Whoops, thought I posted this. I've been trying to go for every other Friday.

Original Author's Note: To answer Matsuyama's question, Edward can not use magic simply because he is not fast enough (at least to his liking). For him to cast the spell, he must first know what physical or chemical theories imply, then, while casting the spell, focus on all his knowledge so that the spell works while focusing on his wand for it absorbs the overflow of the spell to avoid overloading it and finally the spell is cast. That's why Ed will always be slower than a seasoned duelist like Harry in a duel, but he can compensate by ambushing or hiding.

Otherwise, yes, some people will wonder where Edward spends his days, but the young people are too interested and busy with Quidditch. They know that Ed is rather lonely so they believe it in his room or in a corner of the garden, away. But you will have more answers in this chapter... ;-)

Also, Ed was 16 years old at the end of the story but meanwhile, water has flowed under the bridge and since another birthday has passed in one of the chapters of volume 1. So, he is now 17 years old and is therefore of age: he can now Apparate and drink to his heart's content. (Note, alcohol abuse is bad for your health, consume with moderation).

Edward had continued his incursions into the forest around the Burrow for the most part to train. He experimented on each of his outings a new form of alchemy to finally master this alchemy that for the moment was stubborn to deny him. But the young alchemist was a thousand times stubborn and when he was determined to achieve something, nothing could get in his way. Nevertheless, for once, Edward would have liked to benefit, like his little brother, from some lessons from May Chang (even if she had insulted him) to avoid the many mistakes he had made during the last days.

Half the time, he spent his time constructing theories by writing like crazy in his notebook in which there were fewer and fewer blank pages, which reminded Edward that he would have to either use the alchemy to add new pages (and thus give it the size of one of Hermione's books), or buy a new one on the excursion to Diagon Alley planned in two days. Edward leant instead for the second solution... The other half of his time, Edward devoted to training with his alchemy after carefully ensuring that no one was watching him. The results were rather variable and generally too unsatisfactory according to Edward's point of view. But eventually, he began to get some success from time to time, but far too uneven to satisfy the young scientist who felt that an alchemical theory had to work permanently and not from time to time.

But today, he felt like he had taken a big step forward because he finally understood what was disturbing his Xingese-style alchemy: the energy currents of the Gate of this universe tended to deflect his alchemical attempts, which explained his lack of precision which was worse than usual... On the one hand, it would mean that as long as he remained in this world, training in Xingese alchemy would be much more complicated but on the other hand, when he returned to his world (assuming that he didn't kick the bucket in this one...), he could try his experiments again on this eastern alchemy without fear of interference. With a little luck, there would be more success there than here ...

In the meantime, it also meant that training would not significantly improve his remote alchemy and so he could take a break in this discipline. The young alchemist was a little disappointed not to be able to continue his experiments but even he had to admit his defeat in the matter. But at least his failure was only a postponement: once back home, he would try to resume his training intensively with his brother, it promised nice hours of work together!

Lying under a tree in the clearing where he had spent his time searching for a way to make the Xingese alchemy work, Edward was content, for once, to listen to the songs of birds and the different sounds of nature. Usually, it was really not his style to stay quietly in place but it became obvious to him that for the moment he had nothing better to do. He had already written down his latest findings and it was still too early to return to the Burrow where his friends still had to be immersed in their friendly Quidditch match. He was not in a hurry to return.

"Hello, Edward."

The young boy opened his eyelids and found himself face to face with Luna's dreamy face on which appeared a sweet and curious look. He had not seen her since their first meeting in the woods and the inter-world traveler was delighted to see his Ravenclaw friend again. Smiling, the young man replied:

"Hi, Luna, how are you? As you can see, I'm taking your advice..."

"I'm fine and I can see you're trying my advice: there's a lot less Nargles around you."

"Um... thanks, I guess." Edward said, still a little puzzled when she mentioned these strange magical beasties.

"Do you want to come and have tea at my home?" Luna asked, tilting her head to one side, "my father would love to meet you, Edward. I'm sure he'll love you!"

"Why not?" Edward said, stretching himself and longing for a cup of tea in good company.

