Harlow, Susan and Hermione sat at a table in the library. Thick books with age-worn leather covers were piled on top of each other.
"I can't find anything!" Hermione whispered, shutting her book in agitation.
Susan swapped her book with another from the pile. "It must be here somewhere."
"Unless.. It might be in the restricted section." Harlow's eyes wandered to the empty section of the library.
"We'd be breaking the rules Harlow." A disapproving stare came from Hermione.
Harlow silently sighed. It had been 3 hours since they had started and they had yet to find anything. He glared at the clock, a reminder of how much time they had wasted.
'Perhaps Harry or Julian will be more inclined to help me.'
Standing up, Harlow left the library.
'We don't even know what we're searching for.' He thought with mild irritation. A stroll would do him some good.
Harry and Julian had decided to split up.
Tom had informed Harry on his idea to ask the ghosts and found it a much quicker way to yield results.
"So I'll go ask around whilst you ask the ghosts?" Julian repeated to make sure.
Harry nodded.
"Alright. Good luck Harry."
"You too."
His footsteps echoed down the silent corridors. 'Who should I ask first?'
He shifted through each ghost he knew of and decided that Sir Nicholas would be more open with him.
'Do not be to quick to ask Harry. Providing him with any reason to go to Dumbledore will not be good.'
Tom had agreed that Sir Nicholas might be a good choice though the Bloody Baron was more likely to know more. A Slytherin did keep their secrets though unless they received something in exchange. What they could offer a ghost, he wasn't quite sure.
It wasn't too long until he found Sir Nicholas meandering around the castle.
"Sir Nicholas?" Harry spoke politely. He had learnt from the best on how to persuade others.
The ghost spun around in slight surprise. "Ah Harry Potter!" He had a joyous smile on his face.
"Good morning sir, I was wondering if I could ask you about something?" An innocent expression fixed itself into place. A small portion of guilt squirmed in Harry at the idea of fooling someone who had done nothing to him but he knew it was necessary. Whatever was kept in the castle must be linked to Voldemort's stay.
'Dumbledore expects me to find it too.'
Nicholas lowered the height he was floating at. "Yes Harry?" He was hoping that it would not be about the fact that he was nearly Headless. First years seemed inclined to not understand the easy description and its meaning.
"Have you seen any odd packages being carried by any professors?" He tilted his head to the side innocently.
Raising both ghostly eyebrows up, Nicholas thought back the last few weeks.
"I must admit I have seen Albus speaking with Rubeus more often lately. Though I am not sure if that has anything to do with what you are asking?"
"Thank you Sir Nicholas."
Harry said his goodbyes and left, leaving behind a curious Nicholas.
'Whatever was that about?' He thought before continuing his wandering through the castle.
'So Hagrid is included. The beast must belong to him.' Tom deduced, remembering the large arachnid he had harboured during his time at Hogwarts
'So Hagrid is who we are going to next?'
'Yes. He should be far easier to extract information from.'
It was at these moments that Harry felt a strange emotion radiate from Tom. It was a mix of pride and satisfaction, providing an addictive feeling.
Filing it away for later inspection, Harry made his way to Hagrid's cottage.
Dumbledore fed Fawks as he considered the troll event. 'Tom is getting more impatient.' A grim smile formed on his face. Fawks cawed and nussled against Dumbledore's hand. "Thank you, old friend." Fawks trilled happily.
His thoughts turned to Harry. 'He looks so much like James.. Though his eyes are as bright as Lily's.' They hadn't deserved to die so young. Harry should have never had to live anywhere else than with his parents. If only he had acted earlier.
'I'll do my best to keep him from harm.' Albus could only hope that Lily and James forgave him in the afterlife. Wiping away a stray tear, he sat down at his desk. He had much to think about.
Hagrid had not been expecting company.
"Ello 'Arry! What brings you 'ere?" The half giant moved to allow Harry to enter his cottage.
"Good morning Hagrid." He offered a smile. With a deep breathe, he spoke, "I've seen the Cerberus. I know it's hiding something." Harry narrowed his eyes in a calculating manner at Hagrid.
