Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. I'm just using the characters to come up with a story of my own.
Harry Potter: A Life After Hogwarts
Chapter 04: Apprenticeship
1999-2000
After the graduation ceremony, it was a tearful goodbye between some of their friends and a private talk between the duo and Headmistress McGonagall. Of course, being the concerned faculty that she is, the Headmistress asked Harry and Hermione about their plans once they leave the school.
Harry told her about their plans to settle down in La Push in the future. In most cases, they would be going there either on 2005 or 2006. They would be spending their first three to four years out of Hogwarts with the Flamels to learn whatever they could under their tutelage.
Once that was done, Harry and Hermione would be touring the world, simply enjoying life and checking out different magical enclaves to better themselves. Hermione told McGonagall that it would be a lifetime pursuit for both Harry and her to seek knowledge wherever and whatever they may be since they found the calling to their liking.
Since they lacked a better name for it, Harry jokingly called themselves as Battle Scholars since they were better than any Aurors in the field. If people thought that there were just bookworms, then they would be in for a rude awakening.
McGonagall couldn't resist opening up the idea for Harry and Hermione to become part of the faculty at Hogwarts but the duo declined since they couldn't see themselves as professors despite their prowess in that area, though the duo promised her that they would be always ready to help if she so needed. All she needed to do was to send them a letter and they would come immediately considering Fawkes could flame travel them easily to and from the school.
After a tearful farewell, Harry and Hermione activated their portkeys which took them to the Fidelius-protected house of the Flamels.
Harry and Hermione's first year of study as apprentices was dedicated to advancing themselves in the core subjects to the point of mastery, as well as getting an introductory course in Wandless Magic.
Nicholas Flamel told them that the field they were going into, which was Alchemy for Harry and Enchanting for Hermione, required them to be free from the use of wands since they needed to master their control over their magic. He explained that wands were necessary for witches and wizard to perform magic since they didn't have complete control over their individual cores.
Wandless Magic was simply the mastery of one's magical core that they could manipulate it at will, similar to that of a wand in the hands of a wizard or a witch. Nicholas further stressed that Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort had a form of control over their magic that they could do minor feats of magic without the use of a wand. Nicholas aimed for them to use ANY magic without a wand.
Harry and Hermione were excited over that idea and couldn't wait but start learning.
The aged Alchemist briefed them in their respective specialization after being asked by Hermione as to why they wouldn't need a wand for them.
The lost Art of Alchemy was the blending of different materials using a circle of power made from runes to create an object. One of the reason why there were so few in learning Alchemy was the requirement to have an excellent knowledge in Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and Runes. These four made up Alchemy as a whole.
Enchanting wasn't a lost art but those who could enchant were minor feats compared to a full Enchanter or Enchantress. They could manipulate magic without the need of runes by simply embedding it into an object, letting their magic form the required instructions as to how the enchantment was supposed to work.
Unlike wizards and witches, Enchanters and Enchantress could make their work permanent. In most cases, an Enchanter or Enchantress needed to be a master in both Charms and Arithmancy, the latter of which was necessary for her since she would be dealing in spells unlike Harry who would be concentrating on material objects.
Potion was necessary for Harry since he would be expected to blend different magical and non-magical ingredients. It was impossible to synthesize anything if one doesn't know the properties of an object and how it would react to another. At minimum, a student of Alchemy needed to be at Potion Master Level before they could think of dabbling in it.
Transfiguration was needed since changing one object to another requires a thorough understanding on how magic could be used to start the change. However, the limitation of Alchemy was the inability to create life. The only thing possible with Alchemy that was similar to it is to create a golem that follows instructions and nothing else.
When Harry inquired about Non-Living-To-Living Transfiguration, Nicholas told him that a chair turned into a cat was simply a chair imbued by magic to turn into a cat. There is no life there but magic giving the chair the characteristics and mannerism of a cat until the magic fueling the transfiguration lasts. There was no way for an Alchemist to actually create life. They could only mimic it.
Charm was a must for any Alchemist since mastery of this field allows the witch or wizard to have full control over their magic. They wouldn't need to resort to spells and incantation to produce an effect. Once properly mastered, they could replicate any spell with a single thought without the need of a wand.
Nicholas stressed this out loud for Hermione since she needed to be more than the level of a Charms Mistress to pull of Enchanting. She needed to be deeply connected to her magical core and Perenelle could guide her how to do just that.
Runes were necessary for the creation of a Circle of Power. Nicholas likened it to a computer program. Runes served as the codes for the program to work. The Alchemist was the conduit of the magic to power the runes to initiate the program a rune set was supposed to do.
