Chapter 27
~ Transfigure out this, Queen! ~
Two Ravenclaw students walk in tandem, both clearly standing out due to their presence, well the 'presence' is all from a singular person.
The Queen and The Moon are going to their Transfiguration class, it will be Lun's first one, They just had Divination before it, and the Queen stayed out of Professor Trewlaney's double eyesight during it all, as she didn't need any more predictions cast her way, at least for now. Similarly, the Professor also stayed clear of her.
Luna's first class was Care of the Magical Creatures, while the Queen had Muggle studies. Luna only mentioned reading some book, nothing else was added and the Queen didn't continue questioning it.
And on the Queen's muggle learning experience, she got to experience something called a 'pen pal' or at least a part of it, she had to write a letter and put it into a dark box alongside her classmates. Now, she will only find out what Professor Charity has in store for them in the next class. Unlike the first time when she had some boy tell her about the magiphone and its properties, everybody was going solo due to the task. Of course, it wasn't as interesting as the magiphone, that's for sure.
After the two step inside the classroom, the Queen follows after her Moon, who walks to a corner of the back of the room to sit down in her usual sitting place. The Queen sits near her, Luna doesn't express it, but she is happy inside due to having somebody sit beside her, somebody that won't say anything 'bad' about her.
The Queen's eyes travel quickly over the whole room, stopping at something quite peculiar. That something is sitting on what she assumes to be Professor McGonagall's table. A small cat. And what's more peculiar is the fact that the cat's eyes meet with hers and stay there. Now the two stare at each other without breaking off eye contact.
But it doesn't last long, the cat seeing everybody sitting in the classroom, transforms back into her human form. Professor McGonagall now stands in front of her table, her eyes glancing at the Queen, Minerva sees slight surprise in the young girl's eyes, which makes the Professor satisfied.
"Sneaky old man" The Queen comments beneath her nose, attracting Luna's attention.
"What is it?" The Moon asks softly.
The Queen answers back with a smile "Nothing" Then openly asks the Professor "So, Professor, is that your Animagus form? Or was it some higher form of Transfiguration? Because I am pretty sure I can't do that... Though, if I tried, I'd probably get it on the first try, anybody wants to be my test subject?" The Queen then directs her question to every other student in the class.
Her fellow students go stiff and stay silent, not looking in the Queen's direction.
McGonagall answers the Queen "I am an Animagus. And Human Transfiguration will be taught for N.E.W.T tests, so you'll have to wait a couple of years for that. For now, you'll have to do with transforming other objects into small animals. Like turning statues into Rabbits with the Lapifors Spell"
"Eh, to be fair, I am not that interested in it anyway, becoming an animal doesn't have many uses in my eyes. Especially something like a kitten, it's more cute than useful. Its one use would probably be the ability to sneak places with a low chance of detection, but since I am proficient in invisibility spells, it beats being unable to be seen entirely than having a small chance to be seen" The Queen comments bored.
Professor McGonagall says nothing back and instead refers to the whole class "That was the live demonstration portion of today's class. You will be taught about Animagi. Open your books to page one hundred"
Right after, a lot of books opening and page-turning noises can be heard all around the room, except at the very back where two Lunas happen to be.
The Moon instead of opening her book just slides it away from herself and then turns her head and eyes to a random spot on the wall, finding it more interesting.
The Queen just puts her arms on the table, then her head on those arms, and instead takes a nap because she already knows about Animagi. And since she will not be getting any normal house points from Minerva, there's no point for her to pay any attention.
Though the very next moment, the Queen raised her head and looked at Luna "Moon, what is your favorite animal?"
Luna' having been called, stopped looking at the wall and brought her attention to the Queen.
"Rabbits"
"Oh, how coincidental that we learn the Lapifors Spell in this year, should I master that spell and gift you a rabbit then?"
Luna shakes her head indicating a no and then looks away back to the same spot on the wall, but after a few silent seconds she adds "I wouldn't reject it"
"I see" Is all that the Queen says and then goes back to napping.
McGonagall of course sees the interaction between the two Lunas, she might've not heard what they were saying to each other, but that doesn't make any difference as neither is paying attention to the class.
Luna Lovegood is one thing, the girl has seldom paid attention to her classes, at first she tried to engage her in it, but it didn't work, so she let it go, if the girl was failing her class then she would've not let it go as easily, but seeing as everything goes alright for her at the end of the year, then it's fine.
But Luna Crimson so blatantly not caring about it is another thing entirely. So be it, if it's so boring, McGonagall will just have to up the 'fun' of her class for the next time, she will let the 'Queen' take her royal bedtime this once.
She still has a class to teach and taking the time to argue with the crimson-haired girl would take up precious time, which could be used better for teaching other students.
