The Heir Stone

Unknown

Harry wiggled his nose and scrunched his eyes shut as he tried to get rid of the persistent itch. Every time he breathed it would work its way up his nostrils, and every time he exhaled it would rub against he eyes. He was still so tired, but the annoyance was growing, and he wanted to sleep in comfort. Grudgingly he opened his eyes, wincing as the sun hit them, all he could see in the glare was a fuzzy reddish blotch of hair that he pushed out of his face. Reaching out he felt his hand connect with someone else’s.
“What’s going on,” mumbled Ginny turning sideways, “five more minutes, class doesn’t start for another ten.”
Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position on the grass, “come on Gin’ wake up. I don’t know where we are, but I can tell you it’s definitely not Hogwarts.” He took a bit of her own hair and waggled it under her nose making her giggle.
“Fine, fine, I’m up. You’re cruel,” Ginny teased as she sat up also. “Where are we?”
“Actually I think the more important question is, what happened?”
Ginny rubbed her eyes as she scanned the beautiful morning horizon, “I can’t remember a thin, this place does remind me of something though, I just can’t place it.”
“Same here, I just have a really bad headache. I agree with you, I feel like I’ve been here before in my…. Wait!” Harry exclaimed as realization dawned, “we did dream this, this is from our dreams remember? This is the field we had our picnics in.”
“You’re right, that’s why it’s so familiar. Ginny paused, frowning, “that still doesn’t explain why we’re here.”
“I just remember going to bed for the night, maybe we still are in a dream, and maybe this is some weird new part of the bond?”
“Well let’s enjoy it then! Come on lets go down to the river down there, it’s a nice day out for a swim.” Ginny jumped up laughing as she pulled Harry down the hill.
They raced down the hill trying to catch each other until Harry finally grabbed Ginny’s arm and pulled her into the lake with him.
“Ahh” Ginny cried out, “its so cold!” She immediately climbed for the bank Harry hot in pursuit.
Both of them dragged their waterlogged, freezing bodies out of the pond and collapsed in a heap of giggles.
“Well that was fun,” Harry said as he shook his hair dry.
“It honestly looked a lot nicer from up on the hill, who would have thought that the lake would be filled with ice water?”
“Now we’re soaked and cold, what’re we...” Harry stopped mid-sentence as he averted his eyes. Ginny had pulled off her shirt and was ringing it dry.
Ginny laughed, “Harry honestly, we’ve seen each other in pyjamas, what’s the difference?”
“Well there’s a bid difference because you’re not wearing any pyjamas!” Harry exclaimed, blushing slightly but also turning his head back a little.
“Well if Dumbledore’s right about the bond then we’re going to be together for a long time, you’re going to see me like this eventually,” Ginny said matter-of-factly as she stepped out of her trousers and laid them on the rock next to her shirt. Harry finally looked back over at her and felt his stomach turn over. She looked beautiful. He had seen her occasionally in her underwear by accident when they were changing over the summer, but something about her made him feel as if her was in a dream, she was perfect.
Harry laughed a little then smiled, “okay well you win this argument, not like there was much of one.” He pulled off his shirt and, after a moment’s hesitation, his jeans and tossed them both on the rock. He sat down on the ground and pulled his socks off wringing them dry. “So what do you want to do while we dry off?”
“Let’s have a picnic!”
“Sounds good, only problem is that we don’t have any food. I’d conjure some but you can’t, remember it one of only five things you can’t conjure. You can have some of my arm though, if we’re going to be stuck here I am more than willing to sacrifice my fingers for you.” Harry said in an affected, gallant voice that made Ginny giggle.
“I don’t know about the finger but I might take some of an ear,” she said and bent down and tried to nibble his ear.
“But I need those to hear, you won’t get them that easily!” Harry said and started tickling her. After a few minutes Ginny finally called out “truce!” and they collapsed in a laughing exhausting heap in the grass.
Ginny rested her head on Harry’s shoulder as they sat down relaxing in the sun; she played with the black stone that lay on his chest, running her fingers along the small gold inlay. “It’s so beautiful.” Harry murmured in agreement, lost in his own thoughts.