Aside from runes, proper calculation was necessary in order to create the correct diagram to produce certain results. Nicholas assured Harry that he would be given access to ALL diagrams he created for different Alchemical projects – even the creation of the Philosopher's Stone which was considered as a step to gain mastery in the subject. Harry needed to be good at Arithmancy to create his own diagram since he needed to be exact for it to properly work and avoid accidents.
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The first year of study under the tutelage of the Flamels was an important developmental stage for both Harry and Hermione. Since they weren't taught Alchemy or Enchanting as of yet, they concentrated on the core subjects to reach the level of Masters in the field. They could take their masteries at the end of the year if they so wished IF they passed the standards of their respective masters.
The duo had access to the many books the Flamels had in their expanded library which made things a whole lot easier for them. What made things simpler was for Harry and Hermione to share notes with each other to speed up the learning process. If Harry found a specific subject easy or understood the concept faster then he would teach it to Hermione until she got it instead of just letting her flounder on her own. Hermione also did the same.
In most cases, Harry instructed Hermione on Transfiguration, Potions, and Runes since he found the subject easy; while Hermione helped her brother in Arithmancy and Charms.
The Flamels approved of this unique method of study since it made for a much faster progress. If the two kept going at this pace then they could easily grab their masteries before their first year was up.
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The lessons on Wandless Magic started with meditation.
Unlike the meditation technique used to enter one's mindscape common to all Occlumencers, the requirement needed for Wandless Magic was to delve deeper into one's subconscious mind to find their magical core.
Nicholas stressed that only a few witches and wizards were able to get a glimpse of their magical core, much less use it; while the majority simply used magic without bothering to find out where it came from.
Once the core was found, Harry and Hermione was expected to create magical channels for their magic to flow, making sure that magic circulates all over their bodies. This was one of the reasons why wand magic was so easy to use. The core of a wand serves as a conduit directly to a wizards or a witches' magical core. They didn't need to make channels like what the duo was doing since the wand was doing it for them.
To Perenelle, using a wand was a lazy way to do it though she admitted that she started out in magic with one much to the duo's amusement.
Wandless Magic requires the practitioner to control their magical core and familiarize themselves with it. Once that level was achieved, the witch or wizard needed to slowly create a thread connected to the core to various parts of their body. Nicholas provided them with a diagram commonly used by practitioners of Acupuncture to make it easier for them to create these channels.
Harry and Hermione were able to create their channels in the fifth month (November 1999) of their stay with the Flamels. Once that was done, they were ordered to do all the spells without a wand until they could do so without having to visualize the incantation and wand movements.
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Harry and Hermione discovered that doing spells wandlessly was taxing on their magical cores. In other words, they would get tired easily.
Nicholas explained to the duo that the magical core in the wand acts as a buffer by amplifying a tiny amount of a wizards or witches' magic to create the spell. Wandless magic didn't have such buffer.
The only positive side-effect to this was the continuous growth of their magical core. Nicholas told them that keeping their cores drained after using so many spells wandlessly would force it to grow until such time that a high-level spell wouldn't even make a dent on their reserves.
When Harry asked when this would happen. Nicholas just gave him a smirk and told him that it would happen when it happens. Of course, this answer caused the Man-Who-Conquered's mood to sour for the whole day much to Hermione's amusement.
It was during their fourth month (April 2000) of doing spells wandlessly that Harry and Hermione realized that they were no longer getting tired. To compare, when Harry tried the Patronus Charm wandlessly, he almost collapsed in exhaustion. Now, he could call Prongs and sustain the Patronus for hours without tiring.
When Harry and Hermione tested themselves on how long they would last, the duo found out that Harry had more reserves than Hermione, being that Harry's Prong lasted a whole ten hours compared to Hermione's otter which dispelled after five hours of being active.
The duo also noticed that the more they practiced with Wandless Magic, the more control they would have over their magical core. Perenelle explained it to them that it was similar to muscle memory, though in this case, she called it magical memory much to the duo's amusement and her annoyance. The more wandless magic they used, the more their magical core would get used to it. To put it simply, mastery of Wandless Magic was when their core reached the point that it would immediately react to their owner's thoughts and bring out the desired results at will.
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December 2000 marked the best month in Harry and Hermione's life. After being tested by Nicholas and Perenelle, both decided that the duo were ready for their masteries.
Since they were British Citizens, Harry and Hermione went to the Ministry of Magic in England to file their respective results in getting a Master's Certificate. Thanks to the glowing reports of the Flamels, Harry and Hermione were rewarded with their own certificates.
Harry could now add Potions Master, Transfigurations Master, and Rune Master in his resume. Hermione became a Charms Mistress and Master Arithmancer.
