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HRA# CHAPTER 143
🕑 Added 2025-05-29 23:57:10 +0000 UTCMr. Weasley whistled cheerfully as he packed up the items he’d brought along today. Mastering Apparition in just three attempts—Harry’s rapid progress had left Mr. Weasley with an unexpected surplus of free time. After all, when he’d left home this morning, he’d told Molly it would likely take the whole day.
In other words, a middle-aged man had suddenly found himself with an entire day off, free from the worry of being roped into chores by his wife. Imagine that—imagine that!
Mr. Weasley could hardly wait to dive into his collection of Muggle trinkets.
With a few quick flicks of his wand, he restored the grassy clearing to its original state. Clutching a large jar of dittany, he stood before Harry, his expression shifting to one of awkward hesitation, stumbling over his words for a good while.
“I get it, Mr. Weasley,” Harry said, barely suppressing a grin as he took the dittany jar from him. “Go on, but be careful not to get caught—wait, is someone there?”
Harry’s words made Mr. Weasley stiffen. After all, what he was doing was, strictly speaking, illegal. If anyone found out he was teaching a second-year student the dangerous art of Apparition, it would be a disaster.
With that thought, Mr. Weasley spun around to look behind him. At the top of a hill to the north, a small figure sat quietly, unnoticed until now.
“Hmm, that’s probably one of the Lovegood kids?” Mr. Weasley said, sounding uncertain but visibly relieved.
“You know them?” Harry asked, puzzled. “Can you make sure she doesn’t talk?”
“Not exactly close neighbors,” Mr. Weasley muttered, clearly reluctant to elaborate. “Come on, Harry, let’s go check.”
It didn’t take long for Harry and Mr. Weasley to climb the hill. Sure enough, a young girl was sitting on the grass, silently watching them approach without a word.
She looked about ten or eleven, her skin pale as if she hadn’t seen the sun in ages. Her long, dirty-blonde hair fell past her shoulders, her eyebrows faint, and her silvery eyes slightly protuberant, giving her a perpetually surprised look. This, Harry realized, was likely why Mr. Weasley had seemed so uneasy.
“Alright, little miss,” Mr. Weasley said after a long silence, as the girl remained still, not even shifting from her spot on the ground. He coughed awkwardly. “You’re one of the Lovegoods, aren’t you?”
“Luna,” the girl said softly. “Luna Lovegood.”
Her voice was airy, almost dreamy, and though her wide eyes were fixed on Harry and Mr. Weasley, Harry had the strange feeling she wasn’t really looking at them but at the air around them—her gaze unfocused.
“Right, thought so,” Mr. Weasley said, coughing again to draw Luna’s attention. “I mean, er… child, did you see anything… odd just now?”
“Odd?” Luna tilted her head. “I only saw you two—were you dancing?”
She looked at them expectantly.
“Dancing?” Mr. Weasley’s expression was a mix of confusion and amusement. “No, child, we weren’t dancing.”
“Oh?” Luna’s face fell, disappointed. “I thought you were dancing with the air… you went left, it went right, you went right, it went left… spinning… disappearing…”
Her eerie, sing-song tone was unsettling, even in broad daylight with the sun shining brightly.
Her words, however, sent a chill down Mr. Weasley’s spine. If she was describing what he thought, then she’d seen everything.
“Er, Luna?” Mr. Weasley coughed again. “We were actually practicing magic, you see, but it’s the kind of magic that shouldn’t be known by too many people. Could you keep it a secret for us?”
“Of course,” Luna replied promptly, her large eyes turning to Harry. “Secrets… the world is full of secrets. Secrets should be kept, shouldn’t they? So… are they your friends, the ones helping you practice magic?”
“…What do you mean?” Harry raised an eyebrow.
“I saw them,” Luna said softly. “When you nearly fell, they came up from the ground and held you steady.”
Harry’s expression turned serious. What had he just heard?
Or rather—what had this girl seen?
“Thank you, Luna,” Mr. Weasley interjected, too relieved by her promise of secrecy to dwell on her words. “Hey, Harry, come here a moment.”
