The Moon and the Phoenix

Jake was heading towards the Great Hall for some morning food when he ran into his new head of house, Professor McGonagall. "Morning, Professor. How's it going?" he asked casually.

McGonagall let out a depressed sigh. "You didn't happen to come from the lake, did you, Jake?"

Jake's instincts as a teenager immediately kicked in, sensing trouble brewing. He quickly lied, adapting a completely straight face. "No, sorry, Professor. I just came down from the common room to get some food."

McGonagall stared at him for a few seconds, as if examining him, before simply shrugging. "Well, apparently, some troublemaking students set off a massive explosion on the Great Lake, and now the mermaids living there are very upset."

Jake turned his head to the side to hide his guilt. "Oh, really?" he said somewhat quieter. "Well, I hope you find those darn hooligans."

McGonagall let out another tired sigh. "Yes, and the worst part is those… hooligans" she paused at the strange American word, "don't even know what they've done. We were originally planning to use the Black Lake for the second stage of the Triwizard Tournament, but now the mermaids are refusing to let us in unless we hand over the student or students responsible for the explosion. Apparently, the shockwave caused significant damage to their underwater buildings and enraged the grindylows, who started attacking everything in sight."

Jake had no idea what a grindylow was, but it sounded like he may have messed up quite a bit with his demonstration… Also, how was he supposed to know there were mermaids in the lake? And why were there mermaids in a lake? Mermaids were supposed to live in the ocean, everyone knew that! 'What kind of lame mermaids live in freshwater!?' He thought to himself.

"Well, I hope for the best for the tournament, obviously, considering I'm a champion," Jake said, switching topics. "But speaking of being a student, am I supposed to attend classes or something? Do I need a schedule? I'm pretty sure I'll be behind everyone my age in pretty much every subject."

McGonagall nodded along with what he was saying. "Normally, that would be true," she said. "But being a Triwizard Champion has its perks. It's a little-known fact that Triwizard Champions don't have to attend any classes at all. You're free to study on your own as much or as little as you want." She glared at him. "Although, considering how new you are to magic, you'd better be studying a lot more than usual to catch up. Just because you've only just become one of my lions doesn't mean I want to see you get hurt or even killed," McGonagall added with concern. She cared about all her students, after all, except for some (most) of the Slytherins because screw them...

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As Jake headed to the Great Hall for some food, he noticed students and teachers staring at him as he entered. Seeing the Gryffindor table almost empty at this time in the morning, Jake shook his head. "What a bunch of lazy kids."

Deciding to make some new friends and learn more about magic, he chose to hang out with the Ravenclaws, whom he affectionately referred to as "the nerds." Approaching their table, he received more curious stares from the early risers of various houses in the hall. Ignoring them, Jake sat down at the Ravenclaw table. "Oh, hey, aren't you the girl in love with that Cedric guy?" Jake said to the Asian girl sitting nearby.

The girl was midway through a spoonful of oatmeal when Jake made that comment, causing her to choke. "I'm not *cough* in love with Cedric!" She vehemently denied, though no one believed her.

"Sure you aren't," Jake replied with a smirk. "Anyway, as you and the whole school probably know by now, I'm Jake Gremory. Nice to meet you."

"Okay, whatever," she sighed. "My name is Cho Chang, and I'm a fifth-year witch. I like reading books and playing Quidditch." She returned to her oatmeal, seemingly disinterested.

Jake, still clueless about Quidditch despite Ron's excitement, was about to ask what it was when a younger blond-haired girl suddenly plopped herself next to him. "Hello, Jake Gremory," she said with a dreamy voice. "I've been waiting for you, you know. It's rude to keep a lady waiting," she scolded playfully.

Jake was somewhat confused by her statement. He didn't recall agreeing to meet up with this girl. She had a unique fashion sense, with a bottle cap necklace and radish-shaped earrings. He felt like he would have remembered meeting someone like her.

"Have we met before?" Jake asked the girl confused.

Her eyes seemed unfocused, and she smiled as if not really looking at him. This girl was strange, but Jake found her intriguing. "Of course not, silly," she replied. "We're just meeting for the first time now."

"Oh, alright then," Jake said. "So, what's your name, by the way?"

