Harry rubbed his eyes slowly, trying to come to terms with what they were saying. He was still behind the curve. "Immortal?" Harry parroted dumbly, he truly felt like he was hallucinating or under some sort of spell with the impossibility of that combination.
Nicholas shrugged, "Well you aren't going to die of age or any sort of disease or poison. You'll get to a certain point and stop. However, if someone cuts your head off. You'd die just like anyone else." Nicholas delivered the news as if he were telling Harry that the sun was likely to come up in the morning.
"How do you know this applies to me? If it's happened so rarely how can you be sure?" Harry demanded, becoming slightly frustrated with the blasé manner in which they spoke.
"Because it's the same for every one we've encountered." Nicholas responded evenly. "Those three events always gives the people who experience them the ability to "flame" as you and my wife so affectionately put it. It stops the effects of aging, and gives someone a closer connection magic. They almost always bond with a person or persons who balance them out at a personal level, somewhat who'd allow them to maintain their sanity for an immortal life. Perenelle believes that the Phoenix is the catalyst. They are creatures of immortality, and rebirth. They they cause the change and are the ones who decide to push this fate on someone. And if you're a believer in portents or prophecy it always happens at the forefront of times of great strife or change."
Harry's scowl was immediate. "I don't like prophecy at all."
Perenelle shrugged and offered an apologetic smile "I don't either, but we're just telling you what we've observed."
"How do you know this is true? Who else have you found that is… like me… like us?" Harry asked almost hesitantly.
Nicholas chuckled a little bit and leaned back in his chair again. "Have you heard the name Circe?"
Harry frowned as he dredged up what little he could recall. "Circe, mythological immortal witch, enjoyed turning sailors into pigs. Had her own island or something I think."
Nicholas shook his head a little bit, "Not so mythological. She chooses to stay hidden and ensconced on her island as far as I know. We haven't seen her in over two millennia."
"You are right about her obsession with transfiguring men to swine though. Which is no surprise if you've ever met her husband. She's as sweet as can be, but he's an absolute pig. Sometimes I think she stays on her island simply so her husband has no chance to cheat on her." Perenelle shook her head with a slight grimace on her face.
"There was another one that we never got to meet or even learn his name, we were simply too busy at the time, and by the time we got a clue on his location was, he was already dead." Perenelle explained.
Seeing Harry's curious look, Perenelle expanded on her answer a bit. "I'm not sure what you've learned of history, but I'm sure you've heard of the discovery of America and the european conquest of the native tribes."
When she got a nod from Harry, Perenelle continued, "The wife of Hernan Cortez, the man in charge of claiming what is now Mexico for the crown of Spain, was a rather ambitious witch named Maria who accompanied her husband in his trip. She had no real social prospects in magical society, since even back then the idea of bloodlines was taking more and more hold. Similar to the muggle concept of feudalism and monarchism. Being the daughter of two mundanes, Maria had absolutely no blood line, she couldn't even claim to have descended from a squib. She was quite powerful and resented the fact that she would never amount to much socially in European society because she wasn't a pureblood."
"Pureblood elitism." Harry practically spat.
Nicholas raised an eyebrow, but kept his expression blank, though Perenelle looked pleased. "Exactly. That offensive term "mudblood' first originated around that time and I can't help thinking it was made with Maria in mind..."
Harry tilted his head curiously, a frown crossing his face, he absolutely abhorred that term. "What do you mean?"
Perenelle sighed, "While I don't agree with the word or sentiment, it was every bit applicable to Maria. She was unscrupulous, and would do anything, lie, cheat, steal, kill, experiment with any magic, or lay with anyone to increase her social standing. She was singularly responsible for making relations worse between magical born and those born without magical parentage. Of course, the sentiments were already there for the most part, but Maria gave that faction a target and...unified them against a common enemy, so to speak. It validated their beliefs on some levels."
Nicholas broke in before his wife could get on a particularly long and obviously familiar rant.. "Anyway, she decided that if she could never make it in European society she would try her luck in being top of the social chain in the 'New World.' She wed Cortez and journeyed with him across the sea. We're not sure about the specifics of what happened. But Cortez encountered what are now known as the Aztec's."
Nicholas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Maria eventually found out about a local warlock who tried to attack the Spanish forces. He was repelled by the weapons of the spanish, but it was more of a short skirmish than anything. However we believe after talking with the natives, they revealed that the warlock had been around for more than a dozen generations, and Maria guessed that the warlock had the secret to immortality.
"You can guess how someone like Maria reacted to that concept. She wanted it and was determined to have it." Penerelle shook her head with a disgusted sigh.
Nicholas nodded in agreement."She hunted him down and tried to force him to reveal the secrets of his immortality. He obviously refused. They fought and she killed him. She took everything he owned and out of sheer spite went on to assist on the spread of an illness from the invaders to the locals, making sure that their warriors were so weakened that her husband's five hundred men were enough to overcome the far more numerous locals. That much was obvious from what we found."