Chapter 15

Nicolas Flamel

After that night Harry never went looking for the mirror again. I also put in an order for the fluffiest socks I could find to be delivered to the Headmaster. The only problem was that Harry had a tendency to have nightmares about our parents' deaths since that night. When he woke up from a nightmare he would send me a message with Hedwig and I would meet him in the common room so I could help him calm down. When Hermione came back from break I took great joy in telling her what my brother talked me into over the holidays. She was obviously angry about what we were up to but she was also disappointed that we didn't find out anything about Nicolas Flamel. Since we didn't find anything, it was back to the books for us, or well, Ron and Hermione. Harry and I were much too busy with Quidditch to look through books all day. Wood has become a mad man when it comes to practice, we've been practicing day or night, rain or shine, and it's pissing me off. There have been more than enough times that Fred or George had to help me up the stairs after practice because I was so exhausted. While I hate the long practices, I can understand why he's so obsessed. If we won this game against Hufflepuff then we would overtake Slytherin in the race for the house cup. Wood finally snapped during a practice when the twins were goofing off and trying to make practice fun. They were dive bombing each other and trying to make each other fall when Wood started yelling at them.

"Will you two stop messing around!"

I rolled my eyes at him, tired of his attitude.

"Wood, we have been practicing like crazy, why can't we have a little fun?"

"Because Snape is refereeing this game and I don't want him taking any unnecessary points off."

This caused George to really fall off his broom and right into the mud. Me and Fred were quick to land and help him up while the rest landed and started to protest. Finally Wood got everyone to be quiet so he could speak.

"It's not my fault, we just have to play a really clean game so he has no excuse to pick on us."

It was clear on everyone's face that this was not the answer they wanted. When practice finished everyone was solemn and quiet. Harry and I walked into the common room to find Ron playing chess with Hermione, and close to winning, again. Chess was the one thing Ron was able to beat her at and reveled in besting her at something. When we entered Ron didn't even look up, he was too busy focusing on the game. When he finally did look up he noticed our solemn expressions.

"What's the matter with the two of you? You look terrible."

"Oh thanks, that's exactly what a girl wants to hear."

Ron just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Harry who had started telling them what we just found out. Hermione was the first with a solution.

"Don't play."

I rolled my eyes at the stupid suggestion.

"Ha, that's not an option. There isn't a backup Seeker or Chaser, if we don't play then the team can't play."

Ron then added in his idea.

"Say you're ill?"

"Won't work, Madam Pomfrey would have us right as rain in no time."

Hermione tried again.

"Pretend to break your leg?"

Then Ron added a new stupid suggestion.

"Really break your leg."

For that suggestion I knocked him upside the head.

"Again, Madam Pomfrey would have us fixed in no time."

Before any more suggestions were said Neville came through the portrait hole hopping with his legs stuck together. From what I could tell it must be the Leg-Locker Curse. He was having problems getting through the room so I went over and helped him settle on the couch where Hermione was quick to free Neville's legs.

"Alright Neville, I want names and I want them now."

"It was Malfoy. I ran into him outside the library and he said he needed someone to practice on."

I stood up angry.

"If you excuse me, I need to go make some fried ferret."

Before I could get too far I had Harry and Ron pulling me back to the sofa. Harry sat on the table in front of me and looked me dead in the eye.

"No killing Malfoy, well not yet. We already have to worry about Snape refereeing, we don't need points taken away for murder."

I crossed my arms but consented by leaning back into the sofa. Hermione turned to Neville with a concerned look.

"Go to Professor McGonagall, report him!"

Neville looked petrified at the idea and shook his head.

"No! I don't want more trouble."

Ron looked at Neville from the armchair he was sat at with a serious look.

"You've got to stand up to him Neville. He's used to walking all over people, but thats no reason to lay down and make it easier for him."

He gestured towards me.

"Look at Hope, you don't see her taking any of his abuse."

Neville rolled at his eyes and looked at Ron like he was crazy.

"I'm not brave enough to stand up to Malfoy, the Sorting Hat made a mistake putting me in Gryffindor. Also Hope is another thing entirely, she can kick Malfoy's arse and she knows it, Malfoy does too but he won't admit it."

I preened at Neville's statement.

"Thank you Neville, and hopefully Malfoy never will so I can continue to kick his arse as much as I please."

Harry sighed at my obvious pleasure and pulled a chocolate frog out of his pocket he had been saving for later and presented it for Neville to take.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy, the Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor for a reason."

Neville took the candy gratefully with a weak smile.

