BOOM!
Marvin Lovegood woke up with a start. Was he dreaming, or was the explosion he heard real?
BOOM!
There was no mistaking it now. He sat up and groped in the dark for his slippers. Finding them at the end of his bed, he put them on and felt his way in the darkness to the door knob. He turned the knob and opened the door only to be greeted by a pungent smell. Crinkling his nose, and lighting the candle with a wave of his wand, he made his way to his wife’s study upstairs. He climbed the stairs two at a time and his heart skipped a beat. The sight that met his eyes almost killed him. The room was in shambles, blue smoke rising in circles from the rubbish on the ground. Marvin had to cover his nose; the pungent gas made him nauseous. Coughing, Marvin called hysterically to his wife.
“It’s no use,” said a quiet voice behind him.
Marvin turned to face his daughter. Her dirty blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, a garland of corks dangling around her neck. Her grey eyes were dreamy, as she gazed up at her father.
“What do you mean?” he asked plainly, his heartbeat racing.
“She” “ the girl jerked her little thumb in the direction of the room- “said it is no use going in.”
Marvin’s face was beaded with sweat. “And when did she say this?”
“Just a few minutes ago.”
Marvin leant against the wall, feeling weak. He closed his eyes, silently praying that this was a bad dream, nothing more. He felt a small hand grip his forearm. He opened his eyes.
“It’s not like Mum’s really gone, is it, Dad?” It was more of a statement than a question, her dreamy silvery eyes pleading for him to answer in the affirmative.
“Princess,” he said, taking her hand and leading her into her room opposite the study. She could not possibly understand life and death; intelligent though she was. So Marvin decided to spin up a tale and save the truth for when she became old enough.
“Mum isn’t gone, is she, Dad?” she pressed.
“No,” he said firmly. “Your mum is just... hiding.”
Luna smiled sadly, and gave him a look that plainly said it-is-going-to-take-more-than-that-to-fool-me.
Marvin coughed uncomfortably. “She’s hiding in the... Department of Mysteries, dear.”
“Where is that place?”
“The Ministry of Magic.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did she go?”
Marvin looked at his little daughter; a tiny crease lined her forehead as she looked out of the room. She was not crying, just gazing at the study. Luna had spent most of her time with her mother. Most people, magical and Muggle alike, would have called his wife a lunatic. She was a woman of strange ways. But maybe that was what had attracted him to her. She was strange in an adorable way. And Luna was quite like her mother, in appearance, but in personality, she favoured her father. She shared his love for reading books, and her sense of dressing. She was the perfect mix of both of them. Luna spent a lot of time with her mother. They would disappear for hours together in his wife’s little study. Marvin did not know what they did there and he had never bothered to find out. He spent most of his time locked in his room, researching on various magical theories, that he did not have time for anything else.
Marvin snapped back from his train of thought, and realised Luna was gazing at him. “She... she didn’t leave you, dear. She will come back.” It was more of his hope than his belief.
“Where is she now?”
“Department of Mysteries.”
“I know that,” she said, “But...where in the Department of Mysteries?”
“Beyond the Veil.”
Luna turned to gaze at her father, curiosity brimming in her eyes. “What is the Veil?”
Marvin was ready for that. “It’s a big, black cloth, like a curtain. Your mother loved to play hide and seek behind it.”
“Will you take me there?”
“Uh... Princess, she won’t like visitors. She’ll come one day. Until then, you need to wait.”
Marvin stood up and Luna followed suit, linking her tiny arms with her father’s long ones.
“Now, go to sleep, won’t you?”
Luna smiled. “Of course, Dad.” They made their way down to Marvin’s bedroom. Flicking on the lights, Marvin conjured a small bed next to his and Luna climbed into it. He knelt down, kissing her forehead softly. “Good night, Luna.”
She mumbled something incoherently and was soon fast asleep. Marvin, however, hardly slept a wink. As soon as Luna had drifted off to sleep, he went up the stairs into his wife’s study. He knew his wife was dead, but that did not deter the tiny ray of hope in his heart. After an hour of digging and vanishing wreckage, Marvin’s eyes caught something glittering. He walked towards it, bent down and took a closer look at it. It was a golden ring. Marvin picked it up and placed it in his palm. It was their wedding ring. That was all that was left of her. A ring. Marvin gripped the wall for support.
A tiny ray of sunlight crept into the room, caressing Marvin’s face gently. It felt just like her touch. His eyes snapped open. He looked around the now renovated room. There was no evidence of the explosion at all. His heart sank as images of the previous night flashed through his mind. He could almost hear that explosion again; it was still ringing horribly in his ears. His hand still clutched her ring. That was the only source of comfort he had. His only conduit of strength.
“Daddy?”
He turned around to see Luna gazing at him, a dreamy smile playing on her lips.
He ruffled her straggly hair and gave her a bear hug at the same time. “Sleep well, Princess?”
