Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter, as well as any other songs or other character references made in this story.
© Fullmetal Alchemist – Hiromo Arakawa
© Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling
Fullmetal Alchemist
And the
Crimson Stone
A Fan Fiction Fusion
By
Tattoo Alchemist
Chapter 3: A New and Old World
The last four days that Ed spent were uneventful to say the least. He had taken lodging at the Leaky Cauldron and spent the days reading the textbooks that he bought. All of them seemed farfetched at the very least, things like levitation, transfiguration, divination, and so on, the closest subject that was like alchemy was potions. Potions had rules and conditions, a drop of this, touch of that, and a cup of the other then it would produce a portion for a specific use.
It didn't help the four day long wait with the owl Tweety always wanting out of its cage. Even if the little bird came back after flying for nearly a whole day, it wasn't long until Ed was awakened by the thing wanting to be let out.
"I'm not sure if I should take this as a good sign or a bad one," Ed commented to himself as he put the restless owl back into the cage.
The day had come and Edward Elric was already at King's Cross Station with his trunk and owls cage behind him looking for the entrance to Platform 9 3/4. It was a good thing that the station had carts (or trolleys) otherwise pulling his trunk around would have been a colossal pain in the ass.
He stopped between Platform 9 and 10 and was still looking for this supposed barrier. Until he saw a group of people pass him by and they were gathering at a nearby wall between the platforms. He watched as they made a dash to the wall and instead of crashing, they vanished into the wall.
"That's it," Ed told himself as he got behind the crowd who were running through the wall. He waited until there was that silent acknowledgement that it was his turn or that everyone else had gone. A few of the people in front of him were silently asking him to go ahead of them and wasting no time he made his dash to the wall. He thought that if it worked for them, it should work for him, and he was right for he pushed through the wall and came out the other side to another train platform. His eyes went wide when he saw a scarlet red train that was packed with people, while parents were saying goodbye to their children. Ed looked up to see the sign that read "Hogwarts Express – Eleven O'clock", he looked behind him where he thought the solid wall was and he saw a wrought-iron gate with a sign above it saying "Platform 9 ¾".
"This'll be a case to end all cases," Ed said to himself as he made his way to the ticket booth.
After getting his ticket, Edward Elric made his way past the crowd of parents and students before getting onto the train. Before getting on, a man dressed in a uniform offered to take his trunk and owl cage, which was fine by Ed since he didn't want to hear the birds screeching and pecking. He got onto the train and searched for an empty seat. It was the first thing that struck him about the train, there were no cars with wooden seats, each car had cabins like the first class cars that Ed was used to not getting into. He found the nearest empty cabin and with the man behind him, he got his trunk into the cabin and stowed away his luggage.
After the uniformed porter left, Ed sat back down against the window looking out on the platform at all the students saying good-bye to their parents. Ed turned his head so that he couldn't look at them, seeing the students and their parents like that only reminded Ed further about what he left back in his home country. That was when he reached into his pocket and pulled out his state alchemist pocket watch. Opening it he looked to the engraving inside it,
Don't forget 3.Oct.10
He closed his fist around it remembering why he's doing all this. He felt so alone once again, but as the feeling came over him, the door to his cabin opened. He turned and saw three young teenagers. The one who opened the door was a rather mousey looking girl with bushy brown hair, accompanying her were two boys, one had tattered robes and wavy red hair, and the other had untidy black hair and green eyes behind round lens glasses.
"Excuse us," the young girl asked, "mind if we share your cabin? Everyone else is full."
"Sure," Ed shrugged as he slipped his watch back into his pocket.
The young teenagers took to getting to their seats while Ed simply propped his face onto his hand and looked out the window feeling tired from not being able to sleep because of that wretched bird.
"We should introduce ourselves," The girl –who was now sitting across from Ed- said with a great kind and bossy tone to her voice, "I'm Hermione Granger."
