Howdy! Due to some…complications…I haven't been able to update. Sorry about that (oh! The shame!), but I've had loads of time to type up more chapters…ok this story may not have as many as the others…ok I'm not really sure how many chapters I typed up and for what stories. But anywhozles, it would seem some people (ok just one that I saw) don't like the fact that I crossed FMA with HP (too lazy to type out full titles). Well, all I have ta say to that is…To each his own! I am free to write whatever I want so long as it follows the guide lines, that and I was just testing ta see what people would think of this idea…even though there are several other FMA/HP crossovers out there. Awh well!
Chapter Nine: First Task
The next day was the start of the first task. Both Harry and Edward looked rather pale during breakfast. Harry was gnawing on a piece of toast, not really eating it and Edward was half-heartedly stirring a bowl of oatmeal and occasionally pouring a large amount of sugar in it till it became as thick as wet cement.
Alphonse, Artimus, Hermione and Ron all sat across from them with a mixture of expressions on their faces. Ranging from somewhat amused to very worried, Al finally spoke up and said,
"I'm sure whatever they've got planed won't be that bad. I mean, brother, you've been in a lot of tough situations like this before."
"Yeah, but at least then I had a faint clue what I was getting into." Ed grumbled lifting up his spoon taking the bowl with it, he shook the spoon slightly but the bowl was stuck fast and wasn't coming off.
"Heh…this is starting to look like another one of those years huh guys?" Harry sighed finally putting down the toast he'd been 'eating'. Hermione and Ron both gave half-hearted laughs.
"I don't know…I think this is going to be fun!" Artimus chimed in. Ed frowned and set the spoon and bowl down, he gave her a 'you've got to be kidding me' look replying,
"Easy for you too say, you don't have to do anything."
"Yes…it is easy for me to say, besides, who said I didn't have to do anything? What's to stop me from finding out what the first task is hm?"
"You can do that?" Harry asked.
"I could…but I'm not going too." Artimus shrugged.
"Then why the hell did you mention it?" Ed snapped. Al tried to calm his brother down all the while Artimus snickered,
"Geez, the tension is really getting to you Edward. Why don't you just not worry about it, what comes will come and there really isn't anything you can do about it." She leaned over and took his oatmeal, the spoon still stuck in the same spot it was before.
"I guess you can say this task is like your oatmeal, your worrying about it is the sugar and you are the spoon. The more you worry about it, the more it's going to hold you down until you can't move and you lose."
"So what? You want me just not to think about it?" Ed muttered.
"More or less, besides…you're an alchemist…what greater advantage is that?" Artimus snickered, she picked up a pitcher from the center of the table and poured some of, whatever was in there, into the cement oatmeal. It was milk, the milk made the oatmeal really squishy again and she handed it back to him with a smirk.
"Great…you ruined my appetite," he hissed "I hate milk."
"Yeah, I know…but just look how it made all your worries go away!" Artimus laughed. She stood up and left leaving the others with that whole oatmeal philosophy in their heads.
"Wow…she's got a point." Harry sighed.
"Yeah." Al nodded. Ed just scoffed, he then poked at the soggy oatmeal with a new spoon.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do till this afternoon?" he grumbled. Alphonse looked over at his brother and said,
"Why don't we spar brother? It has been some time now, remember what our teacher said?"
"Hm…you're right. We haven't sparred each other in a while have we?" Ed said thoughtfully.
"What is it your teacher said?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, she told us to train the mind, we must train the body." Ed answered with a sigh. He figured this might take his mind off the impending unknown that plagued that afternoon.
"You mind if we watch?" Harry asked.
"Sure, why not..." both Elrics replied.
--
The two Elric brothers stood next to the lake while Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the grass a few feet away. The two brothers got into a fighting stance,
"You ready Al?" Ed asked.
"Always am brother." Al replied. Seeing this as his que to start, Edward charged forward. Al dodged his first attack easily and counter attacked with a quick, right-middle, focus punch. Ed lifted his right arm and swept Als' punch away, he followed this with a lightning fast round house kick.
