A/N - You know the score. HJP = JKR. As much as I'd like to be the rights owner, I'm not…
Chapter 9 - Bring it
The Hogwarts rumour mill was a beast of national fame. It was almost sentient in its intensity so it didn't take long for that rumour mill to be flooded with tales of Hermione Granger, Viktor Krum and Harry Potter's bizarre triumvirate. As usual, the actual truth of the matter was largely irrelevant. Some had Harry and Viktor stand side by side and both profess their love for Granger, looking for her to choose, some had Krum trying to undercut Harry after the younger wizard had asked Hermione to the ball, some the other way around. There were rumours of potions, duels, fistfights and one utterly bizarre assertion that Krum and Harry were half brothers, bettered only by an even more bizarre suggestion that it was Granger who was trying to break up the two wizards who wanted to go to the ball together. Harry had laughed long and loud at that last one. He really didn't care who did what with whom, if you were a wizard's wizard or a witch's witch, Harry couldn't care less, as long as you weren't an arsehole. He was more perturbed by the idea that the best he could do would be Krum!
As two of the most experienced gossip mongers were Gryffindor in the shape of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil their own particular versions of what they believed to be the truth were given that much more weight by the rest of the Hogwarts gossip machine.
Within Gryffindor tower itself, the usual suspects were those with the most to say, chief amongst them being Ron Weasley.
"Hey, bookworm, I thought you were meant to be the smartest one amongst us. Fucking blew that, didn't you."
Hermione glanced up, a bored look on her face. "What are you whinging about now?" she asked in a tone which dripped with implied boredom.
"You can't be that smart if you turned down Viktor Krum for a loser like Potter."
"Ahh, you mean the 'loser' who is currently in first place of the tournament despite being three years younger, the 'loser' who is challenging me and most of the smartest Ravenclaws in the classes we are sharing, the 'loser' who shows more manners and decorum than you ever have?"
As Ron was spluttering to find a riposte, Hermione delivered the coup de gras. "Besides, why do you care? I'd have thought you'd have been delighted I refused Krum's invite, it means he's free for you to go and fawn over and ask him yourself! I'd maybe smarten yourself up a bit though."
This drew giggles from many of the audience. The arguments between Weasley and Granger were frequent, often loud, occasionally entertaining, and despite the fact that for some inexplicable reason Weasley was more popular with a portion of Gryffindor tower, almost everyone had to admit that when it came to it, Granger usually came out on top. If it turned into a mud-slinging match, Weasley would always go further than good taste would allow, when it came to articulate and cutting remarks though, there was only going to be one winner. In a battle of wits, Weasley brought a knife to a gunfight.
Ron blustered his way through. "Are you trying to say I'm some sort of James Randi? A wizard's wizard?"
"I'm saying that you are a simpering fanboy and that I am not the only girl who thinks that if we ever found a wizard who looks at us the way you look at Krum we would be looking for an engagement ring!"
More sniggers, louder this time which saw Ron look to reach for his wand. He was stopped by a series of voices, chief amongst them his older twin brothers. They didn't much care for Hermione, her almost slavish devotion to rules was an anathema to all they believed in, but, to the surprise of many, they had an internal code of honour which dictated that whilst anyone and everyone was fair game for a prank, hexing a witch because you were losing an argument was contrary to said code.
"You know Ronnie, she's not wrong" said Twin One.
"I couldn't agree more oh twin of mine" said Twin Two. "I can't decide whose virtue is more precarious!"
"Of course" continued Twin One "little Ronnie here wouldn't be silly enough to cast a curse in the common room, against an unarmed girl, and expect that it would go unchallenged."
Ron scoffed. "Like you two are examples of good behaviour. Besides, it's not like anyone here really likes her anyway, fucking bookworm. Four years in and she still spends most of her time either alone, talking to the squib or some loser Claw. She should never have been a Gryffindor in the first place."
Another voice entered the fray. "You shouldn't be taking out your jealousies on Hermione, it's not her fault she's had invitations to the ball, it's not like the witches of Hogwarts are lining up to accompany you, are they." Neville was known as the quiet man of Gryffindor, but the sorting hat knew what it was doing when it placed him there and he knew when a line was being crossed which needed to be addressed. He also had a habit of cutting to the heart of the matter.
