Academy War

Nicolas Flamel—Harry had met the renowned Alchemist when he visited Nurmengard Castle during the Christmas of his fifth year.

The elder Mr. and Mrs. Grindelwald were friends with the Flamel couple, which was why the Flamels had appeared at Nurmengard Castle that Christmas.

Harry remembered them vividly. After all, there were not many people as osteoporotic as Nicolas Flamel, who looked like Little Gingerbread.

Just as Harry sank into his memories, Hermione suddenly stamped her foot.

"I know!"

"You know what?" Ron asked.

"Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone!" Hermione said in a low voice. "That's why Fluffy bit his leg! Maybe he let the troll in too, to draw attention, while he ran off to where the Philosopher's Stone was kept and tried to get through, only to be bitten by Fluffy! That must be it!"

Come to think of it, as Harry considered Hermione's reasoning, it really did seem possible.

"But why would he do that?" Ron asked. "Isn't he a Potions master? Does he need it too?"

"Precisely because he's a Potions master, he'd want something like that!" Hermione said with certainty. "I've never found any formula for the Elixir of Life in Potions textbooks. Believe me, a mad scientist would find that temptation hard to resist."

"But Snape's a Potions professor, not a scientist," Ron argued.

"You must have heard Professor Snape's first lesson. He said Potions was a precise science," Hermione replied.

Ron thought back and realized Snape did seem to have said that.

"All right, maybe that's possible," he conceded.

"What do you think, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry frowned. Instead of answering Hermione directly, he said, "Then here's the question: where exactly is Fluffy?"

"Where?" Ron asked in surprise. "Don't tell me you want to help the school protect the Philosopher's Stone?"

Of course I need to help guard it. I'm still hoping to talk with Mr. LeMay and see whether I can borrow the Philosopher's Stone.

Ever since learning it was the Philosopher's Stone, Harry's goal had changed.

Perhaps he did not need to focus on the Headmaster. That thing belonged to Mr. LeMay, and Mr. LeMay was an old friend of Grindelwald's.

Mr. LeMay, you wouldn't want your old friend's daughter...

"Of course. I'm a Hogwarts student," Harry said righteously.

Children Ron's age were exactly the sort who dreamed of being superheroes.

Hearing Harry's confirmation, Ron immediately grinned in agreement. "Cool. Count me in!"

Then he added, "We definitely have to bring Hermione. We absolutely can't do this without her."

"I'm in." Hermione rolled her eyes. "To keep you two from getting yourselves killed."

As December approached, the weather grew colder by the day.

The first snow of 1991 did not arrive until the second day of December.

These past few days, apart from attending classes, the three of them had been practicing spells in the Room of Requirement.

Other than that, they gathered together to study where Fluffy might be.

Harry had no real leads. Even though he had lived in the castle for six years, he would not dare claim to know all its secrets.

Even the Map Chamber had been somewhere Verathea had taken him.

Because of this, Cassandra's expression had become even worse—though she rarely looked pleasant to anyone in the first place.

As they walked along, Harry was happily discussing what to have for dinner with Ron and Seamus.

Then, suddenly, an angry roar came from behind them.

"You need to apologize to her, Miss Parkinson!"

It was Hermione.

Harry and the others stopped and turned around. Hermione, like an enraged lioness, stood in front of Pansy Parkinson of Slytherin.

Not far away, her roommate Lavender Brown was hurriedly gathering the books scattered across the floor.

"Why?" Pansy Parkinson asked coldly.

"You bumped into Lavender. You need to apologize to her!" Hermione said furiously.

"Forget it, Hermione. Let it go." Lavender lightly tugged Hermione's sleeve, trying to calm things down.

"She did it on purpose!" Hermione growled under her breath. "Just because you pointed out her mistake in class!"

"Forget it," Lavender said softly.

A circle of people immediately gathered around them, all watching to see what was happening.

Pansy curled her lip disdainfully and patted the blonde girl beside her.

"Let's go, Daphne."

"Stop right there!" Hermione roared.

Pansy's expression turned cold.

"What exactly do you want, then? You meddlesome Mudblood?"

"Pansy..." Daphne Greengrass tugged at her cautiously. "How can you say that word?"

"Hmph." Pansy snorted dismissively. "A Mudblood like this doesn't deserve to be in the same school as me—"

Hermione pulled her wand from inside her robes.

"Oh? You dare point a wand at me?" Pansy looked scornful. "Don't think getting a few extra points in class means you're any good. Mudblood, you'll soon realize the gap between pathetic little you and a pure-blood wizard!"

She pulled her own wand from her robes.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione fired a spell, and Pansy's wand spun through the air into her hand.

"Scourgify!" She followed it with another spell at Parkinson.

Struck by the spell, Pansy dropped to her knees, pink bubbles pouring from her mouth. She tried to curse, but the endless stream of bubbles made her retch.

"Your mouth is too filthy, Parkinson," Hermione said coldly. "This is your lesson!"

"Hermione!" Ron suddenly shouted.

Hermione noticed the spell Daphne had fired at her. She swiftly ducked, evading it, then turned and disarmed Daphne, taking her wand as well.

"Anyone else?" Hermione lifted her chin.

Marcus Flint stepped forward with an ill-intentioned grin, several older classmates following behind him.

The moment boys stepped in, the nature of things changed—especially older students. Harry and Ron drew their wands as well and stood in front of Hermione.

Neville and Seamus did the same. Their hands shook slightly, but they still stood resolutely in front of the three of them.

"Potter!" Marcus wasted no words. He snarled and fired a spell glowing Orange Red at Harry.

He had stepped out on purpose, but not because of Hermione. He wanted to draw out Harry, who was standing behind her.

Marcus knew perfectly well that Harry and Hermione were close. He would never just watch these older students confront Hermione; he would definitely step forward to defend that Mudblood girl.

He had been holding in his grudge over that Quidditch collision for a long time.

Having only just been discharged from the hospital these past few days, he had been planning his revenge the entire time.

But if older students went looking for younger students to fight, they would not only be in the wrong, it would sound awful.

But this was different. This opportunity was one of a kind—just think about it: older students protecting a new student from their own house, accidentally hitting the Savior and covering his face in huge boils. How delightful that sounded!