Chapter 13
Nicolas Flamel
While I spent plenty of time hanging out with Harry, Ron, and sometimes the twins, I also spent time practicing my archery. Harry and Ron sometimes came with me when I practiced archery. I had started to teach the both of them archery too. I played music whenever I was out practicing, but it was the music from my dimension. Harry never had a radio when he had lived with the Dursley's and the only thing that his Aunt Petunia played was the really, really, easy listening station. Ron had grown up used to the single major radio station of the magical world, so they both got something new out of the music I played. Not that we didn't spend time in the common room. We would still toast food over the fire, play wizard chess, exploding snap, and I even taught them Pictionary. We had to ban the twins from playing on the same team though, it was too easy for them to guess each other's drawings. I played my violin or my guitar sometimes and I worked on my spellbook.
I noticed that most wizards and witches memorized the words of magic, but knew little about the mechanics of the language of magic. All those things that went into building the words and phrases of magic seemed to be passed over in study, the alphabet, particles, the building of words and phrases. But I had studied the magical language and I could even converse in it fluently. It made my ability to create my own spells even easier.
During the holidays I started to consider what I planned to do over the summers. I thought about constructing a time turner to use during summer. That way I could have an actual break and do some magic internships at the same time. I wanted to spend time working at St. Mungo's, to learn from Zonko, to apprentice with Madam Malkin, to study with Ollivander. I wanted to gain as much knowledge of this dimension as I could. Through this journey I felt I could gain experience and wisdom far beyond just the seven years at Hogwarts.
Hermione came back a day before term started up again. We filled her in on our adventures and she displayed shock, awe, and surprise in all the right places. I noticed that she was wearing the key on the silver chain that I gave her. She blushed when she thanked me for the gift. I thanked her for the spellbook items and assured her that I had already begun using both the quill and the bookmark. She was disappointed that we didn't find Flamel though. We spent our class breaks looking through books in the library. Harry insisted that he had read the name somewhere, but still couldn't remember where.
As term got back into full swing Harry and I had even less time to look as Quidditch practice started up again. Wood was flipping out as usual, so we practiced for hours, even in the rain. It was after one really awful and muddy practice that Wood told us that Severus was going to referee our next match. George fell off his broom at the announcement.
"Snape's refereeing?" he said, trying not the swallow the mud he landed in. "When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."
The rest of the team started to complain too.
"Whoa!" I shouted and everyone stopped, surprised.
"I doubt there's anything we can really do to change the fact that he's refereeing. We're just going to have to do our best regardless." I said.
Wood nodded, "Damian's right. We've just got to play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."
Harry was looking very nervous by the time we left practice. We headed straight for the common room. We got there in only a couple of minutes and found Ron and Hermione engaged in a game of wizard chess, one of the few things that Hermione wasn't very good at. Needless to say, we encouraged her to play. Ron was deciding on his next move when he caught sight of Harry's face.
"What's the matter with you? You look terrible."
Harry told Ron and Hermione about Severus's decision to referee the next Quidditch match.
"Don't play." Hermione said without pause.
"Say you're ill." Ron said.
"Pretend to break your leg." Hermione added.
"Really break your leg." Ron said.
"I can't. There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."
Right then the portrait door opened and Neville toppled into the common room. We could tell right away that he had been hit with the Leg-Locker Curse. It must have taken him forever to jump through the portrait hole. Most everyone laughed except for Hermione and I. She reached for her wand, but with the new bracelets from Ollivander, mine flicked from my forearm into my hand in a second. I performed the countercurse and Neville fell over as his legs released their locked position. He got to his feet slowly, his legs shaking. Hermione led him over to sit with us.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Malfoy. I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on.
"Go to Professor McGonagall! Report him!" Hermione said.
Neville shook his head, "I don't want more trouble."
"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.
"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that." Neville said, choking.
"That's not what Ron meant. What he and what we all mean is that we know that you're stronger and better than Malfoy can ever hope to be. You just need to stand up to him and show him that." I said.
Harry gave Neville the last of his Christmas chocolate frogs.
"Yeah Neville, you're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."
