After completing the potions class that day, Harry accompanied by his friends made their way up only to find a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

“Hi, Hagrid, want any help?” Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

“Nah, I’m all right, thanks, Ron.”

“The trees look good Hagrid,” Neville commented,

“Of course they would,” Hagrid replied with pride. “I grow them myself you see…” Before he could complete his sentence, an annoyed voice came from behind them,

“Would you mind moving out of the way?” came Malfoy’s cold drawl from behind them. “Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose.. that hut of Hagrid’s must seem like a palace compared to what your family’s used to.”

Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs. “WEASLEY!” Ron let go of the front of Malfoy’s robes.

“He was provoked, Professor Snape,” said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. “Malfoy was insultin’ his family.”

“Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid,” said Snape silkily. “Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn’t more. Move along, all of you.”

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking. “I’ll get him,” said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy’s back, “one of these days, I’ll get him…”

“I hate them both,” said Harry, “Malfoy and Snape.”

“Well, at least you dont have to see them every day,” they turned around to see Ronan standing behind them. “Hey Hagrid,” he greeted. “Want me to perform a levitation charm on those things?”

Hagrid shook his head, “I am good.”

Harry still looked angered, “Come on, cheer up, it’s nearly Christmas,” said Hagrid. “Tell you what, come with me and see the Great Hall, looks like a treat.”

So he, Ron, Neville, Ronan, and Hermione followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations. “Ah, Hagrid, the last tree.. put it in the far corner, would you?”

The Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

“How many days are left until your holidays?” Hagrid asked.

“Just one,” said Hermione, “And that reminds me, Ronan, we would like to have a word with you.”

“Sure, please make it quick.”

Harry then stepped forward, “Do you know who Nicolas Flamel is?”

“Yeah,”

“What?” Hagrid looked shocked. “Listen here.. I have told you to drop it. He has nothing to do with what the guard is guarding.”

Ronan then looked at Hagrid, “How do you know about the dog Hagrid,”

“Fluffy is mine. I gave it to Dumbledore.”

Ronan looked more confused, “So what does the dog have to do with Nicolas Flamel? It is not like it is guarding…” Ronan stopped and looked at Hagrid. The big man looked rather nervous, “Hagrid. Is Fluffy guarding what I think it is guarding?”

“I dont know what you are thinking.” Hagrid said swiftly, and then looked at him dangerously, “Also, Ronan was it? I am warning you, dont you tell these guys anything.” With that, Hagrid went away to put the trees in the corner.

Neville then asked, “So what is the dog guarding?”

Ronan looked at them, “Before that, why are you so keen to discover what it is guarding? Do you wanna steal it?”

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Ron shook his head, “Not steal it.. But we want to prevent someone from stealing it.”

“What do you mean?”

So they sat down in Hall and told Ronan everything about Snape and his injury. They also told him that Hagrid mentioned Nicolas Flamel. Hearing everything, Ronan looked rather conflicted. “Do you guys really think that Snape would try to steal something from under Dumbledore’s nose?”

Harry then exclaimed, “Then how do you explain the injury?” Inwardly, Harry was angry a little bit. Everyone has seen that Snape is a bad guy, then why do people feel that he couldnt be the culprit?

“Harry, you are a friend of mine, so let me give a piece of advice.” Ronan said seriously, “Think before you make any assumptions. And do not think that your first theory is right.”

All of them stared at him, so Ronan continued, “I cannot blame you guys, you guys are not cunning at all, like a Slytherin,”

Ron a little bit angered, “So you are saying dumb,”

Swiftly, Ronan shook his head, “No no no no… I am not saying that.. Let me break it down for you guys so that you can better understand the situation and what I am trying to say.. Do you guys remember when we first came across Fluffy,” Neville shuddered thinking about it.

“Yeah, what about it?” Ron asked, still a little bit mad.

“We were able to pry open the door that led to Fluffy with a spell, taught first years, performed by a man who has been a wizard for around 2-3 months.”

