HERMIONE WASN'T PLEASED AT ALL WHEN she found out Harry and Ron didn't find a thing about Nicolas Flamel. She gave them a long lecture about sneaking out of bed to that mysterious mirror, breaking dozens of rules, and not finding Flamel.

Poor boys.

Almost as soon as Harper got back to Hogwarts, Oliver already put her on her broom. He was training the team harder and more frequently than usual.

"You wanna have us dead, Wood?" Harper joked after a rough training when Fred and George continued to hit each other with their Beater's bats.

He just grunted and glared at the Weasley twins. He was right though, the match was a serious matter. It was against Hufflepuf and if they'd manage to beat them, they'd over take Slytherin in the House Championship.

It was a wet and muddy training session and Oliver was going mad at the red haired twins for dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall of their brooms.

"Will you stop messing around!" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"

George, who hovered next to Harper, really did fell off his broom this time, pulling her accidentally with him. Fortunately, they weren't that far from the ground.

"Come again?" he asked while pulling Harper back up with him.

"Hold on," Harper began. "You mean Severus Snape?"

"He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin," George added.

The rest of the team landed beside them, complaining, too. Harry handed Harper her broom and she nodded in thanks.

"It's not my fault," Oliver defended himself. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."

The Weasley twins and Harper exchanged a worried glance. The team felt silent, not knowing what to say anymore.

Harper shook her head and went with her hand over her face. She took her broom and continued to train.

• ✧ •

AFTER PRACTICE, HARRY AND HARPER quickly changed and left to the Great Hall to tell Ron and Hermione about their discovery.

Ron and Hermione were playing chess and Harper knew that Ron and Harry were happy that Hermione wasn't good at chess—it was at least one thing she sucked at.

Ron didn't looked up when the twins approached them. "Don't talk to me for a moment, I am thinking . . . blimley," he added while looking at them. "What's the matter? You look terrible."

"Thanks," Harper replied. "That's very nice of you."

"Snape's refereeing the next Quidditch match," Harry told them, ignoring her comment.

"Don't play," Hermione immediately said.

"Say you're ill," Ron suggested.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione continued.

"Really break your leg," Ron added.

"We can't," Harper replied. "Gryffindor doesn't have an extra Chaser or Seeker, besides, I won't let Snape stop me from playing Quidditch."

At that moment, Neville toppled into the Great Hall with his legs stuck together. Everyone fell over laughing. Harper quickly ran towards him and muttered the counter curse.

"Thanks Harper," he said while walking back with her towards the Gryffindor Room.

"Leg-Locking curse?" Ron asked Neville when he collapsed next to him.

"Malfoy," Neville told them.

"That's it," Harper told them while standing up. "I'm gonna learn that git something he won't soon forget."

She headed towards the Slytherintable, ignoring Harry, Ron and Hermione's protests. She looked around and saw that nobody was watching her. Pulling out her wand and pointing it at Malfoy, she whispered, "Colovaria.".

Malfoy's hair turned pink and Harper returned back to the Gryffindor tabel with satisfaction. It had been a spell that Fred had taught her recently and she was pleased with the result.

She could hear the commotion coming from behind her and her grin became wider. She couldn't bear it and looked back over her shoulder. Malfoy was screaming and Snape was trying to calm him.

"My father will hear about this!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville looked at her with wide eyes and open mouths. Harper sat casually back next to Harry and looked at Neville.

"You have got to stand up for yourself, Neville."

Neville shook his head. "How? I could barely stand at all!"

Harry looked at Neville pity fully and gave him a chocolate frog. "Here, it'll make you feel better."

Neville accepted it and eat the frog. Harper's eyes widened when she saw who he had on his card and she snatched it out of his hands.

"I've found him!" Harper enthusiastically said. "I've found Nicolas Flamel! He was right under our nose this whole time! Listen up!"

She turned around and started reading the card.

"Dumbledore is particulary famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel!"

Hermione jumped to her feet, suddenly remembering something as she picked up her stuff. "Follow me!"

Harry, Ron and Harper exchanged a glance but followed her anyway.

"Stay here!" she ordered them when they entered the Common Room. She dashed towards their dorm room to come out with an old thick book.

"I never thought to look in this," she whispered. "I got this out of the library a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"You call this light?" Ron asked.

Hermione gave him a look and Ron immediately stopped talking. She started flipping the pages, muttering to herself until she found what she had been looking for.

"I knew it! I knew it!" she exclaimed, pointing at something in the book. "Nicolas Flamel," she read, "is the only known maker of the Philosopher Stone!"

"The what?" Harry, Ron and Harper questioned.

She turned the book and pointed at a short text. "Read."

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixer of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the notes alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

"See," Hermione started when the three of them looked up. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they are friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

Harper's eyes widened. If the Stone fell into bad hands, bad things could happen.

"That's it!" Harry exclaimed. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."

"Well," Ron began, "I guess it's obvious know why we couldn't find him in Study of Recent Development in Wizardry, the man's six hundred years old!"

