First off, I just want to apologize profusely for not being able to update at the end of last month. I really am slacking with the updates (and we're getting to some good parts too). This chapter might seem a little boring and like the last one, but this is here purely for canonical purposes. Next chapter will be more interesting, I hope. If I deliver right. Someone make me a mailman.

Alright I'll stop the puns, because I suck at them.

Overall, I just want you guys to know that I'm not going to abandon this fic, and I hope you guys can keep tolerating my slow update schedule. Thank you for everything you've given me thus far, so here's a chapter to celebrate. Please don't forget to review at the end; they still make me genuinely happy to read.

The first week of school had Edward almost blown away. It had been quite a long time since he had been to school himself, but this time, he wasn't going to school as a student. No, this time he was a professor of a subject that he at least was well versed in, but that didn't change the fact that he's never done anything like this before. Also, teaching alchemy to a bunch of brainless blockheads wasn't something in his qualifications.

Edward was currently sitting in his classroom, drumming on the desk with his fingertips. The Hogwarts library was closed because some dimwit had spilled a poisonous potion in there on accident, and the person who had to clean it up was dealing with another problem. Severus would have cleaned it up himself, but he was too busy shutting the poor kid down instead. Edward almost felt sorry for the kid. He would've gone somewhere else, but there wasn't really anywhere else to go except for his room.

"I'm bored, Al," he murmured. "There's nothing to do except sit here and hope to amuse myself by clapping and making nothing special or necessary."

The armor looked at him carefully. "Nii-san, what about all those books by the red cabinet?"

"Already read them and took my notes on them. Nothing particularly useful in terms of alchemy," Ed replied in a dull voice.

"Including the thick brown one over there?" Al asked.

Ed looked at him square in the eye. "What brown book? There wasn't one of those in the stack that I borrowed two days ago?"

Al pointed over to the book sitting on top of the cabinet. It was the book that Armstrong had left behind previously, and in Ed's hurry to put the classroom together decently, he had pushed it aside and not thought twice about it. Ed grabbed the book off of the cabinet and opened it up to the first page. Curiously, he read through the contents.

Needless to say, he was preoccupied for the next several hours, as he combed through some of Armstrong's notes on this parallel world and what his research has led him to.

The second week of school brought new work to the Alchemy classes. Now that a full seven days had gone by, most of the students had gotten their updated textbooks. Students like Hermione were combing through the pages, taking note of the differences between the old and new books. Mauro's was different in that it was more...enlightening and innovating, to say the least. The old one was scientifically outdated, and needed to be updated. Ed had no idea how Armstrong made it through the past year without an updated textbook.

Today's group of students were all in their third year of school, which meant that the worst that Ed's dealing with are Fred and George Weasley. While Ed would give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were indeed gifted, their gift was more along the lines of jokery. Ed hesitated when he said that they might have an aptitude for the class. They might end up hurting themselves and people around them, after all.

Ed stood on his chair to address the class. "Today, we're going to learn about the fundamentals for transmutations. In short, we're talking about circles. To transform anything into anything, we draw circles, and perfect ones too. No need for your oval shaped or ragged messes, because those won't get us anywhere except for the hospital wing. So for the next thirty minutes, get with your partners. There's paper in front of everyone, and writing utensils as well. No need for parchment paper and quills today, class. This is just practice. Draw the best looking circle you can, and have your partner check it out. At the end, you may run the circles by me and see if you are ready for actual transmutations."

The class began chattering amongst themselves as they split up into their pairs. Ed jumped down from his standing position and retreated into his office. He predicted that it would take them the full thirty minutes, if not the rest of class. Before he could, however, a Ravenclaw waved her hand rapidly in the air.

"Yes, miss Sancho?"

"How do we know if it's perfect or not?" she asked.

Ed pointed to the meterstick sitting by the chalkboard. "The circle has to be the same size in all different directions. You may use the meterstick to help you determine if the circle is perfect or not. My eyes can tell if it's any good or not."

