Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 1990, 2nd of November, Late Afternoon
(Harry's Perspective)
The library within Hogwarts was perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the wizarding world that I had seen so far. In Diagon alley there was crime and shady corners from which a wizard or witch could purchase or acquire many different illegal items and substances. Rot and corruption had infested all strata of Wizarding Britain from what I could comprehend from books and the casual conversation within the Leaky Cauldron.
On the other hand there was a plethora of knowledge and awesome magics that could counteract that cancer. Naturally my life with my 'family' tainted every aspect of my perspective, but that was neither here nor there... Corruption was inevitable in any system, unless that system accounted for that aspect of human nature. In Roman history books there were discussions and theories about the true scope of corruption within it's Empire and Republic periods. What all Historians agreed with was the fact that the Romans incorporated the truth of corruption into the very fabric of their system whilst ensuring its laws were upheld with an iron fist. The aspect that ensured the security of such a system? Knowledge, turned into power.
The expansion of Rome was secured with the advanced knowledge that they held and others did not. Conquering Greek city states was among the most crucial decisions that the Romans ever made. To gain power and expand influence you needed knowledge. The city states had that information, that technology, to ensure the prosperity of their nation for hundreds of years. If they did not have the knowledge of the Greeks then they could not have invaded them and taken over... A simple truth that resounded even to this day.
Expanding that concept to the current day, I would not know what was possible if I did not have information at my fingertips, the gathered knowledge of hundreds of generations. That is why I loved the library of Hogwarts.
Now, I knew that knowledge was not the end goal. If I truly thought knowledge was everything I would have become a Ravenclaw... No, knowledge was a goal to attain, something to increase never endingly. Knowledge itself was not the end goal. Having the information on a specific curse, for instance, was but the start of countering it... One would need to have the power to do so, the ingrained training and capability to conduct the counter to said curse... Thus my end goal was not knowledge but the application of knowledge into power. Knowledge is power, a common phrase that is said, but incomplete and naïve.
Knowledge is the first steps towards power.
Power required an application of the knowledge, thus the will to use it and the ability or position to be capable of using it. Solaris and Lunaris were apparently very affective at acquiring power and then using it. Perhaps they were not saints or truly willing to help the majority of people around them, but that, in my opinion, was just intelligent. Who would help someone who is unwilling to fight for their own life, their own power? No one that I would wish to be friends with, that's for sure.
I closed another book on Charms and looked over to Hermione, a massive tome resting upon her legs as her fingers traced up and down the pages. Her lips moved softly as if she were speaking aloud the words she was reading. Though her hair was frizzy and her teeth slightly disproportionate, she was perhaps the most dedicated friend that I had made... Not that I knew about the concept of 'friends' too well... Another mark against my so-called aunt and uncle.
"Hey Harry! Come here for a second!" Blinking a little at the smile she was beaming towards me I put the book away and approached her, ensuring I was making as little noise as possible, the librarian was harsh on troublemakers.
Walking around behind her chair I leaned down and looked over her shoulder, looking at the book on Alchemy written by Nicolas Flamel. "What is it Mione?" She blushed a little but soon turned back to the book and began pointing at a depiction of the philosophers stone.
"This..." she paused for a moment as if summoning the context to the front of her mind, "is the philosophers stone or as it is also known, the sorcerer's stone." I nodded, I had heard briefly from Solaris that Nicolas Flamel was ancient and a master Alchemist. She continued... "From what the book says, the stone itself can be used to turn any material into gold and is used to create the Liquid of Life, used in the creation of the Life Giving potion. It says the potion can imitate, perfectly, the properties of the fountain of youth; from legends."
My mind slowly churned as I recalled the break-in at Gringotts that was said to have occurred but a few hours after some of 'great value' was taken out from the vaults. A coincidence that erred on the side of planned. Flashes of memory came to me as I considered the words of Hagrid the other day, his mentioning of a stone and Gringotts drawing particular clarity to my suspicions.
"What about it Hermione?" I asked her the question though I knew what she was implying, or at least attempting to lead me towards.
"Think about it Harry... Gringotts is broken into but nothing was taken due to the fact that the 'item' was taken before the thief popped up. Then we hear about Hagrid taking out a stone from Gringotts on the same day that, that, event occurred... Then!" She took a breath and continued, "Dumbledore tells us of a threat on the third floor where there is a Cerberus rumoured to be guarding something..." She was looking up at me now, her eyes wide and excited, her energy leaking through her expressions.
Once more I nodded and smiled. "Are you sure it is this stone though? It could be but a precious jewel or focus?" She shook her head side to side quickly.
"Not likely. You see, Dumbledore is a close friend of the Flamels and was once their apprentice. It said so in Hogwarts a History... Anyway, I was thinking about what could be being guarded and began connecting the dots a touch."
"Hagrid is Dumbledore's man through and through. That man just so happens to be out on 'Hogwarts' business at Gringotts an hour before the thief comes and breaks into the exact same vault, then he tells us about a stone that he picked up for Dumbledore, who is a friend of Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel who just so happen to have a stone that many people throughout the world want... The Philosopher's stone."
I smiled. "The stone is on the third floor, or at the very least the entrance to the stone is on that floor." Hermione nodded, her oak-coloured eyes gleaming in elation.