“There’s something more to it, it’s like it’s hiding something. I can actually feel it, not just the stone, but something else…” Ginny continued rubbing her fingers gently along the gold lines, feeling the intricate and unique trail it had. Sighing she sat up, for some reason this question she’d had in the back of her mind for a long time finally came to the surface.
“Harry?”
“Hmm...”
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, I don’t really know why but it’s been bothering me and I just want to ask you. Now before I ask I just want you to know that either way I will still always be there, no matter what.”
Harry sat up now, a worried look falling upon his face, “what’s wrong?”
Ginny took a breath, “well I know that we’re bonded, and I know that were going to be together for a long time…” she paused trying to find the right words, “…I just want to know if it’s because of the bond?”
“Is what because of the bond?”
“This,” she said pointing Harry then herself, “…us. I just want you to know that you don’t have to you know, stay with me. If it’s just so you can beat Tom then I am fine with that.”
“What?”
“Just wait, let me finish,” Ginny said, “Remember what I told you that night Harry, the night you told me about this prophesy? I promised you I would do anything I could to help you beat him; I still mean that Harry.” She said, now struggling to hold back the emotion in her voice and face, it was tearing her apart inside to say it but she knew that she had to. She didn’t want to keep Harry tied up in a forced relationship, especially after everything he’d been through. “But I also want you to be able to marry someone and settle down with them, and have kids.”
Harry now looked right into Ginny’s eyes now sparkling with unshed tears. He was shocked at what he was hearing; she wanted to let him know he didn’t have to stay with her. Something about her words struck Harry, something he hadn’t noticed until she had voiced them.
He had been bonded with her for over three months now, and although they were sleeping in the same bed, and held hands, it wasn’t what Harry thought of as a relationship at Hogwarts. Like Ginny had just said, theirs seemed to be more based out of sheer necessity, and although he knew he cared about her immensely he hadn’t been able to figure out where or how their relationship was really going to work out. The bond was just that a bond, did it mean that you were to marry that person or just be close to them? The question had bothered him ceaselessly but he’d never bothered to bring it up with anyone. But now, the way she was right next to him, every line of her face showing utter compassion and devotion even if it meant him having a relationship with someone else, he realized he really did love Ginny Weasley.
“I love you,” he said quietly, in fact he wasn’t entirely sure she’d heard him.
“What?” Ginny asked, either she really hadn’t heard him or she was startled.
Harry sat up now, and took her hand in his this time he looked into her eyes and again said, “I love you.”
Ginny’s mind stopped for a moment, stunned by Harry’s sudden absolute sincerity. She had been running this discussion through her head for weeks now and every time it had ended with him saying ‘thank Merlin!’ and running off to marry Cho, but now actually hearing those words from the one of the people she cared more for than anything in the world made her heart skip a beat. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn’t seem to find the words. Finally, forgoing words, she grabbed him in an embrace and kissed.
Harry was a little shocked by her sudden movement but as the kiss continued all of his earlier worries were erased, he was kissing the person he loved. Their bodies pressed against each other, the warmth of the sun heating up their backs. After what seemed like a lifetime the two broke apart, both of their faces flushed but smiling from their first true kiss.
Ginny wiped a tear from her face although she was smiling brightly, her eyes now alight with passion and happiness.
“Am I that bad, why is it whenever I kiss a girl they start crying?” Harry said perturbed, excluding one or two kisses from Ginny over the past months his only other kiss had been from Cho, and Harry tried to forget that moment.
Ginny laughed softly, laying back down in the grass smiling even more widely, “No Harry, you’re not a bad kisser at all, in fact your quite good. It’s just I’m happy. I’ve been so worried about what you would say when I asked you that question, I though you were going to say it was just to get the job done. When you said you loved me I knew you weren’t lying, I knew in my heart that it was true. I’ve had a crush on you ever since I met you and even with the Heartbond I still thought there might be a possibility you didn’t love me, but now I know. I love you too, I love you, I love you, I love you!” Ginny grinned and before Harry could say anything she leaned over and kissed him again. This time their passion grew. Harry kissed her ears, her nose, her neck, making her giggle. Being in just their underwear certainly was interesting seeing as nearly everything was exposed although it was just the third time they had truly kissed.
