Official Hogwarts owls are en route to the following: foxglove, GrnDrkness, chocykitty, Blackjack the Nargle, o-WinterQueen-o, Beautiful dreaming warrior, Four Leafed Fortune, falyakfire, Dyquem, ForgottenDreamer98, Wind19, seldomselcouth, Twilight Moon 21, banana minion of the pixy stix, Faliara, Booklover0608, unchartedfate, deskdraik, WereWolfPrincess1215, Reading nerd, Fk306, Bailey24, AliceofZombieland01, BatfamilyFan01, BellaPevensie96, Beta of all the worlds, Carol Molliniere, Destiny-FaithAngel, Devil-O-Angel, Dragonscorch, Duvessa Lilian Snape, ELLYNARA3, Eliphas, ForestEmerald, Frostover317, HawthornShadow, HogwartsStudent1234, Identicality, Katsucchi, KimikoElenda, Latias876, LucediDio, Luzydeath, Manaly, Maximus Potter, Mikol, MilkTeaGhost, Mosseyed wolf, Night of StarClan, Pokemon-Ranger-Aiko, Rustyfox, Solartiger, TkreativeTanke, Yin Yang Zodiac Girl, Yuki101, amy0213, angelcake124, angel de acuario, animevriskaserket, art-is-a-bang-yeah, artjsh, babymcflurry, catlover123456789, craziness101, fangirlofthenorth, foxfire222, kaori and yoshi, kurobane101, lurkerlaine, megaotaku-chan, mls8720, of muffins and sprinkles, purehearts22, sakura240, sandryofmindilan121, sarfine-ecleips, zoeshade, zotinha456, 0penfire, Aiyobi Uzamaki, Avampiress, BloodMoon93, BloodRed Wolf15, Caboosd, CallistoRedbird, Chibi y Hina, Cocopop55, Copykat2, Dezzy15, Dreamless-Sleep777, Fanghur, Fellie97, Fuil Gealach, Gryffindor1796, Hikari-Urufu-no-Yami, IdreamOfDistantSeas, IhaveADemonFoxInsideMe, Jxeleven, Kamehameha111, LeahBeana, Letyourmindsoar, LiquidCherry, Nghtmrduc, RellikZ, Russingon5eva, Same Coin, SeeSea18, Starscape593, Tandrele, The 14th Undertaker, Thea Death End, Twilight Cardmistress, WannaBeDragonlord, Wolf Lupin, anonymouskansan, changeofheart505, . ., , denvitadroppen, flanka, happy-go-lucky writer, heiressofanor, nonowriting, pococo, randomhairz….
Wow. That's a lot of people. I am so happy, yet so sad because I have kept all of you waiting for six months. Please forgive me. Also, if the owls are not arriving, let me state that it is not my fault. I was forced to use Pig and Errol.
Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Rise of the Guardians.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
The sun was still sleeping and MiM was peeking down from the dusky violet sky one last time when Harlequin returned to the castle. It was still too early for anyone to be awake, but every now and then, he liked to just wander the empty halls. Somehow, it made him feel like his old self and let him forget that he was invisible to the world, if only for a minute. Plus, it was the perfect time to set up some pranks. He didn't have all his old magic, but he could still spell the inkwells to change to lemon juice, bewitch the prefects' toilets seats to call out lewd comments, and the like. True, he was trying to get himself seen, but some pranks were better pulled in anonymity, when no one was around to point fingers.
So he was surprised as he materialized outside the castle and pushed his way through a Great Hall window to find a flurry of activity and a decided aura of fear in the air. Students pressed against each other, huddled together in large groups as they watched their teachers move about briskly, whispering urgently to…wait, were those Aurors? Harlequin felt his stomach flip and plowed his way through the students so that he could lean in on the closest hushed conversation.
"….went missing." One witch was saying as the spirit pushed his shoulders into a burly wizard with a wince.
"She just vanished out of the dormitory?" The wizard Harlequin was half-way through spoke now, his tone full of doubt and suspiciously superior. "Are we sure she's not just wandering lost somewhere? You know how first years-"
Harlequin rolled his eyes and had to remind himself that slapping the stupid out of people didn't work if you couldn't touch them. It was still tempting, but he was spared his futile efforts by a new voice approaching, sharing the Jester Prince's exasperation.
