The Philosopher's Stone
Chapter Twenty-One
Interlude III
Amestris
Edward paced in his office; a letter crumpled in his hand as he listened to one of the Generals over the phone. "General Harlin." Edward finally interrupted. "I understand that you believe this to be urgent. I am patching you through to Lt General Tringham now, and you can request aide from the labs directly."
"I just said that little ass refused! I want you to override him." The General demanded.
"Well, I am sure he had good reason, so I will have to review with him." Edward said, summoning every bit of his Dad's work mask he could muster. "I'm sure you understand, he is in charge of the labs. I trust his judgement."
"I will take this to the Fuhrer then."
"Yes, of course. If you feel the need to bother my father, I will hardly stand in your way."
"…I will call again tomorrow."
Edward hung up the phone, before sticking his head out of the office. "Breda, see if the Fuhrer has a moment. Get Tringham over here while you're at it. Then clear my calendar."
"Yes Sir." Breda said, as Edward returned to his office.
He struggled not to scream; he had an office full of people right now and screaming would not be productive. His phone rang a moment later, his father on the other side. "I need to get back to England immediately. General Harlin is an issue. Tringham has been handling him so far but he's going to need help. Also, the trade route through the Northern pass needs a clean-up."
"Breathe Edward. Come to my office." Roy responded. "We will work it out."
Edward then swept out of his office, snapping at Breda to follow him without pausing to comment on the General's aide still waiting in a chair by the door. The aide, a young private whose name escaped Edward tried to get his attention as he walked rapidly toward the Fuhrer's office. "Look. Tell your boss I have given him my answer, he can wait for further instruction." Edward said before he noticed the fear in the kid's expression. "If he gives you any grief over it let me know and I'll have you transferred to a different office."
"Yes Sir, thank you Sir." The young man responded, adding to himself. "At least I won't be discharged after all."
"Wait, what?!" Edward paused, Breda almost bumping into him. "Breda, as soon as we are finished with the Fuhrer, I want this Private moved. Place him under General Alex Armstrong."
"A good choice Sir." Breda replied with a nod as he made note of it. "Return to Lt Fuhrer's Office and I will arrange the paperwork shortly."
As they continued down the hallway, Breda raised an eyebrow. Whatever was going on with the General it seemed likely it was going to be an issue shortly. Judging by the way Edward was frowning though, it was one of his children that had his boss in this state, not the General. Breda assumed it was likely Yuery. He knew the boss had not been happy about having to return without Yuery, though he had arranged for others to watch over the boy.
Breda wasn't sure why Edward had agreed to let Yuery go to England, he doubted that next year it would be allowed again, and he was amazed Edward had left him there this long. He waited as promised just outside as Edward went inside the office, already mentally drafting the paperwork to have Private Aaron Lewis to Alex's command. Alex himself should be back in the country any time now, he wrote yesterday to say that he was on his way, Princess Chen Li having arrived that morning and apparently Yuery had been given detention the night before with some supposed mix up involved. Breda didn't know the details, though he assumed the others did and that was what was causing the fuss.
Edward waited while Roy finished reading the paper in front of him before he handed the crumpled paper to his Dad. "I need to take care of this immediately. According to Severus, despite his attempted intervention, Dumbledore sent my son into the Forbidden Forest for detention. Where he encountered a shade of Voldemort. Now the shade is in the castle and if it isn't stopped it will retrieve the Stone. Severus managed to find most of the traps protecting it at this point too."
"Clear your schedule and go pack. Bring him home safe." Roy responded with no hesitation. "This was always a risky plan we knew."
"General Harlin is once again demanding the use of Chimera. Can you handle him for me, or should I send it over to Armstrong?" Edward asked.
"I'll handle him. Has Tringham filed a report?"
"Yes, several. It's been a long fight. Harlin attempted to enter the Lab without permission twice, confident that the lab was full of chimera he was after. Of course, he didn't find any, which brought him to my office." Edward paused long enough to roll his eyes and take a calming breath. "Then he demanded I fill his request or apparently, he intends to go directly to you and demand my immediate removal. Which makes my current situation inconveniently timed."
"Let me worry about the politics. You worry about Yuery." Roy assured and smiled briefly at Edward's look of relief. "Go home, if I do not see you before you depart good luck."
"I have some final instructions for my staff, then I will head out. I might not get out of here before this evening but hopefully long before that." Edward agreed, already mentally planning the trip. Realistically, he couldn't apparate directly to Hogsmeade without tipping his hand. He could, however, arrive as close as London and then take the train without anyone noticing if he was careful.
He would write Severus and warn him that Edward would be arriving shortly, he should probably warn Chen as well since she arrived at Hogwarts a short while ago. He would go, collect his son and the Stone, figure out the best way to dispose of the shade, and be home shortly as long as everything went according to plan.
Hogwarts
Chen Li was frustrated, which was not ideal. She was aware that she still had the tendency to poke at people when they annoyed her and pushed them to their limits. Since she had arrived at this school, she had been given the run around by the Headmaster. She had been ignored by several members of the staff. She had the unfortunate experience of encountering the House Elves (who Edward had warned her were there, but it was still upsetting) several times.