2001-2002
After being awarded their own sets of Masteries, Harry and Hermione started their actual apprenticeship with Nicholas and Perenelle.
Harry immediately started his lessons in Alchemy under the strict guidance of Nicholas Flamel.
His first order of study was to identify magical and muggle ingredients to be used in Alchemy. Since he was already well-versed in magical ingredients thanks to his study in Potions, Harry poured over Nicholas' various notes on Chemistry. It took him five months of intense study to be able to recite their properties immediately thanks to the pop quizzes that the aged Alchemist would spring on him from time to time.
Next, Harry started studying and memorizing the diagrams Nicholas created. The Master Alchemist instructed Harry on how each diagrams were created and what runes were used to create the 'program' for the magic to follow. Using Flamel's notes, Harry was able to determine the specific rune sets used in Alchemy and how there were supposed to be used in the circle.
Harry also discovered that the various lines and shapes inside the circle were used to connect one rune with the other within the Circle of Power. This provides a more complex instruction without having to re-use the same runes over and over again. To put it simply, the rune sets on the outer circle provides the base instruction while the lines and shapes inside the circle connecting one rune to the other was used for more detailed instructions.
For example, the outer rune would describe the shape of the object while the inner circle would guide the magic as to HOW the object would be created. It was mesmerizing and interesting at the same time.
Harry got this down pat but was totally flabbergasted when Nicholas showed Harry the diagram for the creation of a Philosopher's Stone. There were hundreds of runes used and the various lines and shapes were mind-boggling. Since he already got the basics down, Nicholas gave Harry the diagram as basis for the study. He would spend the rest of the year breaking down the diagram and translating the rune sets before writing down the instructions in English for the Alchemist to peruse. If he proved successful then he would start his first sting in Alchemy.
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While Harry was busy learning the basics of Alchemy with Nicholas Flamel, Hermione was under the tutelage of Perenelle Flamel to become an Enchantress.
According to the Enchantress, enchanting was the art of guiding magic towards an object and imbues it with a purpose. The most basic example of Enchanting was spelling an object. This was similar to the creation of portkeys or giving an object a property to be unbreakable.
However, the difference between using spells was that they could be easily dispelled. A simple 'Finite' or the more potent 'Finite Incantatem' would take the magic away leaving the object without any purpose at all.
Enchanting, on the other hand, was to utilize magic to actually place the magic in the object itself, making it a part of the object, turning them as one. No counterspell could ever get rid of an Enchanter's work. The only way to destroy the enchantment was to destroy the object.
Hermione's first lesson in the Art of Enchanting was something called Spell Weaving. Perenelle told her that the best way to actually imbue an object with a magical purpose was to create an exact replica of an object using a magical thread. Once the object was done, there was a method to embed the magical weaving INTO the object itself, thus making the object and enchantment as one.
Before she could get into that, however, she needed to actually create a thread of magic.
Perenelle just gave her a smirk after the introduction before starting her lessons in earnest.
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Harry could safely say that he found his calling in Alchemy. Even if his master was astounded at the way he could grasp a concept of transmuting an object easily and performing the actual change with ease. Thanks to his training in wandless magic, Harry's command over magic complimented his workings in Alchemy, making it easy to power the circle with enough magic to avoid overpowering the runes – which usually results in a large enough explosion that would turn an alchemist into ash.
His first project was to transmute objects. Using a slab of marble, Harry was able to create a life-size marble statue of himself. It was a tad vain but he couldn't help it much to the Master Alchemist's amusement.
His next project was to improve potions through Alchemy. Using his knowledge of magical ingredients, Nicholas instructed Harry on how to create solid potions. For example, he could easily turn a Pepper-Up Potion into a Pepper-Up Capsule that a patient could easily take in instead of being rammed down their throats.
Of course, he needed to creat a unique diagram for this idea since Nicholas didn't bother to work on it. Sure, he knew how it was done but he was just too lazy to give it a try.
It took a month to properly create a diagram. Good thing that it only took one diagram since he created a rune set that would utilize the alchemist's knowledge of the potion to create it. If that wasn't the case then he needed one diagram for EACH potion and that would take decades, if not centuries, to pull off.
Harry's first success in this project was the creation of Skele-Gro into capsule form since no one in their right mind would want to drink the vile tasting potion. He shuddered a bit when he remembered the potion being forced down his throat courtesy of the mother hen of the hospital wing. With this in mind, Harry decided to make a person's life easier by turning one into a capsule to make it easier to swallow.
