Chapter 1285

"So, what do you want to say?"

"That's it!" Hermione slammed the book in her hand on the table.

"I'm going to find Shane Lovegood."

Harry's eyes widened immediately...

"What did you say?"

"Shane Lovegood, Luna's father, I'm going to find him and talk to him." Hermione repeated, "Believe me, this must be..."

"But... why?" Harry said puzzled.

Hermione took a deep breath, as if to inject strength into herself, and then said, "This is the mark, the mark in "Bide the Bard". Look at this!"

She pushed the book forward suddenly, and naturally, "Dumbledore's Lies and Life" was stretched out in front of Harry. Harry reluctantly took a look. It was a photo of Dumbledore's original letter to Grindelwald, with Dumbledore's familiar thin italic handwriting on it.

He was very disgusted to see that there was solid evidence that Dumbledore wrote the letter, not Rita made it up.

"Rita can even get this thing?" Fanlin said in surprise, doubting Rita Skeeter's ability.

"This is indeed Dumbledore's note. I have compared it many times, and Harry and I also carefully confirmed it when you were asleep." Hermione said, frowning.

"Well, I'm just a little surprised, so what are you going to do, Grindelwald?"

"Yes, it's this signature," Hermione said. "Look at this signature, Harry!"

Harry looked at it, and for a moment he didn't understand what she meant, but with the light of the wand, he leaned in and looked carefully, and he saw that Dumbledore changed Grindelwald's name to a small triangle symbol, which was the same as he marked on "The Tales of Bede the Bard".

This made Harry feel a little frightened, it was really too... Dumbledore knew this symbol, so he reminded her in the book left for Hermione.

Isn't it terrible when so many coincidences hit together...

"It keeps appearing, doesn't it?" Hermione said, "I know Viktor said it was Grindelwald's symbol, and it did appear on the ancient tombstone in Godric's Hollow, and the date recorded on the tombstone was much earlier than the time when Grindelwald appeared! Now look at this! Well, we can't ask Dumbledore or Grindelwald what this means... I don't even know if Grindelwald is still alive... But we can ask Mr. Lovegood. He wore that symbol at the wedding. I'm sure it's important, Harry!"

Harry didn't answer immediately. He looked at her excited and eager face, then walked out of the tent, into the darkness around him, thinking.

Is it worth it?

For the first time in history, Harry really persuaded his partner to do something by his own will, but the result was a little unbearable for Harry.

Injured, or almost dead, after watching Voldemort's miracles in magic up close, Harry couldn't help but doubt himself again.

Am I doing the right thing?

Against a man who can drag dead creatures back from the dark side of the world...

After a long silence, Harry said: "Hermione, let's not take risks blindly again. Last time, we almost..."

"But it keeps appearing, Harry! Dumbledore left me "The Tales of Bede the Bard". Doesn't he want us to solve the mystery of the symbols?"

"Here we go again!" Harry was a little angry, "We always try to convince ourselves that Dumbledore left secret symbols and clues..."

"But other than that, we don't have any choice, right? Just like the other things Dumbledore left us, although only Fox has played a role now, but I believe in him, as always..." Vanlin interrupted. "I think Hermione is right. I think we should go find Lovegood."

"But what if this is a scam?"

"A scam?"

"Yes, just like Godric's Hollow..."

"No, no, no, Harry...it's different from Godric's Hollow," Vanlin added, "Lovegood is on your side, Harry. The Quibbler has always been with you. It has been telling people that they will help you. Remember the broadcast I mentioned? On the radio, I can tell that part of it comes from the Quibbler...that's our good supporter."

God damn it...

Vanlin hasn't heard it yet, but this doesn't stop Vanlin from persuading Harry. Now all they need is some confidence.

"I'm sure this is important!" Hermione said sincerely.

"But don't you think that if this is the case, Dumbledore would tell me before he died?"

"Oh, when did he do this? Older wizards are like this, pretending to be mysterious, especially Dumbledore." Vanlin said, covering his forehead.

"To be honest, if I hadn't disrupted Dumbledore's plan at the beginning, I don't think I would have had any part in what happened later."

"What?"

"For example, Horcruxes..." Fanlin spread his hands, "If I hadn't destroyed some of the Horcruxes by chance when I was in school, Dumbledore might not have taken me with him when he was looking for the ring."

"Oh, yes, that's how they are." Hermione continued, "Maybe... maybe you need to find it yourself."

"I don't think this is an interesting idea." Harry recalled his past experiences with Dumbledore. Thinking carefully, Dumbledore didn't seem to tell them what to do. Sometimes he said it directly, and they seemed to have thought of what to do in advance.

This made Harry even more unaccustomed to Dumbledore...

"But I still think we should talk to Lovegood. This symbol connects Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Godric's Hollow. Harry, I'm sure we need to know this."

"I think we can vote," Fanlin said after a moment of hesitation, "Raise your hand if you agree to see Lovegood..."

Fanlin immediately raised his hand, and Hermione didn't seem to react yet. She looked a little flustered, but she still followed Fanlin and raised her hand habitually.

What is this?

Bullying the vulnerable?

Harry's head was full of question marks...

"The minority obeys the majority, Harry, sorry." Fanlin said while patting Harry on the back with relief.

"Okay," Harry said, feeling funny and angry.

Vote by raising hands? When did their little group need to make such a decision?

And... this is obviously a group behavior, right?

"It's just that after we meet Lovegood, we have to try to find other Horcruxes, okay? So where does the Lovegood family live? Do either of you know?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"I know, I probably asked when I talked to Luna last time," Fanlin said honestly.

