Rowena's Quill

Ginny gave Luna a warm "Hi!" when she came through the Floo. Hermione was already there, putting finishing touches on a big banner which read 'Happy Birthday Harry' and was bordered by pictures of little flying broomsticks.

"Where are Harry and Ron?" Luna asked.

"The Apparition Department," said Ginny. "They're both taking the test today."

"Neville is also taking his Apparition test today. His birthday was yesterday, you know." A little shyly, she added, "Can you put his name on the banner?"

With a wave of her wand, Hermione added the words 'and Neville' beneath the 'Happy Birthday Harry.'

"And can you make him a Mimbulus mimbletonia?" asked Luna eagerly.

"How about some vervain instead?" said Hermione. "A vine makes a better border."

Luna agreed, and while Hermione worked on keeping the vervain from tangling around the broomsticks, Mrs. Weasley walked in with a cake. After Ginny introduced Luna, she said, "Yesterday was Neville's birthday. Can you add his name to the cake, too?"

"That's a very nice gesture, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, doing it in an instant.

Luna looked from the cake to the banner. "Neville will be rather pleased, I think."

Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley all exchanged knowing looks, and Luna understood it wasn't because they thought she was loony.

"May I help with anything, Mrs. Weasley?" asked Luna.

Mrs. Weasley gave her some food platters to set out, and then other guests began to arrive.

"Hagrid!" Ginny and Hermione shouted at once.

But pleased as they were at seeing him, his pleasure was ten times greater. He picked Ginny up and swung her over his head as though she were as light as Arnie the Pygmy Puff.

"Hagrid!" cried Mrs. Weasley.

Hagrid lowered Ginny back to the ground. "I'm sorry, Molly. I just couldn't stop meself. See, she's me first N.E.W.T. student!" He grew suddenly anxious. "Yeh are going on at N.E.W.T. level, aren't yeh?"

"Of course," said Ginny, catching her balance.

"She didn't get an 'O' on that O.W.L. for nothing," said Mrs. Weasley proudly.

"How'bout you, Luna? Continuin'?"

"Ummm," said Luna vaguely, but she was saved from answering by the sudden apparition of Professor Lupin and Tonks.

"Well, well, our honeymooners have arrived!" gushed Mrs. Weasley. "So, how do you like married life, Nymphadora?"

"Molly, my name is Mrs. N. Tonks-Lupin." She looked around imploringly, "Everyone, please keep calling me Tonks."

"Dad sends his congratulations," said Luna.

"Thank him from us," said Professor Lupin. Luna had never seen him looking so well and happy.

"I get congratulations, too," said Hagrid. "I was gonna wait with this till Harry arrived, but what the heck - I've been made new Head of House for Gryffindor."

"Oh, Hagrid!" cried Ginny, running to him and hugging his leg.

Hermione's reaction was more tepid. "That's wonderful, Hagrid."

"Happy news all around!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Well, everything's finished. Who wants to see Bill and Fleur's wedding album?"

Though nobody particularly did, they couldn't think of any way of extracting themselves from it, so they all sat around politely admiring the album. The new couple, they were informed, was now honeymooning in France.

"I'm home!" called Mr. Weasley, apparating at the door. "Got the afternoon off without so much as a raised eyebrow. The Ministry will do anything to ingratiate itself to Harry these days." He looked at the group of them gathered around the wedding pictures. "So that's everyone but Fred and George, then, is it?"

"Yes, they're late as usual," said Mrs. Weasley. "And it's nearly twelve o'clock, too."

"Never fear, Mum," called one twin from the door.

"Timing is everything at a surprise party."

The two swaggered inside, and while Mrs. Weasley upbraided them, Mr. Weasley slipped out. Luna knew precisely what he was up to. He was checking the front door in case Fred and George left any surprise birthday presents.

"We'd better think about hiding," said Hermione.

A long debate ensued about who should go where. Hagrid, of course, was literally the biggest problem. None of the adult wizards felt a single vanishing spell on so large a person could possibly work.

"We could divide you up," suggested Fred.

"Yeah, if I do your top half, and Fred takes -"

"I think I'll step into the kitchen, jus' the same," said Hagrid.

At long last, Ron, Harry, and Neville apparated to the doorstep, each within seconds of the other. Shouts of "Congratulations!" and "Happy Birthday" filled the room.

Harry, genuinely surprised, made to enter and thank all his friends as Ron followed, but Neville held up a warning arm and said, "Hang on!" Then he levitated a vine-covered cup and let it hover over the twins.

