Chapter 13
The four friends were in the tent, terrified when they heard what Harry had just said: Voldemort thought Luna was the child of a prophecy that was actually targeting Edward. They had to warn the Lovegood family that they were now in danger of being targeted by the dark wizard himself. Panicked, the young wizards didn't know how to warn her of the threat, or even how to come to her rescue; it was as if learning this terrifying news had taken away all their means.
It was Ron who finally came to his senses, holding up the Deluminator and saying that if Luna had been able to perceive them last time, then it was bound to be the same today. Without waiting, he activated the instrument bequeathed by Dumbledore and a bubble came out of the device, showing Luna and her father near a stream that Edward, and obviously Ron as well, recognized very well, judging by his mumblings:
"Holy crap, that's the little river that's near Loutry St. Chapsoule. They are completely crazy or what, they will soon be spotted by wizards and... "
At that moment, the four young people saw the Luna of the blurred image, who wore a crown of strange and beautiful flowers at the same time, kneeling with her father near two graves on which were marked the names and dates of the two people who were buried there. On one of them was marked the name Helios and on the other, that of Selene, Luna's little brother and mother, the spectators of the scene assumed.
One of the dates was eerily similar to today's and Edward understood, with ice cubes in his gut, that this day was the anniversary of Luna's mother's death and that she and her father were coming to flower the grave. Little did they both know that the Death Eaters would likely lay a trap for them here in this place of peace, since Rockwood had all the data on Luna's family, including the day her mother died.
"Luna!" Edward shouted, hoping with all his heart that she would hear him, "Run! It's a trap!"
Luna flinched and turned around, wand in hand, but it was already too late: a jet of green light hit Luna Lovegood's father in the back, treacherously, as he was kneeling peacefully on the ground in front of his wife's tombstone. He collapsed to the ground, his eyes half closed, seeming at peace with himself and the world around him, even though he had just been murdered.
Luna screamed and her cry echoed through the clearing: it was not a scream of fear but a resonance of grief and pain. She had just lost the last member of her family and nothing could ever replace that loss in her eyes. As the Death Eaters now approached her like a pack of hungry wolves, her silver eyes hardened with a rage that none of the wizards in the tent had ever seen in their friend before. It was an anger that rose from the depths of her being, fueled by love and pain, an anger that Voldemort could never understand.
The young Ravenclaw began to cast silver spells at the drop of a hat, powerful spells that her friends in the Circle had never seen her cast before. It seemed to be more pure magic than actual evil, and the Death Eaters seemed to be having trouble controlling the girl without killing her. They thought the battle was won when a disarming spell struck the girl and took away her wand, but Luna continued to fight back, this time with wandless magic surpassed only by Edward's.
The Death Eaters cried out in surprise and retaliated even more brutally. Luna may have had immense power within her, but that didn't stop the numbers from winning. Soon the girl was thrown against the largest tombstone and knocked down.
"You fools!" shouted Rockwood's voice from under his hood, "She better not be dead! The Dark Lord needs her for greater purposes!"
A Death Eater went to check and assured him that she was only passed out. Immediately, the Death Eaters grabbed her and moved on, leaving Mr. Lovegood's body alone by the white graves. They didn't even think to remove the evidence of their crime.
Edward did not hesitate for a second. Once everyone had left, he moved into the clearing without waiting for the others and knelt down next to Mr. Lovegood, knowing that it was already too late. A few moments later, Hermione, Harry and Ron joined him, a little out of breath after packing all their belongings in the beaded bag. They too knelt down next to the body of Luna's father, a brave man who had helped them and had loved his family deeply.
Not knowing what to do, Harry, Ron and Hermione's eyes turned to Edward. Edward, with a closed face, held his wand next to the grave of Xenophilius Lovegood's wife and dug a deep hole, then made a few branches into a coffin and placed Luna's father's body in it before burying it and putting flowers on the grave. Then he went to the river, chose a long white stone and put it on the grave on which he engraved this epitaph: "To limit the press is an insult to a nation, to forbid certain books is to declare the inhabitants idiots or slaves". Then he stood before the grave, motionless, his fists clenched.
Harry put his hand on Edward's shoulder and said:
"There is nothing you could have done to save him. On the other hand, we can still save Luna."
"And how? I'll have you know that Malfoy Manor is impenetrable. The only way to get in is by being bloody prisoners!" Edward grumbled, who was well placed to know.
"We could try that, pretend to be runaway kids from Hogwarts. They're bound to take us somewhere for questioning if we look suspicious enough..." Said Ron.