Harry wanted to press further, but Mr. Weasley tugged him aside.
“No need to worry too much, Harry,” Mr. Weasley said with a chuckle. “No one will know you’ve secretly learned Apparition. Even if that girl spills the beans, it won’t matter.”
“Why not?” Harry asked, curious.
“Because she’s a Lovegood,” Mr. Weasley said, choosing his words carefully. “You’ve heard of The Quibbler, haven’t you, Harry?”
“I’ve heard of it, even read a bit,” Harry nodded. “It’s an entertainment magazine. Some of the stuff in there is pretty interesting.”
“Oh, don’t take it too seriously,” Mr. Weasley muttered. “You might not know this yet, but most wizards think the stuff in that magazine is… well, questionable, to put it politely.”
“I’ve heard that too,” Harry said. “Sophia from Ravenclaw once called it complete rubbish, said nothing in it is true.”
“Exactly,” Mr. Weasley sighed. “Look, old Xenophilius Lovegood runs The Quibbler. He writes most of it himself. I don’t like speaking ill of neighbors—he’s a decent sort, just a bit… eccentric, you know? A touch… odd. You get what I mean, Harry?”
“I get it. You’re saying even if they talk, no one will believe them,” Harry said, though his mind was still on Luna’s earlier words.
Had she seen the flow of earth elements?
“Ha, Dumbledore was right—you’re not like other kids,” Mr. Weasley said, clapping Harry on the shoulder. “Alright, as we agreed, I’ll—”
“No worries, Mr. Weasley,” Harry said with a smile. “I’ll hang around here for a bit and head back. Don’t worry, I’ll steer clear of Mrs. Weasley. She won’t suspect a thing.”
“That’s the spirit!” Mr. Weasley let out a huge sigh of relief, gave Harry a wink, and with a loud crack, Disapparated from the clearing.
To avoid being noticed, the man had even Apparated away.
Harry glanced toward the shed in the Weasleys’ yard. If he had to guess, Mr. Weasley was already holed up in there, tinkering with his Muggle treasures.
Shaking his head slightly, Harry turned back toward the girl. He had questions—plenty of them.
As he sat down beside her, Luna was humming to herself, oblivious to his presence. Harry couldn’t quite make out what she was singing, so he listened closely.
It wasn’t English, or at least not any language he recognized.
Eccentric, was it?
Studying the girl beside him, Harry mulled over Mr. Weasley’s words. Was she truly eccentric, or could she see things others couldn’t?
“Luna? Can I call you that?” Harry asked once her humming stopped.
“Of course, Harry,” Luna replied, turning to him. For the first time, her gaze felt focused, like she was actually seeing him.
“You know me?” Harry asked. He hadn’t introduced himself.
“That scar,” Luna said, pointing to the same spot on her own forehead. “It’s quite clear, isn’t it? Harry Potter, the one who saved us.”
“Not really,” Harry shook his head. “It was my parents who saved everyone. But I have a question—about what you said earlier. You saw them?”
As he spoke, Harry raised his hand, calling to the earth and air elements in the environment. He watched Luna closely, noting every movement, every flicker of expression.
It was worth noting that before elements took physical form—before they manifested in the material world as tangible substances—ordinary people couldn’t perceive them. Otherwise, the air would be filled with endless flames, as fire elements were ever-present.
What Harry was summoning now were those invisible, omnipresent elementals themselves—two clusters, swirling around his raised left hand.
And Luna, the silver-eyed girl, was staring directly at them. Harry was certain of it.
“So you can see them!” Even Harry couldn’t help but feel excited.
As he’d learned in his first shamanism class last year, most people, including himself, needed to drink a specific spirit-bond potion to sense the presence of elementals and establish a connection with them.
But some were different.
A rare few were naturally favored by the elements, able to perceive them without potions and wield their power more potently than others. They were born shamans.
Had he just stumbled upon a prodigy? A girl beloved by the elements?
“See?” Luna tilted her head at Harry’s words. “No, I don’t see them.”