On the way to the cottage, he and Tom had discussed thoroughly the way to approach the topic. Harry's interaction with Hagrid didn't amount to a lot. - The last time they had spoken was when Hagrid was discussing his parents and the night he was brought to the Durselys.- Tom knew that Hagrid got nervous under pressure which led to him saying things he shouldn't, having taken advantage of that very fact to pin the blame on him for the death of that muggleborn.
"How do ye' know about Fluffy?" Hagrid questioned, bewildered.
"What's he hiding Hagrid?"
Hagrid shuffled around nervously, eyes avoiding Harry.
"Now that's business between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. You'd do yer best to stay away from it." As soon as Harry grinned Hagrid realised his mistake.
"I should not have said that." He muttered quietly.
"Thank you Hagrid. I hope you enjoy your evening." Harry left the cottage. Hagrid closed the door, shaking his head at the mistake.
"Nicholas Flamel?" Harlow recalled having heard the name before.
"The famous Alchemist?" Julian added.
"Yes. I'm not sure what he has to do with this yet. But it is clearly linked to whatever the Cerberus is hiding." Something was beneath the trapdoor but he had no way of knowing what.
Sitting down in an area he had made within Harry's mind, Tom steepled his fingers in deep thought. The name rang a bell. He sorted through his memories. Finally, a page of a book that he had long-since read came to his mind.
'Harry!' He thought urgently.
The sudden thought had almost made Harry drop his knife. 'What is it Tom?'
'I believe I may have figured out what Dumbledore is hiding.' Both surprise and anticipation bloomed inside Harry.
'What is it?'
'The Philosopher's stone. An elixer of immortality.'
'Of course.' It all made sense now. Voldemort was a non-being suggesting that he would be seeking a way to regain his mortal body back. His excitement twisted into dread. Participating in a fight with Voldemort, physically or not, did not sound like an enjoyable activity.
"rry- Harry."
A poke to his ribs broke his attention. "Yes? Sorry."
"Are you okay?" Harlow looked concerned.
"I am, I just think I figured out what is hidden below the trapdoor."
"What is it?" Julian prompted. A sharp grin was present on his face, pleased that they had an answer to what had been puzzling them for most of the morning.
Harry looked around the table and saw Michael Corner inching forwards in his seat. As soon as they made eye contact he quickly looked down and pretended to be reaching for the fruit.
"Later." Harry mouthed. Julian nodded in understanding.
"When will you explain it to Susan and Hermione?"
"I don't know yet."
On the way to their common room, Draco ended up crossing their paths. "Ah Harry, I was looking for you." Draco's eyes skimmed past Harlow and Julian before finally landing on Harry. "I wanted to invite you to play Exploding Snap with me in the Slytherin Common room."
It was well known that Slytherins were very competitive against all other houses so being invited to their common room was unheard of.
Harry took that into contemplation.
After a few seconds of silence, he decided on a response.
"Sure. Julian, Harlow, would you guys mind meeting me later in the common room with Hermione-" Draco sneered at the name "And Susan."
They both nodded and continued towards the common room.
"Thanks for the offer Draco." Draco gave a pleased smile.
"We will be playing with Goyle, Crabbe and Blaise. Excuse the idiocy of the first two." He lifted the upper left part of his lip in disgust. "You'll find, Harry, that some wizarding families are much better than others."
Harry couldn't deny that Goyle and Crabbe were not the finest examples of supposed pureblood supremacy.
"Would you mind explaining the rules to the game? I'm afraid I've never played."
Draco stared at him with mild shock before returning to his senses. "I suppose that is to be expected. Father told me you had to live with muggles." He seemed to shiver at the thought of it. As Draco went through the rules, Harry made sure to pay close attention.