Then he got up and followed the young Ravenclaw who jumped between the roots, humming a strange tune while her friend tried to follow her as best he could. They crossed thick shady groves to finally arrive near a deep stream that ran between flat stones on which the girl was having fun jumping from one to another. Edward, amused by what he saw as one of his friend's many rituals, tried to imitate her as best he could.

It was not easy when you had automail instead of a leg and the boy finished more splashed than the girl, who burst out laughing in a childish way. Her amusement peaked when a spherical fish leaped from the water just in front of the alchemist, who squeaked in a very manly fashion until Luna explained that it was a bulu, a creature magic considered harmful by the ignorant.

Edward was not yet fully accustomed to the wonders and strangeness of the magical world and he could still be totally surprised by what was considered normal by other wizards. It was also because of this that he did not know what magical creatures were real or came from Luna's immense imagination and, to tell the truth, it did not matter much to him.

Finally, the duo came out of the forest and arrived in sight of a fairly high hill at the top of which was a kind of dark tower high enough to stand out in the landscape of greenery. The place breathed the weird and the incongruous, but the Muggles weren't aware of the location of this house because otherwise the young Amestrian was certain they would probably have demanded that the house respected the rules of the local English subdivision more closely. Edward, on the other hand, found this tower rather nice and was quite happy to see that others shared his artistic tastes... The boy began to accelerate to stay with Luna who had started to run towards the house she, which she entered without hesitation.

The young alchemist, meanwhile, slowed down a bit as he arrived within view of a strange man perched on the bars of a ladder, trying to pick fruits in the shape of orange radishes which seemed float in the air. The wizard had gray hair that seemed to be going all over the place, a wizard's robe even more eccentric than Dumbledore's and, like his daughter, he had an aura of sweet madness floating around him. On seeing Ed, he slowly descended from his ladder and then pointed his wand at Edward, who took a step back when he saw it while raising his hands to show that he was unarmed. It was in theory, of course, since it was enough for the young alchemist to join his hands to send off any of his opponents.

"Dad, I'll introduce you to Edward, he's one of my first friends and I invited him to tea at home because that's what friends do, right?"

"I did not know you were a friend of my daughter," said the wizard before lowering his wand, "I feared it was a Death Eater, you never know in these times. But if you are a friend of Luna, then it's perfect! Come in! Come in!"

Edward followed the strange family inside the tower and looked at the kitchen with curiosity: it was round in shape, with a spiral staircase in the middle while the walls and ceiling were decorated with multicolored birds and insects that the young boy could not identify and that had to be the many creatures out of the imagination of his friend. The room had a rather merry atmosphere with its decorations and as usual whenever Edward entered a wizard's home, he could not help but be amazed by the wide variety between the houses. .

Luna cheerfully invited her friend to sit at the table before bringing a small tray on which was tea, milk, toast, scones, a jar of jam- not to mention the cups and spoons. Edward could not help but notice that his friend seemed to be doing her best to imitate normal people when they were serving tea, but she could not quite judge by the way tea was being made. The mistress of the house herself was serving tea singing, her eyes fixed on the ceiling and, as a result, spilling a portion of the beverage on the tray. Still, Edward really enjoyed the invitation and soon, when everyone was served, a conversation started to take place.

Mr. Lovegood was a very open man who liked to discuss all sorts of varied subjects; he believed in many things, ranging from fairy tales to conspiracy theories that the government was trying to keep itself in place by every possible means. Luna seemed to encourage her father's opinions by agreeing with everything he said without hesitation. Edward, on the other hand, though a very rational person, managed to fit into the discussion by exposing some of his less common beliefs about magic, which earned him the enthusiasm of Mr. Lovegood, who saw him as a open and enlightened mind and congratulated him warmly. They had even begun to discuss some theories linking the stories of the centaurs and the assumptions of theories about magic's origins.

The tea party was a most pleasant and warm moment. Of course, the tea had a very strange appearance and taste still unknown in the palate of the young Amnestrien, the scones sometimes rolled themselves to go into the filled cups and the plum jam had a tendency to provoke a state of weightlessness in those who consumed it. But aside from these slight details, it was one of the best moments Edward had spent in recent days.

