Snape watched Professor McGonagall's robes disappear around the corner, bewildered. So she spoke to Dumbledore? She believed him? Snape was finally no longer alone inside this castle?
Questions were whirling around in his mind at top speed but he pushed them aside for the moment. The former Potions master regarded the two unconscious Death Eaters and smiled for the first time in ages. It served them right to have been knocked around. Snape looked at Amycus and nearly immediately turned away, revolted by the awful sight bestowed before him.
Snape sighed. He knew that if he didn't fix Amycus's face, there would be trouble. He Summoned his wand wordlessly, which zoomed into his open hand, and pointed it at the brother Death Eater. Snape whispered a few healing spells and within seconds Amycus was as good as new. Solemnly, the former Potions master put his wand away and got up to his feet, deciding to leave the Carrows in their unconscious state.
He had just remembered that the twins had seen Potter and was about to modify their memories when Dumbledore spoke.
"Severus, don't."
Taking a deep breath to keep himself from blasting the damn portrait to pieces, Snape slowly turned around, gripping his wand so tightly that his knuckles became white.
"Why?" he spat venomously.
"It's inevitable, Severus. Voldemort will eventually be back here whether we like it or not. Let the Carrows call him," Dumbledore said evenly.
"Are – you – MAD?" Snape snarled, yelling the last word. "You're practically asking for the ultimate destruction of this place and its people! We are not ready to combat the Dark Lord!"
"When will we be, Severus? Yes, Voldemort is powerful but we have something that he doesn't."
"And what would that be, pray tell?"
"The most powerful magic of all: love."
"Love?"
"No need to be so incredulous, Severus. Love is much stronger than any spell. Was it not your ability to love that had permitted you to redeem yourself?"
"Well…"
"I rest my case."
"You're infuriating," Snape hissed irritably.
"Which means that I do my job well," Dumbledore replied, eyeing Snape severely.
"Can I at least delay the Dark Lord's arrival by a day or two?" Snape asked, almost pleading.
Dumbledore sighed heavily.
"One day," he said sternly. "That is your limit. We cannot push back our encounter with him forever."
Snape felt the relief wash over him as he caught a sign of movement out of the corner of his eye. The Carrows were beginning to wake up and Snape wondered what kind of excuse he could give to refrain them from summoning the Dark Lord. He didn't care what it was; just as long it worked.
Harry was fiddling with the Golden Snitch as he sat next to Professor McGonagall, who was looking around the Room in wonder. They had managed to convince her to remain with them in fear that the Carrows would come after her in revenge for her attack on them. Professor McGonagall had agreed and received quite the surprise when she had discovered the Room of Requirement. Everyone had welcomed her with open arms and was awed upon learning how she had fought the Carrows.
The Chosen One was now interested in decoding his Golden Snitch. Hermione had informed him that those tiny golden balls had flesh memory and that he had nearly swallowed this particular Snitch when he had caught it during his very first Quidditch match. Harry had obligingly pressed the Snitch to his lips and, to his surprise, words engraved in Dumbledore's caligraphy had appeared on the surface: I open at the close.
What in the world those words meant, Harry had not the slightest clue. He had even shown it to Professor McGonagall, who had studied it for a few long minutes, but even she was at a loss at their meaning.
"I'm afraid I can't help you there, Potter. Professor Dumbledore worked in mysterious ways. Ways he rarely divulged to anyone," she had told him.
"Not even to you?" Harry had asked, already knowing the answer.
"Not even to me," Professor McGonagall had replied, shaking her head.
That answer had discouraged Harry a bit but he wasn't about to give up. He pressed the little golden ball to his lips again and read the message another five times before it disappeared, his mind working furiously, but all efforts were futile: he could not make heads or tails of that short phrase.
"Any luck, Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked suddenly.
Harry gave a small start, his concentration broken, and he gazed at his professor through bleary eyes. He ought to stop staring at things for too long.
"No," Harry replied, rubbing one eye. "It's frustrating."
"I know it is. Don't worry, it will come to you," Professor McGonagall said soothingly as she watched him rub his other eye.
"I hope so…"
A flash of light soared past them and Harry and Professor McGonagall stared at each other before looking in the direction it came from. Fred and George were setting off some of their fireworks as a sort of entertainment, earning cheers from the onlookers. Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, was far from being amused.
"Those two –!" she exclaimed angrily. "Excuse me, Potter."
