Author's note: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm Sorry! (Prostrates on the ground and begs readers for mercy) Thank you all for your patience waiting for this new chapter and sorry for taking so long. Now that I am graduating from university I have more time to write. This chapter is going to be mostly about Edward being introduced to Hogwarts and reading his father's notes about magic. There will be some technical talk in this and I hope you will be able to understand it and not bore you. Much of the info in this chapter I owe from Harry Potter Wiki but some of them I made up myself. And thank you for your reviews, they are much appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters.
Chapter 3: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Edward Elric could honestly say that he had seen some very crazy shit during his travels. He had seen homunculi, chimeras, a man with half his body replaced with automail, a whole city vanish off the face of the earth, philosopher's stones, walking, talking suits of armor, and of course The Gate. But nothing he had experienced could have prepared him for the insanity he found in this madhouse they called a school.
Edward had woken up in the hospital wing to the sunlight streaming through the windows. Still groggy from sleep he did not notice the strange creature standing beside his bed, holding a breakfast tray. When he finally noticed it, he yelped, jumped up and clumsily fell off the bed. The creature jumped too but quickly regained its composure. "Master Elric sir, I have brought you breakfast," the creature said in a squeaky voice.
Edward blinked several times trying to comprehend what he was seeing. The creature was short, only coming up to his waist; it had large bat-like ears and large blue eyes that were watching him curiously. Its skin was wrinkled and had a long nose. It was wearing a tea towel like a toga with an odd coat of arms stamped on the front. Ed did not know what this thing was, only that he believed it to be a sort of chimera.
"Who are you and what are you?"
The creature smiled, "I am Mokey sir. I am a house elf sir."
Ed frowned, "What the heck is a house elf." The creature's ears dropped a little, Ed realized he might have upset the elf's feelings. "Sorry, I've never heard of a house elf before." The elf, who Ed suspected to be female, perked up again.
"A house elf serves the wizard family they are bound to sir. I am employed here at Hogwarts by Professor Dumbledore sir."
'That does not really answer my question but I guess I will have to take what I get until I can talk to that old man again.' Ed thought. "You said something about breakfast?"
Mokey nodded eagerly and set down the tray she was holding onto the table next to Ed's bed. "I has brought you toast, bacon, sausages, and eggs sir. If you want anything else just ask sir." Ed was surprised by the amount of food on the tray but he was not complaining because it had been a while since he had last eaten. The smell of the food on its own was almost enough to make him drool. That was until he saw the white liquid sitting innocently in a crystal goblet on the tray.
Poor Mokey was alarmed at the fierce glare that Edward gave the goblet of milk. "I-is something wrong sir?" she asked hesitantly.
Ed tried to erase his glare before turning to the nervous house-elf, "I really can't stand milk so would it not be too much trouble to take it away and bring me some coffee instead?"
The elf relaxed glad that she had not done anything terribly wrong. "Of course sir, I will get it for you right away sir." She grabbed the goblet and with a cracking sound she vanished. Ed jumped at her disappearing act, then sighed and rubbed his temples. It was barely morning and this insane place was already starting to give him a headache. Another crack signified the elf's return with a mug of steaming hot coffee in her hands.
"Here is your coffee Master Elric sir," she said, handing it over to him. She shuffled her feet nervously as he took a sip.
Ed gave her a smile, "thanks Mokey, this is just fine." Mokey beamed at him and Edward could not help but like the elf despite how odd looking she was.
"I will now leave you to your breakfast Master Elric. If you need anything at all just call out Mokey's name and I will come sir." Mokey then gave a short bow and disappeared again with another crack. 'How the hell does she do that? Let's hope that the old man gives me a thorough explanation.' Ed thought as he dug into his breakfast. When he finished he felt some of his tension lessen with the help of a full stomach. That was when he noticed that the old man and the stern woman from yesterday had entered the room.
"Good morning Mr. Elric," Professor Dumbledore said with a smile, his eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. Edward was still uncertain about what he thought of this strange man so he gave a curt nod in reply. "I have decided to start of the day by giving you a tour of the castle and explaining some of its history. Just to warn you this castle holds numerous secrets and many of them have yet to be discovered. I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge."
Edward let out a small sigh of resignation then stood up from his seat on the bed. "All right I guess. Lead the way old man." Professor McGonagall looked indignant at the boy's lack of respect to the headmaster, but Dumbledore just smiled before exiting the hospital wing. They had only made it a few feet down the corridor before Ed saw something completely strange, a portrait that moved. "What the hell?" Was all Edward could say.
The portrait which depicted an old man said back, "Watch your language young man." Edward jolted in surprise then looked to Dumbledore for an explanation.