"Animagi are witches or wizards that can transform themselves into animals, now, these transformations could be said to be more random than anything else, as nobody can choose what they transform into, once you complete the training to become an Animagus, the animal you become the first time is the animal you're stuck with. And, no, even if you wish to become a flying bird like an eagle before doing your first transformation, that doesn't mean you will become it, you might get to be a cat like myself or something else, maybe something that you would never want to be"
Professor says loudly for everybody to hear, then she pauses and adds "Any questions before I continue?"
A few students raise their hands, McGonagall nods slightly to herself and then says "I will answer only one, for now, there's a lot we need to go through, Mr. Goodwin, go ahead"
"Yes, Professor. I am asking because I haven't heard of mani Animagi before, is it hereditary? Is that why they are so rare?"
"A good question, Mr. Goodwin. Now for the answer, it is not hereditary. One learns to become an Animagus through an arduous process, this process tests one's skill and patience as it requires both practice and time to see any results. And the reason why it's so 'rare' is that just like most other spells, this can also go horribly wrong for the one trying to acquire the skill transform into an animal at will" McGonagall answers the question.
"Now, turn one page over and you will see what the process is to become an Animagus and its probable downside which can't be reversed at least at this period of time, fifteen minutes to read through it all before I continue with the class, read quietly, I don't want to hear any whispers" Minerva states, turns around and walks to the front of her table to sit down in her chair.
While the students read attentively, Minerva is thinking of what she should do with the Queen's 'napping' so that it wouldn't happen again in the future, if she lets it continue, others might follow in her steps, thus creating chaos in her classroom, which she just won't have.
The easiest way for her to move the Queen would obviously be to bait her with Ms. Lovegood, but due to previous events, she also knows that it may not be the smartest idea. So instead of targetting the Queen's people, it would be more strategically sound to target the Queen herself.
The other day when the girl proposed the crazy challenge between the two, she spoke of a teaching assistant... So, why not make something similar happen earlier? If she thinks that she and her classes are so boring, then let's change that.
The fifteen minutes passed making Minerva stand up again to continue the lesson, but before she does, she will allow another question to be asked.
"Okay, you had enough time to familiarize yourself with the process, any questions?"
This time, several hands raise, more than the previous time.
"Ms. Ross, go ahead"
"Is there no way around the fact that if one was unlucky enough to witness a cloudy night during the second full moon, they would have to restart the full month of the process?"
"Indeed they would have to restart it entirely, there's no way around it. Of course, if you're creative enough you can go around it with early preparation, thus eliminating the factor of luck from the process"
When this question got asked and answered, some hands went down, as they had similar questions to ask, but only a few stayed up. So McGonagall allowed another student to ask another question.
"Ms. Ray, go ahead and this will be the last question for this portion, we will move on"
"How does one eat food if they have to keep the mandrake in their mouths the whole time without resetting the process?"
"Well, there's probably more ways than one would think. But back when I was seventeen, the years when I became an Animagus, what I did was open my mouth, keep the leaf on my tongue, then magically paralyze and freeze my chin and cheeks so that I wouldn't close my mouth, then put a few small rocks into my mouth, transfigure those rocks into blocks thus creating a box which surrounded the leaf and then simply put food around the box... Now, I wouldn't recommend this, yes, it's effective, but your face bones won't thank you for what you would put them through. So, I suppose one could just cast the Epoximise spell to glue the leaf to a part of your mouth and keep re-casting the spell to not lose the leaf over the month. In short, there are plenty of ways to get around it, but every way to deal with it will test your skill in ingenuity and patience" Professor McGonagall answers the question with a few different examples.
"Anyway, this will be the last thing we will learn about for today's class and it's the Wizarding Law surrounding the Animagi. Turn six pages ahead. Every Animagus has to be registered with the Ministry of Magic at the Animagus Registry. It was made so so that this ability to transform into an animal at will wouldn't be abused, because without registering, it's almost impossible to keep track of an Animagus. The penalty for failing to register as an Animagus is a sentence in Azkaban, now I won't say how long that sentence is, as I don't know, the few cases that happened all had different times set to them, So for those that thought they could go through the process of becoming an Animagus so that they could be naughty, think again before you get yourself in trouble with Ministry of Magic and Dementors in Azkaban"
As Professor McGonagall explained and not forgetting to say a warning at the end of it, she gets interrupted by none other than the Queen.
"What a joke"
Minerva squints her eyes in displeasure, at the young girl, because of the interruption. The girl is still resting her head on her arms and her eyes closed, not even looking toward the Professor "Is there anything that Ms. Crimson wishes to add?"
