"Who is Nicolas Flamel?" Harry looked bewildered.
He had been full of joy after winning the match and meeting Sirius and Remus, but when he saw Tris and the other two returning from Hagrid's, a new mystery immediately left him utterly confused.
"No idea," Ron admitted his ignorance quite openly. "Hagrid mentioned him. He said the thing Fluffy's guarding in Hogwarts Castle only concerns Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. Oh, and Fluffy's the three-headed dog."
"Huh?" It was a little too much information to take in at once, and Harry stood there looking increasingly confused.
"Nicolas Flamel... that name sounds familiar." Hermione tapped her forehead. "I'm sure I've seen it somewhere."
"It sounds familiar to me too, actually, but I can't remember where I saw it." Ron spread his hands.
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, making it clear she had no desire to engage with him, then turned to Tris. "Tris, do you know?"
"Yes, I do, actually. In fact, I'm a little surprised none of you know." Tris smiled.
"Then hurry up and tell us!" Ron waved his arms around as though he were about to pounce.
"Hagrid already told us to stay out of it. If it concerns Dumbledore, he'll handle it himself. I can't think of any reason to worry on his behalf."
"But Snape wants to steal it!" Hermione said angrily. "He even tried to kill Harry today, but Hagrid wouldn't believe it."
"Um..." Harry timidly raised a hand. "What's this about Snape trying to kill me? Though I do think that's something he'd want to do."
Hermione explained what she had seen at the pitch.
Harry scratched his head awkwardly. "But my godfather Sirius and Uncle Lupin, another friend of my dad's from when he was alive, were there too. They said Snape was casting a Counter-Spell to protect me."
"Huh?" Hermione was dumbstruck, her face flushing bright red.
Ron burst into thoughtless laughter, infuriating Hermione so much that she raised a hefty book to hit him. Halfway through the swing, however, she froze, then turned and ran.
"Hey, where are you going? You don't have to run away just because you got it wrong," Ron called after her in bewilderment.
"I remembered where I saw Flamel! Wait here for me!" With that, she dashed into Hogwarts Castle without looking back.
"I bet she ran away because she was embarrassed. She won't be coming back," Ron declared confidently.
"You think Hermione's like you?" Tris gave Ron a disdainful glance.
"Ahem, Tris, we're brothers. Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" Ron feigned anger to hide his guilty conscience.
"I'd like to, but your ideas are just too bizarre most of the time. I really can't do it." Tris looked utterly earnest.
Ron immediately charged at him, yelling, and Tris turned and ran.
They ran halfway around the Quidditch Pitch before Ron ran out of stamina and collapsed onto the ground. "Fine... you're fast!"
"I told you your workouts weren't intense enough. Even Hermione, a little girl, trains harder than you now." Tris kept a safe distance, still grinning as he taunted him.
Harry stood nearby, grinning foolishly too.
Just then, Hermione emerged from Hogwarts Castle carrying another hefty book, and Ron and Tris finally stopped fooling around.
"I remembered where I read about Flamel! Goodness, I'm so stupid. Even people in the Muggle world know this name."
As she spoke, she opened the hefty volume and quickly flipped to a page.
It was packed with text. Ron took one look and complained that it made his head spin.
Hermione ignored him and pointed to a name: Nicolas Flamel.
"Oh, him!" Ron exclaimed suddenly. "I've got his Wizard Card!"
"Really?" Hermione cast him a contemptuous sideways glance, then slid her finger swiftly down to the words "Philosopher's Stone" and said,
"I saw Tris borrow this book a few days ago, so I thought I'd read it too. I happened to read this part."
Tris couldn't help rubbing his nose at that. So I had something to do with this too?
"So Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry asked with a frown.
"Very likely." Hermione nodded. "The Philosopher's Stone isn't just one of the highest achievements in alchemy. It's also a powerful catalyst in potions.
"Snape researches potions, and there are plenty of ways he could use the Philosopher's Stone. It's hardly surprising he'd want it. Not to mention, it can produce the Elixir of Life."
"But Harry's godfather and his friend said Snape wasn't trying to kill Harry today," Ron said, trying to find a flaw in her reasoning.
"That doesn't mean he doesn't want to steal the Philosopher's Stone!" Hermione waved a hand, dismissing it as beside the point. "And how do you explain the curse breaking after I set his robes on fire?"
"That is strange." Harry scratched his head. "Sirius and Uncle Lupin told me about that curse. You have to keep staring at your target. They were searching the other stands for someone staring at me and chanting, but the spell broke before they found anyone."
"Maybe whoever was casting it saw someone looking for them and stopped?" Ron suggested.
"That would be too much of a coincidence." Hermione shook her head, refusing to believe things could line up so neatly. The one who had trusted the professors most before was now the most firmly suspicious of one.
People only ever believed what they saw for themselves.