"But it will be incredibly dangerous. They can't know who we are or they'll call You-Know-Who immediately. Especially Harry," Retorted Hermione, the voice of reason in front of the three boys who looked mad with anxiety.
"That, that can be arranged," Edward said as he grabbed his wand and metamorphosed. Hermione became a fair-skinned girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes, Ron now had brown hair and brown eyes. Harry had become a boy with brown hair and brown eyes and with a lot of acne on his forehead to hide his scar. As for Edward, his hair and eyes were now black as obsidian. Unfortunately, he couldn't hide his metal leg except by using illusionary enchantments. Luckily, these were strong enough that only a powerful wizard could detect them.
"There, now we need to find something so that the Death Eaters don't send us straight to the Ministry for a simple identity check. We need to be suspicious enough to be sent to Malfoy Manor." Edward stated in a firm tone.
"We could show that we are in possession of a Gryffindor sword..." Hermione suggested.
"No way we're leaving the real one within reach of the Death Eaters. I can conjure one, but it won't last forever. Said Edward, unwilling to leave something so valuable to their quest in the hands of their enemies.
"We also need a fallback, a place where we would be safe. Bill's house is well protected by the Fidelitas and I've been in the know since the wedding. I could put our stuff there for safekeeping and ask Bill to leave us a note telling us where his house is so we can meet up there..." Ron suggested smartly.
"Okay, but make it quick." Said Ed in an anxious tone, obviously only eager to find his friend and make sure she was okay. He had lost too many loved ones in his life to be able to bear leaving behind such a good friend as Luna.
It only took Ron a few moments to teleport with the small beaded bag containing their most prized possessions and to inform his older brother of their decision to assist Luna, no matter what. The young man quickly realized that nothing would deter his little brother from his path and offered him a piece of paper with the location of the seashell cottage to burn immediately.
When Ron returned, Edward had just summoned a sword almost identical to Godric Gryffindor's and looked exhausted by the magical feat. Replicating an item made by Goblins was complicated, and there was no way to completely mimic the goldsmithing and smithing of the guardian creatures of Gringotts. Everyone read the paper indicating the location of Bill and Fleur's home before igniting the parchment.
"Well, is everyone ready? You can still give up..." Said Edward.
"No way," Harry replied in a firm tone before saying the taboo word: Voldemort.
It wasn't long before they were surrounded by Death Eaters, their wands pointed at them and ready to cast evil spells. The band of minions of the new regime snatched their wands. Although they were not as defenseless as they looked despite losing their wizarding tools, it was easy to look frightened, especially when they realized that Greyback was part of the group that had come to subdue them.
After all, if the werewolf's heightened senses were to recognize them, they wouldn't give a damn. Luckily, if you could call it that, Greyback seemed more concerned with terrorizing Hermione by implying that he would gladly rape her than trying to figure out their identity. Unfortunately, another Death Eater rudely questioned them by violently twisting the arm of the only girl in the group:
"So, we speak the Dark Lord's name lightly? You will soon regret it, my lambs. So, tell me, why aren't you at Hogwarts right now?"
"It's, it's Easter vacation," Hermione stammered, tears welling up in her eyes, "we're allowed to stay away from Hogwarts during the vacations."
Edward couldn't help but be impressed that Hermione had kept track of the days and weeks of vacation. He hadn't.
"Good answer, cutie... But who says you're going to Hogwarts? Maybe we should go check..." Greyback insinuated with a fierce grin.
"Where? To Snape? He's not going to be happy about being disturbed..." Greyback muttered in a pathetic tone.
Apparently, even years after their schooling, Severus Snape still inspired fear among his former students... Unless it was his role as Voldemort's right-hand man... Nah... Certainly the former...
"No... Let's go ask the Malfoy family's son instead... Who knows, it might give him an opportunity to get back into the Dark Lord's good graces!"
There was some greasy laughter: as if the capture of a few possible Muggle-borns or Hogwarts education rejects would bring the Malfoy family back into the Dark Lord's good graces! Of course, the fools didn't know they were dealing with the most wanted teenagers in Britain. They tied up the four young wizards with a sickly Goblin and a boy Harry recognized as Dean Thomas.
The unfortunate Gryffindor obviously couldn't escape the Refiners long enough. The Death Eaters, however, soon found the fake Gryffindor sword and were delighted with the opportunity. The group moved on, and at the same time Harry, in a fit of pain, had a vision of Voldemort standing in front of a black fortress, flying towards a window, actually a thin slit in the wall, looking at an old man... Dead or asleep?
