A Royal at Hogwarts
By J.C. Vascardi
Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in this story that relate to Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling, various publishers, and Warner Brothers. I'm not profiting on this story and it is not my intent to infringe on anyone's copyright or trademark. The only things about this story that I own are the characters and storylines not featured in the books.
Eventual Pairing: Harry Potter/Cedric Diggory/Charlie Weasley/Wesley Wyndham/OMC: Carter Wells/OMC: Hunter Wells/OMC: Jean-Luc Flamel
Established Pairings: Charlie Weasley/OMC: Jean-Luc Flamel; Bill Weasley/Firenze; Marcus Flint/OMC: Jackson Tennant
Author's Note: So I wasn't planning on reviving this story, as it is a bit of a nuisance to have two different versions of what is essentially the same story on two different websites. However, over the years since I marked it as complete and discontinued, I've continued to get both favorites and follows on it, suggesting that people still want to read the story. Whether or not those that do are actually following my advice and going to read it on Archive of Our Own (where it's posted as 'A Windsor at Hogwarts' with the real British royals) I'm not sure.
Anyway, since that version of the story is only four chapters away from completion (part one, anyway, which covers first and second year and the summer between them) I figured I'd start posting this again. Going through the chapters and renaming all of the royals is a tedious job, but since it seems that people want it, I guess I'm willing to provide it. So, enjoy Chapter Ten. I'll try to have more chapters up soon, since many of them are already written, except for going through them and changing names.
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Chapter Ten:
A Cloak, a Mirror, and an Egg
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Arriving in the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Wesley spent a few minutes talking with Seamus, Dean, Cormac, Ron, and Hermione about their breaks. However, after about forty-five minutes, both Harry and Wesley were yawning, because despite the nap on the train, they were both pretty tired. Dean opted to stay in the common room to finish up the Potions essay that Professor Snape had set during the winter break. Hermione had looked like she was about to lay into him for not finishing it already, when he mentioned that he hadn't had the time over the break because he had a house full of muggle relatives visiting for the holidays. Relatives that didn't know that he was a wizard and kept him busy enough that he couldn't find a spare moment to work on the essay without risking a breach to the Statute of Secrecy.
Seamus and Cormac also opted to stay in the common room, although they didn't specify a reason why. Harry suspected, however, that they were going to play a game of chess, but didn't say that because they didn't want Ron to know, as he'd no doubt stay and then want to play the winner. Even though they'd only been at school now for one term, pretty much all of Gryffindor Tower already knew not to challenge Ron to a game of chess or to play him, unless you enjoyed losing. Thus it was that Harry, Wesley, Ron, and Hermione headed upstairs, with Hermione joining the boys in their dorm room, where they found Neville lying on his bed, reading his Herbology text.
"Hello, what's all this?" Harry said, as he approached his bed and saw a pile of wrapped presents on his bed. Looking over to Wesley's bed, he also had a small pile, although not quite as large as Harry's.
"They're Christmas presents, duh," Ron said. Looking over the pile, he said, "Some of them are from my Mum, I believe. She sent them with our family owl Errol though and he didn't get here with them until after you'd already left."
"I thought owls could find wizards wherever they are," Hermione commented.
"That's normally true," Ron said. "However, it wasn't just Harry's presents that Errol was bringing, as he was also bringing Bill's, Percy's, the twins', mine, and I think Mum even sent a couple for you, Wes, since I mentioned in one of my letters home that we were friends now. Anyway, Errol is so old that he often loses consciousness on most flights and Bill and Percy agreed he was in no shape to undertake another flight so they gave him to Professor Kettleburn to take care off, figuring you guys could get your gifts when you got back to school."
"I take it you didn't mention me then?" Hermione asked.
Shaking his head, Ron said, "No, I did, Hermione. Mum sent you a gift, but it's obviously not here since this isn't your room. Percy got one of the female prefects who stayed over the break to put it in your room for you."
"Oh, okay, then," Hermione said. "I'll have to send your Mum a thank you note."
Harry, meanwhile, began looking through the pile of gifts on his bed and sure enough, there were two packages with tags that read, "To Harry, from Arthur and Molly Weasley." There was another gift that read, "To Harry, from a Friend," and much to Harry's surprise, several that said "To Harry, from Dylan and Thorne," and "To Harry, from Carter and Hunter." In fact, there was even one that said, "To Harry, from Violet Wells."
"I was just at Wells Manor over the break," Harry said. "Why would Dylan, Thorne, Carter, Hunter, and Dylan's grandmother send gifts to Hogwarts?"
"No clue, mate," Ron said. Hermione, Wesley, and Neville all shrugged as they couldn't come up with answers to that question either.
Shaking his head, Harry said, "By the way, thanks for the Chocolate frogs, Hermione."
Hermione smiled. "You're welcome, Harry. Thank you for the books. You too, Wes."
Harry and Wesley had gone in together on a gift for Hermione, getting her a couple of muggle paperback novels, which Dawn said she'd send her secretary out to buy and mail to Hermione's parents' house.
"You're welcome, Hermione," Wesley said, as he sat down on his bed and grabbed the first of the gifts that were resting there. "I hope you enjoy them."
"So what did you get, Wes?" Harry asked.
Tearing open the wrapping paper, Wesley said, "Looks like a box of fudge and…" he hesitated for a moment, as he unfolded a bundle of purple, "… a purple jumper with a W embroidered on it in gold. Oh and there's a gold crown above it."
"That would be Mum's homemade fudge," Ron said. "And I'm sorry about the jumper, I know it probably isn't what you're used to getting, but Mum knits one for everyone in the family every year, and often for our friends too."
Shaking his head, Wesley said, "No need to apologize, Ron. I think it's brilliant. I actually don't get many handmade gifts." Seeing that Ron still looked a bit unsure, he added, "Besides, my family doesn't do expensive gifts on Christmas. We usually give each other gag gifts."
"Gag gifts?" Neville asked. "Like what?"
Wesley grinned. "Well, my Aunt Augusta gave my father a white leather toilet seat this year. And I gave him a sixty-two-and-half-pound bag of Hungarian Horntail dung."
"You're joking," Hermione said.
"Nope, totally serious," Wesley said. "Dad is an avid gardener, so I figured he'd appreciate it as fertilizer." After a moment he said, "Not really sure though how dragon dung will affect muggle plants."
"Some of them may die," Neville said. "However, depending on the plant, some of them may also bloom like they've never bloomed before." After a moment, he added, "I don't know what your father grows, but I would however strongly suggest that you write him and make sure he doesn't use it on any plant in the Dionaea muscipula family or any other similar plant."
"The Dio what?" Wesley asked.
"Venus flytrap," Neville said. "Or any other similarly carnivorous plant. You could very well end up with a plant large enough that it could eat a man."
"Well, I don't think Dad grows any of those," Wesley said. "But I'll make sure to tell him just in case."
Having opened his gifts, Wesley looked over at Harry's pile and said, "So, Harry, what'd you get?"
Opening the gifts from the Weasleys first, Harry found a box of fudge and an emerald green jumper with a letter H on it. Next, he opened the gift from Carter and Hunter and couldn't help but blush a bit when he found three more packages of underwear, three packages of socks, three pairs of trousers, three t-shirts, and three button down shirts. Once all the clothes were removed, he also found a stuffed bear in the box, which was similar to the ones he'd seen in the twins' bed at Wells Manor.
"Clothes?" Ron asked.
"And why not?" Hermione asked. "They're certainly a step up from what Harry was wearing all last term."
"True," Ron conceded, as all of the clothes that Carter and Hunter gave him appeared to be brand new and looked like they'd even fit Harry properly. The same could definitely not be said about the clothes he'd worn for most of the first term of the school year.
Putting the clothes away in his trunk and the bear on his bed near his pillows, Harry next opened the gift from Dylan and Thorne, which turned out to be a broom maintenance kit for his Nimbus, along with a slip of paper that had Harry's eyes widening in shock.
"What is it, Harry?" Neville asked.
"It's a gift certificate for Gladrags Wizardwear in Hogsmeade," Harry answered. "For 500 Galleons."
"Wow," Hermione said, clearly surprised. "That's £5,000."
"It's way too much is what it is," Harry said, with a shake of his head.
"Not really, Harry," Neville disagreed. "While you can't claim the Potter lordship until you're fifteen, you are still an heir to a Terynir, so it could be argued that you should have a nice set of expensive tailored, dress robes and that won't be cheap."
"If you say so," Harry said, as he put the gifts in his trunk. Grabbing the package from Violet Wells next, Harry opened it and was surprised to find a framed picture of a man and a woman. Noticing an envelope, he opened it and pulled out a letter that was written in an elegant hand.
Serah Potter,
Following our meeting at Wells Manor, I was going through some boxes in my attic and found this old picture. It's of your grandparents, Katherine and Julian, and I thought you might like to have it.
Sincerely,
Her Grace Violet Wells, the Dowager Teryna Wells
As Harry hadn't read the letter aloud, Ron asked, "Who are they?" as he looked at the picture on Harry's lap.
"My grandparents, Julian and Katherine Potter," Harry answered, as he sniffled a bit and fought back the tear he felt threatening to fall. Looking at the couple in the picture, they looked so happy and Harry wished that he'd had the chance to meet them.
"Why would Dylan's grandmum give you a picture of your grandparents?" Ron asked. "That's a rather lame Christmas gift, if you ask me."
Pulling out his wand, Wesley pointed it at Ron and said, "Congelo!"
"Ah!" Ron yelled, through his suddenly chattering teeth. "What the hell, Wes!"
Shaking his head, Wesley said, "I thought maybe a hit of Ice Veins would wake up your brain, Ron. Harry's grandparents died before he was born and his parents died when he was one, so he's never met any of them. So it's not a lame gift at all and you'd have gotten that if you'd thought about if for a half second before opening your mouth."
