windkaze
patreon
HRHL# Chapter 119: An Old Friend of the Flamel Family
🕑 Added 2025-03-12 18:51:02 +0000 UTCDumbledore’s Favorite Student?
Harry thought about it for a moment and didn’t feel that Dumbledore particularly favored him.
If Dumbledore truly liked him that much, he wouldn’t be speaking in riddles all the time.
“I think you must be mistaken. I’m not Dumbledore’s favorite student,” he denied calmly. “Although I might be a little famous at school, I’ve heard from the professors that the student Dumbledore truly favors is someone else.”
“Oh?” Lockhart’s voice was light. “But you and he are both Gryffindors.”
“That doesn’t mean he prefers Gryffindors,” Harry shrugged. “Maybe he likes Hufflepuffs instead?”
He sensed Lockhart fall into a brief silence.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Lockhart suddenly raised his head and declared, “What an extraordinary moment this is! Young Harry came into Flourish and Blotts today simply to buy my autobiography—well, I am more than willing to gift him a full set of my hardcover, personally signed books—for free—”
“Sir,” Harry suddenly interrupted Lockhart.
He had just thought of Aunt Molly, who had been worrying about the cost of schoolbooks before they left.
To spare the Weasley family's pride, he wouldn’t directly offer them money. But now, this was a perfect opportunity.
If he could get some of Lockhart’s books, it would significantly ease the financial burden on the Weasleys, and it was a way to help them without hurting their dignity.
Besides, Lockhart had pulled him into this spectacle without warning—obviously for publicity—so this wasn’t exactly extortion, nor was it greed.
With this in mind, he continued, “You know, I came with several friends, all of whom are your loyal fans. If you only gift the books to me, it would put me in a difficult position. So, I sincerely request, Mr. Lockhart, that you also gift my friends a set…”
Lockhart’s eye twitched visibly.
He really hadn’t expected this little fellow in front of him to be so… shameless.
“How many friends do you have?” Lockhart asked with a forced smile.
“Nine, sir,” Harry said sweetly.
“Fine. After all, who could refuse the great Harry Potter, our esteemed savior?” Lockhart gritted his teeth. “Bring out nine sets of hardcover, signed books for Harry and his friends!”
The crowd burst into applause and cheers, praising Lockhart’s generosity.
No one thought he was being taken advantage of—after all, Harry was the famous Boy Who Lived. He deserved some special treatment.
One had to admit, Lockhart was a prolific writer—if “prolific” meant having books stacked as tall as Ginny.
Harry left the shop triumphantly, as if he were a victorious warrior, grinning as he shared his spoils with the others.
“Aunt Molly!” he said cheerfully. “Look! I got a full set of Lockhart’s signed hardcover books! One for each of us—Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Percy, Draco, and me.”
“But that’s only eight people?” Aunt Molly asked curiously.
Harry grinned. “I know you like Lockhart too, so I got an extra set just for you.”
“Oh, you sweet child…” Overjoyed, Aunt Molly pulled Harry into a hug and kissed him on the forehead. “You’re such a good boy. I don’t even know… I don’t even know how to thank you.”
“Well, I was hoping for some beef stew with potatoes tonight, Aunt Molly,” Harry said playfully. “Your cooking is simply the best…”
“Oh, you!” Aunt Molly ruffled his messy hair affectionately.
Just then, another wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.
“What’s going on?” Harry turned to ask.
“Oh, Lockhart just announced that he’ll be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts this year,” Draco said without looking back. “He also said he’ll be the most competent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in Hogwarts history.”
“You’re kidding?” Ron asked.
“It’s true,” Hermione said, barely containing her excitement. “Oh my gosh, Ron! He must be the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Hogwarts has ever had! You know, everything in his books—he’s actually lived through it all!”
“Alright, alright, I get it,” Ron said impatiently. “Honestly, I don’t understand why you all are so obsessed with him—it’s like he put you under some kind of love potion.”
The moment he said this, both Hermione and Aunt Molly smacked him on the back.
“Well done, Hermione,” Aunt Molly praised.
In their mutual distaste for Ron’s skepticism, Aunt Molly and Hermione found an unexpected sense of camaraderie.