"I'm Ron Weasley," the red haired boy smiled, who was sitting next to Hermoine.
"And I'm Harry Potter," the dark hair and green eye boy said as he took his seat next to Ed.
Ed got his face up off his hand and extended the courtesy, "My name's Edward Elric."
Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then back at Ed who was looking back at them very curiously as if he had missed something.
"What is it?" Ed asked them.
"You're quite possibly the first person who hasn't asked if he's the Harry Potter." Hermione explained
Edward turned to look at Harry and looking at him he couldn't help but notice the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Looking at it, he suddenly felt something that he couldn't explain completely, it was as if he knew this boy or at least had a connection to him on some fundamental level. Perhaps the scar was like his arm and leg, the two of them were marked, but Ed had to ask a very pertinent question.
"What makes him the Harry Potter?" Ed had asked.
"You've never heard of him?" Ron asked sounding shocked.
"It's okay, Ron," Harry interrupted, before turning to Ed, "I think it's refreshing that someone at Hogwarts doesn't know about my history."
Ed turned away from them and looked out the window seeing the waving parents passing by as the train began to move out of the station. It was no sooner that the train left the station that Hermione had to ask a question that she'd soon regret.
"Are you a first year, Edward?" she asked
Ed's blood instantly boiled.
"WHO YOU CALLIN' A MOUSEY LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!" Ed bellowed
"Calm down!" Hermione bellowed back, "I didn't mean it like that."
"…bloody hell…" Ron exhaled at the scene that he witnessed.
"If you must know, I'm a fourth year exchange student from the Alchemy Academy in Amestris."
"Never heard of that place," Hermione said
"Finally!" Ron cheered as if he had won a bet, "Something Hermoine doesn't know anything about!"
"Oh, don't gloat, Ron," Hermoine back talked, she turned back to Ed, "If you're new to Hogwarts, you'll need to be sorted."
"Sorted?" Ed asked
"In Hogwarts there are four houses," Hermione explained, "Each named after the four founders of the school. There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The three of us are in Gryffindor."
"How does it work?" Ed asked trying to sound interested by this nonsense.
"You'll find that out as soon as we get there," Hermione explained.
"Right," Ed acknowledged as he continued to look out the window.
The next hour or so was spent in conversation amongst Harry, Ron, and Hermione about their summer, while Ed simply looked out the window at the passing scenery. He had nothing to add to it, after all, what could he say? I spent my summer investigating chimeras in my country and took on an apprentice who later died. He couldn't tell such a thing; they were kids, not knowing about the horrors that Ed had seen in his life. He slumped further against the window at the thought, but just then someone was at the door of their cabin.
There was a smiling dimpled woman who asked, "Anything off the card, dears?"
Ed couldn't' help but look at what was on the cart and it was filled with what looked like candy. All of them wrapped up in colorful packaging that made Ed think of a rainbow that had been made edible. He watched Harry Potter take out sickles and knuts out of his pocket and buying up the items on the cart. He had caught the named of the treats as they came off it, names like Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs. Naturally, he was curious about these things, he watched intently as Harry and Ron pilled their treats on the seats while Hermione shook her head.
"Don't fill up, there's still the feast at school," she said.
"Right mum," Ron said sarcastically as he opened up a chocolate frog.
"Do you want one, Edward?" Hary asked as he offered a chocolate frog.
"Sure," Ed replied as he took the package, "And please call me Ed."
"Right, Ed." Harry smiled
Ed opened up the package to find a literal chocolate frog.
"They didn't make these with real frogs did they?" Ed asked rather nervously.
"Nope," Harry answered, "but it's funny you say that since I asked the same question when I first saw it."
"Hey, there's a card in here," Ed observed as he pulled it out of the package and he read the name at the bottom, "Ay Rippa."
"Hey, that's the one I'm missing!" Ron called out, "Mind if I have it, Ed? I'll trade you."