They arrived at a country road and Fenrir Greyback, after announcing the purpose of his visit to the gate, was finally allowed to enter. Negotiations had been tough, as apparently the Malfoy family considered the purpose of the visit to be unworthy of their rank and position. It was only when Fenrir announced that they had found a precious object, a sword, that the gate's doors opened abruptly. When they reached the hall of the manor, the group of prisoners was paralyzed with fear: Bellatrix Lestrange stood at the top of the stairs and stared in madness at the sword held by Scabior, a teary-eyed Death Eater.
This was not really planned. But they should have expected Lucius Malfoy's Manor to receive his beautiful sister. In the corner, the entire Malfoy family watched the scene with fear and suspicion, not knowing what reaction to expect from the witch. The Death Eater quickly descended the stairs and grabbed the sword while throwing a Doloris at the man who had the misfortune to hold the blade.
"Where did you get that, you miserable brat?!"
"Those kids! They were the ones who had it, ma'am! I swear to you!" Howled the Reporter as he writhed in pain and pointed at the group of four they had just captured.
"Stupefiy!" Bellatrix then screamed as she stunned the Reaver and then turned to the prisoners who couldn't help but tremble in unison: it was never good to be the object of the attention of the fanatical Death Eater. In Harry's group, however, everyone hoped that the witch would go after him and not the others, because while everyone could withstand the pain (for a while), knowing that others were being tortured in their place was unbearable. And unfortunately, Bellatrix Lestrange seemed willing to torture to the point of insanity any young wizard who made the mistake of taking the sword as bait.
Never had Harry been so afraid for his friends as they fell prey to the Death Eater's malevolent and utterly insane gaze, and strangely enough, he could discern terror in it too. That was it. Bellatrix Lestrange was appalled, despite her position of strength. The worst part was that Harry didn't understand the reason for this fear: sure, the sword was supposed to be in his trunk and Voldemort would probably be furious if he thought that someone had managed to steal the Gryffindor sword...
At that moment, Hagrid's words came back to Harry's mind: "Gringotts, the safest place in Britain, apart from Hogwarts, of course..." Could it be that... Harry stopped his train of thought when Bellatrix Lestrange pointed to Hermione as her victim and ordered Draco to take the other prisoners down to the cellar.
The young Death Eater stared curiously at his prisoners, seeming to find them familiar, which was normal. Edward had only changed the melanin in the hair and eyes, he had not changed the shape of the face. But fortunately, Draco Malfoy didn't seem to believe that Harry Potter or Edward Elric could be in his house, in front of his eyes, right now. He opened the cellar door with his wand and pushed the prisoners into the dark room. As the door closed on them, they heard a scream of pain, Hermione's, tortured by Bellatrix. They were in complete darkness but that didn't stop Ron from starting to scream:
"HER..."
"Silencio!" bellowed Edward, concentrating with all his might before Ron betrayed them all with his screams. The wandless spell was successfully cast despite the fact that all five prisoners had their hands bound. Now only Hermione's screams and Bellatrix Lestrange's questions sounded, making the atmosphere even more unbearable. An elderly voice spoke softly into the darkness of their prison:
"Who are you?"
Edward recognized Ollivander's voice and swore as he tried to break his bonds with wandless magic without hurting his friends with a cutting spell. He managed to do so with the help of the old wand maker who had found an old rusty nail to help them. Sometimes, nothing was better than muggle methods...
All the while, Ron had been trying to shout Hermione's name as his girlfriend's screams rang out. Fortunately, the boy eventually regained his composure enough to activate the Deluminator and several luminous balls collected during their adventures sprang from the instrument.
Edward, now that he was free of his bonds, clapped his hands discreetly and was about to create an exit of his own in the wall, but Ollivander stopped him just in time by telling him that the walls would eat away at his hands like acid. Clearly, Rockwood had finally found a way to counteract his alchemy. Edward swore in despair: not only was Hermione being martyred upstairs by Bellatrix Lestrange, but they and Luna were still trapped in different cells and powerless to free themselves. At the same time, Hermione finally confessed that the sword was a copy.
Immediately, the Death Eater sent her nephew to request the Goblin, Gripsec, to authenticate the sword. Draco Malfoy arrived at the same time Ron was bringing back the balls of light and took the goblin with him. Luckily, in the near darkness of the cellar, he didn't notice that the three boys' features were slowly starting to change. The three boys just hoped that Gripsec would tell the truth about the sword being a fake, but they doubted that the fleeing goblin would help the Death Eaters. But now it was only a matter of time before the Death Eaters upstairs realized that they had Hermione Granger and went to check on their other prisoners.
