Luna's Rebellion
Chapter 1

Copyright© 2015 by RightingLegends

It had been a week since Harry Potter's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire, and the only one who had really stuck by him was his one true friend Hermione Jane Granger. There were others around the school who had told him that they believed that he had not entered himself in the Tournament, but they were not in a position to back him vocally because of the backlash they would had received for their support, it had been Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley who had approached him first, soon followed by Susan Bones, Padma Patil, and then to Harry's surprise, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis from Slytherin. It made Harry feel good having others believe in him, but the only one helping him was his friend Hermione.

What was causing him to go over the frustrations he had come up against was the latest interference to his efforts to ensure his continuing survival through the end of this Merlin forsaken tournament. He had made an offhand comment to Hermione while they were studying about hiring a tutor to catch him up with the other champions who were three years his senior. Hermione jumped on his ramblings and the next thing he knew; they were standing outside Professor McGonagall's office door waiting for her to answer their summons. When they were escorted into her office, Hermione took the lead.

"We have been studying nonstop for the last week, but the truth is that Harry is woefully unprepared for this tournament or the tasks that he will inevitably face. In my research, I found that it is not uncommon for the tournament to lose at least one or more of the champions during the tasks, and I also learned that the last tournament was decided by the fact that the winner had only lost his head while the other two were eaten by a Nundu. What we propose is that Harry hires a tutor from outside the school to help train him. In the rules of the tournament, it says that a champion can bring in a trainer from outside his or school to help prepare, it is only forbidden to get help from his own teachers or faculty. We would like to propose Remus Lupin as Harry's trainer since he is no longer on staff here at Hogwarts."

"That is an excellent suggestion Ms. Granger, and one that I support whole heartedly. I will take your suggestion to Professor Dumbledore as soon as I am done with my next class, and then we can contact Remus after dinner to come back to Hogwarts, hopefully by tomorrow. Ten points to Gryffindor for your continued support of Harry." It was with a much lighter heart that Harry and Hermione headed back to the library to look for more spells that he needed to learn to survive.

Later in the great hall during dinner, Harry realized that there was virtually no chance that the tutor would be allowed. While Hermione was considered by many to be the smartest witch of the age, she still believed that authority figures would do what was best for the ones that were in their care. Harry was wise to the world having grown up with the Dursley's and their abuse. Time after time Harry had learned the lesson that the only one he could count on was himself instead of the adults that were in his life. Report Vernon to a teacher for beating or starving him, arrive home and receive a beating for the call Vernon or Petunia got from the teacher as they 'investigated' the allegations. Harry had learned how to read people from a very early age, the better to not be there when something triggered the urge to beat Harry before throwing him back into the cupboard. So when Harry saw the look on his head of house's face, he knew that the answer that she had for them was no, no matter how much it would increase the chances of survival for one Harry James Potter.

After dinner, it was with great regret that McGonagall informed them that their request was denied, the reasons given were cost, Remus being a Werewolf, and the fairness to the other competitors. The head of Gryffindor was very visibly unhappy, but she assured them that Professor Dumbledore was always looking out for the students and what was best for them. Harry didn't even bother listening to the rest of her excuses for the reasoning of the Great Albus Dumbledore, just walking away as he became more convinced than ever that it wasn't just Voldemort that wanted to kill him.

The sound of the door of the classroom that Hermione and he had claimed for themselves to train opening drew him out of his funk and into readiness, since there were at least a dozen locking and silencing charms on the door to keep from being interrupted. Harry and Hermione drew their wands and faced the door, only to be stunned as the door opened, backwards. It is not that the door opened outwards into the hall when it was supposed to open into the classroom, it was that the edge with the hinges opened into the room while the handle side acted as the hinged area. With a happy giggle, a small, blonde girl with slightly unfocused silver grey eyes skipped through before closing the door behind her. She waved at the two of them, showing them that she was not holding a wand, and then she skipped passed them to the teacher chair, where she sat and immediately began to spin the chair around, giggling in delight.

Harry and Hermione looked into each other's eyes in question, and then Hermione slowly moved over to the door and began to cast charms at the door. The more charms she cast, the more frustrated she became, until with a resigned sigh, she turned and stalked toward the young girl who had joined them in their room.

"How did you get through the door without breaking or even disturbing any of the wards we put on the door?" Hermione had the look that Harry had termed her 'terrier sensing a hidden rat' look which meant she would drag the information that she wanted out of the strange girl no matter what it took.

