Harry sighed, staring out the window of the Hogwarts Express, waiting for the scarlet steam engine to start up. He registered Ron and Hermione bickering, and tuned them out.

“Harry, is this seat taken?” a familiar voice asked, drawing Harry’s attention. Luna Lovegood stood there, face obscured by an issue of ‘The Quibbler’.

“No, not at all.” He smiled, as Luna set her magazine on the seat. He rose, the pair lifting her luggage and putting it into the rack overhead. They sat across from one another.

Luna gave him a soft smile. “Thank you, Harry.” She said in her soft voice. She opened her magazine, and disappeared behind it.

“No problem, Luna. What are you doing this summer?” he asked, leaning against the side of the compartment.

“Oh… nothing of much interest. Perhaps I’ll continue working on a detector for Grayvens.” She muttered, peeking over the corner of her magazine at him.

“Sounds interesting… What is a Grayven?” Harry asked, ignoring Hermione’s sigh of exasperation beside him.

“It’s a wild nature spirit. It usually takes the shape of a bird. They watch over trees.” She muttered, closing the magazine and setting it on her lap once again. “They usually appear when their trees are in danger. There’s not many of them though.”

“How many are there?” Harry asked, smiling faintly. Hermione crossed her arms, obviously irritated at Luna. The train started to move.

“Well, in a large forest, there’s anywhere from one to three per hundred trees.” She paused here, staring out the window. “Though there may be more in a given forest. They’re guardians of their realm, very powerful. Most forests only need one or two anyway. If there’s too many of them in one place, they get into very violent fights. They have rather powerful magic, and they seem partial to using mental tricks or plant growth to trick or trap intruders.”

“Do they ever come out of hiding?” Harry asked, surprised at how easy it was to talk to Luna. Sure it was strange content, but… it was definitely interesting.

“Well… they usually don’t. They’d prefer to take control of the mind of anyone in their area to talk. Or just to take care of whatever the threat is.”

“They can control minds?” Harry asked, puzzled. “I thought the mind was very complex.”

“They’re quite a bit more intelligent than us humans.” Luna said, brushing some of her blonde hair from her face.

“Oh, Harry. You don’t really believe this story, do you?” Hermione scoffed. “There’s no such thing as a Grayven. Maybe you’re talking about bowtruckles.” The brunette added a moment later.

Luna ignored Hermione. “And on top of being able to control minds, they’re rather beautiful creatures, or so the story goes. Anyone who’s ever seen one has gone blind.” She smiled. “Which leads into the next part of my way to catch them, specialized goggles.”

Ron sniggered, as Luna pulled a small helmet from her bag. “It’s not done yet… but it should provide enough cover to spot them.” She nodded.

Harry elbowed Ron in the ribs, hissing “Shut it, you.” Then he turned to look at Luna. “It sounds like an interesting creature.”

“They are, very much so.” She smiled. “What do you have planned this summer, Harry?”

“Well… not really all that much.” He paused, actually thinking ahead for the first time. “I mean… now that Tom is dead, and I’m of age, I don’t have to go back to Privet Drive… so I think I’m gonna try for a job, and stay at my house.” He muttered.

“That sounds lovely. Perhaps you could come join me on my trip if you like?”

“Sure.” Harry smiled. He pulled his wand from his pocket. “Muffliato.” He pointed it at the door. He turned back to Luna. “My address is number 12, Grimmauld Place.” He muttered.

“Okay, I’ll owl you. You already know where I live.“ She smiled.
They settled into a soft silence, Harry and Luna grinning at each other.

“Luna, didn’t you take your O.W.L.s this year?” Hermione asked. Harry started to tune them out, watching Luna answer, noticing how lovely her long dishwater blonde hair was, how perfectly it framed her face.