Chapter 165: Nicolas Flamel
"You're right," said Rubeus Hagrid, breaking into a proud grin.
"I raised him myself."
"I bought him from a Greek bloke I met at a pub last year. When I first got him, he'd just been born—no bigger than my hand, about this small."
Hagrid spread his massive hands to demonstrate.
Even so, Harry Potter couldn't help thinking—
That's still about the size of a goose…
"When he grew up, Professor Albus Dumbledore came to me and took Fluffy to guard—"
Hagrid suddenly stopped.
Too late.
"Guard what?"
Harry leaned forward, eyes blazing with urgency.
"Is it the thing you took out of Gringotts that day?"
"This has been bothering me for ages—just tell me!"
"That's enough!"
Hagrid cut him off sharply.
"No more questions."
"That's top secret. Not something for just any wizard to know, understand?"
"But Snape's trying to steal it!" Harry insisted.
"To sell it—or something!
"Impossible."
Hagrid shook his head firmly.
"First of all, Snape's a Hogwarts professor. He'd never do something like that."
"Professor Dumbledore trusts him—so I trust him too."
"And besides…"
"He's a famous Potions Master. Any potion he makes could fetch a fortune."
"He's got no reason to sneak around stealing things."
"Then why was he trying to kill Harry?!"
Hermione Granger shot back, her voice sharp.
"Isn't it because Harry discovered his secret?"
The events of that afternoon had clearly shaken Hermione Granger's opinion of Severus Snape.
"If someone casts a jinx in front of me, I can tell. I know I can," she said stubbornly.
"I've read everything about jinxes. The caster has to maintain eye contact with the target."
"And Snape didn't blink once—he was staring straight at Harry. I saw it."
"Listen—you must've been mistaken," said Rubeus Hagrid, growing increasingly restless.
He began pacing back and forth, his heavy footsteps making the floor tremble.
"I don't know what happened to Harry's broom, but Professor Snape would never try to kill a student!"
"Now listen to me—all of you. You're meddling in things that don't concern you. It's dangerous."
"Forget the dog. Forget what it's guarding."
"This is between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel—"
"Wait—what?!"
Harry Potter froze, then lit up in realization.
"So there is someone called Nicolas Flamel involved?!"
"Merlin's saggy socks!"
Hagrid's beard trembled violently.
He looked like he wanted to slap himself.
He'd been trying to shut them up—
and instead had handed them another clue.
Still unwilling to give up, Hagrid hurriedly tried to patch things over.
"Harry—you said you saw Russell treating Snape in his office, right?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded awkwardly.
"Though Filch caught me and shoved me inside…"
Hagrid's eyes lit up, as if he'd found a lifeline.
"Then think about it—why didn't Russell suspect anything and report it to Dumbledore?"
"He's a good student! He's even received two Orders of Merlin!"
"He wouldn't be working together with Snape, would he?"
Hagrid clearly expected that to settle things.
But Harry shook his head slowly, his expression turning serious.
"…Actually, that makes me think."
He looked at Ron and Hermione.
"Maybe… we can't fully trust Russell either.
"That's ridiculous!" Ron shot back immediately.
"There's no way Russell would side with Snape!"
Hermione nodded as well.
They simply couldn't think of any reason he would.
"I'm not saying he's doing it on purpose," Harry explained.
"But what if he's being misled by Snape?"
"Think about it—how many students could resist a professor's influence?"
"…Or maybe it's like last year," he added.
"Maybe he's waiting for the right moment—when Snape reveals himself—before taking him down."
Hagrid still insisted stubbornly:
"Snape's not the one behind this."
"…That's not impossible," Harry said quickly, seeing Ron about to argue again.
"I'm not trying to accuse Russell."
"He's helped me a lot—I'm grateful."
"But this is serious."
"We should be careful."
He paused, then made a decision.
"How about this—"
"Snape is definitely suspicious."
"As for Russell… we won't suspect him."
"But we also won't tell him anything."
"At least—not about Nicolas Flamel."
Even Ron reluctantly agreed.
For now—
it was the safest approach.
Only Hagrid remained unconvinced, still muttering that Snape couldn't possibly be the culprit.
But—
young witches and wizards rarely listened when curiosity took hold.
Meanwhile—
Russell had been confined.
He was ordered to remain inside the Ravenclaw common room and forbidden to leave.
To compensate, Albus Dumbledore had lent him a pair of Two-way mirrors.
He now had to attend classes through a small mirror.
Meals were delivered directly to him by house-elves.
Russell felt like he was going insane.
The only thing keeping him sane—
was that Wednesday and Cedric Diggory would come visit him after class.
Ironically—
his two roommates envied him.
They would've gladly switched places.
And they weren't the only ones.
"I'm telling you," Ron said confidently to Harry,
"This is just Dumbledore rewarding Russell for stepping in."
"A special privilege!"
"Ron, this is clearly a punishment," Hermione rolled her eyes.
"If I were stuck like that, I'd go mad."
"Think of everything he's missing in class!"
"How can you say that?" Ron shrugged.
"Doesn't he have that mirror thing?"
"It's called a Two-way Mirror," Hermione corrected.
"But it's not the same."
"In class, you get direct guidance from professors."
"In the common room—you don't."
Ron popped a piece of Fizzing Whizzbees into his mouth.
"I don't think it makes much difference for Russell."
Before he could finish—
they noticed someone hopping toward them.
Both feet pressed together.
It was Neville Longbottom.
"Neville? What happened?" Harry asked quickly.
Neville looked miserable.
"It was Draco Malfoy…"
"He said Russell's probably going to be expelled…"
"And that no one will stand up for me anymore."