Part 13
Woe. It is an odd word, and perhaps one of the most dreaded in the English language. It has not the dramatics of tragedy or misery, or the politeness of sadness, nor even the harsh quality which comes with words such as calamity and heartbreak. Woe simply expresses the most horrid part of a tragedy, a heartbreak. It has a dragging feel, a smothering quality, and the painful, slow-healing ache of the heart that comes with calamity. Woe is avoided at all costs, but it is a clever spirit and tends to get in the way of everything that seems to be going right, for creating chaos and anguish is its favorite pastime.
Gabriella spent more and more nights out and away from the common room. She never gave any sort of clue as to where she went, or who she spent her nights with. Gradually, she was out until dawn, and sometimes did not appear until breakfast, or even the first lesson of the day. Poppy could not help but feel that Gabriella was getting herself into danger, for she had no doubt that Professor Green was behind these late-night escapades.
Quite suddenly, in late May, Gabriella was gone from Hogwarts, reportedly home. This was quite a shock to all, and they received no letters from her informing them of her whereabouts, so they were left to ponder. Poppy was quite concerned, and made up her mind to visit her the coming weekend, though she had promised to spend it with Albus at Drakelane. She wrote Albus a note and went to the Patil home in London.
She was accepted warmly, as always, and, after giving her small luggage to the footman, went straight up to Gabriella's room. Poppy found her friend in a terrible state. She was dressed nicely, but rumpled, her hair hung loose about her shoulders, her face streaked with tears, her eyes puffy and red, and if she had been recovering from a fit of sobs when Poppy walked in, it did no good. Upon seeing Poppy, Gabriella burst into a fresh torrent of tears and flung herself upon the bed.
"Oh dearest Gabriella!" Poppy cried, running to her, "Oh dearest what is the matter?"
Gabriella mouthed wordlessly, still sobbing hysterically.
"Please, a glass of water with lemon," Poppy said to the servant who had looked in. She turned back to Gabriella and, sitting next to her on the bed, took her hand and held them silently. The servant brought the water, and closed the door behind her.
"Now, then, sit up," Poppy said. She helped Gabriella up onto her pillows, and put the water to her lips. "Now tell me what ails you, dearest, for you have had us all in a fright back at school, what with running off with no notice."
Gabriella put down the glass, which was now empty except for the slice of lemon, and, hiccuping, said, "I am going away to the country and you shall never hear of me again for I have been disgraced from all decent society."
Poppy started on hearing such news, "What is the matter? Surely, nothing so horrible that it can not be amended!"
"No, it can not, for it is a permanent burden upon my shoulders for the rest of my life. I am not worthy of having someone such as you help me."
"Oh, do not be ridiculous," Poppy said, "You get into this sort of state all the time, Gabriella, and it is always over nothing. Tell me, what is the matter?"
Gabriella took a deep breath and said, "I am with child."
Poppy gasped. With child? Gabriella? Never! Yet...Perhaps...No, that would be a disgrace to society...Oh, no...
"Oh no!" Poppy exclaimed, "But...Who? Not Professor Green!"
Gabriella nodded, and a new flood of tears escaped her.
"Oh what a vile human he is! I suspect he will have nothing to do with you now?"
Again a nod.
"Unworthy dog! To go and be so...Intimate with one of his own students!"
"He seduced me!" Gabriella choked through her sobs, "He was always buying me gifts. He gave me a beautiful necklace of pearls, and he seduced me with his money and I was so low as to go to him and..."
"Do not speak of it dear, only rest, for that will make you feel better," Poppy said, clucking over her as Madame Corlow did, "Rest, and be calm, and you will feel better."
Poppy cast a simple spell upon Gabriella, who soon fell to sleep, and the Poppy was left with her own thoughts. She returned to the chamber she would occupy, and, sitting in a chair, she gazed out the window with her chin in her hand, as she always did.
First, there was, of course, the initial shock to get over. Gabriella certainly would disappear from good society, for she was not even properly engaged to Professor Green, otherwise it could have been concealed in a wedding and then announced, and all would not think less of her. However, she had been courting Professor Green for only a little over a month and she had gone to him...Poppy shuddered...And then felt compassion for Gabriella, who only wanted attention (perhaps too much at times), and was so blind to reality at times...And she had been taken advantage of by a professor.