'Why would the Philosopher's stone be here though?' It had been a thought plaguing Tom for the last few minutes. 'If I- Voldemort was after it why would Dumbledore hide it at the school? Surely he isn't foolish enough to believe a Cerbrus would be enough to prevent him getting the stone.' His hands combed through his hair as he paced within Harry's mind. 'Unless he is luring him out.. When he is at his weakest.' A triumphant glint sparkled in his eyes. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place. 'Its a trap. The clue was not for us but for Quirrell himself.'
Unaware of the important discovery, Harry was now sat playing Exploding Snap with Draco. Most of the Slytherins had ignored his presence there except the few who looked at him with either interest or distaste.
Blaise pulled Goyle, by the hood of his robes, infront of him resulting in a card singeing his eyebrows. Draco nodded respectfully at Blaise's quick thinking. Harry had dug his fingers into his palm to prevent him from laughing at the idiotic look on Goyle's face contrasted by Blaise only having his lip quirked up into a small smirk.
He didn't succeed when Draco had needed to pat the fire out that had started on his hair. Afterwards, Draco had been giving a rather ferocious glare he might've been worried by had he not dealt with Dudley. Karma got him when a card resulted in Harry covered in a sort of ash.
"Be careful Potter, you might drown yourself." Blaise said scornfully. 'Pathetic Blood-traitor.' He thought to himself as he watched Harry engulf his face in water above the sink as an attempt to wash the ash off. "He's not wrong Harry, it'd be a shame if Britain's supposed savior drowned himself by accident after losing at Exploding Snap." Draco cackled. Harry gave him a rude hand gesture.
They played one last game before Harry bid them goodbye and made his way to his own common room.
'Harry, I've made another development.'
All attention was diverted to Tom's words.
'The clue that Dumbledore had given during the Sorting was not for us.'
'Why do you say that?'
'It was for Quirrell. He is trying to lure Voldemort out. It was foolish of us to believe he would attempt to send an 11 year old to battle.'
Harry was tempted to smack his face for his stupidity. How hadn't he realised?
During the long walk up to the Ravenclaw Common room, he traded thoughts with Tom about the situation. It seemed that they had placed themselves in a difficult situation. Attempting to admit it to any of the professors would probably lead to a tedious explanation and detention. Neither sounded pleasing.
Before they could reach a conclusion, Harry had arrived to see Hermione, Susan, Harlow and Julian sitting in the farthest corner.
"How are you guys?" He asked, sitting down.
"Terrible. I managed to misplace my library books that I had taken for some light reading." Hermione seemed on the verge of tears. "You haven't seen them have you?" Her voice was hopeful. Susan patted her on the back.
"No.. Sorry.. You might have just left them in the library when you were in there this morning." Hermione shook her head. "I already checked."
A rather foul thought formed itself in Harry's mind. "Maybe someone took it. Either in or out of the Gryffindor common room." Hermione's eyes widened in fear and she quickly excused herself.
They all sat awkwardly until Julian coughed. "So what did you figure out Harry?"
That shifted everyone's attention to Harry.
"The philosopher's stone."
"Why would that be at Hogwarts?" Susan said breathlessly.
Harlow and Julian were also puzzled by that fact. "Maybe because someone is trying to steal it. If they broke into to Gringotts, Hogwarts might be one of the best places to hide it." Harlow murmured.
"Nobody would expect it to be hidden in a school."
Julian stood up. "We should remain quiet about this. I doubt any of the professors would like rumours to start up."
Ravenclaws may seek wisdom and knowledge but they were not blind to the consequences.
"That seems smart." Susan agreed. She brushed her hair to the side. "I'm going to go check on Hermione now, thanks for sharing Harry."
The door swung open as she ushered herself out.
Eventually Julian made his way to the dorm room, soon followed by Harlow. The common room was soon devoid of people leaving Harry to sit quietly next to the crackling fire.
'The Christmas holidays are upcoming. I have something that will occupy us during them.' Intruiged, Harry listened.
'There is something I must show you. You will not share this with anyone Harry. They wouldn't understand.' Harry promised though his curiosity as to why was not quenched. He supposed patience would be required. Fortunately, after living with the Durselys for years, it was a virtue he had acquired much of.