New chapter posted. Thank you for all your reviews:) I'll try and take them into consideration as much as possible.
The Hogwarts Express
Edward Elric's time at Grimmauld place came and went as a blur.
He took most the time to study as much as he could by going through book after book of all the previous years by borrowing off almost everybody he could and, though people seemed to be astounded at first by the rate he read at, a quick glare stopped the questions right away.
He needed to concentrate. Even if he prided himself to be a good researcher, stuffing five years' worth of information into his head in the space of a month was not just tough but frankly impossible, and that was excluding the practical work.
Ed was determined though. Not just for school – that was rather inconsequential for the alchemist – but because without his alchemy, only magic could bring him home. Despite trying to broaden his fields, he ended up reading for hours on transmutation, only ending in frustration as he realised it ignored all principles of equivalent exchange. As for any doubts that he could be a muggle, they had been long dispelled at Diagon Alley, where he had managed to blow a vase sky high at Olivander's wand store (where he had also acquired a wand of holly with a dragon heart string core, 12 inches and good for transfiguration).
He also did notice the few extra shadows he seemed to have gained. The younger residence of the house were hardly subtle in their attempts to follow him around. More than once Ed would round a corner and randomly bump into Harry, catch Hermione behind a book shelf or find Ron peering into whatever room he happened to be occupying.
"Seriously, what is it?" he would ask, and excuses would be muttered, or apologetic smiles given, and no answers.
It was annoying. But more than that, it was lonely. Despite having appeared out of nowhere, unable to answer questions because one damned headmaster had advised him against it (although Ed agreed, somewhat), he had hoped to make friends.
At least the twins were friendly, to say the least. Once Ed had gotten over his fury at their preoccupation with his height.
At last the first of September came and the students of Grimmauld place stepped outside to head for King's Cross train station. The journey to the train station was uneventful (despite the fact Fred and George had nearly rammed Ed down the stairs with levitating trunks) but Ed could feel the bubble of excitement building inside him. If the talk of over excitable teenagers were to go by, Hogwarts was quite impressive.
'With a large library.'
A grin had made its way onto Ed's face.
-o0o-
To say Ed was confused would be like saying Mt. Everest was a hill.
It might have something to do with the fact the platform he was looking for didn't exist and he was quite lost in the massive crowd of people walking purposely around in the huge station. It might have something to do with the fact nobody seemed worried about it. The letter that had come a ticket came with a note telling him to go to platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station and although Ed could see the sign for platform nine and platform ten there was no sign of anything in-between, unless you counted the tracks. Although he was new to magic, Ed was pretty certain going on the tracks was not a good idea.
He stopped, confused.
"Umm… guys? Where's the platform?" Ed asked. The children looked at him, a little strangely.
"Oh," Hermione said. "I forgot you aren't familiar with England." And with a little smile, she carefully explained how to get on to the platform.
"No, wait, so…" the 'so' was elongated dramatically and dwindled in volume near the end, "...you have to go through the wall," Ed repeated sceptically and a little shocked. Ron nodded vigorously with mild exasperation on his face.
"It's perfectly OK. Most people are scared first time," Mrs Weasley said kindly. Ed breathed in deeply before looking back at the very solid looking brick wall.
"Why don't you go first, Ron," Mrs Weasley said as Ed made no move to attempt the impossible. Ron gave a dramatic sigh before turning his trolley towards the wall. He started at a steady pace, completely calm.
"Make sure you don't bump into anyone on the other side," Mrs Weasley added hastily, as Ron quickened to a jog.
There was no answer, as Ron had disappeared through the wall.
Ed's mouth was open.
"No way," he said.
"Yes way," was the reply he got from both twins as they wheeled their trollies passed him (far too quickly to be safe) and rushed towards the wall. They too, disappeared through it, leaving nothing but the plain brick wall staring back at the befuddled Ed.
Harry and Hermione were next, closely followed by Ginny.
"Go on then," Mrs Weasley said with a smile. Next to her, he black dog that was Sirius was wagging his tail frantically, an expression close to amusement written across his face.