Professor Green would likely find himself disgraced as well. He would be fired from his job and turned away by any who had once thought him a decent man...Unless he married into a respectable family, then it would all be looked over and everyone would forget that he had a love child growing up in the country, unaware that her father was living in some large estate with two hunters and a barouche. How unfair life was! How unfair and deceitful! Gabriella, in her youthful naïveté, made one simple mistake that cost her dignity, reputation, and honor.
What would her parents do? Likely, they would come up with a story that she was studying privately abroad, and Poppy hated them for that too. They should go with her, if they did send her abroad, and take care of her, she was, after all, their daughter. They could completely leave behind the society of England and go live in France or Italy. Yet they would remain here, for sake of their reputation, which would be tarnished no matter what they said, and Poppy felt resentment towards them.
Her thoughts wandered to herself. Would Albus use her in such a crass way? No, never, for though Albus had shown his affections to her in a way that was nowhere near proper, he had never come close to even suggesting such intimacy as...Poppy shook herself. No, not all of the men in the world were such dogs as Professor Green. She set her heart against him too, for he was handsome and rich and horrid.
With these thoughts in her mind, Poppy decided that sleep was in order and rested for the rest of the afternoon.
Upon returning to Hogwarts, Poppy instantly was sought out by many and questioned about Gabriella's whereabouts. Poppy refused to answer any more than that Miss Patil was going abroad to study after an unfortunate family tragedy. This was not satisfactory, but she refused to speak any more and became quite indifferent to any interrogator who cornered her. She was not surprised to see that Professor Green was gone, temporarily replaced by an affable man by the name of Rockbeam, and assumed that he had resigned. She was surprised when she heard that Professor Green had taken a holiday to return home. Poppy thought this was all very curious, and found her only comfort now in the company of Albus, who held her so tenderly that she felt her heart would burst for her love of him and her sorrow of Gabriella's misfortune.
Poppy held very still, but she could not keep the smile off her face. Her fingers tugged at the grass she was sitting on. Her eyes were fixed on the rippling water of the lake before her. In the distance, students strolled the grounds, girls in ruffled dresses with equally ruffley parasols, and the young men in their coolest afternoon attire, for the weather had become very hot. It was all very charming, and down on the side of one small knoll, Paulettina was seen sketching. A few people were gathered around her, watching as her artistic hand swept back and forth across the paper, making admiring comments softly to each other, not wanting to disturb the artist.
"Now hold still," Albus said softly. There was a gentle tug at the nape of Poppy's neck, and Albus whispered a charm. The tug was released, and when she turned around, Albus held a lock of her black hair in his hand. Albus had a ring, a family heirloom, that was actually a small display case on a band. He opened this and placed the lock inside before snapping it quietly shut again.
"Are you satisfied now?" Poppy asked, feigning indignation.
"Yes, thank you, and we can all be happy now," Albus said, taking her hand and helping her up.
At this remark, however, Poppy closed her eyes slowly and turned towards the lake. She meandered slowly down towards the water, staring at her reflection, and then back up into the shade, where it was cooler and Albus was leaning against a tree, a look of pity upon his features.
"You know that there is nothing you can do," Albus said, "Gabriella will away and we will
never hear of her again. I do wish you would tell me why, though."
Poppy shook her head, "I was told in an understanding of confidence, and though Gabriella and I had become aloof with each other before her leave, I shall not betray her for the world."
"Love, you are so stubborn sometimes that I find it frustrating."
"I am sorry, but I can not."
"At least you know that you will always own my affections. You do know that?"
Poppy looked on him imploringly, "You are so droll sometimes, Albus, that I quite am at a loss as what to do with you. Of course I know that you love me! You tell me incessantly every day, on our walks, in the halls, during class, at luncheon. I could not doubt it for the world, and I could not doubt it, even if you told me it was not so."
"How do you suppose that?"
"I would think that only a great secret involving life and death would drive you to tell me that you do not love me, for your eyes betray your lips sometimes, and when you say you are angry you are pleased, and when you say your are happy you are really melancholy. So it is only natural that I should believe when you say you do not love me, that you do, for it would be in your eyes."