The blonde giggled and held a sign up that had not been in her hands a moment before. The sign said that they would have to trust her and follow her if they wanted answers, but that they needed to stop talking. Harry and Hermione looked at each other again, and then both turned to the girl and nodded their heads. With a large grin, the girl stood and walked over to the rear wall, where she walked back and forth three times and then placed both of her hands on the wall and pushed. With barely a sound, the stones that made up the now revealed hidden door swung into the secret passage and the two stunned teens saw a lighted passage that led up and away from where they were. With a wave of her hand, the blonde girl led them into the passage and on to a new path for their destiny.

It was less than ten minutes later that the door to the classroom swung open violently and Professor Snape barged in wand drawn. "Potter, come out from under that invisibility cloak and accompany me to the Headmaster's office. You were not given permission to use this classroom, and you will have detention for your lack of respect in not asking before you just took over what is not yours. Potter. Potter! Accio Potter's invisibility cloak." When nothing happened and he got no response from Harry or Hermione, Severus Snape began casting stunning spells at random, trying to get the two Gryffindors to reveal themselves. With one final cast, he turned to the door and spoke.

"Albus, I do believe that they have somehow deceived your spy network. They are not in here, and it appears that they may not have been in here today."

A shimmer in the hall quickly became Albus Dumbledore, as he disbanded his disillusionment spell and walked in to the classroom behind his friend Severus. "I suppose I should have expected Miss Granger to set up several blinds so that she could help her friend Harry. Even now, the listening spells in here are registering their voices indistinctly, mixed in with ours. Annoyingly clever girl that Granger, it would be so much easier for Harry to fulfill his destiny if she were not there to help him all the time. I will need to consider whether or not she is of use to my plans or if there is a way to guide to a proper wizard to bring power back into a fading line. Let's go check a few of the other classrooms that they might be in and see if we can find the wayward children. It would not do for Harry to push his magic to the point that it releases him from the restrictions that he has."


It was with mounting fury that Harry and Hermione watched the projection on the wall of what was happening in their former training room. It was Hermione who broke the silence first. "What are the two of them playing at? The way they were talking, it is almost as if they want Harry to walk to his death willingly, with a vacant smile plastered to his obedient face. I can't believe that the Headmaster and Professor Snape would do that to you, not matter how much Professor Snape hates you." Harry just met her eyes and shrugged. It didn't surprise him that Snape would be in on a plot to help him to his demise; it was only Dumbledore's duplicity that gave him a moment's pause. Looking back on his life, he realized that Dumbledore had probably been in on most of the plots to hurt or kill him as he grew up.

"Thank you for rescuing us from the room." Harry said to the blonde stranger who had led them to the room they were in. "I am Harry Potter, and this is my best friend Hermione Granger. Would it be rude of me to ask for your name, and how you knew that we were in need of rescue?"

"Oh, oops, I forgot that part since we have done it all before at one point or another." The blond girl said with a bit of a hidden smile. "My name is Luna Lovegood, third year Ravenclaw, and I have convinced myself that you need help with the tasks set about before you."

"How do you know what the tasks are, they have not even told the champions anything that would help them to figure it out, just for them to be prepared for anything." Hermione asked, at once cutting right to the heart of the matter, while Harry felt content letting his friend quiz Luna for answers.

"I am not allowed to share family secrets with you just yet, but it would benefit Harry greatly if the two of you would trust me. What I can tell you is that the first task that Harry will have to face is getting past a nesting dragon to collect a false egg from her clutch without injuring the dragon or her eggs."

"WHAT!!! What the hell are those idiots thinking?" Hermione ranted. "It would be bad enough to send adult wizards to face a dragon, but those idiots are forcing Harry to compete as well. He might be killed or maimed for life and they are treating this whole thing like a game."

"Hermione, calm down and breathe. I agree with you and if there was any way that I could get out of it, I would; but they told me I would lose my magic if I did not compete. What I think is stupid is the fact that they expect us to go at this blind, with no knowledge of what we have to face." Harry was terrified about what he now knew, at least if Luna really knew the truth. "Luna, I need you to tell me how you know about the dragons, though now that I know, some of the comments that Charlie Weasley made this summer about seeing us this year now make sense."

"I can tell you, but I need you to promise me something, and also let me do something to protect you from revealing secrets to people who have no need of learning them."

"Hermione and I will promise to do whatever you need us to, since we are both set on me living through this tournament." Harry said while looking for and receiving confirmation from Hermione's expressive eyes.

"Okay," Luna said as she pulled her wand out from where it was tucked in her hair behind her ear. "This is a family spell that will keep your mind secure from those with nefarious intent." Her wand began to weave a pattern that was becoming almost visible in its complexity and power.

