A Prophecy of Two Boys

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Harry's Point of View

Easter was slow in coming, but I don't think Percy or I had ever been so glad for its arrival. School hadn't exactly been difficult, but the couple weeks had seemed to drag, and we were in desperate need for a break. On the plus side, Charles had been spending more time with us recently, and we'd become closer during the tutoring sessions Percy and I were giving him. Draco and the others had eventually come around to see the un-stuck-up side of our brother, and had relaxed enough to be on a first name basis with him.

I contemplated all of this as we sat in the library, enjoying the hushed silence of the place. The tall bookshelves towered high above our heads, and books flew around as they resorted themselves back into their rightful places on the selves. We were hiding in the furthest corner of the library, surrounded by forgotten, dusty books. For some reason the house elves hadn't been dusting in this area of the library in a while. For whatever the reason was, I was glad. It made it feel more homely, like the library back at Potter Manor.

As I took in our surroundings something caught Percy's attention, and he quickly pointed it out to me.

'Look – over there!' Percy pointed to a shelf to our right. There was a line in the dust, where a book had been taken out. Given the wood was gleaming slightly in the sunlight, I reckoned it had been rather recently. Curious now, I stood up and moved closer to the shelf. Sure enough, one of the books was also cleaner, as if someone had wiped the dust off its spin. I picked up the book.

One page in the book had been dog eared, marking it out. Annoyed that anyone would treat a book like this, I scowled. Percy laughed.

'Dude, it's just an inanimate object. Really, it's not such a big deal!'

I rolled my eyes mentally. 'Percy, this is an extremely old book. Merlin only knows how many copies exist. This is ruining the book for others!'

'It was useful though.' Percy said randomly, having read the page. 'Look at this – somebody's been trying to look up the Philosopher's Stone.'

'What?' I focused on the page.

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with the making of the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

'The Philosopher's Stone…' I pondered. 'Why would someone be researching that old relic? Do you think it was for some sort of project.'

'Maybe…' Percy frowned. 'But wouldn't they just take the book out the library if that was the case? Why leave it here?'

'Good point.' I agreed. 'Which is why I suggest we take it out and see who comes looking for it.'

Percy chuckled. 'You really do belong with the snakes, don't you?'

Just as we were gathering up our stuff to leave, we heard voices moving closer. Percy made me pause, listening into the conversation. To our surprise, the voices were very familiar.

"Don't you see? That dog must be protecting the Philosopher's Stone! I bet it was because Dumbledore and Flamel were close, so he asked him to guard it for him…" The Granger girl was whispering loudly. "He must have known someone was after it so he had to have it removed from Gringotts."

"A Stone that can create gold and make you immortal… no wonder Snape wants it!" Charles replied. I frowned. Why would they expect Snape to want the Philosopher's Stone? And if they were talking about Dumbledore protecting it that would imply… of course! The 3rd Floor was put out of bounds this year.