"Watch it, mate. These jackets cost more than a few Galleons, you know."

"C'mon, Nev! Tip it over!" cheered Ron.

Neville let it shake a little, just enough to keep everyone laughing at the cowed faces of the twins, but he didn't dare let it spill.

"Accio," said Mr. Weasley, pulling it toward himself. "Whew! Stinksap. And I thought I checked so thoroughly."

"It was fairly well camouflaged behind some vervain," said Neville.

"Oh, how perfect! Look at the banner," said Ginny, pointing upward.

Neville's eyes shone brightly when he read it. Soon everyone was wishing him a "happy birthday," too.

They ate and talked and were all very cheerful, in spite of the fact that the Weasleys' clock said they were all in mortal peril. But for a few hours, the war against Voldemort seemed far away, even to its chief warriors. Sitting on the floor beside Neville, Luna enjoyed herself immensely. She still felt that sense of shy expectation, so she could not quite relax, but she was certainly happy.

Hagrid, who'd come the furthest distance, was the first to leave, and the twins disapparated soon after. Then, much to her disappointment, Luna's father appeared in the fireplace. It was far too early to go home.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the festivities," he said. "May I come through?"

"Certainly," said Mr. Weasley.

Dad jumped through the fire. Mrs. Weasley sent him over a cold drink.

"Breaking news?" asked Professor Lupin, anxiously.

"It's more history than news," said Dad. "Is it secure here? Can I speak freely?"

"This is the chosen home of 'the Chosen One,'" said Mr. Weasley. "Security doesn't get tighter than this."

"Ministry security," said Dad, disdainfully.

"I've put my own additions in," said Mr. Weasley.

That seemed good enough for Dad, but instead of addressing the group the way Luna expected him to, he stepped toward Harry Potter and offered his hand.

"Leonard Lovegood, publisher of The Quibbler. It's an honor to meet you at last."

Harry politely shook Dad's hand. Strangers probably introduced themselves to him all the time, but he was clearly not comfortable with it.

"May I have a private word?" asked Dad.

Harry hesitated and looked at Hermione. She must have told him about The Quibbler. But trusted a paper as it might be, he still was not one to speak to the press.

"It's about the Ravenclaw Horcrux," said Dad.

Luna's heart skipped a beat. It was about Mummy's note! But Harry was even more shocked than she. He jumped to his feet, wand at the ready, and cried, "WHERE?"

Ron and Hermione tried calming him down, but Dad's words did the trick. "Destroyed. Just give me a few minutes. I'll explain it all to you."

Harry and Dad went into the kitchen. Everyone began whispering amongst themselves - Ron with Hermione, Lupin with Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with Ginny. Luna kept her eyes on the door Dad and Harry had gone through. So Harry was the security channel now. He of all people might be the most sympathetic, having lost both his parents to Voldemort, but Luna's stomach was doing somersaults.

"Luna, will you read my tea leaves?" asked Neville.

She understood what he was doing. He was trying to distract her.

"Umm . . . the signs are favorable," she said vaguely, unable to concentrate. Her eyes strayed to the door once again, and Dad and Harry came out. They stepped to the front of the room.

"Can we disconnect the Floo?" asked Harry.

Mr. Weasley disconnected it.

"Okay," breathed Harry. "This is an official, top secret meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Whoever isn't here has some other job for Dumbledore, so we'll leave them to it. What we say here can only be discussed amongst us. Look around the room, and remember who is here."

Everyone did as Harry said. Harry stepped back and let Dad have the floor.

"What I am about to say is such top secret information, Professor Dumbledore did not permit me to put it into The Quibbler. As a matter of fact, I only learned of it myself after Professor Dumbledore's death in his letter of last instructions, delivered by his phoenix. Without a doubt, several of you received similar letters."

If anyone had, they did not acknowledge it.

"Aside from instructions about how to continue The Quibbler, my letter concerned a dark magical creation called a Horcrux."

Tonks let out a little scream. "He has one?" she asked.

"He had seven," said Harry, "but as of now, four have been destroyed."

"But what is a Horcrux?" asked Luna.

"It's a split-off piece of Voldemort's soul, hidden inside a valuable magical object. He tried getting one from each one of the Hogwarts founders."

A chill made Luna tremble as she thought of what Voldemort had called Mummy: the Heiress of Ravenclaw. She felt Neville inch toward her. She drew strength from him.

"And the trouble is," Harry went on, "as long as the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort can't be killed."

"You-Know-Who can't die?" Neville repeated.

