Planning for a Better Future
Chapter Six
The Plan
Central Command
Lt. Fuhrer Elric's office
Edward was reading through a file from Xing when Breda came in with a knock, "Sorry to interrupt sir. Your Wizard is here and requesting to see you."
"Show him in and rescheduled my next appointment, thank you." Edward replied as he closed the file. Breda nodded before leaving quickly. A moment later Snape was led into the office and the door closed behind him.
"Severus, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon." Edward said with a smile.
"Yes, I received a tip on the probable location of one of the items." Severus said with a sigh as he sat down. "I also had an idea…however, I believe we would need to speak to your father."
"Oh?" Edward said curiously. Severus did speak directly to Roy often, but they had all decided this was likely going to end up Edward's project alone since he had extensive knowledge in obscure soul lore.
"Fiendfyre can be contained with alchemy, we saw that thanks to the battle in Xing. The question is could it be controlled by alchemy." Severus replied.
"Hmm. Let me send for him, unless it would be better to go to his office?" Edward replied as he stood to give Breda the message.
"Here should be fine. We should experiment far away from people either way." Severus replied. "Magically, fiendfyre once set is uncontrollable. It is why it is rarely cast. However, it is one of the few spells said to work for our goals."
Edward nodded before opening his office door and asking that someone send for the Fuhrer. Breda assured him that he already had sent for Mustang when Severus entered the room assuming it was important.
Edward returned to his desk and excused himself to finish the file before his father arrived since they were waiting on him before they continued planning. Severus busied himself looking over Edward's photographs, as he usually did since he had been given permission. He enjoyed looking at the pictures of the happy children, especially Yuery.
Fuhrer Roy Mustang arrived shortly after Edward signed the paperwork and closed the file with a sigh. "Even if Ling's my friend, I still hate politics." Edward grumbled to Mustang as he sat down as well. "I signed off on the new trade agreement, it'll be on your desk by Monday."
"Very well. Was there something else we needed to discuss?" Roy asked curiously. He doubted that Ed would want to bother him over Xing with Severus here unless of course the wizards were going to attack it again.
"Fiendfyre. Would you be able to harness it and control it once it was cast?" Severus asked.
"I'm afraid I haven't heard of it?" Roy replied.
"It's what Takeshi's men used to take out all those men in Xing." Edward supplied.
"I do not know. I would have to try to find out, however I am not certain we should attempt it considering what happened in Xing." Roy replied.
"We would of course need to visit an isolated location to attempt it. I would also recommend that Edward form a bowl to cast it in as they used to stop it in Xing." Severus said. "It is a risky move however, fiendfyre is the one item we have at our disposal at the moment to attempt to destroy the horcrux."
"How long are you in town?" Roy asked, as he tried to think of a good location to try their experiment.
"I told the school I would be away for a few days." Severus replied. "Fall term hasn't begun so I am rather free at the moment."
"Let me move some things around, and we can try it out tomorrow." Roy replied.
"I am working on an isolated array based on the one used by Father to try on the horcrux as well." Edward said with a frown. If they could avoid using any form of human transmutation it would be for the best. Though this wasn't anything close to preforming the taboo Edward would still prefer to avoid using anything on a soul. Even a soul fragment.
"I'll have Breda clear my calendar for the rest of the week." Edward replied. "Then we can go after the lead as well."
"Very well. That really would be best." Severus said, as anxious to get to the piece as they were. He excused himself from the office to return to the house he had rented when it was decided he was staying here for a while.
Hogwarts
Headmaster's Office
Severus had been gone for a little over two hours. Given travel time to his assumed destination he should now be in a meeting with Edward. Dumbledore hoped the conversation went well, after all Voldemort's horcruxes needed to be disposed of properly before they had any hope of defeating him.
Dumbledore had confidence that the alchemists would be able to help with this quest after the last few years following the family. There were a few other things they could try as well, though means of disposing of a horcrux were limited.
He sighed heavily. This whole thing had become a disaster. More than anything else, the reason he missed Nicolas were things like this. He had no one to speak to, no one he could speak freely with. He had built himself a reputation, out of necessity he still believed, that he was unshakable, unquestioning in what action to take.
For years Nicolas was the one person who knew how much he questioned what he should do, that he doubted the choices he made. With Nicolas gone, now there was him alone that knew. Knew he blamed himself for how things had gone, that he should have known and acted sooner to stop Voldemort. That he was swayed by the fact that he saw Tom as a child even as he turned into a killer and failed to see the full scope of what was to be.
Dumbledore frowned at himself and the melancholy direction of his thoughts. This was the spiral that had led him to the bottom of too many bottles. He needed to shake himself out of it, or it would all fall down around him. He had shaken if not shattered Severus' faith in him, damaged Minerva's. He couldn't risk anymore. He needed to rebuild, not worry about his own pain.
There would be time enough to revisit his own ghosts when they had stopped Voldemort permanently. Until then… there was a reason he had forbidden the house elves from allowing alcohol anywhere in the castle, why he had hidden the Mirror of Erised away in a forgotten part of the castle, why he had not spoken to Aberforth since before the attack. He needed to focus, not wallow.
He did need to visit Aberforth, however. He had done enough damage to his brother without abandoning him. They were all each other had left, even if his brother hated him, he couldn't just ignore Abe. Ignoring his duties led them to their current strained relationship. Ignoring him would only serve to create more pain. After all, for all his bluster, Abe joined the Order. He still wanted to help Albus on some level. That alone was proof to him.