Harry thought it was some kind of bug, so he instinctively reached out and scratched his ear a couple of times, but even after it turned red, he found nothing there.
He wanted to ask what a Nargle was, but Luna had already hopped back to Mr. Lovegood's side.
The little girl stared in surprise at the swelling lump on her dad's head, even reaching out to touch it.
"Ouch…" Mr. Lovegood shrank back in pain.
"Sorry, Dad…" Luna quickly apologized, but soon she couldn't resist touching it again.
"Was that from the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast? Did you already see it?"
That sentence seemed to carry some kind of Magic Power—Mr. Lovegood suddenly didn't seem to hurt at all. He stood up from the ground and patted his eye-catching yellow robe:
"Luna, I didn't actually see the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast. But I think it must have noticed we're looking for it, so it sent us this little gift."
"You really are amazing, Dad." Luna spun happily in place twice.
Their conversation only made Harry even more confused.
Wait… wasn't the bump on that man's head caused by Harry smashing him with the Gnome?
Harry looked around, and quickly spotted the Gnome nearby, muttering and stomping back the way it came.
No doubt about it… the Gnome was right there.
So why say it was smashed by some Curved Horned Beast… And what on earth is that Curved something Beast anyway?
Harry scratched his hair, suddenly feeling like a clueless Muggle.
And beside him, Ron and the others wore pretty much the same expression.
The only exception was Kai, who curiously asked:
"Mr. Lovegood, did you guys find the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast this time?"
"Just missed it," the man replied regretfully. "We only found some tracks of it in the southern valley—it looked like it's already gone somewhere else."
"And just now, I found this." Luna held up half a leaf, "Leftover food from the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast… Dad, it must have passed through here when it left."
"You're right, Luna." Mr. Lovegood let out a long sigh, "We really shouldn't have left."
"Can I have a look at that leaf?" Kai suddenly asked.
"Of course!" Luna happily handed her find to Kai. "You're into Curved-Horned Snoring Beasts too?"
"Actually, I'm interested in all Fantastic Beasts."
Kai took the leaf and examined it carefully under the moonlight… but soon, his expression turned a bit strange.
Those bite marks… If Mr. Lovegood and Luna ever made a trip to the Shabby Residence, they'd quickly find what they were looking for.
This leaf was clearly just a half-chewed potato sprout, bitten by a Gnome—the gardens outside the Shabby Residence were full of them. If you wanted some, you could buy them by the pound.
"Kai, don't move, there's a Jumping Elf by your nose… oh, it disappeared again."
"What?" Kai handed the potato sprout back to Luna. "What's a Jumping Elf…?"
"A little flying elf," Luna explained. "Jumping Elves like to dance around people who are relatively smart, mess with their thoughts, and make them forget what they were about to say. They're pretty rare."
"Dad, did you see it earlier?"
"I must've missed it while I was straightening my clothes," Mr. Lovegood said, sadly.
Kai didn't pay much mind—after all, they often came up with names nobody else understood. Not just him, even Newt would leave scratching his head, full of question marks.
"Mr. Lovegood…" Kai switched topics, "Luna should be going to Hogwarts this year, right?"
"We just got her acceptance letter three days ago!" he said cheerfully. "It's truly a delightful thing. I've been collecting materials lately, getting ready to make her a pair of magical glasses as a gift."
"If you wear them, you'll be able to see Nargles…" Luna said.
Kai tugged the corners of his mouth into a polite smile.
Honestly, he didn't want to touch any of the Lovegoods' homemade gadgets—they made him look foolish.
...
After chatting a bit more, Mr. Lovegood hurried off with Luna.
On the way back to the Shabby Residence, Harry couldn't help asking, "Ron, who are those two?"
"The Lovegood family," Ron replied. "They live in a chimney-shaped house up north, with a big wooden windmill out front.
Oh, and Mr. Lovegood is also the editor of The Quibbler."
"The Quibbler?"
"A pretty weird magazine," Ron explained. "It's mostly full of nonsense, so hardly anybody reads it."
"Oh." Harry nodded vaguely, then asked, "She mentioned something—Nargle? Is that the name? What exactly is that?"
As he spoke, he absentmindedly reached up to his ear again.
"Oh, and that Curved Horned Beast… How come I've never heard of it before? Are they Fantastic Beasts too?"
"You don't need to worry about that one either."
Ron waved dismissively. "That's Luna the Loony—everyone knows there's no such thing as Nargles in the Magic Realm."
"Loony?"
"Yeah, everyone who knows her calls her that. She's like the magazine—both full of nonsense."
Ron put his hands behind his back. "Honestly, not many people want to deal with the Lovegoods. Only Kai talks to them a bit.
But I bet even Kai doesn't understand what they're on about."
It might have been a bit rude, but looking back at Luna's earlier behavior, Harry couldn't help thinking "Loony" was a pretty fitting nickname.
"A truly odd family," Harry muttered. "Have they always been like this?"
"It used to be a bit better. We used to have meals together, but since two years ago…"
Ron glanced around suddenly and lowered his voice. "Since the explosion happened two years back, they've become like this. Mum's invited them over several times, but they always turned her down."
"Explosion…"
"Apparently a Magic experiment gone wrong," Ron sighed, whispering. "Kai had warned them loads of times to be careful with Magic experiments—even I remember…"
"Ron!"
Just then, Ginny stormed over, scolding, "Have you forgotten? Mum said not to tell anyone about that."
"I remember…" Ron argued. "But it's Harry—not just anyone."
Normally, Ginny would turn bright red and run at the mention of Harry's name, but this time, she stood her ground, glaring at Ron.
"Fine, I won't say any more…" Ron turned his head and muttered quietly.