She ran her hands through his hair, rolling on top of him. Harry felt Ginny kiss his neck and groaned in pleasure but at the same time what was left of his restraint kicked in and he broke away. “No more…”
Ginny stopped, sitting on the ground next to him, “what?”
Harry say up and had to adjust himself somewhat to avoid embarrassment seeing as he was only in his boxers. “No more, not right now. I really do love you Ginny, I wouldn’t lie about that, but right now I don’t think we should go further, especially like this.” Harry said pointing out what Ginny was wearing.
She looked down and blushed, “I guess you’re right. Curse your bloody chivalry, I was really enjoying that.”
“Me too, maybe a little too much.” Harry grinned as he grabbed his pants and shirt.
“On the bright side at least we’ll be together a while,” Ginny added as she pulled on her semi-dry jeans. “Whoa, what’s up with your necklace?”
Harry looked down at his chest. The gold filigree in black stone was now glowing a pure white and he could feel heat emanating from it. He grabbed hold of it and although it was warm he did not let go. A soft pulse beat from it a steady cadence in time with his own heartbeat. The light grew in intensity until, even clasped in his hand, light spilled forth. Soon he couldn’t see anything, it was as if he were standing in
“Harry!” Ginny cried out reaching out to where she thought he was. He grabbed his arm and then found his hand and held on as the light continued to grow. She felt a strange beating sensation in her chest. The heat was smothering her as the light grew so bright she had to close her eyes.
The heat increased even more until Harry thought he wouldn’t be able to hold onto the stone for much longer. The pulse coming from it had now reached a pace so frantic it was almost a continuous shake. An instant later the light gave off a huge pulse of green light and dimmed instantly. Although the light was finally gone he could still see it in his closed eyes reminding him horribly of his dreams of Cedric and his parent’s death.
“Harry?” Ginny gasped, keeping her eyes closed. The room was dark but the light from the stone still reflected in her eyes.
Ron nearly fell out of his seat when he heard his sister talk. Hermione jumped up along with the Weasleys and ran over to the beds.
“Ginny!” Molly cried running over to her daughter as she woke up.
Ginny sat up in the bed looking around confused, “what’s going on?”
“Why are we in the infirmary,” Harry added as he too sat up in the bed.
“Whoa, mate. What happened to you!” Ron exclaimed when he saw Harry.
“What do you mean? I feel fine, why are we in the infirmary?”
“You better take a look in the mirror. Blimey, Ginny you have it too!” Ron shouted as he turned to find a mirror. Ginny pulled back from her mom’s embrace and looked over at Harry.
“What are you…” but Ginny gasped mid-sentence, “Harry, your eyes.”
Harry looked up and saw what Ron had been going on about, “woah. Ginny, your eyes…they’re…they’re…red.”
“Yours are green Harry,” Hermione added.
“Here take a look,” Ron handed him a mirror.
Harry took it apprehensively and slowly raised it up to his face. It was very subtle, but a dark green ember of a light shone from Harry’s eyes. If it weren’t for the room being so dark he doubted they would have spotted it so easily. “How’d that happen?” he muttered hand the mirror over to Ginny.
“Hmm, they’re not that bad looking I bet you can’t see them in the daylight. I especially like yours they make you look mysterious. Do you think it could have been the stone?” Ginny asked.
“What stone?” A voice came from the darkness as Dumbledore appeared smiling in his dressing gown. “How good to see both of you awake, I must admit you had us scared for a while. Very nice eyes by the way, they seem to suit you two.”
“I have no idea how we got them, they don’t really seem to do anything. Why are we in the infirmary in the first place? Ginny and I went to bed and that’s all I remember.”
