Chapter 171: Xenophilius
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
- Author's notes -
Chapter 171: Xenophilius
Harry landed close to the house.
He would have used Floo powder to travel here, but Luna's father was a very paranoid man and believed there was some conspiracy involving corrupted fairies leaking information to dark wizards.
Funny enough, he wasn't completely wrong about that one.
Apparition would have been risky since he had never been in this version of the Lovegood house, and things could be in a slightly different position compared to what he remembers.
A humming sound could be heard when Harry tapped the property wards. This was a non-intrusive way to inform the home occupants of his presence.
He was looking forward to his conversation with Xenophilius. It didn't take long for Luna to send him an invitation after he requested to speak with her father.
The girl didn't even know what he wanted to speak about, but she had always been very carefree with these things.
Harry felt the magic moving around the ancient wards, and the wooden house that had been previously in sight disappeared. It was then replaced by the real Lovegood house as it came into view a short distance away.
Had someone entered the property without permission, they would have wandered around for a very long time before finding the real place.
The Lovegood family home was more similar to a tower than a typical house. Wizards used to employ these kinds of buildings a lot in the past as they were easier to defend.
The tower was surrounded by a well-kept garden, filled with flowers of all kinds and colors, giving the otherwise gloomy tower a picturesque appeal.
Harry had no doubt this was Luna's doing.
The door of the tower opened up by itself.
"I guess I'm being welcomed," Harry told himself while walking towards it.
"Daddy! Harry is here!"
He heard Luna calling from upstairs as he crossed the entrance.
"I'll be down in a minute, Pudding," her father answered.
The blonde girl came down the stairs while jumping.
"Hi!" she greeted him with excitement.
"Hello, Luna, have you been practicing what I taught you?"
"Yes, I have already disarmed all the scarecrows in the field," Luna explained.
"Poor scarecrows…" Harry lamented.
"Lyra told me to visit your home tomorrow," she commented.
"Yes." He had agreed to give the girls a few more classes until the end of the summer. After all, he had plenty of free time even with his own personal daily train.
"Today she went to the Weasleys. Ginny's oldest brother is also there, I believe."
"Ah, there he is!" Xenophilius descended the stairs and glanced at him with interest.
The man had long blonde hair like his daughter and was wearing a flamboyant yellow tunic that would make Dumbledore proud.
"Let us take a seat in the kitchen; we can talk there," he said with a mischievous smile.
Harry and Luna followed him, and the three of them sat down at a small circular wooden table.
"Very cozy for an old tower," Harry commented after looking around the kitchen.
"Right?" Xenophilius grinned.
"It's all thanks to my Luna… I don't know what I would do without her…"
His expression changed to a very serious one as he looked directly into Harry's eyes.
"So… Mister Potter. I know why you are here."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
'Did he sense the item in my bag?... Maybe I didn't give him enough credit, but why do I feel so much tension in the air?'
"Mister Lovegood, I -"
"Allow me to speak first." Xenophilius raised a hand to interrupt him.
"I know you are here to request the hand of my lovely daughter in marriage, but let me tell you something first."
"What…" He knew the man was peculiar, but he was not expecting this.
'Why are all purebloods so obsessed with marriage?' In his previous life, he had grown away from the magical world, and even after entering Hogwarts, he never got involved in politics, so he was not used to these things.
"Don't you think for a second that it will be that easy! I will not give you my precious Luna!" He slammed his palm on the table with fury.
"No… that's not what I-"
"Very well!" Xenophilius interrupted him again.
"Your tenacity has won me over! You may marry my beloved Luna, but I have two conditions, and they are not negotiable."
"Like I'm trying to say… that is not what I-"
"Condition one!" Xenophilius raised one finger in the air.
"You must treat her like she is the most important thing in the world....because she is!"
He raised another finger.
"And two… you must move to live here. This tower would crumble in a week with my daughter."
Harry looked at the girl in question.
"Can you reason with your father?... please?"
"Huh?..." Luna was staring at the ceiling with misty eyes.
"Sorry, I think I saw a Crumble-Hornet Snorlack passing by."
"You weren't listening at all?..." Harry sighed.
"Did I miss something important? That happens a lot," Luna told him.
"Wait… don't tell me…" Xenophilius gave him a suspicious look.
"You want to taste the milk without buying the cow?!"
"Cow?" Luna became confused.
"Daddy, don't be silly. We don't have any cows here."
"I'm going to stop you right there." He did not like where this conversation was going, so he put his bag on the table and opened it up.
"I came to talk about this." He pulled his Invisibility Cloak out.
"A cloak? Wow, it's so pretty!" Luna commented.
"Hmm? What is this?" Xeno got closer to inspect the item.
"Why did you bring me a… wait a minute."
He saw the symbol inscribed near the neck area of the cloak, and his demeanor completely changed.
"Can it be?!" He said with shock.
"I have looked for them for so long… is this really?…"
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