"I do, thank you for the opportunity to do so, Professor. Let me repeat myself. The whole 'registering' an Animagus thing? Is a joke. This Ministry of Cowards put out such a rule not to keep track of people that became Animagi, no, it was to keep their own secrets safe from those that could sneak around unnoticed, why else would they send the ones that didn't register to Azkaban? It's to set an example of them. Becoming an animal is hardly an actual threat compared to some other magic spells and artifacts in the world. It's the same reason why the three unforgivable curses are banned and considered dark magic, it's because they kill and dehumanize people, when in fact most spells can kill somebody if one tries hard enough, so I suppose the fact that those three spells are used by dark wizards also help. It's because the Cowards from the Ministry are scared of those spells, they are scared that their secrets will get out into the world and be known by others due to some Animagus. This Registry is unneeded, if they wanted to 'track' these unregistered individuals, they could do something similar as they've done with Student's wands and them being forbidden to cast spells outside of School's grounds, maybe some pin for every wizard after they reach their fourteenth birthday, which would tell apart that the students who transformed into animals and weren't humans anymore? Or whatever ideas that they have in their ridiculous brains. An Animal is the least of their worries... But hey, it worked out for them, seeing as Animagi are so rare nowadays, I mean, there are only seven registered, one of them being our own Transfiguration Professor McGonagall, congratulations to you McGonagall, they put you on a leash... Just like a house elf"
While the Queen talked and talked, she raised her head and stretched out her body to get it back in working order, her eyes then put themselves in line with Minerva's eyes. And the two kept staring at each other intensely for a few minutes.
Professor McGonagall was the first to break eye contact and she loudly spoke "Class is over. Dismissed, next class we will go over more about Animagi"
Every student quickly stood up, as they don't want to stay in the classroom any longer due to the insane pressure inside it. They can clearly sense that Professor McGonagall is quite peeved at the moment due to the Queen's disrespect.
Luna and Lun also start making their way towards the exit, the Queen won't continue this debate if Minerva doesn't want to either.
"Ms. Crimson, stay and come stand near my table"
The Queen blinks, then whispers to her Moon "Don't wait for me, see you in Potions"
Lovegood nods after a quick glance at the Professor and then turns and leaves the room. Now only two individuals stand inside it.
"Ms. Crimson, you seem to find not paying attention more interesting than my class"
"Not really, Minerva, I just know all about Animagi, so I chose to spend my time in a better way, resting, it's good for you, you should try it"
"I don't recall giving you permission to call me by my name, I am still your Professor, Ms. crimson, it is quite disrespectful"
"Minerva, others call us by our titles to show respect because they are beneath us, that includes everyone in my case, my future wives not included in this 'everyone' of course. As a matter of fact, I am showing you my respect by using your birthright as I see you closer to being equal to me than the others in this gloomy place. Oh and permission is for those which follow, the Queen does not follow, the Queen is to be followed. In other words, with enough power, you can do whatever you please and I just happen to have extensive amounts of it"
Before McGonagall could retort in any way, the Queen adds one more thing.
"And no worries, in public I will still refer to you as 'Professor McGonagall', so it's alright, wouldn't want them to get the bright idea of calling you by your name, most of them will never be near you let alone above you, so they don't get the right to do so"
McGonagall stays silent, gazing at the short girl with a calculating look, and then calmly says "We'll fix this issue in the future. For now, back to the topic. Just because you say that you know all about the subject of Animagi, which I don't entirely believe, yes, you're talented, but talent and knowledge are two separate things. Seeing as my trick for all first years and newcomers got a shock of surprise from you, it solidifies that statement" McGonagall fixes up her glasses with her fingers, as they were sliding down.
"No matter, it still doesn't excuse you from listening to the lecture. Students aren't here to spend their time taking a 'nap', they are here to learn. Even if one is already familiar with the subject, maybe you'd even learn something of which you had no prior knowledge to, if you were to participate"
"Astute observation. I got surprised due to the fact that your Animagus form was that of a cat, I knew that you were one of Animagi before this. Old Man seemingly 'forgot' to give out this information to me" The Queen puts extra emphasis on the word 'forgot' as she meant it in the way that Dumbledore chose to keep it away from her for whatever reason rather than forget it.
"Years back when I've read about pretty much anything you can think of, as the library of my Family is as big as Hogwarts, if not bigger... I know, a tiny bit over the top, but what can you do, the Crimson family..." The Queen coughs slightly and then corrects herself.
