The Alchemist Apprentice

By Aragon Potter

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its Character; all credit goes to the talented Joanne Rowling, aka J.K. Rowling.

In celebration of All Hallows Eve, which originated from here in Ireland, I have decided to post this new story, so please enjoy and tell me what you think.

Summary: Having enough of the abuse of his relatives a young Harry Potter decides to leave Private Drive. Shortly after leaving, Harry meets a strange couple who takes him in and introduce him to a whole new world…the world of Magic.

Chapter 1: Enough

-June 23, 1987, #4 Privet Drive, Surrey-

Little Whinging was a peaceful place. The neighbours were all friendly to each other and said good morning and good evening whenever they met in the streets. Even though most of them tended to keep to themselves, life was pleasant in this little part of the world. People lived well around here. They all had nice houses, nice cars and happy children, who loved to go to the little town school, even though most did hate doing their homework.

However, at number four, Privet Drive, one small, skinny six year old boy wasn't happy at all. In fact he was most positively miserable anyone could ever meet. He was crying softly, curled up in a small ball, his knees pulled tightly to his chest. A small spider was crawling over his arm, but he didn't seem to notice. It was dark in the cupboard he was locked in and he barely had the room to move around in it. A few more months and he would have to sleep while sitting up in his very small "bedroom."

He winced when he tried to move himself in a slightly more comfortable position. He was hurting all over his body after the enormous beating his Uncle had treated him to yesterday. He had large bruises on his arms, his back and legs, but his uncle always made sure to avoid his face or anywhere that could not be covered up in clothing, so to not gain attention. He also made sure that Harry never told anyone, saying that no-one would believe a "lying little freak" like him and that if ever tried telling anyone his "lies" he'd kill him.

He didn't have any friends to go to and ask for help, since his cousin and his gang would beat up anyone that got within five feet of him. He didn't even have any proper clothes, since he was always given his cousin old hand me down clothes, which were much too big for him.

As he lay in his hidden "bedroom" Harry calmed himself down, since whenever he took a deep breath, his chest hurt. His black, always messy hair was coated with blood from where he had hit his head and the old round glasses on his nose, were held together by black tape.

It's sad to say that Harry Potter was used to this sort of injuries. His Aunt and Uncle had him act like a servant, cooking, cleaning and doing the gardening. His Uncle also always beat him for whenever he had and accident or for anything that went wrong in the house and had done so for as long as Harry could remember.

Harry lived with his Uncle, Vernon Dursley, and his Aunt Petunia ever since his parents had died when he was just a baby. They had died in a car crash, his Aunt once told him, and that was when he got the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, but other than that he knew next to nothing about his real parents. He knew better by now than to ask his Uncle or his Aunt about them. From an early age he had found out that the only way to avoid more beatings was not to ask any questions.

So he kept himself silent and hidden away as much as he could. He was still beaten once in a while, especially if something strange happened. And strange things did happen around Harry quite often. And time and time again, Harry was blamed for them, even though he had no idea how they happened. Like this one time; Harry was really hungry and had once again gotten next to nothing to eat from his relatives. All the while his cousin Dudley was stuffing his face. 'Little' Dudley was Vernon and Petunia's only pride and joy, even if he was a fat and horribly rude bully, who picked on all the neighbourhood kids. Like always, Dudley had filled up his plate with everything he could get his hands on. Harry remembered looking jealously at the enormous heap of food on his cousin's plate and wishing he could have that food for himself. The next thing he knew, Dudley's plate was empty and his plate was full. He got a terrible beating for stealing after that and was locked in the cupboard without food for almost a week.

Another time, Harry was asked to clean up Dudley's bedroom when he had gotten sick all over his bed. He was disgusted by the job, but before he could even begin, the sick had disappeared without a trace, which Harry didn't mind at all, mind you, except for the unfortunate detail of the bed disappearing with it. Once again, he got punished, even though he had tried to explain he couldn't even lift the thing, much less take it out of the house. His relatives wouldn't listen however and they just stuffed him in his closet like always.

And then there was today. It was the twenty-third of June and thus it was Dudley's seventh birthday. As a treat, his Aunt and Uncle had thrown their son a party and invited all his "friends" over. During the party his cousin and his gang chased Harry around the Dursley's back garden drenching the poor boy with their large water guns, which they had brought to the party.

After a while Harry's Aunt called them in for cake, but as soon as Harry entered the kitchen he was dragged away by his Uncle and put into the cupboard, who made sure that no-one saw him do it.

Before putting Harry into it, he threated Harry that if he made so, much as one sound that ruined Dudley's party, he would give him the worse beating of his life.

After a while Harry could hear the sounds of people singing happy birthday to Dudley, followed by cheers as he blew out the candles.

Hearing the singing, a now shivering Harry began to silently cry again, as he did his best to stay warm in his wet clothes. No-one had ever bothered to celebrate his birthday, let alone even acknowledge it.

Shortly after, Harry dried away his tears and peered through the small opening in the cupboard door and saw Dudley tearing away the wrapping paper that covered his presents.

After tearing the paper away, Dudley's eyes widen in delight and shouted "You got it! You got it!" when he saw the box for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which had only recently come out. Turning to to his bulky father the large boy gave him a quick hug in gratitude, before showing off his latest gift to his friends.

It was in that moment that Harry realized that his life her in Private Drive would never get any better, and he could no longer take his Uncle's abuse, where there was no telling what he might do next time.

Later that night, when the party had ended and the Durley's had gone up to bed, Harry pushed open stair boards above the cupboard, which had become loose from all the times Dudley had jumped up and down on it.

Harry had sometimes used this opening to sneak out of his cupboard when it was locked and steal a little food from the fridge

Once he had squeezed himself out through the opening, Harry quietly made his way up the stairs to Dudley's spar room to gather some things, knowing that his cousin wouldn't miss them.

Shortly after Harry silently made down the stairs and got a small bag from the cupboard underneath the sink and went over to the fridge and put in as much food as he could carrying in it.

Naturally Harry felt kind of bad for taking the things he had, stealing was bad, his Aunt had told him on many occasions, but he just couldn't stay here anymore.

Once he had taken all he could carry, Harry quickly closed the fridge and made his way over to the back door quietly opened it.

As he closed the door behind him, Harry took one last look at the place he had called home for the past seven years. Knowing that by leaving Private Drive, he now faced an uncertain future, Harry reaffirmed his resolve by reminding himself as to why he was leaving and by telling himself that anything was better than living her with his "relatives."

With his resolve now set, Harry closed the door behind him and made his way around to the front of the house and began to make his way down the street.

But as he walked down the street, the young boy could not help but feel a strange sense of loss, since he was leaving the only home he ever knew.

Looking back at number, and whispered "Goodbye" before turning his back to it and continued on down the dark street.

-Three Months Later London-

Shivering, a now seven year old boy wrapped his arms around himself, trying to will the oversized shirt to be warmer, to protect him against the harsh autumn cold that blew through the London city streets.

Moments after thinking this, he felt himself getting a little warmer, not understanding how this was possible. Harry simply decided to move on through the crowed street and thank his good fortune and hoisted his backpack further up on his shoulder, not wanting to drop it despite its rather meagre contents; it was all he had.

His only extra set of clothing (which were just as oversized as the ones he was wearing right now), his scruffy blanket, a fairy-tale book and a book on the story of the Knights of the Round Table he'd taken from Dudley's extra room.