Ed snapped his mouth shut and stared down the wall with renewed determination. Calmly he started to walk towards it, getting faster and more confident as he did so. The wall still looked solid but as it hurtled towards him he forced himself to continue, not wanting to look stupid. I couldn't hurt that much if he ran in to it although it would be very awkward. The dusty red bricks filled his vision, a bright, murky red. Although tempted to close his eyes, Ed kept them wide open.
When the redness suddenly cleared, as though he had passed through a particularly thick cloud, Ed found his jaw dropping.
Platform nine and three-quarters would have been normal enough – and busy enough – to occupy Central Station, if it wasn't for the brightness of the colours, the weirdness of people's dress senses or the owls hooting loudly overhead. The train waiting for them wasn't the square boxes that had confused Ed somewhat on the muggle side of the station, but the familiar rounded shape of a steam engine.
A bright red steam engine that matched Ed's trademark red – now supposedly a robe not a coat, though he couldn't tell the difference – spewing smoke towards the arched roof from which a sign hung down; 'Hogwarts Express, 11 O'clock'.
"But…" that's impossible.
Ed looked behind him, just to be sure. Where there had been brick was a wrought iron arch, the red mist inside it completely obscuring platform 10 behind it.
It wasn't right. You couldn't fit an entire platform into nothing. It defied the rules of space, physics, equivalent exchange, everything… that 1+1 was not 1…
Ed was contemplating whether he should go back through to check whether his observations were correct. However he was stopped by a gentle tug from Mrs Weasley.
"Hurry now, or you'll miss the train," she said. Ed snapped his mouth shut and nodded blankly. Eyes still wide, he followed Harry and his friends towards one of the shiny doors that lined the side of the train. He was going to need a lot of time to process this.
By the time the group had said their goodbyes and gotten onto the train, most the compartments were filled with students. Ron and Hermione disappeared to the prefect carriage (Ed had almost forgotten, even though an entire party was thrown for the two) and Ed was left dragging his trunk behind Harry and Ginny. He was used to packing light and huffed in annoyance as it snagged against the jutting wooden frames of the train corridor.
He did notice the stairs shot in their general direction, of whispers that would stop abruptly when they passed. They weren't benign, or just plain curious either, but Ed ignored them. He was used to stares – heck, he went out of his way to get stares – and he had a feeling they weren't directed at him but rather at the black haired boy in front of him.
A shrill whistle sounded from outside and the train lurched forward. Ed staggered slightly but kept his balance, using a door to his left to support himself.
"Urgh…" he muttered. "Can we find a compartment please?" He made it as apparent as possible he didn't want to stand up for the whole trip.
Looking into the compartment he had nearly fallen into, he found it was almost empty. The occupants consisted of just one blond girl, reading a magazine upside down.
"Oh, we can go in here!" Ginny said, suddenly next to him. Harry looked somewhat doubtful but didn't complain as Ginny pushed open the door.
"Hello Luna, can we use this compartment?" Ginny asked. A friend, apparently. The girl tipped her upside-down magazine slightly so her large eyes peered at them over the top and unhurriedly nodded. Ed internally sighed with relief. He dragged his trunk inside, before using his left arm to hoist it up to the metal luggage holder above them.
He winced he felt something twinge in his right arm. Ed still wasn't used to the weakness on that side of his body, throwing him somewhat off balance. Even though it had been healed very well, curtesy of the Order, it didn't give the same stability as his automail.
"Hello," Luna said softly. Everyone muttered a soft 'hello' in reply as they settled down. After a few tentative starts, a conversation was sprung between the two girls and the compartment silence was punctured with excited chatter.
Ed had immediately obtained the seat next to the window, to look at the scenery. Even though he had thought the Wizarding World was strange, a brief glimpse of the Muggle World had been enough to tell him that it wasn't the only difference there was between this world and his. In fact, with the lack of magic, the dissonant chord only rang higher; the clothes were too tight, the objects too flat, everything too bright…
He was tired. It was still just past eleven, true, but with so much to process, Ed's mind was already wandering. Perhaps his connection with Al had left a lasting habit. Seeing no point in resisting the force that pulled his eyes shut (it would be a long journey anyway), Ed fell into sleep.
