Disclaimer: I own nothing; it all belongs to J.K.Rowling. I'm just borrowing the characters to play with for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Professor Flamel? Do you have a minute?" Hermione asked.

"Certainly Professor Granger. What can I do for you?" the jovial old man responded.

Hermione looked a bit worried and shy. "I … I watched the movie like you advised. And I-" She was a little nervous. "I wanted to thank you for thinking I have perfect breasts, but I really don't thi-"

And she was rudely interrupted by Professor Flamel's loud braying laughter.

Hermione was beginning to question her analysis of the movie.

Nicholas looked up at her, and saw the frustration on Hermione's face and laughed even louder.

Hermione was now beginning to think that Nicholas was a bit of an arse.

"I apologize, Hermione." Nicholas was still snickering some. "I was laughing because you misunderstood my motives for advising you to watch the movie. I didn't mean to imply anything about your breasts. They are quite lovely in fact."

Hermione frowned. "But not perfect?"

Nicholas looked thoughtful and quickly responded. "Well, they're a very nice size, and shape, but your nipples are a bit high in their location on the breast."

Hermione was a bit shocked to be getting such a thorough explanation. Complete with scientific hand gestures.

"But you know in about a decade or so, once you've completely grown into them, and gravity starts them sagging a little, they'll be centered right up, and then they'll be perfect." Nicholas finished with a nod and a smile.

Hermione thought she might need to thank Neville for the boggart prank some more later. "Oh. Well in that case, I have no idea what I was supposed to get from that movie. I watched it three times, and I was less than fifty percent on the perfect breasts, but it scored the highest on my likelihood factor averages."

"You really are that anal retentive aren't you?"

"What!"

Nicholas quickly looked to his left and his right. "I didn't say anything. I mean, 'perfect breasts' was a funny part, and there's no one claiming that yours are anything less than lovely. But there were a couple of clues I was wondering if you might pick up on." Nicholas explained.

Hermione reluctantly allowed the change of conversation. "So what did you want me to pick up on?"

Nicholas winced a bit. "You know, I'd like to tell you, but this is a big one, and would require me to put a special much stronger secrecy oath on you. So I guess you're just going to have to accept not knowing this one."

"This is that big a deal?"

Nicholas nodded.

"Well, if you knew me as well as my best friends do, then you'd know I would never accept not knowing something."

Nicholas smiled like a Cheshire cat. "Good to know."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Nicholas's smile. "So hit me with your super mega secrecy spell. And then tell me the big deal."

Nicholas waved his wand and a brilliant purple glob flew out the tip, floated into a webbing around the two professors, and the collapsed inward inside Professor Flamel.

Hermione blinked. "Holy moly. That was a wicked feeling. What's the difference with this spell?"

Nicholas smiled. "This one completely restricts all efforts to share the secured knowledge, but it is completely controlled by the caster's will. So any time, if you wanted to share this with someone else, I merely allow or deny it. It is far more secure, it's just frowned upon, since it might be a tad dark."

Hermione yelped. "What!"

Nicholas chewed on the inside of his cheek, thinking. "It is a measure of controlling another's free will I suppose. But it's a very minor one. It could be easily misused though."

Hermione slowed her breathing and relaxed. "This better be a good secret. So come on. Share."

Nicholas cast a number of privacy, locking, silencing, and muting charms. He then leaned back and smiled. "Tell me Hermione. Do you remember the main character in the movie?"

Hermione nodded. "Westley."

Nicholas nodded. "Exactly. Westley. But he wasn't just Westley, was he?"

Hermione thought about what Nicholas was saying. "You mean the Dread Pirate Roberts, don't you?"

Nicholas nodded. "I do. Westley was the Dread Pirate Roberts, but he was also Westley. Dread Pirate Roberts was just a name that served a purpose. That was handed down and worked for as long as it was kept a secret."

Hermione was looking curiously at Nicholas. "Yeah, it's a good idea, but I still don't see where you're going with this?"

Nicholas's eyes were in overdrive twinkling now. "Harry bought this movie because of some parallels. One of which, was I remember in my sixth year, when I stayed after my first DADA class, and my professor, a mentor of sorts, who behind closed doors I called Westley, asked me," Nicholas leaned forward and was looking straight at Hermione. "How would you like to be the next Nicholas Flamel?"

