Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world and characters are the property of J.K. Rowling, not me. I’m not making any money from this. Etc etc, you all know the drill.

A/N: Some thanks are in order, I believe. First, thanks to JKR for writing Order of the Phoenix, and populating it with such fascinating characters both new and old, thereby providing the inspiration for this, as well as innumerable other fics I have floating round my head at the moment. They’ll see the light of day sometime. I hope. :P Big thanks also to Leigh and Rosey for their support and feedback during the ongoing process of writing this.

Mind’s Eye, Soul’s Reflection

A Luna Lovegood story

By Mysterious Muggle

Prologue

She watched in curious interest as the creature ambled over the empty chair in front of her, paying neither her nor anyone else in the room any attention whatsoever. Its body was roughly ball-shaped, about the size of a Quaffle, with four splayed legs ending in large, round feet. Its face was small and inquisitive, dominated by large, round, friendly eyes. Its most striking feature was the two horns on its head, which looked crumpled, as though they had once been straight, but the creature had run headlong into a wall and squashed them out of shape.

As she watched it continue to aimlessly explore the seat of the chair, she heard the men continuing to talk behind her. She didn’t understand the things they were saying, so she paid them no mind.

“Physically, she is fine,” the first man said. He was tall, with a thick moustache and lime-green robes. A Healer. “There’s nothing wrong with her that we can detect, and believe me, given your insistence, we have tried very hard.”

“But there must be something! Look at her!”

“Mr Lovegood,” said the second, younger man, who was dressed in the same green robes, “we simply cannot rule out that this is just a natural reaction, beyond our power to do anything about.”

“To witness her mother taken from her,” the first man said, “especially in such tragic circumstances, can be nothing less than very traumatic for such a young mind.”

As the creature settled itself down, folding its legs neatly under itself, she did the same, leaning back in her own seat and crossing her legs, still staring intently at it.

“Look,” her father said, his voice bordering on hysteria, “just look at her! You said she’s been seeing things that aren’t there! You can’t tell me that’s normal!” She frowned slightly. She wished he would be quieter; he was going to frighten the creature.

“Mr Lovegood,” the second man said, trying to sound soothing, “all children have active imaginations. And as we said, this may simply be her way of dealing with what she has seen.”

“And who can say, Mr Lovegood?” asked the first man. “Perhaps she is seeing things that are there. Things that neither you nor I can see. Such a thing is not unprecedented. Thestrals, for example-“

“Surely you’re not serious. I’ve looked at all the reports. These…these…things she’s been describing to you, they aren’t real, they just can’t be.”

“Mr Lovegood, I must remind you that we are at a severe disadvantage here. All we can tell you is simply educated guesswork. In all my time here, I have never seen a case quite like this. And until you can give us more specific details about the…accident, well, that’s all we will be able to provide you with.”

“I told you,” her father said quietly, “I don’t know any ‘specifics.’ It’s all been classified by the Department of Mysteries. As far as you or I are concerned, there are no specifics. They don’t exist. It never happened.”

There was a moment of silence. “Well then I am sorry,” the first man said. “Luna’s response to tests has been good. She is certainly an intelligent girl. As for these…things that she may or may not be seeing, regardless of their reality, well…I’m not qualified to offer an opinion. There is much about the human mind we do not know. Many of its workings are a mystery to us. It is my professional opinion that she will be fine. There is nothing else of any value we can do here.”

“That isn’t very reassuring.”

Luna ignored her father and the Healers. She knew they were talking about her, but it didn’t seem particularly important. The creature turned to look at her, blinking benignly. Luna smiled back at it, oblivious to anything else.