• ✧ •

HARRY AND HARPER DECIDED TO PLAY THE match after all. They couldn't give Snape the satisfaction of them not playing plus their team needed them.

Harper changed into her robes while Oliver took Harry aside. She slipped her gloves on and walked towards the Weasley twins, who were busy staring outside.

"What are we seeing?" she asked when she joined them.

"That," Fred replied while pulling her closer to them so that she could see the crowd that had gathered in the stands.

"The whole school is out there!" Harper exclaimed. "Even Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore?" Harry repeated while standing next to her.

"Yeah," she confirmed. "Right over there with the other teachers."

"That's great, right?" Harry said. "That means Snape won't hurt us!"

"But it doesn't mean he can't deduct point," George pointed out, frowning.

Oliver called them with him and they marched on the field. Harper mounted her broom and hovered in the air. When she looked up at Harry, she saw Cedric hovering in front of him and she had almost forgotten that he was the Hufflepuf Seeker. He smiled widely at her and gave her thumbs up.

Harper smiled and returned the gesture but stopped when she saw Oliver's glare.

Oh boy, was she going to get a lecture about it later.

Professor Snape whistled and Harper grabbed the Quaffle. She threw it to Katie who threw it to Angelina who scored.

"Ten points to Gryffindor!"

Harper had taken the Quaffle from a Hufflepuf Chaser when Snape whistled and gave Hufflepuf a penalty because George had hit a Bludger at him. When Snape wasn't looking, she gave George a thumbs up and he grinned, winking at her.

Oliver blocked the Quaffle and threw it towards Harper. She caught it easily while dodging a Bludger. She flew and dived to avoid the Hufflepuf Chasers. She threw the Quaffle past the Keeper and high-fived Katie and Angelina.

"20-0 for Gryffindor!"

Harper saw Harry dive towards the ground, Cedric following pursuit and hoped he would catch the Snitch. She was so focused on the two of them that she didn't see the Bludger coming toward her. It collided with her shoulder and she was thrown off her broom.

Everyone was so focused on the two Seekers that they didn't notice Harper falling. It was only when her body collapsed on the ground and she groaned, that Fred's head snapped towards where she had been hovering before she fell from her broom and he then noticed she was gone.

He looked down and his eyes widened. "Harp!"

Harper groaned again and he quickly flew down and kneeled down beside her.

Harper heard a lot of cheers. "Did we win?"

Fred shook his head. "Is that the first think you can think of?"

Harper shrugged, but hissed when her shoulder ached. Fred looked worried but looked over his shoulder anyway. "Yeah, Harry got the Snitch!"

Harper smiled and tried to get up.

"Whoo! Easy there," Fred said while he helped her stand up.

"I'm fine," Harper lied, as she held her arm close. "Nothing to worry about."

Fred seemed to buy her lie and the two of them made their way back to the team that had landed a couple of feet away—cheering and dancing as they circled around Harry who had the Golden Snitch in his hands.

"Great job, Harry!" she told him, patting his shoulder with the arm that did not hurt.

"Thanks, Harp." He frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, a Bludger just got me," Harper said. "I'm going to go to the hospital wing, all right? Don't start the party without me."

With that said, Harper headed away from the commotion and back towards the castle. The way was long and painful and she was relieved to finally arrive in the hospital wing.

"Oh dear," Madam Pomfrey said, "come on now, let me have a look at that."

Harper fell down on one of the beds, her broom laying on the bed next to her, and let Madam Pomfrey do her thing.

Ten minutes later, Harper was out of pain and released from the hospital wing. She was humming a song Lavender had sung that morning when she was getting dressed, as she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Harper?"

The humming stopped and she turned around to see Cedric heading towards her. He was still dressed in his Quidditch robes. His grey eyes shimmered in relief when he saw that she was all right.

"Hi," Harper said, giving him a friendly smile. "Can I help you with anything?"

He shook his head. "No, I just came to see how you were doing," he confessed. "I'm sorry about the Bludger."

Harper shrugged. "It's just a game. No hard feelings."

What followed was an awkward silence and Harper shuffled nervously onto her feet.

"Anyway, I should head back to my common room," Harper said. "I guess I'll see you around?"

"You will," he said, giving her a warm smile.

They said their goodbyes and while Cedric made his way to the dungeons, Harper started climbing the stairs upwards. She felt strangely happy as she continued to hum the song. Climbing through the portrait hole, the first thing she noticed was Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harper stopped humming as she saw their worried expressions.

"What's wrong, guys? We just won the match!"

Harry quickly explained what he had heard and seen and my mood immediately changed drastically.

"So we were right," Hermione added, "the Philosopher's Stone is being guarded by that dog and Snape's trying to force Quirrel to help him get it. I reckon there are other things guarding that stone besides Fluffy. Probably dozens of enchantments, and Quirrel could have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break though . . ."

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrel stands up to Snape?" Harper questioned, paling slightly.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," Ron stated.

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May 27th 2022
I hope you enjoy it & tell me what you think of it! :)