Unlike the other fantastic characters that inhabit Harry Potter’s magical world (e.g., Professor Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort), Nicholas Flamel is an historic individual. He achieved fame as the owner of the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone in the English version) in the first Harry Potter book/movie by the same name. At the time of Harry’s involvement with the stone, Flamel was 656 years old, the age he would have been had be truly been living. Nicholas Flamel was a 14th century Frenchman. He was well educated and worked as a professional scrivener (copyist) and book dealer. He was married to a wealthy widow named Perenelle, who is also mentioned in the Sorcerer’s Stone.

His life changed when he purchased an ancient text that dealt with the esoteric subject of alchemy. After much difficulty and a trip to Spain, he claimed to have been able to decipher the cryptic code of the book to create the Sorcerer’s Stone and changed mercury into gold three times. Whatever the truth to his claim, he became exceedingly wealthy and donated much of his wealth to good works including founding 14 hospitals, seven churches and three chapels in Paris alone.

In addition to his fame as an alchemist, Nicholas Flamel is listed in the priory documents as one of the Grand Masters of the Priory of Scion, the secret organization that plays such a prominent role in Dan Brown’s best-seller The Da Vinci Code. After his death in 1417, looters broke into his coffin in hopes of finding gold or the Sorcerer’s Stone, but they found only an empty coffin! Legend grew that Nicholas and Perenelle had achieved immortality, and there were “sightings” of the couple in Paris well into the 18th century.