Neville managed a small smile as he unwrapped the frog.
"Thanks guys. I think I'll go to bed. D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you Harry?"
Neville handed Harry the card and walked off, looking more confident than he had before. Harry looked at the card.
"Dumbledore again. He was the first one I ever –"
He stopped and gasped, his eyes wide. He looked at the three of us.
"I've found him! 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 to her feet, looking excited, "Stay there."
She ran off to the girls dorms and Harry and Ron shrugged at each other while we waited. She came back only moments later holding a large book in her arms.
"I never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."
"Light?" Ron said, which only got a shushing sound from Hermione as she started flicking through the pages. She gave a small sound of triumph when she found the page she was looking for.
"I knew it! I knew it!" she whispered loudly.
"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron said, grumpily. Hermione just ignored him.
"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"
It didn't have quite the effect she was hoping for.
"The what?" Harry and Ron said together.
"Naturally." I said, smacking my forehead as if it had been something I had simply forgotten.
"Oh, honestly, don't you two read? Look – read that, there."
She pushed the book toward us and we read the passage she pointed at:
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).
"See? The dog must be guarding 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!" Hermione said.
"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying! No wonder Snape's after it. Anyone would want it." Harry said, looking amazed.
"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardy. He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?" Ron added.
Harry and I laughed but Hermione only gave him a withering look.
The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I was half listening to Quirinus lecturing about surviving different monster attacks, writing notes on treating werewolf bites, and listening to Harry and Ron talk about what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. When Ron remarked that he would buy his own Quidditch team I could tell Harry was thinking about Severus and the upcoming match.
"I'm going to play. If I don't all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them…it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win." Harry told us.
"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field." Hermione replied.
"Nice Hermione." I said, sarcastically.
She blushed, but didn't say anything else.
However, the days flew by and the date of the match drew closer and closer and I could tell that Harry was feeling more and more nervous, despite his saying otherwise. Not that the rest of us were that calm either. If we won this one we'd have enough House points to overtake Slytherin in the House Championship, not to mention being even closer to the Quidditch Cup. The thought was wonderful, but the possibility of it happening was hard to consider with such a biased referee. It didn't help either that Severus just happened to be around more often than usual. I was able to help Harry enough during Potions that Severus was only able to make small snide comments and the like instead of really heaping it on Harry, but it still didn't make things much better. The three of them wondered if somehow Severus had found out that we knew about the Sorcerer's Stone. I did sense Severus using very light legilimency and finding out about the Sorcerer's Stone from the others, but I also sensed surprise when he hit a brick wall in my mind. He gave me a perplexing look the next time we ran into him, but he didn't say a word.
The next afternoon was the day of the match. Ron and Hermione wished us good luck, but they did a bad job of looking hopeful and it didn't seem to comfort Harry in the least. I just told Harry I'd keep an eye on things for him as we changed into our Quiddtich robes. Wood pulled Harry slightly aside, but I could still hear him.
"Don't want to pressure you, Potter, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too much." Wood told him.
"The whole school's out there! Even – blimey – Dumbledore's come to watch!" Fred reported to the rest of the team, peering out of the door.
"Dumbledore?" Harry said, running over to see for himself.
Nobody else noticed, but I could see the relief in Harry's face. As the team walked out onto the field we could see that Severus didn't look too pleased either. I knew that Severus had offered to referee the match to watch over Harry, but I knew that that didn't mean he wouldn't favor Hufflepuff at the same time. Nevertheless, he repeated the standard rules before a match began, the whistle blew and we were off. I had barely been able to score a point before Severus awarded Hufflepuff a penalty shot because George supposedly hit a Bludger at him. It wasn't long before he awarded them another shot for a long winded reason that basically amounted to that he didn't have a reason.
I had just passed off to Katie, who made the goal when Harry went into a spectacular dive. I could hear both gasps and cheers from the crowd. I watched as Harry shot past Severus and grabbed the Snitch. At the same time I noticed the scuffle between Ron and Neville against Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle and Hermione dancing around in her seat, cheering for Gryffindor.