"I, the Queen, am rich. Anyway, the topic of Animagi eventually came up and when reading about it and the registered Animagi, I probably knew about you being a cat, but I might've forgotten since to this day I fail to see how turning into an animal is more useful than some other spells, so this information wasn't important back then... And to not 'disrespect' you, Professor, but a cat isn't all that impressive, so it's double negative on the case of interest"
Professor McGonagall, both of her arms on the table with one palm, on one hand, doesn't say anything back to the Queen, as her mind wandered off to the topic of Albus and this child knowing each other again when the Queen mentioned 'old man'. This can't go unknown to her any longer, in fact, she decided at this very moment, to go and talk with Albus tonight about Ms. Crimson, as none of this makes any sense to her. With Mr. Potter it was one thing, he's popular, always been, even too popular for his own good.
But this girl... This Queen, before a few days back, she had zero knowledge of her or this Crimson family. And after the introduction of Beaxbauton and Drumstrang students and the impromptu entrance ceremony for Ms. Crimson alone, she tried looking up about her or the Crimson family, but no matter how hard she looked or where she did, no information came up, none at all. It's as if the history of the Crimson family didn't exist. McGonagall knows that there are powerful wizards out there which she doesn't know about, but with a whole family, such a strong one at that, having not even one slip up of information get out of their family? It just doesn't add up.
So her best shot is Albus, but knowing him, she won't get much out of him, she just hopes that it's more than a cryptic riddle or two.
"I know that I am the pinnacle of beauty and elegance, but there's no need to gaze upon the Queen with such burning eyes, behind it all, I am still a Woman, no matter how hard it is to believe it" The Queen says fakely while fanning her face with her hands.
This ridiculous notion did two things for the old Professor. It effectively knocked her out of her wondering daze and also mildly disgusted her, she really doesn't want to see anything like it again, at least not from this girl.
"*ahem*... Seeing as you don't find this topic to your Queenly tastes, the next topic should suffice, as you will be an active participant in it. After two more classes we will be moving on from the topic of Animagi, I will be teaching the students the Lapifors spell and they will be trying it on you"
"I know that I mentioned being your assistant yesterday, but that was for the challenge, though I am quite flattered that you want the Queen so early"
"You're mistaken, Ms. Crimson, I haven't had an assistant before, but trust me when I say this, your job would be far more tedious than this, you might even find this fun. No, your job won't be an early case of teaching assistance, you will be a helping hand for your fellow students. Seeing as you boast of your skill so openly and I know that you're at least at the grade of sixth years from what I've seen, you will manage"
"I see" The Queen puts her head on her palm in a thinking manner.
"So in other words, I am to be a training dummy for these weaklings. Well why not, actual practice is better than theory after all. Though shouldn't there be some other targets for them to focus the spell on instead of me, a human?"
"Usually that would be the case, the students would have a statuette or another smaller object in front of them to test on... But, the Queen seems to have that department covered" Minerva with squinted eyes looks over the short body of the Queen, from top to bottom, then those eyes meet that of the Queen's crimson eyes, which are unimpressed and slightly peeved.
"I am leaving, I've got a Moon to see. Good day, Professor" The Queen states blankly, turns around, and starts walking up the small stairs to the big door exit.
When the Queen makes it to the door, she stops because of McGonagall's voice.
"On our fourth class, come before the class and I will tell you the details about what you'll be actually doing. And I hope that the Queen will not forget this information and her memory won't come up short"
The Queen taps her foot once, her hand gets on the handle of the door, and before opening to leave, she puts out a comment of her own "It seems being a cat suits you Minerva, though, those furballs tend to be more annoying than cute" And with that, the Queen leaves, however, she closes the door silently and with manners, instead of slamming them which McGonagall expected to be the case as the Queen likes to be dramatic.
After a moment of surprise from having her expectations rejected, the Transfiguration Professor can't help herself from muttering to herself "How is a person like that, with all of her boasting, self-confidence, and talent, have a weakness as ridiculous as being called out on her height..."
The Queen having left the classroom, takes only a few steps, before her Moon comes into her peripherals, so she walks to her.
"While the wait for me wasn't necessary, it is highly appreciated" The Queen states with a smile.
"What did Professor McGonagall want?" Luna asks, not commenting on the Queen's words.
"Something about me not paying attention in her class"
"I see, I remember something like that happening to me too in my first year, but it stopped one day and I don't know why"
"Quite. Well, why don't we move on? You've waited for long enough"
"Ok, then we will wait for the class to start in the classroom, at least Nargles don't show up there"
"Why? Because a certain Snape dwells there?" The Queen asks.
"Now that I heard it out loud, maybe" Luna answers thoughtfully.
Hours later, night time and time for the Queen's first Astronomy class.
Luna led the Queen to the Astronomy Tower and the Queen patiently followed after her. The duo was the first of the students to make it up there, as professor Aurora Sinistra was already there standing in wait.
