The FullMetal Wizard
Chapter Fourteen
"Gently Reel Them In"
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"Curious, very curious" Atamus shined the light from the tip of his wand into Daniel's eyes, holding open the lids of his right eye. "You say it started immediately after the first lesson?" The boy replied. "Right after it ended" Atamus switched to his other eye. "Nothing visibly different with your eyes that I can see" He put his wand back, went back to sit in his chair, then looked at Daniel for the next five minutes. Actually, to Daniel it felt more like he was analyzing him. "What we have here is something I thought I fixed years ago." Professor Valois stood up and went to a cabinet, explaining everything to him while he got a glass and poured the contents of a amber glass bottle into a goblet. "The seal me and Ej performed on the class is, as I told you all at that start, one that creates a Gate inside each of you in order to channel your magical energies to power alchemic transformation." He came back to his desk holding the goblet, whatever liquid inside the goblet was glowing bright red. "However, with you Daniel, the seal opened some previously unknown pathway for your energies to go, evidently to flow into your eyes and magically enhance them." Professor Valois put the goblet to his lips, and started slowly drinking away it's contents.
"So, Professor Valois, is there any way you could stop it?" Daniel asked, looking through the goblet to see what was inside. All he saw was a froth of red glowing liquid, and a stone at the bottom of the goblet. Finishing his drink Professor Valois used his tongue to wipe his lips clean of the strange liquid before asking. "Stop it? Why would you want to do that?" Daniel didn't feel like embarrassing himself by telling him exactly what it was like to see almost everyone half-naked most the day, so he pressed on. "You mean you can't stop it?" The Professor thought for another five minutes before answering. "Theoretically, I could close the path. But on the other hand, I technically can't because I have never had to close one of this nature" Daniel's head hung low upon hearing this. Professor Valois saw this and started trying to reassure him. "Come now Mr. Harley, I'm sure it can't be all that bad" Seeing that this wasn't helping, he pressed on. "Look here now" Daniel raised his head and looked at Professor Valois as he'd kindly requested.
"You obviously do not realize exactly what you have" Professor Valois now looked excited. "You Daniel, have a gift that is very rarely seen in our world, it's a phenomenon that I haven't personally seen until now, and I should really be thanking you for coming right to me. Would you like something to drink?" Daniel nodded and asked. "Anything pomegranate flavored?" Atamus nodded. "I do believe I have one bottle of it left" He went back to his cupboard and came back with a bottle, it's label long since worn. "Don't worry, it's non-alcoholic" He assured as he poured a goblet for him. Daniel took it and drank only a small bit as Atamus started explaining what he had. "While there are plenty of spells to enable us to alter our bodies, there have only been a scarce few who had the gift to do the same thing, without the use of wands or potions"
Atamus left his desk again, this time going to his bookcase in the far corner of the office, he picked a book out and opened it. He knew this book, it could be seen by the way his fingers purposefully parted the pages and his eyes didn't pan left to right, only stared straight ahead. This man knew exactly which page he wanted and knew it's place by heart. "Have a look at this" Professor Atamus walked back to his desk and handed Daniel the book. Daniel put down his goblet of pomegranate juice and looked over the page presented for him; the page itself was a sickly yellow, but the words and pictures were still clear.
"You can keep that, if you wish" Professor Valois sat back down and filled his goblet again. "Thank you, Professor" Daniel took a scrap of parchment from his pocket and used it to mark the page he'd been looking at, then drained the pomegranate juice from the goblet. Professor Valois nodded and sat back in his chair, Daniel's eyes looked again at his golden arm as it was stretched into the air. He was about to leave Valois' office, book tucked under his arm and the taste of pomegranates on his tongue, when Professor Valois added. "And by the way Mr. Harley, don't think I don't know you've by now seen my golden arm."
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"You are by far the worst Quidditch player I've seen Valois, you really disappointed me" Daphne Greengrass accosted Azrael as he walked away from the Quidditch feilds with his Firebolt in hand, previously thinking about how later he needed to tend to some bristles that were splintering. " I said I played the game more often than most Americans, I didn't say anything about me being at all good at it." Daphne walked alongside him, and Azrael was happy that she was apparently too angry with him to look at him with those maroon eyes of hers. "You made me look like a fool Valois" Daphne said through clenched teeth while Azrael tried to keep his own eyes staring forward as they walked back to the castle. He had gone to the Quidditch Feilds after a quick lunch as promised, but he had done his best to be the worst at whatever position Daphne had put him on for the practice games. What helped this mission was that he had the compulsion to look for the Snitch rather than watch for the Quaffle or Bludgers. The whole current Slytherin team had laughed at him, and from what Daphne was jabbering on about, they had good reason to question her capacity as the Captain of the team now.