“Nothing more? Well from what we gathered, this morning Lord Voldemort somehow attacked you. No, not physically, Harry, but mentally. When we found you and Ginny were both lying unconscious on the bathroom floor. She had called for help from one of the portraits before going unconscious. The only visible wound we found was that your scar had started to bleed. What was most alarming however was that upon first inspecting both of you, you seemed to be lacking a heartbeat whatsoever. Thankfully, it turned out that it was merely in a state of near hibernation. It has been nearly a day now since you went unconscious.” The headmaster folded his hands gently and then smiled, “I must say I am rather hungry. Would anyone else like something to eat while we talk?” He looked around but everyone remained silent. “Very well,” he shrugged and waved his wand, a house elf appeared carrying a large tray of assorted biscuits and pastries along with a huge pot of tea. “If you would leave this here that would be excellent. Thank you,” the headmaster added and the house elf disappeared.
“So you’re saying that Voldemort somehow got into Harry’s mind? He’s been free from that for a month now, his occlumency is as strong as yours.” Ginny asked as he busied himself about pouring a cup of tea.
“It would appear so, and yes I do know that his occlumency is strong. From what I have managed to gather however it would be the only logical way for Tom to reach out and, shall we say, touch Harry.”
“Why can’t I remember any of this? And why was Ginny affected too?” Harry asked. Knowing that Voldemort could attack him at will, even after having mastered occlumency, scared him. What scared him more was that Ginny was now somehow susceptible too.
“That answer most likely lies in the Heartbond, it acts as a bridge between consciousnesses and therefore when you were attacked she did too. If it was indeed an attack then it was most likely a first attempt, an exploratory one. Because of that he was probably reckless and therefore actually caused a certain amount of amnesia. Do you remember anything after going to bed?”
“Well I thought it was a dream but now that I think about it it was way too realistic.”
“We were on a green hill,” Ginny started now too realizing that what she’d just woken from hadn’t been a dream. Her heart leapt, knowing that Harry’s confession was still true.
“It was actually the same place from the earlier dreams, before we were bonded. We were on the hill and were talking. The end of the dream, right before we woke up was odd though. My necklace lit up, it got really bright and really hot then flashed green,”
“…mine flashed red,” Ginny noted.
“…and then we woke up here, with these eyes.” Harry said.
“I assume that this is this the same necklace from earlier in the summer?” Dumbledore asked.
“Yeah,” Harry said pulling it off his neck and handing it to the Headmaster.
“Well I did do some research on this stone after you showed it to me initially this summer but I am afraid I never got around to telling you,” Dumbledore explained as he rubbed the stone, “as I said this is a very unique stone, one that is undoubtedly somehow linked to your healing abilities and perhaps your change in eye colour. The few books that did discuss this referred to it either as the einrochen or magi’s fingerprint. The design explains the latter, and einrochen is Gaelic for heir stone. From what I could gather the powers of the stone seem to stem from its connection to the family it was created for. These were believed to have all been wiped out centuries ago though, but it appears that somehow your family managed to keep one hidden away.
There is very little written about these stones, almost as little as the Heartbond, it is believed to be a form of deep blood magic. This is not magic you can cast, curse, or produce in any way; this comes from times when magic first manifested itself in this world. These stones are directly linked to the seven original brothers who learned how to harness the power, these acted as their links to the magical world. Harry, I do not know how your family came into possession of this but it is beyond priceless. I am now only guessing but I believe that somehow, even though Voldemort did break into your mind, this stone prevented him from doing any damage.”
Harry took the stone back, feeling the warmth of it in his hand, “that still doesn’t explain the eyes.”
“About the eyes I am not sure, perhaps it was caused by the massive amount of energy Tom and this stone put off in the battle to occupy your mind, perhaps it is related to the Heartbond. Regardless, it is a heartening sign to see such a powerful object in your possession at a time like this. I am just sorry I just have guesses and no definitive answers”
“It’s fine, at least I know I should take better care of this,” Harry said as he put it back around his neck, “are we going to have to stay the night here? No offence Madam Pomfrey but I’d like to be back in my own bed.”
