Harry was brimming with excitement as he and Ginny waved goodbye to Luna and her father, all anger and resentment forgotten. The Master of Death. Were the Deathly Hallows the answer, finally, to the question of how he could possibly defeat Voldemort? The unbeatable wand! The Resurrection Stone, which could recall the dead, so he could talk to Dumbledore again, to Sirius, to his parents! And the Cloak of Invisibility, which sounded strangely familiar, although he hadn't said so to Xenophilius. The more Harry thought about it, the more convinced he was that this, finally, was the answer. This was the part of the plan that Dumbledore had never mentioned to him, but had left hints for Harry to figure out on his own. He had drawn the symbol of the Hallows in The Tales of Beedle the Bard,after all. Why else would he have given Hermione a book of fairy tales? And the Cloak! Why else had Dumbledore taken it from James when, as Dumbledore had told Harry himself, he did not need it to become invisible? He must have suspected it was the Cloak from the legend!

It all seemed to be coming together in Harry's mind as he and Ginny arrived back at their campsite. He burst back into the tent and launched into the story as soon as he found Ron and Hermione.

"It all fits!" said Harry finally, looking from Ron to Hermione triumphantly.

Ginny was beaming in delight, relieved that they finally seemed to be making progress after so many setbacks. Ron too looked ecstatic, and said, "bloody hell, that's brilliant mate!"

Hermione, however, was looking at Harry oddly, partly in concern and partly in amusement. "Harry… this is silly. I mean, honestly, an unbeatable wand? You can't honestly believe this rubbish that Mr. Lovegood told you!"

"The Dark Lord does," whispered Mr. Ollivander, to everyone's astonishment. Harry gaped at him; he had completely forgotten that Mr. Ollivander was in the room.

"How do you know?" said Harry eagerly, although he thought he already knew the answer.

The old wandmaker looked troubled, as if he regretted speaking up at all. "He… asked me to help him find it, the Elder Wand. He has been troubled by the fact that Mr. Potter has repeatedly gotten the better of him. I told him about the twin cores, and he has been seeking a solution ever since. I did not want to help, but I had no choice, he tortured me! All I told him was that…"

"That Gregorovitch had it," Harry finished for him.

Mr. Ollivander looked flabbergasted. "How did you know…"

"Never mind," said Harry impatiently. "You told him Gregorovitch had the wand, and he went and questioned Gregorovitch, and learned about the thief. He's been looking for him ever since. That's why he's been abroad, Ron!"

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny said nothing, still trying to comprehend the enormity of what they were hearing. Harry too was thinking hard, his mind spinning from all of their unexpected breakthroughs. Dumbledore wanted Harry to unite the Hallows. They already had the Cloak, but what about the others? Perhaps Dumbledore knew what had become of them!

"Where's Dobby?" said Harry suddenly, looking at Hermione.

"I… I believe he went to get us food for tonight," she said slowly.

"Why do you ask?" said Ron.

But Harry did not answer, instead he flew to Hermione's beaded bag, opened it, and cried "Accio Map!" The Marauder's Map flew into Harry's outstretched hand, and Harry unfurled it, tapped his wand, and muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map of Hogwarts materialized before him. Harry's eyes immediately darted for the headmaster's office, and he was delighted to see that it was empty.

"Harry," said Ginny slowly, "what's going on?"

"I need to speak to Dumbledore," said Harry simply.

"What?" said Ron, Hermione, and Ginny simultaneously.

"His portrait, I mean," said Harry quickly. "I need to find this wand before You-Know-Who does! Dumbledore must know where it is!"

"I'm sorry Harry, but this is utter rubbish!" said Hermione loudly. "You know who Xenophilius Lovegood is, you've read The Quibbler, isn't it possible that this is just another one of his fairytales?"

"Hermione, you heard Mr. Ollivander," said Ron. "The only question now is how do we get there?"

"We?" said Hermione, almost laughing. "You can't see, Ron! Even if all of this is true, we can't just run off to Hogwarts, it's much too dangerous!"

Harry turned his attention to Ginny. She looked like she was thinking very hard, before finally saying, "Harry… I think Hermione's right. We should wait, form a real plan…"

Harry looked at her in shock; he had never known Ginny to propose a cautious course when action could be taken. But Ginny looked back at him with a gaze that showed she was confident in her decision. Harry considered her for a moment, before saying, "What kind of plan do you have in mind?"

The next several hours were spent planning yet another infiltration of Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny wanted to head out the next day, but Hermione eventually convinced them that their best chance at getting into the headmaster's office without anyone interrupting was the Easter holiday, which was a couple of weeks away. Dobby would Apparate Harry, Ginny, and Hermione to Hogwarts. There they would use the Invisibility Cloak to sit in the gargoyle's corridor, until they overheard someone use the password. Then, they would watch the headmaster's office on the Marauder's Map until it was empty, at which point they could sneak inside so Harry could speak to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. Hermione had lost her wand when she was captured by Voldemort, but since Harry and Ginny had managed to steal wands from Draco, Wormtail, and Greyback at Malfoy Manor, she spent the next several days practicing with each of them. She eventually decided that she liked Wormtail's the best. Ron, meanwhile, got Draco's, and Mr. Ollivander got Greyback's.

In the meantime, everyone's spirits had definitely been raised by the sudden surge in progress. Ginny and Hermione returned one day from exploring a Muggle village chatting and giggling with each other like they hadn't done in months. Although Harry and Ron hadn't seen it, they both quietly agreed that the girls must have finally gotten over their row. Dobby's presence in the tent, especially his superb cooking, made everyone feel more at home than they had at any time since leaving The Burrow. Meanwhile, Mr. Ollivander's strength continued to improve steadily as a result of Dobby's care. One spring morning, he surprised the others by announcing that he was leaving.

"I will be forever grateful to all of you for rescuing me, and for nursing me back to health," he said as he put on his cloak and shook each of their hands.

"But where will you go?" said Hermione sadly.

"Abroad," said Mr. Ollivander. "As much as I'd love to help you all, I don't think I'm strong enough to fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Plus, I don't much fancy running into him again, to be honest," he said with a small grin.

"Good luck," said Harry.

"I'll miss you most of all," said Mr. Ollivander, turning to Dobby. "Without your care, there's a good chance I wouldn't be standing here. If things settle down, I could definitely use an elf's help getting my shop up and running again. For a wage, of course," he added with a wink.

"You are most kind, sir!" Dobby squeaked.

And with a final wave, Mr. Ollivander Disapparated.