Nicolas Flamel

[foxmoth at qnet.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 22185

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Neil Ward" <neilward at d...> wrote:
> Brian Dorband wrote:
> 
> <<Some thoughts on Nicolas Flamel:

> The idea of Dumbledore "having a word with" Flamel seems daft to me.  
> We've discussed this before, and it was felt that Dumbledore may have 
> studied under Flamel and must have done something fairly spectacular 
> to be considered his equal so late in Flamel's career.  Nevertheless, 
> Flamel was considerably the senior of the pair, and presumably not a 
> pushover.  Would someone who had striven to discover the secret of 
> immortality give it up just because Albus Dumbledore was wagging his 
> finger?

	Presumably this wasn't the first time Albus and Nicholas had 
discussed destroying the Stone. Perhaps what happened was that Albus 
told Nicholas regretfully that he could no longer be responsible for 
guarding the Stone, and Nicholas and Perinelle agreed that the time had 
come.
	 It doesn't follow that Nicholas sought to make the stone because 
he was obsessed with immortality as Voldemort is. According to the 
source Neil mentioned, the legends of Flamel say he did not seek 
eternal life (as a Christian, he surely believed that he already had 
it!) but rather perfection of the spirit, and the ability to brew 
elixir of life was an offshoot of this perfection rather than the 
source of it. 
	As to why JKR's Flamel isn't the most respected wizard of the age 
and doesn't get involved in politics:  many brilliant researchers claim 
no special competence outside their field and many have no interest in  
politics beyond what it takes to get funding for their project. The 
real Flamel seems to have devoted himself to good works, but not to 
affairs of state.
	As for why JKR's world now has  only one Stone: I have wondered 
if, in particularly advanced and difficult magic, the positions of the 
stars and planets affect the operation of the spells. Perhaps the stars 
were right only once. This theory would account for all those astronomy 
classes.

Pippin