At the end of two hours, however, he noticed the passing of time and thought it was time for him to return if he wanted to be back before the evening meal at the Burrow. He took a hearty farewell to Luna and her father, both of whom insisted on offering him a necklace of dirigible plums. The intention was really nice although the pendant was really strange. Edward left the strange dark tower before turning back the way from which he had come. He went down the hill to return to the woods. The cold wind blew violently on the deserted moor, as clouds piled up on the horizon, a sign of a coming storm, telling him it was in his interest to hurry home.

Unfortunately, the boy had not really improved his sense of direction and today was the first time he ventured into this part of the forest. Mumbling imprecations in Amestrian, Edward thought he might have had to accept Luna's offer to take him back- at least to the clearing- because for the moment, it seemed obvious that he was still getting lost more than usual.

Luckily, the boy finally spotted the stream he had seen on the way out and that was good news. The forest had become completely dark and the cries of the birds were getting louder and louder as the storm approached and thundered. Large icy drops began to fall on the ground and the wind redoubled in rage. Realizing that if he did not want to be completely soaked, he had every interest in speeding up, Edward started to run on the path that was getting more and more muddy while the rain formed a curtain hard to pierce.

Finally, what was about to happen happened and Edward slipped into a muddy puddle and fell into the stream he was skirting as fast as possible. With the storm, the harmless little tributary had become even deeper and the teen had swallowed a large gulp before he could get his head out of the water. Driven by the current and the weight of his automail, he could not swim to the slippery banks to climb out safely. The storm was still rumbling as loudly and the only light came from the lightning of the storm. He could not even call for help: the thunder would cover the least of his cries and if he opened his mouth he could swallow water and choke. The blond was really beginning to fear that he could drown stupidly in a world far from home, alone, without having returned to his friends from Amestris.

But luck finally smiled at him and the little stream finally ended up in a pond in a small clearing. The roots of the trees along the bank were strong enough to hold on and secure on the mainland. Trembling with cold after his forced swimming, the boy began by lighting a fire with his alchemy to see more clearly: with the latter, it was easy for the young alchemist to evaporate. water from the wood to make it drier and able to flare up without too much difficulty. Then the young Amnestrian clapped his hands again to evaporate the water that soaked his automail praying with all his might that it hadn't been too damaged after his stay in the water.

Luckily, the automail seemed to respond perfectly, although the joints were painful because of the rain, which meant everything was normal and the boy was deeply relieved. Now that the most urgent had passed, Edward could begin to think about getting some comfort: using his alchemy again, he created a small temporary shelter and dried his clothes while waiting for the end of the storm. According to his observations, the latter would probably soon move away from his location and there, he could begin to try to find his way back. Looking at his watch, he grunted when he calculated that he would probably not have returned in time for the meal, which meant that the members of the Order would realize that he was able to leave the Burrow as he pleased. He was practically certain that he would be entitled to a sermon on his return, which did not improve the miserable mood of the alchemist.

Seeing that the rain was starting to weaken, Edward grabbed a flaming stick to go look around the clearing and find where he had to go to return to the Burrow. He did not know this place at all and it was going to be really difficult for him to come back because he would have to be much more cautious when he ran along the stream again so that he did not start his forced swim again.

The setting sun was beginning to appear through the branches of the bushy forest, though it was still raining lightly and Edward could see more clearly where he was: a small clearing with magical wild flowers and normal colors varied. In the middle was the small pond covered with water lilies and duckweed, bordered by weeping willows and other gnarled trees. An enchanting corner but that seemed curiously maintained for a corner meant to be wild. Turning around, Edward quickly understood the reason.

Two white steles planted in the ground indicated the location of what was to be two graves. Respectfully, Edward approached them and knelt before them to observe them better: the marble slabs were relatively new and should not be more than ten years old, bouquets and crowns of flowers and plants were placed in front of them, proving that they were visited regularly. One of the white stones was much larger than the other and was engraved with inscriptions while on the other there was nothing. On the funeral stele, the name inscribed was not unknown to him: Selene Lovegood, followed by dates of birth and death. The latter went back to 1990, which meant that Luna had probably lost her mother when she was nine years old.