I joined the rest of the team rushing down to Harry, who was already on the ground, the Snitch held aloft in his arm in triumph. Severus looked shocked and upset, then turned and walked off, spitting bitterly on the ground. I saw Albus walk over and talk to Harry for a moment, then melt back into the crowd. By then the whole of Gryffindor had reached the field and had lifted Harry onto the their shoulders. Hermione rushed forward and hugged me, still cheering. Ron was cheering through a heavy nosebleed that I fixed for him with my wand and Neville managed to cheer through an eye that was beginning to blacken and a swollen lip. Finally the team managed to get back to the locker room, except for Harry who was still being carried around. The rest of the team left to dinner, but I stayed behind to wait for Harry. Harry finally managed to get away from the crowd and back to the locker room. He was ecstatic, I could see it in his face. We simply smiled at each other though and walked out to head back to the castle. We were by the broom shed when we stopped at the sight of a hooded figure walking down the steps of the castle and toward the Forbidden Forest, trying to keep to the shadows. We looked at one another and Harry mouthed one word, 'Snape'. I nodded and we jumped back on our brooms and took off after him. We lost him at first with how thick the trees were until we were low enough that we heard voices. Harry and I landed noiselessly in a beech tree and made our way through the branches, trying to get close enough to make out the words of the voices. We saw that the other voice we had heard was Quirinus, stuttering worse than ever.
"…d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…"
"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private. Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all." Severus replied, his voice icy.
Harry and I shared another look and leaned forward. We could hear Quirinus muttering something about 'not the foggiest' but Severus interrupted him.
"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"
"B-b-but Severus, I –"
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell." Severus said, taking a step closer to him.
"I-I don't know what you –"
"You know perfectly well what I mean."
An owl hooted loudly and Harry slipped, I grabbed him and helped him to steady himself. When we turned back Severus was finishing a sentence.
"- your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."
"B-but I d-d-don't –"
"Very well. We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lie."
Severus threw the hood of his cloak back over his head and walked off. Quirinus stood quite still for awhile before muttering to himself and walking off toward the castle from a different direction. Harry and I looked at each other again and mounted our brooms. With a glance around to make sure that neither Severus or Quirinus was coming back, we headed off to the castle.
"Where have you two been?" Hermione squeaked.
"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry and I on the backs. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville actually took on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed. He even gave one of them a black eye and the other a busted lip. They gave him the same, but still Madam Pomfrey fixed him right up. Talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you two in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."
"Never mind that now. Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this…"
We found an empty classroom, made sure Peeves wasn't hiding somewhere inside and shut the door behind us. Then Harry told them what he'd seen and heard.
"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy – and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus' –I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spells that Snape needs to break through –"
"So mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione said in alarm.
"It'll be gone by next Tuesday." said Ron.
"Wait, wait…let's not jump to conclusions." I said.
The three of them looked at me unbelieving.
"Something about this just doesn't add up. Harry only heard the last of the that sentence 'your little bit of hocus-pocus.' But I heard the first part of it too. He said, 'why did you try to kill him with your little bit of hocus-pocus.' I'm telling you something about this just doesn't add up."
The three of them looked stunned at this new bit of information. I could tell they were all wondering the same thing. Why would Severus accuse Quirinus of trying to kill someone?
"I just feel like there's something we're missing. Snape seems way too guilty and Quirrell seems way too innocent."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Like I said last time, Snape looks guilty, he's too easy to blame as the thief. A good thief would go out of their way not to attract attention. And Quirrell just seems too innocent to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He's got to be stronger than he appears or Dumbledore wouldn't have hired him. It just feels like there's something he's hiding."
"You don't think they're working together." Ron said.
"Why's that?" Harry said, looking surprised.
"Its just that maybe Severus is trying to steal it, but he's not alone. Maybe he's working with Quirrell and Quirrell just isn't working fast enough to suit Snape." Ron said.
The others looked like they were considering this new hypothesis. It was a logical argument with the information we had.
"Its definitely possible, but I still feel like we're missing some information here. Something just doesn't fit right. I think we'll just have to keep an eye on both of them until we really know what's going on." I said.
The others nodded and we left the classroom to Gryffindor tower.