Ron for his part thought of himself as a bit of a 'Lad'. Had he a better (or indeed, any) understanding of muggle culture he'd have been trying to position himself as the Gryffindor Arch-mage of Banterbury. Within a certain subset of Gryffindor (namely Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan) he was, to a degree, successful. Of that little group and their equally little band of hangers on he was the self proclaimed bantermeister. Not that it was much of a challenge. Thomas was a muggleborn and was desperate to ingratiate himself into the wizarding world and Finnegan was a bit of a lout himself, if anything more brutish and less sophisticated than Weasley he often presumed that his Irish brogue would win the day. He was often wrong. Outside of Gryffindor, only Ernie MacMillan and Wayne Hopkins really hung out with the Weasley group, and even then it was mostly to try and gain a measure of protection from the older Weasleys in the school.
Fred and George were known terrors, viewing themselves as the natural heirs to the legendary Marauders. Outside of Gryffindor (and secretly within) they were considered borderline bullies, but they did have a certain charm and charisma that their younger brother lacked. Ron tried to exhibit the same charismatic traits as the twins, but came off as crass and gave the impression of trying too hard. That was before you factored in Ron's annoying tendency to take his 'jokes' or comments way further than good taste would suggest. The twins themselves worked to a code of conduct that only they knew. Anyone was fair game for a prank, and said prank may itself be in bad taste, but for some odd reason flat out attacking someone else was seen as somewhat outre, lacking what they thought passed for sophistication.
Ron's little clique was almost exclusively male, save for the occasional inclusion of Lavender Brown and by extension, Parvati Patil. The gossip queens of Gryffindor tower would sidle up to the Weasley group on the pretext of joining in on the banter, only for whatever had been spoken about to be broadcast far and wide throughout the school. Lavender was the ringleader, Parvati was just along for the ride.
Up to this point, girls weren't even something which had entered Ron's mind, he was a Lad, and moreover, he was a Lad's Lad. The Lads were there for banter, for validation, the Lads were there to show Ron due deference as the Alpha Male in the group, which had been going better than you would have thought until Ron was handed his arse by Potter a few weeks back. Now, however, witches and wizards were pairing up all over the castle ahead of the Yule Ball. The truth in Neville's words stung so he retaliated the only way he knew how. With insults.
"Like a fucking squib like you is going to get anyone to go with him."
Neville just shrugged. Insults from Ron carried little weight to him given his understanding of their relative positions in magical society. He tried to keep out of things as best he could, but his honour, instilled in him since birth by his paternal grandmother who brought him up, demanded that sometimes, now and then, he take a stand. That same upbringing did give Neville that understanding needed of the stratified nature of the wizarding world, the Longbottom family was one of the Sacred Twenty Eight, as was the Weasley family, but in terms of political and historical power, Longbottoms were at the sharp end of things more often than not, whilst the Weasleys were very much historically in the background to the point where there was much muttering amongst many of the twenty eight suggesting that there should, in fact, be a Sacred Twenty Seven. Of course it also helped that he didn't really care for the idea of the Yule ball, he would stay in the Castle if he was able to get a date, but would be just as happy to go home and give it a miss. He did have his eye on Hannah Abbot but his intermittent bravery hadn't yet extended itself to coax him to approach her.
Seeing he wasn't going to get a response out of Neville, Ron just laughed in his face and turned away. It was all a show however. It had been made clear, loudly and publicly that Hermione Granger had a date for the ball, and options beyond that, whilst Ron Weasley didn't. That was not a good thing for the redhead.
- oOoOoOo -
At roughly the same time as the confrontation in Gryffindor tower was taking place, Harry Potter was aimlessly wandering the corridors of Hogwarts. There wasn't much else to do really. Lily was speaking to McGonagall and Amelia about, well, something, James and Sirius were 'in camera' still going over the Krum issue, whilst Remus was off somewhere following up on some news of Voldemort or his followers, Harry hadn't been told much but knew that his dad would keep him in the loop when needed, so he wasn't too worried. With Hermione being in the Tower doing homework, Harry was at a loose end, so had decided to go exploring. He had grown up hearing occasional tales of Hogwarts and was keen to try and see where some of those stories had taken place.
He was vaguely aware that he was in what he had dubbed 'the Ravenclaw Quarter', given its proximity to the staircase which led its way to Ravenclaw Tower when he heard voices. It sounded like something was going down.
