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Chapter 14: Oh, That Nicolas Flamel
"Hold on, hold on! I can't understand when both of you are talking…now what's going on? Harry can turn invisible and there's a mirror that's magical?" Hermione gave her two friends a confused look while Harry took a breath and Ron looked slightly exasperated. She had just returned to school and they were explaining to her what had happened at Hogwarts while she had been home.
"You don't understand, Hermione! This mirror – it showed you what you wanted most in life! It should all your hopes and dreams, and it was amazing! I was Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, holding the House Cup, everyone was cheering for me! And Harry, Harry got to see his parents and family!"
"Where is this mirror now? I think it would be fascinating to study the charms and enchantments on it!"
Harry cut Ron off before he could get started on his reflection again. "Professor Dumbledore found out we kept visiting it and moved it. He said that it could cause people to go insane looking in it too long."
Hermione looked slightly disappointed at the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to see this amazing mirror, but turned to Harry again – "Okay, so what's this about you turning invisible?"
Harry smiled widely at this and led them to a corner of the common room where no one was. He pulled out a shimmery, silver cloth cloak that almost seemed to flow around him. "It's an invisibility cloak! The note that came with it said that it belonged to my dad – I have something that belonged to my dad! And it works great too – on Christmas night, I put it on and went in the Restricted Section and got away from Filch and Mrs. Norris because they couldn't see me!"
"You snuck out? Don't you remember what happened last time you snuck out? It involved a large dog with three heads !"
"Oh, Hermione, don't worry about it. We were running from Filch when that happened, Filch can't see us now, which means we won't end up doing that anymore!" Ron answered with a grin.
"I guess…oh! You said you were in the restricted section, right? Were you able to find anything about Flamel?"
Harry's smile faded at her words and she knew what his answer would be before he even started… "No…Couldn't find anything, and I haven't tried to get back in. I just know that I've heard that name, but I can't think about where I would have read it…" Hermione could see Harry racking his brain about where he could have read it, when he rarely read anything not required for classes. Ron continued to eat his Bertie Bots Beans and fudge his mother had sent him for Christmas – Hermione had tried a small piece, and was surprised at the wonderful quality of it.
"Hey Hermione, want to play a game?" Ron had pulled out his wizarding chess board and set up on the couch.
"Sure! The crackers that you sent – my dad opened his at got his own chess set too! So we've been playing over break, and it's really a game of logic and skill, so I think I can hold my own now." Hermione didn't notice that, when her pieces heard her words, they immediately started groaning and working on their own strategy.
"Sure thing, Hermione. You have the white pieces, you go first." Hermione concentrated and sent out her first pawn. Within five moves, Ron had checkmated her, and she was stunned at the fact that she had lost.
"Again! I'm just a little bit rusty!" With that, Harry and Ron laughed and they settled in for an evening of chess and preparing to return to classes the next day.
The term quickly settled into a set routine for Hermione. She would go to class, complete her homework, and spend as much time as possible – between classes, before dinner, during weekends – in the library looking for information on Nicolas Flamel. Harry and Ron joined her often in the intervals between classes, but it was harder to convince them to do research on the weekends or in the evening. Granted, Harry had Quidditch practices many nights, but Ron had almost appeared to have given up on ever discovering the identity of this elusive individual.
A few weeks into the term, while Harry was at Quidditch practice, Ron had convinced Hermione to take a break from the never-ending search and instead play a few chess matches with him. Hermione still hadn't beaten him, but she was getting much better and was determined to end her losing streak. She had made a surprising move and was waiting to see what Ron would do to counter it when Harry walked through the portrait hole. It was raining hard that evening and Harry was drenched and rather pale looking. She opened her mouth to ask a question when Ron beat her to it.
"Don't talk to me for a moment; I need to concen- What's the matter with you? You look terrible." Hermione shot Ron a look – honestly, he was much too blunt for his own good.
Harry glanced around and leaned in close to them. They gathered closer – Hermione performed a quick drying and warming spell on Harry's clothes – and he began his story.
