Disclaimer: When I finished the construction of the actual building, I turned my gaze upward. The building had no roof, so that the heavens would be forever visible for those who chose to look upward towards something new. I knew that it was finally time for me to start making original work, and that what I had already built would ensure that no matter how much I strayed from her glorious design, all would still belong to J K Rowling. Mars was bright that night.

AN: Finally, the chapter that I have eagerly awaited writing from the start. Hey look, a chapter title that doesn't appear in cannon.

Chapter Ten

The Children of Merlin

As November starts, the weather turns very cold. The mountains around the school become icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning, the ground is covered in frost. You sometimes see Hagrid from an upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaver-skin boots.

The Quidditch season has begun, and Cedric insists that he is better from all the practicing that he had been doing with you. You think that he is just being nice; he almost always beats you to the snitch. On Saturday you will get to see your first real Quidditch game when Gryffindor plays against Slytherin, the only house not represented in your closest group of friends, now that Hermione has joined it.

The three of you sit outside under a tree by the lake. The air is cold but still, and a bright blue fire that Hermione has conjured in a jam jar so it can be carried around, warms you. Even though it is Friday afternoon, you aren't visiting Hagrid because he said that he had some things to do. You'll see him tomorrow after the Quidditch game instead.

Hermione is trying to get Ron to finish a Charms essay. He wanted to copy from her, but much to your relief, she wouldn't let him. You think that it is obvious that it is a bad idea, because her writing shows much more elegance then either of yours, and surely the Professors would be able to tell the difference right away.

Hermione gave Ron a different reason. "How are you going to learn anything if you just copy from me?" Ron doesn't like it, but he was somewhat mollified that she is at least helping him by looking over what he has written.

You put your Hufflepuff work ethic to work and finished your Charms essay last night, so while Ron struggles to write his essay, and Hermione reads over yours to make sure that it is up to her standards, you are reading a book on Quidditch that she found for you. Clearly, there are great advantages to having a Ravenclaw friend.

That thought reminds you of something that has been bothering you recently. "I've noticed something about us that's not quite normal."

Ron looks up, eager for a break from his work. "Isn't that a good thing? Who wants to be normal?"

"Me."

Hermione sighs. She doesn't like being interrupted while she is reading, but you can't help it. She always seems to be reading. "What isn't normal about us?"

You take a deep breath to organize your argument. "All three of us come from different houses, but there are four houses, not three."

Hermione nods. "So? I think that we're supposed to have friends in other houses. Isn't that why Professor McGonagall gave you each five points?"

"Yeah, but we don't have any friends in Slytherin. How can there be one of us from three of the four houses, but nobody from the fourth?"

Ron snorts. "You don't want a Slytherin friend, mate; they're all slimy racists, like Malfoy."

Hermione frowns. "They can't all be bad."

"They are. That's why they got sorted into Slytherin."

You disagree, "They got sorted into Slytherin because they are cunning and ambitious, not because they are racist. You and I are both better off having a smart friend like Hermione, right?"

Ron nods.

"And her and I are both better off having someone brave like you to watch our backs, right?"

Another nod.

"And I'd like to think that the you of two are better off having a loyal friend like me..."

"Definitely," Ron puts in. "You're a great friend to have."

"So it makes sense that we would all be better off with a cunning friend from Slytherin."

"Nope. Here's your problem, you don't realize that Slytherins don't have friends; they just have people that they use."

You sigh. "Alright. Then we would all be better off being used by a Slytherin if they helped us out along the way too."

Hermione looks thoughtful. "I think you're going too far with that one, but your first point was a good one. We should try to make friends with a Slytherin. It just makes sense."

A look of indignation appears on Ron's face. "I can't believe that you want to be friends with a Slytherin. You're muggleborn; they don't even see muggleborns as people. They just lump you all together into a single group, and hate you."

"Well, some of them are like that, but I am sure that there are some of them who don't put people together into large homogeneous groups. If they would see me as an individual, then we could be friends."

Now Ron just looks confused. "Large what?"

Hermione sighs. "It means that they can't all see certain types of people as all being the same."

Ron shakes his head. "But they do; that's why they're all evil, and that's why we shouldn't be friends with any of them."

You think that Ron might have missed Hermione's point, and decide to try something different. "Look, the founders were all friends. How cool would it be to be like them, by having a friend in each house?"

"Yeah, but Slytherin tried to stab the other founders in the back. That's why you shouldn't ever trust a Slytherin."

Hermione enters the debate again. "He has a point you know. Not about not being friends with Slytherins, but about the whole Slytherin betraying the others thing."

"See, she agrees with me again, and she's the smart Ravenclaw one."

You are starting to get frustrated now. "But don't you see? We're out of balance."

Ron grins. "We're out of balance anyway. We have two boys and a girl. Besides, who cares about balance?"