The sky-blue orbs sparkled with the smile, "You are very observant. I wish your eyes betrayed you so, for then I could know you better, but you are so good at guarding your true feelings from everyone."
"Every woman is, we are taught it from the time we are born," Poppy said, "If we let out our true feelings, there would be no society to the world."
"I suppose," Albus leaned against a tree trunk, "But I still wish you would tell me-"
He stopped speaking and looked out over to the other edge of the lake. Poppy turned and
followed his gaze, and saw Nicholas, who had grown another six inches in the past year, holding a piece of parchment in one hand, and a quill in the other, jumping up and down wildly and yelling Albus' name. Albus and Poppy hurried over.
"Albus! Albus!" Nicholas exclaimed, taking no notice of Poppy, "I have it! I have it!"
"You have what?" Albus asked, puzzled.
"Look at this," Nicholas thrust the parchment under his nose, "Look. While you have been out here courting, I have spent many long hours locked up in the study doing more research. I have been looking for something that will make the liquid solidify, for you know that would be the last ingredient. I needed something light, so as not to disturb the milk of elephant ear and the powdered granite."
"What is it then?"
Nicholas presented the quill, which, Poppy now saw, was not a quill, but a plain feather.
"A feather?" Albus said in a dull voice.
"Not just any feather!" Nicholas cried, "A raven feather!"
Albus suddenly looked enlightened, "Of course! Because if you steam that with the milk of elephant ear and powdered granite-"
"-The infusion-"
"-And the crushed fig-"
"-And it will all gather together-"
"-And then it will solidify!" They exclaimed together.
"How stupid we have been!" Albus clapped a hand to his forehead, "How stupid! I have ignored my research and all the time it was as simple as a raven feather!"
"I do hate to be a burden," Poppy broke in, "But may I inquire as to what exactly is going
on?"
The two boys turned on her, Nicholas with a look of surprise, as though he hadn't seen her standing there.
"I am sorry darling," Albus said, "But I must go now straight to Professor Finch's room."
"Why?"
Albus and Nicholas bowed and turned.
"Albus!"
Albus turned and jogged backwards up the lawn, "I will explain at dinner I promise!"
Albus, however, did not appear at dinner, and neither did Nicholas. Poppy asked Paulettina, who said that she had not seen them since luncheon. So, after dinner, Poppy made her way down to their Potions classroom. As she walked down the steps, she noticed that the air was rather hazy, and there was a smell of burning. The smoke got thicker the further she went down, until she reached the classroom door, where it was pouring out in great billows.
She coughed, knocked, and entered.
Albus and Nicholas stood over a cauldron which was emitting the great puffs of smoke,
and Professor Finch was sitting nearby, watching, his eyes wide. The two boys looked absolutely ecstatic as they stared into the cauldron, breathing hard, sweat pouring down their very red faces, and they were only in their shirts, their robes and jackets having been discarded on the floor.
"Albus?" Poppy said.
Albus looked up, "Poppy! How did you get in?"
"The door was open," She said, bowing to Professor Finch, who had jumped up and bowed deeply after noticing her.
"Oh dear," Albus went and shut it, "We can not have anyone entering. You can stay though."
"Are you sure, Mister Dumbledore?" Professor Finch said, "After all, this is to be kept very secret."
"Miss Pomfrey is excellent at keeping secrets," Albus said smiling, "Come watch, it is in its last stage now."
"What?" She asked, making her away around the desks towards the cauldron, which stood on a table. The table was covered in parchment, quills, and leather-bound books, and as she could see nothing but the smoke in the cauldron, Poppy turned to these papers in interest. On them were hundreds of notes in Albus' and Nicholas' handwriting, diagrams, pictures, all very messy and blotted, occasionally completely scratched out.
"Of course!" She exclaimed, "The Sorcerer's Stone! I had completely forgotten about it, for you had never spoken of it."
"What else would make him leave you?" Nicholas said, speaking for the first time, "You
practically own him now."