Since there weren't anyone around to test the results, Harry banished the bones on his right arm and took in the first Skele-Gro capsule he created. He discovered that the potency of Skele-Gro increased when in capsule form since it took a measly 2 hours to grow all the bones in his arm instead of the usual 8 hours.
Elated by his success, Harry immediately created a large batch of Pepper-Up Capsules for Hermione since she was always drained every night after her lessons with Perenelle.
Since he got the process down pat, Nicholas told Harry to spend a whole year in experimenting with this method of Alchemy using already discovered potions.
Harry had fun in creating potion capsules in bulk which half of them he sent to Madam Pomfrey, via Fawkes, much to her delight.
One of her letters commended him for such a useful invention and asked him to provide her with a complete set for the running of the hospital wing. She even sent a 5-foot list containing all the potions she needed to be 'capsulized'. Harry heartily agreed and waived the promise of payment since it was a good experience for him.
He also made extras of these potions to add to his stores. He made a mental note to ask Hermione to enchant him an expanded multi-compartment cigarette case so that he could bring out the needed potions on short notice.
2003
It had been a year and a half since Harry started his project – the creation of a Philosopher's Stone.
Though many Alchemists would have had their own reasons in creating one, Harry's reason was quite simple.
He wanted to repay the kindness the Flamels have shown to him and Hermione.
Sure, they wanted to go to the 'Next Great Adventure' but the presence of a stone under their ownership would allow them to control WHEN they would be going to the next step of life, or in this case, afterlife.
Harry was already successful in breaking down the diagram in the creation of the stone. He wasn't able to modify it for simpler use but he guessed that making the diagram complicated would make it much harder for an Alchemist to create though there were only two people who knew the secret and had no intentions of sharing it to the world. He and Nicholas both agreed on that.
According to the notes, the main ingredient needed in the creation of a Philosopher's Stone was blood. It doesn't discriminate between magical or muggle as long as it was blood.
Nicholas mentioned in his notes that blood was the source of life to all living beings. He was quite correct there. Without blood, there was no life. This realization spurned Nicholas into creating a stone for himself and his wife.
To put it simply, the Philosopher's Stone was a crystallize mixture of blood imbued with a magical program. The program was comprised of four basic instructions:
One, the creation of the Elixir of Life that prolongs one's lifespan by stopping the aging process for a certain amount of time; The Elixir of Life may also be used as a means of treatment. Since it could put the body in a form of stasis, any wounds or diseases incurred wouldn't aggravate until a treatment is given.
Two, the creation of a powerful rejuvenation draught called the Reverse Aging Potion that reverses a person's age to a healthier body. This may be used in tandem with the Elixir of Life which stops a person's aging cycle for a set amount of time; Those who possesses the Philosopher's Stone could always de-age themselves back to their teens and stop their aging from there. Once the Elixir of Life runs out, they would slowly age back until it was time to take it again. This was one reason why it was also called the mythical Fountain of Youth.
Three, the creation of a golem with an unlimited source of energy to keep it running; The Flamels had two of them guarding their home.
Four, the transmutation of any base object into another object - like lead into gold, or coal into diamond; according to the notes, when the Philosopher's Stone was used on a non-living object, it rapidly ages it until it reaches its maximum evolution. Lead would eventually turn to gold and coal would later turn into diamond. It takes hundreds of years for it to come to pass but one could easily do so in seconds with the aid of the stone.
Harry roped Hermione into this project easily since she also looked up to Perenelle like a mother the same way Harry looked up to Nicholas as a father. Both just weren't prepared to let go of them just yet.
It took a year and a half to amass the amount of blood needed since they used their own blood for the project. Thankfully, Harry's Blood Rejuvenation Capsules worked like a charm. They would eat a lot for dinner, drain a lot of blood into two expanded barrels with a stasis enchantment which Hermione contributed to the project, and take the Blood Rejuvenation Capsules before going to bed. The Flamels were none the wiser.
Now that all the preparations were completed, all that was left was to transmute the stone. Harry and Hermione asked for a two-day off from their busy schedule to go back to Britain for business. Of course, the Flamels immediately agreed and provided them with a portkey to exit the property and return.
They needed to work fast since the Flamels wouldn't last long, around two months, without the stone. He and Hermione would transmute the stone tonight.
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When they arrived in Hogsmeade via portkey, Harry immediately called for Fawkes to flame travel them to a remote property owned by the Potters. It was a large forest with a small clearing in the middle. It was big enough for the circle so Harry chose the place to transmute the stone.
When they arrived, Harry didn't waste any time as he wandlessly carved the Circle of Power on the ground. Considering the size and the need to make sure that the angles were correct, Harry had to do it slowly with a lot of consultation from his notes. Hermione helped in double-checking the circle for mistakes since a circle this large could cause an explosion so large that it would obliterate the forest around them with a large crater in the middle.
