Chapter 41: Honesty
Wade liked the Weasley twins a lot. They were the kind of people who would try to bring joy to others, even in the most desperate situations.
Initially, he only wanted to stop them from continuing their reckless behavior, but looking at their bright expressions, he couldn't help but think—
Why should I keep Voldemort's secret?
Voldemort went to great lengths to hide his true identity because he feared Dumbledore. What benefit was there for Wade in helping to conceal it?
On the contrary, if Wade was the only one who knew the secret, it would put him in a very dangerous position if Voldemort ever found out. But if the secret spread, Voldemort would be the one in trouble.
With that thought, the anxiety Wade felt over keeping the secret suddenly lifted.
However, he didn't want to completely expose the truth, leaving Voldemort no options.
After all, even Dumbledore couldn't fully destroy him at the moment, and Voldemort was only hiding in the school to seize the Philosopher's Stone.
If Voldemort realizes that he has no chance of getting it and decides to go on a killing spree out of rage, the students won't stand a chance against him.
Who knows how many will die before Dumbledore arrives?
After thinking carefully, Wade said, "Actually..."
The Weasley twins' eyes lit up.
"—Let's find a quieter place to talk."
For Wade, the safest place besides his dormitory was the umbrella room.
He remembered that the school also had the Room of Requirement, but when Wade watched the movies back in the day, he was too focused on the plot and special effects to take note of its exact location.
As a result, he had been searching for three months without any luck.
To avoid a scenario like in the movies—where the protagonist discusses an important secret only to have someone eavesdrop and leak the information to the villain, causing a string of tragedies—they headed to the umbrella room.
With the holidays fast approaching, everyone's enthusiasm for studying had dwindled, so the umbrella room was nearly empty.
Inside, there were only two people—Hermione, nearly hidden behind a tall stack of books, looking completely overwhelmed by her reading; and Ryan, who had brought in a pile of wood and was busy making new targets.
"Wow, is this your secret base?" Fred poked his head in first and looked around.
Soon, another red-haired head appeared beside him, and George greeted, "Hello there, Miss Know-It-All."
"Oh, it's not good," Hermione said gloomily. "Does anyone know who Nicolas Flamel is?
He's not mentioned in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, nor in Notable Magical Names of Our Time. I couldn't find him in Important Modern Magical Discoveries or A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry either.
I must have gone through a hundred books already! Could it be that he's just not written about?"
Everyone in and around the room froze for a moment, then spoke in unison: "What are you talking about, Hermione? Of course Nicolas Flamel is in the books!"
Hermione slowly raised her head, blinking with a rare, heart-wrenching look of confusion on her face.
"You all... already know about Nicolas Flamel?"
"Of course!" Ryan said, as he propped up a target. "He celebrated his 665th birthday last year—it was even reported in The Daily Prophet! My dad says he might be the oldest person in the world."
"665 years old?" Hermione repeated in disbelief.
Fred added, "Nicolas Flamel is the greatest alchemist ever. He created the only Philosopher's Stone in the world."
"The Philosopher's Stone?" Hermione felt like she had read that term in a book before.
George said, "The Philosopher's Stone can turn any metal into pure gold, and it also produces the Elixir of Life. When I was younger, my biggest dream was to own one."
"Turning things to gold? Elixir of Life?" Hermione kept repeating.
Wade, who had just turned to close the door, couldn't help but tease, "Hermione, have you turned into a broken record?"
Fred and the others didn't know what a "broken record" was, but the meaning was simple enough, and they all burst out laughing.
Hermione looked at Wade with wide, hopeful eyes. "So, Wade... don't tell me you also know about Nicolas Flamel?"
Wade gave a simple explanation: "I've been studying alchemy recently, and his works are the first thing I've been reading."
"Alchemy?" Ryan was surprised. "That's a sixth-year course!"
"Yeah, but I can start laying the groundwork now," Wade replied. Then he asked, "By the way, Theo isn't with you today?"
"He's helping Professor Sprout organize the greenhouse. I realized the last target I broke couldn't be repaired, so I figured I might as well make a few new ones," Ryan explained, brushing off his clothes as he finished and came over to grab a glass of water.
Wade casually cast a Scourgify to remove the small wood chips from him.
Fred, sitting on a chair with his legs slung over the back, poked Hermione and asked, "Hello! Are you still with us? Still alive? Do you know what day it is?"
Hermione, who had been slumped over the table, swatted away Fred's hand as it waved in front of her and sat up, and said frustratedly. "I should've just asked directly—I've been searching for over a month!"
Wade glanced at the books scattered across her desk, all of which were on the history of modern magic. Of course, she couldn't find Nicolas Flamel there—he was born in 14th-century France and would be mentioned in much older texts.
"Hermione, why are you looking up Nicolas Flamel?" Ryan asked with concern. When Wade wasn't around, it was always Hermione who generously helped everyone with their questions, so the group had long considered her a true friend.
"I... I just..." Hermione initially wanted to brush it off, since explaining would reveal that they had broken school rules by sneaking into the forbidden area at night.
But when she looked up and saw everyone's sincere, concerned expressions, she felt a wave of guilt for hiding the truth.
"Well, here's what happened—" Hermione hesitated for a moment, but finally relayed the entire adventure:
Their late-night escapade into the restricted section and, after the Quidditch match, how she, Harry, and Ron visited Hagrid. During that visit, Hagrid accidentally let slip that what the three-headed dog was guarding had something to do with Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel.
"So, it seems that the big dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone," Hermione concluded. "I bet Flamel asked Dumbledore to safeguard it! He knows someone is after the Stone, and since he's friends with Dumbledore, that's why it's being kept at Hogwarts."
Hermione glanced at Wade, but she didn't mention his earlier suspicion—even though she was increasingly convinced that Wade was right.
The whole situation might just be a test that Dumbledore had set up for Harry. However, letting other students know that the headmaster was giving special treatment to one student wouldn't be good for Harry.
One only had to look at how Harry was treated by his classmates after he first arrived at Hogwarts to understand the pressures of being in the spotlight. Hermione knew her friend had always been troubled by the attention.
"Then who do you think is after the Philosopher's Stone?" Ryan asked.
"Harry and Ron are convinced it's Snape because his leg seems to have been bitten by the three-headed dog. But I think—"
Before she could finish, George suddenly interrupted, "—Quirrell?"
Hermione was stunned for a second before replying, "What does Professor Quirrell have to do with it? I mean, I don't think he's very competent, but—"
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