As he quietly made his way to the sound of the noise, he couldn't quite make out what was being said, but the tone was clear enough. Someone was being a dick to someone else. He rounded a corner and saw three larger girls crowd a much smaller one. Now he could make out what was being said.
"Where do you think you are going, Loony" snapped the largest of the girls.
The little waif was cowed, but answered. "Just up to the tower, back to the dorm."
"In that state, I don't think so" sneered the first girl. The small girl looked confused.
"What state?"
"We can't have you dripping all over the Ravenclaw carpets. Aguamenti frigus!" A blast of ice cold water erupted from the girl's wand and drenched the little girl who whimpered in freezing pain.
"Fuck this" growled Harry. It was time for Harry Hellfire to get a run out. "Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Levicorpus! Incarcero! Ligare duo!" The barrage of spells hit the three bullies before they knew what was happening. The biggest girl found herself stunned, disarmed, bound hand and foot and dangling in mid-air, as the other two were bound to each other. Another brace of disarming jinxes saw Harry holding all three wands as he strode across the space separating them, eyes glowing with rage.
The two bullies still awake looked at him with terrified eyes as Harry pointed his wand at the floating third and cast a reviving charm. As the big girl started to scream he silenced her before doing the same to the other two for good measure.
"I really fucking hate bullies" he growled. He turned to look at the whimpering drenched girl and uttered "siccatio", watching as the water which was causing her teeth to chatter vanished. Following it up with a quick "calefactio" the young blonde's chattering stopped as she was blanketed in warmth.
Harry Hellfire turned his gimlet eye back on the three bullies. "Not so fucking funny when you are on the receiving end, is it?" he growled. He glared at the biggest of the three. "What's your name?" he growled, lifting the silencing charm. The girl didn't answer so Harry took a step closer and raised his wand.
"I really don't like having to repeat myself"
"M…ma… Marietta."
"I'm sure you have more than one fucking name."
"Edgecomb!"
Harry nodded. "I'm normally a fairly easy going kind of a guy, Marietta Edgecomb, but I truly, truly hate bullies." He pointed at the younger girl. "I don't know this young lady here, but I can't imagine she's done anything to justify three bigger witches ganging up on her."
Edgecomb wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical question or not so erred on the side of trying to justify her actions. "She's strange, she's an embarrassment to Ravenclaw."
"There's only one fucking embarrasment here, and it's not her." Harry's wand was quivering with barely contained rage. "So, Marietta Edgecomb, I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on this young lady here. I'm also going to be keeping a close eye on you and the other two bullying arseholes you seem to be dragging around. "
One of the other witches had recovered some of her wits about her and wasn't for being told off by a mere boy. "You think you are something special Potter, you aren't going to get away with this."
Harry turned his glare back on the witch who spoke. "Bring it. Don't worry, I will find out your name too, and if I find any of you bullying her again, I will *not* be a fun person to be around. Any questions? No? Good. Now. Fuck off!"
A wordless swipe of Harry's wand saw the bindings disappear and the three would be bullies take off at a dead sprint. As they disappeared, so Harry Hellfire was returned to the darker reaches of Harry Potter's psyche, and he turned to the young witch who was standing with her mouth agape. Immediately the rage left him and the ice cold tone of his voice vanished, replaced by words of warm concern.
"Are you ok, miss?"
"Yes. Thank you." The girls voice was quiet, timid. Harry could tell she was still scared, this time of him.
"I'm very sorry if I scared you, I know I have a temper on me, but really, I like to think I'm a pretty nice guy. I just wasn't kidding when I said that I don't like bullies. I'm Harry by the way."
The girl chanced a small shy laugh. "I think everyone in the castle knows who you are, Harry Potter."
Harry grinned back. "And you are?"
"Luna. Luna Lovegood."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Luna." Harry looked her up and down to make sure there was no visible sign of injury. "Do you have many problems with those three bitches?"
Luna just shrugged. "Sometimes." Her voice was still small.
Harry nodded. "If you get any more problems come and tell me and I'll see what I can do. Or if you can't find me I'm sure Hermione would help."
"Hermione Granger?"
"Yeah, you know her?"
Luna shook her head. "She's a Gryffindor and older than me. Our paths never really cross, but she's known in Ravenclaw." The way Luna said that set something off in Harry.
"Known how?" This was said with a scowl, even though Harry wasn't sure why.