"Wow, look at them go!" Harry said as the two brothers started fighting faster and faster.
"For a suit of armor, Al is very graceful." Hermione added. Ron nodded too, that's when Ed suddenly came flying at him. Alphonse had managed to get hold of Eds' leg and toss him over his shoulder.
"Whoa!" Ron jumped back as Ed landed next to him. Ed staggered to his feet and shook his head slightly, he then looked over at Al with a smirk.
"Not bad Al." He said running his forearm over his forehead. He then charged straight at Al again, only this time when Al swung his arm around Ed ducked under it and jump side kicked Al in the side. This made Alphonse stagger back slightly, he looked over at his brother and replied,
"Is that all you got?"
The two brothers continued to go at it for another hour. When they finally headed back up to the Gryffindor tower, Edward was felling very sore, he was most definitely out of practice and he was felling the after affects.
"Heh…I didn't realize you two were such good fighters." Ron said. Ed sank into one of the easy chairs close to the fire place and sighed,
"I really wasn't at the top of my game…outta practice I guess."
"If that was out of practice, then you two must be very good fighters." Harry contemplated. Ed just smirked and tried to get as comfortable as he could in his chair, much to his dislike Artimus came down from the girls' dorm room and spotted them.
"Ah! I see you've all kept busy!" she smiled.
"And what are you so cheery about?" Ed grumbled, he was finding the more he got to know Artimus the more he wished he hadn't.
"Still sour as usual I see, we may be rivals but that doesn't mean I can't be friendly." Artimus said shaking her head in a 'man you're hopeless' manner.
"So…what have you been doing?" Ed asked.
"Research…the first task is going to be…well…interesting." She said holding up her hands in a defensive manner "At least you'll be able to show us your alchemy skills."
"So you did find out what the first task is?" Harry said, Artimus just nodded.
"And do you plan on telling us what exactly it is?" Ed asked.
"Well, it's definitely something you've never seen before Ed. As for Harry, I'm pretty sure you've seen one before." She replied. Harry shrugged, Ron and Hermione looked at each other with equally confused expressions.
"I'll give you all a clue, sense technically I'm sworn to secrecy. It has to do with fire…lots and lots of fire."
Hermione caught on quicker then Artimus had figured, she walked over to her and whispered,
"Are you saying that the first task has something to do with dragons?"
"Heh…you catch on pretty fast. But yeah, mostly."
Ed crossed his arms and slouched down in the chair some more, that wasn't a very good clue. Hermione motioned to Harry and Ron to follow her out of the common room and out into the hall, leaving the three alchemists alone.
"Artimus…you really stink at giving clues." Ed hissed.
"No I don't. Hermione caught on right away." Artimus said in a mockingly innocent tone.
"Fire? What could they possibly come up with that has to do with a lot of fire?" Al asked himself.
"Look, I'm only aloud to give clues. That's what Dumbledore told us." Artimus said putting her hands on her hips.
"'us'? What do you mean 'us'?" Ed asked sitting up.
"Yup, one person from each school was picked to give a small clue to the participants. Sense we where staying in the same place as Harry, it was best just to do it for both sides. But anyway, it's nothing you can't handle Ed, I'm sure."
"How so?"
"You've faced chimeras right?"
"Yeah so?"
"Well then you can take on what they've got 'cooked' up for you guys." Artimus smiled, she then added "Oh, and you'll be going last Edward."
"What!"
"Yup, sense I wasn't really sure where you and Harry had wondered off too I pick the slots for the two of you. You will be going last and Harry will be going first."
"Arg…" Ed looked rather disgruntled.
"You're tense again…here." She tossed a key onto Eds' lap, he looked at it questioningly "Due to the fact that it's early, actually it's about eleven thirty, nobody should be using it right now. You've got until one in the afternoon, why not go take a bath in the prefects bathroom."
"How do you…" Ed was about to say, but Artimus just smirked and replied faster,
"We may be rivals and I may want to fight you and win…but that doesn't mean I can't do what I can to help." She then turned and left through the portrait leaving the two brothers alone.
