Rock Collection?

Harry groans and irritably runs his hand through his hair. He'd been slumped over in the library reading everything and anything possibly concerning the strange stone he'd stolen from Dumbledore's mirror, yet nothing!

Gemstones used in rituals or as spell reagents? No!

A material with particular magical properties that Kali described? No!

He'd even read through the entirety of 'Professor Langley's Glossary for Magically Neccecary Materials, Reagents, and Catalysts'. The thing weighed as much as a large toddler and read like Professor Binns Biography. It noted things like size, shape, colour, feel, and even taste for some reason.

The latter was the only reason he managed to bare through it, the fact he now knew that Gallstones had an acidic but also metallic and acrid taste was something he regretted...

He sighs and leans back in his chair, dropping another book on the tower next to him. "What you reading...?" someone inquires behind him, almost sending him tumbling backwards off of his seat.

"E-excuse me?" he turns and pauses when he meets Hermione's eyes. "Oh, it's you... Do you need something?" he questions, repositioning his chair.

"No. I just,-saw you here and felt like talking to you... I think?" she quietly stammers.

He leans to the side and stares dubiously, "Right."

"No, I mean it! I was being judgmental last we spoke, I realise that now, I can't judge or understand your feelings on something like that,-it was silly and I shouldn't have-" she fires off without taking a second to breathe, but Harry interjects.

"Enough..." he commands while picking at his ear, her nattering beginning to give him a headache. He wasn't sure what brought about this change of heart, but he was pretty sure someone was scheming. A stubborn girl like her wouldn't change an opinion so quickly. "Just tell me why you're really here, then go away."

She frowns, pulling up a chair and plopping herself next to him, "You're trying to find something?" she questions, curiously leafing through the books.

...

"I doubt you'd be able to help, unless you've memorised every book in the library?"

She shakes her head almost regretfully, "If only I had the time... I did spend most of my life reading mundane books, maybe you need a different perspective?" she queries.

...

He sighs and decides to bite the bullet, "Know any famous magical stones?"

"Like, gemstones?"

"No."

"The stone King Arthur pulled his sword out of?"

"Smaller."

Like, maybe, a Magatama? One of those jade rocks from Japan?"

"It's literally just shaped like a rock, nothing special about it aside from being red." Harry states.

"Are you sure it's famous...? And what are you asking about anyway? You're describing it like you've personally seen it." she furrows her brows, she prided herself on being knowledgable, and being unable to help him right now was niggling at her very self-perception.

"Forget it." he grouses, not wanting her to figure out that he was in possession of it. He tries to stand but she grabs his wrist in a panic, holding him there.

"W-wait! M-maybe it's something else? I-I remember a story my mum used to read me after she came back from France, i-it was about some french scribe who claimed to have created a stone with alchemy!"

He pauses and looks at her strangely, "That doesn't sound like a storybook."

She flushes slightly, "I-It was a history book, I-I'm this way for a reason..."

"What was the alchemist's name?" he asks, wondering if he'd missed something.

"I'm not sure... It was a long time ago."

...

Alchemy huh...? Wait, wasn't the Headmaster a learned Alchemist? He'd read in while investigating the man, learned under...

He tears apart his mindscape searching for the answer, "Nicholas Flamel."

"That's it! The Alchemist!" Hermione exclaims but shrinks in on herself when Madam Pince loudly shushes her.

Harry hurries over to the Librarian and asks her about the name, and she directs him to a book of known figures in magical history. There, he quickly finds it, Nicholas Flamel, creator of the fabled Philosopher's stone.

His mouth drops open as he reads onward, the stone in his possession was probably the most valuable object in the entirety of magical society, or muggle society for that matter. The ability to create gold at a whim, and grant immortality.

It was his, and best of all, no one knew he had it.

He grins widely and stuffs the book back into the shelf, "Thank you Hermione, you saved me some time there." he says before beginning to walk off.

"W-wait!... Do you-, do you want to study together? We may not be in the same house but we're the same year! We could help each other?" she almost desperately offers.

...

"Maybe." he grumbles out before leaving the library, not noticing the almost luminous smile on his new study buddy's face.

----------------------

"Psst, hey, that's him!" a third-year Ravenclaw whispers to her friend as Harry strides down the hallway, the girl eyeing him like a piece of meat.

"And? I don't get what's the big deal? Sure he's talented, but plenty of people could beat the git." a disgruntled male friend retorts.

"I think he's kinda cute, with those eyes behind those glasses and that hair? You think he might be into older girls? I haven't seen him talk to anyone since he got here."

"Betty! He's eleven years old!" the male scowls, "You're sounding like a right nonce, you know that right?"

"Psch, only men can be nonces, I bet he'd love to have love to get some experience." she argues.

"I swear, you go near him and I'll let everyone know about 'Broom Closet Betty'."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me!..." the male pauses, "Hey look, someone's going for it." he says, nodding at the second-year girl approaching Harry Potter with one of the numerous books named after him.

"C-can I have your autograph... Please?" she asks sweetly in an almost pleading tone, though her enthusiasm quickly dies as the boy turns an annoyed glare at her.

"Another one bites the dust..."