“I think that would be okay Mr. Potter, you too Miss. Weasley. I want you to get me immediately if something happens however, yes Mr. Potter anything.” She added sternly seeing Harry roll his eyes.
“Maybe you should stay the night, just to be sure…” Molly said being her cautious self.
“No mum, I’m fine, just tired,” Ginny said, “thanks for coming though.”
“We would be here in an instant, you know that. I just want to make sure you two are alright, after all you gave us all quite a fright.”
“I do believe they are fine Molly. You need not worry; you and Arthur shall be alerted immediately if that ever does change. Now it is quite late, or rather, very early and I think that all the students need some rest especially Miss Massey. I believe you are well past your bedtime. You all may go, and please sleep in. I will have Professor McGonagall alert your morning teachers that you may be absent.” The headmaster bade as Harry and Ginny crawled out of their infirmary beds and joined Ron and Hermione.
“Thanks for being here, I know it must have been dreadfully boring watching us sleep,” Harry said going up to Lupin while Molly and Arthur said goodbye to their kids.
“What are godfather’s here for? Anyways I’ve always been a bit of a night owl,” Remus teased. “I’m glad you’re okay Harry, it always hurts to see you bear the brunt of such attacks. Remember, I’m just a floo call away.”
Harry hugged his godfather, “thanks, I’ll remember that. Also Hermione’s working on some charms similar to the Order’s so we’ll send you one once we get it set up.”
“That would be great. See you soon.”

Location Unknown, Caucus Mountains, Russia
In a desolate part of the Russian mountainside where seemingly nothing grows a lone rabbit scampered from one lichen-covered stone to the next. The only vegetation on that horrible mountain were a few twisted pine trees whose branches had been all but burned off by lightning strikes.
The hare took a few more steps, looking up from its position when it heard the call of a hawk. Ensured he would not be the bird’s next meal he scampered around a large rock and, smelling food, wriggled its way through a small crack.
“Avada Kedavra,” Lord Voldemort muttered idly, instantly killing the rabbit, “dinner Nagini” he cooed as a massive snake uncoiled from near the hearth and went off in search of its meal.
A knock sounded on the rough-hewn door to his chambers, and in stepped two men who prostrated themselves at his feet.
“Ah, Lucius and Mcnair, how are you two enjoying your newfound freedom?”
“We thank you for granting it, you are truly a benevolent Lord giving us the chance to redeem our failure,” Lucius Malfoy simpered, looking up at the Dark Lord with a mix of fear and admiration.
“Yes, your failure,” his words echoed around the room making both men flinch, “well that must not occur again. You must complete this mission. Leave no loose ends, kill everyone.”
“Of course my Lord,” the both responded.
“We must send a message to Harry Potter and that old fool, they must know that their friends and family will never be safe, they will never be able to sleep at night while I am alive.”
“We will make Potter weep my Lord,” Mcnair said with a malicious enthusiasm.
“Of course you will, or else you shall suffer the consequences.”
“Of course, we will never fail you again.”
“Redeem yourselves,” Voldemort said, “but first, before you leave let me give you a lesson in obedience,” He grinned raising his wand.

Hogwarts, Scotland

During lunch the next day Harry and the others were approached ceaselessly throughout their entire meal, they had just woken and it was their first time in public since the attack. The rumours surrounding their brief stint at the infirmary had spread like everything else did in the school. The range of illnesses and causes for their stay had become so varied that Harry could have sworn some were just made up to confuse everyone. Hermione and Ron were trying to act as buffers for Harry and Ginny but occasionally someone got through.
Hermione was reading trying to read the paper at the same time as she kept a look out but an article had caught her eye and she didn’t see Colin coming until the last second. shook her head, “Sorry Harry, here comes Colin.” Sure enough the small blonde haired boy walked right up to Harry smiling as usual.
“Heya Harry, haven’t seen you around lately. Glad to hear you’re alright, I’ve heard that getting into fights with the centaurs are a bad idea but you don’t look half bad. Dennis and I tried to sneak up to see you lot last night but Snape caught us and sent us back.