Harry chuckled as Professor McGonagall stalked towards the unsuspecting twins. Then Hermione took her vacant seat so suddenly that the Chosen One was almost certain that she had Apparated there.
"I was waiting for her to leave," Hermione said.
"Hermione, she knows everything. Besides, she's the one who found the diadem, remember?" Harry replied. "What are you doing with that?" he added, pointing at the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard Dumbledore had left her in his will she was holding in her hands.
"I found something in here that has been drawn by someone, most likely Dumbledore since it was his book," Hermione replied as she opened the book.
Harry peered inside. The first thing he noticed was that the story was titled The Tale of the Three Brothers, written in Hermione's handwriting above the Runes title. His eyes moved to the top right corner of the page and saw a symbol that has clearly been inked there. At first glanced it looked like an eye but Harry realized that it was actually a triangle with a vertical line and a circle traced within it. This symbol was completely foreign to him and somehow he doubted Hermione knew any more than he did.
"I take it that you don't know what this is?" Harry inquired.
Hermione shook her head.
"I've looked in all of my Ancient Runes textbooks and this symbol wasn't in any of them," she replied, sounding disheartened. Harry had to keep himself from smiling because he knew that it was always a shock to Hermione whenever books failed her. "I also want to know why it was drawn over this particular story," she added, frowning.
"What's it about?"
"I'll try to give you a brief summary. One day, three brothers managed to safely cross a river filled with treacherous waters by magically creating a bridge over it. In result, they received a visit from Death, who felt cheated of three victims. But, being cunning as he was, he pretended to congratulate the three brothers and wanted to give them each a reward for their success. Of course, who could resist such an offer, right?"
"The first brother demanded for the most powerful wand in existence so Death fashioned a wand made of elder. The second brother wished for the power to bring back the dead so Death gave him a stone plucked out of the river with the said power. The third brother, the humblest and wisest of all three, asked for the power to become invisible at will so, reluctantly, Death gave him his very own Cloak of Invisibility. The brothers, satisfied with their gifts, parted ways."
"The first brother found a distant village and defeated a wizard he had been quarrelling with. Elated, he bragged about his invincibility and of his wand's power and was later killed in his sleep, where the wand was taken from him by his murderer. Death claimed the first brother."
"The second brother went to their home village in hopes to revive the girl he had been hoping to marry before her untimely death. He turned the stone Death had given him thrice in his hand and she appeared before him. They were happy to see each other again but it became soon apparent that she was miserable and no longer belonged in the mortal world so the brother took his own life in order to be with her. Death claimed the second brother."
"As for the third brother, Death searched and searched but could never find him. It wasn't until he reached a great age did the brother finally take off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son, and greeted Death like an old friend."
A small silence settled between them after Hermione's monologue. Harry looked at her.
"Hermione, what exactly is your definition of a 'brief summary'?" he asked teasingly.
"Shut up," Hermione replied, though smiling. "I got caught up in the story. I don't understand how The Tale of the Three Brothers can have a reference to this symbol. All I understood was not to toy with Death. Objects such as the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility would be highly powerful objects if they existed."
"Are you talking about the Deathly Hallows?"
Harry and Hermione turned their heads so fast that it was a wonder they didn't crick them. Professor McGonagall had returned with one sleeve of her robes singed and smoking slightly.
"Professor!" Hermione exclaimed shrilly, covering her mouth with her hand. "Are you all right?"
"Hm? Oh, yes. The Weasley twins didn't time their last firework correctly and it grazed my sleeve. I've had worst damage done to me," Professor McGonagall said indifferently.
"What were you saying about the Deathly Hallows, professor?" Harry intervened eagerly.
Professor McGonagall motioned them to make room for her to sit and they complied. She sat between them and took the book from Hermione, examining the symbol on the page closely.
"This here," Professor McGonagall said, pointing at the strange triangle, "is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. The triangle represents the Cloak of Invisibility, the line is meant to be the Elder Wand, and the circle portrays the Resurrection Stone."
"The artifacts from the story!" Hermione remarked in awe.
"Yes, The Tale of the Three Brothers explains the origin of these powerful objects. There are even rumors of who the brothers were."
"Who were they?"
"The Peverell brothers: Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus. The Elder Wand belonged to Antioch, the Resurrection Stone to Cadmus, and the Cloak of Invisibility to Ignotus. The youngest, Ignotus, has a grave in Godric's Hollow with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows carved in it."
