I couldn't believe they had done it, they had destroyed a Horcrux! That made three, meaning we only had four left! What's more, we actually had a method of destroying them. The joy we felt from this small victory left us feeling as though we could win, as though this could actually work.
February arrived, dropping all of our moods down. February 14th came and made us all sad. Harry kept looking at the Marauder's map anytime he thought no one was watching him, and watching where Ginny would go. We had discovered that Luna had completely disappeared from the map, and we had no idea where she was. We hadn't been able to locate any other Horcruxes either.
"Harry?" I finally asked one cold night. He was sitting in the corner with Ron, they were both going over the map, picking out our friends and watching where they went.
"What?"
"Have either of you ever seen this symbol?" I asked, standing up and crossing the tent towards them. It was a triangle with a circle in the center, with a line going through the middle of it. It wasn't a rune, and it had been written in by hand.
"That's Grindelwalds Symbol." Harry said, tilting his head.
"Really? I thought it was a creature symbol, Mr. Lovegood always wears it." Ron said, looking surprised.
"What?" I asked, feeling surprised and excited. They'd seen it before.
"Yeah, Krum saw Mr. Lovegood wearing it and said it was Grindelwalds symbol." Harry explained.
"I saw this symbol at Godric's hollow… Do you think we could talk to him about it somehow? I'm sure this symbol's important!"
"What?" Harry said, sounding shocked.
"Dumbledore left this to me for a reason, I'm sure he intended on my finding the symbol and figuring it out. If Mr. Lovegood knows about it, then I'm sure it would help to talk to him."
"I think we should do it." Ron said quietly, looking anxious. I knew he didn't just want to go because of the symbol, he wanted to see if Luna was alright. I couldn't blame him, and I was happy to have his vote, regardless of how I got it.
"Alright, does anyone actually know where they live?"
{}o{}o{}
We apparated to the hill behind the Burrow, hiding under the cloak. We used disillusionment charms and started down the path that led to Luna's house.
"Do you think it's theirs, and they've gone away for Christmas?" I asked, pointing towards a cute little cottage. Ron snorted and shook his head.
"Nope, believe me, you'll know when you see the Lovegoods' house. It's over the next hill."
"There!" Ron shouted over the wind that whipped our hair and clothes. Ron was pointing upward, toward the top of the hill on where the strangest looking house I had ever seen stood. It was extremely tall, a great black cylinder with an eerie moon illuminating it from behind.
. "That's it, it's Luna's house. Doesn't it looks like a giant rook?"
"It's nothing like a bird," I said, I'd never seen anything less like a bird.
"I was talking about a chess rook," Ron said, laughing at my expression. "A castle to you."
Ron raced up the hill, his long legs carrying him to the top quickly. He was grinning broadly and looked elated, happier than I'd seen him since we started this hunt.
Three hand-painted signs had been tacked to a broke-down gate that surrounded the building. The first read,
THE QUIBBLER. EDITOR, X. LOVEGOOD
the second,
PICK YOUR OWN MISTLETOE
the third,
KEEP OFF THE DIRIGIBLE PLUMS
"You'd better take off the Invisibility Cloak, Harry," I told Harry, talking quietly though I wasn't sure why. "It's you Mr. Lovegood wants to help, not us."
He handed me the bag and I stuffed it into my bag. Ron stepped forward and knocked, trying to fight back the grin that insisted on lifting his lips. Xenophilius Lovegood appeared in front of us, barefoot and wearing what appeared to be a stained nightshirt. His long white candyfloss hair was dirty and unkempt. He looked depressed and ill.
"What? What is it? Who are you? What do you want?" He questioned, glaring at me before he saw Harry and Ron.
Ron smiled disarmingly. "Hi Mr. Lovegood." He said, bouncing on his feet slightly.
"Hello, Mr. Lovegood," Harry said, holding out his hand, "I'm Harry, Harry Potter."
"Would it be okay if we came in?" He asked, his smile faltering. "There's something we'd like to ask you."
"I . . . I'm not sure that's advisable," Xenophilius whispered, glancing around the garden in worry. Something was most definitely not right. "Rather a shock . . . My word . . . I . . . I'm afraid I don't really think I ought to -"
"It won't take long" Harry said.
"Is everything alright?" Ron asked, looking troubled.
