The Three Brothers: The Cure

Elves

9th February 1992

"I've found him!" Harry exclaimed, holding up the chocolate frog card in his hand. "I've found Flamel!"

A few odd looks greeted him from some of the older students in the common room, but both Ron and Hermione beamed in excitement. Ever since Hermione had returned from the Christmas Holidays and expressed her disappointment about the lack of progress in the search for the mysterious Nicolas Flamel, the three of them had spent all their free time combing through the many books in the library. But they had struck no luck; at least not until now, almost a month in the new term.

"I told you I had seen the name somewhere," Harry whispered in excitement as he sat beside Ron. "It was on Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card. Listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.' See?"

As Harry finished, Hermione shot up from her seat and barrelled towards the girl's dorms, much to his and Ron's surprise. She returned after a minute, huffing as she carried a large old book in her arms before she sat beside Harry and began to frantically flick through the pages.

"What exactly—"

"Sssshhh!" Hermione shushed Ron before he could speak any further, her eyes barely leaving the book in her lap. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to both Harry and Ron, she finally broke the silence.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron asked in exasperation.

"I never thought to look in here!" Hermione continued excitedly, "I checked this out of the library a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" said Ron, who promptly shut up again after the look Hermione gave him. Harry still looked at her to complete her explanation.

"And?"

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

Two dumb looks greeted her. Harry finally broke the silence,

"The what?"

"Oh, honestly," she said with a sigh. "Look—just read this passage"

She pushed the book towards them, and they leaned over it.

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making 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.

There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

They finished and sat straight, digesting the new information.

"So, the Philosopher's Stone —" Harry drew out each word, but Hermione continued in her earlier excitement.

"— is the thing that Fluffy's guarding. I bet Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he suspected that someone was after it."

"He must have wanted the stone moved out of Gringotts," Ron exclaimed. "And he was right, wasn't he? The vault was broken into!" Harry nodded in agreement.

"A Stone that can make you immortal and makes as much gold as you want!" he said. "No wonder Snape wants it! Anyone would!"

Hermione nodded slowly, her usual politeness towards Snape notably absent. Ron spoke in an amused tone.