A/N: Thank you to all 292 people who have read this story. And extra thanks to those of you who have followed, favourited, or reviewed the story. On the subject of Ron and Hermione, I've decided where to go with them. I will let you know, however, that they won't simply be mindless pawns. They have reasons for acting the way they do, and those reasons will be explained soon enough, starting with this chapter. For now, let's get on with the story. As is rather depressingly standard, I don't own a single Knut.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HARRY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Harry woke up, the first thing he noticed was that there was a book sitting on the table in front of him that had definitely not been there before. Picking up the note that was sitting on top of the book, Harry opened it and began reading.
Young master,
My mistress ordered me to bring this to you. She asked that you study it in your free time. I have also left something for you to eat, since I believe you may sleep through dinner tonight. Best of luck.
'Huh. Who would have sent me this? Dumbledore? No, the letter said mistress, which means it's a woman. Professor McGonagall? She did buy me my broom, after all.' Deciding to read the book for now, and worry about who sent it later, Harry picked it up. For such a large book, it was surprisingly lightweight, like there was some kind of levitation charm on it that activated when he touched it. 'Something to look into later, I guess. Hmm. Alchemy? That can't be a coincidence. We discover who Flamel is, and someone sends me a book on Alchemy. Maybe it was Mrs Flamel. If so...why? What point is there? Ah, to hell with it. I've got the book, I might as well at least take a look at it.'
Cracking the book open to the first page, Harry was confused. There was no author listed, and the cloud of dust that rose from the book was so thick he could have sworn it walked off under it's own power. Shrugging it off - after all, some of the books in the library were probably just as old - he began reading from the first paragraph.
The ancient and noble art of Alchemy (pronounced Ahl-keh-me) is not so much a study, as a calling. If one has the requisite skills to devote to the art, they will no doubt become a first rate alchemist with relative ease. The first thing to discuss, however, is not how to perform an alchemic transmutation, but rather a warning.
Alchemy is governed by the law of Equivalent Exchange. To be blunt, you cannot gain something without something of equal value first being lost. Thus, it is impossible to create a soul, no matter how powerful or experienced you may be. One may fuse souls together - creating a chimera - but it is impossible to recreate a specific soul. This is due to the fact that all souls are unique, meaning that each has nothing of equivalent value. Thus, due to the governing law of Alchemy, human transmutation - the attempt to bring a dead person back to life - is strictly taboo.
If any novice alchemists feel like challenging this one, immutable law, they need only remember the tragedies of the Aztec and Atlantean empires. Half of the Aztec Empire, three Philosopher's Stones, and a good chunk of the Americas, were destroyed in the alchemic backlash from trying to ressurect just one person. But that is nothing, compared to the tragedy of Atlantis, one of the pinnacles of magical research in the world at that time. The entire island of Atlantis, every man, woman and child on that island, and seven Philosopher's Stones were annihalated in that cataclysmic attempt to ressurect one family of four people.
'Note to self. Never attempt human transmutation. No matter what.'
With that warning made, let us move on to the teaching of the art. The basics of Alchemy are simplistic, yet complex at the same time. The transmutation circle is a necessity for beginners, as is the matrix within said circle. Over time, some alchemists become able to perform Alchemy using their bodies as the circle, and their soul as the matrix. This should not be confused with human transmutation, as neither the circle or matrix are altered during transmutation. Over the page, a basic circle and matrix combination are displayed, along with step by step instructions for beginners to follow with ease. If you find yourself struggling, then it may be that Alchemy is not your calling, and it is unlikely you will ever master the art. The circle and matrix can be drawn with any number of items, however chalk is the most effective, and least likely to fail.'
Several times over the course of the evening, a house elf popped into the room to check that Harry was alright. The aspiring alchemist was completely engrossed by his new book, to the point that he didn't even notice the elf, even when she was spoon feeding him from the bowl of soup. His focus was solely on the Alchemy primer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HERMIONE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione Granger was conflicted. On the one hand, she had been raised to trust and believe in authority figures her whole life. If something went wrong, then an adult would come and fix it. On the other hand, she knew that only a teacher or member of staff at Hogwarts could have let the troll in. After all, they were keyed into the wards, and they were the only people who could alter them. Add to that the fact that it hadn't been an adult who came rushing in to save her and make her troubles go away like before, but instead two young boys, one of whom was the reason she had been there in the first place.
Those two boys had risked their own lives, not paying any attention to the fact that they would most likely die because of it, and defeated the troll. And Proffesor McGonagall, the authority figure that she was supposed to trust, had shouted at them for it. She would have got them into trouble for it, possibly even suspended them for deliberately dispobeying the Headmaster.