As soon as he said that, however, there was an immediate rush to be the first one to use the meterstick. Ed let them carry on, like the savage animals they sometimes were, and left them to their own devices. If they tried to kill themselves, Ed would know. Call it intuition. However, Ed was skeptical about the idea of them actually doing anything to harm themselves today.

Ed plopped down into his seat in his office. Realizing how stuffy and hot the room was getting, he opened up the window in his office. Looking down at the ground, he noticed the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were finally getting their broom training this afternoon. The ratty bunch were clumsy with the broomsticks, and some of them looked like they'd blow away with the wind if they flew one. Madam Hooch certainly would have a blast.

He turned back around and looked at the essays in front of him. Ed had no motivation to actually grade them properly, like a decent professor would. However, they had been submitted last week as a homework assignment, and he supposed that the students were anxious for the results on their first essay with him. Ed had overheard several conversations about how harshly he'd grade the essays...but how would anyone know how mean he could be if he didn't even have a set grading rubric yet?

Ed glared at the essays again, and sighed. He skimmed through the first one, but bored himself out almost right away. He read through several others, but he never made it past the first three sentences. They were all repeats of what he had said in class, and even though that was practically the assignment, he figured they would have made it seem a million times more interesting that it actually came out to be.

In other words, his lectures were boring. Great. Fantastic. Thanks, essays.

Ed heated up the fireplace only to burn the essays a minute later. Using some water alchemy technique that he picked up on from a water alchemist in West City, he extinguished the fire after the parchment turned into ashes.

Just then, he heard some noise outside. Ed glanced out of the window, and noticed two people in the air, on their broomsticks. He blinked, trying to get a better idea of who exactly were on the broomsticks. On the ground, Madam Hooch seemed to be nowhere in sight, so either these kids were going to be in trouble, or they were going to be murdered in the next few moments. Looking back up, Ed could tell that one of the people on the broomsticks was Harry Potter, and he knew the consequences weren't going to be pretty at this rate. Now, who was the other kid...ah yes, Draco Malfoy, a brat who thought he was royalty. Even worse.

"Catch it if you can, then!" he heard Draco taunt. Ed saw him throw something, but didn't know exactly what was being thrown.

Stupid brats, he thought.

After a second went by, Harry swooped to catch the item. Ed sat back, deciding that he'd at least enjoy the show while it lasted, although the moves that Harry was making just to catch the damn thing wasn't exactly safe. But if he were to intervene, the outcome wouldn't be pretty if they both fell from this height. Harry made it back onto the ground in one piece, so Ed wasn't worrying about having to drag his broken body across the campus just to take him to the hospital wing. Draco eventually made his way back to the ground as well.

Then he heard someone shout his name, loud and clear. Ed gulped; Professor McGonagall had caught Harry in the act. He watched as she ran towards him, saying things as she pushed past students. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him back inside the school, all while he was carrying a broomstick in his hand. The item that was retrieved, he had already returned to its rightful owner, or at least that's what Ed believed. After all, Harry didn't seem like the type to steal, right?

After the amusement had gone by and Madam Hooch had returned to the class, Ed wandered out of his office to take a look at his students' progress. Some of them had indeed made progress on their circles, going from abysmal to somewhat decent circular shapes. They weren't perfect yet, but he liked how on track they were. Others had made little to no progress at all, using the time that Ed had set aside for them to mess around with their classmates. He could tell by the dripping ink and the smashed box of rat organs lying on the ground on the Ravenclaw side of the room.

"Clean up the mess now," he ordered them, and the Ravenclaws got to work right away. And you guys were supposed to be the smart ones out of the bunch, eh? He spun around to look at the rest of his class. "And if you're not doing any work in the next two seconds, you're spending dinner time with me, doing your detention. Am I clear?"

Instantly, the entire class shut their mouths and doodled circles away on the pieces of paper. Ed smirked; perhaps this could be more entertaining than he thought it would be. Making people bend over in fear...but maybe he shouldn't dive too far down into that hellhole.

