"You wish to kill me, Knight Alchemist?" Asked the King, clearly gloating of his former subordinate's monumental stupefaction and the dark clouds expanded again. "This is an...annoyance. Every creature or wizard who tried in the last couple of millennia has failed."
Then a sinister murmur like a funeral melody sounded. With absolutely no warning, a halo of pure night surrounded Nicolas Flamel, hiding it from the rest of the world.
Twelve of the observers flinched, in spite of their relative experience in matters of torture and carnage, when the screams of their former colleague arrived to their ears. After approximately two minutes of this treatment, the globe retracted and nullified, letting the body of a blonde-haired man covered with black burns, robes in tatters and marks of self-mutilation appear and fall on the cold floor lifelessly.
"So die all traitors." Grumbled the King, with an obvious hint of satisfaction to his voice. "Knight Summoner, Knight Informer."
"Yes, Your Majesty?" The voice of the beings were very determined all a sudden.
"The betrayal of Knight Alchemist is going to force us to abandon our plans for the British Isles and the goblins for the time being. Deal with the problems at Brise-Roc and Hogwarts. Leave no traces of our involvement and no witnesses. Take Flamel's body and pass his death as a burglary which has turned badly."
"Yes, your Majesty. The Philosopher's Stone and Voldemort?" Asked the being in red robes.
"Let the Chief Warlock have his little victory and keep the Stone for the time being. I'm sure he will realise the default of this artefact soon enough. The wraith will keep most of Dumbledore's attention for years to come."
May 23 1992, Hogwarts, Scotland
"THEY DID WHAT?"
Alexandra's shout had certainly alerted half of Ravenclaw tower. Not that she did care. In front of her Nigel, her poor friend who had just paid the brunt of her anger. Surprisingly, he was looking her straight in the eyes, shaking but still firmly standing in ground.
"Neville and half of the Gryffindors first-years went to the forbidden Gryffindor. They think Snape is about to steal the Philosopher Stone of Nicholas Flamel." Repeated Nigel. "They brought Hermione with them, they forced her, Alex!"
"By all the powers of the War of the Wrath..." Swore Alexandra, rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, Nigel. I shouldn't have shouted on you."
When the picture in the Ravenclaw Common Room had interrupted her night reading to affirm her Gryffindor friend was outside asking for her help; the green-eyed girl had believed it was a poor joke.
Curfew was not informed since the end of the exams, but the teachers were not exactly happy with those walking in the corridors at the light of the moon. Not to mention, it was very late, in fact one quarter of an hour later and Alexandra would have gone to sleep too. But this book on the legend of Merlin had been captivating...
"I understand." Reassured Nigel with a small smile. Smile which disappeared the moment after. "What do we do? If Snape is after the Stone..."
"Snape is not after the Stone, Nigel. It's Quirell."
Her friend looked about to object, but Alexandra swept his objection with a gesture of the hand.
"Yes, yes. I know that all the Gryffindors are convinced it's Snape. Not that it matters. Both Quirell and Snape are dangerous enough to crush half a dozen first-years if they want to do it."
"Do we go help them or do we go search for a Professor?"
"How much time do you think you were immobilised by the Petrificus Totalus of Leo Black?"
Nigel frowned."Twenty minutes or so."
"Then we go. I don't care what happens to Longbottom and his lackeys, but if they have Hermione... Run!"
The first-year Ravenclaw girl and the first-year Gryffindor boy began their sprint towards the third floor. As it was one o'clock in the morning, the patrols of the prefects and the ghosts were non-existent, a very good thing as their sprint was the very opposite of subtle and silent.
In ten minutes they managed to reach the Forbidden Corridor without being noticed. Charging through the stairs that separated them from the Cerberus, the duo was forced to stop. A man was standing in front of the forbidden door, and it was neither Snape nor Quirell.
It was Devkins, the Junior Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"Professor!" Shouted happily Nigel. "Neville and the rest of my housemates are..."
"No." Abruptly cut him the Potter Heiress. "He intends to steal the Stone too."
"Very good Miss Potter." Said Devkins in an humorous tone. "What gave me away?"
"For a man who forgets everything, your office and your affairs are always impeccably classed. You should have kept them a bit out of order, should a student break in to verify if your incompetence was all an act."Alexandra admitted. "You also participated in this travesty with Quirell on Halloween night."
"Observant as always." Said calmly Devkins. "I should have known the Weasley Twins couldn't be responsible for all this paint. And have you managed to discover for you I'm working for?"
"I've managed to narrow it to Nicolas Flamel or a potential Dark Lord. Nothing else makes sense."
Devkins clapped away slowly, his face for the first time reflecting a bit of admiration.
"Bravo, Miss Potter. Excellent deductions. Although I'm afraid I can't let you walk away right now."
"Because you intend to ambush whoever comes out of the corridor and steal the Philosopher Stone?" Alexandra asked in a semi-inquisitive tone, taking into account her potential opponent. Devkins had the same look and was wearing the same type of robes shown all year, the only difference was a small pendant worn around his neck emitting a sort of black light. Looking at it, it looked to be a pawn of a chess game, surrounded by a crown of flames. Strange.
"I prefer to think it is a legitimate restitution of propriety." Affirmed the Junior Professor of DADA. "My superiors weren't happy when one of the Stones was stolen from the goblin fortress of Brise-Roc by the Order of the Phoenix."
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