"Yes, quite, you're my Luna's boyfriend, aren't you?" He asked, studying Ron a little closer. Ron nodded his head and smiled. Xenophilius seemed to struggle for a moment, but then he lowered his head and pulled the door open all the way. "I - oh, all right then. Come in, quickly, Quickly!" he led us into the sitting room, glancing around nervously. A loud clatter came from upstairs and Ron brightened again, clearly thinking it was Luna. He led us up the stairs into what was a living room of sorts. Trinkets, paper, and objects were strewn everywhere. There was a machine over in the corner that was folding papers, it was what had been making the noise, not Luan. Ron visibly deflated, turning towards Mr. Lovegood.
"Is Luna here?"
"She's down by the creek, she's gathering some plimpies, for stew later…" he said, but he avoided Ron's eyes.
"Why isn't she at Hogwarts?" Ron asked, looking worried.
"She neglected to go back, to dangerous." He said, still avoiding his eyes. I was still looking around the room, when my eyes landed on a grey horn that was protruding from the wall.
"What's that?" I asked, recognizing it with Horror.
"It is the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," said Xenophilius.
"No it isn't!" I exclaimed, my eye growing wide.
"Hermione," Harry muttered sounding embarrassed., "now's not the moment -"
"But Harry, it's an Erumpent horn! It's a Class B Tradeable Material and it's an extraordinary dangerous thing to have in a house!"
"How'd you know it's an Erumpent horn?" Ron asked, his eyes wide as he edged away from the
horn as fast as he could, given the extreme clutter of the room.
"There's a description in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! Mr. Lovegood, you need to get rid of it straightaway, don't you know it can explode at the slightest touch?" Oh my god, we needed to get out of this room, one of us could trip and the whole room would blow up, Merlin knows there was enough clutter on the floor.
"The Crumple Horned Snorkack is a shy and highly magical creature, and it's horn -"
"Mr. Lovegood." I said, cutting him off. "I recognize the grooved markings around the base, that's an Erumpent horn and it's incredibly dangerous - I don't know where you got it-"
"I bought it," He said, rolling his eyes. "Two weeks ago, from a delightful young wizard who knew my interest in the exquisite Snorkack. A Christmas surprise for my Luna. Now," he said, turning to Harry, "why exactly have you come here, Mr. Potter?"
"We need some help," Harry said, stepping forward carefully.
"Help? Umm, rather dangerous." Mr. Lovegood murmured, looking scared.
'What do you mean?" Ron questioned, looking horrified. "You're a major supporter, at least you are according to the Quibbler. I know Luna supports Harry too, when did you say she would be back?" His eyes moved to the window and he looked hopeful, as though he thought she might come over the hill at any moment.
"Fine, I shall try and help you. I'll be back." He turned and dissaperared back down the steps.
"Cowardly old wart," Ron muttered. "Luna's got ten times his guts." He grinned again, his smile even making me happy. "She's actually here! Do you think we might could see her, pop down and say hi?" he glanced at me, worried I would say no. It was really dangerous, but I couldn't say no. I'd pop down if it was George. Plus, I hadn't seen Ron that excited in a long time.
"Sure." Harry said, walking around the room.
"May I offer you all an infusion of Gurdyroots?" Xenophilius asked, carrying a tray of cups and a pitcher of something.. "We make it ourselves." As he started to pour out the drink, which was as deeply purple as beetroot juice, he added, "Luna is down beyond Bottom Bridge, she is most excited that you are here She ought not to be too long, she has caught nearly enough Plumpies to make soup for all of us. Do sit down and help yourselves to sugar." Ron grabbed the proffered glass and poured a lot of sugar into it.
"Now," Xenophilius continued as he removed a tottering pile of papers from an armchair and sat
down, "how may I help you, Mr. Potter?"
"Well," said Harry, glancing at me. I smiled, urging him on. "it's about that symbol you were wearing around your neck at Bill and Fleur's wedding, Mr. Lovegood. We wondered what it meant." Xenophilius raised his eyebrows.
"Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?"
The deathly hallows? I'd never heard of them before.
"The Deathly Hallows?" Harry asked, sounding just as lost.
"That's right, you haven't heard of them? I'm not surprised. Very, very few wizards believe. Witness that knuckle-headed young man at your brother's wedding," he nodded at Ron, "who attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well-known Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows – at least not in that crude sense. One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other believers, in the hope that they might help one with the Quest."
"I'm sorry," Harry said, looking as lost as I felt., "I still don't really understand."
"Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows,".
"But what are the Deathly Hallows?" I asked, setting my cup down, it looked disgusting.
"I assume that you are familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'?"