"Don't be thick, Dubbeldam." Harlequin snickered at the name. "We wouldn't be here if it was as simple as that. It's as if the girl was never here. There are traces of the same strange magic as the disappearance in-"
Harlequin didn't get to hear the location as he shifted his weight, making his bells jingle. The Auror that had just walked up paused, glancing around in confusion. The spirit felt a surge of surprise and a faint hope. Maybe, maybe someone else could see him. But no. Harry – there was no mistaking that pinched face, with or without the telltale scar – just shook his head and moved on, assigning various tasks to his colleagues. With a bored sigh, Harlequin bounded out of the Great Hall in search of someone who could tell him what was going on.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
It did not take him long to find Luna, but that was due more to the fact that spirits can move faster than mortals than it was of the witch being where he thought she would. In fact, after checking the greenhouses, Astronomy tower, and forest, Harlequin had found her in the last place he had expected: her office. He honestly hadn't pictured her having one. He couldn't say exactly what he had imagined, but between wandlore and Luna being Luna, a cottage in the forest sounded about right. Instead, he burst into a small, albeit cozy, little room on the fifth floor, brimming with burning questions.
All of which died on his lips as he took one look at his old friend.
This was not the Luna he knew. Gone was the airy, distracted witch from the platform. Instead, the woman sat bolt upright at her desk, eyes wide and disturbingly focused, one hand wrapped around a long-cold cup of tea, the other leveling a wand at his face. She trembled and Harlequin knew that she was scared.
"Luna. What's happened? Why are there Aurors here?"
Luna's gaze moved to the spirit and her expression softened slightly as she lowered her wand with a shaky hand. She managed a semi-smile grimace and some of the feral terror left her eyes. She still looked a bit like a cornered wolverine, though. "Harlequin?" She rose, not noticing as she spilled her tea, and for a minute looked like she was going to hug him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself, meeting his gaze. "Harlequin. I think something is wrong. Something wizard magic cannot fix."
She hesitated, and Harlequin had a sudden realization as the Aurors' conversation came back to him. This disappearance…it brought Luna memories of her own time as a captive during the war. He moved and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Luna. What can you tell me?" His tone was serious, devoid of any of the joking he usually possessed.
"A first year vanished without a trace. She never left through her dormitory's portrait, but one of her roommates said they saw her out on the grounds last night just before she Disapparated."
"First years can't Apparate."
"No one can Apparate on Hogwarts grounds. Except for house elves." Luna took a shaky breath, but it was Harlequin who spoke next, the words clipped and harsh.
"And spirits."
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
He started his search in the missing girl's dormitory. Yes, he should probably be leaving this to the Aurors and yes, he did have a few people more qualified that he could alert, but neither option seemed right. The Aurors, while undoubtedly excellent at their job, had no experience with spirits. They couldn't fight what they not only couldn't see, but also couldn't feel and could barely sense. No. He might be able to subtly guide them along and use them as back up, but he couldn't count on them for more than that.
If he was a little wiser and a little less stubborn, he would put a message into the wind and call for the Guardians. He knew that he should, but he also rebelled at the thought. Hogwarts was his. His family called it home. You didn't see him sticking his nose into Bunnymund's business or running around collecting teeth for Tooth. (Switching them for dragon fangs was another matter entirely and was beside the point.) And by Merlin, hadn't MiM named him a protector? He was no Guardian, but he could defend what was his.
Frowning, Harlequin moved quietly through the empty room. Or as quietly as could be accomplished when infernal bells tinkled with every step. He paused at the foot of one of the beds beside a worn trunk that was covered in faded, peeling stickers and the initials G.M. in bright new paint. As a wizard, the decorations of the trunk would have confused him, but as a spirit who'd had nothing but time for twenty years, it spoke volumes. It was a hand-me-down thing that had been to nearly as many places as he had, carrying the treasures of people to whom travel was exciting and magical…in an entirely mundane way.
The missing girl was Muggle-born. Or half-blood at best. Harlequin wasn't sure if this was inherently important, since she had been, quite literally, spirited away, but he stored the information. Spirits came from all kinds of sources and not all of them good. Who- or whatever had taken her might have once been from a fouler class of wizards. If those other disappearances Harry had mentioned…
The Jester Prince pulled off his crown, shaking his head without the inappropriate noise of his chimes. One hand held the re-formed circlet while the other combed through his fiery red hair. The weight of his powerless semi-existence made his shoulders tense and he sighed, stepping into the open window. "I'll stop this, whatever it is," he promised, raising his gaze to the sky. MiM's faded form stared silently back, faint in the midday sky.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
A/N: I am so, so, so sorry. I honestly don't know what happened. I mean, yes, things got a little hectic in real life, but honestly, not enough to justify this long of an absence. Hopefully you guys are still with me. I promise I'll try not to be so sporadic about updates from now on and I really plan on seeing this story through to the end.
That being said…I really don't know what happened in this chapter. I'm not sure what I originally intended for it, but I'm fairly certain this wasn't it. I mean, I don't think it's bad, per se, and I hope you don't either, but…meh. At least it sort of leads somewhere.