As they stepped outside, they were surprised to find Hagrid waiting at the entrance.
“Hagrid!” Harry called out enthusiastically, waving high.
Hagrid spotted him and returned a broad smile.
“Hagrid? What are you doing here?” Hermione asked curiously.
“My cabbages got eaten up by Flesh-Eating Slugs,” Hagrid said regretfully. “Ah, such a shame. They should’ve been on the dinner tables.”
“Can’t you just pick off the chewed-up leaves?” Ron asked cluelessly.
“These are for the school kitchens,” Hagrid added.
“Oh, well, in that case, I suppose not…” Ron quickly corrected himself.
When they returned to the Leaky Cauldron, Mr. Weasley was still cheerfully drinking butterbeer with some acquaintances.
From the looks of it, Lucius Malfoy had also taken an interest in the Muggle world—though likely from a business perspective. He had even asked Mr. Granger about books on wealth management.
Buying a few Muggle books wasn’t exactly considered misuse of Muggle artifacts, so Mr. Weasley turned a blind eye.
Besides, it wasn’t his place to stop anyone from learning about the Muggle world, was it?
Everyone’s packages were placed inside Harry’s magically expanded, undetectable pouch, making them easy to carry. When tossing books inside, Harry distinctly heard a small “Oof!”
“You hit me!” the voice of Poppy complained pitifully.
“Oh, sorry,” Harry said, only slightly apologetic.
Since it was still early, they decided to have lunch in the Muggle world.
Fortunately, their outfits weren’t too wizard-like—just casual everyday clothing—so they didn’t stand out.
Lucius and Draco left first, seemingly with other matters to attend to at home.
“I have no idea what’s gotten into him,” Arthur muttered under his breath as he watched the Malfoys leave.
For years, Lucius had never shown any inclination to be friendly towards him. Usually, they avoided each other, only exchanging brief acknowledgments when they had to.
Perhaps it had something to do with the upcoming investigation into Dark artifacts?
Arthur pondered. The matter had been scheduled for discussion, but it had been delayed due to the unexpected Muggle incident. The Ministry had diverted much of its manpower to modifying Muggle memories, leaving little time to conduct house-to-house inspections for Dark objects.
Lucius, being part of the Ministry, would undoubtedly have heard rumors.
But something still didn’t quite add up.
After much thought, Arthur gave up trying to figure it out.
The Grangers were very hospitable toward the Weasleys, inviting them to sit in a private dining room. As soon as they ordered, Mr. Weasley eagerly resumed his conversation.
Their chat spanned everything from televisions, telephones, computers, cars, and bus stations—things nonexistent in the wizarding world. Mr. Granger didn’t mind explaining, and the two men became deeply engrossed in discussion.
Thankfully, they were in a private room, or they surely would have drawn a crowd.
When it was time to part ways, Arthur was reluctant to leave. Talking with Mr. Granger had answered so many of his questions about the Muggle world.
He was like a sponge, eagerly absorbing knowledge about Muggle technology.
That afternoon, after bidding farewell to the Granger family, Harry and the others used Floo Powder to return to the Weasley household.
Harry truly disliked traveling by Floo Powder. Every time, he had to cast Scourgify on himself—otherwise, he’d be covered in soot from head to toe. It was an absolute mess.
That evening, as expected, Aunt Molly didn’t keep Harry waiting long and prepared a large pot of hearty beef stew with potatoes for him.
“This is amazing,” Harry said, patting his stomach and letting out a satisfied burp.
“Totally,” Ron agreed, feeling so full he didn’t want to move.
Thanks to Harry, Ron had been eating well these past few days.
As the days passed, August 15th finally arrived. That morning, Harry decided it was time to temporarily part ways with the Weasley family.
“I need to head out for a bit and visit a friend,” he told them.
Arthur and Molly didn’t ask many questions; they simply reminded Harry to stay safe.
After all, they had seen what he was capable of.
After thinking for a moment, Harry decided to bring Poppy along.
He also made a quick trip to Diagon Alley, buying a large stash of treats for Poppy—just to make sure she wouldn’t go hungry.