Dumbledore smiled at the bewildered young man and explained. "You see Mr. Elric, when we have a portrait commissioned we use enchantments combined with a special paint in order to give the portrait a semblance of sentience, such as the ability to move and speak. Usually the person who commissioned the portrait will mark the piece with their own magical signature, which will give the painting the characteristics of the subject such as their personality and some memories."
Edward frowned in confusion, "magical signature?"
"All witches and wizards have a unique magical signature, much like a fingerprint. Any spell they cast will have their own unique signature. Unfortunately a way to track magical signatures has not yet been found and we can only identify a spell that is cast within a certain area and not who cast it. The closest method that we have is to identify the wand that cast the spell but even that is flawed because wizards can use wands that do not belong to them even though the results they get are not as effective as they would get if they were using their own wand"
Edward listened closely as they continued down the corridor, frowning as he tried to wrap his head around this information. "Why would they not get as good results and why do you wizards need to use wands in the first place?"
Dumbledore just smiled again. "Unfortunately Mr. Elric, wand lore just so happens to be one of the most mysterious and complicated branches of magic and is very difficult to understand. So at this point I think it would be best to wait until you have a better grasp on magic and our society before answering those questions. Now don't worry," said Dumbledore as Ed frowned at him. 'I know for a fact that your father wrote about this subject in his notes. If you wish for answers you can look there, and I am sure you will be able to understand them just fine."
Edward grunted, unconvinced but he said nothing. Moments later they reached the end of the corridor and Ed gaped at the enormous staircase that went up several floors. "This is the Grand Staircase," said Dumbledore. "Hogwarts has seven floors as well as the dungeons. There are also a number of towers as well. The staircase begins at the entrance hall and goes all the way up to the seventh floor."
'I feel sorry for these kids if they have to climb up and down these stairs every day,' thought Ed. As he looked up he noticed that one of the staircases was moving. Again all he could say was, "what the hell?" Professor McGonagall, who was following behind them sniffed disapprovingly at the blond teen's language but Dumbledore just chuckled.
"These stairs were enchanted to move by Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the four founders of this school. She was known to be the most intelligent and skilled witch of her time." Dumbledore continued his explanation as they descended the stairs. "You see Mr. Elric, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded over a millennia ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of that time. They were called Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin." Edward snorted quietly at the ridiculous sounding names. "They built this school for the purpose to teaching young witches and wizards how to utilize and control their magic, as well as provide them protection from the muggles who persecuted us due to their fear of magic."
"What the heck is a muggle?" Asked Edward.
"A muggle is the term we use for people who are unable to use magic."
Ed frowned. "That greasy haired guy from last night called me a muggle didn't he?"
Dumbledore nodded although he did not approve of the boys comment on Snape's hair.
"That was Professor Snape, our potions master, and yes you can be technically be called a muggle since you are unable to use magic yourself despite your knowledge of alchemy." Edward scowled at the reminder that these people considered alchemy to be magic, when anyone back at home with half a brain knew that alchemy is a science. The more he learned about magic, the more ridiculous and impossible it seemed.
They made their way to the entrance hall and from there the Great Hall. Again Ed was in awe of the enormous chamber, especially the enchanted ceiling. "Don't worry Mr. Elric," said Dumbledore when he saw the overwhelmed look on the boy's face. "A good number of our students come from muggle families and like you did not believe in magic until they were accepted into the school. They are usually as overwhelmed as you are by the castle and magic but they are able to adapt and I'm sure you will as well." Ed merely grunted in reply.
Dumbledore explained about the four houses, how the students were sorted and the house cup. Edward was not overly impressed with the points system because it was obvious that it was a system that could easily be abused through favoritism and winning the house cup was not worth anything except bragging rights over the other houses. Overall he did not see any point to it other than trying to keep the students in line. He guessed that this system probably only bred animosity among the students which would be trouble that he didn't need. Despite his doubts Ed decided to keep his mouth shut, if he was fortunate hopefully he would be back home soon and not have to take part in this silly house cup thing.
They left the great hall and went outside to explore the grounds, which Ed did admit were impressive. Outside, the castle looked much bigger that what he had seen so far and grumbled to himself about how the hell would he be able to find his way around in this enormous place? The exploration of the grounds went without incident except for the chance meeting with the groundskeeper Hagrid, a giant of a man who was bigger than even Major Armstrong or Sig combined. When Hagrid made a slight comment on how small he was, Edward was barely able to stop himself from erupting into one of his famous outbursts by telling himself that everyone must look small to this man.
They re-entered the castle and ate lunch in the great hall. Edward was introduced to two new teachers, Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout. Filius Flitwick was a nice fellow with a cheerful demeanor, who Ed decided was fairly likeable. It also helped that Ed finally found an adult who was much shorter than him. Pomona Sprout was also a pleasant women who warmly welcomed Edward to Hogwarts. Professor Snape was also present but spent the meal scowling at the young man while wearing his trademark sneer.