"I do. That's why we need a Slytherin girl. It will bring balance to our group."

Hermione nods. "You're right, then it will all be fair. How do we go about making friends with a Slytherin girl though?"

"You don't, because Slytherins don't make friends."

"Shut up, Ron."

"I say we pick a girl and then send her an invitation."

Hermione lights up. "Yes! I could write it up. I've been working on learning calligraphy since we have to write with quills anyway." You wonder where she finds the time for it all. She's always ahead on classwork, she helps you and Ron with your classes now, she's always reading something for fun, and she does calligraphy. "If we're going to send her an invitation, we should be inviting her to something."

You frown. "I thought we were inviting her to be our friend?"

"We are, but we can't just send her a note asking her to be our friend. We should start a club, and invite her to join it."

Ron grins weakly. "You can't be friends with a Slytherin, but I guess if you're part of a club, you can't help it if they join too. Do I have to be a part of it? I really don't like the idea of spending time with a Slytherin."

You look at him, scandalized. "Yes! If you don't join, then we won't have a Gryffindor, and we'll be short a guy. I'd much rather hang around with you than one of your dorm mates."

Hermione nods. "So, what should we call ourselves?"

"Forever United. We could be FU for short."

Ron laughs for some reason, but Hermione does not look happy. "Um, no. How about The Children of Hogwarts? That sounds much better, we could be The Children for short."

"I like the first one better, but yours does sound less stupid," Ron says.

You don't see what was wrong with Forever United, but you will go with the will of the group. "Alright, I like The Children, but aren't all the students kind of the children of Hogwarts? How about something that sounds cool. We could be Dumbledore's Children, and still be The Children for short, or The DC if we want."

Hermione shakes her head. "You need to move on from this two letter trend, and I don't want to be calling myself Dumbledore's child. He's still alive, so it's weird."

You nod. "Point. We'll have to go with someone from history, and someone awesome."

"You mean like Merlin?"

You look at Ron. "Brilliant! We shall be: The Children of Merlin," you declare dramatically, for the world to hear. Ron and Hermione both nod at this, so you continue. "If we're going to form The Children, we should make it a secret society."

"Why?"

"Because secret societies are wicked!"

Hermione nods. "Yes, but only if they have secret knowledge, and a special library."

You grin at her. "As the Ravenclaw, it is only proper that you be in charge of the secret knowledge, and all the knowledge for that matter, and we can work on a library if you want, but it sounds kind of boring. Especially when we have the whole Hogwarts library."

Ron adds, "We already have some secret knowledge, we know about that three-headed dog, and that it is guarding whatever Hagrid took from Gringotts."

You nod enthusiastically, but Hermione just looks confused. "What did Hagrid take from Gringotts?"

After you and Ron get Hermione caught up on what you know about the three-headed dog and Hagrid's stop at Gringotts, you turn the discussion back to matters of The Children. "Who are we going to invite to join. I think that Parkinson is out. She's too close to Malfoy."

Hermione nods in agreement, so you continue. "I was thinking of Greengrass. She seems like the nicest, at least, so far as I can tell. What do you know about her family, Ron?"

Ron shrugs. "Not much. I've never heard of them being supporters of You-Know-Who, like the Malfoys and the Parkinsons, so that might be a start."

"Alright, lets invite Daphne then. Oh, and I think that we should have a president and a secretary, if we're going to have an organization; it just seems proper," Hermione says.

"I don't know. I think that we should all be equal, and we don't really need a president with only four people. We should just vote on things. You can be the secretary though, if you want."

Hermione nods and takes out some fresh parchment. "I'll do that then."

"When do you think that you can have the invitation for Greengrass ready?"

"I'll start working on it right now, and you can give it to her after dinner."

While Hermione works on the invitation, you go back to reading the Quidditch book she found for you, Quidditch Through the Ages, and Ron begrudgingly returns to writing his essay.

You are just reading about how there are seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul, and how all of them happened during a World Cup match in 1473, when Professor Snape comes across the yard. You notice at once that he is limping, and move to block the blue fire from his view, not being sure that it is allowed. Unfortunately, something about your guilty look must have caught his eye. He doesn't seem to see the fire, but he is looking for a reason to tell you off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?"

It is Quidditch Through the Ages; you show him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," Professor Snape says. "Give it to me. Five points from Hufflepuff."

"I haven't even heard of that rule before," you mutter as Professor Snape limps away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," says Ron bitterly.

When you head in for dinner, Hermione hands you the finished invitation for Greengrass. You quickly look it over before gathering your stuff.

Ms. Daphne Greengrass,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to be invited to join The Children of Merlin on behalf of the Slytherin house to represent the contingency of first year Slytherins among the ranks of our organization. Congratulations on your acceptance.