Starting with the Gryffindors, Ed gave little comments on his students' circles. Fred and George Weasley, the set of pranking twins in his class, were doing a decent job at their circles, though some resembled potatoes rather than spherical balls. Alicia Spinnet and her partner, Angelina Johnson, were drawing circles, but they were adding extra sticks and hair to create stick figures of people. While Ed liked the practical application, it wasn't Alchemy related, and he had to ask them to at least draw bigger, rounder circles than the facial shapes. Faces weren't always perfectly round in the first place.

Ed glanced at the clock after he made his way through the Hufflepuffs. Only Cedric Diggory had any hopes of being a decent circle drawer at this point, and Ed had already passed his assignment since his circle was almost flawlessly drawn. The circle had a little extension mark at the top, but he could dismiss that part, since it was erasable. However, the bell was going to ring soon for the next class, and the class needed to clean up the mess they made in his room. It looked like a storm had come through the classroom.

With a devious smile, Ed climbed up on the Weasley twins' desk without their permission - not that he needed it anyways. Careful not to step on anything with his elevator boots, he announced to the class, "Class is not over yet, but please pick up everything off the ground. You lot made a mess in the room, and it's time to clean it up." Groans were audible from everyone's mouths. "No complaints, no whines. I'll give or take points away, depending on what happens in the next minute." Rewards were always helpful in these types of situations, yes?

The response wasn't immediate this time around, but reluctantly, a good portion of the class began to pick up stray pieces of paper lying on the floor. Others picked up pencils that had been dropped on accident, and even more were obliterating the trash using magic. Ed found no reason to tell them not to use magic, and so he jumped down from the desk and watched the majority of the class clean.

"10 points from Slytherin for failure to clean up their area," Ed remarked as he passed by their section of the room. "Although, I will award miss Hurtz here a point for trying to clean up everyone's messes." Several students' jaws dropped, and Ed raised an eyebrow.

Your fault, not mine. I warned you earlier.

Walking by the other three sections in the room, he noticed the cleanliness of everything and the organization of how everything went back. For that, he awarded the other Houses five points each. Things didn't have to be tidied back up and arranged neatly, but it was nice every now and then. Alphonse usually did this kind of shit every day, and nagged his brother to be more well kept while he was at it.

The thought of Alphonse and him recuperating in a hospital without him anywhere nearby made Ed homesick. He thought about asking Truth to let him go back to Amestris on some sort of vacation at least, but the menacing deity had told him the following:

"No can do, mister Alchemist. Finish your task here first, and then vacation later."

Needless to say, Ed wasn't thrilled about not seeing Alphonse anytime soon, and threw himself into the work at Hogwarts to distract him.

The rest of Ed's classes went about in an orderly fashion, and for the most part, they didn't include watching first year students fall off their broomsticks or throw things in the air. By now, there were several noteworthy students in Ed's classes that could handle drawing a decent circle, but it wasn't even close to half of the students.

Sighing, Ed wondered what he was going to do at this point. He could force the students that couldn't do the work to drop the class, but he supposed that the class was mandatory for everyone, and dropping Alchemy would prove to hurt a good portion of the school. Plus, Dumbledore wouldn't allow it.

Ed walked into the Great Hall, stomach growling for food. Lunch hadn't filled up his stomach nearly as much as he would have liked, so hopefully the food tonight would appease him. Strolling up the professors' table, he noticed the steak cut neatly on everyone's plates, along with the mashed potatoes and carrots on the side. The drink tonight was apple juice, which satisfied Ed. It wasn't milk, after all.

"Kuzumi-sensei, did you hear the news?" Professor Flitwick asked him when he sat down.

The brows on Ed's forehead squeezed inward. "No. What happened?" He didn't take the Charms teacher as a gossip monger, but maybe he was wrong.

"Harry Potter's been named a Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team!" the tiny man squealed.

Ed was confused. "Quidditch?" he asked for clarification.