Luna continued to look at him. “You miss her, don’t you, Dad?”
A lump rose in Marvin’s throat and he did not swallow. Luna, however, remained oblivious, as she continued talking. “Still, it’s not like you won’t see her again, is it, Dad? She’ll come back one day, won’t she?”
“Yes, Luna, she will.” It was more of a comforting thought to himself than to his daughter.
Marvin sat in his room, his eyes fixed on a photograph of his now-destroyed family. He still had Luna, but both of them missed having her around. Her friendly smile, the tease in her eyes, her amicable aura. They missed her a lot. There had been no funeral, thankfully, for what use is a funeral when all the person left behind was a ring? And they did not have any relatives or friends to even care if they were alive or dead. His world had been made of three people, his daughter, his wife and himself. Now one of them had left, only he and his daughter remained.
Just to occupy himself, and prevent his thoughts from wavering to his wife, he sank deeper into his research. He would sometimes be accompanied by a bored Luna who would gaze out of the window at the hills and valleys. Every waking moment was spent in his personal study, and he would stay there till it was late in the night, so that when he went to bed, he would fall asleep immediately. This tactic worked well, except that his eyes became puffier by the day.
About a week after he had begun to employ this tactic, Marvin was found in his study, studying his way to glory, as his wife would put it. She did not believe in theory and wanted to experiment with magic herself. He, on the other hand, liked to examine the theoretical concepts of magic and worked for the Department of Magic and Magical Theory at the Ministry of Magic. He did not have to go to the Ministry of Magic to work. He just needed to send weekly reports to them via owl. And this job suited him perfectly, giving him more time to spend with his family.
Luna wandered in, her blonde hair braided into a plait and boredom prominent in her eyes. Seeing her father look at her, she said quickly, “Hello, Dad.”
He put an arm around her and pulled her closer, ruffling her hair affectionately. “What is wrong with Princess?”
She shrugged, looking away. “Luna, dearest, are you bored?” She still did not respond, but slowly turned to face her father.
A sudden spark of intelligence ignited in Marvin’s mind. “Say, Luna, fancy a trip to Diagon Alley?”
Luna shrugged again. Taking her lack of enthusiasm for affirmation, Marvin grinned. “Go and grab a cloak. See you at the fireplace in five minutes.”
She sauntered off the room, her radish earrings bobbing in her wake. Marvin threw on a cloak and opened his safe to collect some galleons. He extinguished the candles with a wave of his wand and snapped the door shut behind him. He went downstairs to the kitchen fireplace from which they would be reaching Diagon Alley. Luna was already there, sitting on a chair, her protuberant eyes gazing at the sink for some reason Marvin did not know. She was wearing her favourite blue robe, a gift from her mother last year for her eighth birthday. Marvin shook his head sadly, before turning his attention to look for the Floo powder. He rummaged through the set of drawers, and five minutes later, found the bag underneath a book of his wife’s special recipes. Opening the bag, he threw a pinch of the glittering powder into the fireplace causing the merry red fire to glow green. He grasped Luna’s hand and stepped into the warm flames.
“Diagon Alley.”
They started spinning, making Marvin almost dizzy until the spinning suddenly stopped. They stepped out of the fireplace and glanced around. It was the Floo entrance to Diagon Alley. Marvin turned to his daughter. “Where do you want to go?”
She shrugged, gazing at the shrunken heads with an amused smile on her face.
“Would Princess like some ice cream?” He tugged at her hand and pulled her away from the shrunken heads in the direction of Florean Fortescue’s ice cream parlour.
“Hello, sir,” Fortescue greeted, nodding at the pair of them.
“Th - two raspberry sundaes please.”
Marvin could feel Luna’s eyes on him. He had almost placed an order for three and she had noticed. Why on earth did I have to let my tongue slip now? We are, after all, here to forget about it. And now, I’ve reminded her about it again. Damn! he cursed.
“Here’s your order, sir.”
Marvin looked up. Fortescue was holding a tray with two raspberry sundaes, a smile flickering on his face.
“Thank you,” he replied politely. “Here are your two galleons.” He tossed out two gold coins from his pocket and took the sundae in his hand. Grasping Luna’s hand in his free one, they made their way out of the shop.
In an attempt to break the silence, Marvin asked, “What would Princess like to do now?”
Luna licked her ice cream and swallowed before responding.
“Dad,” she said, gazing dreamily up at him. “I want a book.”
Marvin smiled fondly at her. “Books, it is. Flourish and Blotts, here we come!” he declared, as they strolled in the direction of the bookshop, savouring their sundaes. Marvin’s thoughts began to wander. His wife’s face came floating into view. He felt a twinge of guilt for enjoying himself when he was supposed to be mourning her death. Not really, said a voice in his mind that sounded awfully like his wife’s. She would not have wanted you mourning and you bloody well know it.