"You know brother, she's really strange." Al sighed.
"You think! First it's one thing, now it's this…what's going to be next time?" Ed grumbled getting up.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure she means well." Al said also standing up, he'd sat down before figuring they'd be there for a while. Ed shrugged and made for the exit,
"You can do whatever you want Al, I'll be right back." He muttered.
"Where are you going?" Al asked.
"She gave me this key to go take a bath didn't she? May as well…I've really got nothing better to do." Ed shrugged.
--
It was twelve thirty now and still no sign of Edward, Al was getting kind of worried. He had met up with Artimus in the Great Hall for lunch, they both sat at the Gryffindor table. Alphonse looked around and noticed someone else was missing,
"Say, where are Harry, Ron and Hermione?" he asked.
"Not sure…what about Ed? Have you seen him?" Artimus asked, she really didn't care but she could just tell that Al was worried.
"No, I haven't seen him either. At least not sense he went down to the prefects bathroom." Al answered.
"Ha! So he did go!" Artimus suddenly said in a very triumphant voice. Al just looked at her "heh…sorry. Anyway, they better show up soon. A little food in the stomach before a big event is always good."
"Yeah about that…what is the first task?" Al asked, Artimus looked up at Al with a knowing smirk and answered.
"Why? You plan on telling Ed?"
"Um…maybe…" Al stuttered.
"I can tell you if you want, but you can't tell Ed. The participants are supposed to find out on their own and not be told directly." Artimus said.
"Ok then, I won't tell him." Al sighed.
"Dragons…"
"What?"
"Yep…he's gonna have to subdue a dragon. It's actually a very simple task, considering it's the first, but all he has to do is subdue the dragon and place his hand on the stone alter in the center of the ring." Artimus explained.
"That's it?" Al asked.
"Well, in terms of difficulty, it all depends on the dragon he picks." Artimus added, "When it's his turn to go out, he'll draw a number, that number corresponds with a specific type of dragon. One being the weakest and four being the strongest, because there are only four participants."
"Wow…this does sound interesting." Al said, he was already running through possible scenarios that he might use if he'd been picked.
"It's going to be at the Quidditch field so we'd better get going now so we can get good seats!" Artimus laughed grabbing an apple and getting up.
"Quidditch?"
"It's a sport, but that's not important right now." She smiled, Al followed her out of the Great Hall and out towards a large oval shaped playing field.
The field was completely cover with dirt and large boulders, creating a very barren landscape. There was a small cylinder shaped altar in the center of the field, on the altar where four different designs, each not complete. Alphonse noticed this right away and said,
"Those look like transmutation circles."
"Yeah, they do…hmmm." Artimus crossed her arms and frowned, she hadn't been aware of this little twist. Well, she considered it a twist sense she knew nothing about it. That's when Ron and Hermione showed up, they spotted Al and Artimus sitting in the front row and walked over to meet them.
"Hey you two!" Ron shouted making his way over.
"Oh hey Ron!" Al said turning to face them.
"So, what do you think?" Hermione asked sitting down just behind Al. Al looked out over the playing field again then back to Hermione saying,
"I think my brother will do just fine."
"Speaking of which, have you seen Ed anywhere?" Ron asked.
"He said he was going to the prefects bathroom to take a bath." Al answered, Hermione frowned and said,
"How can he do that? He needs a key, and only prefects are given them."
"I gave one to him." Artimus said not turning to acknowledge them.
"How did you get one?" Hermione demanded.
"Simple, I took the one you had left in your pocket and made a replica." Artimus answered.
"What!"
"Yup, made it out of wood too." Artimus took out her silver pocket watch and checked the time, twelve forty-five.
Hermione seemed rather flustered after that, she couldn't believe that Artimus had gone through her things. She was starting to see what Ron had been talking about, these new guys did seem rather…odd.
--
Edward was just getting up to the boys dorm rooms when Harry showed up, both boys stopped and looked at each other for a moment. Harry broke the silence by asking,
"Did you find out what it is yet?"