And so Hermione did something she had never done in her life. She stood up and lied to an adult. She took the entire blame onto her own shoulders, accepting the punishment - which, all things considered, was rather light - and saving the two boys' skins. And so two became three, and for the first time in her life, she had friends - real friends, not the ones in her books, but real, flesh and blood friends - and everything was fantastic. She had recieved a Christmas present from someone that wasn't related to her for the first time, and she had savoured every single Sugar Quill from Harry, and all the Fizzing Whizbees from Ron, because for once in her life, someone that didn't have to do so, had sent her a present.
But now it was all teetering on the brink of ruin, because Harry believed that Snape was trying to kill him, and no matter how much she had changed, she still hadn't shaken off the last vestiges of her old self. She still couldn't believe that an adult who had been allowed to teach in a school full of children, even one as nasty as Snape, would deliberately try to kill someone. And she could admit to herself, in private, that she personally thought it was Snape too. But it went against every lesson her parents had taught her while growing up, so she just couldn't admit it out loud, and now it was going to cost her the first friends she had.
Because she was not an idiot, no, not even the bullies from primary school would say that, and she knew that if it came down to it, Ron would side with Harry. And she would lose the first two people she had ever been able to call friends. Finally, she came to one conclusion. Sitting up straight in bed - she hadn't gone to sleep that night, too busy sobbing into her pillow at the thought of losing her friends - she admitted to herself that she had to do this if there was any hope of keeping her friends. Mind made up, she promised herself that tomorrow at breakfast, she would do it. Rolling over, she eventually fell into a restless and troubled sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~RON~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron Weasley was sitting in a chair by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. He had been sat there all night, staring into the fire, thinking. And he could just hear Fred and George laughing in the back of his head, making jokes about not hurting himself and the like. But Ron was smart. He had to be, after all, you can't play chess as well as he could, always thinking five moves ahead, and not be intelligent. It was just... why bother? If he got perfect grades, became Head BOy, Quidditch Captain, graduated with twelve OWLs and twelve NEWTs, what difference did it make? Bill was Head Boy first, and Percy seemed to be on track for the same.
If he made Head Boy, all he would hear from his mum would be; 'Oh Ron, this is wonderful. Just like Bill, you know!' And Charlie had been Quidditch Captain first, and the twins were fantastic Beaters, and even if his mum didn't approve of the game, she still congratulated them over every win, sent homemade cookies to celebrate every time they won. And he didn't even have the distinction of being the youngest child, because Ginny took that spot. The youngest child in the family and the first female Weasley in five generations to boot. She got all his mum's remaining attention, while he just... fell through the cracks. The middle child, nobody special, because his older brothers did it first.
So what was the point? Why keep going on, if he was never going to be better than his family, because they were already the best? Still, he consoled himself, at least I have one thing they don't. I'm best friends with Harry. That's something they don't have, but I do. And Harry. He was a conundrum to Ron, even now. He had all the fame in the country, witches - and the occasional wizard - willing to throw themselves at his feet to do as he wished with them, but he didn't seem to want any of it. But why? Why did Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, Saviour of Magical Britain, not want the fame? He couldn't figure it out, but he made a promise to himself, and these were the ones he always kept. No matter what got in his way, he would find out why Harry didn't accept the fame and accolades that were rightfully his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FREEDOM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep underground, in an enormous chamber an equally enormous crystal glowed with a soft, welcoming light. This was the central ward crystal of Hogwarts, and correspondingly, the centre of her intelligence. And Hogwarts watched. She watched as Harry Potter set himself on the path to greatness that he had nearly denied himself. She watched as Hermione Granger struggled to find a balance between the way she was raised, and the way her friends acted. She watched as Ron Weasley struggled to overcome his own problems, deeply rooted as they were in his childhood. She watched over Neville Longbottom as he slept, caressing him gently and soothing away his nightmares. She watched over Susan Bones, who even now still cried for the parents she barely knew.
She watched over each and every child within her walls. And as she watched, she knew that one day, these children would be grown men and women. She knew that some would go on to fight for what they believed in in the Wizengamot, in the ICW. She knew some would become shopkeepers, some would become potioneers, some would become teachers, some would be botanists, some would care for the magical creatures of this world, while others tried to bring peace between the various magical races. She knew that some would succeed, and some would fail. But most importantly, she knew she would do her best to help them achieve their goals.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLAMEL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Not moving very far in terms of plot this chapter, but I thought I'd give you a look at the minds of the three main characters. And yes, Neville and Susan will be friends with them. Thank you all for the reviews you've sent in, they've been very thought provoking. My question for this chapter is, should Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel get involved in the story? Should they live, and help Harry? Or is that simply an overused plot device that you're sick of reading? And if they do help Harry, how much should they help him? As always, thank you for taking the time to read this story, and please review it. I appreciate every one.