Hermione's brain snapped into action. Grabbing and piecing all the bits of the puzzle together. Tonks saying she saw Harry in The Princess Bride. The costume choice of pirate at the Halloween Dance. Nicholas received a muggle DVD as a gift. Later he asked if anyone had gotten curious gifts. Nicholas who thought Harry was at the Order meeting. Nicholas swearing he only ever sensed three people in the room. Never mentioned sensing two of himself. Nicholas being one of the only three people who could have ruined the last trap. Nicholas, who swore that Harry was in the castle. Nicholas, who agreed Harry has been using a time turner to appear in multiple places at once. Nicholas, who said Harry is enjoying every minute we waste looking for him. Harry saying "Good to know." Nicholas saying "Good to know." Hermione saying "Well, if you knew me as well as my best friends do, then you'd know I would never accept not knowing something." Nicholas smiling like the cat that got the canary and again saying. "Good to know." Nicholas, who keeps hiding behind secrecy spells 'Harry' placed on him. Nicholas, who's in charge of finding Harry.

A pale and frightened Hermione slowly turned to Nicholas. "Harry?"

Nicholas just flashed a horribly lecherous grin and said, "Hiya Hermy."

All the blood rushed to her head, and her last thought before passing out was 'I hate you, Harry Potter.'

Nicholas just smiled and stunned his best female friend for good measure. He was supposed to be meeting with Albus in a minute, and he didn't want Hermione to go anywhere before they could finish their conversation. So he tucked her into a bed, and popped up to an empty alcove near the Headmaster's office.

"Come in Nicholas."

"Thank you Albus. Ooooh! Are those Hot Tamales?" Nicholas asked eyeing the red candies on Albus's desk.

Albus smiled. "Oh yes. Please help yourself. I find they are a refreshingly tasty counterpart to lemon drops."

Nicholas put on his innocent face. "You know Hot Tamales are probably my favorite muggle candy." He popped two in his mouth and was relishing the taste.

Albus jumped right into it. "Now what's this I hear about you maybe not coming back next year? I thought you would be willing to take the post for a while."

"I took this job again partially because I was bored, and partially just as a favor to you, Albus. I would like you to try and find a suitable replacement though. If by mid-August you do not have a qualified applicant for the position, I will most likely relent and take the job again. But to be honest, I'm a fan of the curse. The DADA curse is one of the staples to Hogwarts life. It's kinda like Peeves. It's not particularly helpful, but it's just a naturally accepted part of its overall charm. It'd be like killing off a little piece of Hogwarts' soul."

Albus just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I cannot agree with your reasons, but I will look for a replacement."

"Thank you, Albus. Who knows, if no one else, maybe we can talk Harry into taking the position." Nicholas suggested.

Albus was smiling. "Speaking of Harry," Albus face dropped dead serious. "What do you know?"

Nicholas's eyes widened at the quick change in demeanor. "Albus you know all the good stuff that I may or may not know I cannot tell you."

Albus thinned his lips. "I know. And that's why I've decided to call in my life-debt. I saved your life directly from a Grindelwald attack, and I will submit to any of your necessary memory charms or secrecy spells just so I can know this horribly annoying secret."

Nicholas snorted, "Really?"

Albus nodded dead serious. "Really."

Nicholas was a bit wary. "Okay, but I'm going to have to put you on an imperio based knowledge suppression hex."

Albus raised an eyebrow.

"But for you, I think I also might be able to remove an old memory charm you are unaware you have."

Albus's eyes showed surprise. "Now I'm even more curious. Please, do as you feel necessary."

Nicholas again cast a purple bubble that expanded around them and then collapsed into Nicholas. "Now, what would you like to know?"

Albus settled into his chair. He began watching Nicholas thoughtfully. "Do you know where Harry Potter is?"

Nicholas was smiling a bit. He nodded, "Yes."

Albus steepled his hands together and leaned forward. "Where is Harry Potter?"

Nicholas looked up at the Headmaster. "Are you sure you want to know?"

The Headmaster nodded mournfully.

Nicholas snickered a bit. "He's sitting in a chair opposite his old Headmaster, inwardly dying of laughter at one of the poorest uses of life-debts he has ever heard of."

Albus's eyes widened comically before he clenched them shut and rested his head in his hands. "Harry."

Nicholas was smiling. "Yes Albus?"

"What have you done with Nicholas?" A nearly broken old man asked.

Nicholas snickered and morphed back into his natural Harry Potter appearance. "That's actually a bit of a long story."

Albus opened his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Well I've got all the time in the world and would love to hear it."

Harry began. "Well the story starts back in the fourteenth century. There was a muggleborn wizard who had been apprenticing in Alchemy to a master. When they discovered he was muggleborn he was dismissed from his apprenticeship for not being of pure blood. This angered him greatly, and decided he wasn't going to let them stop him from studying the art. So he created an alternate identity. He made him a pureblood wizard, and named him Nicholas Flamel. This way he could actually progress and get the respect as a wizard he deserved for his skill. Now for several decades Nicholas Flamel was a skilled and famous alchemist. He was also a well known extremely quick and powerful dueler, and he was respected as a warrior of the light."

