Harry Potter Exhibition came to my country! If you ever have the chance to go there, buy Bernie Bott's every flavour beans. I've tried vomit flavoured and they do taste like vomit. Eugh.
A longer chapter for you guys today. ;D
"Dude!" Weasley gasped. "You scared me! I thought it was the Grim! Besides, it's Christmas! How could you do this to us?"
"The Grim isn't real!" Granger said exasperatedly as if they had the conversation thousands of times already. "And anyway, the Grim takes the form of a dog, not a scythe wielding human!"
"Yea, but they can take on whatever form they want, right?" Weasley protested.
Feeling a little uncomfortable with the talk about human transmutation, Edward leaned the scythe against the wall and turned to the three Gryffindors.
"Don't mind me, but can we get out of this shop? It's kind of stuffy in here."
"Hold on a sec," Harry said and rushed to the counter to buy his arsenal of sweets.
Edward joined him to buy a curious-looking quill which he could lick in class. He also bought a cotton candy replica of a screwdriver- not wrench. No, never buy that crazy woman a wrench- in the Muggle sweets section for Winry and a stuffed toy cat that could walk, talk, poop and say 'Mama' for Al.
At the counter, Edward had a little problem with the currency and he had to ask the person behind the counter to count the money for him.
Outside Honeydukes, Edward stared at the sight, dumbstruck. Hogsmeade looked like a snow globe, with every house, every street lamp strategically placed so that it was perfect. Maybe snow globes were inspired from this place.
Brushing the snow out of his face, Edward wished he had brought along mittens and a thicker coat. He was shivering uncontrollably as his automail continued to suck heat away from his body.
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks!" Weasley said, teeth chattering despite wearing more layers of clothing than Edward.
They slipped into the bar which was a few degrees warmer than outside. Edward watched his breath steam in front of his face.
Granger found an empty table and Edward found himself squashed beside Granger and Weasley. An attractive, curvy woman sauntered up to their table to take their orders. Edward had to resist the urge to flinch. Attractive, curvy women were all trouble in Amestris. Women like Lust, Olivia, Hawkeye... Winry. A pang of homesickness rushed through him and Edward fought it down.
The waitress returned with four foaming tankards of something called Butterbeer. Weasley had insisted that Edward try the drink and Edward hoped there was no milk inside.
The first sip was glorious. It banished away all the cold in his body and burned away pleasantly in his stomach. As they gossiped about the teachers in school, Edward was struck by how odd the group seemed. He felt out of place with the three friends. Not only had they been together since first year, they were all Gryffindors.
There was also an unspoken animosity between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Edward could tell that his friends were trying not to badmouth Malfoy in their gossips. But there were instances where their topic strayed to Hagrid and their faces flushed with anger.
Before Edward could make a lame excuse to leave, Granger and Weasley suddenly pushed Harry's head under the table. Edward glanced up to see McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid and a stranger with a green bowler hat. Edward sank his face deeper into his tankard so that they would not recognise him. It would be difficult explaining to Snape how he ended up in Hogsmeade.
"Mobiliarbus!" Granger whispered and a Christmas tree beside their table rose a few inches off the ground and landed with a soft thump in front of their table, hiding them from view.
"What's up with Potter?" Edward whispered to Weasley.
"He couldn't get his form signed," Weasley breathed back. "Tried to get Professor McGonagall to sign for him but she refused. That's why we were so mad when you said Snape signed it for you."
Edward winced. Snape had not signed it for him out of good will.
"A small gillywater?"
"Mine," said McGonagall's voice, startling Edward from his reverie.
"Four pints of mulled mead?"
"Ta, Rosmerta," said Hagrid.
"Cherry syrup with umbrella?"
"Mmm!" said Flitwick.
"So you'll be the red current rum, Minister."
Edward's ears perked up. The minister was here? He tried to crane his head to see what the magic version of the Furher looked like but Granger smacked him on the head.
"So what brings you, Minister?" Rosmerta asked.
"What else m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard about what happened at the school at Halloween? Black just showed up and threatened one of the portraits to get into the Gryffindor common room."
"Do you think Black's still here?" Rosmerta said. There was a slight tremor in her voice.
"I'm sure of it," the Minister replied. "Black's a dangerous criminal and you don't know half of it, Rosmerta. The worst he did isn't widely known?"
There was a pregnant pause. Hagrid's gruff voice was thick with anger.
"I can't believe it. Fer Black to betray James 'otter."
There was a low clunk as Harry dropped his tankard. Granger kicked under the table and Edward grimaced in sympathy for Harry.
"You thought they were brothers! Inseparable!" Flitwick chimed in.
"Of course they were," the Minister said. "They were best friends and Potter trusted Black beyond his other friends. Lily and James even made him best man and named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine the idea would torment him. Potter also used the Fidelius Charm to hide from You-know-who."
"How does that work?"
Edward tuned them out at this point. He felt a growing sense of worry for Malfoy. What if Black was in Hogsmeade now? What if he was after Malfoy and he was not there to safeguard the boy? Edward stood up to leave but Weasley yanked him back down again.
"Pettigrew was a hero." Edward could hear McGonagall concluding.
"So what do you think he's broken out to do?" Rosmerta said. "Good gracious, Minister. He isn't trying to rejoin You-know-who right?"
"I daresay that's his plan. But how he got into Hogwarts that night remains a mystery to me. I believe Black could have some contacts inside the school. I've checked the documents and noticed that this year there is a new student who joined in the first year. No background, no reason. Just appeared in Hogwarts out of nowhere. Awful coincidence, considering that this is the same year Black escaped from Azkaban. Black was also laughing in his cell, saying 'he's at Hogwarts'. I initially thought 'he' referred to Potter. I'm not too sure now."
Edward froze. Granger and Weasley's eyes were rooted on him now. There were clinks as tankards were set aside and shuffling as chairs were pulled back.
"Nonsense, Minister. Our new student isn't a threat. Sure, he may be a little queer, but I don't think Dumbledore would let him in if he intends to harm the students." McGonagall protested. The voices began to fade away. The last thing Edward heard before the door closed with a jingle was the Minister saying,
"I know, Minerva, but still, awful coincidence."
The door closed with a conclusive slam.
"Edward," Granger stared at him with large eyes.
"You were siding with Black all along?" Weasley hissed. His eyes blazed and Edward tried not to flinch. "We trusted you! Damn it!"
"Wait, I'm not- I don't even know who this Black person is!" Edward protested. "I don't even know who the You-know-who is!"
He thought his argument would redeem himself but Granger and Weasley were looking at him in disbelief. Potter crawled up from under the table and was staring at Edward like a different person.
"You don't know who You-know-who is?" Weasley was almost shouting. Half the bar went quiet. Some people even turned to look curiously at the group.
"Fudge's right! There is something strange about you."
"Ron!" Granger warned and Weasley calmed down a little though his face was still red.
Edward tried to think. He had often seen the name You-know-who in the newspapers but for goodness sake, how did he know who that was! Unless they were talking about the magical world bad guy, Wordymort or something, Edward had no clue.
"Edward, why are you here? Why did you only join in the third year?" Granger asked.
Because I'm an alchemist who does not believe in magic and am on an undercover mission to protect someone.
"Because my mother who homeschooled me died last year," Edward lied, using the same cover up story that Snape had unintentionally provided him. It felt blasphemous using his mother's death as a convenient excuse for a lie.
Granger and Harry looked stricken. Weasley did not look convinced.
"You're just trying to get on our good books by using some sob story! Admit it! That's why you hang out around with us! So you can secretly pass information to Black!"
By now, everyone in the bar was looking at them.