"No…" Ed replied.
"It's dragons…that's the first task." Harry said.
"…" Ed didn't say anything, his right hand was just clenching and unclenching a fist "heh, you don't say…" he stormed past Harry and went into the dorm room. Harry followed after him and asked,
"Hey, what is it? You don't seem very relieved."
"Relieved! Should I be!" Ed snapped. Harry couldn't help but frown back and say,
"Maybe not…"
Ed pulled his travel suitcase out from under his bed and flopped it on top of his bed. Opening it he started to rummage through it, he pulled out the uniform Artimus had made. Glaring at it for a moment he set the jacket on his pillow then took out the pants, they resembled the blue ones the military had back in Amestris. Setting those down next to the suitcase he then took out a blacklong sleeveand set it down on the uniform pants.
"Sorry I snapped at you…" he then said, Harry just held up his hands and replied,
"Oh don't worry about it, it's ok."
Edward held up his right hand, it was clenched in a tight fist, he seemed rather angry. Though it didn't show on his face, it was very clear in his eyes,
"I'm just thinking…I might just take Artimus up on her offer to fight." Ed picked up the close he'd picked out and left the dorm room. Harry just stood there in the room and sighed, he was thinking maybe Ron was right, there was definitely something about these alchemists that just didn't seem right.
It was twelve fifty-five and Ed was sprinting down the hallway towards the exit of the castle. Nearly kicking down the front doors to the castle, Ed put on an extra burst of speed as he sprinted towards the Quidditch field. A few straggler students told him where to go sense he'd forgotten to ask. When he reached the field he was gasping for breath, Harry patted him on the back and said,
"Heh, don't worry, I got here just a moment ago. You're not too late, Dumbledore just finished explaining the point of the task."
"Crap…" Ed gasped.
"All we have to do is subdue the dragon, without harming it, and place our hand on the altar in the center of the field." Harry explained. Edward stood up straight and held his arms up over his head, even though he looked flustered and out of breath, he still had a smirk on his face.
"That shouldn't be to hard."
Dumbledore soon walked up to them, he was carrying a small box with him. Ed mentally glared at the box for a moment.
"Inside this box, don't worry it is a normal box, are four numbers. In order, you will choose which dragon you will be subduing. One being the least challenging, four being the most challenging." He held up the box for the participants to reach in and choose their dragon. Harry went first, then the girl from Beauxbatons, then the boy from Durmstrang. Finally it was Eds' turn, he reached in and grabbed the last slip of paper.
He looked down at the paper, his expression didn't fool anyone. Dumbledore set the box aside and said,
"Now, read off your number."
"Two" Harry said.
"One" the girl said.
"Three" the boy said.
"…Four…" Edward said, everyone looked at him. Even though he was trying to hide it, they all could tell he was a considerable pale green color. Ed didn't mind subduing a dragon…but did it have to be the strongest of the four?
"All right then, I wish you all the best of luck." Dumbledore nodded, before he left though he walked over to Harry and talked to him for a moment, the then walked over Edward and said,
"You will be facing a Peruvian Vipertooth. These dragons are one of the smallest of all dragons, about fifteen feet in length, but be warned. These dragons are very fast and very poisonous."
"Heh, go figure. So am I." Ed replied, he was now putting up his usual cocky attitude to hide the fact that he had a very nasty knot in his stomach. When Dumbledore left, Harry walked over to him and said,
"If it makes you feel any better, the Peruvian Vipertooth isn't the most dangerous dragon in existence."
"Could've fooled me."
"It's actually the Hungarian Horntail, I remember Hagrid mentioning it at one point."
Edward leaned against a wall, he then looked over at Harry and said,
"You're up first you know…"
"Oh, right." Harry turned and left when he heard his name called, followed by loud applause.
--
It seemed like eternity sense Harry had gone out there and started everything off, the other two participants had soon gone out and fought their dragons. Edward was sitting on the ground with a pondering look on his face. He was going over possible tactics of how he could subdue his dragon, if it was fast and poisonous then he'd have to be faster.
