McCormack furrowed his brow a bit then shook his head. Maybe he should stay another term if these kids weren’t getting their facts completely accurate. “No, no,” he started, “While it’s true that Nicholas Flamel created it, Albus Dumbledore did not assist with that particular discovery. There are other parallels between the two men’s lives however.” Yes, Dumbledore was also a reported alchemist from what he knew and they were friends perhaps, but their age difference was far too great for the boy’s statement to have been a possibility. “The stone was actually created before Dumbledore was born.”

M’hmm, Braith nodded in the seventh year’s direction. “That was one purpose the stone was used for, yes. And immortality would be a possibility if one continued to take the Elixir.” Something that would have to be maintained for sure.

Braith nodded at the Head Boy to call on him as he spotted his raised hand. “It did.. yes, that was its other main purpose, good.” M’hmm, it was good to know that the students at least had the basics down.

Braith glanced at the shy, studious one, though... no note-taking at least? He was sure he was at least listening or absorbing something. And some students learned best by doing, which he’d have the chance to shortly.

The boy’s answer had caught him slightly off guard and it took him a few seconds to regain his train of thought so he could answer. “No, unfortunately not. We won’t be making a philosopher’s stone today.” Just talking about it. He wasn’t an alchemist, see. But he supposed he could figure how someone could get that reasoning from today’s subject especially with what was currently going on at the school. “You are right about it being once hidden in this castle though, almost 100 years ago.” So much amazing history this building held!

Hmm, interesting that Mr. Bay would pull that bit of information out. He wondered how many knew that. “There were two different types theorized,” he nodded at the boy. “We’re going to focus a little bit on the one that was once inside the building. And that was indeed red.” So it made gold.

Braith nodded slowly as Mr. Strand then offered his answer. “Yes, I suppose that it was a good thing that they allowed themselves a little time for that type of thing knowing that death would be soon inevitable.” He chewed the inside of his cheek a bit as he thought this over. Curious that he would speak on that particular bit actually.

Wait.. what? It took McCormack a minute to realize what Miss Newell had mistaken the philosopher’s stone for. “Actually that would be called the Resurrection Stone. Something different from what we are speaking about today.” One of the Deathly Hallows. But certainly no less interesting.

”That is true,” Braith nodded at the young boy. It was a basic answer but certainly not wrong.

McCormack gave a nod to Miss Carrington as she raised her hand to offer an answer. A faint smile fell over his lips as he heard her response. “It was heavily guarded while it was here.” And they’d get to that soon. “Interesting that it was a few first years that could get past those obstacles though.” At least he thought so.

Braith nodded again as he listened thoughtfully to the Head Girl’s answer. “It was ultimately destroyed because of certain circumstances.” And he’d figure she already knew what the situation had been. “But that particular stone was likely around a good 500 years. Why do you think it caused so much trouble at that point and no time before then?” Really, a question for the entire class.

Sometimes Braith wondered if Mr. Kildare was really some sort of unaware genius behind a façade of seeming guesses and stabs in the dark. Or maybe just really intuitive, because it seemed that in all of his classes he happened on the very path that he would end up leading the class on. “There were several obstacles placed before it, yes.” And he supposed he did mention that along with Miss Bishop’s answer. “We’ll be going more in depth with one of those obstacles shortly.”

”Hmm.. is that right?” Braith murmured thoughtfully as he mused over Miss Fischer’s answer. He did not actually know the specific number of the Hogwart’s vault at the UK bank (or that her Gran was the manager there), though he did know of the attempted robbery when the stone had been stored there. The second attempt that turned into an actual robbery was something he had been made aware of only recently. “Good foresight on someone’s part,” he nodded, noting the possibilities if the robbery had been successful. “And maybe, though perhaps slackened in recent times,” he added in response to the security bit. Or else an actual robbery wouldn’t have happened just recently? Though it was nearly 100 years later so the lessened security wouldn’t be too unlikely had there not been further attempts.

Braith thought over young Miss Wayne’s answer a moment before responding. Those two certainly did go hand in hand, however.. “Perhaps.. though one would need to be quite skilled in alchemy in order for it to exist in the first place.”

McCormack nodded as Mr. Branxton supplied his answer. “That is a long time to be alive… and I suppose you’d be right about that. That would certainly affect his quality of life it that were the case.” He really didn’t know much about whether or not the man aged incredibly or not, though he wasn’t so sure he wanted to be a 600 year old man ever.

Braith mused over Miss Channing-Sands’ answer for a moment. “I suppose that could be true, at least by outward appearances.” Of course he had never come into contact with one to be certain, but from what he knew it did look much like that particular gemstone.

The Ravenclaw prefect appeared to be deep in thought. Or maybe just conserving his energy. He might need some of that in a little bit here anyway.

Well... what was one to say to that? Braith gave the Gryffindor a tight smile. He really wished he could offer her his sympathies with this affliction or help out in some way, but a healer he was not. “I suppose that’s true,” he said with a nod. “It’d by my guess that quite a few people would find great value in such a stone.”

Braith furrowed his brow slightly as the first year gave her answer. Not sure why? “Nicholas Flamel created the Philosopher’s Stone.” That was why.. but he offered the young girl a small smile for her efforts.


“Good, good,” Braith nodded at the class as he addressed them all again. They all seemed to have at least a basic grasp of the Philosopher’s Stone which he had expected. And those that really didn’t would certainly learn something as one of their peers brought up any tidbit of information and he responded. ”Alright, so we know that Nicholas Flamel, noted for his advances in the study of alchemy, created the Philosopher’s Stone in the 15th century and lived well into his 600s due to the Elixir of Life made from the stone itself. Though he was a friend of Albus Dumbledore and in fact worked with him as an alchemist to some degree, Dumbledore did not actually help to create this particular stone.” Just to clear that up and give a basic background. “As most of you are aware, the Philosopher’s Stone is used to turn metal unto gold and to create the Elixir of Life, extending the life of its drinker, indefinitely in theory.” Or however long the person drinks it, which Flamel and his wife eventually stopped as noted by Mr. Strand.

“And also as noted by several of you, that particular stone was once kept in this castle guarded by several obstacles before it was eventually destroyed.” Or so one would claim. And hopefully they would have a little fun with a simulation of one of the obstacles shortly here, but first more discussion. As he often enjoyed doing for his approach to class, McCormack noted several questions that had arisen to ask his class to expand on. “So a couple questions have come up while we discussing the stone, let’s talk about them before we move into our activity.” Fun while learning, hopefully. Then they could be on their way to do whatever kids did. It was just too bad many of them didn’t look or act like kids anymore. It was too bad this early dismissal might be wasted on them then.

(1) “This Philosopher’s Stone was around for about 500 years before it was apparently destroyed. Why did it cause such issues in the 1990s for this decision to be made and not at any time before then that it might have earlier been destroyed?”

(2) “As a few of you mentioned, there were several obstacles placed in front of them to keep any potential thieves away. And ultimately these obstacles were overcome by a few first years. Were they really good enough for any adult who might be desperate enough for it, had they known it was located here? Or what would you suggest instead?”


OOC: Please answer either or both question(s) and we will proceed in 24 hours or so