Chapter Seven

Ed sat down on the chair in his office, and pulled out his bottle of Beam. He didn't used to drink, but too much time spent around Colonel Mustang had gotten him into the habit. He had things to think about, very important things that had him worried. "Al, she knows about us. Not how it happened, but she knows. Do you figure we ought to tell her?"

Al stepped out of the shadows. "Do you really think so, Brother? It could damage them."

"We'll do it, but when I don't know. But enough of that. Any news from Central?"

"As a matter of fact, I got a letter this morning from the Colonel. I haven't even opened it. Here." He dug the letter out of his chest and handed it to Ed. Sure enough, there was the seal of Roy's office.

Ed read the letter, then dropped it. "Of all the-! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" He swung down on the desk and a paperweight shaped like a griffin jumped. "Al, we have a problem. According to Colonel Bastard, not only is our old friend Scar in the neighborhood, so are the Homunculi. At least, Envy, Wrath, and Sloth are here. Lust may be here. We are to locate them, and attempt to ascertain what their reasons for being here are. And we have to notify Dumbledore. Just great! Just great!"

"It could be worse..."

"Well, let's go. No time like the present, don't you think? Oh, and one more thing. I need to have a talk with Ron tonight. I have some questions in need of answers." Ed took off, with Al headed to the Gryffindor dorms.

Meanwhile, in the woods just beyond the borders of the Hogwarts grounds, a low, hunched shape raced though the boughs, making directly toward the castle. It ran by a herd of unicorns, barely disturbing a leaf. It leapt a stream, and dove into a small cave on the other side. Above it, Hagrid walked, going to see the state of the animals he was nurturing for his Care of Magical Creatures classes, a litter of Kneazles. He and Fang never saw what hit them.

Harry was in the Great Hall with the rest of Gryffindor's Quidditch team discussing plays when Hagrid burst in. "Harry! Get Dumbledore! My, God, he, he, Ahhh!" The half-Giant fainted. The team heard the stone floor crack and three tables jumped.

Harry took charge immediately. "Angelina! Go get Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape! Katie, go to the statue of the gargoyle on the third floor and start naming off candies as fast as you can. When the statue moves, go through the door to Professor Dumbledore's office and tell him we have a situation. I'll try and revive Hagrid. The rest of you, help me get him off the floor. Levitators on three. One, two, three!" The massive man lifted off the ground and sure enough, the floor beneath his head was cracked and sunk in, as if hit by a sledgehammer. They moved him onto a table, which groaned beneath his bulk. "Now step back. Ennervate." As Hagrid stirred, Harry held his hand. "Lie still, Hagrid. You've been through something awful. I don't know what yet, but I did have someone go for Dumbledore. I also sent them after some teachers and Madame Pomfrey. Just lie still, and relax."

At that moment, the teachers walked through the door. Snape was first on the scene. "What happened! It had better be important!"

"Hey, Angie, what's with the scorch marks on Snape's face?"

"I sorta startled him while he was mixing something. It blew up on him."

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had come to his gamekeeper's side. "Severus, please give the man some time. He's obviously been through something very traumatic to have sent a girl bursting into my office, when only I, the staff, and one student know the secret to my office password." He winked at Harry and mouthed, "Crunch Bar".

Hagrid sat up rather groggily, and rubbed his head. "Professor, Sir, it was horrible. Positively horrible. I was on my way through the Forest to a little spot by the creek where I'd left a litter of Kneazle pups I'd found, and somebody, or something, attacked me and Fang. It looked like a short bald man in black. But it was no man. He laughed high and loud like a lunatic as he done it, too. He also drooled, and his spit burnt the ground when it hit, hissed just like acid. He hit me and it felt like a Stunner, but it was just a punch, then he swung around the trees as I tried to defend meself with my umbrella, swung just as quick as an ape. Then he dropped down out of the branches, and he, he..." He fell silent after mumbling something. He just sat there and sobbed.

