Luna Lovegood's Arc

Chapter 4 of 19

The trap sat ready in the cleared lane. The creature stayed hidden in the trees, just past the bait. Luna, Hermione, and Harry crouched behind a fallen log and waited. An hour passed. The gurdyroot's sweet crust dulled in the fading light. Twice Luna saw the brush shift. Twice nothing came. The creature would not step onto the path while three people watched. "It smells us," Hermione whispered. "It won't come near while we're this close." She pulled her wand back into her sleeve. "We're the problem now. Not the trap." Luna knew she was right. Every minute they stayed, the creature learned more. Soon it would give up and drift deeper into the forest. She thought of her father, thirty years of searching, nothing to show. She would not lose this over her own breathing. "Then we leave," Luna said. "All of us. We go back to camp and let it think we're gone." Harry frowned. "And if it takes the bait and slips the net? We won't be here to spring it." He kept his voice low, but his hand stayed on his wand, ready to bolt forward. "The net springs itself," Luna said. "Hermione built it that way. We only need it to walk in." They backed out slow, careful of every twig. The three of them reached the pavilion under the cherry tree where they'd made camp. Blossoms drifted onto the roof. Luna sat facing the dark trees and would not look away. Dusk fell. Then, from the cleared lane, a soft sound carried. A snap. A rustle. The net's charm gave a low hum as it closed. Luna ran. Harry and Hermione crashed through the brush behind her. She skidded to the edge of the bare patch and stopped cold. The soft mesh had lifted and gathered. Inside it, something struggled. Something small, gray, with a curled horn on its snout and two dark eyes. It thrashed against the flowered net, but the cushioning charm held it gentle. It was not hurt. It was caught. "Luna," Hermione breathed. "Look at it." Luna could not speak. She reached out. The creature went still and stared back at her. Its horn was real. Its breath fogged the cool air. Everything her father had believed, everything the world called a lie, sat trapped in her woven net. "We did it," Harry said. "You did it." Then the creature opened its mouth and let out a cry. Not a squeal. A long, rising call that rolled through the trees like a horn blown at night. Luna's chest tightened. From the deep forest, far off, another call answered. Then a third, closer. Branches cracked. Heavy feet moved toward them through the dark. The Snorkack in the net was a young one. And its family had heard it scream.