As Luna planned her series of Harry Potter articles, she started looking for places where the Ministry or the Daily Prophet would attack. The opening stories about Harry’s first two years at Hogwarts were fairly widely known through both official and unofficial stories.
She thought the initial sniping would start with these stories, but the real test would be the story about Harry’s third year at school. Luna would be telling her readers that the villain Sirius Black was actually a tragic hero and the bumbling, heroic Peter Pettigrew was actually a Death Eater who betrayed James and Lily Potter. The biggest problem was that Sirius was dead and Pettigrew was missing. The last people that saw Pettigrew were Fred and George Weasley who spotted the rat Scabbers running along a baseboard during the final battle. The rat had disappeared around a corner just as the Death Eater Nott had shown up to fight his fatal battle against the grieving, vengeful twins.
As Luna worked on the article, she dreaded the backlash she knew would be coming. When she wrote about the attack that Pettigrew had faked to implicate Crookshanks and escape the dormitories, inspiration struck. She went to the W-3 offices and placed George under her mother’s memory enhancing charm. Unfortunately, George’s memory revealed nothing new to help her. She had no concrete proof to back up her story.
The day after the publishing of the third year story, the Daily Prophet attacked. On page one there was a picture of a sobbing Mrs. Pettigrew questioning why anyone would attack her heroic, long dead son.
The article under the fold sported a headline “Loony Lovegood’s Disturbed Past.” In the article, Special Administrative Assistant to the Under-Secretary of the Minister of Magic, Pansy Parkinson, was quoted as saying that everyone at Hogwarts knew Luna Lovegood was mentally ill. She told the reporter: “Lovegood spend more time talking to portraits than to her fellow students. Luna had viciously attacked a totally innocent fellow student, almost blinding him with her wand. And worst of all, Loony Lovegood had been brought to the Headmistress concerning an incident dealing with the release of Garroting Gas in a school hallway.”
Rita Skeeter wrote that Luna had been part of a plot that used blackmail to get her to write an article for that ‘rag of a magazine’ that she knew was absolute rubbish. A spokesman from the Minister reacted to the article by simply reading headlines from the old Quibbler and making jokes about the sanity of the entire Lovegood family.
Luna had expected such attacks from the paper and the Ministry. What hurt her most was the printing of an article speculating that her mother had died while trying to create a dark spell to help You-Know-Who return. Luna knew they were desperate, but she hadn’t realized how far they would go.
She had arranged a press conference for later that same day. In the crowd, she saw most of the Daily Prophet reporting staff, led by a woman in the front row who was sucking on an acid green quill. Mrs. Pettigrew and her daughter sat on Skeeter’s right, and a bearded wizard with shoulder length salt-and-pepper hair sat to Skeeter’s left. Luna also saw in her audience a number of reporters and publishers from other wizarding publications, and four other people who she didn’t recognize were standing in the back of the room.
“Ladies and gentleman, the understandable furor caused by my story about the incidents that occurred during Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts was not unforeseen. I apologize for any grief I may have caused, but the truth must be told,” Luna started, looking out into the sea of faces ready to pounce on any perceived misstep. “I stand by my stories. They are based upon numerous well documented interviews and exhaustive independent research.”
Luna looked out at the crowd and felt like she was covered in stink sap and surrounded by Snorkacks. She heard a noise to her right and saw her faithful secretary Millicent walking toward her. She motioned for Luna to step to the right of the podium. Luna leaned over to hear some message from Millicent. Instead she heard the rustle of cloth and exclamations of surprise from the audience. She turned to see a bespectacled man with untidy black hair standing at the podium.
“Good afternoon, my name is Harry Potter,” he said, pausing to allow the cameras across the room to belch purple smoke into the air. “I am here to bear witness to the truth of the stories written by my friend, Luna Lovegood Pomfrey and published in the Daily Quibbler. In fact, she submitted the stories for my approval and comment, which I gave. So if anyone has an issue with Luna’s article, they also have an issue with me. Are there any questions?”
