A/N: Sorry, so sorry! Writer's block, so many things, so many many things have come up, which all contributed to the delay. Massive, massive love goes to all of my reviewers - I tried to reply to all of them, I really did, but it gets really tiring, so I'm sorry!

Anyway, I've been working toward this chapter for a while. It's kind of...off, eck, but like chapter 22 it's not going to change. My interpretation of Azkaban is actually wrong, just so you know. A few chapters back I wrote it as being under the Ministry (and thus, Ed's wall-breaking would have brought everything down) so that's just a terrible oversight on my part.

This chapter title is the counterpart to Part One's 'Alchemy', and refers to the actual changing process. And in it, you find out Umbridge's real role in this story. No, it wasn't the trial - that only made up 35% of why. :)

Immiscibility
by NyghthawK

Chapter 24: Transmutation

Plan B, for Roy Mustang, comprised heavily upon his charm and good wit. Establishing the base hadn't been anything he was unfamiliar with — greetings in the hallways, a few subtle smiles here and there and glances when it seemed as if nobody was looking.

If the Ministry held control and power over everythng, then to get the information he needed he would just need to control the Ministry.

The morning he'd chosen to carry out the plan hadn't been any important morning in terms of date. The only reason it was different from any other morning was because of where he sat for breakfast.

"Excuse me," he said, smiling.

She looked up at him as if it were a rarity that he decided to speak with her, because it was. "Yes?"

"Is there somebody sitting next to you?"

Dolores Umbridge glanced around to the empty seats on both sides. She shifted in her pink cardigan self-consciously. "No, not at all."

Roy smiled and nodded, taking a seat. He added some food to his plate before talking.

"How are your classes going, Miss Umbridge?"

"Please, call me Dolores," she said, voice pitched like a little schoolgirl. "The lessons are going well. What about yours, Mister Mustang?"

Roy smiled - one Havoc marked as the highest on his ladykiller scale. "Roy, please. And as for my classes, well..." he paused, "the former professor wasn't too good with ensuring a fundamental theoretical base."

"I have the same problem," Umbridge said. "It's terribly difficult to get ideas of play, play and play out of the children's heads. I find that special enforcement can do wonders."

"Thanks for the suggestion. I'll keep that in mind."

Roy made to return to his food, but he hesitated. He glanced around, nervous. In the corner of his eye, he saw that Umbridge had in fact noticed his behaviour, but was trying to hide it.

Perfect.

"Dolores... actually," he began, voice low and syllables stilted. "I, ah..."

"Roy? What is it?" Her expression was as concerned as it was fake, overly so.

"Well, you see..." Pause. "No, never mind."

She tried to hide the doubt on her face, changing it to worry. "You know you can tell me anything. I'll keep it a secret."

So you can use it against me later, Roy thought, reflexively.

But he knew, because the easiest way to manipulate a person was by making them want to be manipulated. Such as through blackmail, or through love.

The best way to get a woman interested was to make her want him.

And Umbridge was naturally drawn to power.

More specifically, his power as an alchemist. If he showed her a path to getting the power, and seemed as if he needed her help - i.e., he placed himself in her debt and could be manipulated later - she would be willing. All that was left was keeping the careful balance of how much she seemed to manipulate him, whilst ensuring his manipulation of her remained as subtle as possible.

And some people said Roy Mustang was only a pretty boy.

"Why, um," he said, "why do you think I'm at Hogwarts, Dolores?"

He could almost see the gears in her head whirring, as she tried to determine what he was getting at before he got to it; trying to remain one step ahead.

"To teach the students, of course. Why else would you be here, Roy?"

A question to counter his question.

"But... you never thought about how the school replaced the alchemy position so easily?"

Of course she did.

Her face shifted innocently. "Now that you mention it, alchemy isn't very common. Unless," she frowned, "there were a group of people practicing it in secret that the Ministry is not aware of, then..."

Roy glanced away guiltily, looking at all the students, and then glanced back at her. The last vestiges of her expression were there, and he only knew it used to be a cat-ate-the-canary glint because of his position two steps ahead of her.

He leant closer to her, and his voice dropped accordingly. "I'm not supposed to say, actually, but I think you won't tell..."

Roy knew this role well; a strict, handsome and professionable teacher on the outside, a shy, easily moulded boy on the inside. Pity it wasn't as fun as when he played the 'bad boy in military' for a girl called Sasha, back in his Major days...

"Don't worry, I won't." She seemed to hesitate as well, briefly, then came to a conclusion. In a sugary voice, she added, "if it's so important, I won't tell the Ministry either. Okay?"