"He's not invincible," said Harry. "We have to find and destroy the Horcruxes."

"Which is a lot easier said than done," said Ron, "because nobody knows where he hid them."

"But you've found one," Hermione said to Dad.

"Luna and I discovered the fate of one last night, yes. It was a quill, a family heirloom, that belonged to my wife."

Neville took Luna's hand in his.

"Was your wife descended from Rowena Ravenclaw?" Hermione asked.

"Rowena Rockrimmon." said Lupin. "Of course!"

"She was named for her father, actually," said Luna.

"Rockrimmon," said Mr. Weasley. "There's a memorial plaque with his name on it in the Ministry. Wasn't he an Unspeakable who -"

"Did not die by accident," Dad finished for him. He looked at Luna. "You helped solve two family mysteries last night."

"But how?" asked Luna as Neville squeezed her hand tighter. "I don't understand."

"Professor Dumbledore's letter can explain it best," said Dad, pulling out the long parchment. His eyes scanned over a few paragraphs, and he began reading aloud:

You will, of course, remember the case of Ginny Weasley and the diary. That diary, which not only had the power to possess her, slowly and successfully drained the life out of her. From the moment Harry Potter handed me that diary, I could see that it utilized the most heinous of dark magic. I knew then that it was a Horcrux.

Dad paused to let the Weasley's react.

"Did you know?" Ginny asked her parents.

"Professor Dumbledore told us in a letter just like this one," said Mr. Weasley.

"You should have told me," said Ginny, resentfully.

"It's over now, and you've made such a spectacular recovery, we just wanted to put it all behind us," said Mrs. Weasley.

The quiver in her voice told Luna that Mrs. Weasley was near tears. Ginny said nothing else, so Dad went on with Professor Dumbledore's letter.

All the evidence I have compiled since the discovery of that diary indicates that it was not Voldemort's sole Horcrux. Unfortunately, my evidence leads me to guess that Rowena's quill was a Horcrux as well. She must have discovered this herself somehow, but when she sought to destroy the Horcrux, it destroyed her, too.

Luna hid her face in her knees. She was vaguely aware of a warm arm enveloping her.

All of this is still a guess, however. I do not have concrete facts, and as I told you long ago, the best, if only, source of them is Luna.

Luna, her face still hidden, shuddered and sighed. The warm arm let her lean into it.

As Luna may have told you, I called her into my office last March. At the time, I gave her to believe that our discussion was purely academic and did not reveal to her my main goal: to trigger her memory and deduce once and for all the precise cause of Rowena's death.

Luna breathed in heavily. She hadn't suspected a thing.

I tried the gentlest means at my disposal. Had Luna shown less reluctance, I would have taken her into my Pensieve, but because she was resistant, I relied instead on her Divination. I do not admit Divination as evidence in the Wizengamot, nor do I base any personal decisions upon it, but I would be foolish to deny that there is truth in it, especially from someone with such marked abilities as Luna's.

"What a compliment," said Mr. Weasley.

"Really!" agreed Lupin. "The Seers used to beg Dumbledore to let them show him their stuff. I don't think he had faith in a single one."

Harry coughed slightly.

"Remus, Arthur, please."

"It's all right, Daddy," said Luna, raising her head. "Professor Dumbledore warned me then about the Helium Huckster."

Dad gave her a funny look of amusement, pride, and sadness. With Neville's arm still around her, she did not lower her face again, even though every eye in the room was on her. Dad continued reading.

Her results were telling. Between her crystal ball gazing and my legillimency, we saw Tom Riddle, now known as Voldemort, searching Sophie Rockrimmon's house as she slept. Luna recognized the youthful vision of her grandmother immediately, but she could never have seen Tom Riddle, yet there he was - I saw him, too - from the crystal ball to her own mind.

This hinted strongly to what I already suspected: that Tom murdered Rowan, stole the quill from Sophie, and turned it into a Horcrux. How the quill, now a dangerous and volatile magical object, returned itself to Sophie's hands and passed to Rowena's is no mystery at all. It was my own Tillhiasit charm, which I cast over Sophie to protect her from Tom's greed. And this grievous error, at so dear a cost to you and Luna, I take with me to the Ultimate Justice of the grave.

"He blamed himself?" said Luna.

"What's the Tillhiasit charm?" asked Hermione.

"Professor Dumbledore's personal security charm. His own invention, probably. He cast it over Luna's grandmother when she was expecting my wife, promising it would work for future generations, which in fact, it has."

"So that's why nobody can steal from you," said Ginny.