The almost completed pattern made Hermione gasp and whisper in awed surprise, "It's a fractal."

No sooner had she said that, than a burst of intense light that shifted through all the known colors, and even a few that were unknown, before fading once again. It was a very surprised Harry and Hermione who found themselves lying flat on a soft pad with no real knowledge of how they ended up where they were. Sitting up, the two blinked like two confused owls as the spots slowly cleared from their vision. What they saw was Luna sitting in a comfortable looking recliner, her body draped across it with her legs dangling over the arm and swinging as she read a newspaper that she held upside down. When she felt their eyes focused on her, Luna folded her paper and put it aside where it popped away in a small puff of smoke, and then she pushed herself to her feet in one smooth motion.

"Sorry I didn't warn you about the effects of the spell, but it was best for you not to fight it. You were right when you said it was a fractal pattern Hermione, and now that it has been place in your minds, there is no possible way to read your thoughts without you allowing access. Anyone who tries will end up lost in the infinite unless you expel them or they retreat right away. One of my relatives learned about fractals and the complexity of them while he was visiting New Mexico in the US, and created the spell I just used on you to protect our family's secrets, so thank you for allowing me to cast it on you."

Luna paused to focus on her thoughts and then continued. "The first thing that I need to tell you is that I am a seer, but not in the way that either of you think. I am not like cousin Sybil, who is like a blind dog searching for a bone, once in a while getting lucky and finding one. I am more in line with the chaos readers of the ancient Persians, who saw all roads to the future, and had to focus to see the ones that had the most beneficial outcome for the ones they served. It is why people call me Loony, I find it difficult to remain in the present place, time, and dimension for long when there are so many interesting things to see and experience. It is more important than anything else in this world that neither of the two dark lords learns the truth about my abilities or the world will burn."

"Two dark lords? I thought that Voldemort was the only dark lord around." Hermione was looking at Luna with her usual intensity; it was Harry who answered her question though.

"Hermione, isn't it obvious to you who she is talking about? Riddle is one of the dark lords, but it is so obvious to me now that I think about it, Albus Dumbledore is the other."

"No he is not! You take that back Harry. Albus Dumbledore is the leader of the light and a great man who defeated Grindelwald, and then held Voldemort in check so that he couldn't take over England." Hermione was almost trembling as she defended the figure of authority that she had placed on a pedestal above all others, including her friend Harry. "It was said that the only one Lord Voldemort feared in the last war was Albus Dumbledore and that he was the greatest light lord since Merlin, I read all about him in The Fight against the Dark."

"Hermione, who was that book written by?" Luna asked innocently.

"Percy 'BAD Wolf' Ricman, a man who has researched dark lords from all over the world."

"What is Dumbledore's full name?"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; why?

"Hermione, use the mind that everyone says you have and think for yourself instead of the books you have read or the authority figures in your life. The sooner you realize that leaders are human and just as susceptible to corruption as ordinary people and that authors write books from their own perspective and prejudices, the happier you will be."

Again, it was Harry whose eyes lit up in understanding; since he was not overly burdened with the belief that all adults were trustworthy and only looking out for what was best those they were responsible for. "Hermione, the initials of Dumbledore are A.W.P.B.D. Now look at the name of the author of the book that talks about how great Dumbledore is. Percy 'BAD Wolf' Ricman is an inside joke that probably is only usually gotten by the one who wrote the book, Percival Brian Albus Dumbledore Wolf or WulfRic man. That is a great prank worthy of the marauders, and the whole wizarding world fell for it. I'll even bet that the reputation of Percy Ricman as a warrior and researcher of the fight against the dark was fostered by Albus Dumbledore talking up his reputation in international circles. Brilliant, just bloody brilliant."

Hermione could only stare at her best friend in stunned silence as her mind processed what he had said. She mentally began to go over books that she had read that talked about the greatness of Albus Dumbledore in almost reverent terms, and she slowly came to the realization that each of them had been written by authors now suspect or by people who followed the man religiously. She was horrified that she had been sucked into the cult of Dumbledore by books that were written either by or at his command. Her idolization of authority crashed down in fiery flames, and Hermione promised herself that only those like Harry and now Luna, who had earned her unreserved trust, would receive it from now on.

"Now that Hermione has broken out of her mental chains, it is time for Harry to run the errand that he has been thinking about since I said dragons. Harry, you can go out that door, which exits behind a portrait in the entry hall. Go outside and head to the Beaubaton's carriage, picking up Cedric and then Victor on the way; Fleur will be on the far side near the lake. When you are done, go back to the portrait and tap your wand on the left, right, and then bottom of the frame and it will open up back into this room."

