CHAPTER 7

After the holidays, school resumed as usual. Snape was just as cruel as ever, and Quirrel continued to be a hopeless, stuttering mess of a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

The four of us had begun to give up on ever finding anything about Nicolas Flamel, yet we continued to diligently trek to the library at every point possible. Unfortunately, Harry's time in the library was compromised as he had Quidditch practise thrice weekly.

It was after one of his particularly gruelling session that something unusual happened. Harry had just revealed to us that Snape would be refereeing the next match (Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff), and we were brainstorming ideas of how to get Harry out of playing.

However, our conversation was interrupted when the portrait hole opened up and Neville came tumbling through. His legs were stuck together with a jinx I instantly recognised as the Leg-locker jinx. I supported him as Hermione cast the counter-spell: everyone else was too busy laughing. We asked him what had happened and he explained how he had come across Malfoy in an empty corridor, before eventually being cursed and forced to bunny hop up to Gryffindor Tower.

In order to console Neville, Harry dug around in his pocket for something, and pulled out a chocolate frog, one I knew to be his last. He handed it over to his friend, who quickly ate it. Neville glanced at the card, but didn't do anything with it. As he walked out of the room to the dormitories, he stopped looked at Harry and handed him the card. "You collect them don't you?"

Harry read it, before exclaiming, "I've found him! I've found him! I knew I'd read about him somewhere before!"

Ron asked who he was on about.

"Dumbledore is most famous for discovering the twelve uses of Dragon's blood, his defeat of Grindelwald in 1945, and his work with famous alchemist Nicolas Flamel!"

At that, Hermione rushed off, and came back five minutes later with an enormous book, so big she could hardly carry it. She dropped it heavily on the table with a large thud, before leafing through it, concentrating deeply. She finally found the page she was looking for, and read out, "Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

Although I answered in recognition, this obviously didn't have the effect she was after, as Harry and Ron looked at her with blank faces.

"Oh honestly, don't you two read?" She gave us the book.

'The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher'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 Philosopher'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 on Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).'

Realisation appeared on the boys' faces, and I'm sure it appeared on mine too. This must be what Fluffy was guarding: the Philosopher's Stone. It would make sense, as Hogwarts was said to be the safest place to hide something, after Gringotts. Dumbledore would want to protect something that Voldemort could use to come back into power, especially if it belonged to his friend. I just wondered what else could be protecting the stone.

A few days later, Harry's Quidditch match against Hufflepuff commenced. Ron, Hermione and I were just as nervous as Harry. We'd practised the leg-locker curse to perfection ("Remember, its Locomotor Mortis," Hermione had told us).

As the players took off, we cheered and screamed like there was nothing to worry about, although we were secretly very relieved that Dumbledore had come to watch. About half way through the match, Malfoy and his puppets, Crabbe and Goyle turned up. He started antagonising us, particularly Ron and Neville. Taking Harry's advice to heart, Neville stuttered, "I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," before Ron snapped and jumped on Malfoy. Neville paused for a second, before joining him in the fight. Due to the chaos, the boys missed the end of the match, and Harry catching the snitch, and both Hermione and I were distracted.

After the match, we met up with Harry in the common room, slightly worried about him as he had disappeared for what felt like hours. Ron was still exhilarated about his fight with Malfoy, but Harry didn't seem to share his enjoyment. He explained how he had overheard Snape threatening Quirrel about the Stone. Snape apparently wanted Quirrel to learn how to get past Fluffy from Hagrid, and that Quirrel didn't want Snape as his enemy.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," Ron noted.