Chapter 169

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Bonjour les amis! Here's the new chapter!

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It didn't take us long to get to the ministry, and it took even less time to get our permits.

The ministry, like the Commercial Area and the crystal dome, had an extravagant and exuberant appearance, but after seeing these other places, the ministry paled in comparison to them.

But I have to say that the ministry staff are very polite, something I can't imagine being the same in the British ministry.

But moving on, after we got our permits, we accompanied the Flamels on a tour of the Commercial Area sights and even some important ministry points.

I was surprised to see that few people recognized the Flamels, and those people who recognized them treated them with respect, and this was most obvious with some ministry officials.

Something I had expected, but still was impressed by, was the fact that the Flamels seemed to have a lot of freedom to roam in the French wizarding ministry. At some point Nick even wanted to take my family and me to one of the courts where a criminal was being charged with murder.

And to my and my mother's misfortune, Mrs. Flamel stopped him.

After our tour, the Flamels saw that it was almost lunchtime, so they took us to their house via a Portkey, much to my parents' dismay.

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-Flamels' House-

After we arrived at the Flamels' house, which looked like a simple, modern French house, my family and I stored our things in the guest rooms the Flamels had prepared for us.

After that, Mrs. Flamel went into the kitchen saying he planned to cook us a special dish for lunch, and with that my family and I went to the living room where we sat and listened to Nick tell some of his stories of his adventures around the world.

And not surprising anyone, having lived for so many years, Nick had a lot of interesting stories to tell us.

After a few stories, lunch was finally ready.

"This food is wonderful, Mrs. Flamel," my mother said, and that wasn't a simple compliment, as I also shared the same opinion as my mother. Even the Hogwarts elves' food is a little below the taste of the food that Mrs. Flamel prepared.

"Oh thank you. It's been a while since I've cooked for anyone, especially guests, so I wanted to try one of the dishes I learned in India in 1846" Mrs. Flamel said with a soft, satisfied smile on her face, "And I told you to call me Penny. Being called Mrs. Flamel makes me feel old," she said with a laugh.

'''But you're old''' was what crossed my parents' minds.

"And you Ethan, what did you think of my food?" Penny asked, "And don't measure your words, I enjoy getting both negative and positive reviews. It helps me improve where I went wrong," she said.

"Hmm" I started to think rubbing my chin, causing Penny to pay a lot of attention to me.

"The rice was cooked just right, and the soy and lemon sauce you used to season it combined, especially with the fish au gratin with Arabic pepper... The Thai sauce is also very good, and it tastes homemade. .. Is this a homemade sauce?" I asked, and Penny nodded excitedly, even bringing a little notebook from somewhere to jot down what I was saying.

As this happened, my parents sighed beside me, knowing that when it came to analyzing and criticizing things, I got too involved.

"These potatoes with orange zest gave a special touch to the rest of the dish. Overall, the food is perfect, but if I had to criticize something, it would be the lack of a lighter accompaniment, like a salad or a less seasoned sauce," I said, nodding at my analysis.

"And what kind of salad do you think would go best with the dish? A lettuce and tomato salad or a broccoli salad with white sauce?" Penny asked me with her notebook still in hand, a straight face on her face.

"A lettuce and tomato salad would go better with this dish, but that white sauce would be welcome too," I said, also with a straight face.

"Hmm, I see" Penny muttered, jotting something down in her notebook. She then turned to me again, "I'm thinking of making a lasagna bolognese for dinner, which one do you think would be a good side dish?" she asked me, and from there we started talking and exchanging ideas about dishes and side dishes.

It turns out that because I have such strong senses, taste included, I've developed a sixth sense for flavors and food, and that makes me the best person to analyze and criticize someone's food.

Unfortunately I don't know if at some point in my life I will be called to be one of the Master Chef judges.

With everyone at the table then engaging in conversation, we finished lunch and the long-awaited moment of the day arrived. Time to return the Philosopher's Stone to its true owners.

Going into the living room with my family and the Flamels accompanying me, I grabbed my suitcase from the chain around my neck and set it on the small table in the center of the room.

Enlarging the suitcase to its normal size, I opened it into my second secure compartment, as in the first were the Horcruxes, which I decided to keep with many spells and wards protecting them.

As soon as I opened this compartment, a red glow spread through the room.

I then took the glowing ruby ​​red stone in my hands and brought it in front of the Flamels, who were looking at the stone with soft smiles on their faces.

The way the Flamels looked at the stone was not the same way one would look at a rare and precious item. They looked at the stone with feelings of longing and happiness emanating from them, as if the stone was a sentimental symbolic thing for them.

"Hehe, I think this was the first time we've been separated for so long from our stone, right honey?" Nick asked, taking the stone in his hands.

"Yes" Penny laughed. She then turned to me, "I really don't know how to thank you. The Philosopher's Stone has been with us for so long that it has turned out to be a very important item for our family, and I don't say that because of the gold it can create or because of the elixir. The feeling of importance we feel for the stone is more emotional and sentimental," she said, a soft smile on her face.

"Many people have asked me why in all these years I haven't created another Philosopher's Stone, but the truth is that for us, it is irreplaceable" Nick said, placing the stone gently on the table. He then turned to me too.

"And for you being able to return the stone to us, Ethan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said bowing his thanks to me, with Penny doing the same.

Seeing this scene I panicked a little not knowing what to do, and looking to the side I saw my parents in the same situation as me.

"Please stand up. What I did may have been a big deal for you, but for me it was nothing, so you don't have to thank me," I said, and unconsciously used some magic to slightly lift them up.

The Flamels then looked at me a bit surprised, both by my words and my display of wandless magic.

They then quickly recovered and turned to each other. Looking back at me with a little smile, Nick was the first to speak.

"You know, it might sound a little offensive and biased what I'm going to say, but with that personality of yours I'd expect you to be in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, hehe," he chuckled, and I laughed along with him.

"The Sorting Hat thought the same thing, but I still think blue suits me better," I said.

And my father, who had been silent all this time, decided to speak.

"Mr. Flamel... Err, Nick" he corrected himself as he saw Nick looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "Sorry for the question, but what would you do if you couldn't find the stone?" my father asked.

"Well…" Nick started, looking at Penny, "If we didn't find the stone, we'd just live our lives until the time of our death, just like everyone else."

"Wouldn't you try to create another stone?" my mother asked.

"We could do that... Or we could just take one last trip around the world without worrying about living another 100 years" Penny said, "After living and experiencing as many things as we do, death becomes just another great and mysterious adventure"

With that phrase from Penny, my parents started to look at them with more respect and I looked at them lost in thought.

End.

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(End AN: A short AN to remind you that Stranger Things season 4 part 2 is near.

I don't know how many of you like this series, but you have to agree with me that even though it's not one of the best series of these 10 years, it's one of the most watched and awaited.

And for you, what are the best series of this decade?)