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.'
'But your father believed it would be possible to bring Merlinus back? He thought it could happen?' James prodded.
For the first time, Luna's face became serious. She looked at James. 'My father believed in quite a wide variety of things, James, not all of them technically consistent with reality. He did believe in the return of Merlinus. He also believed in the healing power of Nargle warts, the fountain of pleasing breath, and the existence of an entire subterranean civilization of half-human creatures he called Mordmunks. In other words, just because my father believed it, that hardly makes it true.'
'Yeah, I guess,' James said, but distractedly.
Luna went on. 'No wizard has ever overcome death. Many have cheated it for a while, using arts ranging from the creative to the questionable to the outright evil. But no single wizard in all of history has tasted death and returned to tell about it. It is the law of mortality. One life, one death.'
James nodded, but he was barely listening anymore. His mind was reeling. Finally, Ginny peeked in and sent both boys off to bed.
'So what do you think?' Ralph asked as they passed the curtained portrait of old Mrs. Black and climbed the stairs. 'You still think there's a big Merlin conspiracy?'
James nodded. 'Definitely. Remember our first Defense Against the Dark Arts class? When Professor Jackson came in to talk to Professor Franklyn about something? They were both standing up front, then the voodoo queen popped in to tell Jackson his class was waiting for him. Remember?'
'Yeah, sure.'
'Well, you know that case that Jackson carries with him pretty much everywhere? I got a look into it. It came open a little and it was only a few feet away from me. There was a big bundle of some kind of black cloth in it. Jackson saw me looking and gave me a look that'd melt lead!'
James opened the door to his room and Ralph threw himself onto his cot. 'So? I don't get it.'
'Remember what I told you about the night I hid under the Invisibility Cloak and followed Dad and Professor Franklyn around? Franklyn told Dad that he should keep an eye on Professor Jackson. He said that Jackson was involved in the whole anti-Auror propaganda movement. Don't you see?'
Ralph frowned again, thinking hard. 'I don't know. I can't believe Professor Jackson would be part of a plot to start a war against the Muggles. He's hardcore, but he seems cool.'
'That's what I thought, too, but Ralph, you know what I think that thing in his case was? I think it was one of the relics! I think it was Merlin's robe! He's keeping it safe until he can get the rest of the relics together.'
Ralph's eyes widened. 'No!' he said in a low whisper. 'Can't be! I mean, Professor Jackson…!'
'That's not all,' James said, digging into his backpack. 'Take a look at this.' He pulled out the folded Daily Prophet that Zane had given him, the one with the cover story about the demonstration against Harry Potter's visit. 'It's been in the bottom of my bag this whole time. I'd forgotten why I even kept it, but take a look at the article on the back.' James tapped the article about the break-in at the Ministry of Magic and the strangely cursed thieves who had apparently not gotten around to stealing anything. Ralph read it slowly, then looked up at James, his eyes large.
'It says one of the places they broke into was the Department of Mysteries,' he said. 'You think these guys were looking for the Merlin throne?'
'Maybe,' James admitted, thinking hard. 'But I don't think so. I think they were hired as a diversion. It says none of them had much of a prior record, right? They couldn't have broken into the Ministry on their own. I think maybe they were just a distraction, riffling things around and playing a bit of havoc while someone else found the throne and got it out of there.'
'But it says here nothing was stolen,' Ralph said, glancing back at the article.
'Well, they wouldn't admit that the throne of Merlin had been taken, would they?' James replied. 'I mean, that'd be a pretty scary bit of dark magic to admit had gone missing, what with all the stories of evil wizards trying
