Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [7]

⚡️ Chapter 26 ⚡️

"Kingsley's Patronus is a lynx, we saw it at the wedding, remember?" Vega pointed out.

"Oh yeah..." Ron said. They moved farther along the hedge, away from the tent and Hermione. "Hey Vega, Harry... you don't reckon it could've been Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore what?" Harry asked.

Ron looked a little embarrassed, but said in a low voice, "Dumbledore ... the doe? I mean," He was watching Vega and Harry out of the corners of his eyes. "He had the real sword last, didn't he? And he was the one who left it for Vega, too..."

Neither Vega nor Harry laughed at Ron, because they understood too well the longing behind the question. The idea that Dumbledore had managed to come back to them, that he was watching over them, would have inexpressibly comforting.

"Dumbledore's dead, Ron," Vega said calmly. "We saw it happen; we saw the body. He's definitely gone. Besides... his Patronus was a phoenix, not a doe... definitely not a doe,"

"Patronuses can change, though, can't they?" Ron asked. "Your cousin, Dora's changed, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but if Dumbledore was alive, why wouldn't he show himself?" Harry asked when Vega fell silent at the mention of her cousin. "Why wouldn't he just hand us the sword?"

"Search me," Ron said. "Same reason he didn't give it to you while he was alive? Same reason he left you an old Snitch, Hermione a book of kid's stories and Vega the sword?"

"Which is what?" Harry asked, turning to look Ron full in the face desperate for the answer.

"I dunno," Ron said. "Sometimes I've thought, when I've been a bit hacked off, he was having a laugh or – or he just wanted to make it more difficult, But I don't think so, not anymore. He knew what he was doing when he gave me the Deluminator, didn't he? He – well," His ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe. "He must've known I'd run out on you lot,"

"No," Vega interjected immediately. "He must've known you would always want to come back. Dumbledore valued such attributes about people,"

Ron looked grateful, but still awkward.

Partly to change the subject, Harry spoke up next, "Speaking of Dumbledore, have you heard what Skeeter wrote about him?" Vega looked away, pursing her lips.

"Oh yeah," Ron said at once. "People are talking about it quite a lot. 'Course, if things were different, it'd be huge news, Dumbledore being pals with Grindelwald, but now it's just something to laugh about for people who didn't like Dumbledore, and a bit of a slap in the face for everyone who thought he was such a good bloke. I don't know that it's such a big deal, though. He was really young when they –"

"Our age," Harry said, just as he had retorted to Vega and Hermione.

A large spider sat in the middle of a frosted web in the brambles. Harry took aim at it with the wand Ron had given him the previous night, which Hermione had since forced Vega to examine, and Vega had revealed that it was blackthorn and dragon heartstring core.

"Engorgio," Harry said.

The spider gave a little shiver, bouncing slightly in the web. Harry tried again. This time the spider grew slightly larger, causing Ron to say sharply, "Stop that. I'm sorry I said Dumbledore was young, okay?" Harry seemed to have forgotten Ron's hatred of spiders.

"Sorry – Reducio," Harry said.

The spider did not shrink.

Harry looked down at the blackthorn wand. Every minor spell he had cast with it so far that day had seemed less powerful than those he had produced with his phoenix wand.