It was three hours later that they finished and Harry had to take one of his Pepper-Up Capsules just to replenish his depleted magical core. Once his reserves were back to full, he and Hermione went around the circle to triple-check everything until they were satisfied.
"Hey, Harry, how much blood is needed to make one Philosopher's Stone?" Hermione asked curiously since she wasn't privy to the knowledge on the ingredients of the stone only that one of them was blood. Harry kept the other ingredients a secret since he promised Nicholas that he would. Hermione understood the need for secrecy and didn't begrudge her surrogate brother from keeping it.
"Let me see, we need around 1000 liters of blood." He replied distractedly.
"Uh…then you only need to use one barrel then." Hermione said absently as she pulled out one of the blood barrel from the trunk.
"Huh?" was all Harry said as he looked at Hermione in shock. Said witch just rolled her eyes.
"We have two barrels of blood here, one from you and one from me. We've been filling it up for more than a year now and we took more than a liter every night. Do the math."
"Oh. So how many liters do we have?" Harry asked Hermione in a daze. He didn't know that they had so much blood. If they had enough, it might be a good idea to do TWO Philosopher's Stone instead, one for the Flamels and one for their own use.
"Let me check," said Hermione as she pulled out the other barrel and cast a measuring spell. "Your barrel holds a total of 1,326 liters; while mine holds 922 liters."
"Wow!" said Harry in shock. "That's a lot of blood."
"Yes, yes. It is a lot of blood." said Hermione in her usual sarcastic tone. "What do you want to do with the rest?"
"Well…we could always make another stone for our use since we would be giving one to the Flamels." Harry said with an innocent look on his face.
"Fine. But you're going to make the other tomorrow. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Harry said with a nod since he needed to acquire the other ingredients again. He only had enough for one. "Now let's get started."
Harry conjured a very large tub made of ceramic in the middle of the circle since they needed something that would hold all the blood without any enchantments on it. The magic that created the tub wouldn't matter since it had no active effect on the main ingredient. Casting a measuring spell, he and Hermione slowly poured the blood into the tub until they reached the right amount. It took quite a while and the amount of blood almost filled the tub to the brim.
Job done, Hermione moved away from the circle so she wouldn't see the extra ingredients Harry was about to put into the tub.
Seeing Hermione moving out of sight, Harry immediately pulled out a bunch of other ingredients and dumping them unceremoniously into the blood. There was no procedure to follow since the circle would initiate the program in the creation of the stone as long as the correct ingredients were in it.
He poured 3 liters worth of Phoenix Tears courtesy of Fawkes, 10 liters of Dragon Blood, 2 ounces of Basilisk Venom, 13 ounces of Unicorn Blood –willing given, and 1 kilogram of grounded Fairy Wings.
Once that was done, Harry walked out of the circle carefully so as not to disturb it. He walked just outside the edge and immediately placed his hand on the circle where the alchemist was supposed to activate the transmutation process. Harry could feel the power exiting his magical core and into the transmutation circle. The circle and the runes surrounding it released a soft red glow until it grew brighter as it pulled more magic out of him. Harry could feel it working as magical energies from the circle shot out from the ground and poured into the blood and other ingredients with it. There was a bright flash of light before Harry felt the magical drain stop.
He shakily stood from his position and walked towards the tub. Gone were the blood and other ingredients. All that was left inside was a blood-red stone the size of a tennis ball, glowing softly with magic. Harry levitated the stone to his hand and studied it.
Now all that was left was to test it if the transmutation of a Philosopher's Stone was successful.
He pulled out a block of lead he prepared beforehand and placed the stone on top of it. A short burst of magic later, the lead was gone and was replaced by a block of gold. He grinned.
Harry turned and saw Hermione walking towards him with a worried look on her face. He didn't say anything but just raised the blood-red stone in one hand and the gold bar on the other.
Harry didn't know it but the successful creation of the stone immediately turned him into a Master Alchemist.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry and Hermione apparated to the Leaky Cauldron for the night since it would be useless to stay in the clearing and Hermione adamantly refused to sleep on the ground. Both slept like a log until the next morning.
After breakfast, Harry left Hermione in Diagon Alley since she wanted to do a little bit of shopping while he would be going to France to visit his contacts to acquire the ingredients.
