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Chapter 3

The next day was Friday - Double Potions with the Slytherins. The Book was still fairly accurate with regard to Potions class - Malfoy wouldn't be adding his taunts, but Snape would still have it in for me. Although I considered looking up the answers to the Potions Master's initial barrage of questions, The Book said that the best strategy was to feign ignorance and endure Snape's ranting.


"You're pathetic, Potter!" Snape wrinkled up his considerable expanse of nasal real estate and turned away from me in disgust. "You've clearly allowed your celebrity status to go to your head."

He set the class to work on a boil-curing potion, which Janie and I partnered on. We decided that trying to prevent Longbottom's expected trip to the infirmary would be futile, just as it was the previous day with the flying lesson, so we chose a work table far away from Neville and Seamus. We were proven correct when their cauldron melted and the pair were sent off to visit Madam Pomfrey.

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Defense Against the Dark Arts class was abysmal! Professor Quirrell couldn't defend himself against an angry mouse - never mind whether it was dark or not! A small white one would likely have him jumping up on his desk in a panic!

I'd met the man previously, of course, when Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley on my birthday. Quirrell's stutter had only gotten worse, if that were possible.


"We've got to do something about Quirrell," Janie sighed as she flopped down next to me on what had become 'our' sofa in the Gryffindor common room. Longbottom sometimes shared it with us, but not at present.

"We can't - not until the end of the year," I reminded her. "When we make our try for the Stone."

"I'm not talking about that, Jamie - I'm worried that Quirrell is not really teaching us anything. Stories about zombies and vampires are no substitute for learning actual spells that we might use to defend ourselves. What if I'd actually had to duel against Ron Weasley. I'm sure he knew plenty of curses. So did Malfoy. What do I know? Simple charms like Wingardium Leviosa, that's what! You're no better off than I am, being raised by Muggles. We need to learn some curses - real curses!"

"But who's going to teach us - if Quirrell won't, I mean?"

"We could try one of the cheat codes - from The Book..." Janie looked at me hopefully.

"There's a cheat code for spells?" I asked. "I don't remember one - oh, wait! - that's right! - your version is different!"

"Not for spells, specifically, but what about the 'Knowledge is Power' cheat?"

"Umm..." I tried to recall that one. "What does it do, again?"

"You place a book between your palms, recite 'Knowledge is Power,' and then you know what was in the book," Janie explained.

"There's got to be a catch, somewhere," I considered. "Why aren't we using that with our textbooks?"

I briefly noted that this was my quest and I should be the one giving the answers, not the one asking the questions.

"Because you can only use it once - once and only once and that's all," Janie answered with authority. "You have to choose your book carefully."

"So we should use it on our Defense books!" I decided - with even greater authority, wresting back ownership of my quest.

"Definitely not the first-year Defense text," she shook her head. "Not even the seventh-year one. If we're going to use our cheat, what we need is a master's level book," she out-strategized me, seizing control of the quest once more.

"From the library ?" I smirked, knowing how Janie loved to research things there. Okay - so that was a cheap shot, but she was stealing my quest, for crying out loud!

"Or possibly from the Restricted Section," Janie considered, worrying her bottom lip as the wheels turned in her frighteningly clever mind. "Although only one of us should do it," she continued, still thinking furiously. "There's no use in us both knowing the same thing - it's duplicated effort. The other should save their cheat for a different subject."

"Which subject?" I wondered, surrendering the quest to her - at least for now.

"I'm not sure, yet. It should be you who learns the Defense spells, though. You're more likely to need them, plus you should be able to teach some of the handier ones to me."

"You'd probably be better at learning them - the normal way, that is," I agreed. "You're a lot smarter than I am," I smirked, getting in a little post-surrender dig.

"Right..." she acknowledged absently, still lost in her cogitations.

I wanted so badly to call her on her bigheaded reply, but I didn't want to derail her train of thought. Besides, she was right.

I hate it when other people are right!

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Janie was grinning fiendishly as she emerged from the Charms classroom the following Monday. She'd stayed after to talk with the professor and I had waited for her in the corridor. She was now holding a small slip of parchment.

