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Chapter 669: Letter

In the following two weeks, Hermione’s mood became visibly brighter, and she spent her days in a cheerful mood, and more than once Harry caught her suddenly using her wand like a baton and pretending to conduct a concert while she was revising for her homework.

“Hermione’s gone mad, we’re screwed on this year’s exams.” Ron whispered quietly in Harry’s ear.

“Maybe it’s some sort of trick to hone her magic?” Harry guessed, and as he spoke, a string of ancient runes streaked together like coloured musical notes circled Hermione, constantly chasing the tip of her wand, which was emitting a soft white light, in her hand.

As Hermione went on filling out new notes on her Herbology textbook, Flesh-Eating Trees of the World, Ron asked her curiously, “Are you so happy, are you happy about something? Like – um, winning the Daily Prophet’s annual Grand Prize?”

“Oh, well, that won’t be awarded before July!” Hermione said briskly.

“Either that or you’ve nailed the quiz in Witch Weekly.” Ron said with certainty.

“I do look forward to the ‘Most-Charming-Smile Award’ this year,” Hermione said, “That Rita Skeeter woman seems to be busy with other things and is offering fewer articles to other magazines altogether, which makes some of them good to read.”

Harry knew that Witch Weekly is a popular magazine for witches, and the library collected some past issues, which he sometimes looked through. He wasn’t really interested in the content though, it was mostly celebrity news, fashion trends, quizzes, advice columns, quick divination, recipes, and so on. Ron’s mother is one of its loyal subscribers.

It is worth noting that this magazine gives an annual award for ‘Most Charming Smile’ and Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry’s second-year Defence Against the Dark Arts class professor – was a darling of this magazine, winning this award five years straight.

When Lockhart was disgraced and sentenced to prison, Ron asserted that “at least half of the British witches would be in tears, and the witch-oriented magazines would see a huge drop in sales.”

But Harry was not bothered; in his view, the experiences of Professor Hap, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald as young men, and the many brilliant wizards he had seen in the Pensieve, were all far more fascinating to talk about and discuss than a thief who could only brag about the memories of others he stole.

The biggest change Dumbledore’s lessons brought to Harry was a deep understanding of the structure of the wizarding world in general, and of Britain itself in particular. Sometimes Harry would close his eyes and become conscious of the associations he had made with hundreds of wizards; he knew them, their past, and their present. These wizards acted like a great, glowing web all over the place, allowing Harry to know where he stood even when he remained in the dark.

This feeling was becoming stronger and stronger as the memories approached the current point in time.

The last Saturday, in the Headmaster’s office, Harry had finally worked up the courage to confirm the identity of Professor Bagshot.

That night, he and Dumbledore kept travelling through their memories, which spanned twenty years. Not only did Harry once again get to see Grindelwald’s speech delivered in full in the underground chamber of Père Lachaise Cemetery (this memory was someone else’s), but he also met another member of the Dumbledore family.

“Credence. Grindelwald bewitched him and named him Aurelius Dumbledore.”

Harry was taken aback.

“That name is similar to Ariana-”

“Somehow similar, isn’t it?” Dumbledore asked softly, and Harry nodded, especially the first two syllables. “He is my nephew. He is the child of Aberforth, and has had the same ill fate as my sister.” He explained to Harry, “That child’s mother was a Muggle who once loved my brother, but later they separated, and neither Aberforth nor I knew of the child’s existence back then.”

“He was later adopted by a muggle institution that loathed magic and had to repress his magic and ended up like Ariana, an Obscurial.”

Harry fell silent, he wondered how Dumbledore could say all this calmly with a very heavy heart, and he was reminded of another incident.

It was about the day they had seen Aberforth at the school gates.

According to his private discussions with Ron and Hermione, Aberforth had compromised because of his sister and had chosen to give up his memories. But now he wasn’t sure if they had mistaken, and perhaps in addition to Ariana, another person with a similar name had taken up quite a bit of weight.

…

Yet another weekend day, Felix returned to the office after washing up to see Phoenix Fawkes and Niffler Valen sharing a can of fresh fish on the small table next to the sofa, Fawkes’ sharp pointed beak poking a hole in the tin can.