Now, in retrospect, he was sure it hadn't been one of his brightest moments, not that he had many of those, according to his Aunt, but he was sure he couldn't go back. The mere thought of the beating his Uncle Vernon would give him if he returned now had him blanching in fear, and no matter how much he wanted to crawl into the warmth of his cupboard, he forced himself onward.

As he moved through the crowed street, something caught the young raven haired boy's eyes. Turning to it, Harry saw an old looking man surrounded by a pale green glow, which no-one else but he saw.

The old man looked to be about in late fifties if not mid-sixties and carried a cane and was dressed oddly, in what looked to be emerald robes.

The man was of average height long white hair, which fell just above his shoulder and had long sideburns that helped frame his face and a short beard that that ran down his chin. He had kind looking face, which was highlighted by his slight red cheeks from the autumn wind and had clear blue eyes that seemed to almost sparkle. (1)

Upon seeing the glow, most people would have thought they were seeing things, but not Harry, since this was nothing new to him.

Most people didn't seem to emanate this strange glow, but every so often Harry would come across someone with it and each person would seemed different, whether the glow was either a different colour or was smaller or bigger than others.

When Harry first began seeing this, he made the mistake of asking his Aunt and Uncle about it, causing the two Dursley's to start shouting at him about freakishness and then locking him in his cupboard for a week. But not before his Uncle gave
him one of the worst beatings he had ever received.

From that moment onward, Harry never again mentioned the strange glow he saw and whenever he saw someone with it, he did his best to ignore it, which wasn't always easy, since the glows could be extremely annoying at times.

Pushing back the bad memories, Harry suddenly notice a strange an expensive looking gold pocket watch peeking out of the old man's pocket.

Thinking he might be able to get something for it, Harry cautiously walked over to the old man, who was standing in the front of a shop, seemly waiting for someone.

Moving closer, Harry picked up on the man mutter to himself, about how woman took ages when shopping.

Once he was close enough, Harry pretended to trip and bumped into the man, which allowed him to quickly pick the man's watch from his pocket and place it in his own, without the man noticing.

"Oops…sorry sir, I tripped"

"Nothing to worry about dear boy…" The old man said kindly as he helped Harry back onto his feet, "Accidents happen."

Thanking the man, Harry then quickly ran off and disappeared into the crowed.

Shortly after Harry left, an elderly looking woman carrying a large paper bag stepped out of the shop that the man was waiting at, and greeted him.

"I hope you didn't wait long dear…?" the woman asked.

"Not at all... a young boy kept me company while I waited for you." The old man said as he fondly kissed his wife's cheek. "But still I don't understand why you insist on coming to the muggle world to do your grocery shopping."

I find that the muggles have much better bargains when it comes to food, besides I enjoy cooking without magic. It helps relaxes me, and the food taste much better when it's hand made."

"I suppose your right" murmured the man as he smiled again, since his wife was indeed an excellent cook.

"So shall we go?" the man asked

"Yes, lets" the woman replied and she locked arms with her husband and walked down the street.

Shortly after stealing the watch, Harry took the small pocket watch out of his pocket and looked at it.

It was quite beautiful and it seemed a pity to have to sell it, but he needed the money for food and judging by how expensive it looked. The young boy was sure he could get a lot of money for it.

Harry had long since used up the food he had taken from his relatives and was force to steal to survive, something he of course didn't enjoy. He especially didn't like stealing from the elderly man, since he seemed to be a nice enough person. But sadly the raven haired boy was left with little choice, especially if he wanted to survive on his own like this.

Looking up from the watch, Harry realized he had come to a cross-road, and he bit his lip, putting the watch back into his pocket and pushing his glasses, (which were beginning to fall off), up his nose, he looked from side to side, trying to determine which way to go. The road going left seemed to only lead into more houses, but further down the road to his right he was sure he could make out a play-ground, or perhaps a park, and he figured it would be as good a place as any. If anything, he supposed he could find a new place to sleep, as it was late, and soon it would be getting dark.

Choosing to go right, he soon saw that he was nearing a playground and a park, and he couldn't help but grin at having guessed right, and Uncle Vernon thought he was stupid. His little burst of joy faded soon however, as a particularly cold gust of wind tore through his tiny frame, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it was laughing at him, mocking (a word he'd learnt once when his Aunt, Uncle and cousin had been away, and he'd been looking through Dudley's very unused dictionary) him in his plight.

Pouting, and trying to suppress all the other emotions that threatened to well up inside of him. Harry walked up to the play-ground's swing-set and sat down on one of the swings with a despondent sigh. He then took out the small gold pocket watch and opened it, where it showed that it was a quarter to six.

As Harry admired the pocket watch, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"You like my watch don't you?"

Upon hearing the voice, Harry's eyes widened in shock, where he jumped off the swing and turned to find the old man from earlier, standing behind him, with amused smile.

Naturally Harry tried to run for it, but quickly found his path blocked by an elderly looking woman, (whom Harry assumed was his wife) carrying a brown paper bag.

The woman was roughly the same height as the man, if not slightly shorter and wore long dark robes. She had short white curly hair and had a stern looking face and wore a pair of half-moon spectacles. (2)

Like the man, the woman emanated the same strange glow that he did, although hers was silver and was bigger and much brighter than his.

"That's as far as you go young man" said the woman calmly, as she peered down her spectacles at Harry, who cold clearly see her cool green eyes, which made him very nervous.

"I got to give you some points for that acting of yours... I really thought you were just a polite young man." The old man said. "Now my watch please... it's a gift from my mother and it has deep sentimental value to me."

Knowing that he was caught, Harry handed the watch back to the old man without incident, hoping that once they got the watch back, they would leave him alone.

After Harry handed back the pocket watch to him, the old man finally got a better look at the young boy.

His face and hair were covered in dirt; he wore old baggy clothes that were easily three times too big for him, if not more and he was rather short for a boy his age. Judging by how skinny, frail, and malnourished he looked, the man was certain that Harry hadn't had a decent meal in a long time.

Seeing the state the boy was in, the man could not help but pity the poor lad, since he was clearly living on the streets.

Glancing at his wife, the man could see her giving the boy a heart-breaking look. She had always hated seeing children in such a state, regardless of who they were.

"Now young man... You do know that stealing is wrong?" The old man said as he walked closer to the boy while his wife waved her wand around, making sure that no-one could see them.

"Yes, I'm sorry, just please don't hurt me, I won't do it again" pleaded Harry, who was afraid that the couple were angry and would hurt him like his Uncle.

Seeing the distressed look on Harry's face, the man frowned. "It's alright young man, we won't hurt you, I promise" the man said as he raised up his hands in a peaceful manner, showing he was no threat.

"Tell me, where are you parents?"

"Dead" Harry replied simply.

"I very sorry to hear that" the man replied with a sympathetic look.

"But don't you have any relatives, an Aunt or Uncle perhaps, if so I'm sure they would be worried an…" But before the man could finish, Harry quickly shouted "NO!"

"Please, don't send me back there, please!" begged a now panicking Harry, who slowly backed away from the man in fear. "I promise, I won't ever steal again, just let me go…don't send me back there."

Seeing the scared look on Harry's face, the man quickly raised his hands up again to calm the young boy down. "It's alright, it's alright, we won't send you back there, I promise."

After the man had assured Harry that they would not send him back to his relatives, the young boy calmed down.

Once Harry had settled down a little, the man glanced over at his wife again, who had a harden look in her eyes. It obvious to the elderly couple, given how scared Harry was of his relatives, that they had abused him and he had run away to get away from it.