"Did you know that Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion in his youth?" she informed me.

"Really!? Tiny Professor Flitwick!??"

"Apparently he presents his opponents with a very small target," she nodded. "I got it!!" she held up her slip of parchment like a trophy.

"A pass to the Restricted Section?" I verified.

"Yes! And he even recommended the authoritative work on dueling spells, tactics and training regimens! I have the title right here!" she beamed.

"After lunch, then?" I suggested.

"Before! You'll have to come with, as restricted volumes are not permitted to leave the library. We'll have to perform the cheat there."


After Transfiguration, we practically raced to the third floor library entrance, where Janie presented her pass to Madam Pince. She emerged from the stacks with a rather thick tome.

"It's not as big as Hogwarts: A History, "she said before I could comment on the size of the volume.

"Nearly," I countered.

We found a secluded corner where Janie set the book down on a work table. I sat in the chair and held the large book upright, its spine resting on the table, with my palms pressed against the front and back covers, supporting it on either side.

Janie stood behind me, hovering nervously as I closed my eyes.

"Knowledge is Power," I quoted and opened my eyes in surprise.

"Did it work?" Janie whispered anxiously.

"Yes," I nodded absently, overwhelmed by all the information that had suddenly appeared in my head.

"Goodie!" Janie cried as she hugged my shoulders from behind. "Now budge over and let me read it!" she demanded, the excitement in her voice bordering on manic.

"What about lunch?"

"Lunch can wait! This is important!"

"I knew we should have waited until after," I shook my head slowly. I was definitely losing control of this quest.

Some part of me asked, 'Do you think maybe we should have gone with Ginny Weasley instead?'

I think that was my stomach speaking.

This is why a guy should never allow any body-part south of his ribcage to do his thinking for him.

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"Do you know what day it is, a week from Thursday?" Janie asked me that night as we sat on our sofa in front of the fire.

"Um - Thursday?" I guessed, knowing I was technically correct, at least.

"Prat!" she chuckled. "No - it's my birthday."

"Oh..." I considered.

"The reason I'm telling you is that I don't want you to get me anything - especially something stupid like sweets."

I was curious why The Book had not mentioned this fact. Perhaps I was not to give her any sort of gift and Janie was making sure I knew that.

"Okay," I replied.

"My parents are dentists, you know," she went on. "Sweets are bad."

Hmm - so maybe a simple 'Okay' was not what she was looking for. Maybe she was hoping for a gift, but I was getting the impression that sweets were out. Not 'definitely out' - just 'out.'

"So - no sweets, then?" I asked, trying to get a better read on the situation.

"No."

"Definitely no, or just no?"

"Definitely no," she shook her head.

Ah! Now we were getting somewhere!

I'd have to ask my other ally, Longbottom, for help. Maybe he would have an idea. As a member of our questing party, however tenuous, he had to have some sort of skill, didn't he?

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I am extremely happy to report that Longbottom pulled through!

Having been raised by Muggles, I'd never heard of 'owl-order.' It's the wizarding equivalent of mail-order, only faster. Normally you would first need a catalogue to order from, but since I'd already seen the gift I'd decided to give Janie, a catalogue wasn't necessary. Her gift was in my possession two days later. The item was so cool that I bought one for myself, too.

Now for a birthday cake!

Never having had a proper birthday cake of my own - and I don't count the one that Hagrid 'might have sat on' as proper - I approached Neville once more for ideas.

"Ask the Weasley twins," Seamus Finnigan advised from his bed next to Longbottom's. He'd overheard us, it seemed. "Ron once bragged that his brothers could get anything pertaining to food - especially for a party. He was telling me that they always supplied the crisps and butterbeer for their Quidditch victory celebrations."

"Thanks, Seamus!" I said and headed off to locate the Weasley twins. Neville decided to tag along.

"Erm..." I approached the red-heads sitting with two of the girls on their Quidditch team in the common room. "Excuse me?"

"Mister Potter?"

"Just 'Harry'," I said. "Seamus Finnigan says that you might be able to get a birthday cake..."

"What's the occasion?" the other twin asked.

