Luna arrived at the bustling dining hall fashionably te, her silver-blonde hair trailing like moonlight behihe Underworld dining room, adorned with bck marble and gilded deliers, was alive with murmured versations and the k of silverware on por. She spotted Harry and Daph a table he rge arched window overlooking the snow-crounds. They were deep in versation, Daphuring animatedly while Harry chuckled softly.

  As she approached, Luna caught the end of their exge. “…and theually tried to duel the mirror. I’m not even joking,” Daphne was saying, her green eyes sparkling with amusement.

  Harry leaned ba his chair, grinning. “Yeah Lockheart has absolutely no clue what he is doing.”

  Daphne smirked, p Luna a gss of chilled water from the crystal pitcher at the ter of the table. “You’ve missed quite the eainie, Luna. Harry and I were discussing the many virtues of inpetent educators.”

  Luna tilted her head thoughtfully, her eyes gng at the ornate carvings on the gilded walls. “Virtues? I suppose they teach us patiend the value of silence when wisdom fails to appear.”

  Harry ughed, shaking his head. “See, Daphne?”“Yes yes I do. That’s one way to look at it. Personally, I think Lockhart’s true talent lies in surviving his owude.” Daphne admits.

  “Say Umm, Harry, did you hahe Rat?” Luna asks

  Harry paused mid-bite, his fork h in the air, and exged a quice with Daphne before setting it down. “The rat?” he asked cautiously, though he had a sinking feeling he already knew what Lu.

  “Yes,” Luna said matter-of-factly, her silvery eyes fixed on him. “You know, the ohat isn’t really a rat. The one pretending to be a pet.”

  Daphne raised an eyebrow, her expression somewhere between curiosity and disbelief. “What’s she talking about, Potter?”

  Harry sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “She means Scabbers. Ron’s pet rat.”

  “...”

  “...”

  “...”

  “I fot the Rat!” Harry shouts

  Daphne blinked, clearly taken aback as Harry abruptly shot up from his seat, nearly knog over his chair. “You fot the rat?” she repeated, her voice dripping with incredulity.

  “Yes! I—ugh—I meant to deal with it, but with everything else going on—” Harry ran a hand through his hair, pag bad forth behind the table. “The forest, the duel, the Underworld, everything! It pletely slipped my mind.”

  Luna, unbothered by Harry’s sudden outburst, calmly sipped her tea. “It’s uandable, Harry. You’ve been busy. Though I do thier might take offe being so low on your priority list.”

  Daphne’s lips twitched, caught somewhere between amusement and exasperation. “You’re tellihat Ron Weasley’s rat, which is apparently some criminal animagus, has been wandering Hogwarts this whole time while you’ve been gallivanting through dimensions and fot about it?”

  Harry groaned, leaning against the table. “Yes, Daphhat’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “Well,” Daphne said, crossing her arms, “it’s not like the little beast has been particurly active. If he had, I’m sure we’d have heard about it by now. Rats only cause so much trouble.”

  Luna tilted her head, her serene expressioraying just a hint of . “Unless, of course, he’s decided to find a more dangerous shadow to hide in. It wouldn’t be entirely out of character.”

  Harry froze, her words striking a chord. “You think he might have gone back to Voldemort?”

  Luna shrugged delicately. “Perhaps. But not likely yet. So goblins?”

  “Yeah, how about we use my family for this?” Daphne asks

  “Huh?” Harry asks

  “Yes please crify.” Luna states

  “My family has a deal with the Bones family. So we could make a quick trip to Amelia.”

  Harry blirying to process Daphne’s suggestion. “Wait, you want to go to Amelia Bones? As in, head of the Department of Magical Law Enfort? The Amelia Bones?”

  Daphne rolled her eyes. “Yes, that Amelia Bones. My family has longstanding ties with hers. They trust us, and if we expiuation properly—about Peter Pettigrew masquerading as a rat—we might actually get something done.”

  Luna leaned forward slightly, her silvery eyes sparkling with curiosity. “That is a very pragmatic approach, Daphne. But how do you think Amelia would react to the hat a presumed-dead wizard is scurrying around Hogwarts as an animagus?”

  She’s pragmatic, like me. If we give her evidend I’m sure Harry provide plenty—she’ll act. Plus, it saves us the trouble of running all warts trying to catch him ourselves. Plus Bck was rumored to be her betrothed.” Daphates

  Uo the two Lus up from the table and walks away.

  Harry frowned, his mind already rag ahead. “What kind of evidence would vince her, though? I mean, we ’t just show up and say, ‘Hey, your long-lost fugitive is Ron’s pet.’”

  Daphne’s smirk widened. “Actually, we . You said you had the Marauder’s Map, didn’t you? That thing shows everyone’s location, doesn’t it?”

  Harry nodded slowly. “Yeah… it does. It would show him as Peter Pettigrew, not Scabbers. But will she believe a magical map?”

  “She will,” Daphne said fidently. “Especially if she sees Peter on the map herself ach him i. Amelia isn’t the type to dismiss solid evideno matter how unusual it might seem.”

  “I am not sure if that would work?” Harry states

  ===

  The two tio debate on the issue for quite a bit to long.

  “This is as the Crocell family Harry she will listen to me.” Daphates

  “Oh… That actually makes more sehen.” Harry states

  Luna approaches the table. “Or we could just bring the rat,” Luna states holding out the rat.

  Both Harry and Daphne froze mid-debate, staring at Luna with wide eyes.

  “Is that…?” Harry stammered, pointing at the squirming rat in Luna’s grip.

  Luna nodded serenely. “Scabbers, yes. Or Peter Pettigrew, depending on how you look at it.” She tilted her head, the rat as it wriggled futilely in her grasp. “He was hiding in one of the alcoves he stables. I thought it would save time to fetch him.”

  Daphne blinked, her posed demeanor faltering for a moment. “You just… found him? Like that?”

  Luna smiled faintly. “Oh, he wasly hiding well. Perhaps he thought he could evade notice among the other creatures, but his aura practically screamed ‘guilty sce.’”

  Harry stared at the rat, his emotions a whirlwind of disbelief, relief, and anger. “You mean to tell me we’ve been sitting here pnning this whole operation, and you just waltzed over and picked him up?”

  Luna nodded. “Precisely.”

  Daphne sighed, rubbiemples. “Well, that’s certainly one way to solve the problem. So what now? Do we front him here, or do we take him to Amelia Bones as pnned?”

  Luna raised an eyebrow, her grip o firm. “Bones and if He attempts to Run I’ll drink his blood a him.”

  The pair and the rat turo look at Luna who’s eyes were crimson red aeeth were sharp and poihe rat squeaking in distress.