Looking into each other's eyes, the elderly couple nodded to one another, as if they had just finished a non-verbal conversation and agreed on what they were going to do.

Turning back to Harry, the man bended down and smiled kindly at the boy, "Tell me young man, do you like chicken?"

"Yea…why?"

"Well you see my wife has just bought a very large chicken for dinner, and I dare say the two of us could not hope to finish it all by ourselves. Perhaps you would like to join us?"

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry" Harry replied, before he stomach betrayed him and began to grumble loudly, causing the boy to blush from embarrassment and the two elderly people to smile in amusement.

"It would seem that your stomach disagrees with you" the still smiling man replied. He of course understood why Harry was so hesitant, if the abuse was as bad as he and his wife feared, it was understandable that he would have trouble trusting people, especially adults. "You should know that my wife is an excellent cook."

Seeing that Harry was on the verge of breaking at the mention of a home cooked meal, the man decided to press further.

"Perhaps if we get to know one another better you might feel more comfortable?" the man asked. "My name is Nicolas Flamel and this is my lovely wife Perenelle" where Nicolas indicated over his wife, who smiled kindly at Harry.

"My name is Harry…Harry Potter" Harry replied nervously.

At the mention of Harry's name, the elderly wizard and witch eyes widened in shock, but quickly masked their surprise, so not to alarm or scare Harry away.

They both then instinctively glanced at Harry's forehead, looking for his lightning bolt scar, which was covered by his hair.

As the two Flamels stared at the boy, Nicolas remembered a conversation he had with his old friend Albus Dumbledore, who mentioned that he had placed a baby Harry Potter in the care of his mother's muggle sister and her husband.

After quickly glancing at one another, both Perenelle and Nicolas smiled kindly at Harry.

"Well Harry, it's very nice to meet you" said Nicolas as he offered his hand to Harry, who slowly walked closer to him and shook in briefly before letting go.

Seeing that Harry was still hesitant to trust them, Nicolas decided to take a chance, one that could either get Harry to trust them a little or scare him off.

"Tell me Harry, do you like magic?"

"Yeah, I read about it in some of the stories in my book."

Smiling the again, Nicolas then asked, "What's your favourite story?"

"The Knights of the Round Table" replied the boy.

"Ah, well that's not surprising" the Alchemist thought in amusement, knowing how boys loved hearing tails of heroic knights fighting dragons and saving maidens. He then began to imagine Harry's expression if he told him that the wizard Merlin in the story actually existed, and that the story of King Arthur was in fact true and that Dragons did indeed exist. (3)

"Well then Harry, if you like magic, I'm certain you will enjoy this" said Nicolas as he slowly took out his wand and transfigured a nearby stone into a white rabbit.

Upon seeing this, Harry let out a gasp of surprise and turned back and forth to Nicolas and the rabbit.

"H…H…How did you do that?"

"Magic my dear boy."

"Can you do it too?" Harry asked as he turned to Perenelle, who smiled and nodded and pointed her wand at the white rabbit, turning it into a crow, which flew off into the air. She then pointed her wand at his face and muttered something before his damage glasses turned brand new.

"Wow, ccoooolll" cried Harry with a mixture of awe and surprise as he took off and looked at his now repaired glasses.

"So would you like to join us for dinner now?" Nicolas asked kindly.

"C-Could I see some more magic?" Harry asked where the old wizard could see a glint of excitement in his bright emerald orbs.

"Of course, in fact, there are many different magical things at our home" Nicolas replied with a smile, enjoying the look of excitement in the boy's eyes.

Upon hearing this, Harry curiosity and excitement at seeing more magic, override his concerns about the elderly couple and immediately agreed to join the Flamels for dinner.

Pleased to hear this, Nicolas then asked Harry to take his and Perenelle's hand, who had walked next to Harry.

As soon as Harry took their hands, the Flamels then apparated themselves and Harry to their home in the middle of Yorksire, far from any towns or cities.

"Ugh, what was that" asked Harry, as he wobbled slightly and held his stomach, as he felt like he had been forced through a very tight rubber tube.

"Ah yes, my apologies Harry, that is what we call apparition, it's a form of transportation for us wizards. It allows us to go from one place to another within seconds, regardless of how far it is" explained Nicolas, where he watched his wife help keep Harry steady. "I'm actually impressed with how well you're handling yourself. Most people vomit the first time they experience apparition, I myself threw up a considerable amount when I successfully apparated for the first time."

"Uuuh, I don't think I really like it" mumbled Harry, who was still feeling a little woozy.

"Come dear," Perenelle said kindly as she led Harry to their home. "Let's go inside, drinking something usual helps to settle one's stomach after apparating."

As Perenelle led him, Harry finally took notice the medium size cottage in front of him.

The Flamel home was medium size old style two story English cottage with white walls and large windows and a brown roof with a small chimney in the middle. It was surrounded by large green hedges and a small stone wall with a small white gate in the front.

After passing through the front gate, Harry could not help but noticed how beautiful and well-kept the garden was. The grass was tightly cut, where there wasn't a single blade of grass out of place and the flowers were perfectly arrange in their beds, in an ornamental style. He also noticed that the house seemed to be emanating the same strange glow that the Flamels did and was a surrounded by a strange dome that was made up of the same glow.

Seeing the garden Harry could not help but smirk at little as he imagined the looks of his Aunt and Uncle faces if they saw how beautiful the Flamels garden was. For years the Dursely's had strived for have the perfect garden in Private Drive.

Upon entering the cottage, Perenelle brought Harry into the kitchen and placed her groceries on the kitchen counter and gave Harry a glass of water to settle his stomach.

As Harry drank the water, he glanced around the kitchen; it was not overly big, but at the same time not too small either and had a cosy feel to it.

The kitchen had red titled floors with a back window and door that led out to a large back garden that was just as beautifully kept as the front. There was a small wooden table in the middle of the kitchen that was obviously used for meal, and was big enough to hold four people.

Underneath the back window was a small sink and counter and presses underneath to hold food, cutlery and other things and to Harry's right was a large cooker which Mrs Flamel obviously used to cook food on.

Once Harry had finshed the water, Mr Flamel offered to show him around, while his wife cooked dinner.

Eager to see more of the house, along with anymore magic, Harry quickly followed the elderly man.

As they walked through the small hallway, Harry noticed several pictures and paintings on the wall. But what truly caught his attention was the fact that the picture and paintings were moving, some of them were even waving and smiling at him as he walked by them, which Harry guessed was why they were glowing like the rest of the house.

"What's with all these photos and pictures, why are they moving" Harry asked with fascination as she stared back at the different photos and pictures and even waved back at them.

"Ah yes, I forgot muggle photographs and paintings are different from ours" Nicolas muttered himself before he answered Harry.

"To put it simply my dear boy, unlike muggle photos and paintings which stand still, Wizard's paintings and photographs and able to move and even talk with people, thanks to certain spells that are placed on them."

"CCooll" said Harry, as he continued to stare at the pictures, finding that wizard photographs were a lot more interesting than regular ones.

Eventually Mr Flamel was able to pull Harry away from the photos and paintings and moved on to the living room.

Like the kitchen the living room had a warm comfortable feeling to it. The room was large enough to hold several or more people, the floor war crimson red carpet and had comfortable chairs and couches with a small coffee table in the centre. There was a small lamp size tables in between two of the chairs and a large open fire, which seemed to burn bright green.

