Chapter 9: The Letter Arrives
Her hand brushed the nearest rune stone, and the circuit broke cleanly. The air returned to stillness, the ripples gone. She stood, brushing grass from her knees.
She turned toward the house just in time to see her father burst out the door, arms flailing, parchment in hand. "LUNA! LUNA, IT'S HERE!"
She tilted her head, brow rising. "Did the dirigible plum blossom again?"
"No, my dear! The letter! Your letter!"
The world stilled.
He reached her, panting, eyes shining. "From Hogwarts."
She took the parchment from him. Her fingers trembled—just slightly. The seal was unmistakable. The wax bore the crest of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was real.
This wasn't a test. This wasn't a dream.
She opened it slowly.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Lovegood,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely, Minerva Mcgonagall
Her breath caught.
She read it all. Every word. The list of supplies, the train date, the instructions. It was happening. Her memories—fragmented shards from her past life—told her this was a key turning point. She had predicted it. Planned for it. And yet…
Tears welled up before she realized.
Her father hugged her tight, spinning her once in the yard. "My little witch is going to Hogwarts!"
Inside the house, Pandora Lovegood stood in the doorway. Her eyes were misty too. "So soon," she murmured. "You were just toddling after moon frogs the other day..."
"Time does that," Luna said softly, voice far older than it should've been. She met her mother's eyes—and for a moment, Pandora saw the deeper shadows in them.
That night, Luna lay in bed, the letter clutched to her chest. Her system hummed softly again.
System Notification -Hogwarts Adaptation Path
Dreamweaver Protocol: Calibrated Emotion
Regulator: Online Subtle
Magical Interface (Public Mask): Calibrated
"I know," she whispered to herself. "I have to be careful now. No flares. No anomalies. Just a dreamy little girl."
She closed her eyes. The dream realm shimmered around her—silver and blue threads weaving through a sky of stars. Tonight, the dream felt different.
Something was watching.
Not dangerous. Not immediate. But aware.
She turned slowly in her dream-form, standing in a field of impossibly tall flowers that whispered like silk. A vigil glowed faintly in the sky—a shape she had seen etched in a broken ruin once in a dream: three interwoven circles around a vertical line.
She blinked.
The vigil dissolved. The dream faded.
In the morning, she said nothing of it. She simply helped her mother pack enchanted satchels, made breakfast with her father, and gently carved her rune stones into her travel pouch.
Her Hogwarts journey had begun.
But the thread of her fate was no longer only her own.
End of Chapter 9