The other tomb was intriguing: its small size suggested that a child was buried here and yet there was no name, no name, nothing, except that little white stone, which reminded that a loved one had existed and lived in this world. It was really strange and Edward had always been attracted to the mysteries, although this one must have been particularly painful since it was the death of a child. It was not his role to try to reveal such a secret.

"Good evening, Edward."

Edward turned abruptly at the voice of Luna, who had just surprised him in what was to be his secret garden, the funeral wreaths of flowers woven with metallic caps of butterbeer proved it amply. The girl held a multicolored umbrella open and stood straight as an i, at the entrance to the clearing. She must have noticed her embarrassed look because she reassured him of his usual dreamer:

"Do not worry, Edward, you can come here, if you want to, that's where Mom is buried."

The boy said nothing and just looked at her compassionately, knowing what it was like to lose his mother when we were so young.

"I was nine years old and I was in her lab as she was trying an experiment, she was looking for something, but I never knew exactly what, she just told me that when she was successful, everything would be fine. The experiment went awry and she died in front of me. I don't really remember what happened at that moment but I still remember her as she lay on the floor. It was like she was sleeping, but I knew she was dead. I stayed there for hours watching her and then Dad came in and he saw what happened. He who's buried Mom here and after that he was the one who took care of me."

The girl spoke in a strange, almost ghostly voice, as if she were no longer there in the clearing, but in the room where the experience had taken place, which had taken her mother away. It was disturbing to see her staring at him like that with her big pale gray eyes and talking to him with her voice from beyond the grave. It was not the sweet, dreamy and eccentric Luna he knew but the Luna painfully wounded by the loss of a loved one. Desiring at all costs to distance this moment from the thoughts of his friend, the boy approached her and held her tightly in his arms, as he did with Alphonse after the death of his mother, trying to comfort her with her. better.

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you with my words, I noticed that I often make others feel uncomfortable." Luna said, smiling again with her usual look. "But I noticed that you too were hearing them, the voices behind the Veil in the Mystery Department and so you could understand."

"Yes I understand." Edward muttered frankly.

"I'm going to accompany you, if you wish, since you do not know the way..." said the young Ravenclaw as she returned up the pathway, immediately followed by Edward.

The roads were still muddy but Luna seemed to know them by heart and it did not take more than half an hour to reach the clearing where they had met. She was kind enough to accompany him to the Burrow. Edward was becoming more and more nervous as they approached the house: dinner time was well past and everyone had to be madly worried about his passing. The boy expected that his return would not be welcomed. Nevertheless, Luna did not seem to care because she rang the bell without hesitation. The worried voice of Mrs. Weasley asked:

"Who is here ?"

"It's Luna Lovegood, Mrs. Weasley, I'm bringing Edward back."

Expressions of relief rang out and Mrs. Weasley seemed about to open the door to greet the lost boy when Moody's roaring voice sounded, arresting everyone.

"How can we know if it's them? If they are disguised Death Eaters, then..."

"You must have a strong presence of Nargles around you, Professor Moody, so I recommend you take some dirigible plum jam with you."

"It's Luna all right!" Ginny exclaimed with a chuckle.

"And for little Edward, it's easy..." Harry started.

"Arghhhh! Who are you calling a tiny little shorter than an inch infant?! I'll stick you one I promise, Potter!"

"That's Edward!" the youngest inhabitants of the Burrow exclaimed, undoubtedly displaying big mocking smiles.

The door opened suddenly and Edward was brutally drawn into the house as Luna quietly followed him. The young boy did not have the time to understand that already he was receiving a slap administered by the vigorous hand of Professor Moody. Edward was so surprised that he did not even think of replying and just stood there, stunned.

"Do you realize the state of worry in which you put everyone in this house?" Moody growled furiously before continuing: "Nobody knew where you had been since lunchtime and we started to believe that you had been kidnapped by Death Eaters! What is wrong with your head to wander as if there was no war outside these walls?"

"I could not stand to stay here anymore!" Edward exclaimed angrily. "I can fend for myself! I know how to fight, you know it and if I stay locked up here, I'll go crazy!"

