Luna's Halloween Tale

1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: This is a warning that this story is not at ALL written to be taken seriously. It’s just a very silly story that I wanted to do, because it’s Halloween and also because I have never done anything before with one of the main characters being Luna Lovegood. I had a fun time writing this fic, even though I know it’s extremely silly.  

Luna’s Halloween Tale

All was stormy outside the surroundings of the Hogwarts castle. The sky was a very dark plum shade of purple and the clouds obscured every possible star from sight. The trees in the Forbidden Forest were thrashing from side to side, their leaves making loud crunching noises almost louder than the gusty wind itself. The whole Halloween night seemed to be very dreadful and dreary.

But it was a different sight to be seen inside the castle. The Great Hall was still packed full of dozens of students still enjoying the Halloween feast while other students that were already done with their meal, filed upstairs to their common rooms to spend the rest of the evening relaxing with their friends.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna had just finished eating in the Great Hall, and had decided that they had to head to the library to check out a book they needed for Potions; all four of them needed to use this book, because all four of them were in N.E.W.T level Potions.

“I can’t believe Snape gave us homework on Halloween!” Ron shouted angrily as they headed up the marble steps. “He is really cruel. I seriously think he spends all of his free time, which is a lot since he has no friends, making a huge list titled, ‘Ways to Punish Potter and Co’. There is no other explanation for it. He’s an ass—“

“Ron, don’t talk that way about Snape,” Hermione said seriously, “I mean even if you happen to not like him and think he’s a complete and total asshole like everyone else does…even his own mother probably thinks so. Anyway, even if you think he’s an asshole you shouldn’t say it aloud.”

Hermione didn’t notice that the three others had stopped walking and were staring up at someone behind Hermione. Hermione looked at the three of them in curiosity before it dawned upon her face who was behind her.

“Professor Snape’s behind me, isn’t he?” she asked fearfully, afraid to turn around.

Harry and Ron nodded fervently, not knowing what they could possibly say. Hermione bravely turned around to face the Professor with a feeble little smile. She was doing her best to think up a way to explain her self out of this situation.

“Hi Professor…your looking fine today. New robes?” she asked, giving off a nervous laugh.

“Funny,” Snape snarled, “maybe you should take your own advise that you were just giving to Weasley. Detention, Granger.” He flashed them a very delighted yet eerie smile before he walked around them and disappeared out of view.

“You see, Hermione, that’s what you get for trying to defend him,” Ron said with a laugh.

“You know,” Luna said very strangely, “Professor Snape looked very pale tonight.”

Both Harry and Ron looked at Luna curiously, wondering what this could possibly have to do with the reason in why Snape had been so quick to give Hermione a detention.

“What are you saying?” Harry asked her curiously.

“I’m saying, I’m beginning to wonder if the rumors are true,” Luna commented, crossing her arms as her orb-like eyes stared off to the end of the hall in which Snape had disappeared to. Her eyes traveled back onto the three of them again. “Maybe he really is a vampire.”

Ron burst out into laughter at the thought. He put his arm around Luna, his face overcome with comical thinking. “Excuse her,” he laughed, “I think the air of Halloween has over taken her. Its okay, Luna…maybe you need some rest.”

“No!” Luna said, nodding her head, “Professor Snape is a vampire. It may sound silly, but it’s true! Don’t you know the story? Haven’t you heard it before?”

“What are you talking about?” Hermione snarled a little rudely, because she was still grumpy from the detention she had just received. “Snape isn’t a vampire. Vampires aren’t even real. Whatever you’ve heard is wrong.”

“No it’s not!” Luna protested, pulling Ron’s arm off of her. “I could tell you the tale if you’d like. Would that convince you?”

Harry and Ron looked at each other uncertainly, before they shrugged in indifference. Luna looked away from them two to Hermione for her agreement; Hermione responded by rolling her eyes in annoyance before she nodded reluctantly.

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but I think it’s best if we go somewhere more private…like the library,” Luna said, her eyes widening, “I hear that Kanodels are lurking around these halls on Halloween night looking for someone to steal finger nails from. C’mon on, follow me.” She led the way in the direction of the library.

“My girlfriend had to be eccentric,” Ron mumbled as he followed very closely behind Luna, “why do I have to care so much for her?”