Harry noted Albus was like a child absorbing in the story he was being told. Harry continued. "Now, as Nicholas got older, he realized the image of the man Nicholas Flamel was a lot stronger and more impressive than the man was as he had aged. So he hatched a plan. He would achieve the impossible in the field of alchemy: immortality. Of course, this was only the immortality of a made-up name, passed on from one generation's greatest warrior to another whenever it was needed. He found a cool looking geode and called it the Sorcerer's Stone. And then when a suitable warrior of the light came around, he passed the torch on. This way, the side of the light, has an immortal legend always willing to stand up for the righteous. And his mere existence is a deterrent to hostile activities.

"The story next picks up when you were a student at Hogwarts, and you had the same DADA teacher for your first six years."

"Professor Thatcher" Albus said with a sort of childlike honesty.

"Westley Thatcher, who at the age of 34, lost his wife the summer after your sixth year. And then decided to take up the mantle and became the seventh Nicholas Flamel. A brilliant man. Ravenclaw to the bone. Not the most powerful of his age, but unparalleled in his studies. He was just right for a Nicholas Flamel who was better suited to studying, and left the leading and hero work to you."

"So where is Professor Thatcher now?"

"He trained me for a year to be Nicholas Flamel, then he focused a lot on breaking down and understanding the Dementor Blood, and then when I graduated, he left on a whirlwind tour of all the island beach resorts in the world because he said he had some more wild oats to sow." Harry finished with a sad smile. "He died about two months before Voldemort did."

They sat in fond silence remembering the friend they both had.

Albus sat up. "Wait. You said he trained you for just a year. So did you teach yourself seventh year DADA?" Albus finished incredulously.

"Yeah, can you believe I was top in the class too? Though there might be a legitimate argument for favoritism there. And so now, you can see the DADA curse in fact has not been broken. So if you want me to teach next year, it'll be Harry Potter teaching. If you need me again, it'll be Nicholas Flamel. I'll trade off as long as I can. I love that curse."

Dumbledore just goggled at what this young man had done.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I rule."

"How on earth did you stay sane in your seventh year?" Albus asked.

"Well, considering how much I was using my time turner, being Nicholas and Harry, not to mention Harry had as many as four simultaneous private tutoring sessions, in addition to working with Wesley, you need to realize seventh year was over three years long for me." Harry said with a calm shrug.

Albus just stopped and would look at Harry. He would then shake his head in silence and look away. Then he would look back at Harry and repeat this process several times. Harry just sat there calmly giving the poor old man some time to collect himself.

"Harry, I'm speechless here. I'm sure as I start going over the past few years in my head I will find many instances where I made a complete fool of myself."

"Well you are a bit barmy."

"And you're completely insane!" Albus stopped and shook his head. "You know. That's enough for now. This may take a little time to process. But you said something about a memory charm?"

Harry smiled. "Ahh yes. I could explain it to you, but please just allow me to undo it, and you'll have most of your questions answered right away."

Albus relaxed his mental shields and maintained eye contact with the young man.

Harry went in, found the block Westley had made, and broke it carefully.

Albus blinked a bit and began to file through this new information. "Professor Thatcher asked me to be the next Nicholas Flamel?"

Harry nodded. "He'd only been Flamel for a couple decades. Would have been the shortest amount of time any one Nicholas Flamel had lasted. Instead he ended up staying for the longest."

Albus looked perplexed. "What did I say that made him reject me?"

Harry shook his head. "It wasn't him rejecting you. He was able to determine from your answers to questions that you wished to make yourself great, and make the Dumbledore name one to be proud of. So, he knew you were a better leader, and more powerful and skilled at most practical magic than he was. That was why Flamel was a less newsworthy name during the rise of Grindelwald. And he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with you during Voldemort's reign of terror."

Albus smiled thinking about his old DADA professor.

"He felt he had succeeded just by assisting you into making yourself the iconic leader and respected man you wished to be. He felt for a long time that you should be very proud. He was going to wait until after I graduated to approach me, but he sensed he wasn't going to live that much longer."

"But what about the Sorceror's Stone and Voldemort in your first year?" Albus questioned.

"Just a pretty hunk of garnet. As firmly on the side of light as Flamel has always been, I'm surprised you would think he would allow such an item to be available to abuse from people like Voldemort. And he knew you well enough, to observe however you planned to test me. All the geezers I know try to dictate my life." Harry said with a shake of his head.

"So what all did he teach you? He was an excellent DADA professor for me. It didn't matter that my professor in seventh year was as bad as Lockhart. I was already past first year auror level by then."