"Mhm!" Leaning down even further I gave her a reluctant hug, trying physical contact for the first time in my long life. Other families looked like they enjoyed the action when they hugged in the park.
Apparently Hermione really liked it because she tightened her hold around my arms, despite the slight flinches that I attempted to hide from her. My uncle really liked grabbing my arms and squeezing, he especially liked the popping noises when they broke sometimes.
"You-" I took a small breath to settle myself down, "are the best Mione." She blushed heavily and looked downwards in embarrassment, her fingers lightly playing across my arm. "Let's go plan how we're going to investigate the third floor, maybe we can find the stone and use it?" She murmured her agreement below her breath as I broke off the contact, the goose-bumps along my arm slowly fading along with the absence of physical touch.
"Y-yeah, maybe we can get help from Dracoria and Solaris?" She closed the tome and placed it on the table before stretching and standing. In moments she was guiding us both down hallways towards the dungeons, Ron Weasley sneering at us as we passed.
...
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 1990, 3rd of November
Dracoria was invested in the exploration just as much as Hermione and I, the animated girl running around the dorm collecting various items that could be useful; like rope. Solaris was not present in the dorm this morning for some reason, either because she was skulking through the school after curfew or she found somewhere else to settle down for the night. The rule of Slytherin was to be silent about other people's business unless you were using it to, 1: Make a power play, 2: Blackmail them, 3: Keep tabs on them... Needless to say, every one in Slytherin was collecting dirt on one another for future use.
"We may need candles or some form of flame..." Dracoria was speaking to no one in particular, her hands fishing through a relatively small pouch that had no doubt been expanded to fit much more than its actual dimensions allowed.
"Dracoria, we don't need heavy items, they are just going to make more noise and we need to be silent." Mione huffed out as she fixed her green-black school robes, her hair slightly tamed with her prior effort.
"Yeah, but, we need to prepare for every possible issue! I mean, this is an adventure, right???" Dracoria was positively pouting at this point, her cute face scrunching in mild frustration.
Hermione just shook her head and continued cleaning her robes out with her wand.
"Let's go, we need to go before the prefects start their first patrols." Both girls looked toward me, hastily grabbing their pouches and wands.
"What about Solaris and Lunaris?" Hermione whispered the question as Dracoria licked her lips nervously.
I gave the query some time inside my mind before shaking my head.
"None of us can rely on them both all the time. Plus, they are both out and about already." My two companions agreed quite quickly before we took off out of the Slytherin common room, the rest of the House already having receded back to their dens.
The common room entrance opened with a soft clicking noise, the button retreating back into the wall as the darkness of Hogwarts after curfew expanded before us. Cool wind and the damp wetness of the dungeons swept by in a modicum of release, the doorway's green flame flickering softly.
All three of us skulked forwards, sticking to the shadows and taking our steps lightly. I had forgone my shoes and instead gone with the soft silken embrace of my socks. The material succeeded in dampening my footfalls as all three of us wove in and out of corridors, using a covered Lumos spell to guide our way.
Patrols were easily spotted and hidden from as the senior students laxidazically looked around, their Lumos spells barely reaching three metres ahead of them. It was almost like the school was encouraging younger years to explore the castle at night time... That thought made me weary and frustrated with the wizarding world, but I ignored the instinct to sigh in annoyance, preferring to instead guide Dracoria and Hermione towards the main stairwell.
Our journey from there was surprisingly unimpeded. The amount of prefects and senior students on patrol were hideously low. For the scale of the school there were too little people maintaining curfew at night. Even if the teachers were to join in, which I had heard rumours about that being possible, they could at most cover five percent of the entire school at any given time. The incompetence served to work in our favour though and that was all I needed to worry about tonight.
"We're almost there..." Hermione whispered in my ear before repeating the message to Dracoria who blinked back her awkwardness.
Nodding I lead us up the stairs and through a common route to the third floor. And... No one was present. Patrols had already walked past this floor and checked in. Filch and his cat were most likely on one of the higher levels, given the fact that late night dates usually occurred in the higher floors. Thus, it was with superb ease that we arrived before the exact floor that was said to be out of bounds... A single door sticking out of a tower-segment, locked with a simple charm that we had been taught just earlier today.
"Alohomora" Mione waved her wand in front of the door, a simple clicking noise following the magic. The wooden door simply eased backwards, a small gust of wind exploding from the cracked doorway, smelling of fish and beef.
"That must be the Cerberus..." Dracoria whispered between Mione and I as she tried to peek inside.
"Yep. I researched them a little and found that they go to sleep with music." I spoke in a hushed voice whilst attempting to remember that one spell I had researched in Diagon Alley.
"Music? I can cast a quick charm that would make the doorway sing a soft tune." I broke off my line of thought and nodded quickly, excited that our adventure was finally beginning.
"Musiciar" Dracoria moved her wand in a triangle pattern and softly pulled back, her muffled word causing the glowing magic to impress itself into the air. Suddenly there was a soft nursery rhyme playing, the soothing notes of a violin softly spreading throughout the inner chamber.
Another gust of wind bellowed out as Hermione pushed the door open just a tiny bit, the massive white form of a Cerberus sleeping in the middle of the floor drawing a surprised gasp from Dracoria as the door fully opened.
Now we just needed to find the entrance to wherever the stone was being kept.
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