Once everything was ready, Harry activated Apparition and arrived at the Flamel residence.
Apparition required prior knowledge of the destination, and a hundred years ago, during his fifth-year Christmas break, he and Veratia had visited the Flamels’ home together.
Even after a century, the Flamel residence had remained unchanged.
Protected by the Fidelius Charm, its exact location was impossible to find without knowing the secret— not even Voldemort or Gellert Grindelwald could achieve that.
Fortunately, Harry knew.
He stepped forward and knocked on the door.
After a moment, the door opened, and Harry looked down.
“Deek?” he asked in surprise.
“Young Master Potter?” Deek exclaimed, equally delighted, even bouncing on the spot.
Neither of them had expected to run into each other here.
Deek had once been the house-elf assigned to him by Professor Weasley a century ago, taking care of all his daily needs.
“What are you doing here?” Harry asked happily. “I even went to the Room of Requirement to look for you, but you weren’t there anymore.”
As he spoke, he stepped inside.
Deek snapped his fingers, shutting the door behind them.
“Miss Grindelwald sent Deek here,” the little elf said, looking somewhat downcast. “But ever since then, Deek has never seen Miss Grindelwald again… Is she doing well, Young Master Potter?”
“She…” Harry hesitated, his voice catching.
Is she well?
Trapped in Slytherin’s study…
“Later, Deek heard that Master Grindelwald did some very terrible things,” Deek continued, noticing the change in Harry’s expression and quickly switching the topic. “But it seems that Master Grindelwald was punished for it.”
“Yes, and rightfully so,” Harry said, still furious at the thought. “Do you know that Veratia had over two million Galleons stored in Gringotts? Two million! And Gellert took it all! That’s not even the worst part—there were also rare alchemical materials among them, including ones that could have saved Veratia… He took those too!”
“That’s absolutely vile,” Deek said bluntly. “To take such things without Miss Grindelwald’s or Young Master Potter’s permission… completely unacceptable.”
“Exactly,” Harry scoffed. “If Veratia comes back and finds out what Gellert did, she’ll make sure he pays for it.”
“She will make him pay!” Deek echoed with a grin. “By the way, Young Master Potter, have you seen any of your other friends?”
“Oh, just one,” Harry said, reaching into his pouch and taking out Poppy.
“And this is?” Deek asked curiously. “Young Master, I don’t recall the Room of Requirement ever having a unicorn. The only magical creature I remember was a phoenix named Fiona, whom you and Miss Grindelwald considered a companion.”
“This is Poppy—Poppy Sweeting,” Harry said, patting the sleeping unicorn. Seeing no response, he reached out and popped the little bubble of snot at her nose.
“I wasn’t sleeping! Not at all!” Poppy suddenly opened her eyes, blinking drowsily as she looked around. “Where… are we, Harry?”
“France,” Harry answered simply, giving her neck a pat. “Look, guess who’s here?”
Poppy lowered her head and saw Deek.
“Well, if it isn’t Deek,” she said, smiling. “Long time no see.”
“Long time no see, Miss Sweeting.” Deek hesitated for a moment before tugging on Harry’s sleeve and whispering, “Young Master Potter, what happened? Why is Miss Sweeting a unicorn?”
“Side effects of a magical Animagus transformation,” Harry said, shrugging. “I have no idea how to fix it. That’s actually part of why I came to see Mr. Flamel—one, to check if he has any alchemical materials that might save Veratia, and two, to see if he knows a way to turn Poppy back into a human.”
“Oh.” Deek nodded and said, “Then you’ll need to wait a little while, Young Master Potter. Mr. and Mrs. Flamel only just went to bed. You know how it is—older folks don’t sleep as much as younger ones.”
“That’s fine, I’m not in a rush,” Harry said, giving Poppy’s leg another pat. “Deek, let’s find somewhere to sit in the meantime.”
Deek glanced at the way Harry was treating Poppy.
He really wanted to remind Harry that this wasn’t appropriate.
Even if Miss Sweeting was currently a unicorn, he still shouldn’t treat a lady like this—Deek was only thinking about Young Master Potter’s safety, after all.
Because if Miss Grindelwald ever saw this…
