Chapter 15 – Philosopher's Stone
Soon everyone was back after Christmas, and as Hadriana watched as Hedwig flew off into the day – she couldn't help but wonder what this next semester would bring to the table with two inquisitive friends of hers.
Then after a while, she thinks she has gotten the hang on how magic works, and that it is real – the snow had melted, and flowers were in bloom again. Spring had come to Hogwarts grounds.
The scene soon changed to where they were sitting in the great hall, and Hedwig flew into the great hall resting beside her owner and friend. Hadriana gave her first friend a small smile, petting her feathers and thinking quietly about something. "Hi, Hedwig," Hadriana whispered affectionally.
Seeing this made many of the girls, think about their own pets. "Aww…" Marlene and Alice said, melting at the girl's kindness.
"Look at your play with your cards, pathetic! We've got finals exams coming up soon." Hermione scolded, while Ron gave her a slightly offended look.
"Damn, another Remus!" groaned James loudly, though, fondly remembering their own first few years at Hogwarts as a group.
"Love the comparison!" Hermione boasted with a smirk because she felt proud of being compared to someone that loved to study like her old friend Remus.
"You would think so…" Ron told her fondly and kissed her with affection.
"I'm ready. Ask me anything!" Ron said and raised an eyebrow in question.
"Alright. What are the three most crucial ingredients in a forgetfulness potion?" Hermione asked, both not noticing Hadriana watching them in amusement. Hadriana recited the ingredients inside her mind, though, that someone would go and remember every ingredient of every potion she wouldn't know. However, the potion she asked about was one heck of an invention.
"I forgot!" Ron told her, Hermione sighed in disbelief.
Hadriana only looked on tiredly, knowing that not everyone could be good in every single class like Hermione.
Most of the students in the great hall couldn't help but laugh at their banter.
"Hadriana what have you used that potion to?" Hermione asked her slyly and sneakily.
"Nothing you would ever know!" Hadriana smirked, and she could feel Sirius laughing through their bond at what he himself could remember of that prank.
"And, what may I ask, do you plan to do if this comes up in the final exam?"
"Copy of off you!" Ron told her plainly.
"Ronald Weasly!" Yelled Molly and gave him a stern look.
Ron's eyes widened and shrunk back into his seat and hid behind Hermione like she would protect him from his mother. Hermione only laughed at his misfortune.
"No, you won't. Besides according to McGonagall, we're going to be given special quills, be-witched with an anti-cheating spell." Hermione said bossily.
"Good!" Hadriana said, butting into their discussion because that was one good thing that teachers have done. "After all, it means that the teachers can think!"
Ron like he hadn't heard what she had said, told Hermione plainly: "That's insulting! It's as if they don't trust us!"
"Oh god! I wonder why we wouldn't trust you, students!" Professor McGonagall dryly said. The Marauders chuckled at her monotone voice.
"At least, Hadriana can see the bigger picture!" said Professor Flitwick, noticing what the young student had said to her friends.
Hadriana shook her head at Ron because how could someone be this dense, Ron looked back down at his Chocolate Frog card. "Dumbledore again!" Ron said and threw the card down at the table where Hadriana picked it up.
Everyone suddenly looked up, and to the entrance to the great hall. Neville was seen coming hopping, as his legs were stuck together. Hadriana was silently still looking down at the card in her hand. Hermione looked at Neville with a saddened look in her eye, while Ron openly laughed, along with the others in the hall.
As Hadriana looked up from the card, and to Neville – she couldn't help but get somewhat angry at the people around her that laughed. 'Why aren't anyone helping him? and how come the teachers are so blind to what the students are going through?' were thoughts Hadriana had struggled with for some time now, as Neville was the one everyone was messing with all the time.
"Hadriana has some great questions!" The one who said this was the charms professor who for some time now have asked these questions pertaining to what has happened to this school.
"I can agree to that!" Euphemia, Andromeda, and Molly said in agreement because they were worried that they were setting their children at risk, as they remembered that children can be the meanest people on earth when they either want something or looks down on people.
"Leg-locking curse," Neville explained as he hopped towards their table. "Malfoy."
Ron rolled his eyes, at that point in time, Malfoy had been coming after them like never before. "You have to start standing up to people, Neville!" Ron told him.
"How? I can barely stand at all." Said Neville.
Seamus stood up from his seat, "I'll do the counter curse!" he said.
Neville gave him a fearful glance, "No. That's all I need. You to set my bloody kneecaps on fire!"
Seamus gave him an offended expression hearing that, "I don't appreciate the insinuation, Longbottom. Besides, if anyone has failed to notice, my eyebrows have completely grown back." He said, and with a furious glare at them all he walked away, and then a large bald spot could be seen on the back of his head.
Frank gave Draco a glare at what he had done to his future son, though, he couldn't help but see the close friendship they had right at this moment.
Draco and Neville were talking quietly about the time in their lives, a long time ago to them but not to these people so they knew that things would be slightly awkward. "Damn, I was shy," Neville said loudly, as they watched it happen.
"You were, but it shouldn't have happened. You know that." Draco said.