"Good Evening, professor" Luna greets.
"Evening, Ms. Lovegood and..." Aurora cranes her head to the side to throw a glance at the student behind Luna "Ms. Crimson" she says once she spots the unique red hair.
"Yes hello, anyway, it's been a while since I've seen a person of your color, the last one was my father's right-hand man... A good man that one was, unlike my father" The Queen bluntly comments.
The Professor gets befuddled immediately, In most of her years spent teaching, nobody would dare to comment about her skin tone so brazenly, yes, a few looks would be thrown but nothing too major, as wizards spend more time on blood supremacy than anything else.
And yes, the girl hasn't said anything wrong or bad, but the tone leaves much to the imagination. Or that would've been the case if Aurora had no clue who this girl was. The girl acts and sounds like this with everybody, no matter who they are, another student or a professor. For some reason, Charity is the only exception from the Professors so far.
Aurora being a stricter professor than others, has to say something about the girl's attitude.
"That's quite an impolite aspect to mention as your conversation starter or in conversation in general, ms. Crimson"
"No it isn't, I decide what's polite and what isn't. The impolite thing in this situation would've been for me to ignore you entirely and I could've chosen to do so. As I do with so many others that aren't worth my time. So you should be grateful to the Queen for even acknowledging you. As a Professor, you should know better, better than disrespecting the Queen with your nonsensical off-hand lessons that don't matter to me. So the Queen awaits her apology"
Aurora stays frozen with her mouth open out of surprise at the Queen's words, she definitely didn't expect to hear all that from her mention of impoliteness.
"Ah, I suppose that's a no to the apology then. I see, well allow the Queen to be the bigger and better woman then" The Queen catches the Professor's attention again "The Queen pardons your disrespect for acknowledging your existence, thus let her be polite by ignoring it instead" The Queen nods her head and then looks to the side where she can see both Moons.
Aurora can only stay silent as her mind wonders what on earth just happened.
"I'm sorry for her" Luna says apologetically, catching Sinistra's attention.
"It's oka-" Before Aurora could finish replying to the sweet child, she hears the Queen's voice again.
"Huh? Moon, to whom are you apologizing to? Did you see some magical creature?"
And the Professor can clearly see that the girl is vaguely looking in her direction and all around her, and ignoring her as if she weren't standing there.
Luna who was called by the Queen faces her in silence, then looks back to the Professor meeting her eyes.
Neither of the two knows what to say in this case and before Aurora could think longer of what to say back, the other students finally show up for the Astronomy class.
So she waits for everybody to get in and then greets them, thus ending tonight's bizarre moment.
"Greetings, students, tonight you will be learning how to draw a perfect star chart, the same task will be for your homework assignment because you will use the star charts for the next class to learn how to read them. So, get comfortable as I hand out required resources"
The students after greeting back the professor, sit down on the floor in various sized groups. In a few minutes: Papers, feathers, and rulers fly everywhere because of Aurora's magic, and eventually, everybody has their own instruments for tonight's task.
"You can use magic or your own hands if you believe them to be more stable, now follow these steps, draw a big circle, then fill that circle's inside with other smaller circles with the same center, the more symmetrical it is the better. Look here as I demonstrate how it shoul-"
However Aurora's magical demonstration, with her paper and feather floating next to each other, gets cuts before it begins as one particuliar student says loud enough "I am done with this already, take it and use that as an example instead, you can even let them copy it for all I care. Now I will just go rest as this is boring"
Of course, it is none other than the Queen, who just tosses the finished paper with a flick of her finger, thus making it fly to the professor's hands.
Who investigates the girl's work, trying to find any inconsistency, any mistake, so she could have a small victory due to how she was spoken to earlier, but she can't as there's nothing wrong with it, in fact, it's one of the most perfect star charts she has ever seen, the girl even marked the stars that aren't visible yet due to the time, this was supposed to be the last step for the students later tonight because more stars would've been visible and easier to do.
"H-how?" Is the only thing to come out of Aurora's mouth, but it was too silent, so she coughs and looks towards the Queen "How do you know how to do this, ms. Crimson?"
But no answer was heard, as the Queen's head is now laying on Luna's lap. So now there's an awkward silence which is quite embarrassing for the professor, of course, none of the students picks up on it as they just think that the Queen is being rude yet again.
Thankfully for Sinistra, ms. Lovegood comes to her rescue.
"Lun, answer the Professor, I am curious too"
The Queen sighs "Fine, it's simple, star charts are one of the many things my family invented, so I can do them as easy as blinking"
And just like that Aurora's mind explodes and her world shatters from this slier of information. The other students are also surprised to hear it, but moments later most of them take it as bragging and false information.