Harry said, "No," but Ron and I answered yes. It was one of the tales from the book, but what did it have to do with the hallows?
"Well, well, Mr. Potter, the whole thing starts with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' . . . I have a copy somewhere . . ."
He glanced vaguely around the room, at the piles of parchment and books, but I piped up, holding my copy up. "I've got a copy, Mr. Lovegood, I've got it right here."
"Read it aloud."
"Er. . . all right," I said, opening the book.
"'There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight –'"
"Midnight, our mum always told us," Ron said, grinning and stretching out. I glared at him and he grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, I just think it's a bit spookier if it's midnight!" he said defensively.
"Yeah, because we really need a bit more fear in our lives," Harry said, making me laugh. "Go on, Hermione." I did, I read the familiar tale, it had been George's favorite. A smile lifted my lips as I read, memories of reading this tale with him filled my mind and I had to fight back tears.
I shut the book and looked up. Xenophilius was staring out the window and didn't seem to notice I had finished. I cleared my throat and he turned back to me. "There you go." He simply said
"Sorry?" I asked, feeling extremely confused. What did he mean, that was it?
"Those are the Deathly Hallows," Xenophilius said as way of explanation. He picked up a piece of parchment and a quill.
"The Elder Wand," he said, and drew a straight vertical line upon the parchment. "The Resurrection Stone," he said, and added a circle on top of the line. "The Cloak of Invisibility," he finished, enclosing both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbol I had been seeing. "Together," he said, "the Deathly Hallows."
"But there's no mention of the words 'Deathly Hallows' in the story," I said, feeling confused. What had he meant?
"Well, of course not," Xenophilius said, sounding as though he thought me rather dense. "That is a children's tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those of us who understand these matters,
however, recognize that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death."
What? I shot my eyes over to Harry, a gleam had lit his eyes and he looked excited.
"When you say 'master of Death' –"Ron started.
"Master," said Xenophilius, waving an airy hand. "Conqueror. Vanquisher. Whichever term you prefer."
"But then . . . do you mean . . ." I said, trying not to sound skeptical, "that you believe these objects – these Hallows – really exist?"
"Well, of course."
"But, Mr. Lovegood, how can you possibly believe – ?"
"Luna has told me all about you, young lady, you are, I gather, not unintelligent, but painfully limited. Narrow. Close-minded." I stiffened and glared, how dare he insult me like that. It was ludicrous to think those objects actually existed.
"Mr. Lovegood," " I began again, trying not to sound rude, "We all know that there are such things as Invisibility Cloaks. They are rare, but they exist. But –"
"Ah, but the Third Hallow is a true Cloak of Invisibility, Miss Granger! I mean to say, it is not a traveling cloak imbued with a Disillusionment Charm, or carrying a Bedazzling Hex, or else woven from Demiguise hair, which will hide one initially but fade with the years until it turns opaque. We are talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like that, Miss Granger?"
Oh god, we actually had one. The cloak Harry had shoved in his cloak seemed to draw my eyes, and I had to fight not to look at him.
"Exactly," He said, not realizing I actually knew of such a cloak. "None of you have ever seen such a thing. The possessor would be immeasurably rich, would he not?"
He glanced out of the window again and I shot a look at Harry. We'd never used the cloak for that sort of thing. He was far too noble minded.
"All right," I said, feeling disconcerted. "Say the Cloak existed. . . what about that stone, Mr. Lovegood? The thing you call the Resurrection Stone?"
"What of it?"
"Well, how can that be real?"
"Prove that is not," said Xenophilius.
He couldn't be serious, that would be impossible! "But that's – I'm sorry, but that's completely ridiculous! How can I possibly prove it doesn't exist? Do you expect me to get hold of – of all the pebbles in the world and test them? I mean, you could claim that anything's real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's proved it doesn't exist!" Ron was grinning in the corner, trying not to laugh at my annoyance.
"Yes, you could," said Xenophilius. "I am glad to see that you are opening your
mind a little."
"So the Elder Wand," Harry said, cutting me off before I could continue again. "you think that exists too?"
"Oh, well, in that case there is endless evidence," He said, sounding like he thought we were all dense. "The Elder Wand is the Hallow that is most easily traced, because of the way in which it passes from hand to hand."
"Which is what?"
"Which is that the possessor of the wand must capture it from its previous owner, if he is to be truly master of it," said Xenophilius. "Surely you have heard of the way the wand came to Egbert the Egregious, after his slaughter of Emeric the Evil? Of how Godelot died in his own cellar after his son, Hereward, took the wand from him? Of the dreadful Loxias, who took the wand from Baraabas Deverill, whom he had killed? The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of Wizarding history."