"I am told that you are an alchemist Mr. Elric," squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick. "Do you think you could oblige us and give us a demonstration?" Edward nodded, setting down his utensils. He got up from his chair and walked to the front of the table. Clapping his hands together, he placed them on the stone floor. With a crackle of blue lightning, the same that appeared when he arrived at the school, the stone rose up and shifted into a well detailed model of the castle, which he had observed from the grounds.
The professors gasped in amazement. Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled in fascination as he stood up in order to get a closer look at the creation. "This is very impressive Mr. Elric," observed Dumbledore. The other professors all expressed their agreement except for professor Snape who carefully kept his face blank.
Edward shrugged. "This is nothing," he said before clapping his hands again and returning the model to its original form. He returned to his seat at the table in order to finish his meal.
After their meal they continued the tour, and Edward had to admit the food was excellent, although nothing would convince him to try the pumpkin juice. Why would anyone want to drink the juice of a pumpkin anyways? They entered the dungeons which were quite chilly but not dank and damp as Ed expected a dungeon to be. When visiting the potions classroom the blond was impressed by what he saw since it looked like potions was very similar to chemistry. His feelings must have shown on his face because Snape, who had followed them down, looked a little less sour.
Finally they returned upstairs and headed towards the third floor, not before Ed walked right through a ghost which resulted in the young man swearing profoundly and the ghost looking affronted. "The ghosts of this castle are the imprints of the souls of the departed that have remained on this earth." Dumbledore explained, ignoring the boy's crude language. "Only magical people can become ghosts and they prefer to dwell in places that are permeated by strong magic, such as this castle because without it they gradually lose their tangibility."
Edward, still disgruntled from his experience questioned, "So are you saying that their souls did not pass through The Gate?"
The ghost, startled, demanded, "How do you know of The Gate? You have seen it?"
"Yes." Ed said solemnly. "More than once. I have also been inside The Gate and saw the truth." The professors noted that the ghost, commonly known as Sir Nicholas or Nearly-Headless Nick, was highly disturbed by Edwards's words. They all wanted to know what the two individuals were talking about but it was obvious to them that they would not be given an answer if they asked.
At last the group reached the place that the brilliant alchemist was looking forward to the most, the library. Edward gaped at the enormous number of books all neatly lined up on spotless shelves. It was just as impressive as the State library in Central. Dumbledore smiled at the awestruck look on the boy's face. It was plain to see that the boy was an avid reader and would most likely have belonged in Ravenclaw if he were sorted into a house.
"All the books in this library are available to you at all hours including the ones in the restricted section." The headmaster stated as the young alchemist closely examined one of the shelves. 'Madam Pince, our librarian will help you find any materials you may need. I'm sure the two of you will get along just fine as long as you pay proper respects to her books."
Edward hummed a reply as he selected a book and removed it from the shelf. He opened the book and immediately began to scan its contents. Dumbledore chuckled when he realized that the boy was completely absorbed in the book and was oblivious to everything else around him. He decided to leave the boy to his own devices for a while and exited the library, professors McGonagall and Snape in tow. Outside the library Snape questioned the headmaster. "Albus, I am still not convinced that the boy is capable of teaching our students when his knowledge of magic is so limited. And there is only less than a month before the term starts, so I don't how it is possible for him to catch up in such a short amount of time."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that Severus," said Dumbledore. "From his demonstration this afternoon I could tell that he is a very skilled alchemist. To have such a mastery of alchemy, which I must say is difficult to understand even for the most intelligent minds at such a young age is remarkable. It is obvious that he is brilliant, even more so than our own Miss Granger. I am sure that he will have no trouble at all catching up." The professors were still skeptical, but being used to their headmaster's odd ways decided to trust in his judgement.
Edward remained in the library for another few hours before hunger forced him to return to the great hall for supper. After eating a healthy meal the old man took him to a room on the third floor, close to the library. "This will be your quarters during your stay here at Hogwarts," explained Dumbledore. "This main room will be your office while the room back here will be where you sleep." Ed looked around, the rooms were clean and sparse, but were enough to satisfy his needs. He looked at the desk and saw a large stack of notes on the surface.
"Are those?"
"These are Nicholas' notes yes. You may read them at your leisure. Since you are his son it is only proper to entrust them to you." Ed nodded silently while staring at the notes. "I will put a locking charm on the doors which will open when you speak the password of your choosing."
The blond thought carefully for a moment before deciding on a password. "Nina. That is what I'll use." Dumbledore nodded in approval before casting the charm.
