Chapter 41: Candor
Chapter 41: Candor
Vic liked the Weasley twins a lot. They were the kind of people who would try their best to bring joy to others even in the most desperate situations. He had originally just wanted to stop them from doing something reckless, but looking at their bright expressions, he couldn't help but think—
"Why should I hide the truth for Voldemort?"
Voldemort went to great lengths to conceal his true identity because he feared Dumbledore. What benefit would it bring Vic if he helped hide it? On the contrary, if he were the only one aware of a secret, he would be in a dangerous situation once it was discovered. But if the secret were spread out, it would be Voldemort who would be in trouble.
With this thought, the anxiety he felt from keeping the secret disappeared.
However, Vic didn't want to completely expose Voldemort and leave him with no way out. After all, even Dumbledore couldn't kill him outright, and Voldemort was only hiding at the school to obtain the Philosopher's Stone. If he found that his attempt was hopeless, he might fly into a rage and go on a killing spree. The students at the school were no match for him, and countless lives could be lost before Dumbledore arrived.
He hesitated and said, "Actually..."
The Weasley twins' eyes lit up.
"Let's find a quiet place to talk," Vic suggested.
The safest place for Vic, apart from his dormitory, was the umbrella room.
He remembered that there was also a hidden Room of Requirement in the school, but when Vic had watched the movies, he had been so focused on the plot and special effects that he hadn't paid attention to the Room of Requirement's exact location. As a result, despite searching intermittently for three months, he hadn't found it.
To avoid a movie-like scenario—where the protagonist discusses a crucial secret, only to have a eavesdropper behind them, leaking the secret to the antagonist and causing a series of tragedies—they headed to the umbrella room.
With the holidays approaching, everyone's enthusiasm for studying had waned, and only two people were in the umbrella room at the moment—Hermione, who was almost entirely hidden behind towering piles of books, looking frazzled from her intense reading; and Ryan, who had brought in a stack of wood and was in the process of making new targets.
"Wow, is this your secret base?" Fred peered in curiously.
Soon, another red-haired head poked in next to him, and after taking a look around, greeted Hermione, "Hello, Miss Know-It-All."
"Hey, I'm not doing well," Hermione said glumly. "Does anyone know who Nicholas Flamel is? He's not in 'Great Wizards of the 20th Century', nor is he in the 'Contemporary Famous Magicians Directory'. I can't find his name in 'Major Discoveries in Modern Magic' or 'Research on the Development of Contemporary Witchcraft' either. I've almost flipped through a hundred books, and I'm starting to think he wasn't written about at all!"
The people inside and outside the room froze simultaneously, then exclaimed in unison, "What are you talking about, Hermione?! That's Nicholas Flamel, of course, he's in the books!"
Hermione slowly raised her head, blinked, and for once, her face showed a touch of endearing bewilderment.
"You... you all know Nicholas Flamel?"
"Of course!" Ryan propped up a target and said, "He celebrated his 665th birthday last year, and it was even published in the 'Daily Prophet'! My dad says he might be the oldest person in the world."
"665 years old?" Hermione repeated, incredulous.
"Nicholas Flamel is the greatest alchemist," Fred explained. "He's the only one in the world who created the Philosopher's Stone."
"The Philosopher's Stone?" Hermione felt like she had seen that term in one of her books.
"The Philosopher's Stone can turn any metal into pure gold, and it can also create an elixir of life," George added. "When I was little, my biggest dream was to have a Philosopher's Stone."
"Transmutation? Immortality?" Hermione repeated, still processing this information.
Vic, who had turned to close the door, couldn't help but tease, "Hermione, have you turned into a parrot?"
Fred and the others didn't know what a parrot was, but they understood the gist and burst out laughing.
Hermione looked at Vic with hopeful eyes. "So, Vic... You wouldn't happen to know Nicholas Flamel too?"
Vic explained simply, "I've been studying alchemy lately, and his works are the first I read."
"Alchemy?" Ryan exclaimed in surprise. "That's a sixth-year course!"
"Yeah, but I can start laying the groundwork now," Vic replied. He asked, "Where's Theo today? Isn't he usually with you?"
"He went to help Professor Sprout with the greenhouses. I remembered that the targets we broke last time couldn't be fixed, so I thought I'd make some new ones." Ryan explained, patting his clothes and rolling down his sleeves as he walked over to pick up his cup for a drink.
Vic casually cast a Scouring Charm on him, ridding his clothes of the tiny wood shavings.
Fred straddled the chair, poking Hermione. "Hello there! Are you alright? Still with us? Do you know what day it is?"
Hermione, who was sprawled on the table, waved away Fred's hand in front of her face and sat up, annoyed. "If I'd known, I would have just asked directly—I've been searching for over a month!"
Vic flipped through the books on her table, all of which were on modern magical history and related topics. It was no wonder she couldn't find Nicholas Flamel—he was born in 14th-century France and would be mentioned in much older books.
"Hermione, why were you looking for Nicholas Flamel?" Ryan asked with concern. Whenever Vic was absent, Hermione generously answered their questions, and they had long considered her a true friend.
"I... I was just..." Hermione had wanted to say it was nothing, as explaining further would expose their midnight adventure in the forbidden corridor, but when she looked up and saw everyone regarding her with genuine concern in their eyes, she felt a surge of shame for her secretive behavior.
"It's like this—" Hermione hesitated but finally recounted their adventure, including how she, Harry, and Ron had visited Hagrid after the Quidditch match, and he had accidentally let slip something that made them realize the three-headed dog was guarding something related to Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel.
"So, that big dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone," Hermione concluded. "I bet Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him! He knew someone was after the stone, and since they're friends, it made sense to keep it at Hogwarts."
Hermione glanced at Vic but refrained from mentioning his earlier speculation—though she felt increasingly convinced that he was right, and the whole affair might be a test from Dumbledore for Harry. However, letting other students know that the headmaster was treating a particular student specially wouldn't be good for Harry.
She knew what it was like to be thrust into the spotlight, having seen how Harry was hounded by his classmates when he first arrived, and she was aware that her friend had been troubled by this attention.
"Then who's after the Philosopher's Stone?" Ryan asked.
Hermione replied, "Harry and Ron are certain it's Snape because his leg seems to have been bitten by the three-headed dog. But I think—"
Before she could finish, George interrupted, "—Quirrell?"
Hermione paused for a moment before saying, "What does Professor Quirrell have to do with it? Even though I don't think he's very competent—"
(End of Chapter)
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