Luna led them all the way into the library until she reached a table near a huge window stained with rain and far from the librarian desk of Madam Pince. She pulled up a chair, sitting down in it backwards, resting her folded arms on the back part of the chair. She waited for the three of them to take their seats before she started to speak.

“All right,” she said very slowly and dramatically, “this tale is not supposed to be known…if too many people know, then poor Professor Snape will be captured and held in an internment for vampires!”

Hermione rolled her eyes so forcefully; she looked as if she were having a very hard time sitting still having to listen to Luna’s talk about vampires and Professor Snape being one. She contented herself with snorting in disbelief and annoyance as she crossed her arms over her stomach; Harry amusedly patted her on the shoulder.

“It all started when Professor Snape was a child,” Luna began, just as a crash of thunder roared over her voice and a flare of lightening lit up the sky. When the lightening disappeared from the sky, they were left in an creepy darkness in the library, the only light being the small flickering flame of the candle hanging in it’s holster nearby on the library wall; Luna’s frame was looked ghostly in the darkness and the only part of her face that could be seen was her eyes; they glowed strangely.

“He used to love to play outside,” she said, looking around at them all, “he used to like to play in the nearby pasture to his house. His parents, especially his mother, didn’t like the idea of him roaming out there by himself, but he insisted that he could take care of himself. That’s what he thought anyway.”    

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Hermione growled under her breath.

“On a very chilly and rainy Halloween night, Snape decided that instead of going Trick or Treating around the village he lived like every other young wizard or witch, he wanted to go play in the pasture,” Luna explained, rarely blinking, “his mother begged him…she knew this wasn’t a good idea, but he again consoled her and told her there wouldn’t be anything to worry about. And so, he left carrying a small lantern along with his pet dog Terrier Mr. PooFoo. Little did Snape and Mr. PooFoo know that that was the last time they would see their home again as normal living things!”

Harry looked away from Luna and over at Hermione; Hermione had her face down on the table, her arms hanging aimlessly at her sides; the endurance Hermione held for the annoyance Luna seemed to be causing her finally seemed to pass it’s capacity. Grinning, he looked away from the facedown Hermione and at Ron; Ron seemed to be sitting on the edge of his seat, his mouth open wide, looking eager to hear the rest. Now grinning even wider Harry looked back to Luna.

“They were playing around with some rocks…Snape was seeing how far he could throw the rocks and whether or not Mr. PooFoo could find them in the dark. Well, after about twenty minutes of playing, Snape noticed that Mr. PooFoo didn’t return. He began to grow worried, well, because of that and because he needed to use the restroom and there didn’t appear to be any toilets…he didn’t feel like going in the bushes. Anyway, worried about both things, he decided he would search for Mr. PooFoo and a possible toilet,” Luna continued, “He ended up finding Mr. PooFoo up some very steep, grassy hills where nothing surrounded them but trees. Snape was glad to find Mr. PooFoo, although he still would have rather found a toilet instead.”

She pushed a strand of her dirty long blonde hair behind her ear where her wand was resting as well.

“Snape and Mr. PooFoo began to panic. They wondered how they were going to get home when they realized they were lost. Snape grew very angry and started blaming Mr. PooFoo for not remembering where the home was. They eventually decided to start wandering around, hopeful to find their home again. But, what they didn’t realize at the time was that they were in danger! Grave danger,” Luna revealed spookily; Ron almost whimpered, but caught himself in mid-whimper. “They happened to stumble upon a small cave.”

Harry was enjoying this tale even though he knew it wasn’t true; there was no way it could be true. The idea of this actually happening to Snape was so farfetched; he concluded he would rather believe in Crumple-Horned Snorkacks were real.

“But this was no normal cave. Snape and Mr. PooFoo decided that they should head inside the cave to rest a bit from all of their walking…little did they know they were walking into a cave where over half a dozen vampires lived!” Luna exclaimed, throwing her hands up in forced surprise. She lowered them a moment later. “The vampires leered at them, showing their fanged teeth dripping with blood. Snape and Mr. PooFoo tried to run, but they tripped over some rocks. The vampires seemed all too eager to feed on this prey as they approached Snape and Mr. PooFoo; Snape was so scared he wet his pants, no longer needing a toilet. Soon the vampires were an inch away from them, their fangs hovering dangerously over Snape’s and Mr. PooFoo’s necks.”