She was also well aware that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher possessed a second, mangled soul. It wasn't a proper soul of course, more a shade of a soul. The man seemed intent on making himself look like a victim and Severus Snape to be the perpetrator but to what end she had not determined. She would discover his reasons shortly, she had yet to fail in unraveling a mystery of this sort.
She had just finished checking in with Yuery Elric, who if she understood correctly was the entire reason for being sent to ''observe" the school. Yuery seemed to be doing well, though he did mention he had been sent to detention in the Forbidden Forest which made her question the safety of the student body in general, after all it wasn't like they sent their students into the ruins or out to the desert when they misbehaved.
Chen decided to talk to Snape, who was the only one she was going to trust here to give her the truth. She knocked on his office door, impatiently waiting until he called for her to enter. Chen barely waited for the door to close behind her as she quickly glanced around to ensure the office only contained Severus before she demanded. "Explain why you have a teacher on staff with a parasitic soul and are allowing him to teach these children Dark spells."
"Counter spells actually. As far as Quirrell goes, I have approached the Headmaster on the issue several times and nothing has come of it. I have been keeping a close eye on him." Severus sighed. "I wrote Edward, it is time to withdraw Yuery. This was always a dangerous gambit I admit but with that thing in the castle, it is foolish to allow the boy to remain."
"The reasoning was sound, I was there at the staff meeting, but still yes I agree it needs to be done." Chen nodded. "I will help watch over him until Edward arrives. "
"How is Yuery fairing? He seems fine to me, but I only see him occasionally comparatively. Unfortunately, he was not sorted into my house. McGonagall at least is very protective of her students." Severus rubbed his forehead as if avoiding a headache. "I have been speaking to her as much as I can, informing her of issues she would otherwise not have access to, but the situation is still tricky."
"Well, I do not know everything, but I can speak freely. I will convince her that Yuery would fair better in the care of Xerxes than Hogwarts. I can also inform her of what is lurking in this castle." Chen said with a frown. "I will not allow one of my students to come to harm, even if he is not officially my student at the moment."
"What are you plotting." Severus asked.
"I need to speak to the Headmaster. He is clearly an incompetent fool…or something worse, and I will decide for myself which is the case upon completing my interview." Chen sniffed "Many forget, before I was a teacher, I was raised to lead my people. I have been well trained in gauging people."
"Best of luck to him then." Severus said with a smirk.
Chen stayed for a few more minutes before she made her way up to the Headmaster's office. She waited impatiently while his magic statues informed him of her arrival before being invited up, which made her roll her eyes in disgust. She hated everything about this castle and the man who ran it already and doubted that this meeting would improve her opinion.
"Ah, Miss Li. It is a pleasure to formally meet you." Dumbledore greeted pleasantly.
"Princess Chen." She corrected. "Although I would also accept Professor Li."
"Professor Li, many apologies." Dumbledore continued without missing a beat. "How have you found the school?"
"I have several concerns actually." She said as she sat on the edge of one of his chairs. "To begin with, why do you have a large collection of creatures enslaved in this castle?"
"House Elves. They serve the school happily I assure you." Dumbledore said with a smile. "It is in their nature to help others."
"That's one." Chen frowned. "My next concern is your choice in discipline. Is it often you choose to punish your students by giving them dangerous and inappropriate tasks to be completed in the early hours of the morning when they should be tucked into their beds?"
"I would never knowingly endanger a student." Dumbledore frowned. "I am afraid you have been misinformed."
"That's two." Chen frown deepened. "Finally, why are you allowing a dark shade residence in this school exposing your students to its presence?"
"I am afraid I have no idea what you mean." Dumbledore frowned. "What stories have you been hearing."
"That's three." Chen said as she stood. "I am afraid we do not deal with dishonest people. We will not be participating in a student exchange at this time."
"Dishonest?" Dumbledore asked, sounding angry himself.
"Yes. Dishonest. One. You hide your slave labor and when confronted claim they are meant to serve. Two. You send children into a dangerous forest late at night for detention and deny it. Three. Your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is currently hosting a very dark soul and you are well aware of it but allow him to remain endangering your students. Not to mention that you are teaching these children dangerous dark spells, have allowed the traps cast to protect the castle from invasion to remain active and convinced the student body they are simply quirks. You have allowed these children to wander these halls with minimal supervision, ignoring blatant bullying and favoritism between Houses. That was what I discovered since I arrived. I'm sure the list will grow."
"Young lady this castle has been producing the best witches and wizards in the world for centuries. Our methods have years of evidence to back our teaching practices." Dumbledore was deeply offended.
"How many of them attempted to become Warlords after graduation?" She snipped. "Xerxes may be a new academy; however, our methods can be traced back to the third century when the first magical academy opened in Xing. We manage to produce powerful wizards, without risking their lives by walking on staircases at the wrong time of day".
