The Curious Case of Luna Lovegood

Chapter 37: The Earth Mother (The Power of Perception)

Perception:

The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

The state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses.

A way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.

"All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth."
Friedrich Nietzsche

"1...2...3...4...5"

Luna took the second step before restarting the count under her breath.

"1...2...3...4...5"

Luna took her third step, then her fourth, counting along with every step. She remembered her Father once broke his leg walking down the stairs and it was not hard to understand why. The steps were slanted upwards as they had been the day Pandora had illegally continued her work as an Unspeakable in the basement of their home. For Luna, it had been like this as far back as she could remember. The stairs creaked as if they were warning her to not venture further, but Luna had ventured through her share of dangers, she wasn't going to be scared of stairs.

Suddenly the impatient stairs flattened and with a small, "Eep!" Luna slid down into the wooden door. Luna shook off the cobwebs in her mind and ignored the laughter that bore into her brain like an eight legged parasite. She slowly rose to her feet holding back tears, thinking about her Father, her Mother, and her fear for Harry, was starting to overwhelm her.

"It was his fault she died." Luna thought bitterly as she saw her pleading Father whom she had always loved and relied on and all but spit in his face. She felt so much pain she wished the veil was back, maybe things were better with magic. Things hurt less with magic and the veil seemed to numb the pain.

It would certainly help her with the fear that gripped her beating heart. The Wooden door was full of cracks like it had been hastily repaired without much thought to it. The doorknob was missing and the wood was brown with a shade of dark red, as if it was bleeding, Luna rose trembling, and lightly pushed on the door, grazing it with her delicate skin.

Luna shuddered as the door creaked, sounding like a blade scraping glass. The sound seemed to vanish as Luna looked into the room. It was dark, with only a hint of light from the door way. Luna shuddered as she slowly stepped into the very room her Mother died. She felt something crunch under her feat. It felt like bones...

SLAM

Luna screamed as the door slammed shut and plunged her into total darkness. The only sound she could hear was her shuddering cold breath, pounding heart and the crunch of someone approaching her as it crushed the bones in its wake.. She blindly took a step backwards and flung herself to where she thought the door was. If it was there, it did not open. Luna pressed her back to the door and held her breath as the crunching grew louder When it stopped she knew it was right in front of her. Luna scrunched up her face, sealing her eyes shut as she waited for the ax to fall. Then she heard a breath whisper. "Lumos."

A feint light lit the room yet Luna's eyes struggled to adjust to it. The floor was covered not in bones but seemingly ancient parchment's charred and burned beyond recognition. Scattered among the parchments were broken pieces of glass from potion vials shattered long ago. The walls were covered in mold and underneath it, Luna swore she could make out faces in the wall. The remains that filled the room had been destroyed leaving only clutters of burnt charcoal. The figure before her was none other than Harry who took Luna into his arms as he whispered. "Luna what happened, are you OK?"