While Aurora battles inside her mind if what the Queen just casually threw out there is fake or not.
The Queen instead uses Muffliato and talks to her Moon "I only did that because I am comfortable right now, thanks for letting me use your lap as a pillow"
"No problem, but is that true?" Luna asks smiling.
"It is" But of course, neither Luna nor the Professor could ever know that this 'invention' she speaks of happened in the Queen's old world, this world has its own history.
"What about other things, you mentioned it was only one of many?"
"Oh, yeah, horse carriages, rapiers, battle formations, and other things of a similar caliber, we can speak about it in detail in the future if you'd like," The Queen off-handedly says not caring.
"Ok, I would love to hear more" Luna agrees with Lun's suggestion.
"Is that so? Well in that case I would love to speak about it" And due to her Moon's enthusiasm the Queen has changed her mind about not caring "By the way, want my help with the star chart?"
Luna shakes her head "You will be teaching me other things, you have to leave something for Professors"
The Queen shrugs, adds "Okay" and ends the Muffliato spell so her Moon could focus on the lesson, while she shuts everything off and rests. The last thing she heard was the Professor speak about her star chart.
The first time the Queen wakes up from her nap is when her Moon started talking to the Professor. Her Moon finished her own star chart, it was nicely done and she received ten house points.
The Queen's eyes also met with Aurora's and she could see that the Professor was conflicted about something. About what? She'd never know as she doesn't care enough to speak with her.
The Professor was conflicted if she should give ms. Crimson points of her own, not only was the star chart perfect, but it also helped other students to make their own faster.
But is it too late to give them? Other students might take it the wrong way, seeing as she didn't give points immediately and they might think that she only did so after the star chart helped others as an example...
But that's not it, in truth she was just too shocked by the information to really register that a student did well and was supposed to be rewarded. Only half of her believes it right now, so she will have to try and check if what the girl said is eligible in any way.
Sinistra shakes her head softly, turns around, and walks away from the Luna duo. She will withhold the points for ms. Crimson this time, but she will cancel the detention she had planned for her as compensation.
The Queen whose crimson-haired head is still on Luna's lap closes her eyes to relax again, but this time doesn't actively try to sleep anymore. her Moon might speak to her now that she's finished.
After a few minutes of shared silence, Luna does just that and breaks it by asking a question that swirled around in her cute blond head for a while.
"Why did you call me 'Moon'?"
Before answering, the Queen casts Muffliato again, as none of what they speak about should be known to others.
"I might be wrong, but I think that I told you before" The Queen answers with a chuckle "But I don't mind saying it again if you want to hear it"
Luna blinks a few times "I seem to have misspoken my intention. I meant why call me that at all? What's the reason behind you wanting to call me and others by something"
"Ah, well the reason's simple. Not counting the stupid one-off names I give for people as a joke, like Weasel for Ron and Triple H for that one Hufflepuff girl. The one I gave you is something special. Special in terms of being solely exclusive to me, other people use your name, at least started to as they are scared of me, but that's not the point. They use your name, while only I call you Moon, my Moon. It's to show everybody else that not only that I care about you, but that you're also mine"
"I see..." Is all that Luna lets out to such an answer, keeping other thoughts to herself "Do you plan to do the same with the others?"
"I do, every wife of mine will have an exclusive name in the future, I just have to think of it. Though, unlike with yours, which was instantaneous and easily thought off because it came to my mind the moment I saw you back on the Hogwarts Express, with others it's a difficult process. Ginny Weasley is one such case and she's probably the hardest one"
"She is? How so?" Luna asks interested.
"Well unlike Hermione and others that you don't know about at the moment, who all have something specific I can latch on to, in your case it was our shared name... Ginny, she has nothing... At least nothing 'positive' as there are a lot of secret traps around her that could set her off wrong. I thought of using her name somehow, as her actual name isn't Ginny, but Ginevra and to not be like others, I want to use the 'Nevra' part of her name somehow. But I don't know if she would like that, I mean, nobody calls her by her actual name, not her parents, not the teachers, not herself, so maybe she doesn't like that part of her name or something, I don't know"
"Why not wait then? Wait for your mind to give you something in the spur of the moment like you told me was the case for me?"
"That would be great, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, I don't see that transpiring. Contrary to what I may seem like, my ideas and all those spur-of-the-moment games, only come to me so quickly because they don't actually matter all that much and they are just there for entertainment. But this? This isn't for entertainment and I truly care for it, thus I tend to think a lot, to the point of overthinking it until I settle on something which I like... To be honest, I was quite surprised when the name 'Moon' came to mind when I met you, and surprising me is difficult. You already know that I had information about you before we met due to Dumbledore providing it for me, so I thought that it will take me months to come up with something to call you, but, what happened was great, it didn't take any time and Moon is perfect, both the name and you of course. But I suppose it is only natural as I am the best"
"For Hermione, it would be her love for books then? What about Fleur?" Luna asks, inadvertently changing the topic.