"Well, she's top of the year, has been every year since she came to Hogwarts, but she's a Gryffindor. Ravenclaw is meant to be the house of the intellectuals. Some of the house don't like that she's not a 'Claw."
"And what do you think, Luna Lovegood?"
"I think that given how smart she is, if she's still a Gryffindor I can only imagine how brave she must be. I'm a little in awe of her to be honest. I'm near the top of my year but…" The young witch tapered off.
Luna looked up at Harry, a strange look on her face.
"What?" Harry was surprised at the way Luna had stopped talking. "Have I got something on my face?"
Luna shook her head again. "People say I'm strange, which is fine because I am. I like being strange. I can see things, things that others can't. I can see auras, I can see connections, I can see, well, just things, stuff that doesn't make any sense until it's happened."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "And what do you see when you look at me?"
Luna fixed her silvery grey eyes on him. Normally Harry would feel uncomfortable at such scrutiny but with Luna he didn't. She seemed to be looking right through him and what felt like an age passed before she spoke again.
"There are seven areas in your aura. They remind me of keyholes, like you are the keeper of seven keys. One keyhole has a key in it which has been unlocked, I think that key has been there for a long time, another keyhole has the key in it but hasn't been turned yet. I can 'see' that there's another key nearby waiting to be found, but the other four…" she tailed off. "Nope, I can't see them yet. They are important though Harry Potter. There's something else."
Luna's eyes glazed over as she spoke again, this time in a poetic form.
"Seven deadly sins
Seven ways to win
Seven holy paths to hell…
Seven downward slopes
Seven bloodied hopes
Seven are your burning fires
Seven your desires."
As she spoke the last words a normal sheen returned to her eyes and she blinked a few times.
Harry stood there gaping at her. "What does that all mean?"
Luna just shrugged. "The words come to me, I don't always know what they mean, I don't even always know what language they are. Something just comes to me and I say the words. It's one of the reasons the other Ravenclaws don't like me."
Harry felt a stab of sympathy for the young girl. "Well, it just goes to show that Ravenclaws aren't as smart as they like to think they are. You seem perfectly likeable to me."
Luna smiled at him. "Thank you Harry Potter, that's pretty much the nicest thing I've heard since I came to the castle. Anyone who calls you a friend must be very lucky."
Harry's indignance only grew. Hogwarts was starting to show itself as being a microcosm of all that was wrong with the wizarding world. When people like Luna and Hermione were ostracised and arseholes like Malfoy and Weasley were considered to be amongst the popular, well that didn't sit well on the shoulders of Harry Potter.
Harry answered automatically. "I would consider myself lucky to be able to call you a friend, Luna Lovegood" he declared, copying her apparent habit of using someone's full name. "I already think I'm very lucky to have a friend in Hermione, there are another couple of people that I'm trying to get to know a bit better too, but I'd be delighted to have you as a friend."
Luna's eyes went wide at that, and Harry was sure that he could see tears forming in them. "Ummm.. I'm sorry Luna if I…"
He didn't get any further, the young blonde shook her head quickly before giving Harry a timid but determined hug. "You are the first person who has come out to say that they want to be my friend since I started here." she whispered before letting Harry go.
Harry cast a quick tempus charm to see the time. "There's ages before curfew, let's go to the library and get to know each other. I wonder if I can get a message to Hermione to get her to come too, I think I really want to introduce the two of you."
"Is Hermione Granger your girlfriend?"
Luna's question stopped Harry in his tracks and Luna couldn't help but notice the flush which was rapidly making its way across Harry's cheeks. It took a moment or two but he finally stuttered out his answer.
"Hermione is a friend, a really good friend." He tried to sound confident and convincing. He wasn't sure he managed it.
"But you'd like her to be your girlfriend." It wasn't phrased as a question.
Harry gave himself a mental shake. Did he want Hermione to be his girlfriend? Was that why he was so determined to ask her to the Ball and to get that asking 'right', even though it transpired that he got it just about as wrong as he could have, in his own mind at least.
"I haven't really thought about that, Luna" he said, almost convinced that he was more or less speaking the truth. That was until the little voice at the back of his mind planted a seed of doubt. Hadn't Harry been drawn to Hermione since day one? Of all the students in Hogwarts, wasn't she the one he sought out above all others. Wasn't she the one who, now that he came to think about it, had a starring role in many of Harry's more recent dreams? Wasn't she the one student in the school Harry thought was distractingly beautiful?
