The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter Thirteen

After the Attack

Emperor Ling entered the Great Hall, dressed in red silk robes and flanked by several guards, Lan Fan following closely behind dressed in similar robes. Yuery straightened up as soon as he saw them, before trying to hide his disappointment that none of their children appeared to have come along. He had only seen Ling last night, and with Lan Fan there as well now he had been hopeful.

"Everyone, I would like to announce the arrival of our honored guests, Emperor Ling Yao of Xing, and his wife Empress Lan Fan of Xing. They will be spending the next few weeks with us, and I expect everyone to treat them with respect and your best behavior." Professor Dumbledore said.

Ling and Lan Fan nodded as the students clapped before joining the head table, their guards standing behind them. Yuery returned to their brooding, how was he going to convince Hermione and Ron that Flamel wasn't important without explaining that he knew what they were looking for already. The twins were interested in the guests, therefore a great distraction. "I wonder who they are? Where is Xing exactly?" Fred asked.

"Hey, isn't it one of the countries in the hidden continent? I wonder why they came here?" George added.

"It isn't proper to gossip." Percy, their brother scolded.

"That is the Emperor and Empress of Xing, yes, it's hidden, like Amestris. They're here to decide if Hogwarts would be a good fit for their children, since I have been sent here." Yuery said. Everyone at the table already knew he was from Amestris now and that his father was Lt. Fuhrer so it shouldn't matter.

"Why would that matter?" Neville asked curiously.

"Oh, Dad and Emperor Ling have been friends since they were children, so when Dad agreed to let me attend Hogwarts, they were interested. Normally, the Xingese Royal Family is tutored however this generation a great deal of them have attended Academy." Yuery recited, he knew what he was and was not allowed to say about their homelands. His father and uncle covered it all with him before he left.

"So, you know them pretty well then?" George asked curiously.

"Well, yes. As I said he and my father are childhood friends." Yuery said with a shrug. "Prince Huan is one of my closest friends back home actually, that's their eldest son."

"Oh, is he going to be attending with you next year then?" Fred asked.

"No, he isn't a wizard." Yuery said with a shrug. In Xerxes, it never seemed to be a big deal. He had to have been blind not to notice it was different here, but he was still surprised by their frowns though. "Why? It's not that important, he's still my friend."

"But…if they don't have a wizard kid, are they allowed to know about it? Oh, or is he a wizard? Maybe she's a witch!" Lavender said.

"I didn't say none of their kids were magic, just not the eldest. However, magic is just a well-known fact anyway." Yuery said with a shrug. He ignored their surprised looks again and returned his attention to his food. They had potions today and he wanted to finish eating first.

"Alright students, you are free to go to lunch now." Snape said calmly, the class had gone fairly well that day surprisingly since it included several potentially explosive materials. "Mr. Elric. A word if you would."

"Actually, sir, we need to head back up for lunch." Ron said he was attempting to help Yuery. "With those visitors no one's meant to be late."

"I will be right behind you." Yuery assured the others Snape waited for the others to be out of hearing range before Yuery sighed, "Ron is convinced that you are out to get me. It can be annoying."

"I have your homework assignments here." Snape said, ignoring the comment about the other student. "I also wanted to warn you to avoid one of the other professors with your father no longer here to watch everyone carefully."

"Whom Quirrell?" Yuery asked, Snape looked at him a bit surprised he had worked it out that quickly, but Yuery shrugged. "Quirrell has felt weird since I first saw him, I do not trust him and more importantly my Dad doesn't trust him. He has also tried twice to call me into a private meeting."

"You certainly are your father's son." Snape sighed. "I will be writing to your father regarding this right away. I would suggest you do the same."

"Yeah, there's no hiding this from Dad. I just hope he doesn't freak out." Yuery said sadly. He did hate adding more stress to his father. "How is your leg?"

"Fine, and it's not a matter to concern yourself with. I mean it Yuery, stay away from it." Snape said firmly. "I will not hesitate to inform your father if you step out of line."

"I didn't mean to cause trouble to begin with you know." Yuery frowned, Snape just shook his head and sent him off to join the others.

"I told you he had it out for you mate." Ron announced as soon as he saw Yuery.