They all looked at each other, they all knew that his words made sense. Then Ronan continued, “Also, it is not hard to completely lock the door so that such a spell cannot be used. I have read that there are several precautions that one could use so that no one would be able to the door.”

Hemione then asked, “What are you trying to say?”

“I am trying to say, we dont know why Dumbledore is hiding that thing in Hogwarts. But he is not an old coot, he is the greatest wizard of the century. He has a plan in mind. And if Snape was really after the thing that is behind the trap door, he wouldn't be living in the castle about now.”

“Your words make sense Ronan,” Hermione said, “But we have proof that Snape went to Fluffy.”

“For all we know he would have gone to the dog to feed it.” They all looked at each other, they were unable to refute anything that Ronan had thrown at them.

Hermione then spoke, “Alright, Snape might not be a culprit. But could you at least spare us some trouble and tell us who is Nicolas Flamel and what the dog is guarding?” She said pleadingly, “We must have been through hundreds of books already and we can’t find him anywhere... Can you just please tell us? I know I’ve read his name somewhere.”

Ronan then got up and with a sly smile on his face, “How about no? Find it yourself.” They all looked enraged, “Also, to lessen your strain, let me give you a hint. Have you looked through Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century or Notable Magical Names of Our Time?”

Hermione nodded, “That is the first place I thought about looking for him.”

With a grin on his face, Ronan spoke, “Then you are looking at the wrong place. You wouldn't find him there. You will find him in the place, where you least expect him to be.” With that, he went away.

Ron then spoke, “I hate that guy.” Neville added, “Me too. He thinks that he is so smarter than all of us. Typical Slytherin.”

Hermione then added, “But we have to give it to him, his reasoning did make sense. And I think he gave us a clue where we would be able to find Nicolas Flamel.”

They all looked at her, “He said that we won't find him there. Which meant that we would be able to find him in books that we dont have access to.”

Neville then asked, “Hermione what kind of books would he have access to, and we won't?”

“The Restricted Section of the Library.” The boys were interested to hear about such a section.

“Woah, Ronan had access to Restricted Section?” Neville asked looking a little bit nervous.

“I dont think so,” Hermione said, “To get access you need to be a sixth or seventh-year student who is studying Dark Arts. Or you need permission from the professor to access it.”

Harry then questioned, “But Hermione, then how can you be so sure that the answer we are looking for would be there?”

“Think about it for a second, we have searched for that name in every useful book in the Library. It must be there.”

Ron then pointed, “If the answer is there, then how come Ronan got the answer that we are looking for?”

Neville then suddenly exclaimed, “It is because he is in Slytherin,” They all looked at him, confused, “Think about it for a moment. He is the house that hosts heirs of all households of Magic Britain that practice dark arts. Someone would have told him about it, or would have mentioned it to him.”

Ron nodded, “That makes sense.”

Determined, Harry said, “Then we need to get access to the Restricted Section.” More than before, he was more adamant to find out the truth. Ronan’s words did make sense, but the thing was his gut was telling him that Snape was trying to steal the thing behind the trap door…

They all went to the Library that day. Hermione had made a list of all subjects and titles she had decided to search, Ron and Neville strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. While Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He was just browsing through the titles when a voice broke his line of thought.

“What are you looking for, boy?” He looked back to see Madame Pince, glaring at him through her round spectacles.

“Nothing,” said Harry.

Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him. “You’d better get out, then. Go on… Out!”

Wishing he’d been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, Harry left the library. They had already agreed, it would be better not to ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she would be able to tell them, but they couldn’t risk Snape hearing what they were up to.

He waited outside in the corridor to see if the other three had found anything, but they also returned empty handed. They had been looking for a clue for ages, but as they only had odd moments between lessons to look for it, they didnt have luck in finding it. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madame Pince breathing down their necks. Harry wondered whether they would be able to do that before the holiday start or not.