He relaxed and gave a soft smile - not entirely for the reason she thought. "Thanks, Dolores. I knew I could trust you."

Okay. Maybe he overdid it, just a little... but she still looked convinced. Inwardly, Roy sighed.

This wasn't even a challenge, not like the time Rebecca...

"What is it then, Roy?"

"Well, you guessed right, a little. Elric," here he cringed, "and I were part of the same alchemy group."

"But he's a muggle."

"Alchemy is a form of magic some muggles can perform," he lied. "It's different, weaker, but it's wandless and really... interesting. We study under professors and live in the muggle world."

"I presume this is why the Ministry couldn't detect your presence?"

Roy thinned his lips and glanced away, practically a blush. "Probably. Well, see... Elric and I are both doing independent research. Of course I never thought his 'independent research' would end up with those results..." he scowled.

"Don't worry." She smiled, what was probably reassuringly. "He's been imprisoned..."

"Except he's not," Roy finished. "I read he escaped from Azkaban, leaving a strange design behind. And I'm, uh, well, our group isn't pleased by all the codes Elric broke..."

"I don't like this mysterious group you keep mentioning—"

"I'm sorry, Dolores. I'd say more but I've already broken the rule of silence."

"—but," she added, and Roy had a little trouble discerning the nature of her expression. "I'll overlook it, like I promised." He smiled, weakly. "But you're right, Elric left a design."

"How did he draw it?" Roy asked quickly, "Was it circular? How many lines? Did it—"

Her expression changed slightly into annoyance, and he 'caught' himself.

"—Oh. I'm sorry again, Dolores. I just... really need to know. Then I can figure it out and send the chiefs my report."

He 'definitely' didn't mean to let that 'information' slip.

"The Ministry is actually quite stuck at the moment," she answered, giving her own 'information' in return; an incentive. "But if you write that report, could you make an extra copy?"

Roy hesitated, as if in the process of an extremely vital decision. Then slowly, he said, "I could. I would need to take a look at the circle to know, but I could. There shouldn't be any sensitive information except the address and delivery location."

A flicker of something unphrasable flashed in her eyes, the moment long enough for Roy to confirm his suspicion. Letters to and from the school were watched.

"You're very fortunate that you came to me," Umbridge said. "I might be able to get you access."

'Might'. Ha.

"Are you sure? I don't want to trouble you or anything..."

"Not at all," she replied. "You should have told me sooner. How does next Sunday sound?"

"Thanks," Roy said, beaming - a smile Havoc had never been in the vicinity of before; one that would have broken the Lieutenant's scale completely. "I owe you one."

A faint blush smattered across Umbridge's cheeks, and she smiled.

He never knew what he expected, when heading down the immaculate hallways of the Ministry and down to Azkaban below, weaving through the levels and dodging sideways glances. Umbridge wasn't a popular woman, he could tell. Most respected her out of necessity, and those who considered her a companion were only those in higher positions. Those she would have sucked up to.

Roy didn't really like her style. It lacked technique, and finesse. She only had an eye for rising in power, as he'd suspected, whereas he preferred to look at the bigger picture.

As he passed the last few doors, Azkaban's presence became immediately apparent. A myriad of sensations hit him all at once, and though they were all different the message remained the same.

Cold. Empty. Despair.

Instinctively, Roy activated his air-sensing arrays without meaning to - as he often did upon entering new surroundings. There was little magic in the air; none he could have drawn from. The only magic present occurred recently and he could tell why. They'd attempted to rebuild after Edward's departure, but large cracks still remained in the walls; cracks, by the looks of things, that were repaired by incomplete transfiguration and the walls stopped from failing by the presence of wards.

Magical energy during Edward's stay wouldn't have been prevalent.

Roy frowned, and ran a finger along one of the cracks. It was another thing to add to his list of inconsistencies.

"This way, Roy," said Umbridge, her voice thick and false as usual.

Roy blinked; somehow he'd fallen behind. When he caught up to her short figure again, she glanced meaningfully to the escort beside her.

"Thank you for your services, Tessmoor." She smiled. "Roy and I will be fine for now, so you may go."

The guard Tessmoor, a tall man with an eye that couldn't fully open, gave a stiff nod. Then he left, brushing past Roy through the way they came in.

Umbridge held out an arm. "This is Elric's cell. Please, take your time; the more information you could possibly provide, the better."

Roy nodded, and stepped inside. "Has it been changed..." He trailed off as he lifted his head.

The spiralling red structure sparked several figments of memory.

