Pursuing Ancient Mysteries

It was the end of May and, as the gossip had suggested, Madam Spurl announced she was moving on. Harry had hoped she would stay. Malfoy, annoying as he was, did have good sources.

"Why are you leaving?" Neville of all people asked. Maybe she had gotten through to him.

"There's a new lead on the Chamber of Blood Mages at Chichen Itza. I'm going to be there when we open that place up. The search for it has taken forty-three cursebreakers that we know of. The great challenge in the field right now, at least since the Valley of the Kings gave up her secrets."

She had to go. Harry understood.

He was mulling things over for the rest of class.

As soon as she said, "Dismissed," Harry didn't waste any more time. He sought her out and asked when she would be in her office.

"Why not now?"

She showed Harry to a chair and sat across from him.

"I can see that you love the little stories I tell. So are you a historian, a traveler, a cursebreaker?"

"I don't know."

"Course you don't. Too young. But you answered honestly. What do you think you might be?"

"I'd rather travel or break curses than read books."

"So you're beginning to know your mind. Good. Have you found a book on the Floating Castle?"

"No."

Madam Spurl pushed over a pen, a biro you could buy in a normal shop, and scrap paper. Made out of wood. "Write it down before your eyes pop from your head."

Harry did.

"I wasn't one of the ones to find it. I was brought in to bring it down. The invisibility matrix they had going was failing and it had been long abandoned, by people at least. Quite a few colonies of birds had taken up residence. Smelly place when I got there, smelled like...well, you can imagine. The trouble began when an airliner smacked into it and sheared off part of a wing..."

Harry listened to everything she had to say. He wrote plenty of notes on things to look up later, also the names of some people she had mentioned who might also be willing to talk adventuring. She didn't seem to like many people, but she knew everyone.

Harry now had more things to look into. Maybe the following summer? This coming one was already planned to some extent, assuming he found anything in Godric's Hollow. If it was a bust, a total bust, what might he do then?

...

Harry was called to Professor Flamel's office at the start of June. He'd been expecting a summons, but was surprised it had taken the entire school year. While witches and wizards had been figuratively sieging Hogwarts to get a little time with Nicholas Flamel, who had been reclusive for most of the last quarter-millenium, Harry had thought the man had more to ask Harry or tell him.

Harry walked up the stairs to the open door.

"Come in. Take a gander. I'll be with you in a moment. Perenelle will be joining us."

Harry looked at the old professor behind his desk. Harry could only make out the one trait about him: old. Harry did not know how the Professor did that.

He looked around the room after he was certain he wasn't going to unravel the Headmaster's secrets. It was Harry's first time in this office. When he'd gone looking for the Headmaster concerning a certain ghost, the man had been in the Great Hall.

Harry frowned. Dumbledore was still plaguing Harry with all varieties of nonsensical advice. His latest? Harry should sign up for divination for his electives. 'It is very helpful for young men like yourself.' Whatever that meant.

In the office, there were walls of books and dozens of animated portraits of old men and a few old women. There was some kind of bony head, taller than Harry, on the wall that might have taken the place of a few portraits. It had fangs longer than Harry's forearm.

Another door opened and the Headmaster's wife walked in. She sat down in a chair, as much a mystery as ever, the Professor who taught no classes and yet seemed responsible for many other teachers doing much better.

"If you're ready, Harry. You can get another look after we finish." Headmaster Flamel pointed to a comfortable chair.

"You were looking at our trophy," Professor Flamel said.

She pointed to the bones on the wall, the skull of some serpent. Or a dragon? Those fangs really drew the eye.

"We'd thought to stuff the basilisk skull, but the skin was too useful, so those are just the bones," Headmaster Flamel said. "The fangs are cleared of the poison, of course. Penny is working on a range of potions that haven't been brewed in several hundred years. Surprisingly few of them are much use these days. People made better replacement options..."

"Where did you find the, um, basilisk?" Harry had read about them and knew nothing positive about them. Vicious, deadly, huge, long-lived, a glance of the eyes induced death, a drop of the venom induced death – so basically, slithering death.

"All too close. Deep under this school actually..."

Under the school? Harry had nearly been under the school that day over the summer. "That tunnel?"

"Deeper than your footprints made it. No worries, Mr. Potter."

Still. "A basilisk."

"It deserves the place of honor, rather than having a portrait of Albus Dumbledore to ask irritating questions."

Harry hadn't know the late Headmaster at all from his first year at Hogwarts, but he'd more than made up for it this year with the man's ghost. Pesty, irritating, given to suggestions and partial lies, and a general nuisance. Of course, he hid from most everyone save for Harry.

"Have you discovered where his ghost resides?" Harry asked.

"I've caught the ghost chatting with his own portrait, which is in this suite's second bathroom behind a locked door. The nerve of him...," the female Professor Flamel said.

"Now, Pearl, that's enough in front of young ears..."

"Penny? Pearl? That's enough of that. Or should I call you Nicky?"

"No."

She looked back to Harry. "The ghost also irritates Professors McGonagall and Snape. Floats in, rattles off some suggestions or orders, floats away. They don't listen to him. Nor should you. And don't go looking for that second bathroom, Mr. Potter. It's also where we put the basilisk eyes and our stock of mandrake restorative. I'll need to devise a new trap to use those in..."

Harry smiled, totally confused. But he wasn't going hunting for the ghost of Dumbledore.

"Is there any way to keep him from bothering people, that ghost?" Harry asked.

.....

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