Poppy did not answer, only looked into the cauldron. It was growing very hot, and she wished that she could take off her outer layers and especially her stays, which pinched her ribs and made it hard to breath, but that was impossible, so she dealt with it. The smoke was very thick now, and seemed to be getting darker. Poppy thought, in between gusts of it, that she saw something forming at the bottom of the cauldron, but then another puff and it was gone.
They all jumped back as gold and black sparks began leaping from the cauldron. The smoke was so thick around them that they could hardly see, except for the light from the sparks, it was quite dark. The sparks became more numerous, and were reaching as high as the ceiling and a diameter of eight or ten feet, so that they all had to duck to avoid them.
Suddenly, there was a great sucking sound, and all the smoke was pulled back into the cauldron. So violent was the wind that pulled it in that Poppy had to hold onto Albus and the table for support. Parchment flew everywhere, and an ink well spilled on Nicholas' shirt. Poppy feared that they would be sucked in as well, when it suddenly stopped. No smoke, no sparks. The cauldron was steaming faintly.
Nicholas was first to recover, and stood slowly. He looked into the cauldron, then reached in with his hand. He jumped a little, and pulled his hand out. His fingertips were burnt. The others were now gathered around too. Nicholas reached in again, and pulled out something around which his large had was closed. When he unfolded his fingers, there lay in his palm a blood-red stone.
"Amazing," Albus breathed, "We have done it!"
And then it was a moment of rejoicing. They all grasped each other in hugs and tears and exclamations of upmost joy. They were geniuses, the brilliant minds of the two eighteen-year-old boys had finally discovered the solution. All of the thousands of years of research, the ancient art of alchemy had finally been solved, and the result was there before them. The stone in Nicholas' hand gave the greatest power that any mortal could ask for.
"Wait!" Professor Finch said suddenly, "Should we not test it?"
"You are right," Nicholas said, "Do you have something small?"
Professor Finch went to rummage in his desk, and returned with a small metal flask. Nicholas touched the stone to the flask. From where the stone touched, a golden spot grew, slowly, then spread out over it, until the entire flask was...Gold.
"We shall try its other attributes some other time," Albus said in a low voice, "For now...Let us go inform Professor Golander. The Daily Prophet will have a field day."
Woe. It is an odd word, and perhaps one of the most dreaded in the English language. It has not the dramatics of tragedy or misery, or the politeness of sadness, nor even the harsh quality which comes with words such as calamity and heartbreak. Woe simply expresses the most horrid part of a tragedy, a heartbreak. It has a dragging feel, a smothering quality, and the painful, slow-healing ache of the heart that comes with calamity. Woe is avoided at all costs, but it is a clever spirit and tends to get in the way of everything that seems to be going right, for creating chaos and anguish is its favorite pastime.
Gabriella spent more and more nights out and away from the common room. She never gave any sort of clue as to where she went, or who she spent her nights with. Gradually, she was out until dawn, and sometimes did not appear until breakfast, or even the first lesson of the day. Poppy could not help but feel that Gabriella was getting herself into danger, for she had no doubt that Professor Green was behind these late-night escapades.
Quite suddenly, in late May, Gabriella was gone from Hogwarts, reportedly home. This was quite a shock to all, and they received no letters from her informing them of her whereabouts, so they were left to ponder. Poppy was quite concerned, and made up her mind to visit her the coming weekend, though she had promised to spend it with Albus at Drakelane. She wrote Albus a note and went to the Patil home in London.
She was accepted warmly, as always, and, after giving her small luggage to the footman, went straight up to Gabriella's room. Poppy found her friend in a terrible state. She was dressed nicely, but rumpled, her hair hung loose about her shoulders, her face streaked with tears, her eyes puffy and red, and if she had been recovering from a fit of sobs when Poppy walked in, it did no good. Upon seeing Poppy, Gabriella burst into a fresh torrent of tears and flung herself upon the bed.
"Oh dearest Gabriella!" Poppy cried, running to her, "Oh dearest what is the matter?"
Gabriella mouthed wordlessly, still sobbing hysterically.
"Please, a glass of water with lemon," Poppy said to the servant who had looked in. She turned back to Gabriella and, sitting next to her on the bed, took her hand and held them silently. The servant brought the water, and closed the door behind her.
