Lucy Riddle and the Boy Who Lived

Xenophilius Lovegood

Chapter Thirty-Nine

What to do about the Sword? That's question they were all thinking. There wasn't evidence that it could be at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, or anywhere. Dumbledore was a powerful wizard — he could have hidden it in any place and no one would be able to find it. Possibly even the Dark Lord.

Lucy thought, Where could Dumbledore put it? It should be a place where he knew no wizard would try to find. A place where only he knew . . . or he could've given it to someone. Why were they all looking for a place when it could be given to someone!

She blurted, "What if Dumbledore handed it to someone? What if he never hid it at all but gave it to his most-trusted friend? Dumbledore's a smart man — he'd know people would be trying to find the Sword, or someone might come across it!"

The other three jerked up. It had been silent for a long time.

Hermione concentrated on that piece of information. It was smart, indeed. If she was Dumbledore, would she hide a treasure somewhere it could be found, or given it to someone who would be able to take good care of it and keep it a secret? "Lucy, I think . . . you're right. If I was Dumbledore, I would never hide it. Hidden objects could always be found, if you knew the right place to look."

Harry interrupted. "But who would he give it to? It was meant for me, so why didn't he just give it to me?"

"You know why, Harry," Hermione answered. "Dumbledore will give it to you when you are ready. He won't give it to you blindly. You need to solve this on your own first."

"Dumbledore sometimes has a weird view on things," he muttered.

"Guys, it is so cold in here! And I'm starving!" Ron whined. "Can I please have something good to eat?" He flopped onto his bed, rolling around in hopes of stopping his stomach from growling. It vexed him. There was no possible way for him to think!

Lucy was just about to reply, but Hermione was faster. "Guys, don't. It's just the locket talking. Harry, remember the Ginny Incident? When she had Voldemort's — oh, Ron, you bozo — diary? Lucy, you have a replica, so you are fine. But Ron doesn't."

"You have a lot of smarticles in that brain of yours, Hermione," Lucy said mindlessly, trying to tap her best friend's temple. Hermione hit her hand away. Lucy then proceeded to snatch the locket from Ron's neck to relieve him. He didn't make an action to stop her. She muttered under her breath, "Wimp."

"Do you think we'll be able to find the rest of the Horcruxes?" Harry asked. "There's only four left. Dumbledore abolished Marvolo's ring, I stabbed Tom Riddle's diary, and we have the locket which is yet to be destroyed."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders, playing with the tips of her fingers. "Maybe, but we don't know what the four Horcruxes could be. We don't know what could be so important to him."

"Well, Voldemort was infatuated with Hogwarts . . . so what if he made his Horcruxes relating to it?"

"What could they be?"

"Well, there are four founders, right? Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw, so there has to be four belongings. We know it couldn't have been Godric's sword — it was in the Chamber of Secrets. All we have to do is figure out the other three and then the seventh Horcrux."

"Yeah, but I know we'll manage."

"We have to. I wish we'd have the easy way though."

"Too bad, sport. Now go off and find us some more twigs before my butt freezes."

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They were all trying to keep busy now. There wasn't much to do but hope for the best. Lucy was keeping guard, Ron was doing whatever he does, Harry was out looking for frail, fallen branches. There wasn't much to be said either. The silence kept them sane for a while. Who knew how long it would take for one of them to kill Ron (and it's not hard to see why).

"When can we eat dinner?" Ron complained for the twentieth time that day. She counted. "I'm —"

"Starving, we all know," Lucy snarled. She was getting really tired of his attitude and because she was wearing the locket, so if anyone tried to cross her, well, it wouldn't end well for them.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Snappy Pants. I'm just —"

"I'm not scared to hurt you, Weasel. I am so close to —"

"Shh, guys! Would you stop it already? I'm going to Obliviate you two if you don't stop," Hermione cried.

"Hold on, look at that. What's in that tree?" Lucy asked, moving towards the tree that hid their camp. It was a maple tree — pretty cute and shady. It was one of the only things that helped them get back to camp with ease. It was the only maple tree there, so it wasn't hard to distinguish from the others.

There was a note in one of its branches, waving high like a flag. How it got there, they had no idea, but it's quite a coincidence that a piece of parchment would be up in that maple tree. Lucy decided she'll climb it and see what it's on it.

Hermione and Ron didn't try to persuade her not to go, but their curiosity took the better of them as they watched her climb, limb by limb, nimbly up the tree. When Lucy reached the top, she held onto the spine and read the parchment.

Her eyebrows were scrunched together while the two watched her lips formed words. They could see her grip — since the tree wasn't that high — on the parchment tighten. A grin played on her lips as she hopped down. She was like a cat, moving so swiftly and carefully until she reached the hard, solid ground.

"What is it?" Hermione asked. The wind pushed her hair into her face, making her eat her own hair. She spat the strands out and reached for the parchment.

Lucy handed it to her. Hermione read it. Ron was standing by the girls impatiently, but still politely, as he waited for his turn to read the mystery note. It took Hermione less than a minute to finish the note and pass it down to the boy.

Lucy couldn't help the excitement from flowing through her. Finally they had a clue about the mission. She recited Luna Lovegood's father's letter again in her head.

Dumbledore wanted me to tell you that Voldemort is trying to find the Deathly Hallows. No one knows the objects' locations, but tell Hermione to study the book Dumbledore gave her. It has all the information you'd need to know about the Hallows. The Peverell Brothers were the first to yield the Deathly Hallows — Antioch had the Elder Wand, Cadmus the Resurrection Stone, and Ignotus with the Cloak of Invisibility. If you find them first, you may have a chance at defeating him.

Signed,
Xenophilius Lovegood

"This makes more sense now . . ." Hermione whispered. "The Deathly Hallows — the Resurrection Stone, the Cloak of Invisibility, and the Elder Wand — that's what Voldemort wants — no, needs to defeat Harry! That's what he's after, right? That's what it says in the letter. We need to get the Horcruxes first before we try to find the Deathly Hallows. But I think I know where one of them is . . ."

"Where?" Ron and Lucy questioned simultaneously.

"Hey, guys. I got some more firewood. Should I toss them in the fire?" Harry asked, materializing out of nowhere with a huge bundle of twigs and leaves in his arms. There were some in his hair too, and a streak of dirt across his left cheek. He stopped and stared at them. "What are you guys planning? Why are you all staring at me like that? Especially you Hermione — its pretty creepy."

"Harry, dear," Hermione said with a smile, "can I see your invisibility cloak?"

"Er, sure? What's it got to do with anything?"

"It's got to do with everything."