A woman standing in the back was first to raise her hand. Luna stared across the room; she did not recognize the brunette who asked, “Mr. Potter, is it true that you are married to the most exquisitely beautiful and most powerful witch in all of Britain?”
Luna recognized the voice and exploded into a fit of uncontrollable horse-like laughter. She hugged Millicent in relief; Harry’s questioner was Ginny in disguise.
“Yes and she’s also extremely modest,” Harry replied. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not here alone to vouch for the article’s accuracy. I would like to introduce these supporting witnesses: my wife Ginny, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom.”
Slowly, the strangers walked forward, and as they stepped onto the little raised carpeted platform, they removed the spells which had concealed their identities. Luna looked as each of her friends took a place at the side of the podium.
“You didn’t think we’d desert you? I mean compared to Death Eaters, what is this lot anyway,” Neville whispered.
As she walked back to the podium, Luna saw Hermione give Rita Skeeter a warning stare.
“Well, are there any questions about this article you wish answered?” she asked, still somewhat dazed by the unsolicited support of her friends and the silence of the audience.
Finally, the bearded man with salt-and-pepper hair stood up. He put his wand to his throat and said, “My name is Stubby Boardman and I demand that you print a retraction in your paper telling everyone that I am not and never have been Sirius Black.”
Luna smiled and said loudly enough for all present to hear, “Of course, the Daily Quibbler is always ready, and willing to rectify all of its mistakes.”
“Before we begin, Angelina ordered me to ask you a somewhat personal question,” said Fred, smirking at his brother. “She wanted to know if you happened to use any of the shower gifts on your honeymoon.”
Luna paused before answering. If she had used a gift or not was really none of his business, but when dealing Fred and George business was usually preceded by a joke or two. She decided it would be best to play along.
“Yes, I did use Ginny’s present in the Garden of Eden room,” she admitted, feeling surprisingly embarrassed by the admission.
“Lucky bloke, that Pomfrey,” Fred answered, while sniggering to George.
“How did you know? What did she tell you?” Luna asked.
“Nothing!” Fred said, throwing up his good hand in mock defense. “It’s just if the present came from Ginny, it had to be, well,” Fred said, pausing to search for the proper adjective.
“Saucy,” suggested George, “invisible maybe.”
Luna let her expression be her only answer.
“Saucy and invisible, lucky bloke indeed,” teased Fred..
“And what did Angelina wear on your honeymoon?” she prompted.
“Something Ginny had gotten her, that’s why I know that Pomfrey was a lucky bloke,” he said as all three laughed.
Luna looked at the grinning twins who were seated on the couch in her office. She knew all of the joking was a way to mask the underlying tension. The last her articles had been published in the preceding week, and the Minister had fired Umbridge after the fifth story was printed, and a change at the top of the Ministry was inevitable. Yet, today was the true judgment day.
A knock on her office door woke Luna from her thoughts. “Come in, Cuthbert,” she said toward the closed door.
The stooped accountant and the straight-backed Percy Weasley came into the office with papers and ledger books floating behind them. Cuthbert’s face was wary. Percy’s face, as always, was slightly superior with a touch of I-told-you-so added in for good measure.
“Well, I think the facts speak for themselves and leave us only one course of action,” said Percy, remained standing by the office door.
Cuthbert looked annoyed at the younger man’s lack of manners and countered, “I don’t know. The Daily Quibbler’s return on investment is higher than the old magazine’s ever was. I’d say we’re near the Prophet’s income in fact, sirs and ma’am.” Cuthbert gave a little bow to his employer.
“Cuthbert, please call me Luna. If you start calling me ma’am, I’ll start calling you Mr. Ashforth,” she lectured.
“Yes of course, Mrs. Pomfrey,” answered the ever-formal man. Luna just sighed at his response.