"He is right, Ron," Hermione said, as Neville nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, okay, but did you have to hit me with that damn spell again?" Ron asked through chattering teeth, as he wrapped his arms around himself as he shivered uncontrollably. "Now I'm going to have to take a hot shower."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh honestly, Ron, are you a wizard or not?" Not waiting for an answer, she pulled out her wand, pointed it at Ron and said, "Regelo!"
Ron's teeth stopped chattering at this and he finally warmed up, prompting him to grab Hermione and hug her tight, as he said, "Thank you!"
"You're welcome now get off me."
Harry, meanwhile, hadn't even noticed the exchange between his friends, as he starred down at the picture of his grandparents. After a moment, however, he realized that he still had another gift to open, so placing the picture on his bedside table, he grabbed the last gift, which had the tag "To Harry from a Friend."
As he tore open the paper, Harry cocked his head, confused as he saw what looked like a bundled up piece of cloth. This cloth, however, was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, however, as it shimmered like it was made of liquid silver. "What the heck is this?"
Ron, who had let go of Hermione, looked over when Harry said this and said, "Blimey! That's an invisibility cloak."
"An invisibility cloak?" Harry asked.
Ron nodded, his eyes the size of dinner plates, as he said, "I'm sure of it. Try it on, Harry."
Standing up, Harry unfurled the bundle of cloth and realized that it, like Dudley's old clothes, was much larger than he was. It was clearly made for a fully-grown adult. Ignoring that, however, Harry whipped it around his shoulders and fastened it, at which point there were gasps from all his friends. Looking confused, he asked, "What?"
"Look down, mate," Wesley said.
Harry looked confused for a moment, before he did as he was told, at which point his eyes widened and said, "My body is gone!"
Walking over to Harry, Wesley poked at the air under Harry's head, who said, "Ow. Wes, what was that for?"
"Just seeing if your body was gone," Wesley said with a grin. "Since you felt that, it's obviously still there. Just invisible."
"Thing is huge," Ron said, as he grabbed at the air and took the fabric in his hand, running it through his fingers as he did so. "I'd give anything to own something like this. Anything. Just imagine it. You could go anywhere you wanted and nobody would be the wiser."
"I'm not sure Harry should keep this," Hermione said. "We should probably turn it in to McGonagall."
"Are you nuts, Hermione?" Ron asked, looking at her as if she'd just grown a second head.
"There's a note," Neville said, as he pointed at the piece of paper at Harry's feet, which had become visible when Ron had grabbed a handful of the cloak.
Bending down and picking it up, Harry looked at the narrow, loopy handwriting he'd never seen before, as Wesley asked, "So, what does it say?"
"It says, 'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A very Merry Christmas to you, a friend.'" Unfastening the cloak and running his hands over it reverently he said—more to himself, but still loud enough that the others heard him—"This belonged to my father?" Raising his eyes to look at Hermione, he said, "There's no way I'm giving this to McGonagall, Hermione, not if it was my dad's. I don't have anything of his."
Hermione, whose eyes and face had softened significantly when she'd heard Harry read the note, nodded and said, "I understand, Harry. Just try not to get into too much trouble with it."
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While Harry was seriously tempted to use his new invisibility cloak that very night, he figured it was probably best to wait a day or so, especially since Hermione had been present when he'd opened it. He found out at breakfast the next day that was actually a good call on his part, as Hermione had camped out in the common room and set a charm that was specifically attuned to Harry that would wake her if he moved through the room. Ron, of course, groused about Hermione being no fun and a killjoy when he heard about this. Harry, however, said nothing, as he figured if he waited long enough to use the cloak, Hermione would forget all about trying to stop him and would go back to sleeping in her own bed and not set the charm any longer. After all, as comfortable as the sofas in the common room were, they didn't really make good beds.
Over the course of their first week back to school, the entire school was abuzz with gossip and questions in regards to Orion Black moving out of Hufflepuff House and into one of the school's marital suites with his new husbands. The purebloods and those raised in the wizarding world weren't really discussing it much, as it honestly wasn't all that interesting as far as they were concerned. True, polygamy wasn't practiced much these days, but it was still legal and the vast majority of the wizarding-raised knew that, so for them it wasn't newsworthy. They also knew that in the wizarding world, conjoined twins were almost never separated and thus that too wasn't all that interesting beyond the fact that Maximus and Octavius were the only pair of conjoined twins currently in the castle.
Thus feeling the need to address the situation, Alex Davies decided to postpone the lesson he'd planned for the first Intro to the Wizarding World class of 1992, to instead discuss this new development.
"All right, class," he said once everyone was seated. "I know the talk of the castle this week has been largely centered on Orion Black and his husbands, Maximus and Octavius. So, rather than starting our unit on wizarding fashions, I'll instead cover the subjects of wizarding marriage law and conjoined twins."
There were nods all around the room, as several students pulled out parchment and quills, ready to take notes. Giving them a moment to get ready, Alex then said, "Okay, now first off on conjoined twins," and then went on to explain pretty much everything that Wesley and Harry had already learned upon meeting Maximus and Octavius at Windsor Castle over the break.
"There have been a few attempts over the years," Alex said, "to try and develop a spell which would allow for the safe splitting of the magical core, allowing each twin to take half of their shared core and retain their magic. However, nothing much has ever come of those attempts because like in the muggle world, conjoined twins are relatively rare to begin with, although they do happen at a greater frequency in the wizarding world than they do in the muggle world. In fact, one could almost compare conjoined twins to being a metamorphmagus, as it's something that tends to run in families. Thus families where there's already been at least one set of them seem to have a greater chance of it happening again."
Pausing for a moment, Alex then said, "Of course, another interesting thing to note on this subject is that in the muggle world, conjoined twins are usually more often female than male, many are stillborn, and are sometimes born in ways which would make it very hard, if not impossible for the twins in question to lead anything remotely resembling a normal life. I won't get into too much detail on the muggle side of things since I'm here to teach you about the wizarding world."
There were nods from several in the class, as Alex continued. "So, here in the wizarding world, conjoined twins are more often male than female, hardly any are stillborn, and almost all are born in ways which wouldn't make a normal life impossible. To the non-conjoined, it may seem impossible, because they can't imagine it, but as I'm sure Maximus and Octavius Black would tell you, they've adapted to their circumstances and thus don't have any insurmountable issues that make their lives impossible. I'll see about maybe getting them into class as guest lecturers sometime before the end of term, so that you can get a more expert opinion directly from them."
Speaking up from his place at the back of the classroom, as it was his turn to follow Wesley around for the day, Dylan said, "Sorry to interrupt, Professor Davies, I just thought it wise to say, please don't bombard Maximus and Octavius with questions should you see them in the halls or around the castle. If they volunteer information, that's fine, but it's entirely up to them if they share any information at all, as they are by no means required to do so and I'm sure they'd get annoyed after a while if they were asked the same questions over and over."
Alex nodded. "Indeed, a very good point, Lord Wells. I would also add that you should remember that being married before the death of Lord Arcturus Black means that Orion, while still a student here, is now Lord-Teryn Black and thus you should treat him, and by extension his husbands, with the same respect that you would Lord Wells or any other member of the nobility." Leaning against the front of his desk, Alex then asked, "Now, are there any questions on this before I move on?"
Unsurprisingly, Hermione's hand was one of the first hands in the air. With a smile, Alex pointed at her and asked, "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Why hasn't there been much progress on the splitting spell you mentioned?" Hermione asked.
"A good question, Miss Granger," Alex said, before awarding three points to Gryffindor. "Other than the relative rarity of conjoined twins as I'd previously mentioned, the biggest reason is because like any spell, one can put together all the theory they want, but the theory is pretty much useless without a practical element. And very few magical parents are willing to allow an experimental spell of this nature to be used on their children, out of fear that the spell researchers got something wrong and their children end up as squibs. By the same token, adult conjoined twins don't volunteer because they don't want to risk losing their magic. However, it's also a documented fact that conjoined twins tend to have larger more powerful cores due to being able to expand into two bodies. So, there's also a fear that splitting the core—even if it's successful and both twins retain their magic—that they will lose half their power and be weaker separately than they were together."
Waiting a moment, Alex said, "All right, now on the subject of marriage laws. Obviously the laws regarding marriage are not the same throughout the wizarding world, as each country sets their own laws. However, here in Albion, the laws were set back in the year 564 and have never been changed. I suppose some of you may find that hard to believe that the Wizengamot has never changed the marriage laws in 1,427 years, but the Marriage Law of 564 was enacted by King Arthur Pendragon I with the following written into it," at which point Alex raised his wand and made a piece of chalk start writing by itself on the blackboard.
Looking over at the board, the students saw: By the authority and magic of His Royal Majesty King Arthur Pendragon I, King of Albion and Iwernia, and reinforced by the combined magic of his six consorts, this law and all of its provisions shall be the law of the land in all lands under the dominion of the Pendragon dynasty and shall exist as written from now until the end of time and cannot be amended or abolished by any future monarch or government body, under penalty of immediately suffering the effects of the Sundering Curse.
Since the curse in question wasn't even taught at Hogwarts, Alex wasn't surprised by the confused looks on his students' faces, which prompted him to add, "The Sundering Curse is a powerful and very much feared curse which is now classified as a Dark Arts spell, although that classification didn't come until 1185. There have, however, been many calls over the years for it to be named the fourth Unforgivable Curse, because it will immediately strip the magical core of any witch or wizard that it's cast upon, rendering them powerless. If cast on a muggle or a squib, it will have the same effect as the Killing Curse, instantly killing them."