As Harry looked around, he saw several more paintings and photos on the wall, but before he could go look at them. Nicolas instructed Harry to follow him and led him to the next room.

After opening a large double door, Harry found himself in a large study. The room was almost as big as the living room with emerald green carpet and with books lining the walls on both sides of the room. To Harry's left there was a large open fire, which burned brightly, warming the room with its heat. And directly opposite Harry was and Nicolas was a large desk and chair with a large window behind it, allowing the light from the outside to enter.

"Is this some sort of library?" Harry asked, when he saw all the books in the room.

"No, this is my study" answered Nicolas, who he smiled again when he saw Harry curiosity once again get the better of him and began to look around the room.

As Harry walked around the room, he saw Mr Flamel take out his wand and wave it about, causing a portion of the floor to open up, and revealed a small wooden staircase. Harry had not been entirely surprised when Nicolas revealed the staircase, since he had seen a glow in the shape of a large door on the floor when he first entered the room. The glow had seemed different from the rest of the house, which made Harry even more curious about what the staircase led to.

"Come with me Harry, there is something I want to show you, which I believe you will enjoy.

Following the elderly man, Harry quickly made his way down the stairs and found himself in a large underground room, which looked like some sort of laboratory, filled with books liquids, beakers and other assortment of things that Harry couldn't identify.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"This is one of my private laboratories, where I do my research and experiments into Alchemy."

"Alchmeny?" said a confused Harry, who had never heard of the word.

"Alchemy" repeated Nicolas, "To put it simply, it's the magical form of science. I also do most of my potions experiments here as well."

"Potions?" repeated Harry "Is that like the stuff that the evil queen made and dipped the apple in, which she then gave to Snow White?"

"Well I suppose that would be a good enough example" murmured Nicolas, before smiling at the comparison. "But I can assure you potions is much more than that, as there are many different types of magical potions. Although there are some that would put you into a deep sleep, I can assure you Harry, having a handsome prince kiss you will not wake you up."

This comment of course earned a small laugh from Harry, after which the elder Alchemist preceded to show the young boy the rest of his laboratory and explain what some of the things in the lab did.

Soon after, Harry and Mr Flamel climbed back up the stairs into the study, where moments after Nicolas closed the door to the laboratory. They heard Mrs Flamel calling out to them, telling them that dinner was ready.

Shortly after hearing the call, Harry and Nicolas made their way back into the kitchen, where they found a delicious spread of food covering the table.

Upon seeing the food, Harry's stomach growled ever louder, causing the small boy to blush from embarrassment. But the two Flamels quickly laughed it off, telling him that it was fine and to dig in.

After sitting himself down at the table, Harry immediately tucked in, taking a bit of everything onto his plate before eating.

As the two Flamels watched the young boy eat, a sad expression appeared on their faces. It was obvious given how hungrily he was eating, that Harry had not eaten a hot home cook meal in a long time. Even then, given how skinny and small he was for his age, the two Flamels were certain that he often didn't eat properly.

Once dinner was done, Mrs Flamel presented a large chocolate cake, where she gave Harry a slightly larger piece than she gave Nicolas or herself.

After desert and everything had been cleaned up, the Flamels asked Harry to come with them into their living, where they wanted to discuss some things with him.

Once they were all settled in the living room, Nicolas spoke in a kind be serious voice, "Now Harry, I know you may feel uncomfortable about this. But Perenelle and I would like to know did your relatives hurt you?"

At the mention of his Aunt and Uncle, Harry flinched and stared down at the floor, as if he was ashamed, "I don't like talking about."

"Harry dear, I understand you not like talking to others about it, but you have nothing to be ashamed about" said Perenelle. "Nicolas and I only wish to help you."

"Please, I really don't like talking about it" said Harry, but before Penelope could respond, her husband interrupted her.

"Perhaps there is another way" Nicolas suggested before he left the room and returned shortly with a small shallow stone basin, with odd looking symbols around it and filled with silvery liquid.

"What is that?" a now very curious Harry asked, who stared at the stone bowel with fascination, since it gave out a strong white glow.

As he stared at the blow, the young boy was tempted to dip his finger into the slivery liquid. But before he could, Nicolas answered his earlier question.

"This called a pensieve, it is a magical item that allows us to watch other people's memories."

"But how?" asked Harry.

"To put it simply I can extract the memories from your mind and then place them into the pensieve, allowing Perenelle and I to view them, not unlike a muggle TV" Nicolas explained.

The old Alchemist of course knew a bit about the muggle world, since unlike most wizards and witches, he and his wife did not isolate themselves solely to the wizarding world. In fact they made sure they kept up with the happenings of both the wizarding world and the muggle world. They believed that it was highly ignorant of wizards and witches to isolate themselves from muggles and ignore the happenings in it, especially when you considered the rapid advancement muggles had made in the last hundred years. In fact both Flamels believe that is some aspects muggles were more advance than wizardkind, especially in terms of a society.

"Please Harry we only wish to help you, but to do that we must understand what happened to you" pleaded Penelope, who could see that the young boy did not know what to do and simply stared at the pensieve.

"Harry" said Nicolas softly, gaining the boy's attention, "This can also help you forget the things that your Aunt and Uncle put you through, where you will never have to think of them again."

"How?" asked the boy, not fully understanding the old man.

"If I extract those memories, you will never have to think about them again, they will become nothing more than blurred memories in your mind."

After hearing this, Harry stared back at the pensieve, considering what he had been told.

The idea of simply forgetting the Dursley and everything they did to him was of course very tempting to him.

After leaving Private Drive on more than one occasion Harry had wished more than anything to simply forget, especially when he had nightmares of some of the things his Uncle did to him. But now he was being offered a chance to do so and yet he was hesitant.

The reason why he was so hesitation was because, not only was he ashamed of what had happened to him, he wasn't sure if he wanted other people to know.

But after a few minutes, the young boy looked back up at the elderly couple, "What do I have to do?"

After Nicolas finished explaining what he needed Harry to do, he placed the tip of his wand on the small boy's forehead, while Harry focused on the memories of his abuse under the Dursley's.

Once Harry was ready, Nicolas slowly drew out the memory, which took the form of a long silver thread at the end of the Alchemist's wand, and then dropped it into the pensieve.

When Harry opened his eyes again, he found himself unable to remember his abuse under the Dursley, despite remembering it clearly moments ago, just as Nicolas had said.

"So what happens now?" asked Harry.

"Perenelle and I will enter the pensieve and watch the memories, while you stay here" Nicolas answered.

"We won't be long" assured Perenelle, before she and her husband disappeared into the large stone basin, much to the surprise of the raven haired boy.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Harry curiously finally got the better on him and decided to look into the basin. But as he looked into the silver liquid, the two Flamels appeared out of the basin, causing Harry to jump back into his seat in surprise.

When the elderly couple had emerged from the basin, Harry could see that both of them looked to be extremely upset.

Nicolas was shaking his head, as if disturbed by what he had seen and began to feel his true age and felt like he needed to sit down after watching Harry's memories.

Perenelle looked even worse, as her eyes were red and puffy, and held a small handkerchief in her hand, indicating that she had been crying. She and Nicolas had not watched all of Harry's memories, since after only twenty minutes Pernelle could no longer stand watching it and asked to leave.

Before Harry knew what happened, Perenelle walked over to him and enveloped him in a strong hug.

