Chapter 52: Shell Cottage
"Well, that sounds like a good idea. So, how are we going to get Fawkes a new body?" asked Harry. "Do you know how to do that?"
Albus sat on the end of Harry's massive purple bed and Harry was sitting cross legged on the rug in front of him.
"Ah…no, actually," said Albus.
"Well, oh. I do," said Harry surprising himself.
"You do?" asked Albus, apparently just as surprised.
"Well," said Harry, giving his brain a second to catch up to his mouth. He realized he needed to back off his claim a little as the situation wasn't exactly the same. "I saw someone get a new body one time."
Albus raised his eyebrows.
"He was in a sort of…spiritual state," he explained, referring to Voldemort after he'd disappeared when Harry was a baby. "And then he used some sort of mix of snake venom and unicorn blood to get a body, I think. It—he looked like a shriveled child or something. It was horrible—but then he made a potion with three important ingredients…er…Bones from his father, blood from an enemy…which was me, actually…and then flesh of his servant."
"Harry, that is unmistakably dark magic."
"Well, I wasn't suggesting we do it—We'd never be able to find Fawkes's father and I don't think he has any servants unless you want to count me or something—but maybe we could modify it?"
Albus sat for a moment thoughtfully.
"Would you be opposed to involving Nicolas?"
Harry smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh! Why didn't I think of that! The sorcerer's stone!"
"My thoughts exactly," said Albus.
"Should I Owl him?" asked Harry.
"I think this is more urgent than that. Let's use my fireplace."
Albus stood up and made for the trapdoor, but Harry intercepted him and in a flash of flame, they were standing in Albus's office both feeling rather warm.
Albus looked down at Harry through his spectacles. Harry blushed and removed his arms. "Oops. Should have asked first."
Albus smiled. "Quite all right…" He immediately went to the fireplace which was already lit thanks to the care of the house elves. He grabbed a pinch of floo powder from a large silver urn and threw it into the fire. The flames immediately turned an emerald green. Albus crouched down and said something into the flames before sticking his head through.
Harry stood behind him waiting for about thirty seconds before Albus pulled his head out and stood up. When Harry saw his face he could hardly keep his face straight. Albus's long auburn hair and goatee were dusted with ash, and his half-moon glasses were completely obscured. His face was smudged and Harry couldn't resist reaching forward to wipe some soot off his cheek smiling faintly.
Albus chuckled when Harry touched his face. He snapped his fingers and the mess disappeared. Harry snapped out of it and pulled his hand back.
"Was he there?" asked Harry.
"He's there and made himself so available that I think he might be fascinated by the problem…"
"Right," said Harry. "Well…shall we?"
"I worry that you might disappear in the floo," said Albus.
"I could teleport us," said Harry.
"But you've never been there."
"You could apparate us," said Harry.
"Not from inside the castle. Shall we take a walk?"
"Or…I could…" Harry circled his arms around Albus once more and they vanished again. The teleportation got easier each time.
Harry and Albus reappeared outside the castle gates. The snow had melted a foot around them so they stood in a small clear patch.
"Brilliant," said Albus. "I may never walk anywhere again…Are you ready to apparate?" They were still embracing and Harry nodded his head.
Before Harry could take a breath, he was hurled through space as if through a rubber tube. He had just enough time to acknowledge that phoenix teleportation was a much superior way to travel and then the sensation ended and he was standing knee deep in the snow on a very familiar hill.
"Shell Cottage?" asked Harry, quite surprised. He'd been expecting a grand mansion or castle from Nicolas Flamel.
"You know it?" asked Albus. He let Harry out of his embrace.
"I…" Harry chuckled. "I stayed here for a few weeks with some friends."
"Nicolas and Penny have lived here for centuries," said Albus.
"Ah, well…" Harry swallowed realizing that by the time Bill and Fleur had moved into Shell Cottage, Nicolas and his wife had probably died after destroying the stone. "He didn't live there in the future."
Albus looked a little disconcerted but nodded and began carving a path in the snow using Harry's wand as a snow blower.
They reached the front door and knocked. The door opened a moment later and a beautiful woman in her thirties greeted them. Like Nicolas, she was dressed in an assortment of the best fashion from different eras that all worked quite well together. She had sleek dirty blonde hair that was tied back loosely in a low ponytail with a ribbon.