-o0o-
"You will meet a friend who will spy on you. You will need him to get home," Truth explained, repeating what he had said when Ed had been brought to this world whilst leering. His mouth was unnaturally wide, the blank white grin stretching literally from ghostly ear to another. Ed recalled the desperation on his face when he had first proposed the agreement one month ago – looking at Truth in his usual pompous self made him doubt his memory.
"Don't you get it?"
Images flashed past.
Harry was kneeling behind a door as Ed walked out of the room. When Ed asked him what he was doing there, he stuttered a reply about picking up the quill that was clutched in his hand. Another day he bumped into him on the way to the kitchen, the day after he was staring at him from the top of the staircase; green eyes piercing underneath the deep frown.
"Are all wizard's so damn secretive?"
Not that he could talk.
Germany. He hadn't even heard of Germany until a few weeks ago.
"Don't mind Harry, Ed," Dumbledore had said on a later visit. "He's curious, as would many his age be."
If Ed had been as empathic as Al, he would have come to the decision that Harry was less curious and more… angry. Holding a deep dissatisfaction that required Ed to be the enemy. Dumbledore refused to comment on that observation.
"Do you mean Harry?" Ed asked.
"You'll see," Truth laughed.
It's not a game, Ed wanted to say but the shadow had disappeared.
-o0o-
Ed was startled out of his doze with a loud bang.
Looking towards the entrance of the compartment, he saw that it had been opened by a boy with sleek platinum hair, a smug smile on his face as he looked down at the inhabitants. Standing a step behind him were two rather large, rather conspicuous students, matching grins of stupidity on their faces. Hermione and Ron were back, Ed noted, and everybody was looking at the new arrival with intense malice.
If looks could kill, that boy would be deep, deep within the Gate of Truth. Ed couldn't say he liked the boy either, despite having never met him before; there was something about his prideful smirk that screamed arrogance. He had had enough of arrogance from military high-ups.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry hissed. There was history, almost definitely. The hatred in his voice was unmistakable.
Malfoy looked ready to respond, when he noticed Ed's glare from the back of the compartment. The boy's thin lips twitched into a sneer and, for the first time in his life, wondered whether General Bastard may, perhaps not be, the most irritatingly snobbish human alive.
"Who's the new loser, Potter? Didn't know you would get so desperate for friends to hang out with a first year."
"First year?!" Ed exclaimed, clenching his gloved fist in anticipation of what was coming next. His mind was a roar of red, anger swirling underneath the barely restrained exterior. Al would disapprove, certainly, but Ed didn't like the boy's tone and wasn't likely to hold back now.
Say it, he thought viciously. Just say it and I'll show you what happens.
Malfoy saw the challenge in Ed's glare and responded with predictability.
"Yes, you; don't tell me you're another mudblood," Malfoy sneered and jabbed a thumb in the general direction of Hermione. He might as well have flicked the switch of a nuclear bomb.
"Who the HELL are you calling so SHORT HE COULD BE SQUISHID BY THE SMALLEST BUG IN THE WORLD!"
"How DARE you insult Hermione you atrocious RAT!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, MALFOY!"
At that same instant, Ed lunged at the slightly taken aback Malfoy. One of the two cronies behind him, Crabbe, stepped forward clumsily to intercept but Ron, having finally snapped at Malfoy's continuing insults and motivated by Ed's dramatic reaction, barged in to the massive boy and knocked him off his feet. Hermione was squealing at him to stop.
By now Ed had punched the no longer conceited looking Malfoy in the nose. Goyle also threw a lumbering punch at the red blur but he sidestepped out of the way. Unluckily, however, Goyle grabbed Ron's arm as he did so, just as Crabbe got back up. Ed looked round to see him raise a fist.
"Shi…" Ed slammed his palms together and pressed them on the floor. For the briefest of moments that stretched out to an eternity, there was pin dropping silence. Then, without warning, everything fast forwarded at once.
Light crackled around the compartment, electric blue and vivid against his retinas – the hue agonisingly familiar - before two wooden fists erupted out of the ground, rising up quickly from the floorboards. They knocked the bullies full in the face, flinging them out of the compartment in the process. Ed quickly shut the door.
"What the bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.
"Oh my God," shrieked Hermione, partly in terror and dread of the punishments given for attacking a prefect, partly in what seemed like amazement at what had happened.
"...oops," Ed said with a tense smile.