"You poor dear" mumbled the older woman as fresh tears fell from her eyes onto Harry's right shoulder she held Harry tightly. "You don't have worry about those beasts any more…" said Perenelle, spatting out the word "beasts" in reference to the Dursley's, since she refused to acknowledge them as people for what they had done to Harry, their own nephew.

When Perenelle hugged him, Harry stiffened in surprise, since for as long as he could remember, no-one had ever hugged him before.

Feeling Harry stiffen, Perenelle quickly moved back, "I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No, it alright, I was just taken by surprise, since no-one has ever hugged him before" replied Harry, who rather enjoyed the hug, despite being caught off-guard by it.

Upon hearing this, Perenelle felt her heart almost break and immediately enveloped Harry in another hug, where this time Harry accepted it.

Shortly afterward, Perenelle removed herself from Harry and stood back up, "Harry dear, perhaps we should head up stairs, where I will draw you a nice warm bath and get you some fresh clothes."

"A bath…Do I need one?"

"Yes dear, I'm afraid you do…badly" the female Flamel replied, as she waved her hand slightly, indicating that young boy smelled which wasn't unexpected given his recent living conditions.

Blushing slightly from embarrassment, Harry followed Mrs Flamel out of the room and up the stairs, leaving Nicolas alone in the room. Who then conjured a small bottle and drew Harry's memories from the pensieve and placed them in the bottle before corking it.

"Albus my old friend, what were you thinking?" the old Alchemist thought shaking his head sadly, before picking up the pensieve and moving it back to his study, where he would place pensieve and Harry's memory away for safe keeping.

After taking Harry up stairs and leading him to the bathroom, Perenelle began to draw him a bath.

Just as Perenelle was about to leave the bathroom and allow Harry to change out of his clothes, she notice old scars and markings on his arms as Harry took off his old shirt.

"Harry what are does?" the old woman asked as she walked toward him.

"They're nothing!" Harry replied quickly, as he tried to cover himself, since he was rather ashamed of them.

"Nonsense Harry let me see them" said Perenelle as she pulled the shirt away from his upper torso and gasped in horror when she saw several old scars and injuries around his arms, chest and back.

"Mon dieu" gasped the woman.

"D-d-did they do this?" Perenelle asked, already knowing the answer to her question.

"M-My Uncle Vernon" Harry replied reluctantly, since he hadn't want the Flamels to see his old wounds.

"Why didn't you tell or show anyone?" the old woman asked.

"H-He said that no-one would believe a freak like me and that if I told anyone he would beat me even worse or even kill me."

After hearing this, the old woman eyes hardened in anger, where she had half a mind to march straight to Private Drive and curse Vernon Dursley into oblivion and leave no trace of him.

Such thoughts though quickly disappeared after seeing how ashamed Harry was, where Perenelle features softened. "You have nothing to be ashamed of dear, you have done nothing wrong." But just as quickly her face turned back to anger, "The one who should be ashamed is the beast who did this to you."

After a few minutes, Perenelle reined her anger in again and quickly took out her wand and told Harry that she was could to use her magic to treat some of his injuries and make the scars on his body less visible.

Eager to see more magic, Harry quickly accepted Perenelle offer and watched his scars and injuries slowly fade away after various different spells and waves from her wand.

When Perenelle finished, Harry was astounded by how all his injuries had gone and were no longer hurting, even his scars were barely visible.

Perenelle seemed pleased enough, she was of course no healer, but she was still skilled enough in medical spells that she could do a decent enough job on a person. She also planned to later have Harry go under a proper examination from a real healer, once an opportunity presented itself, in the event that she had miss something and that there were no lasting damages done to the small boy.

Once she had finished, Perenelle left the bathroom to make Harry room, allowing the raven haired boy to finish undressing.

Thirty minutes later, Harry emerged out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of crimson red pyjamas that Perenelle had transfigured from some old clothes belonging to her husband, and had left out for Harry, once he had finished bathing.

"Now that's much better" said Perenelle with a kind smile, after seeing the now clean Harry.

"Are you sure this alright?" Harry asked nervously, not use to people treating him so kindly, especially since he tried to steal from the Flamels. And yet the elderly couple were overlooking this and were sharing their food and offering him a place to spend the night.

"Nonsense dear" replied the elderly woman, "Neither Nicolas or I would ever forgive ourselves if we sent you back onto the streets with just the close on your back. Until we can sort everything out, you're staying here no arguments" said the woman with a look that indicated that she was deadly serious.

After hearing this, Harry found himself a lost for words, where the only thing he could say was "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it dear, now come, I have your room all ready for you" after which the elderly woman led Harry to a small room, with a single bed, a small window with curtains to allow light into the room and a small dresser with a mirror and a bedside cabinet with a lamp.

After helping Harry into the bed, Perenelle handed him a small vile and asked him to drink.

"What is it?"

"It's called Dreamless sleep; it's a potion that will help you get rest more peacefully, it would hurt you I promise."

Trusting the elder woman, took the small vile and drank it, shortly after doing so, Harry began to feel himself getting sleepy, where before he knew it, he fell into a deep slumber.

Once Harry had fall asleep, Perenelle removed his glasses and placed them on the bedside cabinet.

Turning back to Harry, Perenelle smiled sadly at the young boy and gently brushed away his messy hair from his forward, allowing her to see the lightning scar that he was famed for having.

"You poor thing, you've suffered so much, but don't worry I won't let anyone else hurt you." After which Perenelle leaned down, and in a motherly gesture, kissed the sleeping Harry on the forehead before turning the lamp off and quietly walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

After putting Harry to bed, Perenelle made her way down the stairs and back into the living room, where she found her husband sitting in one of the armchairs, drinking a cup of tea.

Seeing his wife, Nicolas pointed to cup sitting on a small table, next to the armchair directly opposite him.

Nodding her thanks, Mrs Flamel made her way to the chair and sat down, before gratefully drinking the hot liquid.

After taking a large gulp of tea, Perenelle looked to her husband, who was staring at the tea in his cup and looked tired and was showing his true age.

Eventually though, Nicolas looked up at his wife, "Pernelle, I think we should call Albus first thing tomorrow and…" But before the elder man could even finish what he was about to say he was interrupted by a loud "No!" from his wife.

"Nicolas Antonin Flamel, you will do no such thing!" rounded the elderly woman, glaring at her husband.

"But Perenelle…?"

"But nothing, it was Albus who sent him to those things in the first place!" hissed the old woman angrily.

"Perenelle, surely you're not suggesting that Albus put the boy there, knowing that they would abuse him?" Nicloas asked, refusing to believe that his old friend would do such a thing.

"No of course not, but Albus is no fool, he would have at least known that they would not treat Harry well?"

Sighing at this, the elderly was force to admit that his wife made a valid point; he knew his old friend would have at least done his homework on Harry's Aunt and Uncle. But given how they were probably the only living family he had left, Albus probably believed that they would care for the boy, since the headmaster of Hogswart was an idealist, and always tried to look for the best in people.

"That may be true, but there must be a reason for him to send Harry there, Albus does not do something without good reason" argued Nicolas.

"Whatever the reason, it's clearly not worth it, if he is being abused by those things!" retorted grey haired woman.

"Perhaps, but I'm sure once Albus knows what is happening to Harry he will take him away from them" reasoned the elderly Alchemist.

"And how do we know that the next place he puts him in will be any better?" asked Perenelle's.

"Albus is not perfect, even he can make mistakes."

