DISCLAIMER: I OWN NEITHER HARRY POTTER NOR FMA!

Chapter Fourteen

When Ed and Winry reached the Great Hall for lunch, they were surprised to see it decorated formally. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

Ed and Winry went to the Gryffindor table and sat down by Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Is everything all right now?" asked Hermione.

"Of course it is," said Ed, piling food onto his golden plate. "But there was never anything wrong in the first place."

"Then why did you go to the Infirmary this morning?" asked Ron.

"Well, Edward gets sick easily, so he had to have a potion," Winry lied. "It makes him very tired, and he had to sleep for a bit."

"So, Harry, get a response back yet?" asked Ed.

"What?" asked Harry.

"You know, from your godfather?" said Ed.

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry. Winry looked at him as well.

"You have a godfather?" asked Winry.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Well, did you get a response yet?" asked Ed. "It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"He's fine," said Harry.

"That's good," said Ed.

After lunch, they went to their respective classes. Outside their class, Hermione and Ron turned to Harry.

"Why did you tell him about Sirius for?" Hermione asked.

"He might tell Professor Snape or McGonagall!" said Ron.

"No, he won't," said Harry. "Besides, I don't know if you remember or not, but Ed got two weeks detention for smart mouthing Snape."

"How could I forget?" asked Ron. "But -."

"I trust him, Ron," Harry interrupted. "Besides, he seemed really down that day when I told him about Sirius."

"Are you going to tell him about Sirius's reply?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know," said Harry.

Harry thought back to the reply he had received earlier that day at breakfast:

Nice try, Harry,

I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep

Me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use

Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just

Watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar.

Sirius

P.S. About the two new 'transfer' students, there is no such place as

Gesundheit Theoretical Wizarding Institute. I don't know what

Dumbledore is trying to pull, but if he trusts them, then they're okay.

I have heard of Rockbell. Pinako Rockbell gave up a chance to be the

Head Healer of St. Mungo's so she and her husband could help Muggles

Stay mobile. Winry must be her granddaughter. And with Elric…I have

Not heard of an Elric before, but if you gave me a description of him, I

Could probably get an answer. You should ask Nearly Headless Nick,

Though, since he's been there for a long time.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione as he came out of his thoughts.

"Do you think we should tell them that we know that there isn't such a place as Gesundheit?" asked Ron.

"I don't think so," said Hermione. "If Dumbledore told such a lie, then he must be protecting them."

"From what though?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," said Hermione. "But I think we must leave the subject alone for right now. We need to get to class anyway."

When the bell rang early for classes for that day to end early, Ed and Winry hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall. The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already there.

"Elric, where is your hat?" asked McGonagall.

"I don't like it," said Ed. "I don't look good in it."

"I don't care if you like it or not!" said McGonagall. "You have to wear it! It's -."

"I'm a nonconformist," said Ed. "So, I don't -."

"I don't care!" said McGonagall. "Get your hat!"

Ed scowled.

"Fine," said Ed.

He summoned his hat from the Gryffindor tower and it came a moment later. Ed got it and put it on.

"Happy now?" asked Ed.

McGonagall didn't say anything as she pursed her lips together. She didn't know how long she'd be able to put up with Ed.

"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front…no pushing…"

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Ed checked his pocket watch.

"Almost six," said Ed.

"Where did you get that pocket watch?" asked Ron, really noticing Ed's pocket watch for the first time.

"It looks like pure silver!" said Hermione.

"That's because it is," said Ed, putting his watch back into his right pocket.

"But how could you afford it?" asked Hermione.

"Inheritance," Ed lied. "It was left to me."

"How do you reckon they're coming?" asked Ron, looking down the drive that led to the front gates. "The train?"

"No, that would be impractical," said Winry. "And it would be too cold by brooms."

"Maybe by Portkey!" said Ron. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from."

"You can't Apparate inside Hogwarts!" Winry snapped.

Hermione looked at Winry in shock. How did she know that? Winry looked at Hermione.

"I read Hogwarts: A History," said Winry. "I wanted to learn more about Hogwarts."

After looking around the darkening grounds for a while, Dumbledore finally spoke up from the back row where he stood with the other teachers.

"Aha!" said Dumbledore. "Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" many students asked eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a six year, pointing over the forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid…it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.

Dennis's guess was closer… As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. Ed's eyes were the size of dinner plates as he saw them. The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled even lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.

"What the hell do they eat?!" asked Ed. "Fertilizer?!"

Some of the people snickered at Ed's remark. A few minutes later, a woman taller and bigger than Hagrid came out of the carriage. Ed's eyes went even wider. When the woman came into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed in black silk and wore an opal necklace and opal rings.

Dumbledore clapped and the students followed his lead.

'Holy shit!' Ed thought. 'I hope the rest of the people aren't giants!'

A few moments later, the woman's pupils (who were normal-sized) came out of the carriage and they all went into the castle to go to the Great Hall. Then, a ship came out of the black lake a few minutes later. A plank was lowered onto the bank after the anchor was lowered into the shallow water. People disembarked the ship. The silhouettes passed the lights in the ship's porthole. All of them seemed to be built like Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, the bulk of their bodies was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.

Karkaroff had a fruity voice and was thin like Dumbledore, but he had a weak chin that wasn't covered very well with his goatee and his white hair was short. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," Karkaroff said, looking at the castle and smiling; his teeth yellow and smile cold. ("Not very fond of dental hygiene, don't you think, Winry?" Ed asked Winry, earning him a jab in the ribs). "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…"

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Ed could see that he had a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows.

"Harry!" said Ron. "It's Krum!"

"Who?" Ed asked.

Ron gaped at Ed.

"You don't know who Viktor Krum is?" asked Ron.

"No, not really," said Ed.

"Viktor Krum is only one of the best Seekers in the world!" said Ron.

"What the hell is a Seeker?" asked Ed.

Ron gaped at Ed again. He couldn't believe that Ed didn't know anything about Quidditch! As they all went back to the entrance hall and into the Great Hall, Winry scowled as she heard all of the people going crazy over a stupid Kwid-itch player. As she, Ed, Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, Ron was upset that Krum decided to sit with the Slytherins.

"Yeah, that's right, smarm up to him, Malfoy," Ron said scathingly. "I bet Krum can see right through him, though…bet he gets people fawning over him all the time… Where d'you reckon they're going to sleep? We could offer him a space in our dormitory, Harry. I wouldn't mind giving him my bed, I could kip on a camp bed."

"Maybe if you ask nice enough, he'll marry you," Ed remarked, shaking with laughter at his own joke.

A few of the people at the table, including Fred and George and Lee, laughed as well while Ron's ears turned red from embarrassment. Winry rolled her eyes. Then she looked around. She saw that the Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with interest. A couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.

At the staff table, Filch was adding chairs. Instead of only adding two, one on each side of Dumbledore, he added four.

"But there are only two extra people," Harry said. "Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?"

"Maybe the people who have helped in arranging it," said Winry. "It's only logical."

"That sounds right," said Hermione.

When everyone was in the Hall and settled (including Madam Maxime and Karkaroff), Dumbledore stood and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.

"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her.

"You don't have to be so rude!" Winry snapped at Hermione. "She's probably just homesick!"

Hermione glared at Winry.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," Dumbledore said. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

Dumbledore sat down and started to talk to Karkaroff.