And, if I was honest, there was another reason for my renewed interest. Fear. This was the year Voldemort came back, and though he failed (or would fail) to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Hogwarts, this marked the beginning of many changes in the wizarding world. It meant I only had four years to prepare for his inevitable return, and I was not going to let Harry, Sam, Delilah or myself face that future without some sort of back up!
Acquiring lots of money through my businesses was only the first step on my list for preparing against the Death Eaters. I needed more tangible forms of power.
"Seems like it's finally time to schedule a flight to Paris," I muttered to myself as my thoughts came full circle after a somewhat circuitous ride.
Nicholas Flamel. A genius alchemist whose name reverberated through history, and was even known in the Muggle world despite the wizards erasing the evidence of any and all magic thanks to the Statue of Secrecy.
I wanted to meet him. I wanted to learn from him! Would I be able to make my own Philosopher's Stone? No, probably not. But having him teach me even a little bit would make my own projects improve by leaps and bounds! If I could find a way to combine alchemy with my potion making business, I'd be satisfied.
And this was likely the last chance I'd have to do it. If the Stone really did get destroyed as Dumbledore claimed – something I had my suspicions about – then this was the last year I'd be able to meet with the Flamels.
I'd already been planning a summer trip with Sam and Delilah to celebrate my graduation from high school. Perhaps they'd like to come with me to check out the lovely beaches France was known for? Or maybe they'd like to check out their famous cooking!
For now, though, I had a meeting to attend to, and after gathering up my things, called out to Inky.
"Ready to go!" I said, and the House Elf nodded before teleporting us away to a new location.
Ever since the events over Christmas, things had changed for me. The biggest was my new-found friendship with Delilah. She had taken the revelation of magic well. My suspicions about the circumstances behind her birth? Less well. She'd ranted and raved and vowed vengeance on Lucius Malfoy and all of the Death Eaters, before calming down thanks to a second Calming Draught.
After that, I introduced her to Sam and the Finch-Fletchleys. Especially the latter. Had to let them know I wasn't dead after the events at the party, after all. They already knew Delilah Hunt as the daughter of a friend, but knowing she was a Squib made them welcome her into our little Inner Circle. And together, we began to work on establishing my 'herbal medicine' business.
And it was to their home that I was now being taken to, courtesy of Inky. The House Elf popped me into a room that'd been set aside in the Finch-Fletchley's manor just for Inky to come and go.
In exchange for this, I was giving the family a hefty discount on all my magical items. Not just potions anymore. I was making and selling a large number of defensive artifacts for the most part, as what I'd told them about the Death Eaters had spooked Josephine and Earl, and Justin's parents had hired me to do something about warding their home.
As Squib my options were sadly limited, but I did the best I could with several amateur blood wards. Even muggles could benefit from those, so long as they had a steady supply of magical power. As for batteries for the wards' magical energy, I'd made a bunch of runic wardstones that slurped up ambient magical power from the atmosphere.
I adjusted my tie before I left the side room and walked out to the parlor where my two new business partners were waiting.
"I hope I'm not late," I said with a smile as I entered, nodding politely at Josephine Finch-Fletchley and Delilah Hunt, the two I'd been scheduled to meet with.
"You're right on time," Josephine assured me.
"Good. Little Harry sent me a letter and I had to respond to it ASAP. A time sensitive matter," I revealed.
"Is everything alright?" Josephine asked, eyes narrowed at me. With her son being at Hogwarts alongside Harry, it made sense to me that she'd want to be kept in the loop.
"Depends on if you think a teacher trying to kill Harry during a Quidditch match is important or not," I snarked as I sat down at the tea table. "Or the fact that the Groundskeeper is trying to illegal raise a dragon in his home? Or that I believe the Philosopher's Stone is hidden at Hogwarts. Other than that? No, nothing's wrong at all."
I wasn't Dumbledore, I didn't see the need to keep everything hidden from my allies. Some of my knowledge would remain my own, but there were certain facts I felt were safe enough to be spoken about with others.
"What?" Delilah uttered incredulously, staring at me in a deadpan while Josephine's expression was one of horrified disbelief.
"Snape – the utterly incompetent Potions Teacher – apparently tried to Hex Harry's broom during a Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. As for the dragon, well, Hagrid the Groundskeeper has always been… odd when it comes to what we normal and rational folk would consider dangerous animals. And the Philosopher's Stone is just my guess, since Harry is asking about Nicholas Flamel."
"Nicholas Flamel… you mean he's real?" Delilah asked, surprised.
"Yes. And he's still alive. He did invent a means of maintaining his youth, after all," I said.
"Why would something so valuable be kept at Hogwarts?" Josephine demanded, deciding to latch onto the least immediately dangerous bombshell I'd dropped on her.
"If I had to guess? Bait," I admitted. "I told you how Moldy Shorts was killed, right? Well, the thing is… I, and a few others, don't actually believe he's dead. Merely… corporeally challenged."
"He's a ghost?" Delilah asked while the older woman spluttered. "The biggest, baddest terrorist in decades and he's still alive?"
"'Alive' is probably too strong a word for his current status," I replied. "But yes. That seems to be the case. And the Stone is bait to lure him into a trap, no doubt."
"How could he have survived? I thought you said he exploded!" Delilah demanded.
"Ghosts exist, and there are plenty of ways to achieve a long life in the magical world. But I don't know the specifics behind his survival, though I have my suspicions," I stated.
"Let's… can we discuss something else?" Josephine asked as she rubbed at her temples. "I don't want to think about immortal, undead wizard terrorists right now."
"Quite. We can jibber in fear later," Delilah agreed after a moment. "Right now, it's money time. Well, Edward? What do you have for us today?"
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