For the moment, the Death Eater's questions echoed downstairs, along with Hermione's tortured screams, putting Harry's nerves on edge. The situation seemed hopeless: Edward could not use his special magic here and they could not get out of here to rescue their friends. Suddenly, the young wizard remembered something that Dumbledore and Edward had said: that Voldemort and his minions tended to overlook the lowly and the small, believing them to be incapable of doing what they themselves could not. Whispering, Harry called out Dobby's name and the little House Elf appeared, trembling, in what had been the home of his former masters. Everyone's eyes widened with joy.
"Dobby," Harry whispered hurriedly, "I want you to take Dean, Mr. Ollivander and Luna, she's in another room in the basement, in the Shell House next to Tinworth. And then you'll come back, is that okay, Dobby?"
The elf nodded, rushed toward the prisoners Harry had designated, and two almost simultaneous cracks sounded. At the same time, Harry felt his scar hurt and he saw a toothless old man tell Voldemort to kill him, telling him that the Elder Wand would not bring him what he was looking for because there was much that he, Voldemort, did not understand.
Moments later, he heard the voice of Lucius Malfoy, who had heard the noise in the cellar, order Queudver to go check out what was going on in the cellar. Soon, the pitiful little Death Eater arrived to check out what was going on in the cell. But unfortunately for him, he was ambushed by Ron, Harry, and Edward, who together managed to knock the miserable little man out, but not before Edward hit the wall and burned the side of his arm.
They left Queudver stunned in the cellar, and then the three friends climbed the stairs as quietly as possible and made their way to the hall, where Gripsec was testing the sword and declaring it a copy, confirming Hermione's statement. Hermione seemed to be on the verge of unconsciousness and her hair was back to its usual bushy look, but no one, except Draco, seemed to notice.
The Malfoy son seemed to understand what was going on, but he was reluctant to raise his voice in his own home and draw his aunt's attention, even to denounce his sworn enemy. He held the wands that had been snatched from the prisoners in his hesitant fingers, seeming to doubt his allegiance, just as he had that night at the top of the Astronomy tower. Harry held his forehead and stifled an expletive: Voldemort had just killed the old man after he had told him that the Elder Wand would never be his.
Hermione was now back to her old self and Draco seemed determined to react. Knowing that it was time for action, Harry, Ron and Edward looked at each other and each chose a target: Ron threw an accio, holding out his arms and thinking hard about Hermione. The girl crossed the room and landed in Ron's arms as he carefully carried her.
Edward had thrown a Stupefy at Lucius Malfoy while Harry, in full concentration, brutally disarmed Draco with a violent Expeliarmus that sent the young boy into one of the living room chairs across the room. As soon as the wands landed in his hands, he threw a Stupefiy in the direction of Bellatrix Lestrange with all the wands he had just recovered.
Meanwhile, Edward disarmed Bellatrix Lestrange and grabbed her wand. But the fanatical witch had finally realized she had Harry Potter in front of her and activated the Dark Mark on his arm. Now it was only a matter of seconds before Voldemort arrived.
Edward rushed to Gripsec's aid as Harry sent Fenrir Greyback flying with four simultaneous stupefies. Ron soon joined them carrying Hermione like a bride and they gathered in a corner of the living room. Bellatrix looked ready to rush at them armed with a silver dagger but she was hit on the head by Dobby's unhooked chandelier. As Dobby ran back to Harry and his friends, under the insults of the fanatical Death Eater, he proudly proclaimed that he was a free Elf.
The witch, foaming at the mouth and seeing that her prey was about to escape her, stood up and threw her dagger as the group disappeared into the distance. Harry, Ron (who was clutching both Hermione and Dobby) and Edward were guided by Dobby to their destination and everyone landed more or less safely. The Goblin named Gripsec seemed to be in pain in his legs, Hermione had been tortured with a dagger in the Muggle way and Edward had a large wound on his right arm that stained his sweater purple.
But they soon realized that it was Dobby who was fatally injured. He was standing with his back to the sea, his starry eyes fixed on the person he had loved and admired the most, Harry Potter. The silver dagger was stuck in his chest and the brave House Elf was dying. And yet, his last act had been to lead them to safety.