Harry jumped up and ran out the door leaving the two girls alone in the room. "So now that we have finally cleared your mind of wrackspurts, let me tell you how we are going to help Harry." Soon Hermione forgot all about Harry as Luna began going over the training plan she had designed to ensure that this time the Boy-who-lived would survive to become a man.


Outside the entrance doors, Harry found Cedric talking to Cho Chang and her friends, and though he didn't want to interrupt, he got Cedric's attention and asked him if he could talk to him as fellow champions. Cedric agreed and soon the two of them were heading towards the giant carriage that had come from France. Halfway there, Harry began to wave to something in the air, and when Cedric looked up, he saw a rapidly falling speck that soon became recognizable as Victor Krum. The International Quidditch star buzzed them, inches above their heads before looping and coming back around, landing in front of them. Harry quickly asked him to join the other two champions in a private talk, and soon the procession of two became three. Once the three young champions rounded the far side of the carriage, they caught sight of Fleur sitting by herself on the shore of the Black Lake wrapped in a light blanket as she read a book intently.

"Excuse me Fleur, but I was wondering if I could talk to you along with other champions about something I found out that I think all of us need to know." Harry was still a little hesitant about talking to strangers, but he knew that what he was doing was important. When he got the slightest of nods from the French Champion indicating he should sit, he moved so there was room for the other two to join them sitting on the grassy embankment.

"I would appreciate it if one of you could cast privacy wards around us so that we can keep people from trying to learn what we are doing. I would, but I have not learned any, and Hermione is not here to do it for me." Harry said with a smile that was returned three fold.

"I vill do." Victor said as he stood and started speaking in Russian. The champions were soon surrounded by a dome of crackling energy, and somehow Harry knew that the dome continued even underground, completely protecting their privacy. When he was done, Victor explained. "Is spell developed during cold war between Russia and America. It is not as, how you say, subtle as American magic, but it is evective at vat it does, ya?"

"You have got to teach me that." Harry said as he looked at the crackling sphere. "I think that it would be dead useful in many situations."

"What did you bring us here for Harry? Not that I don't mind hanging out with you three, but I was just about to ask a certain young lady to go with me to the next Hogsmeade weekend, and I would really like to get back to do that." Cedric said, focusing the other two champions once again on Harry and what he had to say.

"I just learned what the first task is, and I think that it is stupid that they want us to go in blind and risk our lives for their entertainment. We will each face a nesting dragon, having to get past her to grab a false egg from her clutch, and we will lose points for any injury that we, the dragon, or the eggs receive. I for one don't know how I am going to approach the first task, but I do know that I have a much better chance of surviving it with foreknowledge of the task set before me. I hope that I have helped you all with this information, and I also hope that each of you is able to better prepare for what you need to do now that you know what you will face." With that said Harry jumped up and banished the privacy sphere away with a wave of his hand before hurrying away to the castle so he could get back to his best friend and his new friend.

If he had looked back, he would have seen the stunned looks he was receiving from the other champions as they contemplated his use of silent, wandless magic to cancel Victor's very powerful charm. It was Fleur who summed up all of their thoughts when she commented, "I guess that 'e is not so leetle after all."


The day of the first task had arrived, and Harry had been prepared by his two friends, now being armed with a plan A, plan B, Plan C, and at least a dozen more at Hermione's insistence even though Luna said the first would work marvelously. He shook hands with his fellow champions after they had each drawn their dragons, and Harry was both glad and apprehensive that he was going last. One by one, the other champions had been called as Harry sat peacefully meditating inside the Russian privacy sphere that Victor had taught the other champions. He was focusing on the task he faced, and the moves he needed to use to accomplish his goal of survival. It was finally time for his turn, as there was someone standing in the door of the tent, waving at him to get his attention.

Harry walked out of the tent into the arena, only to see the biggest, nastiest dragon that was listed in The Big Book of Dragons as still being alive and thriving in the world today, a Hungarian Horntail. Harry was never so glad that he didn't even consider taking the advice of that loon Moody about using his precious Firebolt against the angry, fire breathing, and hungry looking dragon before him. With a calm he wasn't sure he really had, he moved into position to start his attempt. When the signal blared, starting his time, Harry turned away from the crowd and raised his wand in the air, a look of concentration on his face.