Well of course, wizards were always claiming there wands were better than others. It simply wasn't true!
"So where do you think the Elder Wand is now?" Ron asked, sitting up and looking out the door hopefully. Probably wondering where Luna was and if she would be coming soon.
"Alas, who knows? Who knows where the Elder Wand lies hidden? The trail goes cold with Arcus and Livius. Who can say which of them really defeated Loxias, and which took the wand? And who can say who may have defeated them? History, alas, does not tell us."
"Mr. Lovegood, does the Peverell family have anything to do with the Deathly Hallows?" I asked, an idea occurring to me.
"But you have been misleading me, young woman!" He said, sitting up much straighter and looking impressed. "I thought you were new to the Hallows Quest! Many of us Questers believe that the Peverells have everything – everything! – to do with the Hallows!"
"Who are the Peverells?" Ron asked, looking confused.
"That was the name on the grave with the mark on it, in Godric's Hollow," I answered, feeling let down. "Ignotus Peverell."
That killed my theory. The hallows had nothing to do with the Horcruxes.
"Exactly! The sign of the Death Hallows on Ignotus's grave is conclusive proof!"
"Of what?"
"Why, that the three brothers in the story were actually the three Peverell brothers, Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus! That they were the original owners of the Hallows!"
He rose abruptly and walked towards the stairs. "You will stay for dinner?" he called, as he vanished downstairs again. "Everybody always requests our recipe for Freshwater Plimply soup."
Ron chuckled before turning back to Harry. "I've tried it, if they request it it's to show the Poisoning Department at St. Mungo's,"
"What do you think?" Harry asked, turning towards me.
"Oh, Harry, it's a pile of utter rubbish. This can't be what the sign really means. This must just be his weird take on it. What a waste of time." I said, sighing as I looked out the window.
"You didn't believe it either?" Harry asked Ron.
"Nah, that story's just one of those things you tell kids to teach them lessons, isn't it? 'Don't go looking for trouble, don't go pick fights, don't go messing around with stuff that's best left alone! Just keep your head down, mind your own business, and you'll be okay. Come to think of it," Ron added, "maybe that story's why elder wands are supposed to be unlucky."
"What are you talking about?" We, Harry and I, asked together.
"One of those superstitions, isn't it? 'May-born witches will marry Muggles.' 'Jinx by twilight, undone by midnight.' 'Wand of cider, never prosper.' You must have heard them. My mum's full of them."
"Harry and I were raised by Muggles," I said, rolling my eyes. How many times had I told him that? "We were taught different superstitions. I think you're right, It's just a morality tale, it's obvious which gift is best, which one you'd choose –"
We all spoke at the same time. I said Cloak, Ron said the wand, and Harry said the stone.
"You're supposed to say the Cloak," Ron said, looking annoyed at me, "but you wouldn't need
to be invisible if you had the wand. An unbeatable wand, Hermione, come on!"
I rolled my eyes at him. "We've already got an Invisibility Cloak," Harry said,
"And it's helped us rather a lot, in case you hadn't noticed!" I said, thoroughly exasperated. How could they be so dense? "Whereas the wand would be bound to attract trouble-"
"What was that noise?" Ron asked, holding up his hand.
"What?" Harry and I asked.
"It was upstairs, Luna's room.
"Huh?" I asked, but Ron was already moving up.
A large, open room was at the top of the stairs. The bedroom ceiling had been covered with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, me, Ginny, and Neville. She had obviously painted them, and they were breathtaking. What appeared to be a fine golden chains wove around the pictures linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, I realized that the chains were actually two words repeated a thousand times in golden ink: around Harry, Ginny, Neville and myself, friends, around Ron, love.
I stared up at them in utter awe, unaware of what was going on.
"Something's wrong, she's not been here." Ron said, I lowered my eyes and saw him staring at her bed. His eyes were wide and his face had grown pale. His fist were clenched at his side and he looked pained, as though some one had just dealt him a physical blow.
"How do you know?"
"You mean aside from the missing clothes and dust everywhere? Her unicorn doll is missing. She always leaves it on her bed when she's home."
"So?" I asked, missing the significance.
"Don't you get it!" Ron snapped, looking terrified. "This is what the locket said, he told me that she would die, we'd all die. I wouldn't be able to do a thing about it unless I joined him." He sunk to his knees, his face twisted in more pain than I'd ever seen him in.