“But you said you saw them steady me,” Harry said, frowning. “And I’m certain your eyes are following the elementals’ movements right now.”
“Intuition,” Luna replied simply. “I can’t see them, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there, does it? Like Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. I haven’t found one yet, but I know they exist. Have you ever seen a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, Harry?”
“…No, I’ve never heard of it,” Harry said after searching his memory. He was certain no book he’d read had ever mentioned such a creature.
“That’s alright, Harry,” Luna said, almost consoling him. “Most people don’t believe in Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Can you introduce me to them?”
As she spoke, Luna reached out toward the two clusters of elemental energy Harry had summoned. Watching closely, Harry noticed her gaze was unfocused, lacking a fixed point. Her hand grasped at nothing.
Yet Luna acted as if she’d touched something, her fingers clutching at the air like someone trying to scoop a moon’s reflection from water—grasping at illusions, finding only fragmented shadows.
“I shook hands with them, Harry!” Luna turned to him, her face alight with excitement. “Is that right? Did I touch them?”
“…Yes, they’re right there,” Harry said after a moment’s hesitation, nodding.
He was beginning to understand what was happening with this girl.
Luna wasn’t one of those favored by the elementals. She simply had a unique gift—a knack for sensing hidden, obscure things. Unmanifested elementals were exactly that: hidden existences.
Like now, Luna’s “seeing” was merely intuition. In her eyes, the transparent air seemed to hold something, a vague, abstract presence she could sense but not truly see.
“So you’ve always been able to feel them?” Harry asked, watching Luna eagerly try to interact with the elementals. “Since you were little?”
He’d activated his astral vision, observing Luna’s spirit. It was vibrant and healthy, but unlike most, it was enveloped in distinct green, blue, and purple auras—clear and separate, not muddled or chaotic, but strikingly vivid.
These colors suggested Luna was in a constant state of calm and clarity. The dominant purple glow, in particular, indicated an extraordinary spiritual awareness far beyond the norm.
“Actually, I’m still quite young,” Luna said, oblivious to Harry’s thoughts. She gave him an odd look before continuing, “But no, I haven’t always felt them… maybe since about six months ago? No longer than that, I think.”
“Since then, you could sense the elementals?” Harry pressed.
“Elementals? Is that what they’re called?” Luna nodded. “Nice name. I mean—yes, they’re quite lively, aren’t they?”
“In the sky, in the water, in the fireplace, in the grass… they’re everywhere,” Luna said happily, delighted by her newfound “friends.” “Are you their friend? I can feel they like you a lot.”
Harry understood now. To Luna, all these unseen things were the same. She didn’t distinguish between earth, fire, or other elementals, which was why she thought they were “lively,” darting about everywhere.
It was like people—some love crowds, others prefer solitude, but they’re all human. In a way, Luna’s understanding wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Of course,” Harry said with a smile. “They’re my friends. How old are you, if I may ask?”
“Eleven.”
“So you’ll be starting at Hogwarts this year?”
“Yes,” Luna said, her gaze drifting back to that unfocused state as she looked at Harry. “Do you need help with anything, Harry? They’re my friends too, so you’re my friend. Daddy says friends don’t need to be so formal.”
“No, I don’t need help right now,” Harry shook his head, then looked into Luna’s eyes earnestly. “What I want to talk about is you, Luna. You’re a very gifted child.”
“Gifted?” Luna tilted her head.
“Yes, gifted to become a shaman,” Harry continued. “Those ‘friends’ you sense everywhere—they’re elementals: spirits of earth, storm, fire, and water.”
“These four elements form the foundation of our world, and a shaman’s duty is to balance their conflicts, guiding them toward harmony to make our world better.”
“Sounds nice,” Luna said in her dreamy voice. “So, you’re a shaman, Harry?”
“Yes,” Harry nodded, then added abruptly, “Be my apprentice, Luna.”
T/N: If you find any typos or incorrect names, please leave a comment. Thanks, and enjoy reading!
![[HOPE]](https://runfaps.com/kistorage/100331.jpg)