"Also, while I wholeheartedly agree with you about kicking Malfoy's arse, do you really need to rile her up anymore?"

Our group shared a small laugh from that. Neville stood up from the couch while opening the candy package.

"Thanks Harry, I think I'm going to go to bed."

He pulled out the card from the package and held it towards my brother.

"Do you want the card?"

Harry nodded and took the card while Neville headed upstairs. He looked at the card and had a small smile on his face.

"Dumbledore again, he was the first-"

He stopped mid-sentence and a surprised look came over his face.

"Harry, what is it?"

"I've found him."

"Found who Harry?"

He handed the card over and I looked at the small bio on the back of the card.

Albus Dumbledore

Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times,

Professor 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 for his work on Alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel.

Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten pin bowling.

There he was, Nicolas Flamel.

"So he's an Alchemist, any ideas on what books we can find out more about him?"

With that Hermione got an excited glint in her eyes and rushed up to our dorms. After a few minutes, she was rushing back down, this time with an enormous book in her arms. She made her way over to the small table and dropped it, making a loud pop that echoed in the common room.

"I never thought to look in here, I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

Ron raised his eyebrow at Hermione.

"This is light?"

I nodded my head.

"You should see what she considers heavy."

Hermione looked at the two of us annoyed before looking through the pages then finally stopping on one.

"I found it! Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone."

"And that would be what exactly?"

She rolled her eyes at our three confused faces.

"Oh honestly, don't you three read anything?"

"I do too, I just read fiction, much more entertaining."

Hermione rolled her eyes again as she pushed the open book towards us to read the passage she found.

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. 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).

We looked back up at Hermione who was practically vibrating at the new information

"See? The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he 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!"

"Of course, what a perfect place to hide a magical item with a dangerous person after it, a school full of children."

Harry smacked my arm at my sarcasm.

"Well now we know why Snape wants it so badly. Who wouldn't want a gold stone that allows you to live forever."

Ron also joined in with his own humored tone.

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

While we were happy to finally find out who Nicolas Flamel was and what was locked up, we really didn't know what to do with that information. It's not like we could go to any of the teachers and say that a fellow teacher was trying to steal an object that we weren't supposed to know about. Besides, Harry and I had more important things to focus on, the next Quidditch match. Harry finally realized that he had no other choice to play so he was a bundle of nerves constantly, but to be fair, the whole team was. He was also under the delusion that Snape was following us everywhere. I didn't think he was but I didn't really care if he was, It's not like he could do anything to us in a crowded hallway or anything. Potions class for Harry was the same if not worse. If I had to guess, he considered our conversation on Christmas a somewhat truce because he was treating me no worse than any other student. He wasn't favoring me like a Slytherin, but he was giving me the respect I deserved so I was giving the respect back. When the game finally came Hermione and Ron were treating it like it would be Harry's last game ever. I humored them and returned their hugs and well wishes before going into the changing rooms to ready myself for the game as well as hearing another one of Wood's pep talks. Before we left the locker rooms Wood had pulled Harry aside. It was a short conversation and before I knew it Harry was by my side once more.

"What did Wood want?"

Harry breathed a nervous breath.

"He told me that I need to try and find the snitch as soon as possible."

I nodded my head, he isn't wrong about that. The longer this goes on, the more chance Snape has of ruining everything. While we were talking Fred had peered at the crowd in the stands.

"Blimey, even Dumbledore is here to watch."

That made Harry perk up. He went and took a look for himself before releasing a much needed relieved breath. It was obvious that he found Dumbledore being there soothing, hopefully it took a bit of worry off his shoulders so he could properly focus on the game. We stepped onto the field to see the massive crowd that came to see what the outcome of the game would be. I was barely able to find Ron and Hermione in the stands but it helped that the ferret face was sitting behind them. He was the only one with hair that blond and Ron was the only one whose face got that red when angry. After both teams were on the field Snape stepped out in his referee gear and a face angrier than I had ever seen on him. After he stepped on the field, he gave the usual speech to start the game then everyone was off playing their positions. Me and the girls were able to score a few goals as well as the other team with thankfully no bad calls from Snape. In almost no time since the game started, I heard people cheering for Harry as he went into a deep dive reaching for the Snitch. However the Snitch and that deep dive were heading straight for Snape. Luckily he turned just in time to see my brother about to run him over with his broom so he was able to move out of the way. Seconds after almost running into Snape he raised his arm in triumph holding the Snitch in his fist, ending the game. The stands erupted into cheers with the win and the fact that the game ended so quickly, some saying it must be a new record. When Harry landed he was immediately swarmed with our team and other classmates, even Professor Dumbledore came down to offer his congratulations. I looked over to Snape and noticed the anger on his face. Deciding that my brother was distracted enough to not notice me, I went over to talk to the angry Professor.

