The Girl Who Lived

Christmas at Hogwarts

In the days following Harriet's triumphant victory, Gryffindore House finally managed to reach some semblance of calm, not to say that they still weren't ecstatic. They held a continuing party the rest of the weekend, the celebration due in part to the fact that they once again had a more than decent Seeker. Harriet, however, quickly grew tired of the festivities, so she and her Gryffindore friends spent the majority of the weekend with Hagrid at his hut or hiding out in the library.

   Recently Gavin had not so subtlety asked Hagrid about the three-headed dog on the forbidden corridor. But something was intriguing Harriet to investigate the reason why the place was guarded by such menacing beasts.

It was there, in the library, that she and her friends discovered the owner of the mysterious vault 713. They were searching through old copies of the Dailey Prophet, looking for any other information on the robbery, when they discovered an article mentioning Sir Nicholas Flamel.

Milli assured them that she had heard of Flamel before and that he probably still owned the vault, they began looking through the library proper, hoping to find another reference to him.

The involvement of Flamel was further confirmed when Ron asked Hagrid about the mystries of the three-headed dog on the forbidden corridor. And the giant firmly replied that "Fluffy" and what he was guarding "is between Dumbledore and Flamel."

The days until December went by in a giant blur, highlighted only by the continuing search for Flamel and an encounter with Flitwick the last day of November. Harriet had gone to his office that day to ask the Charms professor about an advanced spell he had mentioned several months back. The Fidelius charm had sounded quite interesting to her with its ability to hide a secret within a single person, and she had attempted to research the spell but had had very little luck. Eventually, she plucked up her courage and asked the professor about the spell.

"Professor?" Harriet asked as she knocked on the door to his office.

Flitwick looked up from his grading and beamed as he noticed the Gryffindore. "Ah, yes. Hello, Miss Potter. Come in, come in," he stated happily, coming out from behind his desk. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes, Professor," she responded, approaching him cautiously. "I've been looking for a spell in the library; you mentioned it in class a few weeks ago, but I haven't been able to find anything."

He seemed interested. "What was the spell, my dear?"

"The Fidelius charm…" the Gryffindore trailed off as she noticed the man's expression.

Professor Flitwick's head snapped up, and he looked at her sharply. "The Fidelius charm?" he questioned incredulously, eyes going glassy. "Where, by Circe, did you hear of this spell?"

Harriet gave him a puzzled glance. "In class," she answered slowly, "like I said before."

Professor Flitwick instantly sprang out of his daze. "Really?" He seemed to be trying to remember. "Ah, yes. I do believe that I mentioned it." The tiny teacher glanced at Harriet again and inhaled slowly. Finally, he gestured to the empty seat in front of his desk, indicating that she should sit.