Several eyes went wide at this, as Alex said, "Thus I'm sure all of you can understand why nobody on the Wizengamot, nor the Minister for Magic, or any of the other monarchs since King Arthur—whether they were Pendragons or not—have ever attempted to change this law, as doing so would cost them their magic or potentially even their lives." Almost every student in the room nodded their heads, as they could definitely understand why nobody had tried to change the law.
Moving into a sitting position on his desk, Alex said, "Now, in case you were wondering, King Arthur was married to Merlin Pendragon née Emrys, who was his first spouse and thus the one to carry the title of Emperor-Consort. And yes, that is the famous Merlin who the Order of Merlin is named after and the so-called Prince of Enchanters. Coincidently, he also trained the founders of Hogwarts, although depending on who you ask, some will say that it was the other way around and that the founders trained Merlin. In fact, it's erroneously stated in the current version of Hogwarts: A History that Merlin attended Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin House. Now, as a former Slytherin myself, as much as I would love to claim Merlin as a member of my house, I can tell you that the actual history doesn't match up and thus Merlin never attended Hogwarts, considering that he died about fifty years before the school was even founded."
Hermione looked gobsmacked at this, as she couldn't believe that something that was written in Hogwarts: A History wasn't accurate. Wesley, who'd also read the book prior to coming to Hogwarts, however, beat her by raising his own hand a few seconds quicker than she had. Since he'd just answered one of Hermione's questions, Alex asked, "Yes, Mr. Wyndham?"
"Why is something that's not historically accurate written in a book about the school that purports to be the history of it?"
"An excellent question, Mr. Wyndham," Alex said, before awarding Gryffindor another three points. "I would suggest bringing it up with Professor Flamel, as I'm sure she could probably give you more detail on the matter since it's a history question and that's her area of expertise, but in a nutshell, the book is updated every fifty or so years by a different author. The original author of the book was actually Helena Ravenclaw, who I'm sure you've all seen around the castle, because whether you knew this or not, Ravenclaw's Grey Lady is Helena and Rowena's daughter. At any rate, while the book may have started out as a true history of the school, over the years it's become more fiction than fact, as the various authors who updated it put their own biases into the book. The current edition was written by a Slytherin and thus a lot of the information in it has a pro-Slytherin stance."
Shaking his head, Alex added, "Which is why I would caution all of you to never believe anything you read simply because you read it in a book. Even books that are supposedly non-fiction can contain information that is not factual, either because the author made a mistake in their own research of the topic or as is the case in many of the editions of Hogwarts: A History, because the author wrote the book to make their own house look like the best house, even if the facts don't support what they wrote. So, I would strongly urge all of you to check out other sources whenever you read something and then form your own opinions, rather than taking everything written in a book as unquestionable truth, because sometimes you will come across fiction masquerading as fact."
Allowing the students a few moments for that to settle in, Alex said, "Now, in addition to Merlin, King Arthur had three other husbands and two wives. His husbands being Lancelot Pendragon née du Lac, Gawain Pendragon née MacCallum, Mordred Pendragon née Le Fey, and his wives being Guinevere Pendragon née Chastain and Morgana Pendragon née Le Fey. I'm sure growing up in the muggle world, you've all heard those names in Arthurian legend, although you might not have known all of their surnames and the relationships as the legends have largely been changed by the muggles from what they were in reality. This was at least partly because the muggles felt it was necessary to hide the fact that Arthur was bisexual and a polygamist."
Putting his chin on his left hand, with his left arm bent at the elbow and resting on his knee, Alex revealed, "Now, there a few different versions of Arthurian legend in the muggle world and depending upon which version you're familiar with you've probably seen a variety of origins for Mordred. One of the more popular seems to be that he's Morgana Le Fey's son by her half-brother Arthur Pendragon, which here in the wizarding world is known to not be true. While Morgana is Arthur's half-sister, as they're both the children of Uther Pendragon, in truth neither of them was Mordred's parent, as he's actually the son of Morgana's half-sister Morgause, although when Morgana and Arthur met him for the first time, they were unaware of that fact. Both Morgana and Arthur later wed Mordred and the texts say that by that point she was aware that Mordred was her nephew."
Predictably, several students were confused by that, as they didn't understand how or why Arthur would marry his own sister or why Morgana would marry her nephew.
"Now, I'm sure many of you are wondering why they did that. Obviously, nobody now over a thousand years after the fact can know for sure, but the wizarding texts from the time do suggest that both marriages were love matches. Thus, when he wrote the marriage laws, he made it possible for him and everyone else to marry siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. There's also been some speculation over the centuries that Arthur may also have written the laws that way so that they would reflect the marriage customs as practiced by the Olympian gods. As I'm sure most of you will remember from our previous discussions on the topic that Zeus and Hera were both husband and wife, and brother and sister. Just as Hades and Persephone were husband and wife and uncle and niece."
Shaking his head, Justin Finch-Fletchley said, "I still don't get it. Why would anyone want to marry their sibling or their aunt or uncle?"
"One point from Hufflepuff for asking a question without raising your hand or being called upon, Mr. Finch-Fletchley," Alex said. "I will, however, say that while I am personally inclined to share your confusion on the subject, it's important to note that not everyone feels the same way about it. That's especially true among the old pureblood families who often enter into what others would regard as incestuous marriages in order to keep their bloodlines pure of muggle influence. We're not here to debate whether or not trying to keep one's bloodlines pure is right or not, however, as regardless of your beliefs it's a fact of life in the wizarding world and my job here is simply to introduce you to the wizarding world. It's up to you to form your own opinions based on the information that I present, in addition to what you will all hopefully gather on your own."
After a moment's pause, Alex added, "One thing I would caution all of you on, however, is to avoid trying to force other people to adopt your opinions on matters once you've formed them. Much of the animosity between the wizarding raised and the muggle raised can be attributed to that after all, as before this year, when this class didn't even exist, many of the muggle raised such as yourselves came into the wizarding world, knew nothing about it, and then tried to force their own beliefs and morals upon the wizarding world. I shouldn't have to tell you that the wizarding raised of the past did not react well to that. So whether or not you personally agree with the marriage law and what it allows is basically irrelevant because the law is the law and this particular law can't be changed. It's entirely up to you which aspect of the law you personally choose to adhere to, but you shouldn't try to shame anyone else around you for adhering to an aspect of the law, simply because you don't agree with it."
Moving off his desk and circling around it, Alex poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher he kept on the table behind his desk. After taking a sip he said, "Now, I should probably add that there are exceptions in the law which outlaw certain types of marriages. Those exceptions being that you cannot legally marry your parent or your child. In fact you aren't allowed to marry anyone related to you if the relationship name contains the word parent or child. Which is actually a good argument against the speculation that Arthur wrote the marriage laws to reflect the customs of the gods, considering that it's not unheard of for gods to have children with their own children. One such example being Gaia, who had children with her sons, Pontus and Ouranos. Additionally, two children who were born to a pair of married siblings or a pair of married first cousins are also barred from marrying or having children together." Pausing for a moment, Alex then said, "Now the marriage law also names a number of magical creatures, who can legally wed a witch or wizard."
Harry and Wesley perked up at this, as they were curious what other magical creatures were included in the law, as Orion had only been able to name trolls as being legal. Neither of them could understand why anyone would want to marry a troll and thus were wondering if they'd have similar thoughts on the other allowed creatures.
"Now there's actually seven magical species that are legally allowed to wed witches and wizards," Alex said. "Although, you'd be very hard-pressed to find many examples of many of these marriages actually taking place, especially among the pureblood families, as the vast majority of them view not only muggle blood as undesirable, but creature blood as well. The allowed species are vampires, hags, goblins, merpeople, centaurs, giants, and trolls."
Even as the class wrote down this information, Alex could see that some of the students were clearly confused as to why anyone would want to marry some of the named creatures. "Now, I'm sure that some of those are confusing to you, as you probably can't imagine marrying some of them. And for the most part, you wouldn't be alone as there are very few examples of any of the marriages between those groups actually happening. More often than not, one of the listed creatures will have a child with a witch or wizard, but not marry them, preferring to marry their own kind.
"There are two examples right here at Hogwarts of people with creature blood and they've both given me permission to share this information. The first is Professor Flitwick, whose short stature is actually due to his great-great-great-grandfather on his mother's side of the family, who was a goblin. The other example, is Hagrid, whose father is human, but his mother is a giantess, making him a half-giant."
Opening the floor to questions, Alex pointed and said, "Yes, Miss Turpin?"
"Professor Flitwick set many of us in Ravenclaw up with pen-friends in other countries," Lisa said. "Mine is a girl in France whose grandmother is a veela so I was just wondering if there was a reason why veelas weren't on the list of allowable marriages?"
"That's an instance where the laws differ from one country to another," Alex said, before awarding three points to Ravenclaw. "The marriage of a witch or wizard to a veela is legal in some countries, such as Bulgaria and France, but illegal here in Albion. However, an international law imposed by the International Confederation of Wizards does require that all member countries recognize the marriages performed in other member countries, even if the marriage couldn't legally be performed in their own countries. So for example, here in Albion, if you wanted to marry a veela, you'd have to go overseas to a country where it's allowed. Once the marriage is performed, however, Albion must recognize the marriage as valid, if it was legal in the country that performed it."
Looking over at the clock, Alex picked up a stack of parchment from his desk, which he began handing out, as he said, "Okay, class is about to end, so your homework is to read over the handout that I'm passing out now. It's an overview on wizarding fashions and what I would have covered today if not for the postponement. When we meet tomorrow afternoon, there will be a test first thing on the contents of these handouts, so I highly suggest you read them."
There were several groans at the word 'test' but Alex ignored them and just shared a grin with Dylan at the students' reaction. Just after he'd finished handing out the parchments, the bell rang, and Alex said, "Class dismissed."
