AN: Welcome! All announcements will be made at the end of this chapter.

Here we go.

Chapter 7

"It was a fair question, although the problem with fair questions is that they are asked about an unfair world." –Joseph Fink, Welcome to Night Vale, the novel

Number 12 Grimmauld Place

London, England

August 25th, 1995 (Gregorian Calendar)

One week before the start of term, Ed and Al were being moved to Hogwarts in order to not arouse more suspicion from the Ministry. The mysterious death of Hestia Jones in a muggle area and the magical damage in the nearby neighborhood had cause Fudge to begin watching Dumbledore more closely. As a result the recent order meetings had been brief and the aged Headmaster had to leave immediately following adjournment to return to his office. The absence of the Amestrians in Hogwarts had finally been noticed when ministry officials had gone to call on them at the school and question them on their sudden increase in communication with their superior.

It took the whole first week of writing to Mustang to achieve clearance to share what Amestris knows about the homunculi with the Order of the Phoenix and they decided they would wait until they had been taken to the protection of Hogwarts to brief the magic folk. Ed sent the report of Potter's rescue with the request in the very first letter which caused the General to demand more information. Understandably, he was quite upset to hear about the possibility of more homunculi. As a result security had tripled on the Amestrian side of the Gate which caused the Ministry to try and contact the 'ambassadors'.

The time at Headquarters since the Privet Drive incident had been generally tense. Ed spent most of his time focusing on finishing the lesson plans they would need in order to teach and doing some light research regarding the world events on this side of the Gate. He was looking for some indication that homunculi had been active. His brother was more personable and spent much more time with the other residents of the house. Al helped them clean the house and often shared laughs and stories at meal times. However, some days he would lock himself in the room with Ed, much to the chagrin of Sirius and Tonks who had grown to enjoy their company.

At present, the Elric brothers were packing their suitcases so they could travel to Hogwarts via floo with the Deputy Headmistress that was waiting down but stairs. They packed with practiced efficiency dividing up their research materials and notes. As Al was finishing, a quiet knocked sounded at the door.

"Come in," called Al as he latched on his luggage and lifted it off of the bed.

The door crept open and Harry sheepishly slipped in. "Hi, Al. I was hoping to talk to Ed before you left for Hogwarts."

"Oh," replied Al. He grabbed his suitcase and headed for the door. "I'll meet you in the sitting room, Ed." He stepped around Harry and headed downstairs.

Harry shuffled forward and said, "I never thanked you."

Ed shut his suitcase, set it on the floor and sat on his bed. "For what?" he asked.

"For saving me and Professor Lupin from the Death Eaters." Harry pause and took a deep breath. He stared down at his shoes and began fidgeting with his hands. "And for keeping me calm after the car crash. I know I was being a bit of a git."

"Only a bit?" teased Ed. "You don't have to thank me. I was doing my job. But you're welcome." He stood up and lifted his suitcase and headed for the door.

Harry reached out and put a hand on his should. "Wait!" he called. "Did you mean it when you said that next time, I could say the guy next to me?"

"I did. You have good instincts and you care. But you're also untrained and naïve. You freeze up and act irrationally. In a fight those can get you killed." Ed made to leave again only to be stopped by Harry again.

"If Voldemort is raising an army then, I want to fight," growled Harry. He had thought that Ed would be on his side but it seemed like he was dismissing him like all the other adults.

Ed sighed and set his luggage down. He turned to face the shorter boy and said, "I've no doubt you will. In fact, given his obsession with you, I'd say it's a certainty. But don't go looking for trouble. Train. Learn. Voldemort is playing the long game. Don't be in a hurry to do something desperate."

Harry glared and balled his fists. "He killed my parents. He's tried to kill me several times! I just want this to be over!"

Ed grew quiet and an angry expression crossed over his face. He held up his right hand for Harry to see. "Desperation and war makes monsters of us all. Don't wade in chest deep because you feel some sort of self-righteous fury! You do that and people will die. I'm not saying give up. I'm not saying sit this one out. I'm saying do it right or you or somebody else will die. Or worse."

"Like what? Expelled?" asked Harry bitterly.