"No." Harry simply said, stepping forward and grabbing Ron's shoulders. He helped pull him up before turning on the spot and running down the stairs. I was right behind him, and Ron wasn't far behind me.
"Mr. Lovegood," He said when we reached the bottom. "Where's Luna?"
"Excuse me?"
"Where's Luna?" Ron demanded, stepping forward with a fierce look. Xenophilius stopped and turned towards us.
"I - I've already told you. She is down at the Botions Bridge fishing for Plimpies."
"So why have you only laid that tray for four?" I asked, looking at the table.
"I don't think Luna's been here for weeks." Harry said as I moved towards the printing press, I thought I saw Harry's face on the paper that just had folded.
"Her clothes are gone, her bed hasn't been slept in. Where is she? and why do you keep looking out of the window?"
He dropped his bowl, and we all pulled out our wands on instinct. He froze, his hand in his pocket.
"Harry, look at this" I said, pointing at a paper that had just shot out. He strode over to me as quickly as he could through all the clutter. "Undesirable Number One" was written in huge letters across the front and captioned with the reward money.
"The Quibbler's going for a new angle, then?" Harry asked, his voice cold. "Is that what you were doing when you went into the garden, Mr. Lovegood? Sending an owl to the Ministry? "
"Don't move, don't make me curse you." Ron said, sounding pained.
"They took my Luna," he whispered, "Because of what I've been writing. They took my Luna and I don't know where she is, what they've done to her. But they might give her back to me if I - If I-"
Ron let out a strangled groan, sinking to his knees in a tangled mess of robes.
"Hand over Harry?" I finished, the air leaving my lungs. Ron looked stricken, and his hands trembled.
"What?" He asked, his voice breaking.
"They will be here any moment. I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave."
Ron looked like he couldn't move, he was frozen, Harry looked distant, I seemed to be the only one fully here.
"Move." I demanded, pointing my wand at him.
"Don't make us hurt you," Harry said. "Get out of the way, Mr. Lovegood."
I looked past him, outside I could see figures flying on broomsticks towards the house. "Harry!" I screeched, he looked over, taking his eye off Xenophilius. He took our distraction and drew his wand.
"Stupify!" Ron bellowed, jumping over and knocking us down. Xenophilius's stunner flew over us and hit the wall, knocking the horn off the wall.
The wall exploded behind us and rubble flew everywhere. Dust rose up and I pushed myself up from the ground. We were covered, and we were in serious trouble. "Grab the cloak Ron!" I hissed, pulling Harry up beside me.
"What?" He gasped, choking on the dust.
"Didn't I tell you there was no need to hurry, Travers?" said a rough voice. "Didn't I tell you this nutter was just raving as usual?" There was a bang and a scream of pain from Xenophilius. I tugged Harry's hands desperately trying to get him up.
"No...no...upstairs...Potter!"
"I told you last week Lovegood, we weren't coming back for anything less than some solid information! Remember last week? When you wanted to swap your daughter for that stupid bleeding headdress? And the week before" - Another bang, another squeal - "When you thought we'd give her back if you offered us proof there are Cumple" - Bang - "Headed"-bang-"Snorkacks?"
"No - no - I beg of you!" sobbed Xenophilius. "It really is Potter, Really!"
"Get up!" I snapped, shaking in terror. They were coming!
"And now it turns out you only called us here to try and blow us up!" roared the Death Eater, and there was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals of agony from Xenophilius.
Ron had finally stood now, shaking the dust off him as he helped me with Harry who was trapped beneath a beam of wood.
"You are a witch!" He gasped, raising his wand and breaking the wood.
"Homenum revelio." said the voice at the foot of the stairs. I gasped, horror filling me as the spell revealed our presences. We finally got Harry up.
"We have to get out!" I squeaked, pulling the cloak out and handing it to Ron.
"Me? But Harry -" He said, pushing the cloak away.
"Please, Ron! Harry, hold on tight to my hand, Ron grab my shoulder."
"Hold tight" I whispered. "Hold tight...any second..." My nerves were tense and I couldn't believe what I was doing, but I had too, for Luna's sake I had to.
Xenophilius's paper-white face appeared over the top of the sideboard. "Obliviate!" I cried pointing my wand at his face. His eyes went unfocused and then I lowered it to the floor. "Deprimo!" We landed in the living room, the death eaters saw us and their eyes widened, but I was already twisting before they could move.