"It's Snape. Wood told us tonight that he's refereeing our next game. All the other players are upset because they assume it's because he doesn't want us to get above Slytherin in points, but I know it's more. He knows I saw his leg after Fluffy, I'm sure he's figured out that we at least know something about what's being hidden here, and Quidditch is the perfect opportunity for someone to get hurt without anyone asking questions."
They sat in stunned silence for a few moments before Hermione blurted out, "Don't play."
Ron added, "Say you're ill!"
"Pretend to break your leg?" Hermione suggested?
"Really break your leg!" was Ron's idea.
Harry just sat shaking his head. "I can't. There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."
Hermione was about to reply that his life was much more important than any Quidditch game, but at that moment the portrait hole opened and Neville toppled in, much to the room's amusement. His legs had been locked together with the Leg-Locker curse, and it was anyone's guess how he had managed to get back up to the Tower and through the portrait hole at all in that condition. Hermione hurried over and performed the counter curse and helped Neville up after he regained the use of his legs. She led him over to the couches that she, Harry, and Ron had been sitting on and they all sat down.
"What happened?" she asked him.
"M-Malfoy" Neville replied shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."
Hermione was immediately struck with guilt – she hoped Malfoy wasn't
Hermione was about to reply that his life was much more important than any Quidditch game, but at that moment the portrait hole opened and Neville toppled in, much to the room's amusement. His legs had been locked together with the Leg-Locker curse, and it was anyone's guess how he had managed to get back up to the Tower and through the portrait hole at all in that condition. Hermione hurried over and performed the counter curse and helped Neville up after he regained the use of his legs. She led him over to the couches that she, Harry, and Ron had been sitting on and they all sat down.
"What happened?" she asked him.
"M-Malfoy" Neville replied shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."
Hermione was immediately struck with guilt – she hoped Malfoy wasn't retaliating against Neville for what she had done on the train. She quickly implored Neville to report him to Professor McGonagall, but he just shook his head.
"I don't want more trouble" Neville mumbled. Hermione groaned – what was it with boys and not taking care of themselves?
"You've got to stand up to him, Neville! He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier!" Ron said, rather heatedly. Hermione was sure that he wasn't trying to be mean, but Neville shrank further in his seat. "There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that" Neville managed to choke out.
Hermione gave her friend a hug while Harry rummaged in his pocket. He pulled out a Chocolate Frog and handed it over to Neville.
"You're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinkin' Slytherin." Hermione smiled at Harry's encouragement to Neville, and Neville managed a small smile as he unwrapped the Chocolate Frog.
"Thanks Harry…I think I'll go to bed. D'you want the card? You collect them, don't you?" With that, Hermione watched as her first magical friend handed Harry the Wizarding card and trudged up the stairs. She would have to remember to check in with him in the next few days to see how he was doing. She suddenly heard Harry gasp and she turned to see what it was that had surprised him.
"I've found him!" he whispered urgently. "I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here – listen to this: '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!"
Hermione jumped up. The book! "Stay there!" she said to her friends and sprinted up to the girl's dormitory. She went through her trunk and pulled out the book she had checked out before Christmas and ran back down to where Ron and Harry were sitting in silence, looking rather confused.
"I never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library weeks go for a bit of light reading!"
"Light?" said Ron, incredulously.
"Shh! Let me find this, it will only take a minute!" A few minutes later, and Hermione was bursting with excitement – "I knew it, I knew it!"
"Are we allowed to speak yet?" replied Ron, grumpily. Hermione, still reveling in her newfound knowledge, ignored him. She turned to her friends and said, with a dramatic flair, "Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"
She had expected her friends to jump in excitement, to feel as silly as she was for not thinking of this earlier, for anything but the reaction that she received.
"The what?" the two boys said in unison.
"Oh, honestly, don't you two read? Look – read that!" and pushed the book toward them. She watched as the recognition filled their eyes as they read about the ancient Flamel, alchemy, and the Elixir of Life. When they both looked up, Hermione started talking.
"See? The dog must be guarding the Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"
"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying! No wonder Snape's after it – Anyone would want it!" said Harry, with obvious excitement.
"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in the Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?" Ron said, with a smirk.