Thankfully, he still had an extra of Phoenix Tears in a separate container just in case so that was one problem solved. It took Harry almost dinner time to acquire all the ingredients since some of them were rare, especially the freely-given Unicorn's Blood. Dragon Blood was quite easy to acquire since all he needed to do was apparate to a Dragon Reserve and buy it from there. The rest can be bought in an Apothecary shop, well except for the Basilisks Venom since it was rare. Fortunately, Harry's stint in potions acquainted him with a lot of shady characters in Magical France for such an item.
After a hearty dinner provided by Tom the Barman, Harry and Hermione apparated back to the clearing to begin the transmutation of another Philosopher's Stone.
It was around midnight that they finished the process since they had to re-do the circle since Harry didn't want to just leave a complete Circle of Power for anyone to come across. They returned to the Leaky Cauldron to sleep the night away and return to the Flamel House in the morning.
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After having breakfast with the Flamels, Harry immediately entreated them to a talk in the living room. Of course, Nicholas and Perenelle were confused as to what they would be talking about but they approved of the request and adjourned to the specified area and made themselves comfortable.
Harry would be the one to explain this project to the Flamels since it was idea in the first place. Hermione would just sit there and watch the show.
"Thanks for approving of this meeting, Nicholas, Perenelle." started Harry. It was during their first year that the couple asked the two of them to address them by their first names. The duo was reluctant at first but eventually gave in when the two practically reminded them of it every day.
"No problem, Harry. So what do you want to talk about?" Nicholas asked curiously.
"Before we start, how long do you think your current Elixir of Life would last?" Harry asked immediately, wanting to get to the point.
"I would say around a month at the most. Perenelle and I could feel the effects weakening." Nicholas answered somberly.
Harry just nodded and pulled out a box from his pocket and placed it on the table. He slid it towards the couple and waited.
Nicholas curiously looked at the box then at Harry's expectant face. He reached out and opened the lid. What he saw inside made him gasp in surprise. Perenelle, curious about her husband's reaction, also looked into the opened box. She mimicked her husband.
"Harry…how?" was also Nicholas said.
"I already perfected and understood the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. I've been studying it for a year and a half now until all the ingredients were ready. We left the house and went into a property I own to transmute the stone in privacy." explained Harry before pulling out another Philosopher's Stone from his pocket and putting it on the table much to the shock of the Flamels.
"What? Another one? Where in the world did you get so much blood?"exclaimed Nicholas in both surprise and confusion.
Harry looked at them sheepishly along with a grin from Hermione.
"Well, Hermione and I had been stockpiling our own blood for a year and a half. Hermione enchanted a barrel with an expanded space and a stasis field. Thanks to my Blood Replenishing Capsules, we were able to draw blood every night. Because of it, you didn't notice what we were doing. We stopped drawing blood three nights ago. I made a mistake in calculating how much blood we were drawing and ended up with enough for two stones."
"Hermione here helped in the creation of the circle since she had access to it from the library. However, she didn't know the other ingredients aside from the human blood and she left the clearing where I created the circle to make sure that the secret stayed safe in the both of us. After we successfully transmuted the first stone, we stayed the night over at the Leaky Cauldron and I spent the next day running around France to acquire the other ingredients. I created the other stone after we had dinner."
Nicholas and Perenelle just looked at the two grinning apprentices in shock. Both utilized their own specialization in the creation of a Philosopher's Stone. It was amazing for someone who just studied under them for less than 4 years.
"Did you test it?" asked Nicholas as he picked up the stone, checking it over to see if there was some problems with it. To his astonishment, there were none.
"Yes, I did and it worked perfectly." said Harry with a grin before pulling out the transmuted gold and placed it on the table. Perenelle took the gold and ran a diagnostic charm over it.
"It's real solid gold. Amazing." she whispered in amazement.
Nicholas nodded at the masterpiece he was holding and looked at Harry in the eye.
"Now the question is, why did you make a stone for us? I could understand making one for your own use but why make one for us?" asked Nicholas in a serious tone.
Harry sighed.
"Hermione and I weren't ready to part with you as of yet." Harry admitted in a whisper but the Flamel couple could hear it clearly. "You treated us like family for the past years and we were slowly looking at the both of you the same way. For Hermione, Penerelle became a mother that she lost when her own mother died. You Nicholas became a father figure for me. Sure, both of you were ready to go into the 'Next Great Adventure' but we were selfish. We knew that if the first stone didn't get destroyed, you would still be using it until now or until you deem it enough and pass on. You didn't have a choice. So we decided to create a stone for you, to give you that choice back."
Perenelle didn't say anything but just stood up from her chair and gave Harry and Hermione a huge hug, tears streaming down their faces. Nicholas just sat there and looked at Harry with pride in his eyes. Like a father looking at his son for doing something great.