Ahhh, home free. Azrael sighed quietly when he saw the looming open doorway of the castle, he would walk through, maybe grab something to eat from the Slythering table, then go off to his next class in the dungeons with Snape. "Look at me Valois!" Daphne suddenly grabbed Azrael by the collar of his shirt and pulled him with strength he wasn't previously aware she had. She pulled him off the side of the entrance and around a corner, out of anyone's sight. His first instinct had been to draw his wand and merely threaten her with it at first, then only stun her if she persisted. But no, again Azrael stared into the Slytherin girl's eyes and found himself stunned. The only other time he'd felt this kind of hate radiating from someone's eyes, was the first time he'd dueled Voldemort two years ago. "Look Valois, do you know how hard it's been since second year to get onto the Quidditch team? The first time I thought it was because Malfoy had bribed his way onto the team, the second time maybe Malfoy had actualy gotten good over the summer. But then I tried a third after Umbridge let us keep our team, and I could find no other reason than because I'm a girl." She moved closer to Azrael's face, so close he could smell the cherry shampoo she had put into her hair. Her mouth was almost twisted into a snarl. " This year however, I wrote letter after letter to Snape, until finally he made me Captain" Daphne pulled back a little and her snarl faded as well. "It started out how I wanted, the boys fell in line, and I thought maybe you looking like Harry Potter the way you do, would be just as good a Seeker and lend me some much-needed credibility. Obviously today, you proved you're not Potter, and almost left me back at square one."
There was a long pause, Azrael could feel the sweat on his forehead as he waited for what she was going to do next. Maybe she'd do something to knock him out of this spell her eyes had put him in, and he could fight back. Or maybe she was just going to stare him down and keep him locked in this irrational fear until eventually someone would come looking for them. Daphne however, did neither, did something he hadn't even thought she'd do. The distance between their faces closed and Daphne gave Azrael a kind of kiss he hadn't felt before; it was hotter, wetter, and far more active and stimulating than his last kiss. When it was over, Azrael was looking into those maroon eyes again. "Don't think too deep into that Valois, that's the kiss of death" But unbeknownst to her, she had taken away the power of her own eyes. Azrael was now looking into them like he was any other girl. He was a bit confused and unsure of whether or not he had just dreamt an entire day so vividly, but he wasn't scared anymore, looking into the sinister irises of Daphne Greengrass. That girl walked away without another word or second glance back, walked away and left Azrael leaning against the corner as what she had said registered. An already complicated and delicate plan, just got even more so.
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"Um...excuse me Professor Valois?" Daniel stood with his foot just about to exit the room, and he tried his best to keep his eyes off the older man's said arm, hoping maybe he would let him leave this suddenly uncomfortable situation. "Come now Mr. Harely, if I were a less reasonable man I'd take offense at your notion that I would be so easily deceived" Professor Valois pulled up the sleeve of his robe that covered his golden arm, showing him the artificial appendage in all it's glory. "I know what you're going to ask Mr. Harley" He rolled the sleeve back up and crossed his fingers. "A long time ago, I went wand-to-wand against a certain Dark Lord and only walked away because he felt too much of my 'pure-blood' was shed when he took my arm. That is the story, and as for the armsof my son and associate Edward Elric, they all lost their arms under somewhat different circumstances, but nothing nefarious or anything that has to do with the events of our day and age" Professor Valois then waved him off with the back of his hand. "Now go on, the bell is about to ring"
Daniel walked down the hall towards the hideout of his friends, Professor Valois' book under his arm and his words resounding in his head. Could it really have been as simple as that? Just stand there and get the answer, without any kind of questioning?. He wondered, feeling like his head was lighter than he before. That was it? No covert detective work? No deductive reasoning like Sherlock Holmes?. Daniel looked left and right down the hall before entering the hideout. It was deserted at this time, which was probably for the best, he didn't want to be questioned so soon after receiving information he hadn't been able to sort out yet. He quickly put the book he'd just received on the bookshelf, and walked back out into the hall. He just stood for a few seconds, trying to clear his head so he could remember where his next class was. Was it Divination? Care of Magical Creatures? Gah, such a simple question that's hard to answer.
