"How are Charlie and Claire and the kids, then, Molly?" Hermione asked, gently steering the topic to pleasanter subjects.

        "Quite well, although Charlie insists on taking little Harold and Jules to work with him on occasion. How these poor children can endure the sight of such creatures and not have constant nightmares is simply beyond me."

        James, who'd met his younger cousins, Harold and Jules, a few times, knew that it was likely that they, in fact, might give nightmares to the dragons rather than the other way around.

        Late that evening, as most of the household was beginning to drift to bed, James and Ralph found themselves seated near the fire with Luna Lovegood, who was telling them about her latest expedition into the Highland Mountains in search of the Umgubular Slashkilter.

        "Still no positive identification," she said, "but I discovered a vast network of their tracks and leavings. Their diet seems to consist almost entirely of blusterwermps and figgles, so it's pretty easy to identify their dung by smell alone. Sort of pepperminty. Not at all unpleasant."

        "Unglubulous… slashkillers?" Ralph attempted.

        "Close enough," Luna said kindly. "They're a species of flightless raptor, distantly related to hippogriffs and octogators. I took a mold of one of their tracks and a stool sample from one of their leavings. Would you like to smell it?"

        "Luna," James said, leaning forward in his chair and lowering his voice, "can we ask you a question about something? I'd rather nobody else knew about it."

        "I specialize in things nobody else knows about," Luna said mildly.

        "I mean, I want to keep it sort of a secret."

        "Oh," Luna said, her face placid. James waited, but Luna merely watched him, smiling politely. Luna, he recalled, occasionally had a rather unique approach to conversation. He decided to plow on.

        "This isn't about Slashkilters or Wrackspurts or anything. Really, it'd be a better question for your dad, if he was still around, but I bet you know the answer, too. What can you tell us about… about Austramaddux and Merlinus Ambrosius?"

        Luna was the only completely unshockable person James knew. She merely looked into the fire and said, "Ahh, yes, not exactly my specialty. A lifelong hobby of my father's, though. Austramaddux was the historian who recorded the last days of Merlinus and his promised return, of course. The subject of much speculation and intrigue for centuries, you know."

"Yeah," James said, "we know. We read about him and the prediction of his return. What we're wondering is how it could happen? What would it take?"

        Luna looked thoughtful. "It's a pity my father isn't here. He could speak on the subject for days. He did once, in fact, at a gathering of alternative magical publishers and broadcasters in Belfast. Gave a speech on the implications of the Merlinus conspiracies and their hypothetical plausibilities, if I recall. It went on for three and half days, until he fell asleep at the podium. Actually, I think that he was asleep long before anyone realized it. He was a notorious sleep-talker. Gave more than a few of his speeches in a nightgown. Most people thought it was eccentricity, but I think he was just multi-tasking." She sighed fondly.

        James knew he wouldn't have much time before someone else, George, or worse, his dad or mum, would come back into the room. "Luna, what did he say about it? Did he think Merlin's return was possible?"

        "Oh, he certainly did. Had a hundred theories about it. Hoped he'd live to see the day, in fact, although even he wasn't any too sure that when Merlinus returned, he'd be anything like what we'd call a good wizard. Wrote a whole series of articles for The Quibbler explaining the three relics and offering a hundred Galleon reward for anyone with valid clues to their whereabouts."

        James tried not to interrupt Luna. "What are the three relics?"

        "Oh," Luna said, looking at him. "I thought you'd read about it?"

        Ralph spoke up. "We did, but it didn't say anything about any relics. It just said that Merlin would leave the world of men and return when the time was ripe for him, or something."

        "Ah, well, that's the key, then, isn't it?" Luna said placidly. "The relics determine when the time is ripe. Merlin's three required magical elements, his throne, his robe and his staff. He left them in the charge of Austramaddux. According to the prediction, once the three relics are brought together again in a place called the 'Hall of Elders' Crossing', Merlinus will reappear to claim them."

        James gasped. The Hall of Elder's Crossing, he thought, remembering the legend inscribed on the gate of the secret island. He felt his heart pounding and was sure Luna would hear it in his voice. He struggled to sound merely curious. "So what became of Merlin's three relics, then?"

"No one knows for sure," Luna replied airily, "but my father had developed some pretty strong theories. According to legend, Merlin's ceremonial black robe was made of incorruptible fabric, allowing it to survive eternally. It was supposedly used as a caulk over the body of Kreagle, the first king of the wizarding world, in the belief that it would prevent corruption. Alas, no one knows the location of Kreagle's tomb, its Secret-Keepers having been inhumed within it to secure its secrecy forever." Ralph shuddered as Luna went on. "Merlin's throne as advisor to the kingdoms of the Muggles was passed from regime to regime, always kept ready for the wizard's return, until it was eventually lost in the mists of time. Some believe that it was recovered by a wizarding king in the sixteen hundreds, and that it is stored today in the Ministry of Magic, forgotten in the endless vaults of the Department of Mysteries. Finally," Luna said, narrowing her eyes as she searched her memory, "the greatest of Merlin's relics, his staff. Back then, wizards used staffs rather than wands, you know. Long sticks, often as tall as the wizard himself. Merlin's was carved from the trunk of a rare talking knucklewood tree. It is said that he could still make his staff speak with the voice of the dryad that had given it. Austramaddux kept the staff himself, claiming to be its sole keeper until the day of Merlin's returning. He hid it, and the secret of its location is said to have died with him."

        "Wow," Ralph said in a low voice.

        "But still," James said, "say someone could get all the relics back together again. Where is this Hall of Elder's Crossing supposed to be?"

        "Again, no one knows," Luna replied. "Austramaddux speaks of it as if he expects his readers to know of it, as if it were a well-known place. Perhaps it was then, but it has been completely lost to us now."