"Tie you, maybe that's what we'll have to do if you continue your excursions, I know it was certainly not the first time, I've discovered your little passage. The traps were vicious, but what you do not seem to understand is that we are adults and we are responsible for measures you hate are there for a good reason, to protect you So, now, you're going to make me the solemn promise to stay here, safe!"

Edward mumbled something that seemed rather insulting. But Moody's ear was fine because he repeated screaming;

"I SAID, DO YOU SWEAR?!"

"Yes sir." Edward finally answers after a long minute of meeting the strange and dissymmetrical eyes of the old auror. He had the impression of having to face Sergeants Ross and Brosch again after he snuck in with Alphonse in the N°5 laboratory. This sermon was at least as severe, as strong and deserved as the previous one, and Edward knew deep down that he was wrong. Nevertheless, he did not want to endure the stern or disappointed looks of the kitchen occupants, so he concentrated on his soup without daring to meet the eyes of others while concealing shame on his face. He absently listened to Mrs. Weasley propose to Luna to send a message by patronus to her father to tell him that she would stay here tonight, even asking if she wanted to spend two days at the Burrow and go shopping with them. The young Ravenclaw agreed happily, and Mrs. Weasley's patronus came out of her wand and headed for the Lovegood's Tower.

Edward did not say a word all night and went to bed without saying anything more. Harry and Ron found him lying down and pretending to sleep. They did not bother him.

The next morning, Harry had stood up and watched Edward do his morning exercises running like mad in the garden and sparring with martial arts movements with an ease that made the boy rather envious considering his obvious ability. From what the Boy-Who-Lived could see, Edward seemed to be trying to evacuate the over-energy in him and in the end, Harry understood why his friend had sought to escape the Burrow to go for a walk: neither could he. He did not like being locked up, but he could stand it better, obviously, than Edward, who seemed to love walking around freely wherever he pleased. At least Harry could play Quidditch with Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to change his mind, but his friend hated this sport that was played on brooms... In addition, Edward had a taste for loneliness and secrets, and Harry was almost certain that the Ravenclaw was not just walking in the forest but experimenting with his strange magic.

Hermione had not found anything conclusive about how Edward had created a door inside Hogwarts and that had frustrated her enormously. This mystery was the secret of the Golden Trio that had not occurred to anyone else, including members of the Order. The only thing she knew was that this kind of thing was theoretically impossible at Hogwarts except for the school's legitimate Headmaster, an infallible rule like the one forbidding Apparition within the confines of the castle. Ron had pointed out to him that the house elves were doing it as well. Instead of flabbergasting against the redhead, Hermione frowned and nibbled at her lips, a sign that she was thinking. Then she hypothesized that their friend might well have some way of using magic that is different from ordinary wizards, which could explain the rules he was breaking.

This hypothesis had intrigued the group, but none of them had dared to ask Edward for confirmation of their theory, not wanting to risk ruining their friendship with the boy. While waiting for Edward to reveal a little more about himself, Harry continued to collect clues showing the strangeness of their friend without ever revealing them. He did not want to break his friendship with the boy with whom he got along very well.

Hearing the noise behind him, he turned around and saw Ron and Hermione enter the room and watch Edward's training with him. Ron seemed rather impressed and kept making glowing comments about him, Hermione looked worried and then some sadness appeared on her face as she murmured:

"Ed needs to find a hobby."

"That's not what he's doing right now?" Ron asked, looking slightly misplaced.

"I'm talking about an intellectual hobby, Ron." The girl replied curtly, saying: "A project, something that might interest him but that he could do here, maybe with us... Last year, we had the Support Courses and that occupied him, but this year we can only hope to have a competent teacher..."

"So, he will not know what to do and risk doing something dangerous, that's what you mean, Hermione?" Harry said.

"That's it... I do not want him to put a distance between us, like that... Already, we hardly realized that he disappeared every day to walk around... We weren't paying enough attention to him."

Hermione seemed to notice that Harry was deep in thought and, curiously, she asked him:

"What are you thinking about Harry?"

"I'm thinking about those who preceded us at Hogwarts... Dumbledore, Voldemort, the Marauders and even Edward... what were they doing when they were at Hogwarts?" Harry asked with a concentrated air.

