The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter Eight

Interlude- Edward

Edward sighed as he once again stood outside of the spot on the seventh floor. There was something there. A door of some kind. The question was how to retrieve what was on the other side. He could feel the horcrux. He needed to get to it, then the stone Dumbledore foolishly brought here, then he needed to get his son out of this place.

He wasn't a fool. When Severus suggested this plan, of course he hated it. He raged against it. In the end, he felt he must truly understand his Dad. Dad who sent Ed into situations throughout his teens that he knew (now) the man hated but he had no choice. That was where stood with this. It had been the only way, it had to happen or everything they had done the last few years was pointless as far as hunting these pieces down was concerned, he still hated it.

Severus came to stand beside him silently, hands tucked behind his back. "Quirrell is an issue. He reeks of dark magic; I recognize the signature."

"We're out of time then." Ed glares at the wall once more before turning to the older man.

"Not yet, soon though, should he get a hold of the Stone. I believe that is what he is after. It is why Dumbledore brought it here or so he claims."

"Dumbledore is a fool. How does one enter this room do you think? There's a trick to it certainly."

"There is, though I have yet to find it. Other teacher may know, if I ask around. Will you go after the Stone?"

"I'm not leaving it to that idiot so yes. It's the entire reason I agreed to come here." Ed frowned, remembering the conversation with his son. "A group of the students in your house were causing trouble in the library earlier. They apparently called one of the girls from another house a… mud blood… yes mud blood was it. Yuery was on his way to report the incident when I ran in to him earlier and sent him back to his dorm along with another boy."

"Did you get their names? Both the ones from my house and the ones from the other house."

"Yours were Crabbe, Goyle, Zambini. That were teasing. Draco was there as well, though he was who they had been talking to originally as he had been sitting there to study with Yuery, the girl Granger, and another boy, Longbottom." Ed said calmly, before frowning slightly, "A different boy, Weasley, was with Yuery when I ran into him. The boy was there to help explain what happened apparently because Yuery was worried he wouldn't be able to explain it properly. I did scold that boy though, since he seemed to think saying someone was Slytherin equals bully or something like that."

"I run into that attitude a lot unfortunately. Not just from students but some members of the staff. I do not abide by the behavior, nor does McGonagall, Sprout, or Flitwick."

"Well, at least there's that." Ed turned back to the wall in question. "There's a trick to it, it's a puzzle. I will figure it out."

"I'm sure you will." Severus agreed, "We should discuss how you intend to cover someone staying here throughout the year. I assume you will be needed before long."

"Unfortunately." Ed sighed as he glared at the wall in front of him again. "No one will be here for a couple of days, then Alphonse will arrive at the beginning of November to explore the differences in the schools and will stay until winter break. I myself will be here until the end of October, but I'm trusting you to keep him safe in the time in between."

"Of course." Severus nodded. "Should you not find the way in before you leave, will you return?"

"Either I will, or I will send someone else who can." Ed frowned. "I expect I will crack this before I leave though. The Stone may take longer, I need to get passed several spells to get to it without notice."

"It is likely terribly simple." Severus gestured to the wall. "The most powerful spells generally are. This would be old, nearly as old as the school itself judging on the magic around it."

"hmm. I'll retire for the evening I believe. I may need to read HIS journals again in search of clues."

"I'm sorry?"

"Never mind, it isn't important. Just someone I would rather avoid thinking of, who has been very hard to ignore the last few weeks." Edward smiled tiredly. "Take care of the student issue. I really do not have the energy for this kind of behavior at the moment."

Edward started toward the rooms he had been given, a thoughtful frown on his face, when he spotted Professor McGonagall. He decided to talk to her directly over the issue his son had brought to his attention, and perhaps decide if he felt she was trustworthy. He still had reservations with the woman, years ago she had hidden her true form to spy on his household which was not something he was comfortable with, but she also seemed to honestly care about her students and had been a big help during the battle at this castle years ago. She was also one of Dumbledore's supporters and that gave him reason enough to be concerned.

Still, she was the head of the house Yuery had been assigned, so he needed to get to know her better for no other reason than his son was to rely on her while at school. "Professor, if you have a moment?" Edward said as he caught up to her.

"Of course, Fuhrer Elric. I have just finished my rounds; I have about a have hour before I must begin again."

"Lieutenant Fuhrer. My Father is still Fuhrer. Professor Snape is also wandering around, I saw him not long ago."

They went directly to her office, and she offered him tea before they settled around the desk, and he took a sip of the drink. "A situation occurred in the library this evening that was brought to my attention by my son and his friend."

"Oh, what was this?" she asked with a frown, not remembering anything being mentioned at the final staff meeting of the evening.

"A handful of students including Yuery, were in the library completing their homework after dinner- "

"Homework, on the first night?"

"Yes, of course. Yuery never puts off homework, anyway, another group came in to harass and tease one of the children in their group. Draco Malfoy, who was asked why he was sitting with a group of Gryffindor and why he was speaking to a mud blood. It is my understanding from what the children have explained that this is a slur."

"Which children were there do you know? I will have Severus deal with his students immediately."

"I already gave him the list." Edward said as he wrote them down for her as well. "I would like to address something else as well however, when this was being relayed to me, one of the children seemed to feel that the issue here was not that these boys were bullying…or rather that it was to be expected that they were because of their House. I did scold the boy about lumping any group together in that manner."

"I see, thank you Fuhrer Elric. I will address my students in the morning on the matter. I have them as my first lesson luckily, as well as the Slytherin first years, so hopefully we can take care of this quickly." McGonagall frowned unhappily at the last bit. She had been trying to encourage her students to ignore house politics for years now, but it seemed they came in with the ideas in the heads already unsurprisingly. "I was happy to hear that you had decided to allow him to attend this school."

"It's a trial basis. I am still not comfortable having him around the old man, but as long as he keeps his distance, I will allow Yuery to finish the year at least." Edward said.

"I am sorry you got off on the wrong foot with our Headmaster, but I assure you he has the children's best interests at heart."

"No, he doesn't. Look, you seem like a nice person, and like you really care about the kids around here. I just…I know more about him than you do when it comes to this subject." Edward frowned and leaned back in his chair. "Have you ever heard the Prophesy?"

"You've brought it up before, the few times I have met you. Is that the reason for you dislike? I assure you, Dumbledore did not create it, though it was given to him."

"No, have you heard it, that is all I am asking. I'm well aware of his role in the situation."

"Well, no. All prophesies are kept in the Department of Mysteries. Albus felt it was dangerous to repeat it all beyond that." She frowned.

"Well, he did repeat it at least once. To me." Edward said, then decided it was not worth the risk to give her anything more without her taking a vow as well. She was too close to Dumbledore and too involved in Yuery's life for the next year. "If you want to know more than that, you'll have to take the same vow as the others I have filled in."

She looked thoughtful but conflicted before he stood and shook her hand. "I will give you time to think on the matter, please do handle your students and I hope to speak to you again soon."

Edward then finally made his way to his rooms, unhappily considering if he should dig out his copy of the Journal which he kept with him when going to Europe just in case. It was at the bottom of his bag, and he truly hated reading it, even though it was abridged it still bothered him a great deal. Still if it offered answers to the castle's secrets, it may be worth the headache that would surely come from it.

It was late already, Edward decided to worry about it tomorrow instead turning his attention to the small pile of paperwork that had followed him to Europe. After all, just because he was out of country did not mean he didn't still have things to worry about to keep it running smoothly.