Clues to the Philosopher's Stone

"Clack, clack, clack." Hermione kept stabbing the steak on her plate with her fork.

"So you spent the entire holiday without finding any clues about Nicolas Flamel?" The little witch eyed the two of them suspiciously. "Are you sure you weren't just slacking off the whole time?"

"Hermione, you know us. How could we slack off over something this important?" The two hurriedly defended themselves.

Seeing Harry and Ron's pleading looks, Oren spoke up. "They worked hard enough during the holiday. Even Ron knew to take the initiative and go to the Library."

"Wasn't it just Wizard's Chess during the day and sneaking out at night to look at the mirror? That hardly counts as slacking off."

The two glared at Oren resentfully. We asked you to help us make excuses. Why did you spill everything?!

"How could you two sneak around at night just because it was fun? What if Filch caught you?"

Hermione was speechless. Hermione was angry. Hermione's hair practically bristled.

"Ahem. Aren't you underestimating Harry's Invisibility Cloak? Filch definitely couldn't catch him. Though Dumbledore did corner them," Oren added smugly.

"As long as it wasn't Filch, it's fine. Dumbledore probably wouldn't take points from you. After all, when Oren and I ran into him at night last time, he didn't..." Hermione covered her mouth at the end.

Harry and Ron stared at the little witch in disbelief. Their eyes clearly said: So even rule-following genius Hermione sneaks out at night? And you two went out to have fun without bringing us?

The three of them exchanged awkward looks for several seconds.

Everyone else had been exposed, while Oren had gotten away clean. I, Ron, must drag you down with us!

"Hermione, I have a report! Oren spent the whole holiday playing around and didn't look up a single thing about Nicolas Flamel!"

"Forget it." Hermione spread her hands helplessly. "What can you really expect Oren to do?"

Oren!??

Ron...

"Look, what kind of cutlery is Ravenclaw's Cho Chang using?" Harry craned his neck like an upright prairie dog.

"Oh, those are chopsticks. I'd almost forgotten." Oren pulled out a pair of chopsticks from his pocket. "I gave them to her as a Christmas gift. I still have plenty left."

"What are they made of? Stone?" Ron asked curiously.

"Bone. A Runespoor skull."

"You really can't tell they're made of bone," Harry said in surprise.

"Of course. Are you underestimating the craftsmanship of house-elf George?" Ignoring George's resentful stare, Oren casually picked up a piece of bacon and tossed it into his mouth.

"Cool." ×2

Oren used the chopsticks to poke around his bowl of oatmeal a few more times. Hmm, not very effective.

Hermione rolled her eyes, shoved a spoon into Oren's bowl, and said, "Just use a spoon."

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Even if I'm drinking soup today, I'm using chopsticks."

"Heh. Whatever makes you happy."

Ten minutes later—

Hermione said, "All right, now that we've finished eating, let's go to the Library and look through the books again."

"Forget it. School starts tomorrow. Let's consider it a reprieve for Harry and Ron."

The two looked at Oren gratefully. As expected, their big brother still looked after them.

"All right." Hermione shrugged. She no longer held much hope of finding Nicolas Flamel in the Library anyway.

On the way back to Gryffindor Tower, Ron invited Hermione to a tense and thrilling game of Wizard's Chess.

Oren pulled Harry aside and whispered, "Is this really okay? Hermione's going to get absolutely slaughtered by Ron."

"It's fine for her to lose a little. It's for Hermione's own good." Harry spoke as though he truly had Hermione's best interests at heart, but he could no longer suppress the corners of his mouth.

Harry thought, Are you kidding? Ron's new chess pieces have such vicious mouths. I've endured their insults for an entire holiday. How could I not let someone else have a taste? Oren, the maker of the pieces, can't be fooled, so Hermione will have to suffer instead.

In the common room, Ron and Hermione set up their chess pieces and took their positions.

"Thump, thump, thump!" A series of hopping noises came from the entrance.

The young wizards burst out laughing.

Oren laughed. "Hahaha, Neville, are you cosplaying a zombie?"

Neville was hopping forward like a stiff zombie. Merlin knew how he had managed to bounce all the way back to the tower like that.

Hermione did not laugh. Instead, she pulled Neville over to the others and lifted the Leg-Locker Curse on him.

"What happened?"

Neville said in a trembling voice, "It was Malfoy. He used me to practice that spell."

Hermione said angrily, "Come on, let's go report him to Professor McGonagall."

Neville shook his head. "Forget it. I don't want trouble. Maybe Malfoy is right. Maybe I don't deserve to be a Gryffindor."

Ron encouraged him, "Don't give in to Malfoy. Face him bravely!"

Harry patted Neville on the shoulder as well. "You are a Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes."

Oren wiped away tears from laughing and said, "You're better than ten—no, even nine Malfoys. Come closer, and I'll teach you a few nasty little curses to use on him."

"I... I won't be able to learn them."

"Sigh, fine. Take these Dungbombs. Whenever Draco comes to bother you, throw one at him. I guarantee that after a few times, he'll never dare trouble you again."

Neville held the bag of Dungbombs and hesitated. "But... but won't I lose points for that?"

"It's fine." Oren waved a small hand. "Gryffindor may not have much, but we have plenty of points."