“Oh, no,” Ron gasped quietly.

“The vampires fangs pierced straight into the flesh of Snape and Mr. PooFoo. Snape screamed as loud as he could, but no one came to help. He was trapped there with poor Mr. PooFoo without any way of escape! When the vampires pulled their fangs out of their flesh, their fangs were now dripping with a renewed amount of fresh blood, their mouths grinning in delight. Snape and Mr. PooFoo ran immediately from the cave, but they could not run from the vampire that had now been inserted within them! They thought they could heal this bite with a few potions or remedies, but the one thing they did not know was that there was no cure!” Luna told, now her eyes widening once again as rain droplets slid down the window.

Hermione was now banging her head against the table in frustration.

“And ever since then,” continued Luna, “have Professor Snape and little Mr. PooFoo been condemned to be vampires! And every Halloween night they look for someone, usually a student, to bite and pass down the tradition to keep the vampire breed alive! But, the question this Halloween is…who?” The loudest bark of thunder sounded dramatically along with lightening as if it were planned.

Hermione lifted her head from the table on which she had been banging it on, and the four of them stared at each other through the darkness.

“The end,” Luna finished with a pleasant smile as if she had been telling a tale of sunshine and lollipops. She stood up happily, and told the three of them, “I think I should be going. ‘Night Ronald.” She gave him a peck on the lips that was supposed to turn into a kiss, but he didn’t return, because he was staring fearfully ahead of him, stunned at the story he had just heard.

She started toward the exit of the library, only pausing at the door to turn around to look at the three of them one last time. “Oh, almost forgot…happy Halloween!” she wished, waving zealously at them, before she disappeared.

Harry looked away from the library doorway and said, “C’mon, we better head back, too.”

“That had to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Hermione said bluntly, standing.

“Ron – Ron, are you going to be okay?” Harry asked him slowly, almost grinning at the look of horror on Ron’s face. He waved his hand in front of Ron’s eyes to get him to come out of his petrified reverie.

“That…that was so,” Ron stuttered, “so…scary.”

“Oh, brother!” Hermione shouted in incredulity, once more rolling her eyes for what seemed the dozen-th time that night.

“I can’t believe he really is a vampire,” Ron whispered, stunned.

“Ron, it wasn’t true,” Harry assured, “it was just some Halloween tale Luna made up. C’mon we really should get back to Gryffindor Tower. The library is closing anyway. We can worry about the Potions book we need tomorrow morning.” He started for the library exit.

Slowly Ron nodded. “Yeah, I guess your right. I guess the idea of Snape and his pet Terrier dog Mr. PooFoo actually being a vampire is stupid…I just got caught up in the moment, that’s all. I wasn’t even scared,” he said with a forced laugh, “in fact I was pretending to be scared to scare the girls…and it worked…look at the terror on Hermione’s face.”

Hermione stared at him with her jaw dropped.

There was another rumble of thunder, making Ron jump in fright. “Erm…let’s just g-get back to Gryffindor tower, s-shall we?” he suggested, hurriedly dashing toward the exit.

Hermione nodded her head in irritation as she followed the two of them out of the library. The three of them headed up several floors together, not saying a word, but all of them thinking about the tale they had just heard.

Several floors below in the office of Professor Severus Snape, Snape was standing next to his desk putting on a black cape over his shoulders. Standing on the table was Mr. PooFoo, who was already dressed with a black cape and his fangs showing.

“I don’t understand you,” Snape was complaining, “you always have to nag me to death. Halloween is supposed to be our special night. You always have to spoil it. I was looking forward to biting another student, but no, now I just want to get to bed.”

Mr. PooFoo barked in response to what Snape said.

Snape gave Mr. PooFoo a hurt stare, as he started toward his office door. He wrenched open the door and said slowly, “don’t try to act as if I’m being too emotional and sensitive. You are so callous sometimes. Let’s just find the nearest student possible.”

They headed up two floors as they walked down the hallways, before Snape spotted a student. He grinned happily, saying, “Ah, there’s one! Don’t spoil this for me, PooFoo.”

The two of them made their way as silently as possible with their fangs already exposed and their capes soaring behind them toward Luna Lovegood, eager to carry on the tradition of the vampires on that very stormy night Halloween.

Authors After Note: Thanks for reading! Happy Halloween!