-o-0-o-
The next day, after Alex's class, Harry, Hermione, and Wesley met up with Carter, Hunter, Ron, and Neville and headed up to the library to get started on the Potions essay that Snape had assigned them the previous day in double Potions. As they sat down at the table, Ron couldn't help but groan. "It's just not right. We get a break on Fridays from the greasy-haired git but we're still spending it working on something for his class."
"It's Professor Snape," Hermione said. "And do stop complaining, Ron."
"Yeah, honestly, mate, we're all sick of hearing it," Wesley said.
Carter nodded. "Besides if we get this done now, we'll have the whole weekend free and not have to worry about it."
"Yeah, since Professor Snape was the only one who set an essay over the weekend," Hunter said. "I've got some reading assignments from the others, but I can knock those out later tonight."
"Shhh," Madam Pince said, as she passed by their table on her way to her desk.
Ron sighed, pulled out his Potions text, and whispered, "Okay, well, if we've gotta do the git's essay then let's get it done."
Since he was actually pulling out his textbook, quill and parchment, Hermione decided not to correct him on calling Snape a git. Ron would probably never be the most studious person of their group, but Hermione did have to give him some credit, as he had begun to make some improvement the last month or so of term before the holidays. It seemed having the time off had gotten him back into his old habits, but he was slowly returning to the pattern of actually doing his homework and not waiting until the last possible second.
For the next several minutes, the only thing that could be heard was the scratching of quills on parchments as the group of seven friends started on their essays on the Forgetfulness Potion. After a moment, Neville looked at his essay, then at his textbook, and then back at his essay. Noticing the movement, Hunter, who was seated next to him, asked, "Need some help?"
Neville nodded. "Do the mistletoe berries go in before or after the valerian sprigs?"
"Before," Hunter said, as he looked over at Neville's book and noticed that there was an ink stain covering the recipe in his textbook, probably from one of the many times that Snape had scared Neville during class and made him spill his ink bottle. Turning his own textbook a bit, he added, "Here, we can share mine."
"Thank you," Neville said, clearly grateful. "I'm probably still going to fail because I suck at practical work and Snape scares the shite out of me." After a moment, he added, "And seems to enjoy doing it too."
"He enjoys picking on all the Gryffindors," Wesley said.
"He does seem to like singling out Neville more than anyone else though," Harry said.
"That's true," Hermione agreed, as while she wasn't usually one to badmouth professors, even she had to admit that Professor Snape often took his Slytherin bias too far and in Neville's case seemed to pick on him for no reason at all. Sometimes even going so far as to create reasons to belittle him by sneaking up behind him and scaring him by slamming his hand down on Neville's workstation so that he'd jump and mess up during a key step.
"Dad said he'd talk to the other governors," Carter said, referring to Dylan, since Thorne was no longer accompanying Wesley to classes due to his pregnancy. "Honestly, I can't help but wonder if maybe the fumes from all the potions he's brewed over the years have addled his brain, because I can't understand why he acts the way he does when one of the school governors is observing the class."
"True, it doesn't seem like the most intelligent thing to do," Wesley said. "I mean, the governors implemented all these changes this year to improve the school and I don't see that happening if Snape scares three-fourths of the student body away from studying potions."
"Snape is still scaring everyone who isn't a Slytherin, huh?" Max asked, as he and Tavi approached the table.
"Yeah, he's pretty horrible to everyone who isn't in his house. He also seems to enjoy singling out certain students though."
Tavi grinned, as he and Max pulled over a pair of chairs from a nearby table and sat down. "You don't have to tell us that, Harry. Max and I are from a noble family that traditionally gets sorted into Slytherin house, but we were Ravenclaws, so Snape wasn't all that kind to us." Looking over at his twin, he added, "I still don't get how Potions is one of your favorite subjects and I'm still mad at you for making me sit through NEWT Potions."
Max rolled his eyes. "Oh give it a rest, bro. You must have told me a hundred times to drop the subject in two years, and yet you still scored an Outstanding on your Potions NEWT."
Tavi nodded. "You're right, I did. Because I copied your notes and because the examiner had us brew our NEWT potion as a team, instead of separately. If not for that I'm sure I'd have gotten a Troll grade because I didn't want to be in that class after fifth year, and wouldn't have been if not for the fact that I can't get away from you, so I wasn't paying any attention."
Watching the byplay between the two brothers, Ron shook his head and said, "Man, I don't understand how you two do it. Fred and George are close and all, but you two take closeness to a whole new level and one that I just can't imagine."
"Very true," Max agreed. "Of course, I think Fred and George are closer than you realize, Ron."
"What do you mean?"
"We did just finish here last June," Tavi said. "And we're friends with your brother Charlie, so Fred and George hung out with us on more than one occasion."
"So?" Ron asked.
Max grinned. "There were a few weekends during Charlie's and our seventh year, in which Fred and George borrowed some of Tavi's and my clothes, magically resized them, and spent the entire weekend wearing them."
Ron looked surprised by this. "Really?"
"Yeah, really," Tavi confirmed. "They already work together very well, but I think they wanted to get even better at it and obviously Max and I have no choice but to work well together."
Max nodded. "Yeah, I really can't think of many better ways to practice team work than being stuck to someone else, as it forces you to work as a team, whether you want to or not. So, if you want to stay sane, you get really good at it quickly."
Silence fell over the table for a few minutes, as the students got back to their essays, with Max offering the occasional bit of advice. Despite getting an Outstanding NEWT in the subject, Tavi insisted he was the last person anyone should ask for help with Potions, because he did his best to put the entire subject out of his head as soon as he finished the NEWT examination, because he hated it.
Taking a break from writing and flexing his hand, Harry looked up and said, "I wonder what Hagrid is doing here."
Looking around to where Hagrid was clearly visible, Hunter shrugged and said, "Whatever it is, it must have something to do with magical creatures, because that's the section he's looking at."
"I think I'm going to go say hi," Harry said as he stood up. "I could use a break from my essay anyway."
"I'll join you," Ron said, before crying out in pain, as Hermione dug her fingernails into the back of his hand.
"No, you won't, Ronald," Hermione said. "You're going to sit right there until you finish your essay because if you get up now, you'll no doubt skive off on finishing it until lunch on Monday, when it's due and then start begging me or Wesley to let you copy ours."
Ron looked like he was about to complain, but one look from Hermione had him shutting up. Everyone at the table, with the exception of Max and Tavi who didn't really know Ron all that well, agreed that Hermione was right. Wesley was also quietly thanking Hermione for the intervention, because he had no doubt that she was right about what Ron would do if he stopped work on his essay now and he really didn't want to hear Ron's begging come Monday.
Walking over to where Hagrid was, Harry was about to say hello to the large man when he saw the title of the book that Hagrid had just pulled off the shelf.
Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit? Harry thought. What could you possibly want with that?
Shaking his head, Harry cleared his throat and said, "Hullo, Hagrid."
Turning and spying Harry standing there, Hagrid smiled. "Hello Harry," as he hid the book he'd just taken from the shelf behind his back. "What brings yeh to the library?"
"Potions essay for Snape," Harry answered, as Hagrid nodded. "So what about you?"
"Oh nothin' much," Hagrid replied. "Was just lookin' for summat 'bout herbicides for the school cabbages."
In the magical creatures section? Harry thought. He's definitely hiding something… I wonder if it has something to do with Fluffy.
"I think you might have better luck in the potions or plant sections, Hagrid," Harry said. "I doubt Madam Pince shelves books about herbicide or cabbages with the books on magical creatures."
As if just realizing what section he was in, he said, "Oh, ah, yeah, you're probably right 'bout tha'."
Deciding to take a chance, he said, "You being here wouldn't have anything to do with what's on the third floor, would it?"
"I don' know what ya talkin 'bout, Harry."
"I'm talking about Fluffy," Harry said. "Firenze said that's what you call that three-headed dog that's guarding something on the third floor."
Shaking his head, Hagrid said, "Now, listen to me, Harry — yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. You already landed yerself in detention once over this. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an Nicolas Flamel —"
"Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked.
"I should'na said tha'," Hagrid said. "Forget I said anythin', Harry, please." Looking around, he added, "I gotta go."
Hagrid hurried away from Harry at this point, stopping only briefly to check out the book he'd taken, before hurrying out of the library. Harry couldn't help but notice that Madam Pince looked very annoyed as she watched Hagrid leaving, of course that was probably because his hurried movements had shook one of the bookcases enough to knock a few volumes to the floor. Going back over to the table, Harry noticed that Cedric had joined the others, although there was no sign of Max and Tavi.
"Where's Max and Tavi?" Harry asked.
"With Ryan," Cedric said, his skin flushed slightly, as he wasn't really sure what to say to his young friends on this subject. "They were going to help him with his homework… in private."
Shaking his head, Carter said, "Ric, you don't need to speak in code. I'm sure most of us here already know what married people do when they're alone together."
Neville nodded. "Yeah, Gran gave me that talk when I was ten." Shuddering he added, "Scariest hour of my life."
Everyone else confirmed that they also knew about it, which at this point now included Harry, who'd gotten "the talk" from an extremely embarrassed Kyle Bradley over the winter break, as Dylan and Thorne had recognized the need for Harry to get it and delegated it to Jordan, Kyle, and Matthew to do because after already giving the talk to Carter and Hunter, they weren't ready to do it again this soon. Unfortunately for Kyle, his boyfriends quickly abandoned him and left him all alone to do it himself.
"I wonder what Max and Tavi do all day?" Hermione asked. "When Ryan is in class that is. They don't have jobs, do they?"
