NICOLAS FLAMEL
The fight between Natasha and Ron went on for 3 days. They never spoke a word to each other. Natasha found solace in her books. But on the night of third day, Natasha broke out crying ,as she was missing her best friend. She told to herself that she will apologize to Ron for shouting at him, but not for defending Professor Snape. The next day, she waited for Ron to come, and hugged him as soon as he did. "I am so sorry ,Ron. I should not have shouted at you like that, i really feel so lonely without you and Hermione.", Natasha said. Ron looked surprised at this and said,"I am sorry too Natasha, I also should not have treated you like that. But I still think that you are wrong about Snape.". "Let's not have this argument now, I am sure that i can prove that you are wrong.", Natasha said. "I am glad to have you back, Natasha.", Ron said smiling. "You too Ron.", Natasha said smiling.
When Natasha told about the incident with Dumbledore, Ron agreed that Dumbledore was right and the mirror would gave driven her mad. Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Natasha being out of bed, roaming the school two nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!"). She was disappointed that they were not successful in finding about Flamel. She was angry with Ron, for not going with Natasha to the Library,and trying to sneak into the restricted section. Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Natasha had even less time than the other two, because Quidditch practice had started again. Wood was working the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in seven years. Natasha wanted the cup in her first year only, and practiced even more harder. Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. He'd just gotten very angry with the Weasleys, who kept dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms. "Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!" George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words. Natasha was relieved at this, and ignores the complaints of the other teammates.
Natasha headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where she found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Hermione was loosing miserably to Ron, to the satisfaction of Ron. Ron and Hermione had already heard about Snape refereeing the match. "Don't play," said Hermione at once. "Say you're ill," said Ron. "Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested. "Really break your leg," said Ron. "Do we really have to talk about this! Professor Snape is not trying to kill me!", Natasha said. Ron and Hermione did not anything further. At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor tower. Everyone fell over laughing except Hermione, who leapt up and performed the counter-curse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling. "What happened?" Hermione asked him, leading him over to sit with Ron. "Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!" Neville shook his head. "I don't want more trouble," he mumbled. "There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.
Natasha was furious at Malfoy. He was horrible at times, but was very nice times. It was as if he had two personalities. She was totally confused as to whether to trust him. Natasha put a hand on a pocket, on her robes and felt a chocolate frog card , which was one of the gifts. She gave the card to Neville and said,"You are worth twelve of that git, Neville. You have to be brave, that's all. You are a Gryffindor after all.". Neville gave the card back to Natasha and said,"I have a big collection, Natasha. I know you are a beginner to collecting so i think you ought to keep it.". As Neville walked away, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card. "Dumbledore again," he said, "He was the first one I ever-" she gasped. She noticed something in the card, which she had forgotten completely. She looked up at Ron and Hermione. "I've found him!" ,she whispered. "I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945,for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"
Hermione was excited, she then remembered something which she heard about in the muggle world. Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework. "Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Hermione came down with a big book. "I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading.". Natasha was shocked at the shear size of the book. She scanned through the pages till she found the right one. "Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!". Natasha knew about the stone, even the muggle world had some idea about it. "Isn't it the stone that is supposed to turn stone into gold,and give the user immortality?", Natasha asked. "Yeah that is the basic idea.", Hermione said and showed a passage to both of them.
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer'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 have been many reports of the Sorcerer'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 in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).
"The dog must be guarding the stone! As Dumbledore and flamel were friends, Flamel must have given it to Dumbledore for safekeeping!", Natasha said. "Exactly.", Hermione said. "A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Ron. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it.". "Natasha glared at Ron and said,"I am going to prove you Ron. I am sure that he is a good guy.". "And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron ignoring Natasha. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?". As the second Quidditch match drew nearer, however, Natasha became more and more nervous, whatever he told Ron and Hermione. Even the rest of the team was very nervous, mostly because of the fact that Snape was going to be the referee of the match. Natasha sometimes could spot Professor Snape following her, keeping an eye on her to make sure that she was staying out of trouble, or no creepy Professors were bothering her again.