For Harry, that was all the thanks he needed and couldn't be happier.
-x-x-x-x-x-
The next day revealed a younger and healthier Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. The couple graciously thanked the duo for their effort. Hermione gave Nicholas and Perenelle a loving hug followed closely by Harry. They didn't need to say anything but they were like family.
They were family.
Without the time constraints, lessons flowed steadily from there. Nicholas fine tuning Harry's knowledge in Alchemy since the creation of the stone already marked him as a master in the subject much to the boy's shock. They would be filing the necessary documents the next day at the Ministry of Magic in Britain much to Harry's dismay. He didn't like it but he had to do it much to Nicholas' amusement.
Hermione's lesson continued since she hadn't reached the level of mastery that Harry had over Alchemy. Perenelle told her that there were only a few things she needed to teach her and they could just take it slow from there. All she needed was master her control over her magic and the speed in the creation of the threads. Once she could create a thread and spin it into an object in minutes rather than hours then she was good to go for Mastery.
2004
Harry was skipping down the hall towards the dining room. He just came out of his laboratory with a large grin on his face after successfully finishing a project that he had been working on after the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. It took four months to discover and a month more to actually brew and capsulized.
"Hello, people of Flamel House." Harry greeted everyone with a grin before flopping down on his seat on the table.
Nicholas and Perenelle were looking at him as if he was crazy while Hermione looked at him in curiosity. She knew that look. Harry always had such a look when he discovered something good.
"Alright, Harry, what did you discover this time?" asked Hermione.
Harry didn't say anything but levitated a blue capsule each to the person seating on the table and keeping one for his own.
"What's this?" asked Hermione as she studied the capsule between her fingers. Nicholas and Perenelle were also doing the same.
"What you have in your hand is my latest invention in the field of Potions and Alchemy." Harry said grandly. "I present to you…the Animagus Transformation Capsule."
Nicholas gave him a confused look.
"You mean Animagus Revealing?" asked Nicholas. Harry shook his head.
"No. Animagus Transformation." corrected Harry. "The Animagus Revealing Potion was invented to allow the drinker to discover their animagus form by transforming into an animal for a short period of time. The Animagus Transformation Capsule that I invented is the 'capsulized' version of the potion that will allow the drinker to transform and BOND with their animal. No need to meditate for years just to achieve your form. One capsule and voila…instant animagus."
Hermione looked at the innocent capsule in her hand.
"Are you sure this works?" she asked curiously. Harry looked at her as if he was slapped.
"Of course it works. I know it works though I haven't tested it yet." Harry admitted. "Today was supposed to be the field test. I'm going to take one and transform. If something goes wrong, you people can just bring me back." Harry said with an excited grin on his face.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Hermione asked again.
"Hermione. Of course it's safe." Harry said in an exasperated tone. "What's with all the questions today? I'm a Potions Master after all."
"If you want to test it then I want you to do so out in the grounds. I don't want you to ruin the interior just in case you turn into something big." warned Perenelle.
Harry nodded and immediately stood up from his seat and dashed out to the grounds followed closely by Hermione, Nicholas, and Perenelle.
When they arrived at the large ground surrounding Flamel House, the trio saw Harry standing in the middle of the field.
Since his audience and emergency healers had arrived, Harry popped the capsule into his mouth and swallowed. Nothing happened for the first few second but immediately felt his mind and body change. He immediately noticed a new presence enter his mind; something primal, more powerful than his own. Considering the nature of his invention, the powerful presence melded with his own until he could easily feel it become a part of him. As his mind adjusted to the change, his body followed. He wasn't prepared, however, for the reaction of his audience.
"Holy shit! He's a bloody Nemean Lion!" shouted Nicholas as he readied his wand. He didn't need it but it might be necessary to REALLY overpower his spells without draining him. He knew how dangerous this mythical beast was. He didn't expect Harry to turn into one.
"Nicholas! Language!" shouted Perenelle as she whacked her husband on the head before pulling out her own wand. She didn't show it but she was freaking out.
"What in the world is that?" exclaimed Hermione as she watched Harry complete his first ever transformation into his animal form.
Hearing the name of the animal that he turned into from Nicholas, Harry immediately looked himself over. From the height, he would say that he was more than 6 feet tall, towering over everyone in the clearing. His had golden fur and he knew that they were as hard as diamond. He looked behind him and he could see his tail with its golden fur at its tip. Grinning, he shook his head and released an ear-splitting roar that echoed around across the grounds. The volume of his roar packed so much power that it scared the wildlife in the area.
"Harry?" asked Hermione in a voice filled with both fear and awe. She wasn't sure if Harry was in control. She just hoped that he was.
