And it was, but her excitement was not just because of that. It was also because, if her suspicions were correct, she had solved a piece of the Riddle of Heron that her book's author never did. The materials needed for the ritual were actually elements and she had already positively identified five out of the nine. If her guess was correct the other four would be the elements on either side of silver and copper on the periodic table, a fact which explained why no wizard had been able to perform the ritual. After all, how many wizards had even heard of cadmium?
Hermione felt the urge to tell Harry why she was excited. To tell him about the book she had found and everything she had been doing. She got as far as opening her mouth to start before she suddenly stopped. She worried that Harry would be disappointed in her, even though she did not think she had done anything wrong. For a moment she said nothing, but eventually decided that she would tell Harry everything. Just not until after she had solved the rest of the riddle. Then she could give him the book and let him decide what he thought of it.
"So are you going to tell me why it is such a major breakthrough?" Harry asked, pulling Hermione out of her thoughts.
"Oh, of course." Hermione said. "More research is needed, but we could learn why some things are harder to conjure than others. We could learn how the Philosopher's Stone works, we might even be able to make one on our own. It makes you wonder if Flamel used similar research when he first created the Philosopher's Stone…"
"Ok, slow down Hermione." Harry interrupted with a laugh. Hermione had been rambling, like she often does when she gets excited. "It's probably enough that you understand it."
"Let's say this is as big of a breakthrough as you think it is," Daphne said with a concerned expression on her face "If so you must never publish your work."
"What?!" Hermione said in surprise.
"Think of what would happen if anyone could create their own Philosopher's Stone." Daphne answered. "It would be chaos. The economy would collapse because of all of the new gold, not to mention all the problems that would be caused with no one ever dying. Besides, there are definitely some people that should never get their hands on one." Harry and Hermione both knew exactly who she was talking about.
"I never thought about it like that." Hermione admitted. "Perhaps I'm not the first one to do this type of experiment, but they stopped for the same reasons. I guess I should just forget it."
"You misunderstand me, Hermione. Keep doing your research if you think it will help us, just don't let it get out to anyone else." Daphne said. Harry began laughing at how wonderfully Slytherin the idea was, which didn't mean he did not like it. Hermione seemed to consider the suggestion and then nod in agreement with it.
"You do know that it is doubtful I will ever be able to make a Philosopher's Stone, right?" Hermione asked, worried that expectations were getting too high.
"Perhaps not." Daphne answered. "But we should try for any advantage we can. If you do find something, it will probably be something no one else has."
"We can keep working on it tomorrow, ok?" Harry suggested. "I would like to finish up here pretty soon." Hermione nodded and began to gather her things up. She knew she would probably spend the next few hours going over what she had learned but she did not mind the effort. Daphne had decided to stay and wait for Harry so Hermione left the couple alone. As she left her mind returned to the book that had taken up so much of her time since she had found it. The author had included his thoughts on the nature of magic and it had begun to make her think about what it meant to say that magic was light or dark. While she knew what the Ministry of Magic thought the dark arts were she also knew they had not bothered to explain their reasoning. Her books mostly just repeated what the Ministry said and were therefore useless.
'Perhaps I should talk to Daphne about it.' Hermione thought. If anyone she knew might be able to answer her questions it would be her. Hermione would consider bringing it up, but for now was content to keep thinking about it on her own. She knew some magic could warp a person's mind and personality and had no intention of ever attempting that, but surely there was other magic out there for her to learn that would not do that and was also not exactly ministry approved. It might give her an advantage in a dangerous situation, and she knew that being friends with Harry made her very likely to be in such situations.
'Anything to protect myself and my friends.' she thought as she began to study.
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