"It's the past, Draco. We were both different people to each other back before the war." Neville reminded Draco. ¨
The others laughed at Seamus's bald patch on the back of his head, somewhere slightly sympathetic but others could help but see the funny part of it.
Hadriana sighed, and quietly managed to free Neville without giving anything away. Before she quietly let out a gasp.
"It was you; how did you manage to do it silently?" Neville asked her gratefully over finally knowing who it was that had helped him.
"I managed it because, I practice each spell and a few more spells, to see if I could do them silently or without words," Hadriana revealed, knowing that it would be a surprise to everyone that had known her except for Sirius.
Ron and Hermione looked at her in worry, at the gasp.
"I found him!" Hadriana exclaimed in surprise, and they looked at her in confusion. "Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald, in 1945."
"Go on!" Hermione hummed, gesturing for her to continue her thought.
"For his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel," Hadriana told them the end of it and gave them exciting looks.
"You're telling me." someone from the Slytherin table stated, causing the trio of people to look over at him. "This Flamel, guy, whom you've been looking for, for literal months, was on the back of a bloody, chocolate frog card. The entire time!" The whole hall awaited their answer with wide eyes and shocked looks.
"That about sums it up, yeah." Said the three of them and turned back to the screen.
Hadriana groaned, "I knew, his name sounded so familiar, I read I on the train the first day." Shaking her head in disbelief over that they could have figured it out months ago.
"Follow me!" said Hermione and began running out of the hall with Ron and Hadriana following her though the two of them shared a look knowing that it would come down to the library.
The scene changed then to show the library.
Hermione hurriedly looked up a book in a certain section, "I've had you looking in the wrong section. How could I be so stupid?" she said scolding herself, before dropping a large book on one of the tables. "I checked this out weeks ago, for a bit of light reading."
Some students looked towards Hermione in shock, was that light reading to her at the age of eleven? They couldn't believe it!
"Is that really light reading to you?" James asked her surprised, not even Remus at that time would have called that light, something that made it shocking on another level entirely.
"Until I came to Hogwarts, I didn't have any friends. So, all I did was read everything I encountered." Hermione revealed with a sigh and laid her head on Ron's shoulder.
James nodded to her sad to see that there's always someone that doesn't make friends easily as the four of them.
"This is light?" Ron asked shocked and looked over the book.
Hadriana just shrugged, it was just simply the way Hermione thought.
"Of course, here it is!" Hermione said and ignored Ron's whining. "Nicholas Flamel is the only make of the Philosophers stone."
"The what?" Ron asked.
"Honestly, don't the two of you read!" Hermione sighed, before continuing to read.
"The philosopher stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It can transform any metal into pure gold, and produce the elixir of life, making the drinker immortal." Hermione reread the passage in the book.
Hadriana looked on in amazement, though, she couldn't believe that Hermione thought that she didn't read. Maybe she doesn't read every book in the library, but she reads whatever she is interested in.
"Sorry, Hadri." Hermione winched, knowing how she could be sometimes when there's a lot going on.
"It's okay!" Hadriana told her, running a hand through her hair and leaning into Sirius's arms.
"Is no one going to say something about, the thought of being immortal?" asked Regulus in awe.
"Immortal."
"It means you'll never die." Hermione clarified rolling her eyes at the boy.
"I know what it means!" snapped Ron.
"The only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Nicholas Flamel, he noted alchemist, who last year celebrated his 665th birthday." Hadriana recited, rolling her eyes at her two bickering friends. Coming back to what they were here for.
"Looking at the two of you then, I wonder how the two of you got together!" Young Sirius exclaimed with wide eyes.
"The same did we ask!" Hermione, Luna, Draco, and Neville said at the same time with a smirk, "when they finally got together, someone became very rich." Neville said, exasperated looking at his fiancé.
"You know me, I'm always right!" Luna smirked wiggling her eyebrow.
"That's what Fluffy is guarding on the third floor. That's what's under the trapdoor. The philosopher stones!" Hadriana told them.
With that said, they rushed out to Hagrid's hut to ask him. "Hagrid!" Hadriana yelled, knocking hard on his door.
"Oh, Hello, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no state to entertain today," Hagrid told them quickly, rushing to close the door again.
"We know about the philosopher stone!" Hadriana rushed to say, and that stopped Hagrid halfway.
"Oh!" mumbled Hagrid.
"Some of us." Hadriana coughed lowly, "We think Snape is trying to steal it!" Hadriana continued as normal.
Hagrid just sighed slightly and rolled his eyes at them. "Snape! Blimey, you're not still on about that are yer?"
"We know that someone's after it Hagrid! We just don't know why!" Hadriana said defensively.
"Snape is one of the teachers protecting the stone." Hagrid rolled his eyes and revealed something they hadn't known before.
The three of them stared at him wide-eyed, not knowing what to say to that.
"What?!" Ron mumbled.
"Yer heard right! Come on now, I'm a bit preoccupied today!" Hagrid told them, doing his best trying to get them to leave.
"Wait a minute. One of the teachers?" asked Ron.
"Of course. There are other things protecting the stone aren't there? Spells and enchantments?" Hermione voice out loud realizing the truth of it.
