The next day, the sun rose as usual, and the young wizards fell back into the busy, fulfilling rhythm of campus life.
During afternoon study hall, Harry, Ron, and Hermione tracked down Richie, who was studying in the Great Hall.
"Richie, you really need to see this!"
Hermione slammed a massive, heavy book onto the table and rapidly flipped to a specific page. Seeing this, Richie set down his quill and leaned over curiously:
Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone.
The Sorcerer's Stone is a magical substance with astonishing powers—it can transform any metal into pure gold and produce the Elixir of Life.
The only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year.
"The Sorcerer's Stone..."
Richie blinked.
He remembered now. Wasn't the first Harry Potter book called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? Transmuting base metals to gold, brewing the Elixir of Life... was this the true allure of alchemy?
As Richie pondered this, Harry leaned in close and lowered his voice.
"So, I suspect the Sorcerer's Stone is exactly what Snape is trying to steal!"
Beside him, Ron nodded frantically in agreement. Hermione closed the book, looking deeply worried.
"But we still don't know his actual motive. He steals the Sorcerer's Stone... and then what?"
Ron shook his head, speaking with dead-serious conviction.
"Didn't you guys read the theory in yesterday's The Quibbler? It said You-Know-Who isn't actually dead!"
"He was just severely injured and is hiding in the dark corners of the wizarding world, waiting to make a comeback! Think about it. Most Slytherins supported You-Know-Who, and Snape is the head of Slytherin House. So... he must be trying to steal the Stone to brew the Elixir of Life for You-Know-Who!"
Hearing Ron's surprisingly logical deduction, Harry and Hermione held their breath in tension.
Richie, meanwhile, used this conversation to finally piece together the fragmented memories in his mind. You had to hand it to him, Ron's analysis was mostly spot on. If you just swapped Snape with Quirrell, that was exactly how things were going to play out.
"Hey!"
A sudden voice startled the trio. They immediately sat up straight, awkwardly trying to cover up their meeting.
"Richie, regarding the twelve uses of dragon's blood, why does... wait, what's wrong with them?"
Terry stared at the three Gryffindors, who looked like they were having panic attacks, and turned to Richie in confusion.
"They just finished working out. Probably a bit exhausted."
Richie casually covered for them before looking down at the parchment Terry handed over.
"The twelve uses of dragon's blood... ah, I see what your issue is. You clearly made a mistake right here..."
Richie began tutoring Terry on his essay. Catching Richie's subtle nod, Harry, Ron, and Hermione quietly slipped out of the Great Hall.
"We need to get the professors to help us!" Hermione said anxiously.
"No, the professors won't believe us," Ron said with absolute certainty. "Not about Snape stealing the Stone, and definitely not about... You-Know-Who coming back!"
Hearing this, Harry hesitated before adding, "Actually... I have a gut feeling that The Quibbler is right."
Ron started pacing back and forth. "Whatever happens, we have to find a way to stop Snape first!"
Right then, Harry spoke up. "Let's go to Hagrid. He's the one who let Nicolas Flamel's name slip in the first place. Now that we know about the Sorcerer's Stone, we can get him to tell us more!"
Hermione and Ron exchanged a look and nodded in agreement. The trio immediately sprinted out of the castle toward Hagrid's hut.
Unfortunately, they didn't find him. After waiting for a long time with no luck, they had no choice but to head back to the castle.
Midnight Operations
After dinner, Richie headed to the Starlight Sanctum.
All five members were present tonight. Taking advantage of the full house, Richie shared his findings regarding the second riddle.
"So that's how it works!" Ventis clapped her hands in sudden realization.
Anchoring space and time, reverberations: "It definitely connects to the clock tower."
The Mechanism: "Richie's theory about using magic to trigger thirteen chimes between midnight and 3:00 AM to unlock the mechanism makes perfect sense!"
Lowered eyes: "Obviously means when we're asleep!"
"But midnight is a terrible time for this..." Neville said, looking troubled. "Curfew will have started hours ago. If we sneak out then, we won't be able to get back into our common rooms. Plus... ringing a bell thirteen times in the middle of the night... won't that wake everyone up?"
Hearing Neville's point, the rest of the group nodded. His concerns were completely valid. Not being able to get back to their dorms was manageable—they could always just sleep in the Starlight Sanctum for the night. But if those thirteen chimes woke up the entire school, or worse, brought the professors running, their entire operation would be exposed.
Seeing their hesitation, Richie pulled a book from his robes. It was a miscellaneous text he'd received as a welcome gift at his grandfather's auction. It was incredibly thin, only a few pages long, but it contained exactly what he needed.
Richie opened the book and flipped to the third page.
"I think I have a way to handle the bell problem."
The group huddled around him:
The Large-Scale Silencing Charm
"Oh, Merlin, that is so cool!"
Because the effects of Seamus's potion treatment from the night before hadn't worn off yet, his head was still massively swollen like a bobblehead. Forced to prop his heavy head up with both hands, he could only widen his eyes to express his shock.
+1
"There are five of us here, which is exactly enough to pull this off," Richie explained analytically. "As long as we quickly cast this Large-Scale Silencing Charm right when we trigger the bells, even if it doesn't completely muffle the sound, it'll significantly dampen the noise."
The group listened and nodded in agreement.
"Solving problems together, going on adventures together... This feels incredible!"
Neville pumped his fist excitedly. Unfortunately, Seamus was standing way too close. Neville's elbow caught him square in the side, sending the bobble-headed boy tumbling backward off-balance.
"Whoa... hey... help!"
Thump!
Thankfully, Ventis managed to grab Seamus at the last second. She saved him from cracking his giant head open, though he still landed hard on his butt.
Watching the chaotic mess unfold, Richie's mouth twitched helplessly.
Meanwhile, Hermione seemed completely distracted. Richie knew exactly what she was stressing over, but he couldn't interfere. After all, as long as the timeline followed the standard plot, the trio would resolve the Sorcerer's Stone crisis on their own.
He was just one kid with limited power. His involvement wouldn't drastically change the outcome anyway, so he just needed to stay focused on his own goals.
With that in mind, Richie spoke up and began outlining their study plan for mastering the Large-Scale Silencing Charm. Judging by their current learning curve, he estimated they wouldn't actually be ready to execute the plan until the Easter holidays.