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

The Deathly Hallows

Xenophilius welcomed Harry, Ron and Hermione into his kitchen, asking them to give him a moment to fashion them up some tea before they discuss whatever has brought the trio to his door. The three friends shared a look of unease, Mr Lovegood was trembling, his movements were making the tea cups clink off of each other as he lifted them out of the cupboard. They take note of Xenophilius' stranger than usual behaviour, but give him the benefit of the doubt, war puts everyone on edge. While they waited for him to make the tea, they decided to fully appreciate the most peculiar kitchen they've ever seen. The room was perfectly circular, every piece of kitchen equipment; the sink, stove, cupboards, and fridge, were curved to fit the walls round edge.

No one piece of furniture was the same, they have all been painted a wide variety of primary coloured flowers, insects and birds, even in her absence you can feel Luna's personality shine through in her home. The house felt a little claustrophobic, despite all of the comfort you get from knowing this is Luna's home, it isn't enough to distract you from the spiral staircase that makes this enclosed space feel even smaller. The staircase diminished some of the warmth that the familiarity of Luna's aura brought to the three Horcrux Hunters with its cold wrought-iron assembly. Not to mention, the unease of hearing a great deal of clattering and banging coming from overhead. The trio internally wondered who or what could possibly be making all that racket, knowing that only Xenophilius lives here when Luna is off at school.

"Shall we?" Xenophilius asked the kids, using his head to point towards the spiral staircase as his hands were full with a tea tray, before he moved to lead them up the stairs. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed him closely, Mr Lovegood's extreme discomfort was putting them all on edge, and they wanted to get settled so they could get on with learning about the symbol. The room he led them to seemed to be a combination of living room and workplace covered in clutter that made the house feel even smaller. They all located what was making so much noise, an old fashioned printing press that was in the middle of mass producing Quibblers. Xenophilius put the tray down in the centre of the living room area of the room, rushing over to throw a speckled ink-stained tablecloth over it and the fresh copies of the Quibbler, only barely muffling the racket.

Xenophilius pours out four mugs of tea from the teapot, one for each of them, gesturing to Ron, Hermione and Harry to take one as he picks up his own and sits down. They sat in silence for a few minutes, no one felt comfortable enough to delve into the heavy topic of why the trio had sought out Mr Lovegood. They simultaneously raise their mugs to their lips, filling their mouths with the bitterest tea the trio have ever come across and they rush to hide their disgust as they put their mugs back down on the table. "So, how can I help you, Mr Potter?" Xenophilius asks as the silence starts to eat away at all of them. Harry wiped his hands against his denim-clad legs, swiping off the nervous sweat that had begun to build on them since he arrived.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something, it's about the symbol you were wearing around your neck at Bill and Fleur's wedding." Xenophilius reached up towards a chain around his neck, pulling on it so that the pendant would rise up and out from underneath his shirt. He raises the symbol towards Harry as he asks if it was that symbol he was inquiring about, "yes, that's exactly it. What we want to know is what is it?" Xenophilius let out a breath at Harry's question, treading the line between relief and disbelief, "it's the sign of the Deathly Hallows, of course." Hermione followed up his claim by asking what the Deathly Hallows were. "I assume you're all familiar with The Tale of the Three Brothers."

Hermione and Ron confirm that they've heard or read the story, Harry admits that he's never heard of it. "Oh, well... um." Xenophilius starts, trying to gather his thoughts to tell this tale, but Hermione frees him of the responsibility by announcing that she had the story in her bag. She roots through her beaded bag, pulling out her copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, flicking through it until she finds the page she is searching for. She looked up, taking a glance at the other three's faces, to silently ask if they were ready to listen. With a nod from Harry, Hermione began, "there were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at Twilight–" without thinking Ron jumped in to correct her, "Midnight, mum always said Midnight."