Pomona climbed the stairs to the room where the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Acceptance were kept. Dumbledore was waiting for her there.
"You wanted to see me, Headmaster," she said from the doorway.
Dumbledore seemed only then to notice her, turning his gaze away from the window.
"How have you been settling into life in London lately? Have you adjusted?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'm only there for the summer holidays. I'll come back when they're over," Pomona said. "I have no plans to stay there permanently."
"At least it's close to Diagon Alley. Is that Divination shop that predicts children's names still open?" Dumbledore said. "I remember quite a few people of your generation went there for readings."
Pomona smiled and shook her head. "I don't have that much time to go to Diagon Alley."
"Augusta takes her child there. Frank's name was divined there—in Medieval Latin, it means freedom." Dumbledore smiled somewhat wistfully. "Do you think it's a good name?"
"What about Neville?" Pomona asked. "What does that name mean?"
Dumbledore said nothing for a long time.
"His name hasn't appeared in the Book of Acceptance yet. Harry's name appeared a long time ago."
"You want me to investigate?" Pomona asked.
"I want you to keep an eye on that child... Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I believe that's how the saying goes," Dumbledore said.
"I should have done it long ago," a woman's resentful complaint drifted down the corridor. "I should have left him long ago, but I just couldn't bear to..."
The person beside her was comforting her.
The Longbottoms' ward seemed to have become St Mungo's "rest area," because they were always asleep and would never repeat what they heard to anyone else.
Pomona looked at the two lying in