"Well... so, why do you ask where Luna lives?" Hermione looked at Fanlin.

"Well, you know, Luna... I mean, about "The Quibbler"... those magazines are edited directly from her home... and... well, I admit that I can't keep up with Luna's thinking." Fanlin touched his nose.

The title of crazy girl is not a joke, okay, with Luna's nervousness jumping, even if ordinary people are mentally prepared, it is very difficult to keep up.

"Okay, so where is it?"

"Although I don't know the exact location, I remember it is also in the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, which is the hilly area east of Ron's house. It seems not far from the Burrow. Moreover, it should not be difficult to find in the hilly area. After all, Luna's family is very distinctive."

"Okay, then it's settled..." Hermione nodded, "Then we will set off early tomorrow morning."

...

Hermione returned to bed. In fact, after Vanlin woke up, he refused Hermione's request to keep watch.

"So, what are you going to do? Vote by raising your hands?" Harry narrowed his eyes and looked at Vanlin dangerously, which really made him very unhappy.

If he and Vanlin had a disagreement, Harry knew that Hermione would be Vanlin's supporter in the end.

"It's all because of love and war," Vanlin spread his hands and said, "Both, be happy, it's Christmas vacation now, and we may be able to meet Luna and learn about the situation at Hogwarts."

The next morning, they Apparated to the hillside, the breeze was blowing, and looking around, the entire village of Ottery St. Catchpole was in full view. They stood high up, the sun shone obliquely on the ground through the gaps in the clouds, and looking down, the village looked like many toy houses arranged on an oblique axis.

They raised their palms to block the sun and stood looking at the Burrow for a while, but they could only make out some high hedges and trees in the orchard, all of which were planted to prevent this strange little house from being discovered by Muggles.

Harry seemed a little melancholy. He liked the Burrow very much, not only because of Ginny and Ron, but also because of all the Weasleys, and Mrs. Weasley, who felt like his mother...

"I don't know how they are doing." Harry looked at the Burrow with a nostalgic look, "Maybe Ron is at home now..."

"This is a good result, isn't it..." Fanlin said, "Enjoy Christmas with peace of mind, without worrying about us... At least this can make Mrs. Weasley feel more at ease, but I don't think Ron will go back."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"It's for face. Ron values ​​this very much." Fanlin said, "If we go back, Mrs. Weasley will be relieved, but believe me, Mrs. Weasley will definitely not be happy..."

Harry opened his mouth, but thinking of Mrs. Weasley's character, he nodded resignedly.

"So, where will Ron be?"

"I don't know... But he will take good care of himself. I hope Ron can see it more and go back to the Burrow directly." Fanlin held his head with both hands, which made him look a little lazy.

"Anyway, let's go up from here," Fanlin said, "The hills in the east seem to be a little remote."

Fanlin and his friends walked for several hours. At Hermione's insistence, Harry put on his invisibility cloak, and then Fanlin and Hermione used Animagus, which accelerated the time needed to find it.

Until a small villa appeared in the field of vision, standing alone on the deserted hills, looking like it had been abandoned.

"Do you think that's their house and they're away for Christmas?" Hermione said as she returned to her original form, looking in through the window and seeing a neat little kitchen with a pot of geraniums on the windowsill.

Harry wasn't too keen on this...

"Look, I think you can tell right out of the Lovegood window that they live there. I think we should go look for it in the other mountains."

So they apparated again a few miles north.

"Aha!" Fan Lin's eyes lit up, and the wind blew their hair and clothes. He pointed upward. On the hilltop where they appeared, an extremely weird house pointed straight into the sky. Behind the house, a huge black cylinder with a terrifying moon hung under the afternoon sky.

"I'm sure this is Luna's home. Who else lives in a place like this? It looks like a giant chess piece!"

"It doesn't look like a flag at all," Hermione said, frowning at the strange-looking building.

"I meant chess," Harry retorted.

"Okay, no matter what it is." Fan Lin looked over, "Maybe we can go there and give it a try first, the chance is great, isn't it?"

Harry nodded and ran up the mountain first. By the time Fan Lin and Hermione reacted, Harry had already run some distance away.

It's definitely a thankless thing, running up hills?

Anyway, I seem to be in a good mood now.

"This is it," Harry said. "Look." Three self-painted markers were stapled to a collapsed door. The first one said, Quirky Editor, Shay Lovegood; the second one said, Pick your own mistletoe; the third one said, Don't try to drive a plum...

Playing devil's advocate, Fan Lin seemed to understand how the child Luna was raised by her father. It should be said that she was raised completely crooked...

They slowly opened the creaky door, and a zigzag path leading to the front door was filled with all kinds of weird plants, including one covered in a carrot-like fruit (which Luna sometimes wore as earrings) ) bushes.

Harry thought he had finally found a shelter for the withered Snagraf stump.

Two old hawthorn trees swayed in the wind, with heavy red berry-like fruits hanging on their bare branches. The bead-like pavilions were densely covered on them, standing like sentinels on both sides of the front door. A flat-headed owl with a head like an eagle stood on a branch watching them.

"We'd better drop the disguise... Muggles aren't going to find a naysayer editor, and, you know, Harry, your face is very useful sometimes."

"I'd rather not be like this, and besides, you're not much better than me." Harry said angrily, rolled up the invisibility cloak and gave it to Hermione to put in the bead-shaped bag.

Then Hermione knocked three times on the heavy black door, studded with iron nails and decorated with an eagle knocker. (To be continued)