"You must be Mr. Crockett. Good afternoon, Albus."
"Penny, it's good to see you!" said Albus warmly. He embraced Penny. "I didn't realize you had returned from China. How was your trip?"
"I returned but a month ago. 'Twas delightful, though quite different from my visit in the 1720s. The Great Leap Forward, is what they're doing now. Communism. Well, good luck to them as long as they don't abolish the steamed pork bun. But Mr. Crockett—"
"Please call me Harry," said Harry.
"Harry, I've heard so much about you. And what lovely robes you're wearing."
Harry looked down to see he was wearing the gaudy golden robes that Fawkes had put him in. He nearly died of embarrassment, but didn't have a moment to explain himself.
"You left quite an impression on Nick," Penny continued. "I think he talks more about you than he talked about Albus when they first met."
Harry felt his face grow even warmer. He laughed nervously. "Really? Wow."
"Yes," said Penny. "I wouldn't be surprised if he offered you the—"
"Harry! Albus! It's good to see you again so soon." Nicolas appeared in the door behind Penny. "Come in, come in."
Harry gasped as the Flamels led them into the house. Shell Cottage would be a tiny little house when Bill and Fleur lived there, but the Flamels had magically enlarged the inside. Here, inside, was the castle that Harry had been expecting. The ceilings were lofty and carved. The first room was bigger than the whole cottage should have been according to the dimensions on the outside.
Nicolas looked at Harry questioningly.
"It's…bigger on the inside," Harry explained in awe. He'd seen the spell before on tents and bags and cars, but never quite to this extent. He wondered why the house hadn't been that way in his time.
"When one has been alive as long as we, one needs room for the imagination, not to mention it would be very rude indeed if the Royal Family of England called, only to find that we had thrown away their gifted jewelry for lack of space," said Penny.
"The…muggle Royal Family?"
"Yes. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh call often for tea or supper. We have long been friends with the Royal Family. For centuries, I've enchanted the palace against wrongdoers," said Nicolas.
"Do they…er…know about the wizarding world?"
"Yes, of course," said Nicolas. "As does the Prime Minister. In fact, I think there are a few wizards and witches in the Royal Family. There always have been. Elizabeth and Phil come here often, though. It's the only place they can go without an escort."
"Yes, dear, after you confounded them into thinking we were trustworthy."
"We are trustworthy, Penny."
"Mmm," she hummed and put her arm around his waist. "Can I get you gentlemen some tea? Biscuits?"
"Yes, please," said Harry and Albus and Nicolas.
"Nicolas would get it, but it seems like you had something to discuss and I would hate to keep you from it." She smiled and Nicolas gestured Harry and Albus through a door to the left. Nicolas followed a few moments later looking a little sheepish and with his hair slightly ruffled.
He led them through a few rooms until they reached a very comfortable looking sitting room with a warm fireplace. They all took seats. Penny entered the room a second later and took a seat next to Nicolas. Harry couldn't figure out why she'd come without tea after she said she was getting tea until several house elves appeared with large trays of tea and scones and biscuits.
"So," said Nicolas once they had all been poured tea and Albus had added his seven or eight sugar cubes, "Albus was very hasty in his explanation of the problem. Would either of you care to elaborate for me?"
"Well," said Harry, "it's sort of complicated…but I have the soul of a phoenix living inside my body."
Nicolas leaned forward. "And how exactly did that happen?" he asked.
Harry looked to Albus. "Fawkes the phoenix got in the way of the Avada Kedavra curse from my wand," said Albus.
"And who, may I ask, cast the curse?" Nicolas asked.
"It was me," said Harry, hanging his head. Nicolas raised his head in surprise. Harry wasn't sure if he was surprised that Harry was casting dark magic with the Elder Wand or that it worked well enough to kill a phoenix.
"An accident, of course," said Albus.
"Of course," said Nicolas. "And then what happened?"
"Fawkes's soul had already been linked with Harry's, so when Fawkes lost his body, his soul latched onto Harry's and they now share a body," said Albus. "They have been sharing for months—since before you first met Harry."
"Why has this only become an urgent issue now?" asked Nicolas.
