Adrian Craddock and The Philosopher's Stone

Revelations and Nicolas Flamel

Harry and Aiden just sat in silence, staring at the parchment in shock. Seconds went by before they could look away. When they did, they immediately looked at the other. Harry was the first to regain his voice.

"Did you-"

"No. No, I didn't." Aiden interrupted.

The two looked back at the parchment and began to trace the tree. Aiden noticed his mum and Harry's dad had the same parents.

"So this would make us..." Harry began.

"First cousins." Aiden answered. "My mum and your dad were siblings."

"Yeah."

The now-revealed-to-be-cousins fell into an awkward silence. The silence eventually turned into a thoughtful one. While both were surprised to find out they were related, they were also ecstatic. They still had family, actual family (Harry only considered the Dursleys his relatives and still didn't like to call them even that) and already knew them quite well. They looked at each other and flashed a small smile. Harry then moved over to his own bed and Aiden stored the journal and the family tree in his trunk. He thought about the revelations that today brought and then fell asleep.

oOo

The next few weeks were uneventful, as Harry, Aiden and Ron couldn't find information on Nicolas Flamel. Harry, however, informed the other two what he found out about the mirror. It was called the Mirror of Erised and shows your heart's desire. Harry and Ron began to suspect that Aiden lied about what he saw in the Mirror, since his face went beet-red when Harry gave that information.

The day before the next term was also the day students came back from holiday. Aiden waited for Hermione to show up. When she did, she greeted him with a hug and thanked him for the book. He also thanked her for the map, saying without it, he would've been in Edinburgh if he was going to Manchester.

He and Harry also decided to tell Ron and Hermione what they discovered when Hermione came back to school. To say they were surprised would be an understatement.

"Are you serious?" asked Hermione, her tone disbelieving.

"You two are cousins?!" asked/shouted Ron.

Ron, unfortunately, was overheard and Aiden could now say he believed what Ethan said about how fast news spread around Hogwarts. By the end of the day even the portraits knew Potter and Craddock were related. Malfoy used this information to taunt both Aiden and Harry.

"You and Potter, cousins? Your father must've been desperate to marry if he chose a Potter, Craddock." he sneered.

Aiden's retort of, "Well at least, my father didn't marry someone he was related to. Your family reunions must be getting smaller and smaller.", cost Gryffindor 30 points in Potions. 30 points most Gryffs thought were worth losing.

oOo

A few weeks had passed and the four were still no closer to finding out Nicolas Flamel's identity. They were in the library when Hermione slammed a book on the desk, startling Harry and Ron. Aiden snickered as he put down the book he was reading.

"I had you looking in the wrong section! How could I be so stupid?! I checked this out a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading." Hermione says, opening the first page.

"This is light?" asked Ron, looking up from the book, only to look down again due to a fierce glare from Hermione. 

"Of course! Here it is! 'Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!'" Aiden said after reading a bit of the book.