"There are fates worse than death, Harry. Hopefully, you'll never have to find out." Ed lifted his bag and left, leaving Harry to share his frustration with an empty room.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Highlands, Scotland

August 25th, 1995 (Gregorian Calendar)

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk in the Headmaster's Office staring at the curious orb that had appeared on his shelf of trinkets during the day while he had been out. It was a small metal sphere roughly the size of a golden snitch. The surface was smooth except for a small flat area that served as its bottom. Unfortunately, a diagnostic spell revealed a powerful recording charm that was likely attached to an auto-quill somewhere in the Ministry of Magic, if the magical signature was anything to go by. For an item so small, it posed a great problem. Should he destroy it and risk alerting the Ministry that he knows he is being watched? Or should he use it as a tool against them and keep the rest of the Order safe from legal action should they come for him? The latter option was very Slytherin, not that Dumbledore minded. After all, one could not be installed as a true Hogwarts Headmaster if they did not possess qualities from every house. 'Yes,' he mused to himself. 'Perhaps I ought to embrace the more cunning path presented to me.'

The Headmaster's musing were interrupted by his office door opening to reveal both Elric brothers and a young Hogwarts house elf. "Headmaster, sir! Gripes be possible presenting Professors Elric," squeaked the elf.

"Thank you, Gripes," said Dumbledore smiling. "You may go now." Gripes disappeared with a crack and Dumbledore gestured to the seats in front of him. "Please, have a seat and we can get your lesson plans approved."

Ed and Al shared a confused look with each other. It was obvious that wasn't what they had expected to hear. As they seat cautiously took the seats, Dumbledore pointed at the metal orb and then tapped his ear. Realization dawned on the brothers' faces. In response, Al handed over the thick sheaf of parchment that Gripes had asked them to bring. "These are the lesson plans we have drawn up," he said with his eyes on the beautiful Phoenix on Dumbledore's right.

"Thank you, Alphonse. His name is Fawkes, by the way. An immortal phoenix," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye. He set the stack of papers on his desk and began to look over them quickly. "Did you boys enjoy your stay in muggle London?"

"Yeah," replied Ed. "There was a stray dog that lived near the hotel. That was kinda cool."

Al shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and said, "I thought he was nice."

"You were more focused on that cat that came around," quipped Ed with a wink which caused Al to turn bright red. He turned back to face Dumbledore. "I did have to stop a kid from getting hit by a car while crossing the street. Someone ought to remind him to look both ways when crossing."

Dumbledore nodded in understanding. The message was clear: Harry was getting worked up over the war and guidance would be better than hoping he would just stay out of the way. "I'm sure someone will pass that wisdom on to him." He reached over and plucked a quill from its ink well and signed the top page. "Well, it is official. You are now full Hogwarts professors. Would you care to see your class room tonight?"

The two newly minted professors nodded and followed the Headmaster out of the office. The trio walked in comfortable silence for ten minutes as they descended to reach a second floor class room that over looked the lake. They shuffled in and Dumbledore flicked his wand to check for more listening spells. Finding none, he flicked his wand again to cast a privacy charm to ensure there would be no eavesdroppers at the door. He learned his lesson the last time.

"Now that we are safe from wandering ears, what could you not tell me before about these homunculi?" asked Dumbledore.

Ed took a shaky breath and sat down on one of the desks that filled the room. "Well let's start at the beginning. Do you know what a philosopher's stone is?"

Dumbledore raised a gray brow and his small smile slipped into a grimace. "I do," he said. "My friend Nicolas Flamel told me the whole story of when we destroyed the stone three years ago. He felt I should know what I doing."

"Someone had a stone on this side of the Gate?" asked Ed. His tone grew cold and solemn.

"Regrettably, yes," he replied. "Nicolas was fooled into creating the stone in his 112th year… over five centuries ago. Because of his status as a wizard, the stone was tied to his magical core. Forcing him to choose between destroying hundreds of souls confined in the stone and living until the energy ran out. He chose the path that would allow him to do good with an item of unspeakable evil. He dedicated centuries to curing illnesses, advancing research, and trying to track down the young man that wiped an entire wizarding community off the map."

Al shared a look with his brother. The tale was not so different from their own father's tale. "I take it Mr. Flamel has since passed?" he asked.

"No. He is on his death bed. I could arrange a meeting later this week," said Dumbledore. "It could help with your investigation."