Valen, who had just tried to help, flinched in fright and patted her chest heartily. Fawkes cocked his head and looked at her rather innocently.

It remained a bit chilly for a May morning, and as Felix donned one of his coats, he wondered in his mind how he could convince Fawkes to bring the Sorting Hat out for a stroll next time; he must be quite lonely, with few friends, and perhaps a Confundus Charm filled with good intentions would remind him of those pleasant times he once had.

Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. The years when the four founders of the school lived in harmony were also, in theory, a wonderful childhood for the Sorting Hat.

At that point, Fawkes’ beak, which originally worked on opening the lid of the can, suddenly made a clicking sound, as he signalled for Felix to come over. Felix walked over, sat down on the sofa, and met the big fiery red bird eye to eye, the clenched claw on its belly loosened.

The black resurrection stone ring fell onto the table, tinkling, and there was a small piece of paper rolled around the ring.

A long, crane-like leg brushed the ring and flung it into Felix’s hand, and Fawkes gave a low purr at him.

“Oh, so it’s because of this.” Felix snapped to attention, “Headmaster Dumbledore sent you?” He picked up the ring and removed the note, unfolding it to read a short little line, ‘As we agreed before.’

So, Dumbledore didn’t need the Resurrection Stone for a while? Felix thought.

The outline of the silver Rain Swallow Patronus traced out from the air – ‘You know who to look for, don’t you? Luna Lovegood, and remember to remind her to bring the letter with her.” The Rain Swallow’s little head nodded, then it spread its wings and flew deftly out of the window.

Felix once again focused his attention on the phoenix who had his head down eating a fresh small fish.

“Tell Dumbledore for me that I will return the Resurrection Stone to him as soon as Miss Lovegood is done using it.” When he finished the main task, he asked with a touch of curiosity, ” Fawkes, how old are you?”

Phoenix cocked his head at him and blinked in confusion.

“Don’t remember? Lived too long or under the influence of Nirvana?” Felix muttered.

The room fell silent. After finishing the can of small fish, Fawkes shook Valen’s hand with one talon and spread his wide wings intending to leave, so Felix hastily asked the question on his mind, “I assume you knew Grindelwald? Back in the war years?”

Fawkes’ pretty eyes flickered for a moment as it looked at Felix reproachfully, and tilted his head back to cry out as his body disappeared in flames. Bright sparks of fire spilled down.

Felix crushed the sparks into embers and tsked in his mind at the fact that he actually saw a reflection of another person in the phoenix’s eyes, a young male wizard with dark hair.

It turned out that Fawkes hadn’t followed Dumbledore from the start.

Felix remembered an unconfirmed rumour he had read in some book about an old wizard family, the legend had it that the Phoenix would respond when a member of Dumbledore’s family has a dire need.

In the other corner, Harry had gotten up a little later than usual because it is a weekend, and when Harry appeared in the common room properly dressed, he saw Ron sitting there with an unsettled look on his face.

“Another one missing, this time it’s Elvira.” He said grumblingly.

“Who is it?” Harry asked.

“Don’t you remember? She’s part of the Animagus class. Plus I’ve seen her at Creevey’s club.” Ron said.

Harry blinked and an image of a very fidgety girl who asked a lot of questions came to his mind. As far as he could remember, Elvira has good talent, it was just the fact that every time she saw him she would ask all sorts of nonsense questions that caused him to be a bit overwhelmed.

“What’s wrong with her?” Harry asked casually, only to find Ron glaring at him with anger and retorting, “Are you listening carefully or not.” Harry threw his hands up, “Sorry, just woke up …”

“She didn’t turn up this morning, I asked Susan, and she said Elvira had failed,” Ron rambled, “As if that wasn’t enough, first Macmillan forgot to get up early to recite the incantation on the day of the Apparition exam because he was so excited, then Vergil, Zabini … I heard that only four students registered on the last full moon session.”

Harry didn’t know how to comfort Ron, who had been stuck on the second step of Animagus Transfiguration for over a month now and hadn’t made any progress so far.

