"Four words, fervens increbresco saeta absentis."
An almost panicked look passed across Nic's face. "Of course. What my dear departed parents didn't realize was that Perenelle's research skills made her a far better catch than any housewifely sort they could have picked for me. Margarite for all her attractions couldn't read a word, and if it weren't for Nell's research capabilities we would have died long ago." Nic got a relieved look as a smug look crossed his wife's face.
Harry got the inkling that this was an oft repeated interchange between the two. He recognized the four words as Latin which made him wonder if it was a spell. Whatever it was it clearly placed Perenelle Flamel on equal footing with her famous husband. Rather than the male dominant sort of marriage that would have been the norm in the era of their youth. "I'm glad you like them Madame Flamel."
"None of that, You can call me Tante(Aunt) Nell. Now let's get you settled."
The rest of that day and the next few days were very different from anything Harry had ever experienced before. His aunt and uncle had always been stiff with him and his Christmases with Neville had always been colored by the formality demanded by the Dowager Countess Longbottom. The Flamels were casual, they teased each other and there was little to no formality in their home.
The first morning when Nic had come downstairs to breakfast in zebra print charmeuse pajama bottoms and a lime green T-shirt with the saying Knowledge is power- why are you defenseless? printed on it. Harry couldn't help himself: he had first choked on his tea then sprayed it. Nell had laughed with Nic. They both teased Harry for coming down dressed for the day, considering they were both in pajamas, though Nell wore a robe over hers. For the first two days of his visit his mornings were spent in Nic's lab where he started learning more about the intricacies of alchemy, and over the various experiments they discussed the nature of magic itself. The afternoons were spent with Perenelle. The first afternoon she quizzed him to establish how much magical history he had learned and on the second afternoon she had thrown her hands up in disgust.
"Better than I would have expected, but how Albus expects any of the children of Hogwarts to understand history or its significance, when he uses the text by Bathilda Bagshot and that ghost to teach I'll never undestand."
"What's wrong with the book?"
"Bathilda seldom looked beyond the obvious and almost never asked the question why did this happen. She merely says thus and such happened. She certainly never cross-referenced it with events outside the magical world. Furthermore, she almost completely neglects to mention Gellert Grindelwald mostly because she didn't want anyone to make the connection between them."
Harry's interest was instantly piqued. Cassandra's dossier on Dumbledore had connected the old man to Godric's Hollow and Bathilda Bagshot. Cassandra said the older woman had let slip that there was some connection between the old man and Grindelwald but had cut herself off saying it would cost her too much. Royalties on History of Magic being the older woman's source of income and Dumbledore using it as the text, if it was a bad one, smacked of a payoff. Cassandra was still investigating. But maybe he could find out something. "What do you mean?"
Perenelle caught herself, and looked sharply at the young man beside her. His posture was relaxed but his emerald eyes held an intensity that spoke of great interest. She paused. Unlike Nic who trusted Albus within certain parameters, Perenelle had always held that Albus wasn't completely trustworthy. He had come and studied with Nic seventy years ago. His intentions had been altruistic but he seldom ever acknowledged his own darker side. He had always held himself as if he was greater than his fellow man, especially where those without magic were concerned. Some of that had been pardonable pride because he was quite intelligent and gifted with magic, but she and Nic had never agreed about his trustworthiness. She had always felt he was too much in the the ends justify the means camp, while Nicholas pointed to the fact that Fawkes the phoenix bonded to him. She reluctantly decided to hold her tongue.
Harry read her pause and then her decision. "Since you disapprove, what books do you think I should study instead?"
Perenelle bit back a chuckle, this one was indeed sharp. It saddened her though, for a child of thirteen to be this canny it usually meant a less than loving family. Well, perhaps she and Nic could take up some of the slack. Those invitations from the boy's trustees spoke of others trying to puff up their importance by riding on Harry's coattails. Not something she and Nic would ever support. "Don't worry. I'll see you get what you need. Come on, I'll show you the vault."
Harry followed her to what he assumed were steps to the basement. The manor house while large had a simple floor plan. The main floor held the kitchen, which connected to a formal dining room via a butler's pantry and a breakfast room which was where they had eaten all of their meals so far. Then there was a pantry that doubled as a laundry room, a music and entertainment room, a formal drawing room, a study, a guest water closet and the master suite. The second floor had two guest bedrooms and a full bathroom. The remaining six rooms had all been converted, two to a library of modern literature and the other four into what Harry could only think of as the world's largest walk-in closet. There were clothes of every century and style that Nic and Nell had lived in, everything from medieval robes to hippy bellbottom leisure suits. He imagined that they probably had clothes from the current decade in a magically expanded closet in the master suite. He followed Perenelle into the cellar which housed a deep freeze, some wine racks and shelves of canned goods. She led him past the shelves to a concealed door. Where they met more steps, that lead downward.
"So what is in this vault?" Harry asked.
....
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