Natasha knew, from her friends's face ,when they wished her good luck outside the locker rooms the next afternoon, that Ron and Hermione were wondering whether they'd ever see her alive again. Natasha was also feeling very nervous. Natasha hardly heard a word of Wood's pep talk as she pulled on her Quidditch robes and picked up her Nimbus Two Thousand. Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had both brought their wands to the match. Little did Natasha know that Ron and Hermione had been secretly practicing the Leg-Locker Curse. They'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Natasha. "Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis," Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve. "I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag.".
Back in the tent Wood had taken Natasha aside. "Don't want to pressure you, Natasha, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too much.". "Professor Snape is a good guy, he will not make any decisions without any valid reason.", Natasha said. Wood looked at her with a shocked face. "The whole school's out there!" said Fred Weasley, peering out of the door. "Even- blimey- Dumbledore's come to watch!". Natasha was feeling even more better at this. "Dumbledore?" ,she said, dashing to the door to make sure Fred was right. There was no mistaking that silver beard. There was simply no way that someone would dare to try to hurt her if Dumbledore was watching. Ron noticed that Snape was looking so angry as the teams marched onto the field. "Snape must be furious that Dumbledore is here.", he thought. "I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told Hermione. "Look- they're off…Ouch!".
Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy. "Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there." Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle. Natasha was already in the air, and started searching for the snitch. Natasha was a bit furious with Professor Snape when he awarded a penalty for Hufflepuff for apparently no reason. "So much for fair game.",she thought. At the stands, Malfoy had already started his insults,"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor house?" said Malfoy loudly. "It's people they feel sorry for. See there's the Weasleys, who've got no money , and Longbottom, you've got no brains.". Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy. "I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him, Neville.". "Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something.". Ron's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Natasha.
In the skies, Natasha was on a lookout for the snitch, the Hufflepuff seeker was also in search of the same thing. His name was Cedric Diggory. "He is kind of cute.",Natasha thought as she flew around. Natasha then saw a glint of gold near the ground and dived towards it. "Ron!" said Hermione suddenly, "Harry -". "What? Where?". Natasha had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Natasha streaked toward the ground like a bullet. "You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy. Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitated then clambered over the back of his seat to help. "Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, leaping onto her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape. Natasha nearly got the snitch when it went towards Professor Snape,she sped towards him as she had no other choice. Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches. "Sorry sir,", Natasha told without looking back. She caught the snitch shortly afterwards. Down in the stands, Malfoy and Ron were rolling around under the seat, and there were scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle. The stands erupted when they saw Natasha ; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.
"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Natasha's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front. Natasha jumped off her broom, a foot from the ground. She couldn't believe it. She'd done it - the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, Natasha felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face. "Well done," said Dumbledore quietly, so that only Natasha could hear. "Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror... been keeping busy... excellent...". After changing to normal clothes, Natasha saw Professor Snape and Quirrel walking towards the forbidden forest. Natasha jumped back on her Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle she saw them enter the forest at a run. She followed. She wanted to know, what Snape thought Quirrel knew. The trees were so thick she couldn't see where Snape had gone. Natasha flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until she heard voices. She glided toward them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree. Natasha couldn't make out the look on their faces, but Quirrel was stuttering worse than ever. Natasha strained to catch what they were saying.
"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all.". Natasha leaned forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him. "Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?". "B-b-but Severus, I -". You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step toward him. "Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie.". "What does he mean, loyalities, is Quirrel working with someone, is Quirrel the one after the stone.?", Natasha thought. He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Natasha could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified. "Natasha, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked. "We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right - talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens. Natasha was happy and smiled. Well done Neville ,she thought. Natasha said them everything what she saw, to them.
"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus- I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through -". "No, now i think that Quirrel is after the stone, and Snape is trying to stop him in his act. I knew Quirrel was suspicious.". "Why are you still defending him?", Hermione asked. "I know it Hermione, I just know it.", Natasha said.