Hermione looked up from her book and said without mercy, “Leave him alone Harry, he’s asking for it.”

Harry was a little surprised by her attitude, he expected Ron to speak up and retort, but Ron didn’t, he just seemed to have gotten into an even worse mood. “What’s going on?” Harry asked as they went downstairs to have breakfast.

“He’s a bit resistant to his Transfiguration form.” Hermione said before Ron could.

Ron blushed a little less than normal and whispered, “I don’t think I would look majestic in my Patronus form.”

Harry instantly understood his concern; based on the previous few successful examples, the Animagus form generally remained the same as the Patronus form. Because Patronus tended to be associated with the heart of a wizard (a few exceptions existed), it was for this reason that Harry, Hermione, Neville, Hannah, and the others seemed comfortable in their Animagus practice.

“But I think the dog looks pretty cool, don’t you like Fang a lot?” Harry asked in confusion, “You didn’t think that way when you summoned your Patronus though … Oh, surely you wouldn’t have been influenced by Malfoy, right? Don’t listen to him, just think of Sirius …”

Ron was somewhat persuaded.

“Okay, maybe I took the wrong turn. Are you supposed to go to Dumbledore’s office today? Exams are coming up.”

Harry nodded.

“I saw Rita Skeeter in the Pensieve last time, maybe I’ll see my parents soon, oh, and Professor Hap.”

“That’s weird, you still haven’t learned anything else?”

“Yeah, I-”

He got so engrossed in what he was saying that he collided straight with a figure running towards him. Harry fell to the ground, rubbing his head in pain, tears streaming down his face from the pain. When Harry staggered to his feet with stars popping in front of his eyes and shaking his dizzy head, he muttered in surprise, “Luna?”

“Oh, Harry? Hello.” Luna said in slight pain as well, one hand covering her forehead and the other one clutching a cardboard box.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked groggily, suddenly feeling some different texture in his hand. He lowered his head and found an envelope stuck under his hand. No, there are half a dozen letters lying within his sight, and with a quick glance around him, he notices that they seem to be surrounded by a flood of envelopes.

Ron helped Harry up and Hermione knelt to help Luna gather the letters scattered on the floor.

Harry curiously picked up one of them; the envelope had oddly drawn floral patterns, very much in Luna’s personal style, probably some kind of plant that existed in her imagination, he thought. In the middle of the floral pattern, it read ‘To my dear wife Pandora’.

“Thank you, Harry.” Luna said, looking over at the envelope in Harry’s hand which Harry handed to Luna. Luna put the last envelope in the box and then said, “I have things to do, so I’ll leave first.” She waved at the three of them.

“She’s sending that many letters at once? I doubt there would be enough messengers for her to use even if we added all the owls in the Owlery.” Ron said in surprise.

“Or maybe it was something she had stored up before,” Hermione said, as she also noted the writing on the letters. “But who is Pandora?”

Hermione didn’t expect an answer, but Harry offered one.

“It’s Luna’s mother.”

“Oh, oh-” Hermione seemed to understand all at once as she sucked in her breath, tears glistening in her eyes.

Ron’s eyes widened, “But didn’t she die a long … time ago? Because of an accident?”

“Remember when Luna searched for the Resurrection Stone at the beginning of the school year?” Hermione said softly, “Now we know what those letters are for.”

A few minutes later, in the Ancient Rune office.

Felix stood in the doorway and motioned inside, “So, Luna, as promised, you have all morning. I should warn you that the Resurrection Stone is not perfect in any version of the story, so beware not to fall under its spell.”

“Thanks.” Luna’s calm voice said, “I feel sorry for Mum, but I still have Dad and I never felt she left us, we just couldn’t see her and had to use some tools. Dad and I both treasure will treasure this opportunity.”

Felix paused where he stood for a few seconds and closed the door to his office. At that moment, the sound of Luna reading the letter came faintly through the door.

Outside, the weather became muggy and Felix made his way to the yard with Valen, who stood on his shoulder, where the shrubs growing in abundance and the strong scent of flowers could be smelt, and finally, June arrived.

—————

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