In The Fight To Survive (Golden Trio Era) {4}

Desperation Disaster

After a brief discussion about the credibility of Xenophilius' beliefs, it seems that only Hermione wasn't sure whether it was factually possible for such magical objects to exist. Xenophilius gave the trio space to chat amongst themselves while he made them some lunch, where Hermione tried to back her argument by telling the boys that Mikayla also believed it was a reach. Ron countered her argument by offering up the suggestion that Mikayla might've mentioned the story to hint at her the etymology of the symbol. "What exactly did Mikayla say about the story?" Ron queried, believing that Hermione might've interpreted her words differently than how him or Harry might've. Hermione explained how Mikayla had said that Fred was the one who believed in its existence and suggested that they should try and track it down to bring Avery back.

"But Mikayla admitted that a part of her wants to believe it does exist, but the logical part of her brain couldn't accept it because Wizards are known to boast their prized possessions and she's never heard rumours of it outside of the story." Ron smirked, shaking his head at Mikayla's cryptic way of pointing them to the answer. She knew if Hermione shared what she said with Ron, that he would be able to debunk her words. "She's definitely sneaky when she wants to be. It's true that Fred believes they exist, he's always been fascinated with unique magical objects, how else do you think him and George got their hands on the map." Harry points out that Fred believing in it doesn't automatically mean that it does exist, but Ron explains that Fred would never suggest going to look for the Resurrection Stone.

"He always believed that it was cursed, that no matter who possesses it, they're destined to die if they use it, just like the second brother." It seemed that this explanation was enough to get Hermione on board, as she mentioned that she noticed that Mikayla had seemed more at ease after she told her about the stone. "More specifically when I said that the only reason a Wizard wouldn't have boasted about having it was out of fear that it would be stolen or they would be accused of being mad. But why would she not just come right out and tell me?" Harry countered Hermione's question, asking if she would've believed Mikayla's word without knowing now that it was tied to the symbol. "I might've." Hermione tried, but they all knew that there was no way that Hermione would've just accepted Mikayla's beliefs as the truth without more evidence.

Harry tried to diffuse the awkwardness that grew between them in the silence after their internal realisations by asking the room what creature they believed a decorative horn hanging up behind Hermione belonged to. When Hermione turned to look at it, she jumped up from her chair and hurried away from it. "That's an Erumpent horn!" Hermione squealed as she took another few cautious steps back. "You mean the massive magical rhinoceros that had a horn with injectable explosive fluid?!" Ron questioned as he followed Hermione's lead, trying to create more distance between him and the horn.

"We need to get out of here now, it's too dangerous to stay. Erumpent horns are very unstable once they're removed from the creature, and I highly doubt Mr Lovegood even knows what it is." The boys didn't waste any time trying to talk Hermione out of leaving because frankly they couldn't afford to be blown up. The trio rush to the staircase, intending to descend down it and say goodbye to Xenophilius, but they were stopped by Mr Lovegood reaching the top of the stairs with four bowls of a murky looking soup. "Sorry, Mr Lovegood, but we really must be off as you can imagine we have plenty of work to do." Hermione tried, knowing better than to bring up the Erumpent horn.

"Like what? For what I've heard this is the first sighting of you in months, I've only gotten word of the antics your friend Miss Black has been up to." Mr Lovegood questions, forcing them to step back so that he could put the tray down. That's when the bad feeling settled itself in the three teenagers' stomachs, each of them drawing their wands. Mr Lovegood frowned at this action, but as he reached for his own wand, the printing press jolted, sending copies of the new edition across the floor. The front page had Mikayla's wanted poster on it, the headline reading 'Black: Cult Leader and Killer' with the reward stated as 50,000 Galleons for her capture. On the back page was Harry's wanted poster, his head marked as Undesirable No.2 with a 40,000 reward for whoever killed him.