He suddenly felt a tug in his arm, bringing him back to the present world.
“Dad,” Luna said quietly, but matter-of-factly, “I thought Flourish and Blotts was there.” She indicated in the direction of the shop that they had just crossed.
“Oh, yeah,” Marvin turned red. He had let his thoughts and footsteps wander. “Yeah, let’s go there.”
They turned back and retraced their footsteps till they reached Flourish and Blotts. Marvin was delighted once he entered inside. He found solace in reading, and this place was his idea of heaven.
“So, Luna,” he said, grinning. “What kind of book do you want to read?”
“Something nice...” Luna said vaguely.
“Well, I’ll be there,” he said, pointing to a section full of thick volumes of books. “Call me after you decide.”
Marvin watched with a slight smiled on his face as Luna strolled off and disappeared behind a corner. He turned left, into the section of Magical Theory and lost himself inside the world of books that he did not notice time tick by.
Luna appeared by his side, clutching a big red book in her hand, a happy smile plastered on her face.
“Did Princess find the right book?” he asked.
“Yes, Dad,” she nodded as she handed the book to him.
Marvin took the book from her and almost snorted when he read the title, Magical Creatures You Never Thought Existed by Giggleton Gooseworth. This had to be one of the craziest books ever written.
“Luna,” he said uncertainly. “Are you sure this is the book you want to read?”
Luna nodded sincerely. He did not have the heart to refuse her the book.
“Right then,” he said. “Let’s leave.”
They walked to the counter and Marvin handed over Luna’s copy of Magical Creatures You Never Thought Existed. The person at the counter gave them a weird look, and as his eyes fell on Luna’s earrings, he snorted, but managed to turn it into a hacking cough.
“That would cost you seven galleons, Sir.”
Marvin tossed out seven gold coins from his pocket and left the shop, one arm holding Luna’s book and the other her hand.
They walked in the direction of the Floo exit from Diagon Alley. Throwing some Floo powder into the blazing fire, Marvin called, “Lovegood residence.” And the last thing he saw was the shrunken heads sniggering before they or rather he went spinning out of view.
The Lovegood kitchen came spinning into focus. Marvin and Luna stepped out of the fireplace. Marvin handed over the book to her and ruffled her blonde hair.
“This should keep you occupied.”
Luna smiled and meandered towards her room. Marvin grinned. He had finally got Luna something to do.
He shuffled to his room to do some more reading, and lost himself and track of time in there. It was nearly dusk when Luna came to his room, looking pleased with herself.
Marvin looked up from his pile of books. “Was that book interesting?”
“Very.”
Marvin grinned to himself, and turned his attention back to the paper he was working on. Luna peeped over his shoulder.
“That looks like an Aquavirius Maggot.” She was referring to a complicated diagram on his paper.
“A what?” Marvin asked, half-amused, half-confused.
“Aquavirius Maggot,” she repeated. “They are pale bobs that float in huge tanks. Just like this one.”
“Where did you find out about this?” Marvin had an idea but wanted confirmation.
“In Magical Creatures You Never Thought Existed,” she replied proudly.
Marvin shook his head. “Luna, love, those things don’t exist.”
“Actually, Dad, Gooseworth says people did not care to find about them. These creatures have existed ever since the early twelfth century...”
Marvin felt his attention slipping. Luna was after all a nine-year-old girl and she was probably too young to understand that this made no sense. She might realise that when she was older, perhaps. So for now, Marvin decided to play along.
“Okay, Luna, I agree that these creatures exist.”
“You could do research on them instead, Dad,” Luna suggested brightly.
Marvin realised that matters were getting rather out of hand. “And you would pay me for it, Princess?” he asked, laughing.
Luna frowned, causing her faint eyebrows to crinkle. “We could...” she said slowly. “I know!” she said with a gleeful grin. “You could write articles on it and publish it as a magazine like the Witch Weekly.”
Marvin cursed himself inwardly for playing along with her.
“Luna,” he said in the gentlest tone he could muster, “look, no one is going to believe all this. They’ll think it is rubbish.”
Her face fell, and Marvin felt his heart shatter. There was something about his little girl that he could not manage to refuse anything to her. He just could not.
He lifted her chin with one long finger and locked his brown eyes with her grey ones. “I’ll start a magazine.”
Luna’s face broke into a smile. “Really?”
“Why not?” Marvin smiled. “Anything to make my Princess happy.”
Marvin resigned his job the next day. Throughout the next week, he would be gone to the Ministry to sign papers and complete other formalities regarding the magazine which Luna had decided would be called ‘The Quibbler’. When dusk fell, Marvin could be found reading out Magical Creatures You Never Thought Existed to Luna as she dozed off to sleep.
The first copy of ‘The Quibbler’ was published and with it came ridicule and scorn in the form of owls everyday. But Marvin did not care. It was for his little Princess, after all.