"We'd like that, Old Man," said Ed. "It wouldn't surprise me if the mystery man that killed Jones is connected to all this. Anyway, at the core of every homunculus is a philosopher stone. Like this Flamel guy, it makes them virtually immortal. They also provided them with special powers. Now, like we said before there were eight homunculi in Amestris."

Alphonse picked up where Ed left off. "Seven of those were fragments, or children, of Father the original Homunculus. Father was created over five centuries ago in the country of Xerxes by a skilled alchemist using the blood of his slave. Father began to teach the slave and eventually, used him to destroy the entire nation. The slave and Father each gained half of the souls turning the slave into a living philosopher's stone. The slave was mortified and fled east. Father went west, founded Amestris, and began plotting to do so again.

"He began to section off pieces of himself. Of his soul. He tried to cleanse himself of his vices. To become the perfect being. Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Greed, and Wrath. His 'children', began to orchestrate violent wars and built a nationwide transmutation circle. Brother, the General, and I along with others shut him down at the Promised Day. On that day, and the days leading up to it, most of the homunculi were destroyed. Lust was killed by the General. Envy killed himself. Pride consumed Gluttony. Sloth exhausted his stone. Wrath was killed by a man named Scar. Pride was rendered inactive and currently is living as a little boy with his mother. Brother sent Father to the Gate himself."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I would assume that is the condensed version. Do you think these new homunculi are related to the ones from Amestris?"

"Maybe," said Ed. "There's a couple of possibilities. I have two theories though. One, these are separate counterparts with no direct relation to Father. Two, these are more partitions of Father that escaped through the Gate when it appeared after the Promised Day. There is no way of knowing for sure until we get more data. And I'm not sure which is the best case scenario."

"Is it possible that this Father character survived and came here?"

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Because Al wouldn't have his body right now, had Father not been destroyed," said Ed quietly. "This next part is not exactly classified information but, it's personal and we would appreciate it if you didn't share it with anyone without cause." Ed and Al sighed in unison. It was going to be a long night. They told Dumbledore almost everything related to human transmutation and the Gate. Starting with the day their mother had collapsed.

Alchemist's Respite, Home of Nicolas Flamel

Normandy, France

August 31st, 1995 (Gregorian Calendar)

Nicolas Flamel had lived a long life that was finally drawing to a close. A long life built on the murder of hundreds. It had burdened him for many years but he could never bring himself to destroy the bane of his existence. The stone contained the souls of magical folk of the village La Croix. Destroying them meant passing them into the void with no purpose. Instead, Nicolas used the immortality to better the world, both mundane and magical, but he also sought out the Bastard that had tricked him. His wife had been doomed to live forever just as he had because of their joined magical cores. She had supported him the entire time and he missed her dearly. She had been the first to die after the stone was destroyed three years prior. The shock of the severance had forced her to leave on her next journey without him.

Presently, Flamel was sitting in his favorite chair before his fireplace with a glass of near ancient cognac. Dumbledore had brought two young men claiming to be alchemists to see him the day before. He had nearly cursed the short haired one into oblivion. He was a spitting image of the Bastard that had fool him many years ago. It had taken convincing but they were able to prove that they were not connected to the Bastard. It turns out that Flamel wasn't the only man fooled into creating atrocities.

Evidently, these two young men came from a place on the other side of the Great Doors in the British Ministry of Magic. In their homeland, this had happened once and almost a second time a few centuries later. They believed that the man that tricked him was something called a homunculus and that there were others here. Flamel told the boys what little he knew about the Bastard before wishing them a firm farewell.

Nicolas emptied his glass and set it on the table beside him. He was ready. Family affairs and last wills had long since been settled and recorded with Gringotts. The few Flamel house elves had been transferred to Hogwarts when Dumbledore had visited with his young alchemist friends. The Headmaster often said that to the well-organized mind, death was just the next adventure. Nicolas couldn't help but agree. However, the thought of death had always silently frightened him. But, the time for that worry had passed. His time had finally come. "Je vais vous rejoindre prochainement sur la prochaine grande aventure, mon amour," he said as his eyes closed and the hearth slowly grew cold.

For the first time in five hundred years, not a soul was present on the Flamel Estate. The Great Alchemist, at long last, had earned his respite.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place

London, England

September 1st, 1995

Harry woke with a start to the sound Mrs. Weasley yelling through door for them to get. "Harry! Ron! Time to get up dears, we'll miss the train if you don't hurry," she shout before walking down to wake the girls.