"A birthday, George! That much should have been obvious! Honestly! I sometimes wonder if I'm related to you," the first twin poked fun at his brother, much to the amusement of the two girls.

"I'm Fred - you're George!" the second twin protested.

"Oh! Well, carry on, then," George nodded as the girls giggled louder.

"Whose birthday?" Fred turned back to me.

"Hermione Granger's."

"The firstie who tried to save Ron's life?" George asked.

"Yes," I answered guiltily. That was the official story and we were not about to contradict it.

"Nothing to feel bad about, Potter," Fred offered. "She tried, even after Ron had insulted her..."

"And challenged her to a duel..." George picked up.

"In which you offered to be his second," Fred finished the sentence.

"We owe you both - what do you need?" George took his turn speaking.

I wasn't sure why they did what they did - talking in fragments like that. Maybe they suffered from congenital limited lung capacity and neither could finish a complete thought on one breath.

"I wanted to have a little birthday party for Hermione a week from today."

"For how many people?"

"I don't know - I hadn't really gotten that far," I admitted.

"We should include all of Gryffindor," Fred decided.

"A large cake!" George agreed.

"And butterbeer! Lots of butterbeer!" Fred nodded.

"Um, how much is this going to cost?" Neville spoke up.

"For Miss Granger, we'll do it at cost, won't we, George?" Fred offered.

"I'm Fred - you're George," the other twin shook his head.

Longbottom and I were confused. The two girls were laughing uncontrollably - probably at our gullibility.

I looked back and forth between the twins, trying to determine which one was really Fred. I gave up after several seconds.

"Okay," I said. "How much is 'at cost'?"

"Twenty Sickles for the cake..." one calculated.

"Three Galleons for the butterbeer - give or take," the other twin finished. "There's going to be a lot of butterbeer!"

"Miss Granger deserves no less!" a twin insisted. I'd given up on keeping them straight.

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"A wand holster!?" Janie opened my gift to her.

"It's self-adjusting," I informed her. It fits on your forearm, your leg - anywhere. When you insert your wand in it, it all turns invisible!"

"Wow! Thanks!" She seemed genuinely pleased.

I had done well! The gift was not too personal, was not clothes, and was not sweets. I could almost see my quest point counters tallying upward. I'd want to 'level-up' soon.

"They're Chocolate Frogs," Neville explained as Janie unwrapped his gift. "Open the box!"

"OH!" she gasped as a frog jumped out at her.

She jerked backward in surprise and my hand flicked out to grab the thing in mid-leap.

"Whoa!" shouted a red-headed twin. "Seeker reflexes! Oliver! Check this out!"

"We don't need a seeker," a second-year protested. McLaggen, I think his name was.

"Yes we do!" the other twin insisted.

"He's only a firstie," Oliver Wood shrugged, ending the debate. As team captain, he had the final say.

"Here," I offered the frog to Janie.

"No thanks," she pushed it away. "My parents are dentists. No sweets - remember?"

"Um..." Neville looked rather embarrassed. "There's also a collectible card inside..."

"Professor Dumbledore!" she read the card. "Thank you, Neville. That was very considerate of you."

I handed off the Chocolate Frog to Neville. It escaped his grasp immediately.

As promised, the twins provided copious amounts of butterbeer. The party continued long into the evening.

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Friday morning's owls brought a delivery to me, of all people.

"It's from Hagrid," I showed the note to Janie. "He wants me to drop by his hut after classes today."

"Need a date?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure!"

We both knew from reading The Book that Hagrid was an NPC, but he was to be a vital source of information for our quest. We could not afford to pass up any opportunity to talk with him.


Potions class that morning with Snape was awful, but we expected it. Janie and I brewed a perfect potion, which the greasy-haired git graded as 'Acceptable.' Two Slytherins got an 'Outstanding' for a cauldron of smoking, black goo.


After lunch we linked hands and headed down the path to meet Hagrid.

"Ah! Harry! Come in! Come in!" the half-giant greeted us. "Back, Fang!" he tugged on the collar of his large hound. "Who's this, then, Harry?"

"Hagrid, this is my friend Hermione Granger," I introduced them.