"No," Harry whispered, tears welling up in his eyes as he once again saw someone he loved get killed for him. Someone who he had jokingly forbidden to save his life again and yet had devoted himself to returning to a home that had been hell for him for the sole purpose of saving him from it. Harry had never felt so guilty. He knelt down next to Dobby who had collapsed to his knees next to him and continued to look at him, certainly wanting to burn the image of the young wizard into his huge eyes. He whispered:
"Harry Potter" and with a last effort he said, "Happy is he who dies of love..." and with a serene look, a sort of elven smile on his lips, he closed his eyes as the four young wizards still standing gathered around him. Never, perhaps, had a House Elf seen so many humans attending his last moments, especially for those beings used to dying in secrecy. But Dobby had been a unique Elf: one of the few who was free to make his own decisions, but also free to lay down his life for those he loved, and that was one of the most profound freedoms in this world.
Harry was so wrapped up in his grief that he could barely feel Voldemort's rage as he punished his followers, starting with Peter Pettigrew, whose life he took with a simple Avada Kedavra. Yet Harry felt that his grief, his sorrow, the love he had for Dobby overrode the dark wizard's murderous rage, feelings that were completely alien to Voldemort.
He asked for a shovel to bury his friend with the dignity he deserved. And all through the night, four boys dug a grave with their own hands. At dawn, Hermione and Luna joined them. They each gave him a garment, a symbol of the freedom he had used only to help those he loved, and then they laid the Elf in the grave. Luna gave a speech that touched everyone who heard it: the girl had just lost her father, yet she took it upon herself to overcome her grief to give Dobby the words he deserved. Edward gently embraced the girl, whose tears were gently rolling down her cheeks. They all said their goodbyes to Dobby with the dignity of the living.
When he was alone, Harry took a large white stone and carved on it these few words: Ci Git Dobby, Free Elf and, just below, the last words of his friend and his epitaph: Happy who dies to love. Such wise words and yet coming from such a humble being... Harry stayed a few moments in front of the grave, then he returned to the Cottage where Bill explained that all the members of the Burrow had gone into hiding.
Of course, Aunt Muriel had been very unpleasant to Ginny because of her premarital pregnancy, but Bill's sister knew perfectly well how to tune out her complaints. Fleur's husband didn't seem to resent Harry for this and said he now considered him his future brother-in-law. He also added that the whole family was protected by the Fidelitas. Meanwhile, Edward explained to Luna that they had buried her father, but that now that she was as wanted as they were, she would not be able to go to him right away, while hugging her to him in a gesture of comfort.
Then Fleur mentioned the upcoming departure of Ollivander and Gripsec, but Harry said he had to talk to them first. His heart and mind wavered between the Hallows and the Horcruxes, but in the end he sided with the quest Dumbledore had given him. The Horcruxes would come first. So he chose to talk to Gripsec first, despite Bill and Fleur's concerns.
Knowing that this would be difficult, he asked Edward to help him, if possible, to smooth things over with the Goblin. The young boy nodded as Gripsec arrived at the same time, supported by Bill. Harry began by asking him about himself and then introduced himself to Gripsec again. The Goblin seemed surprised that the survivor remembered him, even though it had been more than seven years since they had met. Then the Goblin remarked that he had buried the elf himself and Harry replied:
"He was a dear friend and he saved our lives. I could do no less for him. Unless you know another way to honor someone who loved you so much that they sacrificed their life to save you, I couldn't do any better."
"You also saved a goblin."
"Your kind did not matter in any way. For me, it is not by origin, nor by species that a person should be judged, but by their actions."
"You are a very strange wizard."
"I get that sometimes. Now we need to talk about something very important. An object, a cup, crucial to the survival of You-Know-Who, has been placed in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts. Can you help us retrieve it?"
"That would be theft, an affront to the Gringotts Bank founded centuries ago."
"I don't want to steal it for myself, but only to stop the reign of the Dark Lord. Can you trust me on that?"
"If there was ever a wizard who could be trusted and who did not seek personal gain, it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and Elves are unaccustomed to the solidarity or respect you have shown tonight. Not from the Wand Bearers."
"The Wand Bearers?" Harry questioned.
"Goblins are not allowed, by wizarding law, to carry a Wand, nor are Elves. This is a great controversy in the relationship between wizards and goblins," declared Edward, who had researched Goblin magic for one of his theses on Magic.
"It's more than a controversy, it's a chasm that separates our two nations." Gripsec retorted aggressively.
"Yet the Goblins have mastered magic without a wand. And you do not share your secrets about how you use magic. And even without the wands, you can do amazing things: treasures, swords, armor!" Ron exclaimed.
