How It All Goes Down
Xenophilius Lovegood
- The next morning, Hermione is still angry with Ron; in her presence, he's full of remorse, but alone with Harry, he's unusually chipper. Ron's sure that someone else is helping them, and that they're on their way to success.
- Harry tells Ron all about what he and Hermione have been up to.
- Ron, in turn, has news for Harry – Voldemort has somehow jinxed his own name, so anyone who says "Voldemort" out loud can be traced, which is how they were discovered in Tottenham Court Road right after the wedding.
- Apparently Kingsley Shacklebolt was found out that way too, narrowly escaped, and is now on the run.
- The conversation turns to Dumbledore. Ron's heard all about what Rita Skeeter is saying; he excuses Dumbledore's friendship with Grindelwald, saying that he was really young. Harry reminds him pointedly that he was their age when it happened.
- Harry tries out the Snatcher's wand, but it doesn't really work for him. Hermione tells him that it'll be fine if he's more confident, and though he doesn't believe her, he agrees, just to placate her.
- That night, Ron pulls out a wireless radio and tries to find a specific show – it's a sort of pirate radio show that tells the truth about what's going on.
- Hermione stops reading Skeeter's book and makes an odd announcement: she wants to go see Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's batty father. She's found the same mysterious symbol that he was wearing crop up in Beedle the Bard, in Dumbledore's letter to Grindelwald, and on the mysterious headstone they found in Godric's Hollow.
- Ron, trying to curry favor with Hermione, puts his vote in for seeing Xenophilius. Harry, out-voted anyway, gives in.
- The Lovegoods are neighbors of the Weasleys, so they Disapparate to a location close to the Burrow. Ron feels weird about being so close to home but not visiting; he tells them that he was too ashamed to go home after walking out on Harry and Hermione, so he spent Christmas with Bill and Fleur at their new home, Shell Cottage.
- Not too far away, they find a wacked-out cylindrical tower – it's so weird looking, it's got to be Luna's house. A sign advertising The Quibbler confirms this suspicion.
- They knock on the door to find a disheveled Xenophilius Lovegood. He looks at them suspiciously, then realizes that Harry is, well, Harry. He waffles for a moment nervously, then lets them in.
- The Lovegood home is just as crazy as the Lovegoods – we love it. It's full of weird models of strange creatures, as well as a huge, old-fashioned printing press, busy printing copies of The Quibbler.
- Before they can get started asking questions, Hermione and Xenophilius get into a petty fight about a strange horn he has mounted on the wall; Xenophilius claims it's the horn of a mythical beast, the so-called Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but Hermione knows that it's actually the highly explosive horn of the Erumpent. Um, we'll keep our opinion out of this.
- Down to business – Xenophilius is reluctant to help Harry, but Hermione challengingly asks what Luna would make of all of this. Xenophilius rushes off awkwardly to go and tell her that her friends are here (she's apparently fishing for something called "Freshwater plimpies" in the stream), and says he'll help them when he returns.
- When Xenophilius finally returns and offers them some juice, he asks what they're there for. Harry asks about the symbol he was wearing at Bill and Fleur's wedding, and he tells them it's the sign of the Deathly Hallows.