'Wait. What? Where did that come from?' Harry's inner voice was saying. 'Distracting?' Harry was lost in his own thoughts, something not unusual for him, and those thoughts were telling him that no matter where that idea came from, it had the benefit of being true. Harry thought Hermione was pretty.
He was dragged out of his musings by Luna who he found was looking at him with a slightly concerned expression. "Sorry Luna, sometimes I get stuck in my own head." He gave himself another mental shake. "Anyway, let's go to the study area of the library and have a chat about this thing you said, I really would like Hermione to join us too…" Harry mused how he would get a message to Hermione.
There was one obvious way, but he was worried it would look like he was showing off,or being arrogant, or some similar such. The other half of his mind though was the side which sometimes came into play as a result of being the child of a Marauder, and the nephew in all but blood of two more.
The two kids found themselves heading to the library where Harry made his decision. With a look at Luna filled with a kind of benign mischief, Harry drew his wand.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Luna's eyes went wide as an ethereal stag burst out of Harry's wand and turned to look at the wizard who had called him forth. Harry kept his eyes on the patronus as he issued instructions. "Hi Hermione, it's Harry by the way. Can you get away to join me at the Library? There's someone I want you to meet and something I want your opinion on."
He nodded at the spectral beast which turned around and ran off straight through the wall on its quest to find the witch in question.
Harry looked at Luna who was standing there, mouth agape. "That was a patronus" she whispered. "How on earth…"
Harry just shrugged. "I have had some very good defence teachers over the years. As soon as I was old enough to start strengthening my magical core I was pushed to learn more and more advanced magic. I finally was able to cast a patronus about a year ago."
Luna shook her head in wonder. "I wish I could do something as wonderful as that" she mused.
Harry smiled. "It's a tricky spell, not going to lie, not because it's a complex incantation or wand movement or anything like that, it's hard because you have to really focus on something positive, something which fills you with joy, and when you first start the drain on your magic is horrible. The first few times I tried I passed out with exhaustion."
Luna's eyes widened further. Harry smiled at her. "I am pretty sure that Hermione will be hurrying down to the library as much to grill me about my patronus as anything else, I am also fairly sure she's going to ask how its done and if she does I can't picture a world where I wouldn't want to help her learn. I can try and teach you too if you want?"
Luna looked like she was about to cry again, so unused was she to someone like Harry Potter not only being nice to her, but offering to help teach her one of the most difficult areas of magic to master.
True to Harry's prediction, before she was able to say anything further, the library door flew open and a harried looking Hermione Granger sped her way to the waiting duo, although such was her focus on Harry, she never noticed Luna standing off to the side. She was out of breath, and had clearly been making her way through the castle at a reasonable pace.
"What on earth, Harry Potter!" The young witch's eyes still locked on his. "Do you have any idea just how much commotion you have caused in Gryffindor Tower." She was just about to continue when she spotted the second person. "Oh. Hello." Hermione's face automatically formed itself into what she hoped was a neutral expression, although neither of the other two missed the slight scowl which formed before she was able school herself.
Harry took over. "Hermione, I'd like you to meet Miss Luna Lovegood. Luna, meet Hermione Granger!"
"Pleased to meet you Miss Granger." Luna's voice was shy and timid, it was clear that she was somewhat in awe of what was happening.
"Likewise Miss Lovegood, although please call me Hermione. I wasn't aware you knew Harry." The question was light enough but the younger girl clearly understood the subtext.
"I don't. Not really. Today is the first time Harry spoke to me."
The brunette turned to her friend and raised an eyebrow. Harry just shrugged. "Luna was having an issue, I kind of helped her out."
For her part, Luna wasn't about to leave it at that. "Three older students were ganging up on me, Harry took down the three of them at once."
Hermione's second eyebrow joined the first. "Three of them?"
Harry shrugged again. "I mean, I had the element of surprise, I was able to get them when they weren't expecting it. Besides, what else could I do, I wasn't going to leave someone to be bullied."
With a look that said they would speak more of this later, Hermione nodded and smiled. "I'm glad Harry was able to help you Miss Lovegood. If you encounter any issues in the future, please let me know too and I'll be happy to help if I can." Harry smiled. 'Called it' he thought.