"I wanted to give him a body back—I wanted him to be able to fly. A few months ago I completed my animagus transformation into a bird, but I wanted to become a phoenix for him. I did a lot of research, but I couldn't find anyone who'd ever done an animagus transformation into a magical creature. Albus and I were having tea yesterday afternoon and Albus was trying to talk me into just trying when…I was lifted up into the air and…burned alive."
Harry and Albus together explained what had happened until Albus got to the duel.
"Your duel?" asked Nicolas.
"We had a dueling tournament for the students and faculty. Today was the culmination."
"Who won?" asked Nicolas, quite interested.
"We tied," said Albus. Nicolas raised his eyebrows and looked at Harry. Harry was quite worried that Nicolas was piecing together the fact that Harry was also a master of the Elder Wand.
Harry and Albus finished explaining about Harry's magic.
"We decided that the best solution is to fabricate a new body for Fawkes," said Albus.
"And that's when we came to you," finished Harry.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
"Well," said Nicolas, "there's something you're not asking."
Harry cringed. What they weren't asking was "could we please use your amazing one-of-a-kind Sorcerer's Stone that you've only ever offered to three people?" Harry felt a little stupid. What would make him worthy or using the stone? He'd only ever offered it to the love of his life, Leonardo Da Vinci and…someone else.
"But I don't think you'll have to ask. There's something I would like to offer you," said Nicolas. "Something I've only offered to three people before."
Harry felt lightheaded and Albus looked very uncomfortable.
"The Sorcerer's Stone produces the elixir of life, as you know, and it is that that has kept Penny and me alive for these centuries. I would like to offer you the same, and should it, as a side effect, provide your phoenix with a new body, so be it."
Harry was now quite uncomfortable. Why was Nicolas offering this to him in front of Albus? And why did he think Harry was worthy in the first place? And why would Harry qualify where Albus would not?
Albus looked equally uncomfortable. Harry could imagine the sting of exclusion delivered by one of his best friends offering the elixir of life to someone he'd met once and not to him, Albus. Harry didn't know what to do. Accepting the elixir could fix his phoenix problem, but it could also ruin his relationship with Albus. He didn't care about the immortality—he could be immortal anyway for all he knew. He was Master of Death, after all, whatever that meant.
But if he turned down the elixir, he would not only appear ungrateful, but he wouldn't have solved the phoenix problem and he would have wasted all of their time.
But then again, he could just take the elixir to get Fawkes a body. To be immortal, he would have to continue taking the elixir. Maybe that way he would look grateful and not ruin his friendship with Albus. But the damage could have already been done. –Would Albus blame Harry anyway? Could he help himself feeling envious? Would this even make him envious?
Damn it, why would Nicolas do that? Did he have no tact?
Clearly Harry had been quiet for too long because Albus spoke up. "That is very generous of you, Nicolas. Harry?"
"Ah…Yes," said Harry. "I'm a little overwhelmed."
"Well, Harry, whether or not you want to consider the prospects of immortality, a single drink of elixir may give Fawkes his body back," said Albus.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
"I can't see why I shouldn't try," shrugged Harry, resigned to the fact that if Albus was going to get offended, he'd be offended already.
"Excellent," beamed Nicolas. "Why don't you all follow me? I'll show you where the stone cabinet is."
They stood up and Harry started heading towards the door, but Albus put his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry stopped and turned around. Nicolas had pulled out his wand and was walking towards a relatively unoccupied wall. He put his wand tip against the wall for a moment, and something golden started to appear there. The gold spread outward from Nicolas's wand tip until there was a circle about six feet in diameter on the wall. The gold stopped spreading, but the circle started to have some dimension to it; designs appeared carved into and popping out of the gold wall. The last thing to appear was a round knob in the very center around Nicolas's wand tip.
Nicolas withdrew his wand from the knob slowly, and by the time it was all the way out, the knob was complete: a solid gold ball protruding from the circle on the wall. He took the knob and pushed, and then took a few steps back. All but the outer two inches of the gold circle, which Harry understood to be the frame of a door, began to sink backwards into the wall. When it had moved about three feet, it stopped.
"Penny and I can access this from any room," said Nicolas.
"Oh…" said Harry. He was still baffled that Nicolas was showing him all of his secrets during their second meeting ever.
"After you," he said cheerily, and the four of them entered the room of the Sorcerer's Stone.