“Anyhow, I know that you’re probably really busy, but I’ve been meaning to ask you about the DA. Is it going to happen again? When is the first meeting?” Colin spit out the whole conversation in one breath. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet waiting anxiously.
“Thanks for trying to get up last night, but we weren’t really hurt. I can definitely tell you that Ginny and I did not get into a fight with centaurs, we’d look a lot worse for wear. At least I would,” Harry said winking at Ginny who giggled. “About the D.A., Yes Colin, we will be starting up soon, we’re just getting the last kinks out of our new plan. I promise you’ll know when the first meeting is as soon as we do. Hermione is working on making more coins like last year so everyone will be able to figure out when to meet. Remember though, keep it secret, we don’t want Malfoy or any of the teachers to figure out.” Especially Dumbledore, I can’t imagine what he’d do if he figured out I was running this thing again. He thought to himself.
“Sure thing, Harry. I can’t wait for it to start, is there anything I can do to help out?” The boy asked.
No it’s okay, we have everything figured…” Harry paused suddenly thinking of something, “Actually there is something Colin, but it’s really important that you do it right.”
“Sure, I’ll do anything to help! You name it, I’ll do it.”
“Right, well we need you to quietly spread the word around the school just what I told you, we can’t let anyone get suspicious. Make sure they are members of the DA also, there are probably not going to be many Slytherins asking about our next meeting.” Harry said in a whispered voice.
Colin nodded seriously, just like a soldier receiving an order from his general, “You can count on me Harry! I’ll start right away, and I promise not to tell people who aren’t in the DA.”
“Thanks Colin, that’s a load of help.” Harry said gratefully. Colin could be a pain most of the time but he certainly had faithfulness, Harry wasn’t worried about him spilling their secret.
“Well I better go get started, wait till my brother hears about this, a mission for the DA!” Colin said as he ran off presumably to brag to his younger brother.
Harry turned to face the others and let out a breath of relief. “Well I’m glad we took care of that. Now I can finally eat my lunch, I’m starving. I’m actually excited for classes today, the only one I didn’t miss is D.A.D.A., Dumbledore is finally going to tell us who our assistant teacher is going to be.”
“Maybe it’s Lupin or Tonks,” Ron speculated.
“I don’t think so, we all know Lupin wouldn’t hurt anyone but not everyone else, plus he would have told us last night. I doubt he’s going to be coming back to Hogwarts to teach. And can you honestly see Tonks ordering around students? I mean she’s sometimes a bigger prankster than Fred and George. Remember the time she charmed that jar of potpourri follow Dung around everywhere? She said it was to cover the smell of his awful pipe but I think she just did it because he hates the smell of anything clean.” Hermione said grinning.
“Well I wonder who it’s going to be then. I don’t have D.A.D.A. until Friday so you’ll have to tell me who it is when you figure out.”
“It is Dumbledore we’re talking about, so it could be anyone,” Harry shrugged.
“Well we probably should head down there, lunch is almost over and I want a good seat.” Hermione said as she gathered her books and her bag, the rest soon followed suit bidding Emma and Ginny farewell as they headed out of the Great Hall and to the D.A.D.A. classroom. Harry stopped momentarily and turned around. He walked back over to Ginny and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, “I love you” he muttered feeling his stomach turn over when he said it. Although he knew the time last night was real saying it to her here made him feel as if it were the first.
Ginny looked up, “I love you Harry Potter,” then gave him a silly grin, “see you tonight.”
Harry smiled back and then headed off to catch up to Ron and Hermione.
“What was that all about?” Hermione asked grinning as they took the stairs two at a time up to the classroom.
“What was what all about?” Harry asked innocently.
“You giving Ginny a goodbye kiss, I haven’t seen you two so much as hold hands these past three months and now you kiss her?”
“It was just a kiss,” he evaded the question.
“Spill it Harry, I know it’s been only a few hours but you two have been acting differently since you woke up. I mean besides the eyes.”