Shaking his head, Cedric said, "No, they don't, which is at least partly why their father forced them to marry Ryan. As for what they do, I guess they've worked something out with McGonagall to apprentice under her for their Transfiguration Masteries. Ryan says they have different favorite subjects and Transfiguration is the only one that they share, so they figured they'd get their Masteries in that first."
"So what was Hagrid up to?" Ron asked.
"He clearly didn't want me to see the book he got," Harry answered. "But I did and I'm not entirely sure I want to know why he's interested in a book on dragon breeding."
"Dragon breeding?" Cedric asked. "Are you sure Harry?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, Ric, I saw the title on the spine of the book. It was called Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit." After a moment, he asked, "You don't think he's trying to breed a dragon do you?"
"He couldn't possibly be trying that, Harry," Cedric said. "There's no way he could hide a pair of dragons to breed with each other on Hogwarts grounds. Besides, dragon breeding is illegal. Obviously the Ministry can't do much about dragons in the wild, of which there are still some, but all other breeding is strictly forbidden outside of the dragon reserves around the world, like the ones in the Hebrides Islands and Romania."
Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, before Harry grinned and said, "I did manage to get something else out of Hagrid though. Something which he immediately said he shouldn't have told me and asked that I forget it."
"Maybe you should listen to him, Harry," Hermione said.
"So you're going to sit there and tell me that you're not even the slightest bit interested in what Hagrid let slip about Fluffy and what he's guarding?"
Hermione sighed, as she knew there was no point in denying that she was curious, as she'd been curious ever since they first found Fluffy. "What did he say?"
"Just that whatever the dog is guarding that it's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."
"Nicolas Flamel?" Carter asked. "I wonder if that's any relation to Professor Flamel."
"I guess now we know why Firenze told us to ask her," Hunter said, as the others agreed.
After this, with some prodding from Hermione, they all got back to their Potions essay. Well, Cedric didn't since he didn't have Snape for Potions, however, he did have some of his own homework to work on. Once it was finished, they searched the library for a little while about information on Nicolas Flamel, but didn't find anything before it was time for them to go downstairs for dinner.
-o-0-o-
The next day, after History of Magic class ended, Hermione stayed behind and asked Professor Flamel about Nicolas Flamel. Of course, Perenelle Flamel was nothing if not observant and all the teachers knew the reason for the detention in the Forbidden Forest, so she only said, "I'm afraid I'm under orders from Professor Dumbledore not to talk about that, Miss Granger."
Needless to say, Hermione didn't get the information she'd been hoping for from Perenelle, however, as she later told Harry, Wesley, and the others, she got the impression that Perenelle didn't appreciate the headmaster ordering her not to talk about Nicolas Flamel. This, of course, got all of them wondering why that would be the case. None of them could conceive of a reason, however, until Wesley suddenly remembered the one detail that had been plaguing him ever since Harry had told them what Hagrid had said. The feeling that he'd heard the name before.
"Chocolate Frog Card," Wesley said out of the blue.
"What?" Hermione asked, clearly annoyed. "Wes, this is hardly the time to be thinking of candy."
Shaking his head, he said, "No, that's where I heard the name Nicolas Flamel. Ever since Harry mentioned it I've had this nagging thought that I'd heard it somewhere before. I just remembered that it was on a chocolate frog card."
Ron looked up at this and said, "There's a list of all the people that have cards that they put out to aid people in collecting the entire set. I don't recall Nicolas Flamel having a card."
"It wasn't on his card that he's mentioned," Wesley said. "I gave my cousin Zelda some chocolate frogs over Christmas and she read one of the cards aloud. It was Dumbledore's I think and I'm almost certain that Nicolas Flamel is mentioned on the card."
"I'll be right back," Ron said as he left the common room and hurried up to his dorm. He returned about two minutes later carrying a box that contained all of his chocolate frog cards.
The group sorted through them for a moment before Harry found one for Albus Dumbledore and said, "Ah here it is."
"What does it say?" Hermione asked.
Harry read the card. "Considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel."
"So, Nicolas Flamel is apparently an alchemist," Wesley said. "Presumably a rather famous one if his work on it with Dumbledore is considered one of the headmaster's biggest achievements."
Hermione pulled out a copy of Famous Witches and Wizards of the 20th Century and after checking the index, she shook her head and said, "Professor Dumbledore has an entry, but there's nothing for Nicolas Flamel. There isn't even a mention of anyone named Flamel."
"Flamel?" Cormac asked as he came over. "Are you talking about the noble family?"
"Noble family?" Wesley asked.
Cormac nodded. "They're one of the seven Noble Houses who hold the rank of Bann. I think the current head of the family is Lord-Bann Nicolas Flamel."
Skimming over the names in the index of the book, Hermione said, "Most of the other lords are all mentioned in this book," as she lifted it so that Cormac could see the cover, "but there's no mention of any Flamels in it at all."
"Well, that's odd," Cormac said, before cocking his head and saying, "of course, now that I think about it, I want to say there's been some rather odd rumors about the Flamels for a while now."
"Like what?" Harry asked.
"Well, as I said the current Lord Flamel is named Nicolas," Cormac said. "The previous Lord Flamel was named Nicolas. As was the one before that and the one before that. This has led to some pretty crazy rumors that Lord Flamel might be a vampire or something, because there's some who think that all those Lord Nicolas Flamels over the years are in fact the same person, meaning that he's been leading the family for centuries."
"That's not possible," Hermione said.
Wesley, meanwhile, looked around the room for a moment and spotted a seventh year girl sitting on one of the nearby couches. Wesley couldn't think of her name, but he knew she was muggleborn, as she'd been one of the first people he'd encountered at Hogwarts who actually had some idea of the royal protocol around meeting a member of the royal family. Wesley knew that Wizarding Britain had had protocols as well but it had been so long since there was an active monarch or a royal family that most people in the wizarding world weren't quite as well briefed on the subject.
Anyway the girl was clearly doing her homework, Charms by the look of it and had put in a pair of earplugs to block out the noise of the common room. What had caught Wesley's attention, however, was that sitting on a stack of books next to her chair was a book called Alchemy Through the Ages.
Getting up from the table, Wesley walked over and tapped the girl on the shoulder, prompting her to look up, pull the earplugs from her ears and ask, "Can I help you, Your Royal Highness?"
"I was wondering if I could borrow your book on Alchemy," Wesley said. "I've heard mention of it and was curious to learn a bit more about it."
Gesturing to the pile with her hand, the girl smiled and said, "Of course, sir, if it'll help you. I will need it back though, as I have to return it to the library in the morning."
Wesley smiled and said, "That's fine and thank you," as the girl nodded, before putting her earplugs back in and getting back to work on her homework, while Wesley took the book.
"What's that?" Harry asked, as Wesley returned to the table with the book.
"A book on alchemy," Wesley answered. "Since Dumbledore's card says he's famous for his work on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel, I figured it couldn't hurt to look at it."
Nodding her head, Hermione said, "Good thinking, Wes."
Opening the book to the index, Wesley scanned it and then said, "Ah here it is: Flamel, page 638." Turning to the correct page, Wesley scanned it and said, "Hmm, it's about something called a Philosopher's Stone."
"What is it?" Ron asked.
Reading aloud from the book, Wesley said, "Easily the hardest alchemical project that can be undertaken is the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, which is purported to have astonishing powers. It is said that the stone will transform any metal it touches into pure gold. The Stone is also said to secrete the Elixir of Life, which when drunk will freeze the drinker at whatever age they were when they began drinking it and then keep them alive, potentially forever, as long as they continue drinking the Elixir."
"Bloody hell," Cormac said, as Harry and Ron both nodded in agreement.
"What about Flamel though?" Hermione asked.
Skimming the page a bit, Wesley found the right section and continued reading, "While opinions vary on whether or not anyone has ever successfully managed to create a Philosopher's Stone, there are long-standing and unsubstantiated rumors that famed alchemist Lord-Bann Nicolas Flamel managed to create the stone. When I interviewed the Lord Flamel at his home in Albion for this book, however, he refused to comment on the rumors, calling them nothing more than fanciful stories.
"There are, however, some people who believe that Lord Nicolas Flamel and his wife, Lady Perenelle Flamel, are in fact the same Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel that appear in French birth records dating back to 1327 and 1334 respectively. That Nicolas and Perenelle attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and later donated a substantial amount of galleons to the school, leading to the construction of a statue and fountain dedicated to the couple on the grounds of the school. Without confirmation from the Flamels, it is probably impossible to ever know for sure, however, I will say that having seen the statue at the school, it does bear a striking resemblance to the current Lord and Lady Flamel."
"Wow," Harry said, as he quickly did the math on a spare bit of parchment. "If the rumors are true than that would mean that Nicolas Flamel is 665 years old and that his wife Perenelle is 658." Looking at his friends, he asked, "Isn't Professor Flamel's first name Perenelle?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, I've heard Professor McGonagall call Professor Flamel Perenelle."
Cormac looked speculative as he asked, "Is there any mention in the book as to roughly how large a Philosopher's Stone would be?"
Shaking his head, Wesley said, "There's several theories, ranging from the size of a snitch to bigger than a quaffle. Nobody can agree though because most seem to believe that the stone has never been created in the first place."
"Hmm," Cormac said. "And how big would you say the package you saw Hagrid take from Gringotts' was Harry?"
"About the size of a snitch," Harry answered. "As Ron has said, you'd have to be a fool to try to steal anything from the goblins," Ron nodded, "but a stone that can basically give you unlimited money, plus eternal youth and life? That may well be something that somebody would risk trying to steal from the goblins."
"I'll admit that there's certainly an appeal to it," Hermione said. "And it's probably a fair assumption that whatever Hagrid took from that vault is what Fluffy is guarding, because I can't think of any other reason that something as big and dangerous as a Cerberus would be brought into a school, unless it was to guard something extremely valuable."