Fred and George had used the time to skim the numbers. The numbers that all three of them had known even before the final tally was made. The Daily Quibbler was making a steady, small profit. However, Fred and George could have made more money from their investment in the paper by putting the cash into an account at Gringotts. And with Fred and George’s flair for business, who knew how much they could have made by investing in some other business.
“Like I said before I was interrupted, our course of action is quite simple. We will have to close the Daily Quibbler and sell off the inventory and equipment to recoup our investment,” Percy pontificated while pointing toward the ledger books with his index fingers extended.
“Hold on! We’re W3, not you,” Fred answered, pointing back toward Percy. She knew that what really annoyed Fred was that Percy was right. From a purely business point of view, W3 was wasting time and resources on her newspaper. Yet, Luna knew that she and the Weasley twins shared bonds that went beyond Percy’s ledger books. She was counting on that this afternoon.
“Yeah, Penny called. She said AC and DC need their nappies changed and it’s your turn,” George said as he also fired back at his older brother.
“First of all the boys are no longer in diapers and I wish you’d quit calling them that. You know perfectly well that the boy’s names are Arthur Charles and Drayton Creedence,” Percy spat.
“Drayton Creedence?” asked Luna.
“Drayton is Penelope’s father. And her uncle, Creedence Clearwater was an Unspeakable who was killed by the Death Eaters,” informed Percy.
“What ever you say, Weatherby,” Fred said, grinning at Percy.
Luna had heard the twins call Percy by the name Weatherby in a previous meeting when they thought he’d overstepped his bounds. She was curious about the story behind the slight. Whatever it was, the name both infuriated and silenced him.
Luna smiled. She could use Percy’s haughty behavior to bait her trap. If he was not here or had been silent, she wasn’t sure she would succeed. With him here, his brothers would be more willing to compromise in her favor to distinguish them from him.
“I have a counteroffer,” Luna said as she stared at Percy.
Fred and George both sat up, eager to listen. They looked at her hopefully seeking a positive outcome for the meeting.
“My offer is that the Daily Quibbler operates for the next six months without any more infusion of cash. I will also work without pay for the same time period as a show of good faith. After six months, I will begin to make monthly payments of eight thousand Galleons for a time period of one year. At the end of that time, I will be the majority operating partner of the Daily Quibbler with fifty-one percent ownership, forty percent ownership for W3 Ltd., eight percent for the current staff of the paper, and one percent for Harry and Ginny Potter.”
“Luna!” said a shocked Cuthbert, hearing the offer for the first time.
Percy chortled. “Neither you, your father, nor your healer husband has that kind of gold. Besides, the paper is worth four times that much. She’s bluffing,” he added as he turned toward his brothers.
“Go ahead, shut me down. In a year, I will have a new paper up and running,” she said, baiting the trap.
She saw George look at Fred and whisper, “Harry and Ginny?”
Fred shrugged, but Luna’s comments seemed to have sucked the air out of the room. Fred and George knew her well enough to know she would only say what she believed to be true. Luna looked at their faces. She didn’t need a Wrackspurt to read their thoughts. What did Luna know that they didn’t? What angle had they missed? And how did Harry and Ginny fit in her plan?
Suddenly, George started looking around at the stacks of paper searching for something. “Accio contract,” he said after he had pulled his wand out of his vest pocket.
As The document leapt from the middle of a stack of papers and flew into George’s hand.
Luna faced Percy. “Bluffing can only work if one side thinks the other is a fool or one side knows more than the other. You and Cuthbert just went over all of figures so our knowledge is equal. So if I am bluffing then I am or I think your brothers are fools. And I know Fred and George are not fools,” she spoke slowly in order to give George time to read.
Luna kept her eyes on Percy and waited for George to reach the final paragraph on the fourth page. His wide eyes appeared briefly over the top of contract. Silently, he passed the paperwork over to Fred with his finger pointing at the paragraph that Luna had so innocently inserted into the contract before it was signed. Fred read the paragraph that George had pointed out to him. After he was finished, he looked at Luna not with an angry or hurt face, but with a look of appreciation.