Considering that he didn't have any human vocal chords, all he could do was nod and sat on his haunches. They all backed away when he grinned. He was sure that they could see all his razor sharp teeth gleaming in the morning sun.
"Amazing." Nicholas whispered though Harry could hear it quite clearly. All his senses here heightened from the sound of it. "Are you in control, Harry?"
Harry simply nodded and padded over to Hermione who was standing there looking shocked at the approaching lion. Feeling mischievous, Harry licked her with his long wet tongue from chin to hairline.
"HARRY!" shouted Hermione as she started throwing curses at him with every wave of her hand like a machine gun.
Harry simply jumped back but wasn't able to evade the spells from her surrogate sister. He was surprised, however, when the spell just bounced off his fur. He just sat on his haunches and waited for Hermione to stop throwing curses at him, enjoying the feeling of the spells hitting but not penetrating his defenses.
Five minutes later, Hermione was huffing and puffing from the exhaustion of rapid spell casting. From the looks of it, she was overpowering her spells. Feeling that it was safe, Harry immediately turned back to his human form without effort. It seems that his invention worked as it supposed to.
"Well, now that was amazing." Harry said calmly as if changing into a Nemean Lion wasn't something to be excited about. "I guess it really worked."
"I hate you." was Hermione said as she tried to regain her breathing. She felt as if she ran a marathon with lead weights on.
"I love you too, Mione." Harry retorted with a grin.
-x-x-x-x-x-
After transforming a few times to get the feel of it and Perenelle making sure that the potion didn't have any damage in his physiology, Harry transformed back to his human form and urged the trio to give it a try.
The first one to try it was Nicholas who promptly turned into a black Labrador.
Perenelle followed by turning into white owl that reminded Harry of Hedwig though the breed was obviously different.
Harry was surprised, however, when Hermione transformed into a Shadow Wolf - magical creature that lived in dark forests that was believed to have abilities over shadows.
Since the trio was content to stay in their animal forms, Harry immediately transformed and started to play a game of tag with Hermione's wolf. He might be stronger but she was definitely faster. Nicholas' black Labrador joined it which turned the game of tag into a wrestling match. Perenelle's owl just perched on a branch and hooted at them as if saying 'kids'.
When the trio had enough roughhousing for the day, they changed back to their human forms and went back into the house for lunch.
Sticking to the tradition of the Marauders, Harry and Hermione tried to come up with appropriate names for their animal side.
For Harry, he eventually named himself Griever. A word he got from one of Dudley's video games. It meant Lion Protector or something. For him, it just sounded cool much to everyone's amusement.
For Hermione, she named herself Fenrir. She didn't mind that it was a male wolf's name. Harry agreed that the name suited her since she was quite a large wolf, larger than normal anyway.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Perenelle placed Harry and Hermione under observation after their animagus transformation since it was normal for witches and wizards to have certain characteristics of their animal forms after a successful change.
It was a week later that they discovered that the change was gradual the more they transformed into their animal sides.
For Harry, his senses became heightened to the point that he could hear a fly buzzing around the room and sounding like a chainsaw. A side-effect was the curing of his eyes. He could now see a whole lot better without his glasses. They later found out that Harry had night vision. Harry's reflexes also improved when he practically avoided all of Hermione and Nicholas spells with ease, not getting hit once much to their chagrin. He also became stronger and faster. All in all, Harry liked the change though he pouted when he realized that he didn't get the invulnerability that Nemean Lions were known to have.
Hermione's change was similar to that of her surrogate brother. Her senses were heightened, her reflexes improved, her strength increased but she was not as strong as Harry was. One change that had all of them flabbergasted was her ability to disappear into the shadows. After a few experiments, it was discovered by Perenelle that Hermione could literally hide herself inside a shadow for an unknown period of time. This was the perfect way to hide if she really wanted to. The only drawback to this ability was that she would appear where she was hiding when the shadow disappeared or when targeted by light.
2005
It was the middle of the year that Hermione finally earned her Mastery in Enchanting. Perenelle proudly called her an Enchantress when Hermione successfully enchanted a vase to be unbreakable and with the ability to provide nourishment for any plant placed within through the infusion of magic. Hermione was so proud of herself for attaining her Mastery that she gave Harry a huge hug that greatly bruised his ribs.
The duo stayed with the Flamels for a few more months enjoying the company of their new family before finally deciding to leave and proceed with their plan - to travel the world and gain experience.
After a tearful farewell and a promise to send lettesr or visits in the future, Harry and Hermione took a portkey back to Britain where they needed to drop by Gringotts to make sure that their plans with Spleensmash good to go.