The Children of Merlin are a highly selective a group of students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry devoted to advancing the interests of house equality and inter-house unity. Due to the secrete nature of our society, we ask that you not mention our existence to any individuals that may not already be aware of us. In order to accept our invitation, you are to present yourself at the library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the hour of four and eleven minutes on the day after the delivery of this notice, that day being a Saturday. Should you fail to comply with this for any reason, a second notice shall be delivered to your person within one week's time. Failure to comply with three (3) notices shall result in the rescinding of your invitation, and the selection of one of your dorm mates. In this case, you are to forget that this invitation, and the two following ones were issued, and refrain from mentioning these notices to any individual.

We look forward to making your acquaintance in person.

Sincerely Yours,

The Children of Merlin

"It looks brilliant, but I didn't realize that we were dedicated to the interests of house equality and inter house unity."

Hermione grins sheepishly. "Well, we never discussed it, but I figured that if we have a secret society, we need a mission statement, and considering the nature of our membership, it seemed appropriate."

You smile at her and nod. "Sounds good to me."

Ron merely grunts. You suspect that he is not particularly devoted to the stated interests of The Children, but every organization needs a decenter, that just seems normal. Besides, if you all agreed about everything, then there wouldn't be much balance.

When you get back to your dorm, you put your school stuff away, and carefully fold the parchment with the invitation on it. This done, you grab a candle and pour some wax over the fold to seal it; these things must be done properly after all.

On your way to the Great Hall, you stop by a passage where the Slytherins come from and duck into an alcove. You quietly cast the levitation charm on the invitation, and wait for Greengrass to pass by on her way to dinner.

You see her heading over with Tracy Davis after about five minutes of waiting.

Casting a quiet levitation charm on the invitation, you flout it over to Greengrass. Looking somewhat puzzled, she snatches it out of the air, and pockets it, without missing a beat in whatever conversation she is having with Davis.

That evening after dinner you want to read more about the 1473 World Cup match, so you decide to see if you can get it back from Professor Snape. Since he made up the rule that he used to take Quidditch Through the Ages from you in the first place, you suspect that he will give it back to you if you ask him in front of other teachers. With this in mind you tell Justin and Ernie that you are headed to get a book back from Professor Snape and leave the Hufflepuff common room.

You make your way up to the staffroom and knock. There is no answer. You knock again. Nothing.

Deciding to take a leaf from Ron's book, you push the door ajar and peer inside to see if Professor Snape has left the book there.

Immediately you regret your mistake and resolve not to take any more leaves from Gryffindor books. Professor Snape and Filch are inside, alone. Professor Snape holds his robes above his knees. One of his legs is bloody and mangled. Filtch hands Professor Snape a bandage.

"Blasted thing," Snape says. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

You try to shut the door quietly but...

"POTTER!" Your heart skips a beat. You have been caught.

Professor Snape's face twists with fury as he drops his robes quickly to hide his leg. You take a quick shaky breath.

"I just wondered if I could have my book back."

"GET OUT! OUT!"

You leave before Professor Snape can take any points from Hufflepuff, and sprint back down to the safety of the Hufflepuff common room.

The next day, you and Hermione sit with Ron to cheer for Gryffindor. While everyone else is distracted watching the Gryffindor seeker, a second year named Cormac McLaggen, to see if he will be any good, you tell Ron and Hermione what you saw last night.

"You know what this means?" you finish breathlessly. "He tried to get passed that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him. He's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet a whole bag of Galleons that he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

Hermione's eyes are wide.

"No, he wouldn't," she says. " I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try to steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snaps Ron. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape, but what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

Further speculation is stopped by the humiliation of the Gryffindor seeker when Slytherin's seeker snatches the snitch from right above his head because he was too busy yelling at one of Ron's twin brothers to notice it. That wins Slytherin 150 points and ends the game 190 - 20 in their favor.

"At least Greengrass will be in a better mood to accept our offer now," you remark. Ron does not seem to see this as a bright side.

Twenty minutes later, you are being made a cup of strong tea back at Hagrid's. As the large man pours the tea, you decide that someone who can tell Professor Dumbledore has to be told about what Professor Snape is up to.

"I've found something our about Professor Snape," you tell him. Hermione and Ron look at each other, wondering what you are going to tell him, but you have already decided on the truth. "He tried to get passed that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him, we think that he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid drops the teapot. "How do you know about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?"

"Yeah, he's mine, bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year. I lent him ter Dumbledore ter guard the..."

"Yes?" you ask eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore. That's top secret, that is."

"But Professor Snape's trying to steal it."

"Rubbish. Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did Fluffy bite him then?"

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong! Now listen ter me, all three o' yeh; yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget Fluffy, an' yeh forget what he's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel."

"Aha! So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looks furious with himself, so you decide to leave the matter alone for now.

At a quarter to four, the three of you take your leave of Hagrid, and head to the library.