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"Exceptional work Mr. Valois" Professor Snape giving him praise was an entirely new experience for Azrael, having received nothing but alot of contempt and the rare begrudging comments that barely passed as a compliment on his ability to brew exactly the kind of potion he had given the class. As if to give Azrael a taste of how things used to be, Snape still gave these comments with the same look as before. Azrael guessed no matter how differently he acted, or how differently he looked, Snape could still tell beneath his disguise of a spoiled and over-privileged heir that he was staring at Harry Potter. He looked at the potion he had created; one that looked to be just water, but was in fact a very powerful sleeping potion that could send the drinker into a deep sleep named Draught of Living Death. With all of his training in Alchemy over the summer, Azrael found Potions feeling more like a Home Economics class in Muggle school. "Bottle up and label your potions, tomorrow you'll make the Wiggenwald potion that is meant to reverse the draught's effects, then I'll put you into partners and have you test each other's work"
Azrael filled a vial with some of his Draught of Living Death, then vanished the rest before Snape could come around and do it, earning him one of the contemptous sneers he had missed in some odd way. When the final bell of the day rang, Azrael went into the Slytherin dungeons, releived he hadn't seen her in the hallways on the way. He now regretted crossing that girl, although it was almost unavoidable that he had too. Not only could he not bear to play for Slytherin, but Quidditch practice and games, while fun and exciting for him, would have been too much of a distraction from the plan his father had set him to. Now of course that plan was likely to experience some unforseen trouble, since Daphne Greengrass had given him the 'kiss of death' . Gettin to his room, Azrael went to a cupboard and took a vial of the first potion Snape had assigned them to make, the Draught of Peace, which when done right like he did, releived anxiety and agitation. One small vial was enough to clear his head, but the potion tasted like chalk mixed in with thick cough medicine, he only took it under stressful situations such as this.
Leaving his room, Azrael was intent on sitting in the common room until they were walked to dinner in the Great Hall, feeling like he needed alot of pumpkin juice to wash out the horrile taste now soaked into his tongue. When he reached the common room, Azrael saw that Draco Malfoy was actually looking like he was enjoying himself, unlike the sullen mood he was usually in these days. The reason for his happy mood however, was far from what he considered any kind of joyous. "Tell me Selwyn, was it you I saw getting cozy with that blood traitor Weasley? Such a disgrace, I bet you're father would love to hear it!" Draco had his wand pointed at someone that Azrael had almost forgotten about, that young Slytherin from the previous day. "No, I wasn't doing anything!" Draco's victim shrieked, a small leather book clutched to their chest and the look of a mouse facing a cat on their face. "I'm not going to tell your father, this time anyway, but you're not getting off lightly for even thinking of diluting your family's pure blood" Draco said leveling his wand, the others in the common room (save Crabbe and Goyle) made no motions to help their fellow Slytherin, not even a small sign that they even cared for what was happening.
"Confringo!"A tile of stone beneath Draco exploded, making him leap back into Crabbe and Goyle. All eyes went to Azrael, who was the only other person in the room who had their wand drawn. "Aren't you a little old to be bullying third years Draco?" Azrael asked, sounding unusually calm despite having just blown a small crater into the floor bue to the effects of the potion he'd just drank. "You have some nerve Valois" Draco leered at him, brushing debris off his trousers. "Yeah, I do" He answered nonchalantly, wand pointed at him now. It was a few long intense moments before someone spoke up that they should be heading to dinner. Draco, being the Prefect, said nothing more of Azrael's outburst and led them out of the common room. When it was just himself and the third year that had been harassed, Azrael repaired the floor with a quick "Reparo" and asked. "What's your name..." He trailed off, unsure of whether to finish with 'lass' or 'chap'. The third year seemed not notice and gave him a name anyway. "My name is Terry Selwyn, and thank you for doing that" Azrael shrugged, the potion making him feel like he hadn't just potentially ruined his father's plan, and not thinking much of coming to another person's defense, or for that matter worrying about said person's gender. Right now he was very much care-free, the only bad thing about the moment being the bad taste still in his mouth. "Come on, best not to fall behind"
To Be Continued...
Alright, here is the long-awaited update. I don't think I did much to further the overall plot, but at least I submitted something to my most viewed story( 9,973 as of August 30th, 2008) before school began and took up most of my time. So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and providing you give me alot more feedback, I'll be more than happy to fit time in my busy schedule to make more updates. We're very close to 10,000 hits on this fic! Keep them coming!
-A.H.Faleaux