A Young Wizard's Journey - Rising Phoenix

Liberation

Y/N had mentioned before that he figured all of Dumbledore's gifts would have a deeper meaning, and as Hermione stared down at that weird triangular symbol, she couldn't help but agree.

The triangle, the circle and the line sticking through the middle heading "The Tale of the Three Brothers."

'Hey you two, take a look at this,' she said, placing the book down and pointing to the top of the page.

'Oh I love this one,' said Ron excitedly. 'Mum always used to read this one to us as a kid.' He cleared his throat. 'There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at midnight-'

'Yes yes, all well and good,' said Hermione a little impatiently, 'but I meant this, at the top. Have either of you ever seen that symbol before?'

Ron shook his head, but Harry, who hadn't seemed to have been fully paying attention so far, glanced at it, and then, did a double take.

'Wait... wasn't... wasn't Luna's dad wearing that at Bill and Fleur's wedding?'

'That's what I thought,' said Hermione excitedly, 'but I can't find it referenced anywhere. It's not a rune or anything.'

'I'm pretty sure it's Grindelwald's mark.'

Ron and Hermione stared at him.

'What?'

'Krum told me that apparently it was carved into a wall at Durmstrang by Grindelwald himself.'

Hermione paused, glancing down.

'Y/N was sure all of these items would have hidden meaning. So, I assume there must be a reason that Dumbledore has put it here. I mean, it's his copy of the book after all.'

'Maybe it's 'cause him and Grindelwald were such good pals,' said Harry angrily.

'Do we want to look further into it?' asked Ron.

'Yes... and I think I know where to start,' said Hermione looking up at Harry. 'It all adds up to there, doesn't it?'

The look on Harry's face told Hermione that her assumption had been right, he had not been removed of his want to visit Godric's Hollow.

'Yeah... I was going to ask to go there anyway to be honest,' said Harry.

'It'll be risky,' said Ron, who had evidently also figured out where they were talking about, 'but it might be safer to go soon after what Y/N did.'

A week or two prior, they'd spoke to the portrait of Phineus Nigellus that Hermione had brought from Grimmauld Place, and he had told them of a stunt that Y/N and a new student called Klaus had apparently pulled, which had involved nothing less than kidnapping the Minister for Magic.

'Why will that make Godric's Hollow safer?' asked Harry.

'You-Know-Who will be focusing on Hogwarts and Y/N,' said Ron. 'He'll have probably left Death Eaters to watch for you, but he can't leave them there on the off chance you'll appear with Y/N running around.'

'Ron might have a point,' said Hermione thoughtfully. 'Probably safer to go sooner rather than later. We'll start planning something.'

()()()()()()

November turned into December, and Y/N barely left the Room of Requirement.

The other five were doing an extremely good job of undermining Snape's plans. Ginny had even managed to get herself banned from Hogsmeade when her last visit had resulted in actively stunning any student she saw that worked with the Carrows on the grounds of "it not being school property".