"Not for lack of trying," murmured Dad.

"Professor Dumbledore oughtn't have blamed himself," said Luna. "He meant to protect Granny."

As she said it, she felt his presence very near her. She could even hear him. "You are kind to me, Luna."

Overpowered, she hid her face in her knees once again. Dad read more.

Nevertheless, with all of this, we are still lacking in concrete facts, and we must have them. The very safety of the world depends on it. If I am correct, then Rowena's death has saved millions of lives, but we must know for certain. And for this, we need Luna.

Neville pulled her closer.

I have not called Luna back to my office for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I have been pursuing leads to other Horcruxes. As of this writing, I am preparing to go in search of one. If you are reading the letter, it means I did not survive the attempt. And that leaves it to you to take that last step with Luna, which is probably best in any case. To this end, I offer you and Luna use of my Pensieve whenever you choose it. It will be kept by Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts, who has a list of people permitted to use it, yourself, Luna, and Neville Longbottom among them.

"If I had to relive it," thought Luna, "I would want Neville's comfort afterward."

But of course, for Luna's sake, the most painless thing would be if truth would simply will out, as in the quill's song.

"The song you sang for me on the train," said Neville.

"You sang it for me in first year also," said Ginny. "I never told anybody. The same words were in the diary."

"So it's a clue!" exclaimed Ron. "All Horcruxes have those words."

"No," said Luna, looking up. "Those are not Voldemort's words. A lady sang them. It was the voice of the quill."

"You mean, Rowena Ravenclaw's voice," said Hermione.

"I always thought so," said Luna. "So perhaps Voldemort used the quill to write the diary, and the truth willed out there, too."

"You may just be right, Luna," said Dad.

And though her eyes were welling with tears so that she was sure she would cry any moment, Luna sang the song. If anyone thought she was behaving strangely, they didn't say so.

Ephemeral justice, elusive truth

take time to be uncovered,

but truth wills out in many years,

and all has been discovered.

Dad reached behind his glasses to dab the corners of his eyes. "Truth did will out. Luna found a note last night - a written conversation between Rowena and the Horcrux."

Dad passed around the letter for everyone to see. Luna, who was crying hard but silently, hid her face from view again.

Everyone fell into silent thought. Finally, Harry broke it.

"We still have far to go, but this means we're one step closer. If Luna hadn't discovered this, I'd be wandering around the world, that much blinder."

"Your mother died a heroine's death," said Mrs. Weasley. "The world owes her so much."

Luna did not look up, though she could feel every eye in the room on her again. But sad as she was that her mother's life had to be cut off in so horrible a way, she had the comfort of her friends. Mummy really was a heroine, and this room full of heroes acknowledged it.

Luna felt someone stroking her hair. Knowing it wasn't Daddy, she raised her head and looked into Neville's warm and comforting eyes.

"Come outside with me," he said.

Luna glanced at Daddy, who nodded in approval. Without focusing on anybody else, Luna let Neville lead her out of the Weasley's house and into their backyard. In the midst of the overgrowth was a cluster of chairs. Neville wordlessly invited her to sit.

Someone had left an empty glass on a table.

"Scourgify," said Neville, cleaning it. "Aguamenti."

He handed her a cool glass of water.

"I love being seventeen," he said while she drank it. Then he wordlessly summoned a potted yellow plant to himself, knelt down in front of her, and put it in her lap.

"I had two, actually," he said. "But I want you to have this one. It has a special history."

He pulled a note out of his pocket and gave it to her.

Once upon a time, a boy at Hogwarts school went to the Room of Requirement. The room was filled with so many things to distract him, he almost didn't notice a rare little flower sitting alone on a shelf. The Room kept the flower alive, but what it really needed was sunshine, fresh air, and most of all, someone to take care of it. So the boy took care of it, but he made mistakes. He didn't see it for what it was and he even tried forcing it to be something else. But this flower would not be forced. It looked delicate, but it was hardy. And finally, the thick-headed boy saw that this flower was so special and so magical, he wondered if he was really good enough for it. But it's too late. He already loves her and he wants to keep her.

"Oh, Neville!" she cried. "It's the most beautiful thing -" She couldn't go on. She reached for him. He drew close, and they kissed.

Luna had never been kissed before. She knew that it was the kissing that made mistletoe so dangerous, but kissing Neville didn't feel dangerous at all. She quite liked it.

"That's the good thing about herbologists," said Luna when they pulled apart. "You know precisely how to guard against nargle infestation."

He kissed her again because he understood.

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