Harry sighed, he knew he’d have to tell them something, especially with Hermione’s tireless questioning, “Fine…we just had a discussion and decided that it wasn’t just the bond in our relationship. We really do like each other.” Even at saying just this Harry started to smile.
“Ginny finally talked to you about that? She was so nervous about what you’d say,” Hermione said.
“What was she nervous about?” Ron asked looking up from his D.A.D.A. notes.
“Your sister wanted to know if the bond was just a tool, I told her it wasn’t.” Harry said.
“Well it better not be, if you were just using her I would have to knock you out,” Ron said with a shockingly large amount of sincerity.
“Don’t worry mate, you know I would never do anything to hurt her. If I did I’d take care of the punishment myself. Wow, look how many people there are already,” Harry said as they turned the corner.
There was already a long line of other students who were just as anxious to learn who their assistant teacher would be for the rest of the year. The crowd waited outside the classroom for about five minutes until the door swung open and Dumbledore called. “Let’s start class everyone, come inside quickly. I can assure you we will want all the time that we are allotted.”
Everyone pushed through the entrance and there was a small skirmish over who got the seats closest to the front. Once everyone was settled down Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. “Excellent! Now that we’re all situated I can introduce our new teacher, he will teach whenever I am not available or when there is something that requires a little extra instruction. I daresay he has several hundred years of experience on me.” Dumbledore chuckled, his eye twinkling. Harry hadn’t seen Dumbledore truly smile or laugh in a long time, ever since Voldemort returned that night at the Ministry of Magic he’d become increasingly dour. “Would you please give your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher a warm welcome. Nicholas you can come out now.”
Out from the teacher’s quarters strolled an old man who looked as if he were Father Time himself. Innumerable wrinkles covered his entire face yet it did not hide his large smile and piercing dark blue eyes. He seemed to posses a certain sense of calm and knowledge that reminded Harry of what Merlin might have been like.
“Nicholas Flamel, Professor Flamel to you all, has been a dear friend of mine for countless decades; he and I go back many years. You may recognize him from the Chocolate Frog cards that I know you, just like me, collect religiously. He has been kind enough to offer some of his free time to supplement my teaching with some of his own ideas,” the Headmaster smiled, his eyes were distant however, as if he were recounting some past memory.
“Perhaps you’d like to say something to your new students Nicholas?” The classroom was obviously murmuring with excitement over the announcement of their new teacher. Almost everyone had heard about Nicholas Flamel, who was most well known for his creation of the Philosopher’s Stone. Hermione, Ron, and Harry shared an uncertain look. Dumbledore told them that Nicholas had destroyed the Stone and had only enough elixir to organize his estate. Maybe he still is putting his affairs in order, I mean he has been alive for six-hundred years, Harry reasoned. But he still didn’t completely believe it, it was strange to be so close to the person whose creation he had fought hand to hand with Voldemort to protect.
“Thank you Albus for that flattering introduction, I doubt I will be able to supplement your teaching much however. You seem to have a better knack at it than I do, I daresay I’m more of a tinkerer.” The man let out a baritone laugh that filled the room. His voice was both kind yet assertive, born from the 600 years of his life’s experiences. “Your headmaster asked me to help him because he wants to make sure you are all prepared for the next few years. I am sad to say they are most likely going to be filled with strife and conflict hopefully few others will have to deal with. I owed him a favour and figured it would be nice to return once again to Hogwarts. I hope to be able to help you all learn how to protect yourself and your family. Oh, and one other thing, I’m not much on titles so you can just call me Nicholas or Nick in class, no professor. I feel old enough already. Seeing as I am a teacher now I think that is okay Albus?” Nick smiled at his old friend as the class burst out I laughter
“Of course Nicholas, whatever you see fit. What do you say we start our class then, we have a double period so hopefully we can cover a decent part of the more mundane literature and still have ample time for demonstrations,” Dumbledore waved his wand and a black board appeared along with notes on how to check and set simple wards around a house.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other students listened for an hour as Nick and Dumbledore covered everything there was on the blackboard. Usually lectures had a soporific effect on the students yet everyone in this room was wide awake, scribbling furiously at their notebooks. Having Dumbledore as a teacher was one thing, but having both Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel, two legends of their times, teaching was another thing completely.
