessions will start next week, so I still have time to make plans and form schedules. I'm exercising time management again. As a university student, the workloads tend to strain our bodies which usually doesn't end up well. My excitement in learning magic actually made me forget that my body was still weak because I was a child, and I had to learn it all the hard way.

We chatted more after that. Her Quidditch practice will start in a week, and she'll be busy again. We actually had fun that night, and that made me feel a little guilty because I've been hiding too much from her. I know she noticed it too, but she respects my privacy so she never asked.

I didn't know why, but has Cho been prettier? Her expressions seem a bit more cheerful that I can't help but glance at her from time to time. Then it dawned on me.

'Bloody hell, I'm in puberty now. I have to suffer these raging hormones of mine again!' I shouted in my mind before calming down.

Okay, time to sort out my thoughts first. First, I checked my Occlumency barriers. They were in good condition, so I can control myself and my emotions more. Then, I cleared my mind of any thoughts. These uncontrollable hormones will only have me in trouble. I meditated a little so I can flush out the things that have been bothering my mind. After I sorted myself, I talked with Cho until she got up and went to bed. It was finally time to go to the Room.

I cast a muffliato and disillusionment charm on myself and went to the seventh floor. I am already far from the dormitory, but I still chose to be careful and silently walked towards the troll portrait. I am almost near there when I heard a voice behind me.

"Hello, Fred," Luna said and my eyes widened. Why was Luna here?!

"Hi there, Luna. What are you doing here?" I inquired. I didn't put down my sneaking charms, but I answered her anyway. How did she even see me? I swiped a sweat on my forehead before talking to her.

"There was a big window nearby. You can go outside and see the stars there. It's quite beautiful." Luna said.

"Alright, Luna. I'll leave you to your business. Good night." I said as I tried turning away. I'll come back later when Luna goes back to her nightly adventures.

"It's alright, I've seen enough stars for today. I feel your adventure will be more interesting." She said as she followed me. How can I get rid of Luna? I know she's very stubborn once she decided on something.

"I think it's too late for you to go out of bed. Besides, I know you don't have many spells that you can use to hide from Mr.Filch." I persuaded her.

"It's okay, you can help me hide from him. You cast those charms yourself right?" She said no more and skipped ahead. I just sighed at that. Luna is an eccentric one alright. But she sure is clever. After a few painful minutes later, I decided to just take her with me. They'll eventually find this by the fifth year. It's not like I can keep this room from the others either.

I walked with her until we reached the familiar portrait. The corridor was very dark and the only thing that lights the castle are the torches that are attached to the wall.

"Now Luna. What you will see here is a very important secret of mine. This room is a part of the castle, so I won't have the room only for myself. But don't tell them for now, please? After I finished some things, I won't be using this room too much." I pleaded. I know people will eventually find this place, but it won't be good for me if they discovered this place too early.

"It's okay Fred, I won't tell anyone. But I wonder what's special about this place." She said while looking around.

"This is how it works. You have to think about what you want before walking past the door three times. Let's say I want a place I can study." I say as I began pacing. Eventually, a door appeared beside the portrait, and I quickly pulled Luna inside.