The black haired teen groggily sat up and praised whatever deity that usually hated him for not plaguing him with nightmares for once. He glanced over at his school trunk and thanked his past self for having the forethought to pack most of his belongings the night before. The 'esteemed' prefect was in the next bed over. His belongings were scattered around and he himself was curled up in the bed with a pillow over his head. "Ron! Get up!" he hissed. Harry grabbed the pillow from behind him and hurled it towards Ron's head.

The pillow sailed into the sleeping teens with more force than necessary and detonated on impact, sending feathers everywhere. Ron bolted up and tried to flee from the attack he didn't understand. The result was him getting tangled up in his blankets and falling to the floor. He looked up at Harry and asked sleepily, "What's goin' on 'Arry?"

"We're going to be late to Hogwarts if you don't get out of bed," said Harry as he pulled on a pair of oversized trousers and a jumper. He put the rest of his belongings into his trunk and pulled on his trainers. Mrs. Weasley and some of the other Order members had gone to Diagon Alley to get school supplies for the students that were residing in the house. Their Hogwarts letters had arrived and had named Hermione and Ron both prefects. Harry's letter had included a note from McGonagall explaining that the Headmaster had requested that he not be made a prefect so that he could have time for extra lessons. That had only confused him and his friends. "I'll meet you downstairs, Ron." Ron didn't respond because he had fallen back to sleep on the dusty floor. Harry grabbed his trunk and headed into the hall where Hermione and Ginny were already waiting.

"Is Ron almost ready?" asked Hermione as she adjusted her bag over her shoulder. "He ought to remember what happened last time he missed the train.

Harry shrugged. "Not really," he said. "He is asleep on the floor and his trunk is barely packed."

Groaning, Ginny dropped her trunk with a loud bang. She aggressively enter the door and shut the door behind her. All Harry and Hermione could hear from the outside of the room was incoherent screaming and yelling.

"Sometimes, I forget that she is genuinely terrifying," commented Hermione.

Nodding, Harry said, "Probably has something to do with having seven older brothers. Somehow, she came out really well-adjusted."

"I don't know if well-adjusted is the right phrase. Stable?"

"Hmmmm…. I don't know. You remember what happened to that third year that made a pass it her?"

"Maybe it's just best if we don't cross her for now, yeah?"

At that point Ginny exited the now silent room and asked, "Who are we not crossing?"

"No one," said Harry and Hermione simultaneously.

Sometime later everyone gathered at the door of the house. The twins, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and a feather coated Ron were joined by Lupin, Mad-Eye, and Alphonse. They pulled escort duty this time round.

"Hey, Al. Where Ed?" asked Ginny munching on an apple.

Al smiled and greeted her and the other teens warmly. "Brother had to stay at Hogwarts to work on some research. I came to help ensure your safety."

Fred and George both clapped a hand on his shoulder. One started speaking. "Really glad…"

"…you could join us." And the other finished in their usual fashion.

Mad-Eye ended the rest of any conversations and called them all to attention. "Right. We have us three plus Molly and Arthur. Tonks has been sent ahead to scout our route. Once at King's Cross, she and Elric will board the train to Hogwarts." Mad-Eye paused and set his wide brimmed hat on his head. "We shouldn't have any problems today. But remember, CONSTANT VIGILANCE! If we are attacked, take cover until help arrives." He directed the last part to the charges he had to escort.

Harry leaned over to Ron and deadpanned, "Well it can't hardly go worse than last time, can it?"

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN

END NOTE: That was chapter seven. This one was a bit of a doozy. I'm an American trying to write in a dialect that is not my own using movies and books as a reference. I hope I am doing alright. If you see a manner in which I can improve it please let me know.

So, I am in the process of finishing my final semester of college and have my capstone paper to finish. I will be working on this story but I will likely not post until after graduation which is the first weekend of May. I know this is not the most pleasing idea and it doesn't make me happy either. I hope you all understand and bear with me during the next three and a half weeks. However, during my downtime, I will be editing my posted chapters for the grammar mistakes that have been pointed out to me. No content will be altered. Chapter eight ought to be posted by the eighth of May and updates should return to a weekly manner then.

In the meantime, favorite, review, or use conditioner then shampoo. Experiment and question reality. Report your results. How else are we supposed to grow as a global society?

In the meantime, have a good month.

-Rising Robin