"Something like that, I will ask her for her favorite non-study book, hopefully, she has a book like that, and read through it, that might give me an idea on what to call her. And in Fleur's case, some may think it was obvious to use her Veela part for a name, but I think of the opposite, maybe she won't feel great being reminded of it every time she hears me call after her, not to mention that subconsciously she might think that I only picked her for her Veela part,... This is half true as I don't have that much information about her due to the sudden arrival of which I had no prior knowledge of, but in the future when we get to know each other better, that fact won't matter, so wouldn't want to get stuck with a name that could remind her that"
"That's considerate of you, but if you won't use her Veela heritage, then will you use the fact that she's French?"
"Indeed I will. I will look into the French language and see if there's a word which fits her just as perfectly as Moon fits you"
Luna stays silent for a bit, before asking another question "If 'Moon' didn't happen, what method would've been used for me?"
"Probably something to do with Magical Creatures or normal Animals. As the information, I got about you told me that you like strange and have never seen before Creatures. I even thought of just creating a creature-like word that could pass as if it was for a real creature and call you that. That or something along the lines of Journalism as your Father owns a business in that, though that's less your thing than his. All in all, I am glad that none of that was necessary"
"I am glad too, I like being called Moon by you. At first, it was strange, but after so many times, it would be strange hearing anything else" Luna comments dreamily.
"Mhm" The Queen lets out and then changes the topic "This class is quite the bore, but at least we get to look at the magnificent view, the beautiful night sky, the plentiful stars, and the perfect Moon"
"Lun, your statement would be more valid if your eyes weren't staring at me when you said the last part and if for most of the class you were awake"
"Ah, then I should've said the perfect Moons, as there's two of them, right? Though the one up above us is less so than the one the Queen's touching at the moment" The Queen comments, ignoring the second part of her Moon's statement.
Luna says nothing, breaks their staring contest, and looks up at the sky that the Queen was talking about. Indeed it is a nice view, but Luna feels that the company is what truly matters. The view is all the nicer because she has somebody to share it with.
The Queen herself stays silent, however, she continues throwing her gaze on her Moon instead of the flimsy moon up there somewhere. As that moon is out of her Royal reach, unlike this beautiful, quirky mess of perfection.
The two stay like this for several minutes amidst the whisperings of other students and the slight wind which passes through occasionally.
The silence comes to a halt, as the Queen's voice cuts it to pieces by asking her stargazing Moon a question.
"Why don't you pick a random star and name it?"
Luna breaks her gaze away from the sky to look back at the Queen and just dreamily replies "Okay" Even if she doesn't know the reason for the Queen to suggest such a thing.
Luna looks back at the sky and stares at it for a bit, before settling on the brightest star. Due to the Queen's wishes and Moon's selection, the Sirius star is about to get renamed. But the star, unfortunately, doesn't stand a chance against the power duo that is the two Lunas.
And so, Luna points at it, showing it to the Queen, and softly says "Friend star"
Now, normally pointing at a specific star in the sky would be quite a ridiculous act as the other person could never know for sure which star is being pointed at, but the Queen's job was made easy due to the fact that night is young and barely any stars occupy it. It being the biggest star in the night sky also helps.
"Good, now we own a star, it's our star from now on. Though why 'Friend' star? It's a way better name than what I would've come up with, just curious" The Queen asks with a smile.
"Because I am gazing at it with a friend and it shines just as bright as her" Luna answers softly with a short sentence, riddled with hard-to-see joy.
"I see..." The Queen's mysterious tone and the lack of answer made Luna look back from the sky to the Queen. It also made Luna feel wrong and wary of the Queen's next words.
"In that case... The name doesn't work in this situation. We are not friends" The Queen states, a tad bit too mercilessly, which makes the lap of which she's laying on, startle and go stiff right thereafter.
The Queen realized that she expressed the start of her explanation wrong, and stops it for a moment to say something else, with a much softer voice than before.
"Before your beautiful head overthinks it, takes it the wrong way and you start feeling bad, let me explain fully of what I want to say in this situation... Of which I got myself into"
The Queen's softer tone did help the Moon relax somewhat, which will help her listen to what the Queen has to say, but the harsh words 'we are not friends' will stick with her for a long while.
"We can't be friends because we are future wives, future lovers. Unlike with Fleur, Hermione, Ginny, and the others, you agreed to be mine if and when I get you together with Ginny... Now in the future you might go back on those words, yes it will be quite a sour moment for me, but that doesn't matter now, I am getting off-topic" The Queen clears her throat and continues.