“Well played, love! George, we may have the wrong office manager working for us,” Fred said.
Percy looked confused and walked over to Fred, who pointed out the codicil. “I don’t get it,” admitted Percy as he returned the document to his boss.
“Luna, will you please explain your plan to our brother. We don’t know the details, but it’s bloody well done,” George said, eyeing Luna with a look of something resembling envy.”
“Are you going to close the paper or not? Because I’m not saying anything until you either shut us down or we have an oral contract agreeing to keep the paper open,” she answered, trying to keep any tone of victory out of her voice. She was so close to getting out of this meeting with what she wanted most.
Fred and George put their heads together. Percy bounced from one side of the conversation to the other as he tried to eavesdrop. The brothers whispered for almost five minutes before they turned their heads toward her.
“Sorry Luna, we’re not that impressed yet,” George replied. “However, we are willing to agree to your counter offer with the payments subject to negotiation of, say, plus-or-minus-fifty-percent of your original offer,” he said as he looked to Fred.
Fred nodded in agreement.
“That’s still too low of an amount,” Percy argued, looking from one twin to the other as he searched for a glimmer of common sense.
“Would you mind if I get two witnesses on that?” she asked.
George shrugged and Fred answered, “You just happen to have witnesses available, do you?”
She nodded pulled her wand from behind her left ear and touched it to her throat, silently mouthing a few words. The office door opened and a man in his mid-thirties stepped inside holding the hand of a small redheaded girl. At first, the little girl attempted to hide behind the man until she saw Luna. Suzanne eagerly waved to Luna who gently waggled her fingers back.
“She’s a child. She can’t be a witness! No court will accept her as a witness,” argued Percy.
“We don’t need courts, Percy. I trust your brothers with my life and the lives of all those who are precious to me. I’d rather have your brothers’ word than other people’s signatures.”
By now, Suzanne had slipped from behind her father until she stood in front of him. She smiled her best smile and waved at the older men on the couch. They smiled and waved back. She smiled at Percy, who just rolled his eyes and sniffed in response.
“You’re playing dirty pool now,” George said. He looked to Fred who shook his head in agreement.
“Oh well, W3 Limited has accepted a counteroffer from Mrs. Pomfrey. In six months, she will begin to pay us twelve monthly payments of an amount to be determined. The amount of the payments will be between four thousand Galleons and twelve thousand galleons or some mutually agreed upon equivalent sum for sixty percent of W3 Ltd’s stake in the Daily Quibbler,” said George, looking at the pair in front of him. “Do you concur with my remarks, madam editor?”
“Yes, that is the offer,” she answered.
“Wow!” said Suzanne’s father, walking over to George and shaking his hand. “Thanks. We’ve all been worried the last few weeks about our future. We were afraid that in the backlash the paper might have to fold. With you as minority owners, we can all sleep well,” he added.
Suzanne pulled on her father’s jumper. “Are we done?” she quietly asked. He nodded.
Without asking permission, Suzanne skipped over to Luna’s desk, her peach lace dress making a swishing sound with every skip. She opened the largest desk drawer and pulled out a Honeydukes chocolate wand. The child paused, reached back into the drawer and pulled out three more of the snacks. On her way out the door, she handed Fred and George Weasley each a wand. As she started out the door, she extended the candy toward Percy, but when his hand reached to take it she pulled the treat back and skipped out the door leaving her father to silently mouth an apology.
Fred and George howled with laughter at the startled looks on both the little girl’s father and Percy’s face. Percy looked hurt at the obvious insult. The pained look on his face almost made Luna feel sorry for him. However, his next comment dampened any such empathy.
“Our barristers can get us out of that. It was coercion. It was,” Percy said, his voice getting louder with each passing sentence.
“It was very funny and very effective,” said George.
“Tell me Luna, was it Thistlethorne or Worple?” asked Fred.