"How terribly rude of me," she said whimsically. "My father always says I forget to introduce myself properly, and that's a sign of the Wrackspurts." She paused for a moment. "I'm Luna Lovegood. It's nice to finally meet the real you."

"More like Loony Lovegood," Cho whispered meanly from the side, listening in.

Jake ignored Cho's comment and continued talking to Luna. So what if she was a little strange? Who wasn't!? He, himself, was half devil, after all. "So, Luna, I apparently kept you waiting. I'm sorry about that."

Luna simply took on a dreamy smile. "It's fine. You can make it up to me right now if you want!" She exclaimed, grabbing Jake's hand and pulling him from his seat. "Let's go on an adventure!"

Jake shrugged internally and allowed Luna to lead him, still carrying his chirping familiar, through the school and out onto the grounds. Eventually, they reached a stone hut on the outskirts of Hogwarts and entered the nearby forest.

As they ventured deeper into the woods, Luna pointed out various plants and herbs, explaining their magical purposes. "That plant over there is great for keeping the Nargles away!" Luna said gleefully.

"Isn't that poison ivy?" Jake asked, concerned. "And what are Nargles?"

Luna smiled. "Mhmm, I put some of this plant into their laundry, and the Nargles were soooo itchy all the time that they stopped misplacing all my things!" Luna's expression was filled with delight.

"This girl has a bit of a vindictive side," Jake thought to himself, glancing around the beautiful yet eerie woods. He hoped no magical monsters would jump out and attack them. But then again he figured, 'monsters usually came out at night… right!?'

Luna led Jake deeper into the forest until they arrived at a clearing. "We're here," Luna smiled.

Jake smiled back. "Is this the end of our mini-adventure? I have to admit, this forest is beautiful. Thanks for bringing me out here."

Luna waved him off. "Oh, don't worry, it's not over yet," Luna replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "You haven't met him yet!"

"Him?" Jake asked, intrigued.

"Your new best friend!" Luna exclaimed, pointing towards a tree about 20 feet away. In the middle of its trunk, there was a burrow, carved out by an animal of some sort.

As Jake focused on the tree, he felt something inside of him being tugged towards it, like a piece of him that he never knew was missing was just waiting for him right there in this random forest in Scotland. No longer hesitating, Jake approached the tree until he was face to face with the hole in the trunk.

He peered inside and came face to face with an adorable baby bird of some kind!

*Chirp chirp*

The baby bird looked up at Jake with what he could only consider to be excitement at his presence! It was absolutely adorable! The baby bird had small but bright red and yellow feathers all over its body. Jake didn't know much about birds, but he figured it was still in the early adolescent stage of its development.

Cautiously, he reached out his hand and pet the bird, his fingers making gentle contact with its head. He felt something snap into place inside him. It was like a magical bond had just formed between him and the bird! He could suddenly feel the bird's emotions as well.

*Chirp chirp!* The small bird seemed absolutely elated by the bond formed between them, and Jake could feel its emotions through the magical connection.

Luna's voice suddenly chimed in from behind him, causing Jake to jump a little in surprise. "Congratulations on getting your own familiar, Jake!" she said.

Startled at her voice, as he'd been so enthralled by the bond he actually forgot she was there, Jake turned to face Luna. "How did you know this little guy was out here?" He asked curiously.

Luna didn't directly answer his question; instead, she smiled mysteriously and started skipping back through the forest towards Hogwarts. "Hey, wait up!" Jake called out, following after her with his chirping familiar in his arms.

They eventually made it back to Hogwarts, where Luna had to depart to attend her morning classes. "I'll see you later, Jake," Luna said. "This was just the first of thousands of adventures we'll be having together after all." She left that tid-bit and with a dreamy smile, she then disappeared down one of the school's corridors.

Jake stood there, pondering Luna's cryptic statement, but decided to shrug it off for now. After all, if all his adventures with Luna turned out like today's, wouldn't that be pretty great?

He looked down at the little bird in his arms. "Well, little buddy, while all the students are in class, what do you say we go and get some food for you to eat."

*Chirp chirp!*

"That's the spirit!" Jake exclaimed with enthusiasm. Jake headed towards the great hall, "huh, you know I haven't given you a name yet have I? How about…"