Sweeping curves. Seven point star. Sloppy, measured strokes. Blood connection.

Roy rarely swore. He liked to think of it as a good selling point of his, in contrast to many other soldiers that were once as active as he in the field.

Holy shit.

Impossible. It—it was impossible. Nothing like it should have existed. Nothing like it should have been able to exist.

Holy shit.

Edward was insane. There were so many things wrong with the array that if the Elric had been sane, he wouldn't even attempt to create it.

There were so many things that could have gone wrong with the array that it was a miracle the Elric escaped alive.

Roy took a deep breath, and cataloged each individual component. Scar's Ishbalan Destruction circle. Seven points to the star; denoting as much perfection as unstable backlash. Several lines were present that threw him off, lines that only made the array more volatile and harder to use. But then he looked at it mentally with none of those lines in sight, and realized how much of a difference they actually made. They somehow simultaneously increased the degenerative abilities and acted as a stabiliser. An extra set of runes allowed him to tap into and break down the wards themselves, to fuel the deconstruction.

But he knew the energy from the wards themselves wouldn't have been enough. The sheer amount of energy Elric needed to channel and redirect should have torn him apart molecule by molecule.

He knew the answer; he could see it immediately.

The transmutation circle for the Gate formed the base of the alchemical equation.

It had been warped, of course, and Roy only recognized it from countless hours studying his own copy. But no matter how distorted it became, there could be no denying the presence - the very existence of the circle's purpose.

The more he stared, the more it went beyond his comprehension.

Edward Elric couldn't have been twenty. There were so many details, so many minute corrections, that ten years of experience could not have been enough to create such a thing.

And to think - he did it without any written theory. Without correction. Without any form of eraser.

It had just been draw and go.

"—has been kept in its original condition, as discovered."

Roy barely registered her words - the sheer capabilities of the circle made him feel insignificant.

Was it right to feel envious to someone sixteen years your junior?

"—oy? Roy?"

"Ah," he said. Then he turned around to see Umbridge watching him curiously, and his mask slid on before he even needed to think. "Dolores."

She stood there impatiently, but there was a slight glint in her eye. "So? Have you found something?"

"Yes. This circle..." he frowned. "It's created around a standardized destructive base. Some of the symbols aren't familiar to me, but I speculate they're for better integration into magical aspects."

All lies, of course, though he always made sure to keep some truth in them. But one look at the gleeful expression Umbridge tried to contain, and he knew she bought every single word.

He decided to add a little more. "Theoretically, if it is the standard destruction circle, I should be able to reverse it." Roy gestured to one of the blanker stretches of wall. "Do you mind...?"

"No, no; go ahead."

Roy reached into a pocket for a stick of chalk, and proceeded to draw a standard counter-circle. It paled considerably in comparison to the sick, red, majestic array beside him, but he squashed those thoughts. Yes, he could have just clapped his hands, but arrays would always be far more comfortable to use.

He placed his hands onto it and concentrated, trying to draw all the thinly scattered particles to him. They gathered, but they were not enough, so he needed to resort to Royston's internal store to supplement the energy.

When he was done, he felt exhausted. There hadn't been a way for him to repair everything due to the size of the prison itself, but at least he'd mended the worst of the damage. A small part of him felt victorious that he could do such, but another resolutely grumbled about how Edward could cause so much damage to begin with.

"Dolores—"

He stopped when he saw the red paper aeroplane heading in her direction. She caught it and opened it, then skimmed the text. Her expression didn't improve; if anything, it only turned more annoyed.

"Elric has been sighted around Malfoy Manor," she said.

"Ah?"

Why would she tell him this?

"Part of the building has collapsed, with two shockwaves created from points about two feet apart. They're saying it's a thief with pre-cursed objects, but—"

"Alchemy," Roy interrupted. "There's no doubt."

Her expression warped, her suspicion confirmed. Then it changed back into something vaguely resembling a kind schoolteacher. "Would you mind accompanying me a little more, Roy? You've done such an excellent job already."

Roy inclined his head, and dusted off his robes.

"It would be my pleasure."

A/N: You guys seemed to be deprived of Ed, so I brought him back in again. And there is more explanation. It comes later.

...What, you thought chapter 19 was the end? I know I like to be vague sometimes, but those are mainly for insignificant things. I'd think escaping from Azkaban and busting all the DE's out was pretty significant. :)

Review? :D

Next chapter: Sidestepped Instinct
(feat. Malfoy Manor. What? Just because I got rid of Draco being in Hogwarts...)