"Now, then, sit up," Poppy said. She helped Gabriella up onto her pillows, and put the water to her lips. "Now tell me what ails you, dearest, for you have had us all in a fright back at school, what with running off with no notice."
Gabriella put down the glass, which was now empty except for the slice of lemon, and, hiccuping, said, "I am going away to the country and you shall never hear of me again for I have been disgraced from all decent society."
Poppy started on hearing such news, "What is the matter? Surely, nothing so horrible that it can not be amended!"
"No, it can not, for it is a permanent burden upon my shoulders for the rest of my life. I am not worthy of having someone such as you help me."
"Oh, do not be ridiculous," Poppy said, "You get into this sort of state all the time, Gabriella, and it is always over nothing. Tell me, what is the matter?"
Gabriella took a deep breath and said, "I am with child."
Poppy gasped. With child? Gabriella? Never! Yet...Perhaps...No, that would be a disgrace to society...Oh, no...
"Oh no!" Poppy exclaimed, "But...Who? Not Professor Green!"
Gabriella nodded, and a new flood of tears escaped her.
"Oh what a vile human he is! I suspect he will have nothing to do with you now?"
Again a nod.
"Unworthy dog! To go and be so...Intimate with one of his own students!"
"He seduced me!" Gabriella choked through her sobs, "He was always buying me gifts. He gave me a beautiful necklace of pearls, and he seduced me with his money and I was so low as to go to him and..."
"Do not speak of it dear, only rest, for that will make you feel better," Poppy said, clucking over her as Madame Corlow did, "Rest, and be calm, and you will feel better."
Poppy cast a simple spell upon Gabriella, who soon fell to sleep, and the Poppy was left with her own thoughts. She returned to the chamber she would occupy, and, sitting in a chair, she gazed out the window with her chin in her hand, as she always did.
First, there was, of course, the initial shock to get over. Gabriella certainly would disappear from good society, for she was not even properly engaged to Professor Green, otherwise it could have been concealed in a wedding and then announced, and all would not think less of her. However, she had been courting Professor Green for only a little over a month and she had gone to him...Poppy shuddered...And then felt compassion for Gabriella, who only wanted attention (perhaps too much at times), and was so blind to reality at times...And she had been taken advantage of by a professor.
Professor Green would likely find himself disgraced as well. He would be fired from his job and turned away by any who had once thought him a decent man...Unless he married into a respectable family, then it would all be looked over and everyone would forget that he had a love child growing up in the country, unaware that her father was living in some large estate with two hunters and a barouche. How unfair life was! How unfair and deceitful! Gabriella, in her youthful naïveté, made one simple mistake that cost her dignity, reputation, and honor.
What would her parents do? Likely, they would come up with a story that she was studying privately abroad, and Poppy hated them for that too. They should go with her, if they did send her abroad, and take care of her, she was, after all, their daughter. They could completely leave behind the society of England and go live in France or Italy. Yet they would remain here, for sake of their reputation, which would be tarnished no matter what they said, and Poppy felt resentment towards them.
Her thoughts wandered to herself. Would Albus use her in such a crass way? No, never, for though Albus had shown his affections to her in a way that was nowhere near proper, he had never come close to even suggesting such intimacy as...Poppy shook herself. No, not all of the men in the world were such dogs as Professor Green. She set her heart against him too, for he was handsome and rich and horrid.
With these thoughts in her mind, Poppy decided that sleep was in order and rested for the rest of the afternoon.
Upon returning to Hogwarts, Poppy instantly was sought out by many and questioned about Gabriella's whereabouts. Poppy refused to answer any more than that Miss Patil was going abroad to study after an unfortunate family tragedy. This was not satisfactory, but she refused to speak any more and became quite indifferent to any interrogator who cornered her. She was not surprised to see that Professor Green was gone, temporarily replaced by an affable man by the name of Rockbeam, and assumed that he had resigned. She was surprised when she heard that Professor Green had taken a holiday to return home. Poppy thought this was all very curious, and found her only comfort now in the company of Albus, who held her so tenderly that she felt her heart would burst for her love of him and her sorrow of Gabriella's misfortune.