The discussion went nowhere. Several times, Tris wanted to remind them that Quirrell had been sitting behind Snape, but after thinking it over, he ultimately stayed silent.
It would be difficult to explain why he had been watching that area the whole time. Besides, Quirrell really hadn't moved his lips. If he had done anything obviously suspicious, there was no way Snape, Sirius, and Lupin, who had all been nearby, would have missed it.
Tris couldn't explain that, so he might as well say nothing.
"Actually, I was thinking..." On their way back to Hogwarts Castle, Ron suddenly offered a new perspective. "Even if Snape really does want to steal the Philosopher's Stone, what's so bad about that?"
"He wants to steal something belonging to Dumbledore. What do you think is bad about it?" Hermione looked at Ron as though he were an idiot.
"Exactly, what's so bad about it? Dumbledore will keep his things safe, right? Worst comes to worst, even if it gets stolen, Dumbledore will know, right? If it really is Snape, Dumbledore will catch him and kick him out!"
"Hmm?" Harry's eyes lit up. "Go on!"
"Look, isn't this how it works?" Ron counted on his fingers. "Best-case scenario, Snape steals the Philosopher's Stone, Dumbledore catches him, takes the Stone back, and kicks him out!
"Second-best scenario, Snape steals the Stone and doesn't get caught, but leaves Hogwarts anyway!
"A slightly worse scenario, Snape steals the Stone without anyone finding out, but has to spend so much time and energy studying it that he doesn't have time to bother us.
"Worst-case scenario, Snape fails to steal the Philosopher's Stone but doesn't get caught either. He stays at Hogwarts, and we keep suffering."
"Hmm..." Harry stroked his chin, looking deep in thought.
Hermione and Tris were stunned.
You could look at it that way?
So Snape failing to steal the Philosopher's Stone was actually the worst-case scenario?
"You... you..." Watching Harry and Ron carefully consider it before adopting expressions that said, Yes, that's exactly right, Hermione felt her breathing grow heavy.
"That's the Philosopher's Stone! Do you have any idea what it would mean if Snape got his hands on it?"
She wanted to swing the hefty book at both of them, but unfortunately, it was too heavy for her little arms to wield easily.
"What difference could it make? Would his hair get a little cleaner?" Harry looked utterly unconcerned.
"Well..." Hermione opened her mouth, but for a moment, she couldn't think of anything bad that would happen if Snape obtained the Philosopher's Stone.
That was awkward.
Hermione thought about it for several days, but still couldn't work out how much harm Snape obtaining the Philosopher's Stone could cause. After all, Snape was a Potions Master. He would only use it to research potions, and even if he made the Elixir of Life, she couldn't think of any particularly terrible consequences.
It wasn't that Hermione didn't know about Voldemort. She simply hadn't connected Snape with him.
Nor was she the only one. Even Harry and Ron never thought of Voldemort at all. For ordinary students who knew nothing of those past events, it was difficult to connect a Hogwarts professor with the Dark Lord from ten years ago.
There was another Quidditch match at the end of November, Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff. With no entertainment to be had, Tris didn't bother going.
Harry went. It was his first time watching a Quidditch match from the stands, and he was incredibly excited afterward.
Sirius and Lupin came again, though neither of them was particularly interested in student Quidditch.
As perhaps the most eligible Billionaire Bachelor in Britain's wizarding world, Sirius could travel around the globe watching professional league matches if he wanted.
The ticket costs wouldn't even use up the interest generated by the monthly profits from the assets in his name.
The life of the filthy rich was just that simple and dull.
What really interested the two of them was Harry. Hogwarts wasn't normally open to casual visitors. Only during Quidditch matches were certain areas opened to the public, allowing them to come in and see him.
On the morning of December first, a notice went up in the Common Room to collect the names of those who needed to stay at school over Christmas.
Tris remembered that in the film, Arthur and Molly went to Romania to visit Charlie that year. Of course, now they might be going to France.
They would leave the children who were still studying at school.
At first, Tris had found that rather hard to understand. After all, travel was very easy for wizards.
Both Portkeys and Floo Powder could make traveling effortless.
Only after learning more did he discover that international use of Portkeys and Floo Powder was strictly regulated.
With all the trouble involved between applying and actually using them, it was easier to take a plane in the Muggle world.
Just as Tris was about to sign up to stay at school, a letter from Molly arrived. She had written him several letters since the start of term.
Apart from the first, which had contained something slightly more substantial-complaining about why he had gone to Slytherin-the others had simply asked about his studies.
Since Tris's grades had always been good, the later letters had shifted to asking him to keep an eye on Ron.
Tris had assumed this letter would tell him not to come home for Christmas. When he opened it, however, he found the exact opposite.
The letter told them to go to France to spend Christmas together, and to bring Harry along.
Tris stared at the envelope in a daze.
If Harry went to France with them, what would happen with the Mirror of Erised?