"Well, I had the metamorph skills I needed to learn A.S.A.P., but one of the very first tools a Flamel needs is a darn good memory charm for when you screw up. Because you always will eventually say something wrong. Or someone will see something they shouldn't." Harry was shaking his head.

"Poor Dennis Creevey in my seventh year kept running into two of me, before and after some private lessons. I must have obliviated him twenty times that year."

Albus just chuckled. He wasn't sure at what point excessive memory charming of fellow students becomes acceptable but for some reason this didn't bother him in the slightest.

Harry continued, "And of course, my tutors' secrecy charms became necessary for far more obvious reasons now. Any time I got something I don't want to say, either Nicholas or Harry has me under spell and I cannot share."

Albus looked a bit frustrated at the chuckling young man.

"Of course you realize Nicholas Flamel is still going to lead the hunt for Harry Potter." Harry said with a mocking smirk.

Albus just groaned at how badly they all had been fooled. And then remembering the secrecy spells on him, they will continue to be fooled.

Albus smiled weakly. "Well since you've got me locked under the knowledge suppression, you realize you should tell me all about your findings on Dementor Blood."

Harry looked at his Headmaster considering. "Well I suppose it won't hurt."

Albus smiled and nodded eagerly.

Harry laughed at him picturing Dobby in his place. Finally Harry began, "It's going to be real big. Like piss off a lot of purebloods, big. For example, at the Ministry on my birthday I used a small potion bomb. It completely freezes in a stasis of time all magic. People dependent on magic can leech enough subconsciously to never be in danger. If your heart needs magic to pump, because it is so weak on its own, then the magic is there for that. But conscious or intended or even emotional bursts of magic are locked away. Of course if you use some of the explosive parts of the potion bomb, and mix it a different way, it becomes a completely different potion that counters the effects of the potion bomb, and you would be the only one capable of having magic within your area. If the bad guys learn that one, then they can stay out wide in the open and easily protect themselves. That was what I was testing at the Ministry. I merely put a locking spell on the Fountain of Magical Brethren that required a parseltongue counter."

"Another use for Dementor Blood is a huge step towards perhaps dropping the barrier on the secrecy between wizards and muggles. I tested it as a remote casting ability through a crystallized linked version of a split jewel. That was when it was an open communications device and I hit Moony on the nose with a snake? And silenced Tonks? Well, the crystal also has storage capabilities to keep it triggered by things like words."

Dumbledore was amazed at the possibilities this could open up.

"Think of the rings, and imagine being able to hold the spell until some stimulus makes it react. You could combine it with muggle technology on things like motion detectors that cast stunners and lumos charms at detected motion. Or the security possibilities of charming a muggle handgun with stunners instead of bullets: complete stopping power that is essentially harmless."

Harry got an evil grin. "And in case you haven't caught on, with storage based on voice activation, I've managed to make self-spelling wands that muggles can just say the spell to use." Harry made a face that was downright Slytherin. "Magic can officially go on sale."

Albus was gobsmacked. This was going to change a lot. Maybe almost everything. There would be quite a few people upset at these discoveries. And if Harry Potter wasn't powerful enough, he was the only person on the planet with access to Dementor Blood.

"Don't worry. It may be a while before we reveal too much about Dementor Blood. We still have to explore a few of the darker avenues still. One of which allows communication with trapped souls."

"What?" Albus asked.

"Yeah" Harry said. "Like let's say Dementor Dave goes and kisses your friend Anne. Now, if you can get Dementor Dave's blood, you can use it in a potion to communicate with all the souls that Dementor Dave has trapped by 'kissing.' Naturally that includes maintaining ongoing communication with your friend Anne. I'm pretty sure there are questionable ways to extract something like a portrait imprint after they've been kissed. And it looks like there's a real possibility it could also completely recall a person's soul into their body if it's still alive, or another body even. But of course that will be the evil sacrificial black magic or some such rot." Harry was saying with a sarcastic voice. He continued with a wince and said "I'm thinking that's a direction I'm only going to explore in theory and hopefully never see it used in practice."

In some ways Albus was quite glad he wasn't in Harry's position. This is a great sort of problem for someone else to have. Of course it is also one of the biggest discoveries in who knows how long. "There are a great many things I would wish to further discuss with you, but I think I need to lay down for a bit. We are definitely going to have some more conversations on this, seeing as I won't be able to talk about it with anyone else."

Harry decided to be a nice guy and said, "I'm in the process of sharing this all with Hermione. You'll be able to talk freely with her, if you like."

Albus nodded. "That would be extremely helpful."

Harry morphed back into Professor Nicholas Flamel. "You know it's kind of funny, that my life is so twisted that I find pretending to be an immortal, powerful legend as a way to escape and act more normal."

Albus smirked and said, "I think with you around Harry, we will all live in interesting times."