Summary: Chapter Sixteen: Godric’s Hollow
Hermione and Harry avoid talking about Ron. They wait
for Ron to come back, knowing he’ll have no way of ever finding
them again once they Disapparate from their current location. But
Ron does not appear, and they move on to a new site. With Ron gone,
and little idea what to do next, Harry and Hermione make a habit
of bringing Phineas Nigellus’s portrait out of the bag and talking
to Phineas, from whom they learn that at Hogwarts, Ginny, Neville,
and Luna seem to be trying to continue Dumbledore’s Army, carrying
out acts of low-grade mutiny against Snape.
Hermione, who has carefully studied The Tales
of Beedle the Bard, shows Harry an unexplained symbol that
someone drew onto a page of the book after it was printed—a symbol
that looks like a triangular eye, with a vertical line for a pupil.
Harry recognizes it as the symbol Luna’s father was wearing at the
wedding, and he tells Hermione how Krum had said it was Grindelwald’s
mark.
Harry tells Hermione that he wants to go to Godric’s Hollow, and
to his surprise—since she had previously said it was a waste of time—she
agrees, having made up her mind that Godric’s Hollow is the most
likely location of Gryffindor’s sword, since it was Godric Gryffindor’s
birthplace. Harry reminds her that according to Aunt Muriel, Bathilda
Bagshot still lives in Godric’s Hollow, and Hermione imagines that
Dumbledore might have entrusted the sword to her.
Harry and Hermione plan their trip carefully, using some
of their store of Polyjuice Potion, and go to Godric’s Hollow well
disguised as middle-aged Muggles—wearing the Invisibility Cloak
to boot. They realize when they get to the town that it is Christmas
Eve. They go to the graveyard and see Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore’s graves.
Hermione finds a grave that has the triangular symbol on it, beneath
the name Ignotus Peverell, but Harry presses on, more interested
in finding his parents’ grave.
Finally, they find it—the grave of Lily and James Potter,
bearing the inscription “The last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death.” Just as Harry realizes that he has brought nothing to
leave at his parents’ grave, Hermione conjures a wreath for him
to lay. Then they head out of the graveyard and back toward the
town.
Summary: Chapter Seventeen: Bathilda’s Secret
Thinking that they hear someone coming, Harry and Hermione leave
the graveyard and put the Invisibility Cloak back on. As they walk
along the street, they suddenly come upon what can only be the house
of James and Lily Potter. The hedge and garden are overgrown, untended
for sixteen years. The house itself is a ruin, with its top floor
partially blown apart—evidence of Voldemort’s backfired curse.