Harry's senses went on high alert at the name of his birth town. "G-Godric's Hollow?" he stammered.
"Yes, and it's right across from your parents' grave," Professor McGonagall said gently. "I went to pay my respects not long after they were murdered."
The Chosen One smiled at her.
"Well, I do know that there have been stories about a wand that fits the description of the Elder Wand," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Really?" Harry said, surprised.
His brainy best friend gave him an exasperated look.
"Have you ever paid attention in History of Magic?" she replied in annoyance. "The Deathstick? The Wand of Destiny? They and the Elder Wand are all the same wand and it has a bloody history. That is, if it even exists."
"Anything's possible," Professor McGonagall said evenly. "After seeing the type of madness You-Know-Who has brought – twice now, mind you – I'm almost willing to believe anything might be true."
"Okay, so there is a possibility that this wand might be real. We know that Invisibility Cloaks are. I mean, they sell them everywhere."
"Not this kind of cloak, Miss Granger. The ones you speak of have an Invisibility spell that wears off with time. The one the story includes never loses its invisibility no matter how old it gets and no spell can affect it. You couldn't even use Accio on it."
Harry and Hermione glanced at each other. There was in fact a cloak that matched Professor McGonagall's description and it was currently sitting neatly folded in Hermione's beaded bag.
"But what about the Resurrection Stone? You can't possibly tell us that there is a type of magic that can bring back the dead," Hermione pressed on.
"That, I admit, seems incredibly far-fetched. But, somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be miraculously true," Professor McGonagall said. "And I should probably mention this: if these Hallows are united together, they make the bearer one Master of Death."
"How do you know about all of this, professor?" Harry asked hastily before Hermione could express any more skepticism.
"My mother was quite knowledgeable of these old tales. She has passed on that knowledge to me when I was a little girl," Professor McGonagall replied fondly.
"I wish I had someone telling me stories when I was a kid," Harry said to himself in a low voice, silently cursing the Dursleys.
To his surprise, Professor McGonagall had heard him and smiled.
"If you would like, Harry, I could tell you some of these stories one day," she told him as she gave Hermione her book back.
Harry grinned at her. "That would be great," he replied happily.
Another Weasley firework flew past them and Professor McGonagall abruptly stood up.
"I don't care if they no longer attend Hogwarts," she said furiously. "I will give those two troublemakers a detention they will never forget!"
Professor McGonagall stomped off, fuming. Hermione then wasted no time to scoot over so closely to Harry that she invaded his personal space.
"You can't honestly think that the Deathly Hallows are real. Do you?" Hermione anxiously wanted to know.
"It makes sense, though. You heard the news: wandmakers have been disappearing all over the country so it's obvious that You-Know-Who is looking for a way to surpass the twin core problem. I'm willing to bet that by now he has heard of the Deathly Hallows and is on the search for at the very least the Elder Wand; I wouldn't say he has ruled out the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility, considering that all three together would make one Master of Death," Harry replied, leaning away from Hermione a bit. "And… I think I know where the Elder Wand is."
"Huh? You do?" Hermione said in confusion.
Harry hesitated. He knew that Hermione was not going to like what he was about to say next but she had to know.
"The other night, while I was sleeping, I saw You-Know-Who break into Dumbledore's tomb and take out Dumbledore's wand. He has it, Hermione. You-Know-Who has the Elder Wand in his possession," Harry confessed bracingly.
"You let him in?" Hermione exclaimed incredulously.
"Never mind that!" Harry snapped. "You-Know-Who now has the most powerful wand in existence. What else could it be if he went after it? I doubt even he randomly goes breaking into people's tombs for the hell of it."
"Hm," Hermione said skeptically. "I still want to look into it more."
"You are not going to the library, Hermione. Either you believe in the Deathly Hallows or not."
"Oh, sure. Now you're against sneaking around the castle when this could possibly help us –"
"HERMIONE!"
"FINE! No need to yell."
Harry glared at her before standing up and joining Ginny and Ron on the other side of the room, where they were laughing at Fred and George as they were being given their detention. He couldn't believe that Hermione chose now out of all times to be agreeable about sneaking around. Even though she said she wasn't going to slink off to the library, Harry's instincts were warning him that she might do the contrary. He was going to have to keep an eye on her.
Looks like Hermione might be the one to cause trouble for once. Will she go for it?
Thanks for the reviews!