"Which is precisely my point!" argued Perenelle, "How can we even trust Albus's judgement, when it comes to Harry's wellbeing…? The fact that he has been abused for so long without anyone hearing about it proves that Albus hasn't even bothered to check on him."

"Then what do you suggest, will we send him to the British Ministry of Magic?"

"No, the same thing would happen, since you know how influential Albus is in there" replied Pernelle "…Or if Merlin forbid, one of those vile Death Eater families' uses their influence place him with them."

Sighing tiredly again, Nicolas again admitted that his wife raised a good point, since he didn't even want to imagine what those families would do to Harry if they ever got their hands on him. He was well aware that were still followers of Voldermort out there, who had used their wealth to bride their way out of prison for their crimes.

"Well, we can't keep him here Perenelle" said Nicolas.

"Why not?" Perenelle asked, folding her arms. "It's not like we haven't done it before."

"Perenelle, you cannot be serious?!" Nicolas cried, staring at his wife of over six hundred years in shock.

"I can assure you Nicolas I am" the woman replied and gave her husband a stern look, indicating that she was.

Sighing for a third time, the elderly man knew he should have seen this coming, since he had seen how attached his wife had already become to Harry, where she continually fussed over him.

The fact that he had been abused and forced to run away, made his wife want to care for Harry even more.

Perenelle loved children and had come from a large family of muggles, where she was the youngest of seven children, and was the only witch in her family.

After marrying, he and his wife often discussed the idea of having children of their own, and wanted to have a large family. But sadly they could have none, where Perenelle later discovered that she was sterile to the point where not even magic could help her.

Upon learning that she was sterile, Perenelle had been inconsolable, and for long time she had almost given up on living. But after much persuasion from Nicolas and other friends and her family she learned to continue living. She later took solace in the caring for the children of her brothers and sister, treating her nieces and nephews as if they were her own children.

Eventually though that all changed after Nicolas created the Philosopher's Stone and they began drinking the elixir of life, making them immortal.

Shortly after, the two quickly realized that like all things, immortality came at a price, where they were forced to watch their friends and loved ones slowly grow old and die, while they remained the same. Unable the bear the pain of watching those they cared about wither away; they decided to remove themselves from public life and limited themselves to certain people.

"Perenelle, we cannot simply take the boy in, this is different from those times, he is Harry Potter…the most famous boy in of the wizarding world. There isn't anyone living today who hasn't heard of him…people will realize that he is missing, if not now, then soon, and when they do they will start looking for him."

"So what if they do?" Perenelle replied, not the least be concern, "we've been keeping out of the puplic view for the past two hundred years, we can easily stay hidden…Besides it's been three months since he ran from that place, and there has been no news about it. Meaning that nobody knows he is missing, they might not even realize it until he is due to start school."

Nicolas of course tried to argue with his wife, but before he could even get a single world out, Perenelle cut him off.

"Nicolas, I know you are against it, and believe it would be better to contact Albus. But do you really want to take the chance that he will be sent to another bad family, or worse sent to one of those horrid orphanages?...You know the effects of a bad childhood…look at Voldermort, do you really want to take the chance that Harry might turn out to be like him?"

When Perenelle finished, she saw that her husband had closed his eyes and had a large frown on his face.

Shortly after the last wizarding war ended, Albus paid a visit to the Flamels, who had recently decided to live in Britain for a few years, and suggested that they buy a vault in Gringotts Bank and store the Philosopher's stone in it, preventing anyone who would want it from getting it. During the visit Albus also told them of who Voldermort really was and how he was an orphan who grew up in a rundown orphanage.

Thinking over everything that his wife had said, Nicolas was once again forced to admit that his wife again raised some good points. Due to living for so long, Nicolas had developed an eye for seeing the potential in certain people and from time to time, he would help them reach their full potential.

From looking into Harry's eyes, the old Alchemist could see the same kind of potential that he saw in a young Albus Dumbledore. Eyes filled with curiosity, wonder and excitement at the possibilities of the magical world. Nicolas could also tell that whether for good or ill, Harry would have a tremendous impact on the magical world, and if Nicolas could have any say in this, he would have it for the former of the two.

"I don't know why I even bother?" Nicolas thought, while shaking his head in amusement at his own foolishness. After being married to his wife for over six hundred years, Nicolas knew his wife better than anyone, and once she decided on something, it was nearly impossible to change her mind. In fact the elderly Alchemist could count on one hand, the number of arguments he won against her.

The two Flamels were an odd match in their time; Nicolas came from a small but old pureblood family, who had little in terms of wealth or infulence. He was a quiet man, who disliked conflict and believed that violence should only be used as an absolute last resort. He spent much of his youth with his nose in books or locked in his room, preforming wild alchemic experiments.

Perenelle on the other hand came from a wealthy family of muggles, which of course led to some disapproval with certain "traditional" magical families, after they married.

Unlike most girls her age at that time, Perenelle was very outspoken and was not afraid to let people know her opinion on a subject, especially if she disagreed with a certain matter. In her youth she was an athletic out-going girl, who loved to be outdoors and unlike her husband, was not hesitant to use force, especially when she believed she was in the right.

But despite their different backgrounds and personalities, they still had a great deal in common. Both had a strong thrust for knowledge and delved deeply into the magical arts and other areas. They had a strong sense right and wrong and believed that muggles, magical beings and people could live peacefully with one another and were very generous with their wealth, which they used to help many people, both muggle and wizard alike. They also disliked the notion of blood "purity" that certain magical family's sprouted, finding it bias and unfounded.

Knowing that his wife would not budge on this matter, and feeling the weight of the day on him, Nicolas decided to call a reprieve.

"Perenelle" said the elderly man, opening his tired eyes and looked at his wife, "It's getting late, perhaps we can discuss the matter tomorrow, once we have rested and can think more clearly."

"Fine" huffed Perenelle as she unfolded her arms and stood up from her seat. "But don't think for one second that I will change my mind on this."

"I would not expect you to, I just wish to have more time and gather all the relative information, before we decide on anything."

"And how will you do that?"

"I will go to Harry's relative's home."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"I need to find out exactly why Albus sent the boy there, since there must be a reason for it, and I am certain I will find it there."

"Then I'll go with you."

"No, it's best that I go there by myself" Nicolas replied, "We cannot leave Harry here by himself and besides dear, I do think it would be wise to let you anywhere Harry's Aunt and Uncle."

After hearing her husband's last remark, the old woman let out a small snort of laughter, he knew her all too well, since if she saw the Dursley's, Perenelle was certain she would unable to restrain herself from cursing the family into the next century.

With the matter settled for now, the two Flamels turned off the lights in the living room and made their way upstairs to their bedroom.

-Next Day-

The next morning, a young Harry Potter woke up, feeling more rested than he ever had before.

After first waking up, Harry naturally started to panic when he found himself in a strange bed, but just as quickly, the memories of the previous day came back to him.

Looking around the room, Harry saw a set of new clothes laid out for him at the end of the bed, which he guessed was left by Mrs Flamel.

Once he was changed, Harry made his way down the stairs and soon found the elderly woman tending to some flowers in the garden in the back.

Sensing someone coming behind her, the elder Flamel turned around and smiled when she saw the small boy. "Oh Harry dear your awake, good, did you sleep well?

"Eh yea, I did…thank you for the clothes, you didn't have to"

"Nonsense" replied the elderly woman as she waved Harry off. "I couldn't very well leave you walking around in those filthy clothes from yesterday. Now why don't we come in a have some breakfast, you must be hunger by now?"