"Who?" Yuery asked with a frown.

"Snape. I can't believe you just stay behind like that without asking for someone to wait for you. What if he cursed you or something?" Ron asked. Yuery rolled his eyes even as Hermione and Neville joined them.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, as she loaded her plate.

"Yuery was in a meeting with Snape but doesn't see why that's scary." Ron flailed dramatically.

"Why would that be scary?" Hermione asked.

"He hates Yuery, Yuery just won't admit it." Ron said stubbornly. "He's always singling him out in class with questions, and he holds him back all the time to talk to him. He hates Yuery because Yuery's birth father, I heard my parents talking about with some other grownups before school started!"

"He doesn't single me out in class, and he only asks me to stay behind to give me my homework." Yuery said with an eyeroll. "I know you don't like him Ron but honestly, you always think he's up to something." He couldn't hurt Yuery even if he wanted to as Yuery well knew. The oath he had taken when Yuery was a baby prevented it, but he also couldn't risk Snape's safety by mentioning it. So instead, he tried to think of a way to convince the others Snape wasn't guilty without revealing too much about his interaction with the man. Hermione offered the perfect subject change a moment later. "Wait, what do you mean homework?"

"Yeah, he always gives me extra homework because he knows I already finished the assignments." Yuery said with a shrug. Extra homework wasn't really a big issue for him, the potions lesson they were currently studying had already been covered last year in Xerxes, so it was review work for him, but Snape didn't want him to fall behind if he was going to return to Xerxes next year. Neither of them knew which school his father would agree to in the fall.

"Extra homework?" Ron said with a frown. "But why don't you believe me he doesn't like you again?"

"Actually, he gives me extra homework whenever I ask too." Hermione said with a nod. Ron shook his head at them both.

"You're both insane, why would anyone want extra work?" Ron asked but dropped the subject after they glared. He still felt guilty over his comments on Halloween, and he didn't want to fight with his friends.

"Yuery, are you free sometime this afternoon? I would like to discuss your class load compared to Xerxes." Ling said from behind them making Ron jump, but Yuery just turned to the Emperor and nodded.

"How did he do that? He didn't make a sound." Ron whispered.

"I don't know. I never trained with him." Yuery said with a shrug. "I do know that his wife makes him look loud though. His sisters are about as quiet as him."

"Well, we need to go to the library." Hermione said then, as Ron nodded. "Will you join us when you're done?"

"Probably." Yuery said as he squinted at Ron suspiciously. He knew his friend well enough now that he knew Ron didn't do homework willingly, which meant they must be on the search for Flamel. He decided then that he was going to take his time talking to Ling. "Leave Scabbers in the dorm though, he doesn't belong in the library."

"He's been cooped up in there all day, I can't take him to classes, which doesn't seem fair." Ron pouted.

"Not in the library." Yuery repeated. He didn't like the rat; his Dad had said he agreed it felt weird but hadn't gotten a clear reading on the thing with so many students around. He had suggested it may be a chimera with the way it felt and had promised to ask Ling to look into it while he was here at Hogwarts.

Ron and Hermione were looking through every book they could find looking for the name Flamel. Mostly Hermione, with Ron trailing behind her avoiding his homework because she wanted to solve the mystery and he was still trying to make up for his behavior. Yuery joined them reluctantly, though he stuck to his studies and pretended to be as interested as the others in discovering the mystery.

As November passed slowly it became routine. After classes and homework, they would retreat to the library, Yuery sometimes joining them, sometimes talking to Ling. He was also busy trying to find a way to bring Scabbers directly to Ling for the man to examine the rat. Yuery didn't want to steal the rat for the afternoon, and he honestly didn't really want to touch it with the way it felt. Yuery tried to convince himself he was being paranoid, but it was such a strange feeling that he couldn't let it go.

Draco and Neville had both been avoiding the library since Hermione's obsession began, which Yuery was happy that they were not involved but at the same time disappointed that they were not around as much. Neville had begun obsessing with herbology, though he was trying to master transfiguration for his grandmother's sake. Draco had taken to hiding in Snape's office to avoid Crabbe and Goyle and had earned a reputation as a teacher's pet as a result. He didn't seem to mind the accusation when Yuery talked to him about it.