Chapter 124. Nicolas Flamel? I Know Him
After a few words of small talk with Hannah and Ellie, Duncan and Neville reached the platform when most students had already boarded the train.
"Keep an eye on my trunk for me.
I'll go see if there's an empty compartment."
No sooner had he spoken than Neville stepped briskly onto the train.
He threaded his way down the corridor and peered into compartments, open and shut.
After a moment, Neville's head popped out of the window of another carriage.
He waved hard at Duncan.
"Duncan, quick, there are seats here.
There's just enough room for us."
"Right!" Duncan used the Levitation Charm to float Neville's trunk up.
He boarded the train and headed for Neville's spot.
At the open compartment door, Duncan flicked his wand.
The trunk in mid-air wobbled its way towards Neville.
"Duncan, careful—there are other people here!"
Neville hurriedly caught the trunk, speaking in a rush.
"Oh?
Sorry!" Duncan apologised.
He had thought Neville had found an empty compartment.
Duncan's gaze went past Neville to the corner.
Hermione Granger was cradling a book so thick it made him blanch.
Her small face was scrunched up.
Her slender, pale fingers traced the lines on the page.
Every so often she turned a page, seemingly oblivious to the two extra people in the compartment.
"She was already reading when I came, and she didn't respond when I said hello," Neville whispered.
"There isn't anyone else here, is there?" Duncan asked.
"No, just her.
All the other compartments I checked were taken."
Neville spoke, gave Hermione a sidelong glance, and lowered his voice a great deal, tinged with worry.
"Do you think there's something wrong with the book Hermione's reading?
She's been bewitched by it, so she didn't react at all."
He had heard from his gran that some evil Dark Magic books had strong power.
If a witch or wizard was careless, they could become addicted and be unable to extricate themselves.
In severe cases they could even go mad.
That was one of the reasons Hogwarts had a Restricted Section.
"Don't worry.
No," Duncan said with a smile as he entered the compartment.
"Because what Hermione's reading is A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry."
Neville cocked his head and squinted to make out the title along the book's spine in Hermione's hands.
He gave an awkward smile, and his cheeks reddened.
Without disturbing Hermione, he stuffed his trunk into the luggage rack overhead.
After he had sat for a moment, the train jolted into motion with a clatter-clatter.
Neville patted his forehead as realisation dawned across his face.
"What's up with you?" Duncan asked as he slid the compartment door shut and locked it.
He gently rubbed Pro's belly with his hand.
Pro had sneaked into the workshop for a midnight extra meal while Duncan wasn't looking.
It had overeaten and had been nursing a stomach-ache since the middle of the night.
"I've remembered what Hermione's looking for!" Neville said, leaning close to Duncan.
Some time ago, after he and Hermione and the others had coaxed Nicolas Flamel's name out of Hagrid, Hermione had gone mad scouring all sorts of books for information.
He had originally joined the search for a while.
But later Duncan needed help with things inside the trunk, so he hadn't been back to the library.
"What?" Duncan prompted obligingly.
He had already had the answer the moment he saw the book in Hermione's hands.
Hesitation hung on Neville's face, as if he wasn't sure whether he ought to tell Duncan.
"Can't say it?" Duncan said casually.
"Then don't.
If you promised someone, you should keep their secret."
"It's not that…" Neville murmured, frowning as he thought.
Ron had originally wanted to rely on the few of them to protect the treasure on the fourth floor, to prove how capable they were.
But judging from Ron and Harry's recent behaviour, they seemed to have tossed the matter to the back of their minds and weren't as bothered as before.
These days, only Hermione was basically looking things up in the library.
Harry was busy with Quidditch practice, and Ron only cared about playing.
Since that was the case, I should be able to tell Duncan, right?
Maybe he actually knows the person we've been searching for!
Neville thought for a second.
Then he asked, hesitant, "Duncan, have you… have you heard of the name Nicolas Flamel?"
"Nicolas Flamel?" Duncan repeated, smiling broadly.
"Of course I've heard of him.
My granddad and he are friends.
When I was little I even went to his house to play.
He's a touch on in years, but he's great fun, not stuffy at all."
"Ah?"
Neville's eyes slowly widened, struck by the feeling of a legendary figure suddenly stepping into real life.
Duncan waved a hand in front of Neville's eyes.
"You all right?"
"I—I'm fine.
Hang on a second…"
Neville spoke quickly.
Excited, he rapped his knuckles on the tabletop in front of Hermione with a bang-bang-bang.
"Hermione, stop reading—Duncan knows who Nicolas Flamel is!"
Startled by the sudden noise, Hermione gave a little cry.
The book in her hands flew up and came down toward the top of Duncan's head.
Duncan hurried to catch it.
Pro flipped over, planted its paws on its hips in outrage, and waved its claws, berating Hermione's awful behaviour.
After soothing Pro, Duncan asked Hermione, "Are you all right?"
Hermione finally came back from the world woven by books.
She took in the two of them before her and the volume in Duncan's hands.
"I'm sorry, Duncan," she said, abashed.
"I was too absorbed just now.
When did you get here?"
"We were here before the train started, and I said hello, but you didn't respond," Neville rattled off.
"But that's not the point.
Hermione, Duncan says he knows Nicolas Flamel!"
Hermione wore the same startled expression Neville had just shown.
Then she hurried to ask Duncan to tell them what he knew about Nicolas.
"I can tell you, of course," Duncan said.
"But you'll have to answer me first—why are you looking for Nicolas Flamel?"
Since they were acting, they had to act the whole way through.
If he didn't show curiosity now, it would look suspicious.
Hermione knit her brows and hesitated for a moment.
"Do you remember Professor Dumbledore mentioning the restricted area on the fourth floor?"
Duncan nodded for Hermione to go on.
"We once went in by accident and discovered there seemed to be some kind of treasure hidden there," Hermione explained.
"And Harry and Ron once went out at night and ran into someone heading for the fourth floor.
He wanted to steal what was there, though he didn't succeed."
"The few of us wanted to catch that person.
But after all our effort, all we managed to get out of Hagrid was the name 'Nicolas Flamel.'"
"I see," Duncan said with a smile, setting the book in his hands down on the table.
"But it'll be a bit difficult to find anything about Nicolas Flamel in this book."
"Why?" Hermione blinked in puzzlement.
Duncan shrugged.
"Because Mr Flamel is already six hundred and sixty-five years old.
He doesn't belong to the same era as the people recorded in that book."
"Ah?" Hermione and Neville exclaimed together.
Their faces showed the same astonishment, shocked by that extravagant number.
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