Alchemy: Magic vs. Science
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D/C: I own nothing.
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Huge shout out to AmyNChan!
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First Name: Informal
Last Name: Formal (Or used to annoy others...)
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"English and Edward's accented voice."
"Amestrian, other foreign languages or to add emphasis."
Written notes or to add extra emphasize.
'Thoughts.'
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Alchemy. An age-old and ancient form of old magic. Old magic that no one had no true interest in learning what it truly was. It would have been considered a good thing as if they had delved into the true secrets of Alchemy then Magic would not be what it is today. It became obsolete and out of style as wands became the norm to oppose using the proper materials or understanding. What many would say it became a pain to do out of personal reasons, but in actuality, it was a silent rule to no longer practice the art. Not to practice the ancient art without the proper guidance, for the fact, one false move could ultimately lead to pain, confusion and complete and utter taboo. Many of course wanted to learn the subject, the only issue is that the drawbacks it brought along had them quickly walk away. They were not ready to pay the price for learning Alchemy.
The price of doing Alchemy ended up costing their own lives, the lives of their loved own or even their own sanity. It was as if something or someone out there controlled and pulled all the strings. Telling them in the far reaches of their minds, taunting them what they must give up when they attempt to play God.
Only a few had seen this mysterious figure and lived to tell the tale. Of course….not in one whole piece. He has a tendency of taking limbs, sense or at times souls.
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"Whoa…" Edward muttered under his breath, entering his classroom. His desk was covered with applications to enter his class. There were about six piles by the looks of it but the closer of it there were more of them. He took into the matter that by the time every student takes a test, the numbers will go down. With a tired sigh, Edward continued forward to tackle his current enemy. Paperwork. "Xerxes, off."
Xerxes, who was still on Edward's head, hooted in protest and furrowed herself further into his hair.
"I do not care, off."
Another hoot of protest.
"Do you want me to pull you off of me?"
"Hoot!"
"…You want me to get you a stand?"
"Hoot!"
"Fine."
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Edward resisted the urge to slam his head against his desk. After looking through several applications, he decided it was not worth his time. Everyone will be getting the same test and be tested equally. Now that decision was the easy part, now the hard part is creating the test. What many would have perceived it to be easy to create, that depends on who you are asking. Edward keeps remembering that exam he took when he became a State Alchemist. If he was dealing with kids from Amestris, he would expect each one of them to know the basics and understanding of Alchemy it would be no problem. No, he was dealing with brats that have no knowledge of what Alchemy is or even common sense for that matter.
The test will have to be basic, far more basic than Edward wanted it to be. But still easy enough for people to understand and pass. What worries Edward more is that the test could still be difficult for the students to understand. After all he is dealing with kids that have no formal training in learning Alchemy.
"This is going to be a disaster." Edward muttered under his breath, he stood up and stretched his arms out. Xerxes, who was perched on a coat rack, quickly flew over and landed on Edward's head with a soft hoot. The Golden Blonde reached up and nudged the owl absentmindedly as he walked towards the entrance that leads up to his room. The moment that Edward placed his hand against the brick wall, the bricks started to shift and move away to allow him through. "Too bad, I can't leave them all on a deserted island for a month."
Once Edward was back in his room, he headed towards a leather chair that was placed in the corner of the room next to a couple of bookcases. Xerxes, in turn, flew off towards her cage, which was on the other side of the room. She watched Edward plop himself on the leather chair and look up at the ceiling with a vacant expression. This wasn't new, he has been doing that a lot lately and it got worse every time it seemed like the human was down on his luck or on his wits ends with humanity. After looking at the ceiling with that expression for what seemed like forever, he should now be picking up a book that is in a night table next to Edward. The same book every time. There were times that he treated the book like it was invaluable and precious, while other times he treated it as if a curse or an abomination.
'Shitty father…' Edward thought, reading the book his father had wrote. It was, begrudgingly, a respectable book about Alchemy. Everything that is needed to know about the subject and so much more. Unknown to him, Xerxes suddenly flew out of his room through an open window.
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"How am I going to send him all of this?" Alphonse Elric said to himself, standing in front of a Xingese style trunk that is filled with notes, books and everything else Edward had asked him for. Now gathering all those items was the easy part, the hard part is getting said items to him. He hasn't seen the owl, which sent him the letter from his brother. Even if with the owl, it would nearly impossible for it to carry it to who knows where. With a sigh, Alphonse walked over towards his desk, he needed to write a letter and wait for that owl to come back.
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Today is the big day that everyone came to anticipate. The day to take the Alchemy Exam, it has been over a week since its announcement and students asking, begging or even demanding to take said exam. Now it was time to take said exam, to see if they are able to learn the Ancient Art that is called Alchemy.