Soon he heard the sound of Dumbledore announcing it was his turn, getting up Ed made his way towards the field. When he came out onto the field there was a thunder of applause. Edward froze instantly and it wasn't because he wasn't used to being in front of a large crowd. He was looking straight into the eyes of a fifteen-foot Peruvian Vipertooth. Its' smooth cooper colored scales and black ridges, along it's back, flashed in the sunlight. The minute the dragon spotted him, it hissed and tugged violently on its' chain, Edward involuntarily took a few steps back.
He'd backed up into a wall, the door he'd just come through had vanished! Ed quickly turned his attention back to the dragon, it was still hissing and trying desperately to free itself from the chains that were holding it down. Looking up momentarily at Dumbledore, Ed saw him hold up his hand and bring it down. This must have ment to release the dragon, and sure enough, the chains 'vanished' and the dragon shot straight at Edward with lighting agility.
Just dodging it, Ed made a mad dash away from the wall so he wouldn't get cornered. He had to think fast, if he wanted to subdue this dragon and live he'd have to do something soon. But before he had time to think the dragon had already caught up with him and cut him off, its' tail swept out and tripped Ed causing him to hit the ground.
"Damn…" Ed quickly clapped his hands and touched the ground, there was a flash of alchemic light and a large stone wall came up out of the ground. The dragon hissed and slammed into it trying to get at Ed. The wall wouldn't hold for long so this ment Ed had to think…and fast, really fast.
"That's it!" Ed got to his feet and started to get as much distance between him and the dragon, when the dragon finally got around the wall it hissed and looked around for its' target. Spotting Edward again it charged forward, Ed didn't move…he was waiting. Just as the dragon was nearly on him, he clapped his hands and touched the ground again. Only this time when the flash of alchemic light vanished, the dragon was in a large cage, Ed smirked as the dragon thrashed around in the cage, as he walked past it towards the center of the field he could hear his brother cheering,
"That was awesome brother! Way to go!"
Ed took this moment to look up at his brother and wave, he then spotted Artimus, she was smirking also, this made Ed grimace slightly. He didn't like the way she was smirking, it was if she knew that if they did fight…she'd win. No, that wouldn't happen. Ed made his way up to the altar and was about to place his hand on it when he noticed that the place where his hand was supposed to go was a transmutation circle. He paused and examined it, this proved to be a very bad move on his part.
The Peruvian Vipertooth had managed to break apart part of the cage and get free. It had charged right at Edward and swung its' tail around slamming him into the altar. The force and speed of the impact was near devastating, Ed could literally feel his ribs break as the wind was knocked out of him. He hit the ground like a rock, the dragon took this chance to try and get a bite in as well, it snapped at him. Still not able to breath very well and the pain from his broken ribs, Ed struggled away from the dragon as fast as he could.
Without thinking he clapped his hands, the dragon slithered around and snapped down on his right leg. Ed was glad that the uniform pants where made of such 'tough' material because he didn't feel anything, he then touched the ground again creating a large stone box around the dragon with three holes at the very top on all four sides. The dragon had let go of course when it saw the flash of light.
Struggling to his feet Ed quickly placed his hand on the respective circle that corresponded with the mark on his hand. He then turned to face the audience, everyone was cheering, save for Alphonse, Artimus, and Dumbledore. Ed wasn't sure why they where looking at him they way they where. It was as if something really bad had just happened…but he won…wasn't that a good thing?
A sudden sharp pain shot through him as if he'd just been struck by lighting, Ed keeled over unconscious…
To Be Continued-
WOW! This was a long chapter! W00t! Ok, so the whole first task wasn't really a funny ROFLMAO kind of thing…oh curse my natural angsty moments! ARG! Oh well, hope you liked this chapter! Oh…one more thing! No Edward wasn't walking around naked after his bath! Just wanted ta say that before someone jumped to the wrong conclusion! (Heheheheheh –evil laugh-) He just…um…ok I'm not really sure what he did…but he wasn't naked! (Mentally- crap…) Remember! Leave me reviews! Preferably nice ones!