"Here, go ahead," Ed said as he handed the card to Ron, he didn't even bother to look at the rest of the information on it, he was more interested in the chocolate frog itself. He took one bit of it and was amazed to discover how perfectly sweet it was. It wasn't too sweet and it wasn't sweet to the point where he wished it was sweeter, it was just right. After savoring the first bit, he went for the rest of the frog, practically devouring it.
"If you liked the frogs, try these," Ron offered as he held out a box of Every Flavor Beans.
"Ed reached in and pulled out a bean that was dark green with light green stripes. He placed it in his mouth and was delighted to discover how sweet and fruity it was.
"Watermelon," He said, "I've never tasted anything like this before in my life."
"They don't have things like this where you come from?" Hermione asked
"They do," Ed answered, "But nothing as delicious."
It was a small fib on Ed's part, certainly he saw candy shops in Central, but he never went into them. He was usually busy with work from the state and that was when he realized how much of his own childhood had been lost.
Ed enjoyed his chocolate frogs and the Every Flavor Beans, at least until he bit into one that was the most unexpected thing ever. The bean was a yellow color and he expected it to be lemon but instead he was met with a bitterly acidic flavor that he already knew what it was. His face contorted as he swallowed the bean followed by another bite of a chocolate frog to get the taste out of his mouth.
"What flavor did you get?" Harry asked
"Vomit," Ed answered with great disgust as he took another bite of the frog. After taking a good amount of the taste out of his mouth he had to comment, "They weren't kidding about every flavor."
"Even Dumbledore got an ear wax flavored one once," Harry added.
"Who's Dumbledore?" Ed asked, but then remembered the report he read and corrected himself, "Oh yes…he's the school's headmaster."
"That's right," Hermione nodded, "You'll see him when we get to Hogwarts. Speaking of which, we're coming up to Hogwarts pretty soon, we should change into our school robes. Except you, Edward. Since you need to be sorted you won't need to change just yet, but if you're in Gryffindor, you already have the color for it."
Ed smiled when she referred to the red jacket that he was wearing.
The train had arrived at the station, and Ed saw the school uniforms that Hermione was talking about. He saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione were wearing ties that had the colors of red and gold, while their robes were black with a Hogwarts Crest on the right with a Gryffindor crest on the other side. Seeing it, Ed wondered about the other houses, but he still reminded himself that it was all part of trying to find the Philosopher's Stone.
Getting off the train, Ed followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a long string of carriages that were being pulled along by the most foul looking of creatures that the Fullmetal Alchemist had ever laid eyes on. They looked reptilian, but at the same time they had horse-like qualities to them. At first Ed had gasped at it but decided not to say anything thinking that such creatures were normal at Hogwarts.
"What is it, Ed?" Harry asked as the four of them got onto the carriage.
"Nothing," Ed answered, "Nothing at all."
The carriage ride was a bumpy one and Ed couldn't stand the silence of it all, and his curiosity wanted to know.
"Hey, what are the other houses like?' he asked the others.
"The Sorting Hat will tell that part," Hermione explained, "when you're about to be sorted, they will call your name, and place a hat on your head that will decide where you'll be placed."
It sounded absolutely silly to Edward Elric, so much that he just wanted to say; come on! On the other hand how could he deny such a thing after everything that he's seen and heard in the past week? Secret walls, barriers, entries to hidden allies, and so on, with that in mind, a magical hat didn't exactly seem that far out of possibility.
He walked with the other students to an enormous dinning hall with four long tables where the kids sat and one at the far end where the adults sat. The other students were taking their seats and Ed had been told to join the first years who were gathering at the end of the great hall near the long table where the adults sat. Yet, before anything got started, an old man with a long white beard and a pair of half-circle glasses got up from his chair and spoke:
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" He welcomed, "I'd like to start with a few announcements before the sorting ceremony begins and our feats starts. Firstly, I'd like to welcome our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Edmund Blackadder."
