Luna slowly came back to her senses. When she opened her eyes, she was still in the same spot as before, but something was different—it was now the middle of the day, and the air was stuffy, humid, and hot. The vegetation had also changed; the trees around her wore a magnificent, deep green coat of leaves. It must have been the middle of summer.

  She had no idea how far back in time she had traveled. Absentmindedly, she reached for her neck and noticed that the chain with the Time-Turner had broken and was lying on the ground beside her. To her surprise, the Time-Turner was almost completely melted, and only the faint outline of the former clock face was still recognizable.

  Suddenly, she heard something crackling in the undergrowth. Panicked, she jumped up and spun around like lightning, her hand automatically reaching for her wand—but it was gone. She must have lost it during her escape in the Forbidden Forest. What was she supposed to do now without it? Waves of helplessness washed over her again. Just as she had calmed down a little, the crackling sound was heard once more, but this time it seemed to be getting closer. Instinctively, she grabbed a stick lying next to her. With silent steps, she approached the sound, which was coming from a nearby clearing.

  Her heart began to pound so hard that she thought it might leap out of her chest at any moment. Unstoppably, she drew closer and closer to the clearing, she held her breath, and then... she froze, only to burst into peals of ughter a moment ter. For on the clearing, nothing more than a herd of Thestrals was grazing. When Luna had recovered from her fit of ughter, she cautiously approached the Thestrals. The animals noticed her and stopped.

  "Easy now, you don't need to be afraid of me."

  Very slowly, she moved closer to the animals, step by step. Carefully, she extended her hand; one of the creatures came towards her curiously and began to sniff her hand. Gently, she started to stroke the Thestral. The animal stood still and was clearly enjoying the petting Luna was giving it. How dearly these animals had grown on her heart; since her childhood days, they had been Luna's companions. Lost in a dreamy reverie, she did not notice the quiet footsteps approaching her. And suddenly, a hand was id on her shoulder...

  Luna spun around. Before her stood an elegantly dressed young woman with long bck hair, which she wore loose.

  "I'm sorry if I startled you," the woman began softly, "but while I was out walking, I heard loud ughter and decided to see who was hanging around here in the middle of the summer holidays."

  Silently and with a concerned look, the young woman scrutinized Luna from head to toe. Luna scrutinized the woman as well.

  "My name is Menie Stone. I'm the new teacher here at Hogwarts for Magical Creatures. But tell me, what on earth happened that you look so disheveled? Did you have an accident?" Suddenly, Luna became aware of how she must look with her countless scrapes and scratches and a gash on her forehead. Luna began to smile faintly.

  "Oh, that's a very, very long story."

  At that moment, Luna didn't know if she should trust the young woman, but someone had to help her in this different time. Because one thing was obvious from the woman's clothing: she must have traveled back, very far back, into the past.

  "What is today's date?" Luna asked somewhat uncertainly.

  The woman in front of her looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Sunday, August 1st."

  "And what year is it?"

  The woman's expression grew increasingly confused. "It's 1943."

  Luna was stunned. "It's what? 1943, that can't be possible," she said, more to herself.

  "Young dy, it would be nice if you would finally get started on what happened. Because a stay at St. Mungo's is, I think, the st thing you'd want," said Menie Stone with a bit more emphasis, so that Luna now had no other choice but to tell her the truth.

  As Luna led Miss Stone to the spot with the melted Time-Turner, she told her about the Time-Turner, about the st great battle at Hogwarts, about Lord Voldemort, to whom she owed all this misery, and about her father, who had fallen during the battle. Silently, Miss Stone looked at the melted Time-Turner on the ground, without which she probably wouldn't have believed a single word Luna said. With a warm, encouraging smile, Miss Stone looked at Luna.

  "Of course I will help you wherever I can, since you would otherwise be completely on your own in this time. Therefore, I suggest that you first come with me to the castle and live with me; my two rooms are big enough for the two of us. It's the holidays now anyway, and there we can calmly think about how we will proceed. We'll surely come up with something good."

  A felt thousand stones fell from Luna's heart. She couldn't help but smile back gratefully. "But now let's go, it will take us a while to get to the castle. In a few hours it will be dark, and then I really wouldn't want to be here."

  Silently, Luna walked beside Miss Stone to the castle. Just before they reached the grounds, Miss Stone stopped. "You can't possibly cross the grounds and then go into the castle looking like this; if just one of the other professors sees us, then..."

  Without a moment's hesitation, she drew her wand and murmured strangely sounding words. Then, when she was finished, she said:

  "So, I have now cast an illusion spell on you, which means the people we will encounter now will see a clean and neatly dressed girl."

  Luna was surprised; she had never heard of this spell before. But apparently, the spell served to cover up minor cosmetic inconveniences so that one had a perfect appearance. The women of this time must have been very vain, Luna thought to herself. They quickly crossed the grounds without incident and went straight into the castle. There, they still had to climb several flights of stairs until they reached Miss Stone's chambers.

  "Well then, welcome to my little realm. We have a living room, a bedroom, and a private bathroom here."

  The rooms were rge and bright, and Luna felt comfortable right away. Miss Stone disappeared briefly into the bathroom and returned with a tray full of small bottles.

