50. Little Moon.

The Hogwarts Express bustled with energy, students chattering excitedly as they reunited with friends and searched for compartments. Among them, an eleven-year-old girl with long, dirty-blonde hair and silvery-blue eyes skipped lightly down the corridor, humming to herself as she pulled her trunk behind her.

Luna Lovegood was on a mission—to find a place to sit. She glanced into compartments, watching as groups of students laughed and talked, none of them particularly welcoming. Not that it bothered her. She had always been a bit different.

Then she saw them.

Inside one of the compartments, three students were nestled together in a cozy bundle. A sandy-blonde-haired boy sat between two girls, his arms draped comfortably around them. One girl had golden hair and red eyes, resting against his side with a content expression. The other, with dark violet hair, leaned into him, her eyes closed, looking comfortable despite the small frown on her lips.

Luna stopped, tilting her head in thought. That looked nice. Warm. Safe.

With a small smile, she slid open the door and poked her head inside.

"That looks comfortable," she said in her usual dreamy tone. "May I join you?"

Ryan looked up, slightly surprised before recognition dawned on him. Luna Lovegood. One of his favorite characters from the series. He had always felt for her—ostracized, bullied, left without friends simply for being different. That wasn't going to happen this time.

Before he could answer, Luna, taking his silence as permission, skipped forward and plopped right into his lap, her trunk abandoned near the door.

Rachel snorted in amusement, smirking as she glanced at Ryan. "Well, that happened."

Yue raised a brow but chuckled, clearly unbothered.

Ryan just shook his head with a grin. "Yeah, guess it did."

Luna looked up at him with wide eyes. "You're warm. And you don't push people away. That's nice."

Yue smiled. "You're an interesting one, aren't you?"

"I've been told that quite a lot," Luna admitted cheerfully. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Ryan," he introduced himself, then gestured. "That's Yue, and the one smirking at me is Rachel."

Luna turned her silvery-blue gaze to Rachel, who studied her for a moment before nodding in approval. "You like magical creatures, don't you?"

Luna beamed. "Oh yes, very much!"

Rachel's smirk softened. "Good. You can stay."

Luna giggled. "I like you all already."

Ryan chuckled. "Well, that was fast."

Luna shrugged. "I know when I belong somewhere."

And just like that, their little group had a new member.

The peaceful atmosphere in the compartment was briefly interrupted by the door sliding open once more. Standing there were three familiar figures—Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

Hermione's gaze immediately landed on Luna, who was nestled comfortably in Ryan's lap, absentmindedly flipping through a copy of The Quibbler as he ran his fingers through her blonde hair. Luna let out a soft hum of contentment, seemingly unfazed by the new arrivals.

Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of something unreadable crossing her expression. "Uh, Ryan? Who's this?"

Luna looked up dreamily. "Luna Lovegood."

Rachel smirked at Hermione's expression, clearly amused. Yue just chuckled, while Ryan gave an easygoing smile. "First-year. She wanted to sit with us, and, well, she found a seat."

Hermione huffed, crossing her arms as she slid into the seat across from them. "You know there are plenty of empty seats, right?"

Luna blinked at her. "Yes, but this one is the best. Even you seem to want it." She wiggled slightly in Ryan's lap with a dreamy smile.

Yue nodded with a small smirk. "She has a point, that is the best seat."

Hermione narrowed her eyes muttering under her breath.

Ron, glancing between them, shrugged. "Eh, fair enough." He then turned to Harry, nudging him. "Go on, mate, tell them what happened over the summer. It's mental."

Ryan arched a brow. "Oh? Do tell."

Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead. "So, a few weeks before school started, this house-elf showed up in my room. Just popped in out of nowhere, nearly scared me half to death. Said his name was Dobby."

Ryan's expression twitched slightly, though he remained outwardly calm. "Dobby?"

"Yeah," Harry continued, looking exasperated. "He kept saying I was in great danger and that he needed to protect me. And, well… he bonded himself to me."

Rachel perked up. "Bonded himself?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He told me his old master died, and instead of being free, he chose to bond himself to me. Said he wanted to serve and protect me, and that it was 'the greatest honor' to be my elf."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, mental, right?"

Ryan tapped his fingers on his knee, deep in thought. A freely bonded Dobby? That changes things.

"So where is he now?" Yue asked curiously.

Harry sighed. "Inside of my house trunk cleaning and organizing my things."

Ryan chuckled. "Well, that's certainly a way to start the year."

Luna, who had been quietly listening, looked up from her Quibbler. "House-elf bonds are very special," she mused. "If he chose to serve you, then he must truly believe in you."

Harry groaned. "Yeah, well, I just hope he doesn't try to protect me by doing anything crazy."

The group chuckled, and just as the train gave a final lurch, signaling their departure, Ryan leaned back in his seat, stroking Luna's hair as she hummed contentedly.

Well Dobby of course wouldn't know that the danger he believed to be at Hogwarts had already been handled by Ryan and his group.

As for him bonding with Harry, well there was no better place for the eccentric little elf and Harry could always use more reliable friends and allies. Even if they came in the form of a crazy house elf.

There was a soft pop as a house else appeared and saluted. "Great, wonderful, powerful, kind, Master Harry Potter, sir! Dobby has finished cleaning and folding your underwear and sorting you school supplies!"

Harry let out a long suffering groan.

Ryan's cackle of glee filled the compartment as Harry's glare turned to him.