Ternion || Oliver Wood

Chapter 126

The Deathly Hallows

We were standing in the most peculiar kitchen I had ever seen. The room was perfectly circular, so that it felt like being inside a giant pepper pot. Everything was curved to fit the walls — the stove, the sink and the cupboards — and all of it had been painted with flowers, insects, and birds in bright primary colors. It was definitely Luna's style from the effect, in such an enclosed space, was slightly overwhelming.

In the middle of the floor, a wrought-iron spiral staircase led to the upper levels. There was a great deal of clattering and banging coming from overhead.

"You'd better come up," said Xenophilius, still looking extremely uncomfortable, and he led the way.

The room above seemed to be a combination of living room and workspace, and as such, was even more cluttered than the kitchen. Though much smaller and entirely round, the room somewhat resembled the Room of Requirement on the unforgettable occasion that it had transformed itself into gigantic labyrinth composed of centuries of hidden objects. Delicately made models of creatures I did not recognize, all flapping wings or snapping jaws, hung from the ceiling.

Luna wasn't there. The thing that was making such a racket was a wooden object covered in magically turning cogs and wheels. It looked like the bizarre offspring of a workbench and a set of old shelves, but after a moment I finally realized that it was an old-fashioned printing press, due to the fact that it was churning out Quibblers.

"Excuse me," said Xenophilius, and he strode over to the machine, seized a grubby tablecloth from beneath an immense number of books and papers, which all tumbled onto the floor, and threw it over the press, somewhat muffling the loud bangs and clatters. He then faced us.

"Why have you come here?" he asked.

Before Harry could speak, however, Hermione let out a small cry of shock.

"Mr. Lovegood — what's that?" Hermione asked as she pointed at an enormous, gray spiral horn, not unlike that of a unicorn, which had been mounted on the wall, protruding several feet into the room.

My eyes widened as I realized what it was.

"It is the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," answered Luna's father.

"No it isn't!" I uttered, Hermione looked towards me and gave me an I-know-right look in her face.

"Hermione, Agape, now's not the moment —" said Harry who looked embarrassed.

"But Harry, it's an Erumpent horn! It's a Class B Tradeable Material and it's an extraordinarily dangerous thing to have in a house!" explained Hermione, I nodded along with her.

"How d'you both know it's an Erumpent horn?" asked Ron, edging away from the horn as fast as he could, given the extreme clutter of the room.

"There's a description in Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them! Mr. Lovegood, you need to get rid of it straightaway, it can explode at the slightest touch!" I said almost shouting as I looked alternatively to Mr. Lovegood and Harry.

"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack," said Mr. Lovegood very clearly, a mulish look upon his face, "is a shy and highly magical creature, and its horn —"

"Mr. Lovegood, we recognize the grooved markings around the base, that's an Erumpent horn and it's incredible dangerous — I don't know where you got it —"

"I bought it," said Mr. Lovegood dogmatically, "two weeks ago, from a delightful young wizard who knew of my interest in the exquisite Snorkack. A Christmas surprise for my Luna. Now," he uttered, turning to Harry, "why exactly have you come here, Mr. Potter?"