  "And now show me your wounds. I know a little about healing arts and have the appropriate tinctures for wound healing here." Luna sank onto the heavenly soft sofa and let Miss Stone do her work.

  "This tincture is an old recipe from my great-grandmother; she was a very gifted healer," she pointed to a purple vial. "The tincture makes your wounds heal within 24 hours. Of course, it takes longer only for serious injuries, but your wounds are small, so that won't be a problem."

  When Miss Stone was finished treating the wounds, she brought everything back to the bathroom. Slowly, an unbearable hunger began to spread through Luna.

  "Miss Stone!"

  "Please call me Menie!" she called back from the bathroom.

  "Menie, could I perhaps get something to eat? I haven't had anything since the battle."

  She immediately hurried out of the bathroom.

  "But of course, I just started running water in the tub so you can first clean off the blood and dirt, and while you bathe, I'll go down to the kitchen and get us some food from the house-elves, okay?" Luna just nodded.

  "Oh, wait, what should I wear after the bath?" asked Luna.

  "Don't worry about that, I'll give you something of mine," replied Menie. Luna smiled and then went into the bathroom. It smelled wonderfully of oranges and lemons.

  "I hope you like the orange oil I put in your water. You'll find everything for your hair and body on the small sideboard over there."

  Luna nodded silently. Just as she was about to turn around and thank her for all the lovely things, Menie had already disappeared.

  Slowly, she undressed and sank into the water with a contented sigh. The scent of oranges was intoxicating and wonderful at the same time, and she enjoyed her bath to the fullest. After a while, however, it became too warm for her, so she decided to wash up quickly. She sniffed several bottles of hair wash and chose one that smelled summery, like strawberries. Pleasurably, she closed her eyes while massaging in this wonderful hair wash. When she was done with her hair, her delicate body was next. This time, she opted for the fresh and tangy scent of vender. Luna rubbed herself all over several times with this pleasantly creamy soap lotion and then submerged herself in the bathtub. When she surfaced, it felt as if not only the dirt but also her old life had been washed from her body. It was an indescribably beautiful feeling. She pulled the plug and stepped out of the tub; wrapped in a rge, fluffy towel, she opened the door to the living room. There, the table was already set with all sorts of things, and it smelled delicious. Menie was just lighting a small candlestick on the table.

  "And, how was the bath?" she asked with a smile.

  "I feel like I've been reborn," Luna replied.

  "Here, I've magically shrunk one of my dresses to your size, and there's underwear too," said Menie.

  "Thank you, I'll go change quickly in the bathroom," Luna said.

  In the bathroom, she had to smile a little at the old-fashioned underwear. The dress was made of a light, summery fabric. She also really liked the forget-me-not blue of the dress. Quickly, she put everything on and came back out holding her old clothes.

  "Would you like me to have the house-elves clean your dirty clothes?" asked Menie.

  "No, I want you to put them in the firepce and burn them!"

  Menie looked up, surprised. "Are you sure about that?" Luna nodded firmly. "Alright then, hand them over," Menie said with a sigh, taking the clothes and putting them in the firepce, where a roaring fire immediately sprang up. For a moment, Luna watched as her old clothes, and with them the remnants of her old life, disappeared completely.

  "Don't you want to eat at all?" Menie's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Luna quickly sat down at the richly set table. Her pte was already filled with fried chicken legs and deliciously topped sandwiches. She greedily drank her gss of cold strawberry juice, and then bit with great pleasure into her sandwich, which was topped with cheese and ham. To Luna's great joy, her much-loved pudding was also on the table. After a few chicken legs, she moved on to the pudding. Just a few hours ago, Luna had believed she would never again experience the taste of pudding on her tongue, or even be alive at all. Everything still felt somewhat like a dream, as if it wasn't really happening. Had fate given her a second chance? When they were finished eating, Luna leaned back, full and tired, into the soft sofa.

  Menie fetched a small fashion magazine and some knitting from a chest of drawers that stood in the living room, then sat down next to the not-a-little-astonished Luna and began to knit. Luna looked at the fashion magazine lying in front of her. On it, in ornate letters, it said: Fashion of the Modern Witch Today. Luna had to smile again.

  "My mom used to collect this fashion magazine too, but of course the fashion was completely different in the 80s," Luna said, sounding a bit dreamy.

  "Did she also fall in the battle?" Menie asked softly. Luna's gaze became completely empty again.

  "No, she died a long time ago, I was only nine years old. One of her spells went horribly wrong back then," Luna recounted. Silence filled the room for a while, only the chirping of birds could be heard from the open window. The day was drawing to a close and the sun was slowly setting. Luna yawned.

  "If you'd like, you're welcome to go to sleep," Menie suggested.

  "Yes, that would be nice. Somehow my whole body aches."

  Menie stood up and went back to the dresser. She took out a snow-white nightgown.

  "Here, the size should be right. From today, you can consider the bedroom your personal retreat," she said with a smile.

  Luna didn't know what to say in response. At the door, they said goodnight. "Thank you for everything," Luna said in a quiet, moved voice.

  Menie nodded silently, after which Luna closed the door behind her. A rge canopy bed stood in the room. Quickly, Luna slipped on the nightgown and then sank tiredly into the bed. By now it had grown dark and the full moon shone bright and clear in the sky on this warm summer night. Luna fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Only a leaden bckness surrounded her.