Professor Flitwick looked at the boy, dumbfounded by the fact that he didn't know what Quidditch was, but then he remembered that Edward was an Amestrian ambassador. Of course he didn't know what Quidditch was. "Quidditch is the magical flying sport we play in the Wizarding World. Most popular kind of entertainment we offer, and it's no different here at Hogwarts. It's also somewhat dangerous, but we keep an eye on that aspect," he summed up.

Madam Hooch leaned up Professor Flitwick. "Maybe you should come spectate a practice before the matches begin!" she offered. Ed thought that she was offering up her position so that she wouldn't have to supervise some of these things.

He waved the offer away. "I'll pass. My schedule is loaded enough, thank you very much." Looking back at Flitwick now, Ed also inquired, "Is this an accomplishment or something around here?"

Professor Flitwick nodded. "First year students usually aren't allowed on the Quidditch teams or allowed their own brooms on campus. McGonagall had to bend some rules to even allow him on the team."

Edward's lips formed an o-shape to show that he understood. "Congratulations to the kid then. When do the matches begin? And who are they even against?"

"Each House has their own Quidditch team, so they compete amongst each other. It adds to the point totals too, which boosters the team morale and cheers," Professor Sprout butted in. "The matches begin around November, but I don't think Madam Hooch has set the dates yet."

"Nope," Madam Hooch replied. "I have tentative ones set up as of right now. Nothing's set in stone until next month."

"Fun," Ed said sarcastically, digging into the last piece of steak on his plate. "What are the dangers in the game?"

"You could get clobbered," Flitwick pointed out.

"Or fall off your broom and die. But Dumbledore won't allow that, plus we can just magick something out of nowhere to cushion the fall," Professor Sprout said.

"Helpful," Ed replied in the same sarcastic tone. He stood up from his seat, indicating that he was finished and about to retire for the night. "Thanks for the information. Make sure the kid doesn't go blowing himself up tomorrow too."

"Ha," Flitwick laughed, "Tell Wood that when you see him. He's the Gryffindor captain, after all."

Ed waved, but didn't look at them as he left the Great Hall. "Okay."

"Your recovery is progressing well, Alphonse," his doctor told the sixteen year old boy.

Alphonse was sitting up in his hospital bed. He had just completed his physical therapy for the day, and his doctor was giving him a prognosis. He figured at this rate, he could leave earlier than expected and do the rest of the recovery in the comforts of his dorm with his brother. A member from Team Mustang could look after him at the same time as well.

In short, Al was bored with sitting in the hospital with nothing to do all day except stare at a book that he's read countless times before. With the demeanor he has, however, he can't openly say it.

"Thank you, doctor," Alphonse replied. "You've taken such good care of me."

"Are your guardians here today? I'd like to talk to them?" the doctor asked.

Alphonse shook his head and told him that they were busy catching up on work and sleep. General Mustang and his team had gone on a mission earlier that week, saying something about a serial killer loose in Junston and they needed to sort out the problem before it got any worse. They had just returned last night, and Alphonse knew how tuckered out they were. Not only that, but the pile of paperwork had accumulated while they were jobs were tedious at times like these.

At least General Mustang can't blame Nii-san for this problem, Alphonse thought to himself, smiling at the same time.

"That's a shame. I'll call them later and talk to them over the phone then to explain your progress. Would you like anything to eat? You're probably starving here," the doctor asked.

Now that Al thought about it, he was sort of hungry. "Yes, I'd like some food please," he said politely.

The doctor nodded. "I'll have a nurse come by and bring you something to munch on. Anything else? Questions, concerns, comments?"

Alphonse shook his head. "No thank you."

The doctor bowed his head and bid his goodbyes to Alphonse for now. He closed the door behind him, and Al almost felt relieved. Sometimes the doctors asked too many questions, and they mostly made Alphonse feel more scared, as if he's not doing well.

But you are, his conscious reminded him, and maybe you'll leave here soon. General Mustang knows how much you want to leave already.

Alphonse could only hope that he will bail him out soon enough.

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