It only took seconds for the bag he summoned from the entrance to the champions tent where it had lay, disillusioned, to reach him. He unzipped the duffle bag and began pulling out the objects that he would need. First out was a rubber playground ball that had five metal points sticking out of the bottom at different angles. Next came out a pair of gloves that seemed to be made of the softest type of leather, anyone who had ever seen a cowboy from America would have recognized them as wrangler gloves that cowboys used. The last thing he pulled out was a golden lasso that Luna had said she borrowed from her cousin Di. Once he was ready, he threw the ball up in the air with his left hand, and then cast a spell on it with his wand, making it shoot up in the air until it was out of sight. Next, he pulled on the special gloves that Hermione had gotten Sirius to express order from a magical ranch in Arizona, USA, and then he picked up the golden lasso and approached his dragon opponent head on.

Harry began twirling the lasso slowly while he looked straight into the dragon's eyes. Once he felt he had established a connection with the giant creature, he spoke. $$"I have a boon to ask of you great dragon."$$

$$"Why would I grant you a boon puny child, when I sense that you have nothing with which to trade with me. It is enough that I have been forced here and chained to a nest full of false eggs that the stupid two legged keepers think I believe are my own, but that there is one who is even now looking at my true eggs back in the clearing and thinking about how he will profit from their sale since I am not there to defend them."$$

$$"All I ask is that you allow me to claim the one egg that is different than the others, and then you will be taken back to your true clutch and once again can protect them."$$

$$"No little grease spot, I think that I will eat you and then wait for the right time to escape from here and hunt down the thief who thinks that he can steal my children."$$

$$"Suit yourself, I promised my friend that I would try and talk into doing it the easy way, but you have left me no choice. What happens now is on your head, not mine, though I do swear to you now that I will make sure that your clutch is safe once I have defeated you."$$

The strange sounds of what would later be recognized as a dragon laughing rumbled through out the stadium. $$"You are amusing, little two leg, thinking that you can defeat me. Well, do your best, I will honor you in my memories and song as I remember the way you taste and share that knowledge with my offspring."$$

Harry had gradually increased the speed of the twirling lasso as he spoke to the dragon; now that the negotiations were over, it was time for plan B. Harry raised his left hand to the heavens and shouted a phrase in a language that only he and his two training partners knew. Lightning flashed across the sky, caused a massive crash of thunder that drowned out whatever else he was saying. Then Harry dodged to the left to avoid the jet of flame that came from the dragon, and then several things happened at once.

The first thing that happened was that Harry flicked the lasso out and just before it could pass the head of the dragon, he yanked it back, causing it to snap like a whip, striking the now enraged dragon in the soft tissue inside of her nose. She leapt forward to get closer to the soon to be eaten insect that dared to show her disrespect, and that is when the crowd saw the return of the objects that Harry had sent up in the rubber ball, only they were no longer small metal objects in a rubber ball. What came blasting out of the clouds were three giant sized U-shaped nails, the cross brace and tops covered by a thick rubber protective coating. It quickly became obvious what the rubber was for as the first and biggest thick metal staple slammed into the ground on either side of the dragons body, driving her to her belly and trapping her wings against her sides. Next to come down was the staple that trapped her tail, followed by the one that came down around her neck, effectively immobilizing all but her head. It was only a split second later that the lasso in Harry's hand once more flicked out and wrapped around the outraged but now defeated dragon's mouth so that Harry could get the egg and finish the task without any more risk.

Harry calmly walked past the dragon and retrieved the egg that was his intended goal, before moving back to the head of the magnificent dragon. Once next to her head, looking into her bludger sized eye, he began to speak to her in a quiet voice. "I am sorry that I was forced to defeat you, all for the entertainment of these people. If you allow me to take off the lasso that is muzzling you without trying to get retribution, I can use it to bring the egg thief before you for your judgment." When she nodded at him, he grabbed the end and mentally gave the magic lasso its next command. With the speed of true justice, the golden lasso flashed up into the stands behind the judges’ stand, wrapping up a sorry looking individual who was busy picking the pockets of visiting dignitaries, and brought him back into the arena to face the dragon.

It was then that the crowd finally overcame their stunned silence and burst into cheers that drowned out any chance of anyone but Harry and the dragon hearing what the thief Mundungus Fletcher had to say. It was Charlie Weasley who reached Harry's side first, and he was stunned when Harry opened the thief's coat and pulled from a hidden, expanded pocket containing four ultra-rare Hungarian Horntail eggs as well as eggs taken from the clutches of the other three dragons. Charlie was furious, as the man had been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore himself. Harry just nodded his head at the dragon, and with a jaunty wave, made his way to the exit of the arena. In all the chaos, no one notice until later that he had disappeared from the arena and was not seen again until minutes before curfew, where he told Ron Weasley to piss off after the redheaded trash disposal attempted to get back into his good graces. No one really noticed that Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood were missing until moments before curfew as well.

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