"What, Hagrid? What did he do?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Hagrid's eyes were blank when he looked up. "He grabbed Fang by the head, and he ate him. He ate my dog. I just lay there, listening to the bones crunch, and watching him chew up my best friend. I did nothing!" He fell to sobbing again, this time inconsolably.

"Poppy, please escort Hagrid to the Infirmary, and give him something to help him sleep. Lord knows he needs it. Minerva, Severus, please follow me. We have much to discuss. Dobby!" The house elf appeared from nowhere. "Please find Professors Flitwick, and Sprout. Tell them to meet me in my office." The servant disappeared. "Harry, students, I would you all keep these events under your hats for the time being."

"Yes, sir." The teachers left, and the team afterward. Harry went to the dorms, and got his things for his Potions class. This was going to be a long day.

When Dumbledore arrived in his office, Ed was sitting by Fawkes and stroking the phoenix's head. "I got word from Central, Professor."

"And it may be that the word has arrived somewhat late. I was later on going to solicit your assistance with a matter that has come up. An unknown creature has attacked our gamekeeper."

"Hagrid? Is he okay?"

Snape spoke up. "He's fine. It ate his dog, though."

"Describe it, and I'll see if I know anything."

"Minerva, if you would. I must admit my memory is somewhat vague."

McGonagall sat down with Ed and looked him in the eye. "Hagrid said it attacked him in the Forest. It came out of nowhere and hit him in the chest. He said it sounded human, but it was too fast and agile to be human, too strong. It swung through the branches like an ape, then it came out of the trees and ate Fang. Hagrid said it looked like-"

"A short, bald man, with a high-pitched voice and corrosive saliva."

"Why, yes. You know this man?"

"It's not a man. It's Gluttony. A homunculus."

Professors Sprout and Flitwick, who had been discussing security with Dumbledore, asked in unison, "Homunculus?"

"An artificial human, born when an alchemist tries to perform a human transmutation, tries to bring someone back from the dead. The homunculus resembles, fully, the person the alchemist sought to revive. But it has no soul, no memories, it's just a body. They have inhuman powers, like you'd never believe, plus they're nearly impossible to kill. I've only managed to kill one, Greed. They name themselves after the seven Deadly Sins. Hagrid ran into Gluttony. And where Gluttony is, Lust and the others can't be far behind." He cracked his knuckles. "And what's worse, we may have another problem."

"What? what could be worse than this?" asked Snape irritably. His startle in his office had ended up with him inhaling fumes off of several different things, the sum effect of which seemed to be massive euphoria. It was all he could do to keep from bursting out in hysterical laughter.

"I didn't say worse. I just said it was a problem. The letter I got from Mustang says that Scar is also headed this way. And I know exactly why he's coming."

"Okay, who is he, and why is he coming?"

"Scar's an Ishbalan. His people were wiped out several years ago in a war with Central. It was less of a war and more of a massacre. The Ishbalan religion condemns alchemy as an affront to God. His older brother was an alchemist, and when Scar lost his right arm to an old associate of mine, his brother used alchemy to transfer his arm to Scar. The reaction worked, but it also killed Scar's brother. The arm is tattooed with a complex design that works like a transmutation circle. He's used it to kill over fifty people, most soldiers and State Alchemists. I myself saw him kill one of the strongest alchemists in the military, Brigadier General Bask Grand, the Ironblood Alchemist. He tried to kill me. I'm the only one of his targets who ever got away. He's coming here for two reasons. One is to kill me. The other is to kill the homunculus Lust. She was created by his brother, trying to bring back his wife."

"What do you propose we do?" asked Dumbledore. "You are the expert."

"It's going to take a while. For now, we need to keep our ears open, and our mouths shut. Two of the homunculi, Envy and Sloth, are shapeshifters. No one must know. And send my deepest condolences to Hagrid over Fang. He was a good dog." Ed got up to leave. "I have some messages to send. In a few days expect company."