For one second-year Hufflepuff, he sat with his fellow second years from all four houses. Everyone that had signed up to take the exam were separated by year and are in different classrooms. They had a total of 90 minutes to finish the test or get as much as they could get done with. He watched the Alchemy Professor hand out the test on paper he had never seen before. It wasn't writing on a scroll and on the corner of the papers is something metallic which held them together. A muggle thing? He had heard rumors that Professor Elric is a muggle, maybe this was a muggle thing. Along with the exam, he also gave out a wooden stick stating it was a pencil. A device that is used to write with and on the other end of the pencil is something pink which could erase your writing!
Taking in a deep breath, the Hufflepuff wrote his name on the top right corner of the exam, as instructed before he glanced through it. What he read caused him to tilt his head side to side, scratch said head and mentally wonder if he even could answer any of them. Some of them were like the following…
Which is heavier, a kilogram of bricks or a kilogram of feathers?
A little girl kicks a ball. It goes 10 feet and comes back to her. How is this possible?
If you were to put a coin into an empty bottle and then insert a cork into the neck, how could you remove the coin without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle?
Questions that have the Hufflepuff thinking outside the box, at first they appear simple and straightforward. However, the more the look at them, there is more than what meets the eye. Those are however the easier ones. The next set is giving him a headache, never in his life had he seen this before…
Name the following elements:
H
K
C
O
Fe
Complete the following equation:
_CO2 + _H20 (equals) _C6H12O6 + _O2
Never in his life has he ever seen such things. With a shake of his head, the Hufflepuff continued looking through the packet hoping to see something familiar. There were two more questions after that. The first one has him wondering how he should answer it.
All is one, one is all.
Then the final question, the easiest one by far.
Tell me why you wish to learn Alchemy. (Note, this count and if you lie, I have military experience to make you suffer!)
The part that was written next to the question has the Hufflepuff gulp nervously. That quickly went away when he saw there was more written on the back of the final page of the paper.
From Minerva: He will not make you suffer. I will remove you from his class if such an event occurs.
From Edward: Shut UP!
From Severus: Mr. Elric is entitled to make the students suffer in the time it takes you to remove the said student from his class, Professor McGonagall.
From Edward: HA!
From Severus: Likewise, Mr. Elric may not do any lasting damage that Madame Pomfrey cannot reverse overnight.
From Minerva: Justice…
From Edward: Whose side are you on!
From Severus: The side that allows me the most enjoyment within the parameters of the school.
From Edward: Meaning?
From Severus: My own.
From Edward: …I knew we were going to get along just right.
From Minerva: I'm surrounded by children.
From Severus: Of course. You are an instructor.
From Edward: HA!
From Minerva: Don't encourage him.
From Edward: I don't need encouragement!
From Severus: Agreed. Mr. Elric's enthusiasm is entirely his own.
From Minerva: -.-
It appeared the three professors were arguing on the original copy of the exam and it was copied out on every exam. This did not help the Hufflepuff, not one bit. If anything, he stood up from his seat and speed walked towards the Alchemy Professor's desk. He placed the unanswered test on the desk before dashing off in complete freight.
Edward watched the young boy with an eyebrow raised wondering what got into him. With a snort, he reached over towards the exam to see who it was.
"Cedric Diggory? Hm, he didn't write anything. Less trouble for me then."
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"Hm…?" Fred chewed on the eraser of the pencil he was given for the test. He was taking his time answering the questions to the best of his abilities. The questions were pretty much straightforward; he wondered why Mr. Elric placed them in the test. It was the last question that got him to stomp. An idea struck him and he began to answer that last question.
I want to be given a chance to learn something new with my twin brother…and perfect our pranks.
On the other side of the classroom, George wrote a similar response to the last question. It was all about the pranks and how to perfect them. If Mr. Elric wanted the truth, then he is going to get it.
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Alphonse held Xerxes in his hands examining her at every angle. He wondered how the little owl could transverse long distances and know just where to go. Xerxes seemed not to mind, she made a type of almost purring type of noise, content especially flying through the harsh desert. "Do you know where Big Brother is?"
Xerxes gave Alphonse a look that did not settle well for the Alchemist. It reminded of the same look Edward would always give him before he did something devious or idiotic. It is usually a combination of both. "Big Brother always complains that I shouldn't have a pet, but here you are."
"Hoot, hoot, hoot." Xerxes huffed out smugly.
"Did you just mock me?"
"Hoot."
"You did!"
To be continued…
Thank you AmyNChan! For someone who enjoys writing angst, you sure know how to make people laugh. Go check out her profile people, she is an amazing writer! GO!
R/R.