'Ello, mates! I'm back with Chapter Fourteen! I know that I said in one of my previous chapters that I would finish the first story in the series, but I'm afraid that I'll have to postpone the ending until 2013. Oh well. You can't always get what you want. Anyhow, let's get the show on the road! I'd like to take a minute to shout thanks to those who have rated, put this story on favorites and/or alert, reviewed, and gave positive or negative critique. Since we've hit the 20 reviews goal, I'm going to switch it up to 30. From now on, I'm going by 10s for review goals.
Disclaimer: The only thing I own that has to do with Harry Potter at the moment is a copy of the second and third books, Mary Potter, her belongings, and a Hogwarts costume. The copy of the first book belongs to my older cousin, Demi Finders belongs to Bob (as mentioned in the previous chapter), the songs mentioned to their awesome creators, and the original Harry Potter series goes respectively to JK Rowling.©

Onwards!

Chapter Fourteen

January31st, 1992

The day before term started, Harry, Ron, and I had sat near the fireplace and told the returned Hermione about the Mirror of Erised in our different points of view. She was shocked that Harry had snuck out in the close middle of the night eight times in a row ("Filch could've caught you!") and disappointed that we hadn't found Nicholas Flamel, even though I had told them what I found in Professor McGonagall's notes of the supposed staff meeting. It helped widen our search a bit, but the only interesting information on any stone we could find was the fact that there was a type of stone that was supposed to heal the blind. We almost gave up on using the library books for our source of research, but Harry kept telling us how the name sounded familiar, as if he's read about him somewhere before.

Once term had started, it became much harder to research Flamel, so we resorted to skimming through the books during our ten-minute breaks. Harry, however, was not able to study much because of Quidditch practice. It seems that lately Oliver Wood, the team captain, was training them much harder than he did the last term. It must've been the book Quidditch through the Ages getting to him. That was what I thought until I found out about the fact that Professor Snape would be refereeing.

"WHAT!" I exploded, causing the whole room to draw their attention to me. I waved back, causing them to turn back to their own business. Lowering my voice as I leaned forward towards the table, I quietly asked, "But is Dumbledore okay with this? I mean, doesn't he know about the hatred Snape has for Harry?"

"I don't know everything but I do know that we need to be able to stop him if he tries to hurt me again," Harry responded. "What Hermione did last time is a great example of what we can do, but it was at the last minute. No offense or anything," he added quickly in the said girl's direction, who just shrugged. Turning towards all of us non-Quidditch he addressed the main problem again by saying, "We need to be prepared for any last minute attempts at abolishing the game, especially this match because it is the second to last one before we go against Ravenclaw. Anybody have some suggestions?"

Before any of us could reply, a loud uproar of laughs sounded as Neville Longbottom himself walked, no hopped, into the common room with a jinx which was instantly recognized as the Leg-Locking Curse.

Hurrying over when he landed on his back with a small cry of pain, Hermione and I both muttered a counter spell to release Neville's lower limbs from the locked position they were forced into. Harry and Ron helped him to his feet while the poor bloke just sobbed out how cruelly Malferret had treated him. The fact that Malfoy would bully someone defenseless as Neville didn't surprised me, but it still made my blood boil and want to jinx the said ferret into a coma-like oblivion.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" Ron urged him, pulling me out of my thoughts. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me that I'm brave enough to be in Gryffindor," Neville choked out. "Malfoy's already done that."

Placing a consoling hand on his right shoulder, I spoke in a firm tone, "Neville, you were placed in here for a reason the Sorting Hat had foreseen, not because your parents were one. You're worth more than the idiotic git that beats up people just to feel good about him. And where is he? Why, in Slytherin."

Harry pulled out a Chocolate Frog out of his robe and handed it to Neville, who smiled weakly as he unwrapped the treat.

"Thanks Harry and Mary… I think I'll go to bed now… you want the card Harry? You collect them, don't you?"

As he walked away, Harry glanced at the Famous Wizard Card and I saw recognition pass through his eyes when he was the picture of Dumbledore. Flipping it over, he exclaimed, "I found Flamel! I told you've I read about him before! Listen here: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of twelve uses for dragon blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel!'"

Hermione jumped to her feet, probably remembering about that enormous old book she had borrowed a couple weeks ago, and dashed to the girl's dorm to grab it and came back before the boys even had a chance to exchange mystified looks. She flipped through it and hushed Ron every time he tried to speak. Finally, she found what she was looking for.

"I knew it! I knew it!" she whispered excitedly.

"Can I talk now?" Ron grumbled.

"Nicholas Flamel is the creator of the Sorcerer's Stone!" When the boys gave her a puzzled look, she huffed and said, "look, it says this: '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 immortal. There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas 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).' See? The dog mentioned in McGonagall's notes must be guarding the Stone! I bet Mr. Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"No wonder why we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," Ron said.

"He's not exactly recent." I added.

"If he's six hundred sixty-five," Harry chimed in.

"Is he?" we all said together.

So, whaddaya think? Please leave behind a review and take the poll. Flames will be used to make Chocolate Chip Cookies. There is another story on my profile that you can read while waiting for the next chapter and my friend is looking for some new readers for his stories, which can be found at .com/zlokomon. Happy New Year to all!

~ Annabelle4.0