Poppy held very still, but she could not keep the smile off her face. Her fingers tugged at the grass she was sitting on. Her eyes were fixed on the rippling water of the lake before her. In the distance, students strolled the grounds, girls in ruffled dresses with equally ruffley parasols, and the young men in their coolest afternoon attire, for the weather had become very hot. It was all very charming, and down on the side of one small knoll, Paulettina was seen sketching. A few people were gathered around her, watching as her artistic hand swept back and forth across the paper, making admiring comments softly to each other, not wanting to disturb the artist.
"Now hold still," Albus said softly. There was a gentle tug at the nape of Poppy's neck, and Albus whispered a charm. The tug was released, and when she turned around, Albus held a lock of her black hair in his hand. Albus had a ring, a family heirloom, that was actually a small display case on a band. He opened this and placed the lock inside before snapping it quietly shut again.
"Are you satisfied now?" Poppy asked, feigning indignation.
"Yes, thank you, and we can all be happy now," Albus said, taking her hand and helping her up.
At this remark, however, Poppy closed her eyes slowly and turned towards the lake. She meandered slowly down towards the water, staring at her reflection, and then back up into the shade, where it was cooler and Albus was leaning against a tree, a look of pity upon his features.
"You know that there is nothing you can do," Albus said, "Gabriella will away and we will
never hear of her again. I do wish you would tell me why, though."
Poppy shook her head, "I was told in an understanding of confidence, and though Gabriella and I had become aloof with each other before her leave, I shall not betray her for the world."
"Love, you are so stubborn sometimes that I find it frustrating."
"I am sorry, but I can not."
"At least you know that you will always own my affections. You do know that?"
Poppy looked on him imploringly, "You are so droll sometimes, Albus, that I quite am at a loss as what to do with you. Of course I know that you love me! You tell me incessantly every day, on our walks, in the halls, during class, at luncheon. I could not doubt it for the world, and I could not doubt it, even if you told me it was not so."
"How do you suppose that?"
"I would think that only a great secret involving life and death would drive you to tell me that you do not love me, for your eyes betray your lips sometimes, and when you say you are angry you are pleased, and when you say your are happy you are really melancholy. So it is only natural that I should believe when you say you do not love me, that you do, for it would be in your eyes."
The sky-blue orbs sparkled with the smile, "You are very observant. I wish your eyes betrayed you so, for then I could know you better, but you are so good at guarding your true feelings from everyone."
"Every woman is, we are taught it from the time we are born," Poppy said, "If we let out our true feelings, there would be no society to the world."
"I suppose," Albus leaned against a tree trunk, "But I still wish you would tell me-"
He stopped speaking and looked out over to the other edge of the lake. Poppy turned and
followed his gaze, and saw Nicholas, who had grown another six inches in the past year, holding a piece of parchment in one hand, and a quill in the other, jumping up and down wildly and yelling Albus' name. Albus and Poppy hurried over.
"Albus! Albus!" Nicholas exclaimed, taking no notice of Poppy, "I have it! I have it!"
"You have what?" Albus asked, puzzled.
"Look at this," Nicholas thrust the parchment under his nose, "Look. While you have been out here courting, I have spent many long hours locked up in the study doing more research. I have been looking for something that will make the liquid solidify, for you know that would be the last ingredient. I needed something light, so as not to disturb the milk of elephant ear and the powdered granite."
"What is it then?"
Nicholas presented the quill, which, Poppy now saw, was not a quill, but a plain feather.
"A feather?" Albus said in a dull voice.
"Not just any feather!" Nicholas cried, "A raven feather!"
Albus suddenly looked enlightened, "Of course! Because if you steam that with the milk of elephant ear and powdered granite-"
"-The infusion-"
"-And the crushed fig-"
"-And it will all gather together-"
"-And then it will solidify!" They exclaimed together.
"How stupid we have been!" Albus clapped a hand to his forehead, "How stupid! I have ignored my research and all the time it was as simple as a raven feather!"
"I do hate to be a burden," Poppy broke in, "But may I inquire as to what exactly is going
on?"
The two boys turned on her, Nicholas with a look of surprise, as though he hadn't seen her standing there.
"I am sorry darling," Albus said, "But I must go now straight to Professor Finch's room."
"Why?"