Hermione turned back to Harry. "I presume Miss Lovegood was who you wanted me to meet, what was it you wanted my help with?"
"Is everyone always so formal?" Harry asked with a snort. Luna just shrugged.
"It's expected in wizarding culture that you maintain an air of formality, particularly at Hogwarts, even amongst peers unless leave is given to be more informal."
Hermione took up the answer. "I had that drummed into me when I started. I made various social faux pas when I first came to Hogwarts. It's one of the reasons I don't really have many friends, being a muggleborn has disadvantages, particularly when it comes to etiquette. But Miss Lovegood, you are always welcome to call me Hermione." Luna's smiling response that Hermione could do the same led to a notable reduction in tension.
Harry was also smiling, although his mind was rattling. "It's all bollocks" he declared, leading to minor scowls from the two girls. "Sorry, but it is. My dad grew up in a traditional pureblood house, as did my Godfather, neither of them instilled that nonsense into me, although they both have a healthy disdain for authority so maybe not the best example to use."
"Anyway, we can have the discussion around the societal norms another time, what did you want to tell me?" Hermione was never one to let anything get in the way of the potential of something new and exciting to learn.
Harry and Luna gave Hermione a rundown of their conversation. As was her way, Hermione's nose wrinkled slightly as she thought, something Harry was rapidly coming to consider incredibly cute. "Seven 'things' in your aura" she mused "and that little poem or whatever it was about sevens. Seven is an arithmantically important number, it's used in any number of rituals, some of the most powerful rune chains are seven groups of seven, and of course there's the long held belief that the seventh son of a seventh son would be a powerful sourcerer."
Luna took up the mantel. "Many magical tales suggest that magic was brought into the world by the first seventh son of a seventh son."
Hermione was still thinking. "Luna said that the 'keyholes' were in your aura, I presume that means that there's seven of something which are particularly relevant to you. "
Harry looked at the two witches. He was trying some free association thoughts which Mooney had been teaching him. Admittedly, it was Mooney's way at getting Harry to try and look at new ideas and different strategies when it came to fighting, but the techniques were handy for all sorts of things. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts coalesce into order. He was aware of the two girls muttering to each other, presuming they were talking about Luna's words and if he had gotten to know Hermione at all over these few weeks since his entry to the castle, he was sure that the older of the girls would be picking things apart word by word.
Harry was, were he being honest, envious of Hermione's analytical brain. As they worked together he marvelled at how she could absorb, retain and interpet information. Listening to conversations between her and his mum, he marvelled at how the two seemed to organise their minds the same way. In terms of looks and social personalities, they were very different, but their approach to academia was so in-tune it was scary. Sometimes, however, it took a slightly disorganised mind to see connections that the analytical approach missed. Harry suspected that Luna would be an expert in that kind of approach, there was an other-worldiness about the younger girl which Harry had quickly become fascinated by. He also noticed, however, that as interesting as Luna was, and she absolutely was, he wasn't dran to her the same way that he was to Hermione. He felt a kinship with the young blonde certainly, and despite knowing her for less than an hour was sure that they would become friends, it brought into sharp focus that his instinct with her was markedly different to his instinct with the brunette.
As he let his thoughts ruminate in his head, one tendril of an idea formed and he found it growing. In his mind's eye he saw Dobby lookling up at him with the book he had delivered just before he died. He saw an echo of the green light which plagued his nightmares as a baby and an amorphous black cloud which followed it. The cloud and the book 'felt' the same.
With a start he sat bolt upright and opened his eyes, much to the surprise of the other two.
"I thought you had fallen asleep" said Hermione. Luna however was looking closely at and around him.
"You've had an epiphany." It was a statement not a question. "Two of your keyholes are glowing."
Harry nodded. "I need to speak to my mum and dad." Hermione looked like she was about to say something but was stopped by Luna's hand on her arm. The two witches looked at each other, words not needed.
Harry bade the two farewell and made plans to catch up with both at breakfast. How that was going to work given that Hermione was a Gryffindor and Luna a Ravenclaw was going to be tomorrow's problem.
The tendril of thought that he had sparked with his impromptu meditation was now growing fully. He upped his pace and made his way back to the Heads suite. Thankfully, James and Lily were both home. Harry burst through the door and without as much as a by your leave, made his pronouncement.
"I know how many horcruxes there are."