Throwing Flamel under the bus

"Not going to lie that sounded cringey as hell." Nick said with a chuckle and Flitwick laughed. "I suppose it did but that's just the way of things I suppose." the small man said sagely. Nick's group all just rolled their eyes at this and went back to what they were doing. Nick on the other hand chose to start up a genuine conversation with the professor. "That reminds me for whatever reason but what ever happened to that idea of yours to get some crafting classes set up?" He asked while conjuring up a few chairs for them to sit down on.-

Flitwick sat down on the short chair Nick had conjured for him and sighed "Hogwarts simply doesn't have the funds to hire the teachers nor supply the materials needed for practice so the idea fell flat the moment I presented it to Albus unfortunately." the half goblin said with a disappointed expression. Nick frowned "Is Hogwarts's finances really that bad? Don't get me wrong I very much understand that it is costly to fund novices learning craftmanship but Hogwarts is THE school of witchcraft and wizardry. The school should have more funding than it knows what to do with at this point." Nick said in disbelief.-

"I whole heartedly agree with you but sadly the truth is that the schools finances are truly that bad. The decades long curse on the DADA position has forced Albus to spend more and more money hiring a new teacher each year and it has unfortunately added up to this wretched state we find ourselves in." the charms master said honestly. Nick smiled "So if that curse were gone and a large fortune were to be injected into the school those classes would become possible correct?" He asked with a glint in his eyes.-

Flitwick was taken back by this question but knew better than to dismiss it as a thing of curiosity. "In theory that is correct yes , why?" He asked curiously. "Because just yesterday I helped the headmaster remove that curse so all that is left would be the funds and I know just how to get them." Nick said with a wide grin. This statement left everyone in the room who was listening to the conversation speechless. "Truly?" Flitwick asked in disbelief. Nick scoffed " Why would I lie about such a thing?"

"You can ask either Dumbledore and Snape about it as they were both there for the matter and so long as you mention I told you about it they should verify the matter for you." he said honestly. Flitwick wasted no time at all and excitedly left the room after that likely to do exactly as Nick suggested. "How do you plan to get the funding though?" Daphne asked curiously since as a pureblooded heir to an ancient family she was well aware that it wasn't so easy to convince wizarding families to part with wealth if it doesn't directly benefit themselves.-

It certainly didn't help that Dumbledore could not ask for money from them himself since many of these same families really didn't like him and some even hated him. "That's the beauty of it , I won't need to lift a single finger after sending one letter." Nick said proudly leaving her confused. "To who?" Ron asked also curious about this. "Nicolas Flamel." Nick said with a wide grin and all of his friends realized exactly how this could work. They remembered the information on Nicolas Flamel vividly after the fiasco from last year so they knew that the man may as well treat gold like dirt since he could easily make more.-

It would be a simple matter to the great alchemist to secretly give a small fortune to the school without anyone knowing. "But Dumbledore said that Nicolas Flamel and his wife will die before the start of this year after the stone was destroyed." Harry said confused. Nick laughed at this which confused everyone until he eventually stopped and explained himself. "I don't know what's funnier , that you think something as powerful as the philosophers stone could be so easily destroyed or that that man would actually die in such a manner." he said with a smile.-

"The philosopher's stone can transmute materials flawlessly and even extend ones lifespan near indefinitely. And that's just the stuff that is publicly known about. Something like that can be many things but fragile is certainly not one of them. What you broke last year was undoubtedly a fake used as bait to draw out Voldemort. So obviously the actual stones creator is merely using his favorite trick and playing dead , he has already done something similar seven times already including this one." Nick said leaving his friends dumbfounded.