When you get to the library, you find a table hidden deep in the stacks, and wait for Greengrass to arrive. While you wait, you pull out a history book that Hermione had lent you, and Hermione pulls out your charms essay to resume looking over it.

Ron sighs. "Can't we play chess while we wait or something?"

You close the book again, not having gotten a chance to start reading it. "Do you have a chess board?"

This thought doesn't seem to have occurred to Ron when he asked the question, so instead, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a deck of cards. "Alright, fancy a game of exploding snap then?"

"Here? Won't that be a bit loud?" Fortunately you never have to decide what to play, because at that moment Greengrass comes walking by, looking rather confused.

You decide to help her out. "Ah, hello Ms. Greengrass. What brings you to the library on this fine day?"

Greengrass turns to look at you, clearly surprised that you said anything to her. "None of your business, Potter."

Hermione glares at you. "Don't be like that, Harry. I'm glad you showed up, Daphne. Does this mean that you are interested in joining The Children of Merlin?"

Now Greengrass is beyond surprised. "You're The Children of Merlin?"

You nod at her. "We have a person from each house, so that we're balanced. All we need is a Slytherin, and we'll have all our members."

Greengrass takes a seat in the final chair. "Okay, so what is it that you're about? What do The Children of Merlin stand for? And why is there a muggleborn with you?"

"See! I told you that we would be better off without a Slytherin. The lot of them can't see past their own prejudice."

"Really, Ron. There have to be some of them who can. You just sound silly," says Hermione.

"You heard her, and you're the one that she insulted, not me."

"She didn't insult me, she just asked why I was here."

You sigh. "She has a point." You turn back to Greengrass. "The Children of Merlin are four people of different houses working together. We're all better off when we have some of everybody working together. Hermione's here because she is a Child, like the rest of us, and hopefully soon like you. Oh, and I was also thinking that we could be about not liking Draco Malfoy, because he is a jerk."

Greengrass snorts, and then looks thoughtful. After a few minutes, she says, "Okay, I'm supposed to be the ambitious one, right, because I'm the Slytherin?"

You nod. "Ambitious and cunning."

"Then I guess I'm in, but I have to say that you really need some better goals. Perhaps you, ah, we could be about people from different houses working together to achieve wealth, power, and greatness while destroying Draco Malfoy in every legal way that we can."

You and Hermione just look at each other, but Ron's eyes light up. "You think that we could get wealth and greatness?"

You shrug. "I guess that's why we needed a Slytherin, but I've already got wealth, and I don't really want power or greatness. I liked the part about destroying Malfoy in every legal way that we can though."

"You might have some wealth, but wouldn't you want to make thousands of Galleons?"

"I've got thousands of Galleons."

"Yeah, but you could make thousands more Galleons."

"What would I do with that, I've already got some."

Ron starts to look a bit uncomfortable, and Hermione fights not to laugh, but Daphne is frustrated. "But, but, what about your kids? Don't you want them to have thousands of Galleons too? And their kids? Don't you want to make the Potter line great and wealthy?"

You shrug. "Not really. I just want to be normal."

It seems that was not what Daphne was hoping to hear. "Ahh! You are such a Hufflepuff! This is why your house never makes anything of itself. Fine. We'll just focus on Malfoy, and maybe Pansy, for now. Why are we a secret society if that is all we're about?"

You grin. "Because it sounded really cool. Besides, that way Hermione can be the keeper of our secret knowledge."

The frustration drains from Daphne's face. "You have secret knowledge?"

You nod, and look to Hermione. She explains to Daphne about the three headed dog, Fluffy, and the trap door and Nicolas Flamel, and everything you suspect, except for Professor Snape's involvement.

When Hermione is done, you tell Daphne your theory about Professor Snape.

"But, it can't be Snape that's after the secret treasure, not if Dumbledore's hiding it," says Daphne.

"Why not? Just because he's the head of your house doesn't mean that he wouldn't take something if he had something to gain."

She shakes her head. "No, you don't understand. Snape is Dumbledore's man. During the war, Snape was Dumbledore's spy among You-Know-Who's followers. After Harry Pott, ah, you took care of You-Know-Who, Snape was arrested, and Dumbledore came to his rescue. Said that Snape was his spy, and that he trusted him completely. Dumbledore doesn't trust hardly anyone completely, so he must have a really good reason for having so much trust in Snape."

You consider this for a moment. "That still doesn't explain why he got bit by Fluffy on Halloween."

"Really, Harry. This theory of yours is just silly. Snape's a professor, and if Professor Dumbledore trusts him that much, then he must be trustworthy. Besides, he could have gotten bit while trying to protect whatever it is," says Hermione.

"Maybe." You are still not convinced, but there is no use arguing now that there are two of them. The key is to find out who Nicolas Flamel is.