At the mention of breakfast, Harry's stomach growled hungrily, indicating that he was indeed hungry.

Hearing his stomach growl, the Harry blushed from embarrassment and just nodded, which caused Perenelle to smile at the boy, before leading him back into the house.

After entering the kitchen, Harry attempted to make breakfast for himself, but Perenelle ushered him over to the small table and proceeded to make breakfast for him.

Having someone else make breakfast for him was of course not something Harry was not use to. For a long as he could remember, the Dursley's had forced him to make breakfast for them, as "payment" for taken him into their home and giving him a roof over his head.

As Mrs Flamel was busy cooking breakfast, Harry so realized that something, or to be precise someone was missing.

"Eh excuse me Mrs Flamel, but where is Mr Flamel?"

Hearing Harriy question Perenelle turned to the small boy and answered, "Nicolas is just gone out for a while to do some errands; he'll be back before lunch," and then turned back to the eggs she was cook on the pan.

Before long Pernelle handed Harry a traditional English breakfast with fried eggs, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, sausages and baked beans with toast and some slices of bacon and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Upon seeing the massive breakfast, Harry's mouth drooled slightly, before glancing at Perenelle, who encouraged him to eat, while she cleaned up.

Needing no further encouragement, Harry dung hungrily into his breakfast, leaving nothing left over.

When he was finished, Harry tried to clean up after himself, but before he could even pick up his plate. Perenelle waved her wand, instantly cleaning the plate, glass and cutlery; she then waved her wand again, causing them to floating into the air and back into the cabinets.

Once breakfast was done, Harry offered to help Perenelle in the garden, having had a lot of practice working in a garden, when he was with the Dursley's.

Perenelle of course tried to refuse, telling Harry that he didn't need to, but the young boy insisted, stating that he wanted to repay the kindness they had shown him.

As the two of them worked in the garden, Harry asked Mrs Flamel why she didn't she use magic, to which the old woman replied. "Like cooking, I find gardening enjoyable, not to mention it looks better when I use my hands instead of magic."

After a few hours the two of them returned to the kitchen to take a break, and as they were sitting down drinking a cool glass of lemonade, they heard the front door opening and closing, indicating that Nicolas had returned. But instead of going into the kitchen he went straight to his study.

Curious as to why her husband never even came to greet them, Perenelle went over to his study, but to her surprise, she found the double doors to the room locked and sealed by magic.

At first Perenelle was tempted to unseal the doors and open them, but then decided not, since her husband only locked himself in a room when he was focus on something and didn't want to be bothered. But when he didn't show up for dinner later on, Perenelle decided that enough was enough and unsealed the doors and entered the room, carrying his dinner.

Upon entering the room, Perenelle found her husband sitting at his desk, focused on reading a book that was on his desk.

"Nicolas…Nicolas…NICOLAS!" cried Perenelle, gaining her husband's attention.

"Huh…what…Perenelle when did you get here?" the confused man asked, as he looked up in surprise at his wife.

"I just got here…you missed dinner so I decided to bring it to you" answered the elderly woman as she brought the tray of food over and placed it on the desk, for Nicolas to eat.

"Dinner?" the Alchemist said in surprise as he looked out the window behind him and saw the setting sun, indicating how late it was.

"I completely lost track of time" Nicolas remarked, before he dug his fork into a small potato.

"I gathered as much" Perenelle replied smiling, since whenever her husband was focused on something, he would easily forget about eating.

"So where's Harry?" Nicolas asked as he cut his stake in half and placed a piece in his mouth.

"He's in the living room reading a book on the history of magic" replied Perenelle. "I've never seen a boy so ecstatic to read a book before."

"I can't say I'm surprised" an amused Nicolas replied, "Harry's just learned that magic is real, I wouldn't blame him for being curious and wanting to know more about our world."

Nodding in agreement, Perenelle silently watched as her husband's ate his meal. Once he had finished eating, she decided the question him.

"Nicolas what exactly have you been doing? You never said a word when you got back and went straight in here, locking yourself in."

Draining the last drop of milk from his goblet, the famed Alchemist placed the tray aside and showed his wife the book he had been reading.

"Wards?"

"Yes, but more specifically Blood wards?" answered the man

"Why are you researching them?"

"When I went to the place where Harry's relatives lived, I found, several wards over the house, such a dedication ward, along with others, which would no doubt warn Albus if a witch or wizard had entered the house. But the most prominent of these wards was a Blood ward."

"Why would Albus place Blood wards over those people home, they aren't magical?"

"True, but it wouldn't change the effectiveness, given how Harry's Aunt and cousin share the same blood."

"But still…" replied Perenelle, "Blood wards are not absolute; they can be overcome by powerful spells."

"Not if there was something special in Harry's blood, more specifically his mother's blood."

"His mother's…?" repeated Perenelle, where she saw her husband nod in acknowledgement, "But wasn't she muggle-born, what exactly could be special about her blood, and how do you know it wasn't his father?"

"Because it is the only thing that makes sense, since if it involved the blood from Harry's father. Albus would never send him to Harry's Aunt, since she shared no blood relation to Harry's father, only his mother. As for what is special about the blood of Harry's mother, I honestly do not know" the old Alchemist replied, as he was truly baffled, "But I do believe that whatever the reason, it is also linked to how Harry survived the killing curse, it the only possible reason why Albus would go to such trouble to place those wards around the house and wouldn't even check up on the boy."

After hearing Nicolas explanation on the Blood wards, Perenelle concluded that her husband was right, as it did make sense. But still, she could not help but wonder what exactly was special about the blood of Harry's mother and if it was indeed responsible for him surviving the killing curse, why didn't it protect her.

"It would have to be extremely powerful magic to even hope to block the killing curse" Perenelle thought to herself, since the killing curse was the height of dark magic and could only be countered by a magic that was just as strong, or stronger than it.

That's when it hit her, and she quickly went over to the small table that was directly behind her husband.

On the table was a set of books, twenty-four books in total, all exactly the same, with bright red leather cover. These books were called the source books, and were used to help Nicolas and Perenelle on any of their research projects.

After living for over six hundred years and traveling all across the world, the Flamels had gathered a rather extensive collection of ancient tomes, scrolls, tablets, books and magical objects from all across the world. Their collection was so extensive that they had almost any text one could think of. But due to their collection being so vast, it made it difficult, not to mention dangerous, to carry around, even by magical standards, which was why they placed their collection in a safe location, which they nicknamed "the achieves".

Shortly afterwards they created the source books, which served as both templates and conduits to the archives. Any text stored in the archives could be populated into any one of the source books by holding one of the books, and speaking the text-name to the book. It made them an invaluable source of knowledge, especially for research purposes.

After taking one of the books, Perenelle whispered what she wanted into the book.

Seconds later, Perenelle opened the book, where the pages were filled hieroglyphs from the ancient civilization of Sumer.

Understanding the hieroglyphs was of course no problem to the female Flamel, since she had learned to read and speak many different languages during her extended lifetime.

"Perenelle, what are you looking for?" Nicolas asked who was baffled by his wife's actions.

Ignoring her husband's question, Perenelle continued to tear through the book, scanning each page until she let out a triumphant "A-ha!" after finding what she had been looking for, and slammed the book onto Nicolas's desk.

"What is it? What did you find?"

"I believe I found out how Harry survived the killing curse, and why Albus placed the Blood wards around those hateful muggle's home and placed Harry with them."