Albus and Nicholas bowed and turned.
"Albus!"
Albus turned and jogged backwards up the lawn, "I will explain at dinner I promise!"
Albus, however, did not appear at dinner, and neither did Nicholas. Poppy asked Paulettina, who said that she had not seen them since luncheon. So, after dinner, Poppy made her way down to their Potions classroom. As she walked down the steps, she noticed that the air was rather hazy, and there was a smell of burning. The smoke got thicker the further she went down, until she reached the classroom door, where it was pouring out in great billows.
She coughed, knocked, and entered.
Albus and Nicholas stood over a cauldron which was emitting the great puffs of smoke,
and Professor Finch was sitting nearby, watching, his eyes wide. The two boys looked absolutely ecstatic as they stared into the cauldron, breathing hard, sweat pouring down their very red faces, and they were only in their shirts, their robes and jackets having been discarded on the floor.
"Albus?" Poppy said.
Albus looked up, "Poppy! How did you get in?"
"The door was open," She said, bowing to Professor Finch, who had jumped up and bowed deeply after noticing her.
"Oh dear," Albus went and shut it, "We can not have anyone entering. You can stay though."
"Are you sure, Mister Dumbledore?" Professor Finch said, "After all, this is to be kept very secret."
"Miss Pomfrey is excellent at keeping secrets," Albus said smiling, "Come watch, it is in its last stage now."
"What?" She asked, making her away around the desks towards the cauldron, which stood on a table. The table was covered in parchment, quills, and leather-bound books, and as she could see nothing but the smoke in the cauldron, Poppy turned to these papers in interest. On them were hundreds of notes in Albus' and Nicholas' handwriting, diagrams, pictures, all very messy and blotted, occasionally completely scratched out.
"Of course!" She exclaimed, "The Sorcerer's Stone! I had completely forgotten about it, for you had never spoken of it."
"What else would make him leave you?" Nicholas said, speaking for the first time, "You
practically own him now."
Poppy did not answer, only looked into the cauldron. It was growing very hot, and she wished that she could take off her outer layers and especially her stays, which pinched her ribs and made it hard to breath, but that was impossible, so she dealt with it. The smoke was very thick now, and seemed to be getting darker. Poppy thought, in between gusts of it, that she saw something forming at the bottom of the cauldron, but then another puff and it was gone.
They all jumped back as gold and black sparks began leaping from the cauldron. The smoke was so thick around them that they could hardly see, except for the light from the sparks, it was quite dark. The sparks became more numerous, and were reaching as high as the ceiling and a diameter of eight or ten feet, so that they all had to duck to avoid them.
Suddenly, there was a great sucking sound, and all the smoke was pulled back into the cauldron. So violent was the wind that pulled it in that Poppy had to hold onto Albus and the table for support. Parchment flew everywhere, and an ink well spilled on Nicholas' shirt. Poppy feared that they would be sucked in as well, when it suddenly stopped. No smoke, no sparks. The cauldron was steaming faintly.
Nicholas was first to recover, and stood slowly. He looked into the cauldron, then reached in with his hand. He jumped a little, and pulled his hand out. His fingertips were burnt. The others were now gathered around too. Nicholas reached in again, and pulled out something around which his large had was closed. When he unfolded his fingers, there lay in his palm a blood-red stone.
"Amazing," Albus breathed, "We have done it!"
And then it was a moment of rejoicing. They all grasped each other in hugs and tears and exclamations of upmost joy. They were geniuses, the brilliant minds of the two eighteen-year-old boys had finally discovered the solution. All of the thousands of years of research, the ancient art of alchemy had finally been solved, and the result was there before them. The stone in Nicholas' hand gave the greatest power that any mortal could ask for.
"Wait!" Professor Finch said suddenly, "Should we not test it?"
"You are right," Nicholas said, "Do you have something small?"
Professor Finch went to rummage in his desk, and returned with a small metal flask. Nicholas touched the stone to the flask. From where the stone touched, a golden spot grew, slowly, then spread out over it, until the entire flask was...Gold.
"We shall try its other attributes some other time," Albus said in a low voice, "For now...Let us go inform Professor Golander. The Daily Prophet will have a field day."