"Uh ... Ms. Marchbank, the OWL Examiner, said that Dumbledore was doing things with his wand that she had never seen before, Riddle created the diary that possessed Ginny, your father and his friends had become Animagus to help Remus, and Edwar ... He skipped four classes and passed his OWLs at the same time as us.: listed Hermione without understanding.

"When they were the same age as us, they were capable of great magical feats, I'm going to have to beat Voldemort, and I have every interest in being prepared and you too!"

"I still point out that you're able to form a corporeal Patronus, and better yet, you've taught it to a whole class when you were 13. You learned a lot of defense spells in fourth year and in fifth year you learned Occlumency! " Hermione reminded him even though a gleam shone in her eyes like a Christmas tree.

"Yeah, that's good already, and I bet Dumbledore will teach you lots of things during his private lessons!" Exclaims Ron.

"Maybe ... but he never said what he was going to teach me." Harry pointed out, his eyes fixed on the horizon. "I'm sure we can learn some useful magic for our quest to defeat Voldemort!"

"But it's the years of NEWT preparation," Ron groans, adding, "we'll never have time!"

"Of course yes!" Hermione exclaimed, tears in her eyes as if she had just seen a miracle happen before her eyes: "Harry, I'm so proud of you! I knew from the start that you had this in you: the desire to go beyond mediocrity! "

"Wait, are you saying we're mediocre?" Ron inserted himself.

"I do not know about you, Ronald, but Harry has already shown us what he can do when he is well motivated like with the Dementors, the Goblet, Voldemort or Umbridge. I think we can do it. The work we are going to do this year and next is not the most important exams but the fight against Voldemort!" exclaimed the young Gryffindor in a passionate tirade.

"Am I dreaming, or did Hermione just say that exams are not the most important?" interrupted a snarky voice behind them.

Edward stood at the entrance of the room and watched them with a mocking and intrigued air. Luna and Ginny were behind him: the last of the Weasleys looked at them suspiciously and Luna had the usual dreamy look on her face.

"Go back to your room, Ginny, we're talking serious business!" Ron asked in a voice he hoped would be authoritative. It was not very effective.

"Because accompanying you to the Ministry was not a serious matter, maybe I will not go back to my room, Ronald Bilius Weasley, I want to know what you're talking about!"

"It's none of your business, it's big business!" Retorted his big brother.

"Do you think V-Voldemort will make a difference if we're fifteen or sixteen?" Ginny said, insisting on the accursed name. "I challenge you to keep Luna and I from knowing what you're up to!"

"You do not even know what we're talking about!" replied the younger brother Weasley.

"You were talking about fighting Voldemort, weren't you?" Luna asked dreamily, twisting one of her locks around her index finger.

"In this case, I am!" declared Edward Elric with a burning fire in his eyes.

"I would propose to include in our project those who accompanied us to the Ministry, but it is not for me to decide." Hermione suggested in a tempered tone to calm the fraternal dispute. Then she turned to Harry and asked him:

"You're the leader, Harry, what do you decide?"

Harry pulled a galleon out of his pocket. It was the famous fake Galleon that had served at the symbol of the Support Course. Hermione seemed to understand his intention because she asked, a little intrigued:

"All the people in SC?"

"No. All those who continued to have this galleon in their pocket, ready to answer our call even when Umbridge sounded the end of our lessons in the defense room. Hermione, can you change the galleon so as to ask that those who received the message sent a letter by owl? The principle is that only those who have kept their piece will receive the message. "

"There should not be many people," said Luna absently. "Virtually all of the participants threw away their fake piece when Umbridge uncovered us to avoid having any evidence against them... Mine, it's in my pendant around my neck."

"In this case, we will be a reduced number... Activate the coin, Hermione!"

"I'm going to do it in the kitchen, the Trace will find it harder to discern if there are other magical people around me, but actually, Harry, what do you expect us to learn first?"

"The inheritance of my father and Sirius: we will become Animagi!"

Translator's note: The part where the narration mentions kicking the bucket comes from an expression in French about 'leaving one's skin'.