"Then would you please share your discovery with me dear?" Nicolas asked, since he was getting rather impatient and he wasn't use to being kept in the dark about something.

"Nicolas, do you remember your father's speech at our wedding?"

"Of course, it went on for twenty minutes" Nicolas joked, smiling at the memory of his father, who loved to make long winded speeches.

"Well do you remember when he said that out of all the magic in the world, none were more powerful than love?"

"Hmmm, yes I do, but surely that was just a saying in regards to the wedding, unless…" replied Nicolas with a thoughtful look, before his eyes opened in realization, and now understood what his wife was getting at.

"Perenelle, are you say that the reason Harry survived the Killing curse is because of love magic?"

"Yes" replied Perenelle, "Think about it Nicolas…the Killing curse draws its power from hate, and what better counter to it, than love?"

After hearing his wife theory, Nicolas had to admit, his wife did raise a good point, out of all the magic in the world, love was possibly the most mysterious and was extremely difficult to comprehend. In fact magical research departments from all across the world had areas dedicated solely to the study of love magic. But still Nicolas needed proof before he accepted his wife's theory.

"I'll admit, your theory has merit Perenelle, but what proof do you have, to even back up this claim?"

"This!" answered the elder Flamel as she pointed to the page that's he had just been reading.

Taking the book, Nicolas began to read the page that Perenelle had opened. The text was from an ancient tome, which Nicolas and Perenelle found on their travels in the middle-east, and had been written by a magus, who lived in ancient Sumar. (4)

The tome was one of the oldest existing tomes ever found and described some of the earliest forms of magic used by magus.

Like his wife, Nicolas was well versed in many different languages, including several dead once; hence he had no trouble reading the hieroglyphics.

The page to which Perenelle had indicated, talked about a special counter-charm called the sacrificial protection charm and was based on love magic.

From what Nicolas had read, the charm provided the ultimate protection to a person or a group of people from harm.

According to the text, in order for the protection to form, a person or group of people, who have been given the option to live, must willing sacrifice themselves to save another. By doing this, the sacrificial protection charm can be conferred on a single person or on a group of people. The text went on to state that the charm prevented the perpetrator of the attack from being able to harm or touch someone under the protection of the charm and can reflect or weaken powerful spells fired by the perpetrator.

After reading the text, Nicolas final understood Albus's plan, when he placed Harry with the Dursley's and placed the Blood wards around their home.

Blood wards were a powerful protection charm that was created four hundred years ago back when wizarding families were feuding with one another over, status, money and powerful magical items and books. The wards were designed to protect a family from harm, so long as they reside in the in the same place and call it home, no enemy could enter their home or harm them in it.

For the wards to be truly effective, the occupants of the home would need to be related by blood, otherwise the wards would not activate. Another issue with the Blood wards was that the charm was very complex; meaning that only very skilful wizards could perform it. But the biggest problem with Blood wards was that the wards would not prevent other people who were related by blood to the occupants, (no matter how small), from entering the residents, nor would it prevent them from harming the occupants,

This was of course a major problem for pure-blooded wizarding families, since due to their small population; most wizarding families were related to one another by blood due to intermarriages, which made Blood wards ineffective at best against their rivals.

"I believe I am beginning to understand why Albus placed Harry with his Aunt and her husband." Nicolas muttered out loud. "Given how Harry was being protected by the sacrificial protection charm, Albus must have altered the wards to adapt the protection charm onto itself. Since both spells revolve around Blood magic, it would not be impossible, and by doing this, he strengthens both spells preventing any enemies from entering the premises or being able to harm them."

"That makes sense" replied Perenelle as she thought everything over, where she had to silently applaud the younger wizard spell work and creativity. Doing what he did was no easy thing, and it did give Harry the best possible defence. But still that did not mean she approved of his decision on leaving Harry with the Dursley's, and not once check up on him.

"Yes, but I'm afraid Albus miscalculated on two things, the first being that the Blood wards do not protect Harry from harm from his relatives, which we have seen" Nicolas said sadly as he remembered Harry's memories. "And the other is that for the wards to work fully, Harry must regard his Aunt's and Uncle's residents as his home, but given how he ran away, he no longer regards it his home."

"If that's true, then why haven't the wards broken yet?"

"My best guess would be that given the powerful magic that was put behind the wards to create them, they are slow to erode."

"So if Harry were to return to that "place"…would the wards be strengthened?" Perenelle asked, almost dreading her husband's answer, but to her surprise he shook his head.

"No, even if Harry were to return to his relatives, the wards would continue to fail, since Harry no longer considers it home."

Upon hearing this Perenelle smiled in relief, pleased to hear that Harry would not be forced back there. But even so, she knew that if she wanted what she believed needed to happen, she needed to convince her husband of it.

"Nicolas…"began Perenelle but before she could say anything, her husband cut her off.

"Perenelle I know what you are going to say, but we can't, we separated ourselves from the social world for a reason, and besides it's not our place."

"Nicolas…" pleaded Pernelle, "Harry needs a good home, a place where he can grow up happy and safe and be around people who can love and nurture him, something every child needs and deserves. We can give him that and more, he will be safe with us, no-one will know that we have him."

"But dear, we can't, just…"

"But nothing!" rounded Perenelle, "Nicolas we can help Harry in ways that not even Dumbledore can. You know as well as I do that Voldermort is not truly gone, he will eventually return, and once he does he will come after Harry, as he was the one who defeated Voldermort and his mere existence is a challenge to him. By taking Harry in, we can not only protect him, but also give him a fighting chance in the future."

Hearing his wife's arguments, Nicolas let out a weary sigh. He could see the point she was trying to make, but he still had his reservation about it, and did not like the idea of going behind his oldest living friend's back. But after an hour long "discussion" that last for about an hour, the elderly alchemist finally gave in to his wife's will.

"Sigh, Very well Perenelle, you win, and we will keep Albus in the dark…for the time being. Also I think it would be wise that if we "do" take Harry in that we should inform "her" as well."

Pleased that she had finally convinced her husband, Perenelle beamed a brilliant smile down on her husband before nodding her head in agreement and kissing him on his right cheek while rushing out of the room to tell Harry the good news.

No sooner had Perenelle left the room, Nicolas smiled to himself, since it had been a long time since he had seen his wife smile like that, and if taking Harry in made Perenelle smile like that again. Then it would be more than worth the risk to the old Alchemist.

Deciding to follow after his wife, Nicolas began to muse at the idea of teaching Harry since it had been a long time since he had an apprentice.

"I wonder if Harry would be interested in learning alchemy?" the famed alchemist thought as he left the study.

N/A.

Well that's it for the first instalment of my new story The Alchemist Apprentice, I hope you enjoyed it, and please tell me what you think?

Now as for the next Chapter, well as you can guess the next Chapter will deal with Harry's response to the Flamels taking him in and revealing that he is a wizard like them. Also it will explain the strange glow that Harry sees around wizards and magical objects.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general.

Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now in regards of my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Please note that all flames will be ignored, deleted or the flamers will be flamed back.

Author's Note:

(1). Go to Larkin 2727 Photobucket and look up the Alchemist Apprantice Album for image of Nicolas Flamel

(2). Go to Larkin 2727 Photobucket and look up the Alchemist Apprantice Album for image of Perenelle Flamel.

(3). Well if Merlin did exist in Harry Potter, it stands to reason that King Arthur did as well.

(4). Magus is the ancient Persian term for magician/wizard