Vizet and Luna walked side by side through the crowd, their pace light and easy. It didn't take long before they spotted Xenophilius waiting just beyond the barrier.
He stood out immediately.
Draped in a traditional wizarding robe patterned with buffalo horns and crowned with a matching pointed hat, Xenophilius looked as radiant as a forest festival banner.
Next to him, a wizard in a shirt and a crooked skirt was still murmuring with polite urgency:"You're drawing far too much attention… this really complicates things for us…"
Vizet wasn't sure which drew more stares — the dazzling green ensemble or the mismatched Muggle outfit beside it.
Either way, they were hard to miss.
As soon as the trio began walking, heads turned.
Xenophilius, however, remained blissfully unbothered. He strode ahead with confidence, gesturing broadly as he chattered away.
"Luna and I came here hitching a ride with Arthur — splendid chap — but he's picking up four of his own this time. No room left for strays!"
He glanced over his shoulder with a bright smile. "I asked him what to do, and he said we could just take a bus to the Leaky Cauldron and floo from there. Simple!"
But it quickly became clear that Xenophilius had never taken a Muggle bus in his life.
When he tried to press two copper Knuts into the conductor's hand and step aboard with a proud flourish, Vizet leapt in, snatched the coins, and gently dragged him back to the curb.
Even as they stepped off, Xenophilius looked wounded."But Arthur works at the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office! He told me all about it! You just offer some copper coins — what's with that conductor glaring at me?"
Vizet shook his head with a patient sigh. "Mr. Lovegood, Muggles use their own copper coins. They're called pennies. They look similar to Knuts, but… not quite the same."
Xenophilius paled. "Then I nearly broke the Statute of Secrecy?" he whispered, stricken. "I don't want to go to Azkaban!"
"It's alright," Vizet reassured gently. "They're close enough in material. It's a common mistake. But maybe… we should just take the Knight Bus back to the village?"
Xenophilius brightened immediately. "A marvellous idea! Clever boy. You've learned a great deal at Hogwarts — very reliable!" He turned to Luna with mock solemnity. "What do you think, darling?"
Luna giggled into her hand. "Vizet remembers the way best. I say we follow his lead."
With that settled, Xenophilius raised his wand. In a crack like thunder, the violently purple Knight Bus screeched to a halt in front of them.
As they climbed aboard, Xenophilius muttered mournfully while handing over the fare, "Floo powder's so cheap… I was only trying to save a few Sickles…"
Even though their financial situation was far more comfortable these days, he still clung tightly to his thrifty habits.
The Knight Bus was crowded that evening — every bed already occupied.
While Xenophilius fumbled with his coin pouch at the front, Vizet and Luna found their way to a window seat. Vizet had just managed to hoist his suitcase into place when the bus gave a violent lurch and surged forward without warning.
Luna, unprepared and off balance, swayed backward —
— and toppled straight into Vizet.
He instinctively caught her by the arm, but the momentum knocked them both onto the suitcase. Vizet landed first, stiff as a board, while Luna landed atop him with a soft thud.
Her pale blonde hair flew up and then settled gently over his face, tickling his nose.
There was a scent in the air — faint and fresh, like wildflowers and rain-soaked leaves.
Vizet froze.
So did Luna.
Her hand still rested on his chest, and from that single point of contact, a gentle warmth spread up through her limbs like ripples on water.
Their suitcase rolled from beneath them and struck a nearby copper-framed bed.
Bang!
The crash echoed through the bus, startling several passengers — and jostling Stan Shunpike, the conductor, who was mid-complaint beneath a sprawled Xenophilius.
"Oi! Passenger — d'you mind? Could you please get up?"
"I would have, if someone hadn't flung us forward like an exploding cauldron!" Xenophilius muttered, rubbing his ribs.
In the aftermath of the commotion, Vizet blinked rapidly, struggling to find his voice. "That was... sudden. Are you... alright?"
"Mm-hmm," Luna murmured faintly.
They untangled themselves at once.
Luna turned away, clutching the window sill with both hands and staring out into the blur of night and streetlamps. Her hair fell forward, hiding her expression. Whatever thoughts she was chasing, she kept them locked away.
Vizet pulled a few folded sheets of parchment from his pocket, tapped them with his wand, and conjured three firm, steady seats. He offered them silently.
Xenophilius eased into the center chair and leaned toward his daughter, squinting.
"Are you alright, love? Your face looks a bit flushed. Did you bump your head?"
Luna kept her eyes fixed on the window and answered dreamily, "I'm fine... Don't worry."
The journey from there to Ottery St Catchpole lasted barely twenty minutes, but to Vizet it felt suspended in some strange, in-between space.
Like time had stretched and condensed at once.
Something unnameable stirred and flickered behind his thoughts — then vanished before it could be grasped.
Even once they stepped off the Knight Bus and into the cool evening air, he still felt unsteady. His legs wobbled slightly as he descended the last step.
Xenophilius noticed immediately. "Vizet, are you alright? You look pale — and you're walking like you just came off a broom mid-loop. You didn't eat lunch?"
"I had snacks," Vizet answered quickly. "I think it's just... the train ride. And all the homework. I probably overdid it a bit."
He managed a weak smile and waved a hand. "Mr. Lovegood, you take Luna home first. I'll walk a little, clear my head. Fresh air might help."
Xenophilius clapped him on the shoulder approvingly. "Ravenclaw spirit, through and through!"
"When I was your age, I did exactly the same — finish the essays first, then enjoy the holiday however I pleased!"
He turned toward his daughter, already walking backwards. "Alright, Luna, keep an eye on him for me, would you? I'll go heat up the stew."
Luna gave a small nod. "Okay, Dad."
The village of Ottery St. Catchpole lay nestled in a remote patch of countryside, hidden between rolling hills and sleepy woods.
By now, the sky had turned fully dark. A soft summer hum filled the air — the chirping of insects, the occasional rustle in the trees — a quiet symphony of the rural evening.
A cool forest breeze stirred the leaves and brushed across Vizet's face, sweeping away the dizziness still lingering from the Knight Bus ride and grounding him once more in the present.
He drew his wand and murmured, "Lumos."
A warm white light bloomed at the tip, and instantly, a swarm of tiny bugs drifted toward it, circling curiously in its glow.
The forest's insects sang around them, their overlapping rhythms rising and falling like a rustic concerto, echoing the pace of their footsteps.
Luna reached out playfully, trying to catch one of the circling bugs between her fingers. "You've learned so much magic already! That was a lighting charm, right? And earlier on the bus... that was Transfiguration?"
She had picked up more than a little theory through her own reading — and through helping Vizet illustrate spells by hand for his notes.
Vizet nodded. "It was. And summer's long — once you get your wand, I can teach you everything I know."
Luna's eyes sparkled. "I can't wait," she said with a grin. "Professor Vizet..."
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