Hermione did not quite approve of Oren's words, but she said nothing. Harry handed Neville a box of Chocolate Frogs.

"Thanks, Harry. Do you want a Chocolate Frog card?" Neville handed Harry a card.

"It's Dumbledore. My first card was Dumbledore too..."

"Wait, Nicolas Flamel! I knew I'd heard his name somewhere before." Harry said excitedly.

Hermione snatched the card away. "Defeated the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and made outstanding contributions to alchemy alongside Nicolas Flamel. That's it!"

"Let me see." Oren grabbed the card.

The little witch asked in confusion, "How come I never noticed you were interested in Nicolas Flamel? Are you interested in dragon's blood?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Oren rolled his eyes at Hermione. "I'm interested in Grindelwald."

"Hmph." Hermione snatched the card back. "Wait here."

Before long, she came running back with a huge book in her arms.

"I borrowed this earlier for some light reading. Let me find it."

"Light reading?" Harry, Ron, and Oren exchanged looks, all seeing the bewilderment in one another's eyes.

"Nicolas Flamel, the sole maker of the Philosopher's Stone." Hermione deliberately lowered her voice as though telling a ghost story.

"What stone?" Harry asked.

"What Philosopher's Stone?" Ron asked.

"What Philosopher's?" Oren asked.

Hermione...

"Do you people never read books?"

"She's slandering me! This little witch is slandering me! I've roamed the Restricted Section for so long, and I've never seen any Philosopher's Stone!" Oren knew nothing about the Philosopher's Stone, but he was very familiar with Horcruxes and souls.

The three of them...

Harry and Ron picked up the book and began reading.

"It can make gold!" Ron's voice cracked.

"It can grant immortality!" Harry was not much better.

"How about we make a plan and strike first to seize the Philosopher's Stone?" Oren offered them a job to rob the Philosopher's Stone from the fourth floor.

Hermione rejected the mission and punched Oren.

Harry nodded. "No wonder. It can make gold and grant immortality. No wonder Snape wants to steal it."

Ron said, "Nicolas Flamel is over six hundred years old. No wonder we couldn't find him. He's not a modern wizard at all."

"Forget that old man for now," Oren said. "I'm more suspicious of Quirrell."

"I also don't think Snape would steal the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione said. "But why Professor Quirrell?"

"Ever since Dumbledore announced that the fourth-floor corridor was off-limits, not even George and Fred have gone there."

"The only people we know have been wandering around there are Quirrell and Snape."

Oren remembered clearly that Snape was one of the good guys. That meant Quirrell, who often lingered on the fourth floor, was the only suspicious one.

Ron said, "I still suspect Snape."

"How are we supposed to keep an eye on both of them at once?" Hermione tugged at her hair in frustration.

"There's no need. He probably won't dare do anything under Dumbledore's nose. We just need to keep an eye on the headmaster. As long as he doesn't leave Hogwarts, there won't be a problem." Oren patted Harry on the shoulder. "I'll leave this arduous task to you."

Harry...

"Then that's all we can do." Ron called Hermione over to sit down and play chess.

"Ron, why are your chess pieces so exquisite?" Hermione looked curiously at the board.

"Don't worry about that. Hurry up and start."

Chess Piece A said, "Hey, hey, hey! I'll send you home in crushing defeat! Take my sword!"

Chess Piece B said, "Why are you hesitating at such a young age, little witch? Don't you know hesitation leads to defeat?"

Chess Piece C said, "Hahaha, she's being decisive now. Being decisive just means giving yourself away."

Chess Piece D said, "You little witch with the wild hair are really terrible. You're not even one ten-thousandth as good as my master, Lord Weasley!"

Chess Piece A said, "It's been nearly fifteen minutes. Hurry up and lead those hideous art-style chess pieces of yours into surrendering armor and weapons. Maybe Lord Weasley will leave you a little dignity."

Chess Piece B said, "Who is my master? He's the man who'll lead us to the pinnacle of Hogwarts Wizard's Chess!"

Chess Piece C said, "If you're bad, practice more! If you can't afford to lose, don't play! This little witch is seriously pathetic."

Chess Piece D said, "What, are you saying you're very brave?"

Chess Piece C said, "Are you kidding? I'm super brave, okay!"

"Checkmate!" Ron commanded his pieces as they brutally slaughtered Hermione on the board.

"Oren, that Christmas gift really hit Ron right in the heart. He practically sleeps hugging those chess pieces now," Harry said helplessly.

"I have to say, these pieces really are effective. Look, Hermione's almost been trash-talked into breaking down." Oren smiled like a little devil.

Chess Piece A shouted, "You round-faced little thief! What are you looking at? Get on the board and fight me one-on-one!"

"Gulp." Neville swallowed and said, "Ron, are you sure this Wizard's Chess set isn't the creation of some evil Dark wizard?"

Chess Piece B said, "How rude, you round-faced little fatty!"

Neville...

Ron, whose face was flushed red from the chess pieces' praise, packed away the pieces and shot Hermione a provocative look.

Hermione was slumped in her chair, tugging at her hair and questioning her life. She did not notice Ron at all.

"All right, all right, stop pulling. Keep that up and you'll go bald." Oren hurriedly stopped the little witch. "Hermione, you don't want to go bald at such a young age, do you?"

Hermione...