The Tangled World!

The Dursley Family's Only Appearance

Dumbledore stared at Nicolas, his brain failing to comprehend the words that had just been spoken.

"The Philosopher's Stone has been stolen."

Finally, his brain caught up with reality, and hundreds of questions fought to be voiced. Two of them fought their way to the front, and he choked out "How? Who?"

Nicolas shook his head. "I have no idea. None of the protections were triggered, and everything was exactly as it should be. I wouldn't have even realised it was missing if not for my fortnightly checks. It was there not four days ago when Minerva insisted I check on it."

Dumbledore's mind raced. Had Voldemort managed to steal the stone? Had one of his more competent servants managed to steal it for him?

"I'll need to take a look at the scene." He said.

Nicolas nodded. "Of course, but first, security checks. What was the first thing you ever said to me?"

Despite himself, Dumbledore smiled. "I said 'get out of the way, you old codger! I'm late for an important meeting with Nicolas Flamel!'. Well, if you want to play that game, then I suppose I should reciprocate. What did you say to me when you got drunk on the final Christmas Eve of my apprenticeship?"

Nicolas's smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "I... can't recall exactly, but it was something to the effect of 'it's a damn shame you're gay, because Elixir of Life makes breasts so damn perky.' I offered to let you grope Perenelle as an example and she wouldn't speak to me for months afterwards."

Dumbledore nodded. "Well, now that we've finished reminiscing about embarrassing events to confirm our identities, let us examine the scene of the crime."

The floo flashed green as Nicolas returned to France, and Dumbledore followed. They quickly left the parlour and entered the back garden to the Flamel residence, where their trap had been set. Perenelle was waiting for them by the boundary of the trap's wardline.

"Come on, you two. It seems our thief left a calling card of sorts, but the wards are keeping me from accessing it. We'll have to take them all down."

Dumbledore sighed. Taking down the wards would take hours. There went the rest of his day.

Harry's trunk landed with a loud "thunk" as he released the levitation charm and dropped it in the luggage rack. It was certainly easier than lifting it up himself, like he'd had to do on the trip to Hogwarts. Magic really was amazing.

"Do mine next, Harry?" Tracey asked. When he gave her an askance look in response, she clasped her hands together and pleaded. "Please? You're the best at levitation charms in our year."

Well, that was true. He'd cast the charm hundreds of times this year, mostly to levitate objects into the path of spells. It was less efficient than using a shield, but it protected against a lot more than a shield would.

Harry's levitation charm was so good that he was the only person to score an O+ on their charms exam, the precision and ease with which he used it gaining him just enough extra credit to push him over a perfect score. Flitwick had compared his spellwork to his mother's, which filled Harry with a sense of pride.

With a sigh, he cast a levitation charm and placed Tracey's luggage next to his.

"I'm going to tell mum that you're being lazy." Daphne chided.

Tracey stuck her tongue out. "You know Aunt Izzie doesn't care about stuff like that."

Daphne harrumphed and turned her attention back to her book.

"You've got your cloak on you, though, right?" Hermione asked for the third time.

Harry pulled the folded invisibility cloak out of his pocket. "Yeah, I do. We'll need a way to make my luggage and Hedwig's cage invisible..."