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Chapter 732: How Can I Go Back?!!
"By the way, during the time you went back, did you hear anything about Dumbledore and Grindelwald?"
Harry asked suddenly.
At the same time, he pointed his wand—borrowed from Ron—at a spider nearby and muttered, "Engorgio!"
The spider grew slightly larger, but not by much.
Harry frowned in confusion. "When I use Darren's wand, it works perfectly… why doesn't this one respond the same way?"
Ron shrugged. "That's because Darren's wand accepts you. You're his brother—of course it works well for you. This one doesn't know you."
Harry scratched his hair helplessly, still dissatisfied, but he didn't argue further.
Ron then turned back to the earlier question. "I understand what you're asking, Harry… but what happened between Dumbledore and Grindelwald—that was when they were young, wasn't it?"
Harry shook his head. "No. Darren told me something else. He said Dumbledore released Grindelwald before… and that they were lovers."
Ron's mouth dropped open. "That… that's…"
He was completely stunned.
"…So what about them now?" he asked after a long pause.
Harry repeated everything Darren had told him.
Ron fell silent for a while. Finally, he muttered, "Well… in the end, Grindelwald still went back, didn't he?"
Harry couldn't refute that, but the answer left him feeling uneasy.
That night, they took turns keeping watch. Harry took the first shift, while Ron sat nearby fiddling with a battered radio he had brought.
"There's a channel… probably run by the Order of the Phoenix," Ron explained quietly. "They change the password every time, so you need the code to listen. After I went back, Bill told me the password, so I listened quite a few times… but lately I haven't been able to tune in. I don't know the current code. It's really annoying…"
Hermione ignored his complaints. She suddenly spoke to Harry, her tone serious. "What if we go to Luna's house?"
"Why?" Harry asked immediately.
"That symbol—the one related to Grindelwald," Hermione said. "It might be a clue Dumbledore left behind. We should go ask Luna's father."
Harry shook his head firmly. "No. Hermione, I don't agree. Have you forgotten what happened at Godric's Hollow? If we hadn't been lucky, we might have died there."
"Harry, this is a clue," Hermione insisted.
But Harry remained unconvinced. "It might just be a symbol. Dumbledore isn't some all-knowing god."
At that moment, Ron spoke up. "What about the Deluminator? Dumbledore left that for me. That clearly had a purpose. So maybe the book does too."
Hermione nodded quickly. "Exactly. If the Deluminator had meaning, then this book must as well."
Two against one.
Harry sighed in defeat. "Fine. But do you even know where Luna's house is?"
Ron gave a small smile. "Of course. It's not far from my place. Just up the hill."
---
The next day, they traveled under the Invisibility Cloak and reached halfway up the mountain.
From there, they could see the Burrow in the distance.
They stood silently for a long time.
"…I can't go back," Ron said quietly. "But I miss them."
Hermione replied with a hint of sarcasm, "You could have gone home for Christmas."
Ron gave a bitter smile. "How could I? You think I could walk in there and tell them that while Darren was being tortured by Snape and the Dark Lord to protect us… I left his brother and his—"
He stopped himself, but Hermione's face flushed red immediately. Her tone softened.
"…Then where did you go?"
"I went to Bill," Ron said. "He has a place outside now. I stayed there. He didn't ask too many questions—he knew I regretted it. He stayed with me through Christmas. Told Mum he was busy and couldn't come back. Actually, he just stayed to keep me company."
He paused.
"When I said I was leaving again, he helped me pack."
Hermione didn't respond.
They continued walking up the hill in silence.
---
At the top, they finally saw it—
a strange, tall building that resembled a rook from wizard chess.
Three hand-painted wooden signs were nailed to the crooked gate:
The Quibbler — Editor: Lovegood
Please pick your own dirigible plums
Do not touch the wrackspurts
Harry couldn't help but laugh softly. "That's definitely Luna."
Hermione nudged him. "Harry, take off the cloak. Mr. Lovegood needs to see you."
Harry reluctantly removed it and knocked on the door.
After a moment, the door opened.
Mr. Lovegood stood there in pajamas, looking disheveled. His long white hair was tangled, his beard unkempt, and his expression impatient.
"What is it?" he asked sharply.
His eyes swept over Hermione and Ron—
then landed on Harry.
His expression changed instantly.
Shock replaced irritation.
His mouth opened into a ridiculous O-shape.
"Hello," Harry said calmly. "I'm Harry Potter. May we speak with you?"
Mr. Lovegood looked nervous.
He glanced quickly toward the garden.
"I… I'm not sure that's wise… This is unexpected… very unexpected…"
Harry felt a pang of disappointment.
The man who published articles supporting him—
didn't seem pleased to see him at all.
Still, Harry said quietly, "We won't take long."
After a moment of hesitation, Lovegood stepped aside and opened the door.
They entered.
Inside, everything was strange.
The walls curved unnaturally.
The decorations were symmetrical but unsettling.
Odd plants and objects filled every corner.
From upstairs came a loud clattering noise.
"Come upstairs," Mr. Lovegood said quickly.
They followed him.
Upstairs was even more bizarre.
Rooms of irregular shapes connected at odd angles, each one stranger than the last.
The noise they had heard came from a peculiar, wooden contraption that resembled a twisted printing press. It was producing copies of The Quibbler.
Before Harry could read anything, Mr. Lovegood quickly covered it with a cloth.
Then he turned to them.
"So, Harry," he said, his voice tight,
"why have you come?"