Luna smiled. Gerald Thistlethorne was famous in the magical publishing world for being Gilderoy Lockhart’s editor and ghostwriter. Eldred Worple, who Luna had met at Slughorn’s party years ago, published many quickly written lurid books that teenage witches seemed to eat up. The two were among the heaviest hitters in the wizard book universe.
“Both of them contacted me, and I said no. Thistlethorne promised me an advance large enough to buy you out, but money was not the issue,” she answered.
“Money not the issue?” Percy said in a tone of disbelief.
“Luna wouldn’t sell out Harry and Ginny to save her life. She’s already proven that,” George noted.
“I went to Lockhart’s publisher. I told her I would take two-thirds of the normal rate per book in exchange for complete editorial control. In our archives, I have a letter from Harry giving me rights to publish his story as long as he and I are in total control of the content. Harry will get one quarter of the proceeds and the rest will go owner of the Quibbler stories,” she said, staring at the Percy.
Percy’s eyes got as big as saucers. “In case of the dissolution of the partnership, all rights to the published materials will revert to the author designated in the byline and the original Quibbler magazine,” he quoted the codicil. “If we’d shut you down, you and your father would own Harry’s life story,” he said, now understanding his brothers’ admiration.
“Now, about the final buyout,” she said, attempting to keep the Weasleys off balance. “You didn’t play Quidditch, did you Percy? Your brothers and Ginny did, but you didn’t,” Luna started.
“And neither did you as I recall,” Percy snapped back. The subject was obviously a sore one with him.
“Oh, I don’t like riding broomsticks. I use to like it when Ravenclaw or Ginny were playing, but the games take so long. I’d rather walk in the forest any day,” she said. Luna stopped and realized her train of thought had derailed.
“You did play gobstones for the Gryffindor team. In fact, you won three out of the last four school tournaments you played in. I know. I saw you lose that one finals match,” she added.
“I was distracted. I had an off day,” he responded.
“No, you lost because Penelope Clearwater had just come over to you, wished you good luck, and kissed you,” she finished. Fred and George laughed at Luna’s assertion.
“How do you know that?” he responded.
“During my first year, I was sort of Penelope’s shadow. I would follow her around without her knowing it. She wasn’t sure if you really liked her or not. So she kissed you, hoping you’d keep hanging around and hoping she’d kiss you again. She told a friend it would give her time to figure out if she really did like you or not,” Luna finished.
“You’re making this up,” Percy shouted.
“I don’t know why you’re complaining, it worked out didn’t it?” she said.
Luna continued, “I propose a one-on-one gobstone tournament. If you win, I will pay the upper range of the counteroffer out of the book revenue and W3 will get three fourths of the book proceeds that exceed the payoff. If I win, I will pay the lower end of the counteroffer and W3 will get one quarter of any proceeds that exceed the payoff.” Luna looked at the four astounded men facing her, feeling very calm and serene.
Fred and George called Percy over to a huddle. The twins, who had been repeatedly wrong footed ever since they entered the office, smelled a trap. But Percy was extremely confident in victory. After all, Luna had never once entered the school tourneys. He would win and that would be that.
Fred and George stepped away from their brother and whispered. Luna knew that the twins had been in quiet negotiations with Comet Broomworks to buy a small percentage of the firm in exchange for the rights to their new racing broom. The windfall from Harry’s books could make them full partners or better with Comet. Luna waited, fairly confident of their decision.
“Percy, we leave this decision up to you,” Fred added.
“Deal,” Percy said, extending his hand to Luna. “We will meet tomorrow at eleven in the park off of Diagon Alley. There’s a gobstone arena there,” he added, victory already in his voice.
“Agreed. Gentlemen, a toast,” Luna said, waving her wand as five goblets, along with a bottle of oak-matured mead appeared on her desk and poured itself into the goblets. “May we always cherish our greatest treasures: family and friends,” she offered, touching her goblet to each of the others in the office in turn.