There were nods all around at this, but not much else was said, as Wesley returned the book to the girl he borrowed it from. Not long afterward, the group of them headed up to their dormitories to get some sleep.
-o-0-o-
Much later that night, around one in the morning, Harry woke up and decided that it was finally time to try out his new cloak. He assumed that Hermione wouldn't be down in the common room making sure that he didn't try to sneak out considering that he'd seen her go into her dorm room just before he'd gone into his own. So, throwing back his bedcovers and swinging his legs off the bed, Harry, clad in a pair of pajamas that Wesley had given him to wear while he they were at Windsor Castle and told him he could keep, slipped his feet into a pair of slippers and quietly moved over to his trunk.
"Gonna test out the cloak?" a soft voice asked, causing Harry to jump slightly, as he turned his head and saw Wesley standing nearby, having apparently just made a nighttime visit to the loo.
Nodding, Harry whispered, "Yeah… you wanna come with?"
"Hell yeah," Wesley answered as softly as he could so as to not wake the others. Glancing over at Ron's bed, he asked, "Should we wake him? He'll be mad if he finds out we tried it out and didn't take him with us."
"True," Harry agreed. "But you know how hard he is to wake. We'd probably end up waking everyone else in the process and then we'd lose our chance."
Wesley nodded, before he came over to Harry and wrapped one arm firmly around his waist, as Harry moved the cloak over the both of them. If they were both adults, this would never have worked as there simply wouldn't have been enough space for both of them under the cloak, but at only eleven years old, they were both small enough to fit. Pulling up the hood and disappearing completely from sight, the two of them made their way over to the door and quietly pulled it open just enough for them to get through, before shutting it as quietly as possible. Carefully making their way down the stairs, they found—much to their relief—that the common room was empty.
Moving over to the portrait hole, they pushed it open and quickly made their way out into the empty hallway. Of course, the movement woke the Fat Lady and she was looking quite confused when she saw nobody, prompting her to ask, "Who's there?" Harry and Wesley, however, ignored her and quickly left the hallway that the Fat Lady occupied, moving as quickly as they dared until they could no longer hear the portrait calling out.
"So where should we go?" Wesley asked softly, as they stopped to catch their breath for a moment.
"Maybe try to find the kitchens?" Harry asked. "I heard some of the older students say they're near the Hufflepuff Common Room."
"Sounds good to me," Wesley agreed, as the two of them headed down one of the hidden staircases that didn't move.
Just as they reached the second floor, however, Harry spied movement out of the corner of his eye and before he could warn Wesley, something darted out in front of them and let out a loud squealing noise as Wesley stepped on the tail of what turned out to be Mrs. Norris. Knowing the sound would undoubtedly have Mr. Filch hurrying to investigate, the two boys quickly made their way away from the angry cat, turned a corner, and entered the first open door they could find, which turned out to be an old, unused classroom.
Closing the door behind them, Harry and Wesley grabbed a chair and wedged it under the door handle as a makeshift barricade, since both of them had unfortunately left their wands in their dorm room and thus couldn't use the Locking Charm. Leaning against the teacher's desk, the two of them took a moment to catch their breath, but said nothing for several moments out of fear that Filch might hear them if they did. Once they could no longer hear Mrs. Norris, however, they figured the coast was clear and they removed the cloak to look around the room they were now in.
"Looks like an old abandoned classroom," Wesley said, as he ran a finger over the teacher's desk and frowned when he found a thick layer of dust on his finger. "Obviously not used—or cleaned—in a while."
Harry nodded, as he looked around the room. In many ways the room was like many of the other classrooms in the castle, although this one also seemed to have been turned into a storage room of sorts, as there were a number of crates stacked in one corner. Harry was kind of curious what was in them, but he knew he wasn't going to find out considering that the crates were nailed shut and he didn't have anything to pry them open with. Scanning his eyes around the room, he finally spotted a tall mirror, which had him whispering, "Hey Wes, look at that."
Looking where Harry was pointing, Wesley said, "Well, that's clearly an antique, because it looks pretty old."
Harry nodded as he pushed away from the teacher's desk and moved closer to the mirror. As he got near it, the whole surface shimmered for a moment, before Harry gasped slightly and asked, "Mum? Dad?"
"Harry?" Wesley asked, curious. "What do you see?"
"My parents," Harry said. "And my Dad's parents." After a moment, he recognized the other two people in the mirror from pictures he'd seen at the Dursleys, "And my Mum's parents, too."
"There's nobody but us in the room, Harry," Wesley said. "So how could you see your parents and grandparents in the mirror?"
"I don't know, but they're there," Harry answered. "All standing around me, like a big happy family. Mum and Dad have their hands on my shoulders."
"Hmm," Wesley said as he moved closer and noticed the inscription on the mirror. "There's something written on it." Squinting a bit, he read, "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."
Wesley pondered the inscription for a moment, before he realized that the first word was desire spelled backwards. Scanning the room for something reflective, he saw a shiny silver tray on top of one the crates which he grabbed, before standing with his back to the mirror and held the tray up so that he could see the inscription reflected in it. Reflected in the tray, Wesley saw, "Ishow no tyo urfac ebu tyo urhe arts desire," at which point it wasn't long before he realized that what he'd initially thought was gibberish was actually English, only spelled backwards with several of the spaces changed.
"I show not your face, but your heart's desire," Wesley said.
Moments later, a startled Wesley dropped the tray and Harry spun around, as the sound of applause came from the corner of the room. Looking over towards the crates, both boys paled as Professor Dumbledore emerged from behind them. "Good work figuring out the inscription, young Mr. Wyndham. Five points to Gryffindor. I assume you realize what it means?"
"That the mirror doesn't show your reflection, but what you desire most in your heart?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed, Mr. Wyndham. Take another five points for Gryffindor. Harry, who has never known his family, sees himself standing in front of the mirror surrounded by them. I imagine that if he were here, Ron on the other hand, who has always felt overshadowed by his brothers, would see himself alone the best of all of them." Pausing for a moment, he asked, "Care to venture a guess as to what you'd see, Wesley?"
"I don't really know," Wesley said after a moment of thought. "I don't really want to be king, so I'd assume I'd see myself leading a normal life somewhere and never getting crowned."
"Well, why don't you have a look and see?" Dumbledore asked. "One glance can't hurt."
Nodding his head, Wesley moved to stand in front of the mirror, as Harry moved off to one side. The surface of the mirror shimmered for a moment, before an image appeared and Wesley's eyes widened slightly as he saw… absolutely the last thing he expected to see. He saw himself standing in the mirror, wearing silver and gold chainmail armor with a flowing red cape embroidered with a golden dragon around his shoulders and a golden and jeweled crown upon his head. He wasn't alone, however, as Hunter was standing next to him on his left, dressed very similarly and also wearing a crown, although smaller than Wesley's. A tall man with platinum blond hair stood on Wesley's right, dressed identically to Hunter, although he had no idea who the man was because his face was blurred. Kneeling in front of Wesley with his back to him was Harry, also dressed like the other two. Cedric and Carter were also visible in the background, along with a tall red-haired man, his face also blurred.
Wesley wasn't sure how long he stared at the mirror, but after a moment, Harry said, "So, Wes, what did you see?"
"Myself in a policeman's uniform," Wesley lied. "Standing protectively in front of my family. No crowns or other signs of royalty in sight."
"Interesting," Dumbledore said. His tone seemed a bit off, making Wesley wonder if the headmaster knew he was lying. If he did, however, he made no mention of it, as he shook his head and said, "The mirror will be moved from this room and I must ask that neither of you go searching for it. Many men have gone completely mad staring into its surface, so caught up in what they see that they forget to actually live their lives."
Harry and Wesley looked at each other for a moment, before they both nodded and Dumbledore said, "Now, why don't you get back under that cloak and get back to bed where you both belong."
As Wesley moved over to Harry and wrapped his arm around him and Harry began putting on the cloak, Harry asked, "Sir, can I ask you a question?"
Dumbledore smiled. "You just did, Harry, but you may ask one more."
"What do you see when you look in the mirror?" Harry asked.
"I see myself holding a pair of lovely woolen socks," Dumbledore answered. When both boys gave him an odd look, he said, "It can get very cold in this castle at night and woolen socks are good at keeping my old feet warm. Alas, I didn't get a single pair this past Christmas, as people always insist on giving me books. Oh well." Shaking his head, he said, "Wesley, you may also ask one question, if you have one."
Thinking for a moment, he asked, "How did you know about Harry's cloak?"
"Other than the fact that I saw you both come in and remove it?" Dumbledore asked in response, before he smiled and added, "I'm the 'friend' who gave it to you, Harry. As I said on the card, your father lent it to me before he died and I've hung onto it all these years, but I thought it high time it was returned to you. It is, I'm told, an old Potter family heirloom after all, handed down in the family for many generations."
Harry ran a bit of the cloth through his fingertips at this, taking a moment to look at it almost reverently, before Dumbledore said, "All right, now, both of you off to bed." Harry and Wesley nodded before they pulled up the hood and moved towards the door. As they removed the chair, Dumbledore added, "And do try not to step on poor Mrs. Norris's tail this time."
-o-0-o-
The following weekend, Harry, Wesley, Hermione, and Ron found themselves heading down to Hagrid's hut, as Harry had received an invitation to tea, with Hagrid saying he could bring up to three friends. Hagrid had also rather cryptically said that he wanted to show Harry something.
"What do you think Hagrid wants to show you?" Wesley asked.
Shaking his head, Harry said, "I've no idea."
"I'm sure we're not lucky enough for it to have something to do with the stone," Ron said.