"That's right. Waist of bloody time if you ask me. Ain't no one getting past Fluffy. Ain't a soul who knows how except me and Dumbledore. I shouldn't have told you that. I shouldn't have told you that!" Hagrid mumbled the last part to the trio, scolding himself slightly for even having said it.
Then there was a loud roar from the fireplace inside of Hagrid's hut, making everyone look towards the fire.
Hadriana, Ron and Hermione rushed in, everyone gathered next to the fireplace by the table and watched something move around on the table.
The great hall looked at the half-giant in shock, "HAGRID!" McGonagall tried to state calmly, "is that what I think it is?" she asked as calmly as she felt and looked at the younger man in the room. Hagrid looked at her sheepishly knowing that it would have been something he would have done if he ever got the hand on a dragon egg.
"Uh, Hagrid. What exactly is that?" Hadriana asked, though, Ron's eyes lit up at seeing what the creature was.
"That's? It's an um-a-it's" Hagrid tried to find the right excuse because it was there in the first place.
Ron interrupted him, "I know what it is! But Hagrid how'd you get one?"
Hagrid finally gave in, "I won it! Of a stranger, I met down at the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, might I add." He told them, and the object began to crack revealing a small dragon.
"Dwagon! Dwagon!" Charlie cheered, and Bill and baby Tonks joined him.
Everyone cooed at them for being so cute.
"Is that a… Dragon?" Hadriana asked curiously, as the baby dragon fumbled around on the table.
"That's not just any dragon. That's a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie works with these in Romania." Ron told them al excitingly.
"That right there is why we weren't surprised over why you chose to study creatures," Hadriana said with a smile.
"Not you too." Exclaimed Molly, fearful for her kids.
"Yeah, love creatures though it's not dragons which interest me," Ron said, trying to comfort his mom with that fact not that it worked.
"Do you know what you want?" Luna asked him curiously.
"Not really, I've just dropped out of the Auror core," Ron told them, not seeing what he could do about it other than do what makes him happy.
"I'm happy for you, always!" Hermione said and kissed him on his cheek.
"Thanks, dear," Ron told fondly.
Molly and Arthur smiled at them, and there were a lot of things between them that they found great.
"Isn't he beautiful? Oh, bless him. look he knows his mummy. Hello, Norbert." Cooed Hagrid.
Hadriana gave him a strange look, "Norbert?" she questioned.
"Yeah, well he's got to have a name, doesn't he? Don't you Norbert?" he cooed again, as Norbert burped up a flame that flew towards his beard. "Ooh, ooh! Well… he'll have to be trained up a bit of course. Who's that?" Hagrid asked suddenly, making the three of them spin around.
They caught sight of Draco in the middle of the window, who began to run away when he realized that he had been caught.
"Malfoy!" Hadriana mumbled, the trio sighed and shared a look before they could be seen running back towards the castle.
As they walked through its halls, making their way back to their common room. "Hagrid always wanted a dragon. Told me so the first time I met him." Hadriana revealed to them.
"It's crazy. And worse, Malfoy knows." Hermione said.
"Don't understand. Is that bad?" Hadriana questioned out loud.
"Yeah, Prongslet. It's bad!" Young Sirius couldn't help but exclaim. "Malfoy's. The worst of the worst."
"I can agree to it!" Draco smirked, "at least in the past." He continued saying to his young parent's surprise.
"How can you say so about our family?" Lucius asked.
"You'll see," Draco smirked, silently laughing at what was coming if it was even seen.
"It's bad!" Ron said to them, Hermione agreed with him "Very bad."
"Good evening." They were cut off by McGonagall, who was standing in front of them. Malfoy was standing next to her with a smug smile on his pale face.
The scene changed to the four of them standing in front of McGonagall's office looking solemn.
"Nothing I repeat nothing gives a student the right to walk around the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken." McGonagall told them.
"50!" Ron exclaimed shocked, even from what his twin brothers have been telling him, even when they get caught haven't been losing that many points.
"Each!"
"Each?" inquired everyone shocked, McGonagall was even once again shocked over her future counterpart.
"Minnie, you've caught us so many times, and you've never taken that many points from them." Peter squeaked, though, McGonagall like so many was too shocked to say anything.
"And to ensure that this doesn't happen again, the four of you will receive a detention."
Draco's smug expression changed to one of confusion, "Excuse me, Professor. Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said the four of us?"
McGonagall gave him a stern look, "No you heard me correctly Mr Malfoy. You see, honourable as your intention was, you too, were out of bed after hours. You will join your classmates in detention."
The golden trio looked down solemnly, wondering what the others would say to this.
"I wonder what happen," Young Sirius asked, knowing that something would happen.
"You'll just have to watch," Ron told him.
"Why was your hair so greasy?" James snickered because he just had to ask.
"Hey!" Draco laughed, "I was a giant prat back then, but my hair is not greasy!" "It's just fluffy!" he pouted and fluffed up his hair with his fingers. "That's what my wife tells me!"
"Ha-ha, that's because she asked you to stop using that gel in your hair all the time!" Luna told him and hit him over the head like Ginny would have done if she had been here.
"All my secrets are coming out!" groaned Draco and broke out laughing together with the others.