Under what Ed hoped was a calm exterior, Ed was panicking quite badly. It had been instinctual, really. After years of fighting with his Alchemy, it had become a habit to use it. He wanted to swear, quite loudly too. He hadn't been expecting that. Not at all. After many trials away from unwanted eyes in Grimmauld Place, Ed had become certain that Alchemy didn't work in this world. Not a single spark of a reaction had he been able to conjure, much to the frustration of the renowned Alchemist. Why now? Why did it work? What had changed? He stared at his hands, gloved as always with white silk, even though he had no need to now.
"What was that?" Ginny asked, snapping Ed out of his thoughts.
Ed looked at her sheepishly.
"Would you believe me if I said I have genuinely no idea?"
Naturally, the inhabitants of the carriage looked little more than dumbstruck at the statement.
-o0o-
"The colour of the light wasn't dissimilar to a lumos or... or a patronous," Hermione said. "But it was more like electricity than magic."
Those without muggle backgrounds, primarily Ron, looked confused.
"Eh-lek what? Isn't that a muggle thing?" he asked.
"Yes it is Ron," Hermione said, something close to exasperation in her voice. She turned to Ed. "Are you sure you haven't seen it before."
Ed closed his eyes. He had seen it before, too many times to count, but he wondered if telling them that would give away too much. Alchemy was dangerous in the wrong hands; the events of Amestris a brutal reminder of such. Even though Ed trusted the people he had spent the last month with relatively well, the old headmaster's words echoed in his head:
Harry, even unknowingly so, has a connection to Voldemort. Trust him, but be careful what you reveal.
Damn the old man. If Dumbledore thought keeping Harry in the dark was doing his any good, watching the brooding teenager glare at the mention of the headmaster's name was a clear indication to Ed that he was wrong. Infuriatingly, Dumbledore still had a point.
Just for a year, until Professor Snape succeeds in teaching him a countermeasure.
Patience was hardly Ed's forte. Secrecy wasn't either, despite being forced to keep his brother's condition a secret for nearly half a decade.
Ed opened his eyes and met the curious glances of the other train occupants.
"I think… it's a… different type of magic," Ed tried to explain but even he had to admit it sounded rather pathetic. Or did it? Could it be magic? He had magic. Otherwise he would not have been able to purchase a wand. Not magic, not alchemy – something in between. He needed more research, more information. He needed to experiment.
"Different type? Like Dark Magic?" Harry cut in. Ed noticed the keen glint in his eye and met his glare with neutral confusion.
"Like… what?"
Ed's own confusion only seemed to spark the same emotion in everybody else.
"Like… evil magic. Bad magic. Mate, you sure you went to Durmstrang?" Ron said. He added some dramatic hand gestures to make sure his point was thoroughly put across.
"Durmstrang… oh, right… erm…" Ed stumbled. He nearly hit himself with the stupidity of the whole situation. Who had thought of the whole Germany cover-up? It was pathetic.
It did occur to him at the point that it may have been himself.
"It's to do with my research. You know, alchemy," Ed said.
"That was alchemy?" Hermione asked. Ed didn't miss the suspicion dripping from her voice. From what he had gathered from rather inept books at Grimmauld place, this world knew infuriatingly little about proper alchemy.
Or at least, alchemy from his own world.
"I thought you didn't know what it was?" Harry asked.
Ed sighed.
"I don't. I was hypothesising," he said. "Don't wizards ever end up with results they don't understand?"
It was Luna who perked up this time.
"My father does all the time," she said and nodded vigorously. "He says it's an essential process in research." Ed looked at Luna rather pleased, while Hermione looked like she had grown a second head.
"Your father does research? Doesn't he edit the Quibber?" she asked.
"He does both," Luna shot back. Ed wasn't listening, dipping back into his swirling thoughts.
Information, research, experimentation. It was science. He would work with what he had, try to recreate the experience. He would study the result, try something else, work out the underlying explanation of what had just occurred, however long it took. There must be rules governing this weird world of no apparent rules. He was a scientist.
Ed pretended not to notice the unsatisfied frown sitting on Hermione's face, or the obvious stare of distrust from Harry.
Annnd finally Ed gets some Alchemy. This was quite enjoyable to write, actually.
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