Half Blood: Philosopher's Stone

The Philosopher's Stone

In the month since their failed attempt to get past Fluffy they had yet to schedule another attempt to do so again -Ron had suggested doing it during the holidays but Hermione reminded him that she, Bellona, Elliot and Maddy were all going to be gone. Hermione had enlisted Harry, Ron and even Elliot -who would have to look through her family's books- to find some information on Flamel and made Maddy promise to stay in touch with her over the holiday if she found out anything -Annabeth had replied to the request by saying she'd look into it and that she'd probably have some information by Christmas.

Maddy had her things packed and felt a little sad and disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see Hogwarts' beautiful Christmas decorations again until the next year.

She didn't bother going away on the Hogwarts Express, instead she took the opportunity to practice Shadow Traveling by hiding away in an isolated corner of the castle and going away to Camp. She landed just in front of the Empire State building, thanking her luck as it easily could have been so much worse, and caught a cab to Half Blood Hill.

Maddy walked up the hill and past the tree that Thalia had come out of over a year ago. She headed directly for her cabin, dropped her stuff in and then went to find Annabeth.

She found her reading a large book in the Athena Cabin -the first place she looked- an expression of intense focus drawn across her face.

"Annabeth," Maddy snapped her out of concentration.

"Hey, Maddy," she replied, looking up from her book, her finger resting on the paragraph she had been reading. "Welcome back."

"Thanks. Just an FYI, I'll only be here until just after New Years, then I'll come back for summer."

"Okay," Annabeth stood up and pulled out a few books. "I guess you came to me for the information on Flamel, well, he doesn't get mentioned a lot and he isn't Greek, although I think he might be a son of Hecate or related to her somehow. He was at least blessed by her. Anyways, the information I've gathered says that he created something called the Philosopher's Stone, also called the Sorcerer's Stone in some places. Now, I don't know how accurate the information I've found out about the stone is because it's mostly rumours but the themes that show up the most in correlation with it are immortality and the ability to turn any metal into gold."

"That's not good," Maddy sighed. "Do you think my father knows about this?"

"I'm not sure, you should probably talk to him about it, seeing as it interferes with his domain."

"Yeah," Maddy sighed. "Thanks Annabeth. By the way, I wasn't able to get any presents for anyone. I've been really busy, so, sorry. Now, I'm gonna go find Maude."

"That's fine. See you," Annabeth turned back to her book as Maddy left the cabin.

Maude was sitting in a patch of plants, twiddling her fingers as brightly coloured sparks gently flew out of them, creating quite a lovely show.

"Hey, Maude," Maddy sat down beside her friend, causing her to jump and the show of sparks ended.

"Maddy!" She hugged her and then withdrew, a wide smile on her face.

"Your hair is greying," Maddy pointed out. "How much older than me are you, again? Forty years?"

"Four years, and it's a normal thing for my dad's family. He started greying when he was fourteen."

"Oh my gods, Maude. That is ridiculous!"

"Hey, tell me about it. Anyways, how long are you going to be here?"

"Until just after New Years. I'm going to visit Hades sometime, though. I don't know how long I'll be but it probably won't be longer than a few hours."