https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-31-Discussion-About-the-Philosopher-s-Stone-and-a-New-Guest/13453237/
Chapter 30: Christmas
Chapter 30: Christmas
Christmas was fast approaching. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke up to find itself blanketed in several feet of snow, with the lake frozen over with a thick layer of ice. The Weasley Twins had been punished for casting a spell on a few snowballs to chase Quirrell around, pelting him behind his turban.
Liam watched the scene with a deep admiration for the Weasley Twins' brave act of striking a blow against Voldemort.
As the holiday drew near, some classes became particularly unbearable. Take Professor Snape's Potions class, for example. Since the classroom was underground and lacked any heating, one could see their breath as they spoke. It was even more challenging to endure Professor Snape's icy remarks while their hands and feet were numb from the cold.
"I really feel sorry for those people", Draco Malfoy taunted during a Potions class, "who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because their families don't want them."
However, Harry seemed unperturbed, if not a bit cheerful. The prospect of not having to spend Christmas with the Dursleys was thrilling, and Malfoy's words did nothing to dampen his spirits.
When Professor Mcgonagall registered students who would stay at the school over the holidays, Harry and the Weasley brothers chose to remain. Harry stayed to avoid the Dursleys, while the Weasley brothers stayed because their parents were visiting Charlie in Romania.
Hermione and Liam decided to go home for Christmas, as it was their first time being away from home for so long. They also promised to bring gifts for Harry and Ron, and looked forward to receiving gifts from them.
Despite their extensive research over the past two weeks, they still hadn't found any information about Nicolas Flamel. However, this did not dampen their excitement for Christmas.
Ten days before Christmas, the holiday break finally arrived. After breakfast, Liam packed his bag and joined the other students heading home at the Hogsmeade station.
After passing through the school's iron gates adorned with winged boars, they walked for about ten minutes to reach the platform at Hogsmeade station, where the Hogwarts Express was already waiting.
There were fewer people on the train this time, so Liam and Hermione found an empty compartment. Neville soon joined them.
Liam had planned to relax, but Hermione pulled out her homework and started writing. This made Liam and Neville, who were playing Wizard Chess, put away their game and start their homework as well.
After a day's journey, the train arrived at King's Cross Station. On the square in front of the station, they met Neville's grandmother.
Neville's grandmother was grateful for Liam and Hermione's help with Neville at school, which made them feel a bit embarrassed.
After saying goodbye to Neville and his grandmother, Liam and Hermione took separate taxis home. Before parting, Hermione repeatedly reminded Liam to ask his father about the origins of Nicolas Flamel. If he found anything, he was to call her.
When Liam arrived home and pushed open the door, he found his parents had already prepared dinner for him, which made him feel the warmth of home he had missed.
After dinner, until bedtime, Liam spent time catching up with his parents about his life at school and what had been happening at home. One piece of good news was that his father, Mr. Lambert, had recently sold a lot of copies of his new novel, so he might be busy with some book-signing events in the days leading up to Christmas.
After dinner, Liam read for a while before deciding to go to bed early. After all, a full day on the train was quite exhausting.
……
The Christmas holiday was enjoyable, except for the daily homework and the seven or eight minutes spent on the phone with Hermione discussing the day’s assignments. The rest of the time, Liam had a great deal of fun. With his parents busy and often out of the house, Liam began practicing with various mechanical objects around the house to improve his proficiency with the Winter Home Industrial Manual.
The best part for Liam was that he could practice magic in the World of the Multiverse General Store without the Ministry of Magic detecting it through the Trace. This gave him a lot more time to practice.
As Christmas approached, Liam went to the community library to meet Hermione. The day before, Liam had told Hermione over the phone that he had found information about Nicolas Flamel.
After all, when you already know the answer, finding the reasonable proof isn’t that difficult.
Knowing that Nicolas Flamel was a French medieval alchemist, it wasn’t hard to find him among a pile of resources.
Liam didn’t have to wait long at the library before Hermione walked in, wearing a blue down jacket. She sat down across from him and asked, “You said you found the answer. How did you do it?”
Liam replied, “After I got home, I asked my father. He told me he came across this name while researching for a medieval fantasy novel he was writing, but he couldn’t recall the specifics. So, I went through the materials he had collected for the novel and found these.”
With that, Liam took his backpack off and pulled out a stack of papers. He flipped to a page and pointed to the text, reading aloud:
“Nicolas Flamel, French, a renowned alchemist of the 14th century. His most famous contribution is said to be the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, which he used to successfully turn mercury into gold. According to legend, he achieved immortality and was sighted until 1929. Although public records state he died in 1427 in his hometown, greedy individuals who dug up his and his wife’s grave found it empty, further supporting the legend of his immortality.”
Liam then pulled out a map, and Hermione leaned in to see. It was a map of Paris.
“What’s this?” Hermione asked.
“Look here.” Liam pointed to a circled area on the map. “51 Rue Montmorency, the home of Nicolas Flamel. This confirms that Nicolas Flamel was a medieval alchemist who lived in Paris, France.”
“I see, so the Philosopher's Stone must be hidden there,” Hermione whispered in excitement. “Remember, that day at the library, Harry told us he suspected that the small package Hagrid retrieved from the deepest vault in Gringotts on the day he took us to Diagon Alley was the thing hidden under the trapdoor. Based on its size and other available information, it’s highly likely that the hidden object is the Philosopher's Stone.”
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