Harry couldn’t help but compare this class to one of Umbridge’s. Her’s involved a completely silent room where the only noises was the occasional turn of the page or a muffled cough. This new class was loud and filled with energetic discussion. Dumbledore and Nick fed off each other each other, adding onto the other’s arguments or ideas. If someone had a question they barely had to raise their hand before the question was answered.
By the time they had gotten through the whole blackboard Harry realized he probably had learned more in that one hour than all of last year. And when it was time for the practical section of the class almost everyone was able to cast a ward strong enough to repel an intruder if he or she touched it. Harry had never seen Neville cast anything in class that hadn’t taken him at least half –a-dozen tries, yet today he was casting each ward with little difficulty.
“Alright everyone, superb job today! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be teaching such an enthusiastic class. Judging by the way things went today we’ll be finished with the scheduled curriculum by mid December!” Nicholas said clapping his hands happily.
“Homework for tonight is to review your notes from class and be prepared to be tested on them in this class or Professor Moody and Shaklebolt’s. Be forewarned, anything taught in this class or theirs is fair game on a test. If there aren’t any questions you are dismissed.” Dumbledore said waving his and making the door swing open. The students filed out the door each stopping to shake Nicholas’ hand and thank both of their teachers. “Harry, do you have a moment?” Dumbledore asked as he was walking to towards the door.
“Sure,” Harry stalled as the other students left the room, he told Ron and Hermione he’d see them for later, and then headed over to Dumbledore and Nicholas.
“So you’re Harry Potter. The saviour of my stone, ‘the?” Nick said as he shook Harry’s hand.
“I didn’t really do anything sir, Professor Dumbledore’s mirror just gave it to me.” Harry said modestly.
“Nonsense! Albus told me the whole story, you and your two friends managed to get by the traps and puzzles of every teacher here. I think I owe you a thank you, you prevented Tom from getting his greasy hands on it.” Nicholas said.
“Er, your welcome, but I couldn’t have done it without my friends.” Harry said blushing slightly under his praise.
“Of course, that’s that friends are for! Albus has helped me out countless times when it got a little sticky. I still owe you for getting me out that spot of trouble with the Ministry. You know, the one with the barrel of leeches and a box of that Muggle dynamite?” He nudged Dumbledore, tipping his head in thanks.
“How could I forget Nicholas, they were forced to write up a new bill after I used that loophole,” Dumbledore smiled softly. “Harry I noticed your confusion when Nicholas walked in, I assume that is because of my last mention of him a few years ago?”
“Umm, yes sir, I mean you said he’d destroyed the stone didn’t you?”
“Well I guess you don’t know much about the Philosopher’s Stone, there isn’t much information out there anyhow, Merlin knows, he wrote all of it. Well even if you stop taking the elixir the potion will last in your bloodstream for a certain amount of time. This increases exponentially the longer you consume it, so for Nicholas here he still has it in his blood for…oh, you’ll have to help me Flamel, I don’t have the same mind as you do when it comes to the math.”
“My wife and I ran out of elixir about two years ago which means I have about a decade left before it is completely out of my system. So I’m afraid I’ll be around for just a bit longer.” Flamel said jovially.
“Quite so, and I am really glad that you agreed to teaching,” Dumbledore said.
“Well I was pleasantly surprised today; you and the others have quite a work ethic!”
“You have Harry to thank for that too, last year he started and ran a defence club outside of school when he realized our last teacher wasn’t exactly teaching them what they needed. The club members all scored over outstanding on their O.W.L.s this summer which is quite a feat.” Dumbledore looked proudly at Harry.
“Excellent, well I shan’t keep you any longer my dear boy, I just wanted to meet your personally so I could thank you. I’ll be quite interested to talk to you some more though, I’m sure that we might be able to pick each other’s brains for some useful information.”
“Nice to meet you. See you Headmaster,” Harry said shaking Nicholas’ hand once again and heading upstairs to Offensive Light Magic.