My interest in Nicholas Flamel used to be big.
I'm not even sure now what started it all, probably Harry Potter did, but there was a time when I collected information on him as a kind of a hobby — and also wrote some stuff. Of course I did.
Now, many years (come to think about it) and many interests (actually fandoms, that is) later all of it has lost some of its appeal, though of course, Flamel is still fascinating. He is, he will be, he has always been. The number of people who have been obsessed with him over the centuries for various reasons and to various degrees must be impressive. He's become a sort of a world celebrity, although a very odd celebrity.
I mean, it is a fascinating story in so many aspects — medieval France, magic, superstitions, and, of course, alchemy — the Philosopher's stone he allegedly created. The mystery of him as a person, of his life and of his death, of his works, and of his wealth. The things he's left behind — to this day, you can still look at his drawings and manuscripts, you can read some of them.
The fact that the name Flamel means literally "flame" or "fiery", if you prefer further interpretations, and the name of his wife — Perenelle — is an obvious play on the word "pérenne", which is the same as "perennial" — "eternal". The fact that there are streets in Paris named after them. The fact that a house he once owned — the one on rue de Montmorency — miraculously enough still stands. It's also the oldest building in the city.
Life and legends. Truth and fiction. Alchemy and magic. And the eternal appeal of what's underneath it all — the idea that one can live forever.
Of course, there are all sorts of different opinions, but as for me, I don't think Flamel has been lucky with his representation in pop culture, like he's always been underestimated as a character for some reason. And I'm not even talking about something huge, like a part of a franchise being dedicated to him, although ever since he appeared in the Harry Potter universe it's been implied he's actually a great wizard — possibly the greatest of all, — but this theme never gets explored. He never gets a storyline. His canonical role in the Harry Potter books was very short and sort of vague (to put it mildly), and the way they treated his character in Fantastic Beasts is just frustrating.
Of course, we aren't talking here about works of fiction where he is the main character, or at least one of the main characters (and there are some — and I don't like them for a number of reasons). But it is sometimes fun to think about all that could have been.
(Also there's the fact that for a while now I've seen him as a character that Matthew Goode could have played — which sort of adds another fine aspect to this whole story. Good lord, he could make him iconic.)