"And who knows what even more amazing things the Goblins could create with a wand to match." Edward muttered as he contemplated the situation in a new light: much of the current racism that dominated the wizarding world was due to fear. Fear of what Goblins could do with a wand was keeping wizards from being able to claim a wand.
The Purebloods' fear of Muggle-borns taking over because of their numbers. The mutual fear of Muggles that the supernatural would enter their well-ordered lives and the fear of the Muggle-born community that Muggle Progress would force them to change their ways. The fear that placed unbridgeable chasms between the species... Was there no way to build bridges? For the first time, Edward truly understood the big picture without having listened to a single lecture from Binns.
But meanwhile, the situation was escalating as Gripsec declared:
"But I'll point out, in case you forget, that wizards are also capable of Wandless Magic. After all, didn't you use it in front of me while we were imprisoned to silence your friend?" Asked the goblin, addressing Edward this time.
"I am special. I have better access than the wizards to the great Universal Cycle and I taught my friends to access it, indeed." Edward explained in a hesitant Goblebabil.
Gripsec's eyes widened, either because Edward was addressing him in his language, a great mark of respect, or because Edward had just mentioned one of the best-hidden secrets of Goblin Magic: the existence of the great Universal Cycle that goblins could use without a wand. Probably both. Gripsec looked at Edward, stroking his black beard thoughtfully.
"You have just revealed several very important things to me, Mr. Elric. I need to think more about this before I make a decision of such importance." Said Gripsec.
While Ron railed against the Goblin, Harry headed to Ollivander room to ask him about the Elder Wand while explaining to his friends how he understood that Jedusor considered having a chest at Gringotts to be such a mark of belonging to the wizarding world that he would envy anyone who had access to an overprotected chest... Then he began to ask Ollivander his questions, knowing full well that Voldemort had reasoned as he had and was now heading for the place where the Elder Wand rested.
He began by asking if his holly wand could be repaired, but the answer was a resounding no. Then he asked the old wand maker if he could identify the wands he had snatched from Malfoy. Edward had quickly retrieved his own, one of a kind.
Two others were Hermione and Ron's, who had quickly recovered their property, while the other two, one made of walnut and dragon's belly belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange and the other made of hawthorn wood and unicorn hair, the one Harry could make work the easiest, belonged to Draco Malfoy. Edward and Harry quickly noticed the use of the past tense and asked about the wands.
Apparently, wands had a loyalty to their master and when they were taken by force from their former master, they switched allegiance to the one who had taken them from their last owner. This explained why Draco Malfoy's wand was so easily taken by Harry. Ron, on the other hand, could use both Queudver's wand that he had snatched from him during the fight and his own wand, which seemed to make him happy. Edward remarked that wands were not exactly driven by a sense of loyalty to their first owner, although Ollivander corrected him by saying that some wands, because of the way they were made, could only belong to one person. The veiled insinuation obviously concerned Ed and his fabulous wand from another world...
But Harry was more interested in the Death Wand and, to Hermione's surprise, the old wand maker confirmed that the Elder Wand not only existed but was passed from hand to hand, usually with murder in its wake because of its reputation for invulnerability. This reputation for invincibility was what drove the wizards' passions and what Voldemort was so obsessed with... Everyone thought that murder alone would allow the Wand of Destiny to pass from one owner to another.
Yet Harry had proof that, at least once, the Elder Wand had passed from hand to hand without murder: Grindelwald had always been alive after Dumbledore had defeated him in 1945 and become the supposed master of the Death Staff, according to his hypothesis, anyway. So, "normal" circumstances could apply to the invincible wand.
Harry's thoughts took him to the Astronomy Tower that fateful evening: who was the person who had defeated Dumbledore? Was it Snape, by killing Dumbledore, who had become the master of the Elder Wand, or simply Draco Malfoy with his simple disarming spell? And Harry, last night, had taken Malfoy's wand... Did that make him the true master of the Death Staff?
Just as these facts hit Harry with the force of a cannonball, he glimpsed Voldemort violating Dumbledore's tomb to get his hands on a wand that, in theory, would never belong to him. And Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing almost to the point of insanity as he considered that technically he was already the master of the Deathly Hallows, but he had no idea how these artifacts would save him from the death that was approaching as they destroyed the Horcruxes. The cruel irony made him want to cry, his nerves were so frazzled, but only Edward's comforting hand calmed him down as he advised him to focus on the Horcruxes for now.
Lots of action, and more to come...