"Pleased ter meet'cha, 'Ermione!" Hagrid offered his enormous hand, which Janie shook carefully. "'Ow about some tea?"

"Thank you, Hagrid - that would be very nice."

While the two of them went about exchanging pleasantries, my eyes fell upon a newspaper clipping lying about that Hagrid had considered important enough to save:

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN!
Vault Emptied Earlier in the Day!

I quickly skimmed the article. The break-in was reported on July 31st, the same day Hagrid and I had visited the wizarding bank.

"Hagrid?" I said, picking up the clipping. "It says here that someone broke into Gringotts and tried to steal something, but the vault had just been emptied that same day. Wasn't that the vault we visited on my birthday? Vault 713?"

"Er, now doan' you be worrying about that, none, Harry," he said nervously, taking the news clipping from me and hurriedly folding it into his pocket. "That doan' concern you."

"That little package must have been pretty important if someone tried to steal it..."

Janie's eyes darted back and forth between Hagrid and me, taking in every nuance of what was said.

"Er, that's none o' our business, though, is it?" Hagrid shook his massive head, silently warning me off the subject lest Janie pick up on it.

I was sure that she was already three steps ahead of him.

"What was in it, I wonder?" I pretended to be extremely dense.

"Er, that doan' concern us none, Harry," Hagrid tried to get his point across once more. "That's between Perfesser Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel an' no one else, yer see? Great man, Dumbledore! Great man! 'E took me on here as Groundskeeper, 'e did! When no one else would have me, mind ya. Great man, Dumbledore!"

I suspected that this was all useful the information that we would be gleaning this day. Hagrid went on about his debt to Dumbledore and his own love of all creatures, great and small, although bigger and more dangerous seemed to be better, in his opinion. The mention of dragons brought a gleam to his eye!

"What about the Forbidden Forest?" Janie asked. "Is it really all that dangerous?"

"An' more so!" Hagrid nodded.

"What could be in there that's so terrible?"

"All manner o' beasts!" he nodded knowingly. "Yer doan' wanna be venturin' too far inter the Forest, lass," the large man shook his head. "Even Fang an' I doan' go in there unarmed." His eyes darted over to the enormous, Hagrid-sized crossbow leaning against the wall beside the door.

Eventually we finished our tea and rock-cakes and bid the man adieu. We discussed our visit as we trudged back up the path to the castle.

"Nicolas Flamel was mentioned on that Chocolate Frog card Neville gave me," Janie noted. "He's the creator of the only Philosopher's Stone known to be in existence."

"So when The Book refers to 'the Stone,' it's really Flamel's Philosopher's Stone," I considered.

"Exactly!" Janie nodded. "Did you get a look at it when Hagrid visited that vault?"

"No, it was wrapped up in paper and tied with a string. It wasn't very big - I could easily have held it in my hand."

"Hmm... I think I need to learn more about alchemy," she decided. "I wonder what's on the dinner menu?" she abruptly changed the subject.


For the next week solid, Janie spent all of her spare time in the library, which meant that I did, too. Most of that week was used for completing our assignments, but any extra time was devoted to researching alchemy - and more specifically, attempts to create a Philosopher's Stone. Although Nicolas Flamel was referenced any number of times, there were no books that dealt with his actual work in any detail.

"There may be something in the Restricted Section," Janie sighed, "but Snape would never sign a pass for us."

"True," I had to agree. "What if I created a diversion and you could sneak in there while Madam Pince was otherwise occupied?"

"Then you'd be banned from the library for sure, and if I got caught, I would be too."

"Okay - we'll trick someone else into causing a disturbance!" I smiled eagerly.

"And if I were caught?" Janie noticed right off that my revised plan covered only half of the problem.

"Instead of making our own Philosopher's Stone, then, maybe when we retrieve Flamel's Stone, we could simply keep it...?" I was trying to think outside the box, here - really I was.

"Do you know how to use one, Jamie?" Janie rolled her eyes at my naivete. "You don't just wave your wand at it and say, 'Abracadabra!' I'm sure. Even if we stole Flamel's Stone, we'd need to find the instructions to make it work."


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