Ed looked to the end of the (what he assumed to be) faculty table where a young man of about 30 years stood up and bowed to the applauding audience. He looked rather tall and lanky despite his long black robes; his face was also thin, with a pair of brown eyes, short curly black hair, and a goatee with a mustache. After bowing, Professor Blackader sat back down.
"Now, I'd like to welcome a special new student," Dumbledore stated his announcement, "An exchange student from the Alchemy Academy in the land of Amestris, Edward Elric."
Edward could feel the eyes in the room focusing upon him, but trying to play along he rose a shy hand in a very stuff wave to the students who were applauding him in their welcome.
"Edward Elric," Dumbledore continued, "will be spending the next year learning with us, so, I urge you to give him the best of our hospitality."
"Oh great," Ed heard a young sarcastic voice groan behind him. He turned to look to find a young boy with white blonde hair speaking to his "friends" , "This place really has gone to the dogs now that we have a pipsqueak foreigner as a student."
Ed's blood instantly boiled.
"WHO YOU CALLIN' A PIPSQUEAK SO SMALL YOU NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO LOOK AT? I'M STILL GROWING YOU WHITE HAIRED IDIOT."
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore bellowed across the hall trying to calm Edward down, "Bear in mind, Edward Elric, that while you are here, you are a guest of our school and an ambassador of your school as well."
Edward had calmed down slightly, but gave a very sinister glare to the white-blonde hair boy who seemed to develop a quiver of fear when Ed looked at him. He decided to let him go and continue onto the sorting ceremony. He looked ahead to a witch with black hair, a stern face, and green robes who stood next to a stool with a very raggedy looking hat on it. She held the hat up and within the loose seams it seemed to form eyes, a mouth, and began to sing.
Oh, you may not think I'm pretty
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black
Your top hats sleek and tall
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might be in Gryffindor
Where dwell the brave at heart
Their daring, enver, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff
Where they are just and loyal
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw
If you're a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap
You're in safe hands (Though I have none)
For I'm a thinking cap.
"There's something you really don't see everyday," Ed commented to himself as the green robed witch called out the first name on her parchment.
"King, Anita." She called
And a young red haired girl stepped up to the stool and with the hat on her head it wriggled around a bit.
"Right….right!" The hat said, "Better be…Gryffindor!"
The kids at the table where Harry and his friends sat cheered as the young redhead sat down with them.
"Elric, Edward."
Ed walked up to the stool, upon sitting down; the hat was placed upon his head. It reminded him of the day of his State Alchemist Exam where he had to sit on a chair in the middle of a transmutation circle and go through an interview. Even though none of it mattered a single bit to him, his heart was still thumping with anxiety and anticipation. The hat was placed on his head.
"Hmmm," The sorting hat said in contemplation of the current student he was to examine, "Tricky…very tricky. This one has great talent…and genius…a prodigy, oh yes. Courage beyond the years of any normal boy his age, a short temper about your height, also a lking for the attention of your deeds…but most of all…there's love…for someone near and dear...but where to place you…"
"I really don't know," Ed answered in his head.
"Very trick indeed, much like Harry Potter you are," the hat said to Edawrd, "Any house would be perfect for you, Ravenclaw for your prodigal genius, Hufflepuff for your loyalty, Slytherin for your ambition, and Gryffindor for your courage."
Edward looked to the Gryffindor table where Harry Potter and his friends sat, all of them having the look of wondering anticipation of the Sorting Hat's verdict. Edward had instantly remembered that moment of the bond he felt on the train when he looked at that scar on Harry's forehead.
"Hmmm, I see now," the Sorting Hat said with a very happy grin in it's voice, "I know…better be…Gryffindor!"
All those at the Gryffindor table cheered as Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist had the Sorting Hat taken off of his head and he took his seat next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were all glad that Ed had joined them. Even Ed was glad, which was odd, even though earlier he didn't care one bit about this place called Hogwarts, suddenly he felt like he belonged.
To Be Continued…