"Probably not," Hermione agreed. "Maybe… you don't think it's something to do with why Hagrid was looking at books on dragon breeding do you?"
"I doubt that," Ron said. "As Cedric said in the library, dragon breeding outside of the reserves is illegal."
Wesley nodded. "Yes and somehow I doubt Hagrid would be thick enough to try breeding something that dangerous in a school… although given his love of large, dangerous animals like Fluffy…"
As the four of them arrived at Hagrid's hut, Harry noticed that Fang was sleeping next to the steps leading up to the door. Shrugging, Harry said, "Well, I guess we'll know soon enough," before he climbed the three steps up to the door and knocked.
Hagrid's heavy footsteps could be heard inside the hut at this and a moment later the door opened a crack, as one of Hagrid's eyes appeared. When he saw who it was, he opened the door wider and said, "Get inside."
Once all four where inside, Hagrid bolted the door and moved back towards the fireplace. "Have a seat, all o' ya."
Taking a seat around the table, at the center of which was a large plate full of what looked like a weird cross between a cake and a rock, the four students watched as Hagrid took a tea pot from a hook near the fireplace and moved over to pour them all a cup of tea.
"What's that over the fireplace?" Harry asked, as he noticed the large cast iron pot over the fireplace, its lid rattling, as steam escaped from underneath it.
"That's what I wanted to be showin' ya, Harry," Hagrid said as he poured the tea. "It should be ready to hatch soon."
"Hatch?" Ron and Hermione asked in unison, before Wesley asked, "Hagrid, don't tell me that's a dragon egg in there."
"Okay, I won't be tellin' ya that," Hagrid said as he put down the teapot.
"Oh Merlin, it is isn't it?" Harry asked, as he could tell from Hagrid's tone that he was hiding something. "Where did you get a bloody dragon egg from?"
"A couple o' nights ago was down in the village," Hagrid said. "Got into a game o' cards with a stranger and he bet the egg. Won it, I did. Think he was quite glad ter be rid o' it ter be honest."
Moving over to the fireplace, Hagrid removed the lid from the boiling pot and looked inside for a moment, before grabbing a long metal hook and using it to remove the pot from over the flames. Resting it on the floor, Hagrid then took a pair of tongs and lifted a large black egg from the boiling water inside the pot, which he placed in a basket with a blanket in it. Putting away the tongs, Hagrid moved the basket over to the kitchen table and said, "I'm thinkin' it's about ready ter hatch."
"Hagrid, what are you going to do with a dragon?" Hermione asked, as Wesley asked, "Hagrid, you do realize that dragons breath fire right? And that your house is made of wood?"
Staring at the egg, Ron said, "I think that's a Norwegian Ridgeback egg. Charlie told me what color the various eggs are and that one looks like what he said the Ridgeback looked like. They're supposed to be really rare."
"Um, I think it's hatching," Harry said, after a moment.
And sure enough, a crack had appeared down the side of the egg. A moment later, another crack, running in a different direction. And then a small chip that broke away as a small clawed arm broke through the shell. Lifting the broken pieces away as they split apart from the rest of the egg, Hagrid was all smiles as he looked down at the egg and asked, "Isn't he beautiful?"
At this, Hagrid reached out and stroked the dragon's head, which was now fully outside of the egg. The dragon snapped at Hagrid's fingers, showing fangs, before it sneezed and sparks flew out of its snout. "Bless him, look he knows his mommy."
"Ron, do you have any idea how fast Norwegian Ridgebacks grow?" Wesley asked.
Ron shook his head and said, "Not really, no, although I'm pretty sure Charlie said that dragons grow pretty quickly once they're hatched. I think he said they'd get to nearly full grown in about a year's time."
"And how big is that?" Hermione asked.
"Varies depending on the breed," Ron answered. "But usually several tons."
"Hagrid, you can't keep him," Harry said. "If he doesn't burn down your house, he could probably crush it. And that's not even considering what he could do to the school or the people in it. You need to set him free."
"I can't," Hagrid protested. "He's ter little. He'd die."
"Yes, but the point is he's not going to stay little," Wesley said.
"And then there's going to be a several ton living flamethrower wandering the grounds," Harry said. "Not a good thing to have at a school full of children."
Hermione was quiet for a moment before she said, "Ron, what about your brother?"
"Charlie? What about him?"
"Could we get him here?" Hermione asked. "Give him the egg?" Looking over at Hagrid, she added, "That would probably be for the best, Hagrid. For him to be raised on a dragon reserve by trained professionals and possibly with others of its kind… it would probably get very lonely here, as it's going to want companionship from other dragons."
Spying the jar of Floo powder on the fireplace mantle, Ron said, "I know Charlie's Floo address. I could call him."
Hagrid looked sad, but after a moment, he sighed, and said, "All right, call him."
Standing up, being careful to stay as far away from the dragon as possible, Ron grabbed a pinch of Floo powder, threw it into the flames and said, "Dragon's Claw Cottage, Wallachia, Romania," before bending down and putting his face in the now green flames.
-o-0-o-
Over in Romania, Charlie had just gone through the door to his bedroom with Jean-Luc not far behind, delayed by a few minutes as he'd stayed to tidy up a bit, when a noise made Jean-Luc turn around. He quickly realized it was the Floo activating. "Who would be calling at this time of night?" he asked quietly, as he moved closer to the flames, only to see the face of a young man appear.
"Hello, Charlie? It's Ron."
"Um, hello, Ron, Charlie just went to bed," Jean-Luc said.
"Who are you?" Ron asked.
"Jean-Luc, but just call me Luke."
"Okay, well, could you get Charlie?" Ron asked. "This is an emergency."
"Luke, baby, come to bed," Charlie's voice called out from the bedroom, making Ron cock his head to one side. "I need you to fuck me, baby."
"Luke, baby?" Ron repeated. After a moment, he realized what else Charlie had said and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Charlie may have come out to his parents and sister over Christmas and introduced them to Jean-Luc, but since his other siblings weren't there, he hadn't had the chance to do either yet.
"Charlie, your brother Ron is in the Floo," Jean-Luc called out. "And he just heard you."
"Oh shit," Charlie's voice could be heard saying. A moment later, Charlie came out, wearing only his boxers and pulling a shirt over his head as he walked. His skin was redder than his hair, as he looked at Ron's face in the flames and said, "Ron, hi, um… yeah, this is Luke… my boyfriend."
Nodding his head, Ron said, "Funnily enough, I kind of figured that out, thanks."
"Yeah, I told Mum and Dad and Ginny when they were here," Charlie said. "Was going to tell the rest of you the next time I saw you. Figured in person was better."
"Yeah," Ron said. "Anyway, the reason I called is because I'm here with Harry, Hermione, Wes, and Hagrid… and his newly hatched Norwegian Ridgeback."
"His what?" Charlie asked.
"He won a dragon egg playing cards," Ron said. "It just hatched and I think from the egg descriptions you gave me, that it's a Norwegian Ridgeback. We were all kind of hoping you could come take it before it burns down Hagrid's house or roasts someone here at the school."
"Oh for the love of all the gods," Jean-Luc said. "What was Hagrid thinking hatching a dragon egg? At a school?"
"Move over, Ron, I'm coming through," Charlie said, but was stopped by Jean-Luc's hand clamping down on his shoulder.
"Charlie, don't you think you should um, put some trousers on first?" Jean-Luc asked, "And maybe some shoes?"
Looking down at himself and seeing his attire—or lack thereof—he blushed again and said, "Yeah, I'll be right back." Not long afterward, Charlie was back and shooed Ron out of the way, before he stepped into the flames, with Jean-Luc not far behind.
-o-0-o-
Back at Hagrid's, Ron stepped away from the fireplace and moments later Charlie emerged with Jean-Luc following close behind. Motioning towards the table, Ron said, "As you can see, one baby dragon."
"I'm calling him Norbert," Hagrid said with a smile.
"Norbert, huh?" Charlie asked, as he approached the table and got a good look at the small dragon. "Norberta might be more appropriate."
"What?" Hagrid asked.
"Hagrid, that's a female."
"How can you be sure?" Hagrid asked, as he looked from Charlie to the dragon and back again.
"Because I'm around dragons all day, Hagrid," Charlie said. "And trust me, that little one—which is a Norwegian Ridgeback as Ron thought—is definitely a girl. You can tell from some of the markings on the scales that only females have. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't have the right equipment to be male, if you catch my drift."
Harry, Ron, and Wesley laughed at that, as Hermione blushed a bit, as she'd been looking intently at the dragon as Charlie spoke, because she wanted to learn as much about them as she could while she had the chance.
When he'd calmed down, Ron motioned towards Charlie and said, "Well, as I'm sure you could all guess from the red hair, this is my elder brother, Charlie Weasley." Motioning towards Jean-Luc, he added, "And this is his boyfriend, Jean-Luc… sorry I didn't catch your last name."
"That's because I didn't give it," Jean-Luc said with a grin, before he said, "its Flamel. Jean-Luc Flamel."
"Wait did you say Flamel?" Harry asked. "Like as in our History of Magic professor: Perenelle Flamel?"
"Yes, she's my grandmother," Jean-Luc said, although even as he said it he almost winced as if he realized too late that he shouldn't have said that.
"Grandmother?" Hermione asked. "She barely looks old enough to be your mother let alone your grandmother."
"Good genes run in the family," Jean-Luc said. "And she had my father when she was very young."
"Really?" Wesley asked. "Or is it that Perenelle's husband Nicolas is the only alchemist in the world to make a Philosopher's Stone and they're both in fact over 600 years old?"
"Going for the direct approach I see," Jean-Luc answered. "Who are you anyway?"
"Wesley Wyndham."
