Impossible.

Luna Lovegood lived an impossible life.

It was the sort of life that many would envy. She drifted through existence like a butterfly, alighting periodically on particularly interesting flowers or colourful stones, before fluttering off again, as light as air.

A charmed life.

She was either unaware of the negative aspects of the universe, or decided to ignore them. With so much beauty in the world, why focus on the darkness? It would pass eventually, as it always did. Light had a habit of shining through.

A blissful life.

Although...perhaps she was more of a thestral than a butterfly. She wasn't beautiful, with untidy hair and silver eyes wide in a face that was a little too pale. Eerie.

She was as clever as a thestral, though neither of them looked particularly intelligent. It wasn’t the sort of knowledge you could learn in books (although Luna was adept at that, when she put her mind to it). It was the knowledge that came only from looking at the world with innocence and hope.

Her mother had given Luna an infinite capacity for hope, and her father had given her the ability to believe in anything that she deemed worth believing in.

A naïve life, but a good one. And, for anyone other than Luna Lovegood, utterly impossible.

Write about a recurring dream you've had.

I'm walking through the Forbidden Forest. It's a surprisingly warm Autumn afternoon and the leaves are crunching underneath my feet as I walk. Weak shafts of sunlight are filtering through the canopy of leaves above my head. I've never been anywhere so quiet or so peaceful.

There is a Thestral standing close by, half hidden in the shadows. I can see its bright white eyes glinting in the darkness. Anyone else would probably be scared of it, but it doesn't look frightening. It looks lonely. A bit like me, really. It's separate from its herd, just like I'm separate from everyone else in Hogwarts.

I think it understands me. It steps daintily across the ground towards, stretching out its dragon-like neck so I can stroke it. Then, before I can touch him, he starts to nudge me. Gently at first, then harder. Its skeletal nose pushes into my shoulder, and I take a step backwards despite myself.

Slowly, but steadily, the Thestral pushes me further and further backwards, right out of the forest and into the sunshine. It's almost painfully bright after the darkness inside.

Once it has guided me across the grounds towards the lake, the Thestral stops nudging me. It watches me for a moment, just the tiniest fraction of a second, before disappearing back into the Forbidden Forest as quickly as it appeared.

I stand on the shore of the lake feeling very confused, and listening to the soft waves which are being whipped up by the cool autumnal breeze. I'm still looking towards the forest, and my Thestral. I don't want it to leave. It's the closest thing I have to a friend here at Hogwarts.

There are footsteps nearby, and I want to run. I want to find that peace again, to be quiet and alone and at home like I was in the forest.

I know I can't, though, so I turn and face them.

At first I don't realise who it is. I could have been looking at myself, and its been such a long time since I last saw her. My mother smiles at me, and reaches out a hand to take mine in hers. Her palm is cool to the touch, and she doesn't seem to be able to speak, but I don't mind, because she's my mother and, somehow, she's here.

We walk along the edge of the lake in silence, watching the giant squid splashing about and the Thestrals flying about above the treetops. I recognise the one I saw earlier. He's joined the herd at last. Its nice to know that neither of us are alone, even if its just for the night.