"I will leave you now to your rest. In the morning if you don't wish to have breakfast in the hall then you can just call Mokey and she will bring it to you. Mokey will care for you during your stay at Hogwarts so don't worry about keeping the room tidy or other such chores for Mokey will see to it for you." With that the old headmaster bid goodnight and left the room. Edward sat down on the surprisingly soft chair at the desk and rubbed his face with his left hand. He was exhausted from the long day he had but could not go to sleep without first looking at Hohemheim's notes.
He picked up the notes from the top of the pile and opened it. Inside he found an envelope addressed 'to my sons'. He looked at it disdainfully for a moment before opening it and pulling out the letter. It said, 'To my sons Edward and Alphonse. Ever since Edward returned to our world after his brief visit here I always thought of the possibility that one of you may find your way here again. Even though I have been absent for most of your lives I know enough that you two will do anything, no matter what the cost to protect each other. I knew that you boys would need a way to return home so I have devoted all my time into finding a way.
I know you must be disappointed in me for using the stone once again to lengthen my life, even if no sacrifices were made. To tell the truth I felt as though I did not deserve something as easy as death. For so long I feared death, which was the reason for my horrible actions in the past. But now I realize that living is harder than dying any day. When Albus convinced me to finally destroy the stone I felt relieved because I was so tired of this empty existence. Even though my efforts to find a way back to our world were unsuccessful, I hope that my research will prove of use to you, and optimistically it will help absolve me of some of my sins.
I am proud of you both, even though I have no right to say it. I will not ask for forgiveness because I know I don't deserve any of it. I hope that if I see your mother she will forgive me. I will give her your love for you and I know that she is proud of you and will always watch over you. Farewell. Van Hohemheim.'
"That damn bastard," muttered Ed, crumpling up the letter and throwing it on the floor. His thoughts were all twisted into knots, to the point where he wanted to give up thinking altogether. Frustrated he picked up the notes again and began to read. 'Magic is an energy that permeates this world that can alter the fabric of reality. There are certain laws on what magic can and can't do (see section two for magical laws) but basically magic bypasses all the laws of equivalent exchange. I believe that this energy comes from the gate, much as the energy for alchemy also comes from the gate.
While people do need some inherent talent to use alchemy, the ability to use magic is entirely genetic. In many years past, certain humans gained the ability to use magic. Magical ability is a dominate trait so if one person in a family has magic, then this ability is almost definitely passed down to the next generation. Male magic users call themselves wizards while females are called witches. Non-magical people, known in most of Europe as muggles, are generally unable to see things that are magical in origin, and are more susceptible to magical influence which the wizards use to their advantage in order to keep magic hidden from the general populace. Non-magical people greatly outnumber magic users. From recent statistics, witches and wizards only make up a tenth of the world's population.
Sometimes there is a genetic defect where a person born into a magical family is completely unable to use magic. Though there is no proper term for this condition do to its rarity, these people are known as Squibs. Contrary to popular belief, squibs do not have no magic at all. The fact is that the magic they do possess is too weak to be of any use although they still possess magical awareness. There is another minority group known as muggleborns who are magic users that were born from non-magical parents. It has been discovered that these individuals are descendants of squibs that had married into non-magical families and the magical gene spontaiously resurfaces many generations latter.
Magic surfaces at a young age and will cause things to happen spontaneously. As the children age their magic settles down which is when they are educated on how to properly channel and control it. All wizards use a wand as a method to channel their magic, much like a transmutation circle. (See section three for wand lore) In ancient times they used runes to direct what they want their magic to do. For the past couple millennia they use spells instead, which are words that are, for the most part rooted from an ancient language called Latin. Wand movement, incantation, and intent are all required to successfully cast a spell. If these three requirements are not met then the spell will almost certainly fail or backfire.
There are a number of branches of magic which include: Transfiguration, Charms, Dark Arts, Divination, Arithmancy, Legilimency/Occlumency, Herbology, Healing and Potions. Most magic users are given general education on most of these subjects but many specialize in one or more branches then others. Most spells are not indefinite and their effects will wear off over a period of time. The length of time it takes for a spell to wear off depends on the spells nature and how much magic is given to sustain it. Some spells are capable of lasting for thousands of years.'
Edward finally put the papers down, too exhausted to continue on. What kind of insane world have I landed myself in? Wearily, the Fullmetal Alchemist crawled into his bed and prayed to whatever god existed that when he woke up, everything he had experienced in the last 24 hours has all been just a messed up dream.
Note: This chapter took me forever to complete. I kept coming up with more stuff to add and I have had writers block several times but I have finally finished it. I hope it will make everyone happy. I will get started on the next one very soon. If you give me lots of reviews I will try to hurry up with my next chapter. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
