16 Chapter 16: The Philosopher's Stone

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke up to snow that covered as far as the eye could see, freezing the lake along with it. The Weasley twins were punished because they applied magic to several snowballs, chasing Quirrell and hitting him in the head with them. You could see the poor professor cowering on the floor and covering his head with his hands out of fear of the two tyrants. Draco, who saw this, was somewhat shocked. In a sense, the twins were hitting Voldemort in the face with snowballs; the funny thing was that the Dark Lord could not retaliate. He'd probably gone purple in the face by now because of anger and the bruises from taking direct hits to the face.

"No wonder these two brothers ended up with an ear missing, it's better to avoid aggravating them or who knows what they'll do."

Right at this moment, several owls arrived to deliver mail; the owls were visibly fatigued due to the cold weather and long distances they'd flown. They had to rest and recover their strength under Hagrid's care before taking off. Christmas was approaching, because of it, all the owls were also busy, and there were simply too many letters to deliver.

Draco also received a letter from his family; Narcissa wanted him to go home for Christmas.

Though compared to going home, Draco felt that the school's library was more tempting.

"But I can still go there and come back." Draco thought of a plan he had devised.

Fingers crossed the pages of the book, and Draco, sitting in a corner, flipped an old book, and the yellowed paper gave the illusion that it would turn into powder after a touch.

"The restricted section is not just about dark magic, but also dark history." He gently closed the book, and the title on the cover of the book had already peeled off. There were several large characters in the centre of the book: "The Rise and fall of the Dark Arts"

Silently digesting the huge amount of information in the book, Draco suddenly heard the voice of a middle-aged woman: "What do you want to look for, child?" This was the voice of Madam Pince who manages the Restricted Section.

"Nothing," said a familiar voice.

Through the gap between the bookshelves, Draco saw Harry, who was glancing around and was currently being questioned by Madam Pince.

"Then you better get out. Go – get out," Madam Pince ordered.

Harry helplessly glanced at the gap in the bookshelf, as he saw Draco.

Harry hated why he was not clever and made up a plausible lie just like Draco could, like looking for books on world history. But then remembered that if he was exposed and they found out what he was actually looking for, he might lose a lot of house points for it.

Harry walked out of the library as he thought about it, he expected Ron or Hermione to have found some clues, but he didn't expect much.

Things had started from the last Quidditch match, Hermione said she saw Snape jinxing Harry's broom, Harry himself saw Snape's leg hurt and concluded that he must have got it while trying to get past the three-headed-dog. They inferred that he was planning something dark and was planning to steal something important, hence why he was bitten.

From interrogating Hagrid, they found out it was related to Dumbledore and a person named Nicholas Flamel.

But it seems that all clues stopped there.

In the Gryffindor common room, Hermione had buried her head into the dining table, while Ron was playing the boring game called Wizard's chess. Obviously, they too hadn't found any leads.

"I was driven out by Madam Pince," Harry said while expressing his frustration.

"I suspect he might be a muggle after all." Hermione gave a sigh of anger. "Otherwise, how could we not find him anywhere?"

"He is not in the "Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century", nor in "Notable Magical Names of our Time." In addition, his name cannot be found in "Important Modern Magical Discoveries" and "Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry". Hermione stretched a finger one-by-one while naming the information and sources she had come across.

"I am being driven crazy because of him." Hermione grabbed her unkempt hair showing how annoyed she was at all the stuff she had to go through.

"I think Madam Pince might know." Harry proposed.

"But we can't simply ask." Ron inserted into the conversation. "We asked Snape and I know that it is very dangerous."

"While I'm not here, keep looking for new leads." Hermione said. "If you find something then owl me."

"You can also ask your parents if they know Flamel," Ron said. "It's safer to ask them."

"It's very safe because both of them are dentists," Hermione said.

"I have a suggestion, let's ask Draco? He has the qualification to check the Restricted Section of the library." Harry said hesitantly.

"Harry, are you crazy? He's a Slytherin! Snape's their house head!" Ron exclaimed while standing up and saying, "And I don't think he will tell us, right, Hermione?" Ron turned his head to Hermione.

"I don't know." Hermione looked a little unusual. Apparently she still hadn't told them that she was actually communicating with Draco without them knowing.

"I don't think he is a bad person. We might have done something wrong in the train, we can go apologise for it" Harry said.

"You maybe willing to apologise but I'm not." Ron slammed the pieces on the board while shouting.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other and apparently decided to not continue the topic.

.......................................…..

"So you ran over and asked me?" Draco detached his gaze from the book and looked up at Hermione.

"You must know who he is, right?" Hermione looked at him with a pair of looking eyes.

"Is this person important to you?" Draco asked, when he already knew the answer.

"Very important." Hermione nodded.

"But I don't think I have the obligation to tell you." Draco's voice suddenly cooled. "If you are asking it for yourself, then I'd be happy to divulge such information, but your two friends will obviously not be willing to accept my kindness. Don't you think this is unfair to me?"

"I don't think so, Harry was also going to come and ask you," Hermione explained.

"So? What about Ron?"

"Ron doesn't agree. He seems to have some feud." Hermione's voice became smaller and was barely audible by the time she finished her sentence.

"Then I think I should not interfere, maybe if they know that I told you, they won't believe it." Draco stared at Hermione intently.

"No, it's not like that." Hermione shook her head and wanted to deny this.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway, Nicholas Flamel, is the creator of the Philosopher's Stone, a great Alchemist, as well as a friend of Dumbledore's, is this enough? Are you satisfied?" Draco said: "Then, Miss Granger Here is the Restricted Section, I believe you���re prohibited from being here, please leave."

"What! Why?" Looking at Draco's indifferent eyes, Hermione's heart was filled with an indescribable grievance, the clues she had just found did not make her happy. As she walked out of the library, the slight breeze made her feel cold. She began to examine the friendship between her and the three people, it was like a mess.

Looking at Hermione's fading back. Draco drew a long breath.

In the second encounter of the library, looking at the sad Hermione, he couldn't bear it; he comforted her, and took her to a Hogsmeade visit. However, the contradiction between the houses and her friends was still present. Once it surfaced, it would cause a great deal of suffering.

"I'll face it sooner or later, so why not sooner." Draco knew very well that this time, even if he didn't take the initiative, similar things will happen in the future. If this friendship wants to last for a long time, this was a must for both.

Hermione's face was expressionless as she returned to the Gryffindor common room, the temperature emitted from the fireplace made her feel warmer. as she entered the room, she saw Ron and Harry happily playing chess.

"I know who Nicholas Flamel is," Hermione stated calmly.

"Ha, Harry, your horse was beaten by me." Ron was about to take down Harry's horse. The two people who were playing chess suddenly paused. "What! Really? Who is he?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Hermione, you're so cool," Ron praised.

Hermione still maintained a calm facade: "He is the creator of the Philosopher's Stone, a great Alchemist, and a friend of Dumbledore."

"The Philosopher's Stone!" Ron cried out in surprise. "That's what Snape wants!"

"What is that?" Harry asked Ron.

"Fred and George actually told me about his. They said that if they got their hands on the stone, they'd be able to have an infinite supply or gold and wealth; they wouldn't even need to come to school! They also said this stone can make one immortal. A person who drinks this will never die.

"That makes sense!" Harry shouted. "Nicholas Flamel and Professor Dumbledore are friends. He probably asked the professor to protect the Philosopher's Stone! The Three-headed Dog must have been one of the guards. Snape tried to steal it but failed and got bitten. "

"Hermione, you are a great hero." Ron praised Hermione once more.