As the little clock on the wall chimed half past ten, Luna finished the sixth letter on her desk. She waved her wand and each individual letter flew into the designated envelope. She walked over to the cupboard and placed the pinstriped cloak Fred and George had presented to her on her first day as editor onto its hanger. She magically sealed the door and slipped into her ‘Luna’ clothes, feeling the familiar transformation. She walked behind her desk to the shelf and picked up her radish earrings and the round leather pouch. With the pouch in her purse and her earrings dangling, she magically opened the door and left the room with the envelopes in hand.
She was surprised to find the secretary’s chair empty. Millicent seemed at times to be rooted to the desk, so her absence was quite unusual. Luna deposited the letters onto the middle of Millicent’s desk and headed out the door.
She wound her way up the crowded alley, dodging the busy shoppers. She was surprised to see such a crowd in the park; Luna had expected to find only Percy and the twins present. However, she discovered that in addition to the expected three: Albi, her father, Penelope Weasley and her two little boys, Ginny, Cuthbert, and Millicent were awaiting her arrival.
Percy stood at the gobstone circle, holding a white silken pouch in his hands. He opened the pouch with his wand, and removed the normal four gobstones for the opening Gaipar.
Luna reached into her purse, pulled out an ancient cracked leather pouch, and with some difficulty undid the gold clasp that held the red velvet cord cinching the bag. She poured four green marbles and a single red one into her hand and walked over to the circle. As she started to re-cinch the bag a small golden Phoenix feather popped to the top of the pouch before the cord trapped it inside. Luna couldn’t resist touching the green marbles with her index finger just like she had so many years ago in Dumbledore’s office.
She placed her green gobstones in the designated places for the Gaipar and began to study the charmed circle. Percy, as the challenged, would get the first turn. As Luna smiled at Percy, she thought it all be over in about a half an hour. Maybe an hour, if he was in practice.
Luna turned her back to the circle and began to walk. She saw what might have been a tiny Umgubular Slashkilter on the sill of a store window. The Slashkilter always brought good fortune to those who saw it. The small creature hopped from the window onto the street and disappeared.
As she awaited her turn, she watched the clouds go by and saw one that bore a strong resemblance to the Sorting Hat. Her attention shifted as she heard a fit of uncontrolled giggling and saw Albi rolling a small red Quaffle on the ground toward Percy’s sons who chased and finally fell over each other in their attempt to capture it. Ginny and Penelope were seated, talking on the park’s lone bench. Ginny absent-mindedly twirled the butterbeer cork necklace with her index finger. Penelope, who had sat at the precise angle needed to keep her children within her sight at all times, laughed at something Ginny had said without ever taking her eyes off the boys. Luna heard Cuthbert attempting to bet George Weasley how long the match would last before Mrs. Pomfrey defeated Mr. Percy. George refused to take the bet.
Luna finished her circle. She felt so free. The letters she had dropped on Millicent’s desk invited her father, her top four editors and the Weasley twins to a morning meeting in which she was going to resign as the editor-in-chief.
She would retain the post of publisher which meant she would be free of the every day running of the paper. The editors were more than capable. After all, they had been advising her from the beginning. She would come in on Tuesdays to check on the things a publisher needs to handle and for story hour. Every Tuesday she held a little tea party for the children of the Quibbler. After the snacks, she would tell the children, and a few lingering adults, stories about Neville the Nargle, Ginny the Gerbil, Harry the Hamster, Albus the Owl, and the lonely little blonde girl lucky enough to be their friend. Someday, she thought that she might even write the stories down. The eager, happy faces of the children were the reason why she had done all this work to secure the paper’s future. She had been the mother eagle protecting her eaglets.
Percy moaned; he had missed his fourth shot. Luna walked a loop around the circle focusing on all of the angles while rolling a bright red gobstone between the thumb and index finger of her shooting hand. She slipped out of her shoes and handed them to Albi. She gave a consoling smile to Percy and knew he would not get a chance at a fifth shot.
The beginning…