"And that's actually His Royal Highness Prince Wesley," Harry said with a grin. "He's Queen Evangeline's grandson and second-in-line to the throne after his father."
"Yeah, so maybe you shouldn't lie to him," Ron added.
Charlie looked over at Ron at this and said, "Ronald, I get that you're mad that I didn't tell you that I'm gay or that I've got a boyfriend, but don't take it out on Luke, huh? He hasn't done anything to deserve you accusing him of lying."
"How do any of you even know about the so-called Philosopher's Stone, anyway?" Jean-Luc asked. "I went to Hogwarts myself and I know for a fact that alchemy is not taught to first years."
"Because we're smart?" Ron tried, although his tone wasn't very convincing.
Charlie just grinned. "Smart, huh? Like the time that Bill and I had you convinced that Percy was adopted because he was actually a pixie that Mum found in the garden while de-gnoming it?"
Ron groaned. "That was eight years ago Charlie! I was three for crying out loud."
"Yes and yet I seem to recall you following Percy around for over a year after that asking to see his wings," Charlie said with a grin. Looking over at Jean-Luc, he added, "Drove Percy absolutely bonkers, let me tell you."
"We know that Hagrid took something small—roughly the size of a snitch—from a vault at Gringotts," Harry said. "Because I was with him when he did it. Later that very same day that vault was broken into, although the goblins insist nothing was taken because the vault had already been emptied by Hagrid."
"And then Professor Dumbledore told everyone to avoid the third floor corridor on the right hand side," Wesley added. "With good reason it seems since there's a bloody Cerberus there standing atop a trap door, obviously guarding whatever is under it which Hagrid let slip is between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."
Ron nodded. "And it says on Dumbledore's chocolate frog card that one of the reasons he's famous is because of his work on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel. So Wesley borrowed a book on alchemy from an older student in our house and that's where we learned about the stone."
"My, my, aren't you guys resourceful," Jean-Luc said. "Too bad the Philosopher's Stone is nothing more than a myth."
"You're just saying that because we're kids and you think we're too young," Harry said. "But, we know the stone is in the school at this very moment and that Voldemort is trying to steal it."
Charlie and Hagrid both flinched at Voldemort's name, as did Ron and Hermione. Harry noted, however, that Wesley didn't, although then again he hadn't grown up in the wizarding world being taught to fear saying it. Harry wasn't sure why exactly Hermione was so afraid of a name, seeing as how she also hadn't been raised in the wizarding world, but he didn't feel like going into that right now. He also realized, of course, that Jean-Luc hadn't flinched either.
"Really? Vol…" Jean-Luc began, but then catching the look on Charlie's face, said, "Oh for Merlin's sake, fine, You-Know-Who is trying to steal the mythological Philosopher's Stone, which you say is hidden in the school?" Harry nodded, before Jean-Luc—who had seen Harry's scar and thus knew exactly who he was—said, "The problem with your theory, Harry, is that he's dead. You should know that better than anyone, considering that you're the reason he is to begin with."
"Except that he's not!" Harry exclaimed. "I know he's not because I saw him in the Forbidden Forest drinking blood from a dead unicorn. Even Professor Firenze confirmed that it was Voldemort!"
Jean-Luc paled slightly at this, but before he could say anything, Charlie asked, "Firenze? The centaur? Since when is he on staff?"
"He started this year," Hermione answered. "He teaches the 4th and 5th year Astronomy classes. The Board of Governors made a ton of changes over the summer in order to try to improve Hogwarts' falling standards."
Charlie nodded. "Yes, I was aware that changes were made," noticing the look on Ron's face, he added, "and don't even start, Ron. I know you weren't happy with them, but then you made that abundantly clear when you and the twins sent that howler to Dad at work. I'm sure Mum had some very choice words for you and you're lucky that Dad's resulting heart attack was minor."
Ron didn't say anything at this, as Charlie looked at him harshly for a moment, before shaking his head and saying, "At any rate, I knew that changes were made, but I didn't know all the details. Such as the fact that Firenze was on staff now."
"Bill is on staff too," Ron said. "I guess he's taken a sabbatical from Gringotts' because he missed his family."
"Is that supposed to be a dig at me, Ron?" Charlie asked. "Because if it is, it's not a very good one. And I knew Bill was working here now. We're the first and second born, after all, and only two years apart so we're very close and have kept in touch via letters." Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment, before he said, "Although he's been a bit distant the last few months. I'm not sure why, but I can't shake the feeling he's hiding something."
"So this Firenze," Jean-Luc said. "He's sure that it was Voldemort you saw in the Forest?"
Wesley nodded. "Yes, he was certain of it, and as a centaur he grew up in that forest, so he knows what belongs there and what doesn't. He was quite adamant that it was Voldemort that we saw drinking the unicorn's blood."
"Stop sayin' his name in my house!" Hagrid bellowed, causing some of the windows to rattle and a couple of the jars on a nearby shelf to tip over, as the small dragon growled and coughed, emitting more sparks from its mouth in the process.
"Drinking a unicorn's blood is a very drastic step," Jean-Luc said. "Very few people who know anything about the magical world would ever even consider doing such a thing. Although, if there was anyone who'd be willing to stoop to that level of depravity, I suppose it would be," shooting a look at Hagrid, "You-Know-Who."
"Firenze said that too," Harry said. "Something about living a cursed life from the moment the blood touches your lips."
"It doesn't matter," Hagrid said. "Ain't no way You-Know-Who is gettin' past Fluffy or the other protections the other professors setup so the stone is safe." After a moment, his eyes widened and he added, "I should'na said tha'."
Jean-Luc groaned and said, "No, Hagrid, you shouldn't have said that." After a moment, he sighed and said, "But I suppose the damage is already done. Also, I'm not on staff here and I never agreed with Dumbledore's foolish plans for the stone to begin with. My family has kept it safe for centuries now so honestly it was an insult for him to act like we suddenly weren't capable of it."
"So, Nicolas and Perenelle?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, they're both over 600 years old," Jean-Luc answered. "And so am I, for that matter."
"So she's really your grandmum?" Wesley asked.
Jean-Luc nodded. "Yes, Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel are truly my grandparents. Grandfather Nicolas is 665, Grandmother Perenelle is 658, and I'm 611. My parents drank the Elixir for a time, extending their lives by about a hundred years, but my grandparents and I are the only ones who've continued drinking it over the long-term."
"Why did your parents stop drinking it?" Ron asked.
"Because they got tired of all the secrecy," Jean-Luc answered. "It should go without saying that we don't usually tell all and sundry about the Stone, as that would only increase attempts to steal it. So, we keep it a secret and if we live in one place for a long time, we use Glamour Charms to make it look like we're aging. I don't really care for that much, though, so I tend to never stay in one place for more than a couple of decades. Longest time I've ever spent in one place was in Florence, Italy in the 15th century, where I lived for 50 years."
"Why'd you stay there for so long?" Harry asked.
"I was enjoying the Italian Renaissance," Jean-Luc said. "And I was sort of dating some of the more famous Renaissance artists. Although dating is a rather strong term, as unlike what I have with Charlie, there weren't any romantic feelings in those relationships and don't ask any more questions about that because most of you are only eleven years old and this isn't an appropriate topic."
"We've all had 'The Talk,' you know," Wesley said with a grin. "So we know about sex."
"True as that may be, Your Highness," Jean-Luc said, "I am not going to talk about my love life with eleven year olds. And yes, I realize that I brought it up, but I'm not discussing it any further."
After a moment of silence, Jean-Luc said, "Well, I'll leave you to handle the dragon, Charlie, since you're the dragon handler. I'm going to head up to the castle and have a word with my grandmother. I'm sure Dumbledore will put up a fight, but the Stone belongs to my family so I think it's probably best if we just retake possession of it." Looking at the children, he said, "I don't want any of you to put yourselves at risk over this. It's too dangerous and it doesn't concern you anyway."
As Jean-Luc left the hut, Charlie looked at Ron and said, "Ron, I don't want to hear anything about you trying to go after that Stone, do you hear me? I don't want to hear about any of you going after it, of course, but I'm not your parent or your teacher, so I don't really have a say. I am, however, your brother, Ron, and I will be very disappointed in you if you disobey me on this and I assure you that I will tell Mum if you do."
For all of his bravado, Ron quickly deflated and nodded. Fixing his brother with an 'I mean business' look for a few more moments, before shaking his head. Picking up the small dragon, Charlie placed it in the specially designed pouch that he'd grabbed when he went to get dressed which was issued to all the dragon handlers at the reserve for when they had to carry the newborn dragons whose mother died before they hatched. Hagrid, was, of course crying as he said goodbye over and over, prompting Charlie to say, "It's okay, Hagrid. I know you'll miss the little girl, but the reserve with her own kind is a far better place for her to grow up than at a school full of children that she could quite easily hurt."
Walking back over to the fireplace, Charlie looked over his shoulder and said, "Jean-Luc can Apparate back, so you needn't keep the Floo connection open for him," before stepping into the flames.
The four students did their best to comfort the blubbering Hagrid for a few minutes, before they decided they'd better leave so that they'd be able to get back up to the castle before curfew.
-o-0-o-
To be continued.
And there you have Chapter 10 of 'A Royal at Hogwarts'. So, will Jean-Luc talking to his grandmother accomplish anything? Time will tell. So, any thoughts on the chapter as a whole? I said I was going to do my best to wrap up Harry's first year soon and I think this chapter got things a lot closer to that goal. In fact, I'm going to try—whether I succeed or not I don't yet know—to wrap up first year in the next chapter.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I love hearing from my readers, so feel free to contact me in a review, by email, my Yahoo group (the link is in my profile), or on Twitter JVascardi. Alternatively, you can also try to contact me via Skype (text messaging only) at .