"Wives, lovers, partners, girlfriends, and even the opposite gender equivalent terms are all titles for a reason. A lover can't be a friend due to the fact that a friend wouldn't kiss and make love like a wife would. And when somebody says that you can be both, well you can't, pure and simple, whoever says that is a stupidity-riddled individual with naivete inside their head instead of a brain. The moment friends kiss, the title 'friends' is lost on them and they become something more, either something between friends and future girlfriends... Or they stop being friends altogether due to one of them not liking what happened and trying to alienate themselves and eventually become strangers. But basically, that's what I mean when I say that we are not friends, we are something far more. You can't be my friend because that way you aren't my lover and the Queen won't approve of that thought at the moment. The same goes for my future wives, Fleur isn't my friend either, she's a future lover"
Luna midway through the Queen's explanation lost all negative thoughts and relaxed fully. After a moment of silence, Luna comments on the Queen's words "Lun, you're quite intense with titles"
The Queen chuckles, because of two things. One of them being her Moon's words and the other being the fact that her Moon seems okay again.
"Well, I am a Queen, I practically invented the usage of titles... Well past Queens and Kings did, but still"
"The friend and future wife thing it doesn't have to be that way" Luna states dreamily.
"What do you mean?" The Queen asks with slight confusion in her voice.
"Well, we can simply be friends until we become wives, as all that is in the future. As you said, when friends kiss they become something more, so when something like that happens between us, we won't be friends anymore. But until that day nothing is stopping us from being friends, right?"
"Hmm... I don't know, something feels off to me with that, I can't put it to words" The Queen says feeling weird.
Luna blinks a few times while looking at the Queen's eyes, which unnervingly don't blink in long intervals.
"Maybe it's because you never had a friend? As you hadn't had the chance" The Moon says something which takes the Queen by surprise and makes her think.
The Queen realizes that her Moon and her words mean this life, the fact that she was alone for years after the Crimson family died off, and all that nonsense. But that can't be true for her previous life... Right?
Ton and Pon? No, they were her maids, just people working for her like the peasants who kneeled before her, even if the two knew more about her than others.
The generals? Just that, generals, skilled soldiers but easily replaceable, some more than others.
Her family? Dead, killed by her in her last life and made up by her in this one, so that fact alone proves that they weren't and couldn't have been friends.
Her so-called past 'wives'? Same as the future ones in this life, albeit hopefully with future love involved Simply, they are not friends as they can't even be ones.
So... The words of her Moon are eye-opening to the Queen. Her Moon realized something about her in a few days of knowing each other, which she couldn't see in years. It seems that one is blind to their own problems before others point them out and it's true even for somebody as great as her... She's simply friendless.
Her Moon becomes more and more amazing by the day, in the future, she will show just how amazing she is to the whole world, no way she's hiding her Moon's light from it.
But still, this isn't the reason why she feels odd when thinking of becoming her Moon's friend, there's something else, but she just can't figure it out.
Luna who has been looking at Lun's blank face, waiting for Lun to say something for minutes, breaks the uncomfortable silence herself.
"It's okay, I haven't had a friend before you came along myself either" Luna says comfortingly, thinking that her words made the Queen sad.
No matter how proficient she is at being attentive, they do know each other only for a few days, so she will be wrong from time to time about what the Queen is feeling.
The Queen who has been snapped out of her mind by her Moon's new words stops thinking about it, smiles for her Moon, and says "I was just lost in thought, don't worry"
Luna looks at the Queen's smiling face for a few moments, and lets it go, even if she still feels that something is wrong with Lun.
"So can we be friends?" Luna asks again.
The Queen's smile breaks, but only for a split second, as she felt wrong again. She will have to think about what this weird feeling means in the future, but for now, she might as well agree to make her Moon happy.
"Okay, we can be friends"
Luna breaks out a smile of her own.
"Until we become something more" The Queen comments, making Luna pause the celebration in her mind.
But not wanting to break the magic, Luna simply repeats "Until we become something more" She also looks back at the previously free star, which now is owned by the two Lunas and her smile becomes larger. Now the Friend star has meaning behind it.
The Queen who clearly feels that her Moon is ecstatic doesn't say anything and just keeps quiet.
But since she, herself, doesn't feel right about this arrangement, decides to get on with it and make Ginny become her Moon's girlfriend as soon as possible. She wants to lose this title of friend quickly.
It shouldn't be too hard, a few months and the two should be happily together, she already has a great plan in mind and her plans never go awry due to her being the perfection of a Queen that she is.
~ End of Chapter 27 ~