"With all due respect Professor, do you really have to look like you just ate a lemon?"

His glare turned to me but instead of cowering in fear like all his other students, I stood there leaning on my broom with an eyebrow raised waiting for an answer. He went back to glaring at my brother when he finally spoke.

"He is a spitting image of his father right now, swarmed by his adoring fans."

I sighed both in frustration but also in understanding. While I didn't care for him calling my brother arrogant, I could also see how hard it was for him to see this blast from the past.

"You need to learn to separate the two. Harry isn't arrogant, he's just never had moments like this. Let him bask in it, when we go home we will not have anything like the support we have here. I'm not saying you have to forgive my father or anything like that, but you have to remember that he's not just our fathers son, he's our mothers too."

With that I left him to think over my words. I know that Harry will never be his favorite student, but I was hoping one day that there would be a time when he didn't look at him with so much disdain. I went over to join the group of congratulating fans and made my way through to grip my brother in a tight hug that he happily returned. We had gone and changed in the locker rooms intending to meet Hermione and Ron back at the castle when we were done. As we both stepped out though, we saw a dark cloaked figure leaving the castle and entering the forbidden forest. While I wanted to stay far away Harry had other ideas. Without even checking to see if I wanted to follow, he made his way to follow the hidden figure. I grumbled but ended up following him, at the very least to keep him out of possible trouble. While he followed he decided that it would be better to follow from the air so he got back on his broom to have an aerial view. I couldn't follow him in the air considering that I already put away my broom. I was thankful that I was wearing my school cloak at the time so as to not get cold after the game so that I could throw up the black hood and blend into the darkness of the forest. I followed the best I could considering he was running but he finally stepped into a clearing in the trees where he met with who I could make out as Professor Quirrell. I knew I couldn't get too close but I was able to get close enough so that I could hear what was being said. Looking up I was able to see Harry just skirting the tops of the trees to listen in.

"... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus..."

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private, students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all. 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,"

"I-I don't know what you-"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

It was with that sentence that everything clicked into place. On Christmas, Snape said he was protecting it and did not deny that someone was after it. On Halloween Quirrell was the one to announce the troll while everyone else was at dinner. Quirrell was the one after the stone after all.

"- your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't -"

"Very well, we'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

Loyalties? Loyalties to whom? I would suspect Dumbledore to be on one side, but who was on the other? Snape left with a swish of his black cloak and left Quirrell standing in the clearing. While at first he looked petrified, his face then turned to cold stone before walking away. I looked up to Harry once more but found him gone. Knowing my brother, I knew exactly what he was thinking, and it wasn't the same conclusion as mine. I met him outside of the forest and saw he had already put his broom away.

"Did you see that? Snape is getting Quirrell to find out how to get past Fluffy."

"Harry, I think you need to look at this a bit closer than what you saw."

He looked at me as if I'd gone crazy.

"What are you talking about? Snape just very clearly threatened Quirrell."

"Yes but not to get past Fluffy, but to stay away. Think about it Harry, Quirrell was the one to announce the troll on Halloween."

"And yet Snape was the one with the bite on his leg."

"To get there before Quirrell. Harry, trust me on this."

"I'm sorry Hope but for once you're wrong, he is awful to us, why are you defending him."

"He is awful to us because of Dad."

Harry was gobsmacked, i couldn't believe that i said that but he needed to know.

"Harry, look, Dad was a good guy in general, yes, but he was awful to Snape. I can remember things he said about him when we were babies. Him and his friends tortured him on a daily basis."

"Did you think about the fact that Snape was probably as bad back then as now."

"Even still, people don't need to be treated like that. He hates dad so he hates us. I really don't think he did this, Harry."

Harry closed his eyes and dropped his head with a sigh.

"I'm sorry Hope but i can't, you need to open your eyes and see Snape is a bad guy."

"And you need to to open yours and see that he's not."

There was nothing else to say, it was our first fight, and the only way it would be resolved is knowing who did it. When we got back to the castle Harry recounted everything to Ron and Hermione who immediately came to the same conclusion as him. I didn't even try to plead my case to them knowing it wouldn't make a difference. That night I went to bed with a heavy head and heart. I had never EVER fought with Harry like this, i just hope in the end it was worth it.