The first thing Edward did when he found Harry was apologize for spying on him but luckily the Gryffindor, who had his own history of espionage under his belt, was lenient and practically forgave him on the spot. After that, the two began to recount the progress of their respective conversations with Dumbledore. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were surprised to learn that Ed was going to be able to accompany Harry and Dumbledore in the hunt for the Horcruxes. They were a little upset at the idea of not being able to follow them but they mustered courage against any possible bad luck.
They then discussed together whether or not to prioritize hunting the Horcruxes or Voldemort's attempt to steal magic. Eventually, it was decided that top priority would be given to hunting the Horcruxes since that was the thing they knew more about. Which meant every part of that had to be worked on, because apart from the information given by Dumbledore, they didn't have much to discover where these damned objects were hiding…
But they didn't have long to think on these things before they were interrupted by Professor Flitwick who ordered them to be interested instead in the transformation of their vinegar into wine by the use of an intermediary. Edward and Hermione were the only ones to obtain an excellent vintage from Bordeaux. Harry's turned into completely undrinkable 90% alcohol and Ron's turned into a terrible plonk that put off the short Charms teacher. However, they did not have any additional duties apart from practicing because their results were technically what was requested.
At the end of class, they saw with pleasure that Katie Bell was back which would allow Harry to kick Dean from the team. The poor boy was starting to seriously annoy Ginny with his requests to go out with him, obviously not having noticed that the girl was ready and waiting for Harry to ask.
The latter wondered how he was going to make his request: in front of the whole of Gryffindor, if they won the Quidditch Cup? In good company, with his friends from the Circle ready to rejoice for him? In private, so as not to be disturbed and ready to keep this relationship hidden? Because Harry had thought about it a lot: Voldemort was gaining more and more power and it might not be a very good idea to make the Weasley family an additional target by openly going out with their youngest daughter. Already everyone knew that Ron was his best friend and that the Death Eaters knew that Mr. Weasley was a member of the Order of the Phoenix… Yes, keeping their relationship a secret was better for the safety of his adoptive family, but would Ginny accept it?
Shaking his head to gather his thoughts, he noticed that Katie was coming back to him, presumably to ask him about her place on the team. He reassured her about it and then asked her about the bewitched necklace but, as she had told everyone before, the last thing she remembered was pushing open the bathroom door and after that, blackness… Which meant, according to Hermione, that it was indeed a girl or a woman since it was their toilet even though Harry pointed out that with the stolen Polyjuice Potion, it could just as well be a boy. Edward agreed with this, though, in the spirit of fairness, he added that it could be a poor lady under the Imperius or even a Death Eater, even if gender parity did not seem to be Voldemort's priority within his group.
Now that Katie had returned, there was an excellent atmosphere in the team that was flying beautifully. After their two wins against Slytherin and Hufflepuff, the Gryffindors felt confident. Ginny was no longer harassed by Dean and McLaggen had stopped haunting the Quidditch stadium to tell them that if Harry wasn't there he could do better than everyone else. Apparently, ever since Harry had been in the hospital wing, he had been appearing less and less as Ginny had threatened him with a particularly effective castration curse and the Seventh Year had taken the threat seriously.
Harry was more and more certain of Ginny's feelings towards him: he could feel it by the laughter they shared, their knowing winks and their way of flying together, in perfect harmony. But why did she have to have six brothers, all older than herself? Harry loved the Weasleys but he often told himself he might have been less intimidated if she was an only child. But unfortunately, nothing, not even Felix Felicis could overcome his fear of risking being told that she preferred that they remain friends…
He wasn't the only nervous one, but not for the same reasons: As the final Gryffindor Quidditch match approached, supporters on both sides were all on fire and cheering or booing the players. The latter didn't bother Harry more or less, which unfortunately was not the case with Ron: the latter took on a delicate greenish complexion and kept having to go to the bathroom to vomit in spite of Hermione's encouragement.
However, Quidditch was the least of Harry's worries. Now that he had managed to get Slughorn's memory, he could devote his time (excluding Quidditch and lessons) to trying to corner Malfoy. Unfortunately, the door on the seventh floor would not open, no matter what wording was chosen.
It was for this reason that he decided to wait for Edward who thought he had some idea of how to reach Malfoy. The Ravenclaw just stood in front of the door muttering three times: "I need a room to hide something, I need a room to hide something, I need a room to hide something." After the third time, a door appeared in the wall and Ed and Harry entered it. The Gryffindor was a little skeptical that something so simple could have been used by Malfoy but as Edward pointed out, people often believed that no one would have the same idea as them… When Harry entered the Room of Requirement, he understood immediately what that meant: in this room there was a veritable junkyard of objects that many students had gotten rid of during their schooling.
The room looked like a cathedral, almost as big as Hogwarts itself which was slightly confusing because how could the contents be bigger than the container? Huge walls ran through the room, forming a small town made up of the millions of objects piled up there by generations of were walkways bordered by furniture that had been magically damaged or faded and relegated there by careful house elves. Thousands of books in towering stacks that could have constituted a new library for Hogwarts if at least half the books stored there were not banned, stolen or damaged dotted the landscape. There were also many prohibited items ranging from simple toys and prank items to vials of the most dangerous poisons. There were also rusted weapons, jewelry with a luster tarnished by time, and clothing made of an incredible variety of fabrics ranging from light silk to the thickest furs.
Harry stopped Edward just in time as he was about to hide in the Vanishing Cabinet which hadn't worked since his second year after being broken by Peeves and which Montague had been lost in for a whole day. Instead, they hid in an acid-stained cupboard and waited. Edward had picked up a few books from one of the rickety piles of forbidden books and had plunged into an old book called Blood Magic and Blood Rituals, seeming very interested in what he was reading. Harry secretly doubted that an explosion could have pulled his friend out of his fascinating reading. This proved untrue, because when the door opened discreetly, Ed immediately forgot his reading and put it in his bag (not without having previously marked his page) then he observed attentively what was happening.
Harry felt a shudder of joy run through his spine when he saw Malfoy's silhouette move towards the stack of wardrobes of which the infamous Vanishing Cupboard was a part. He watched Malfoy intently: he was pale; he didn't look as brash and arrogant as he had at the start of the year anymore. He even seemed to have been crying, which Harry never thought he would see on the haughty Slytherin. Edward frowned and whispered that Malfoy's mission was obviously not going the way he wanted and Harry nodded; he knew what punishment Voldemort had in store for those who disappointed him. There is no doubt that after the destruction of the Diary and the failure in the Department of Mysteries, the Malfoy family was no longer in the good graces of the Dark Lord. For a moment Harry felt pity and compassion for the Malfoy heir but remembered that his nemesis was certainly meant to kill someone and that person didn't deserve to die either.
'In fact, in this whole thing,' Harry thought, 'no one deserved to die: not the victim of Draco Malfoy, nor the latter who probably had no choice. The one who should die was Voldemort.'
As he tried to bend down to get a better look at what Malfoy was up to, Harry unwittingly pushed the cage containing the skeleton of a five-legged sheep (according to Ed, it was some kind of chimera) and it collapsed with a deafening crash. The Slytherin turned with amazing speed and immediately cast a Bombarda on the cupboard. Harry and Edward weren't affected by the spell's effects but only by sheer luck. However, they were now in the open, and Malfoy's eyes widened in fear when he saw his two enemies present in a room he had always considered a safe and secure shelter for his shenanigans. His Occlumency shields fell for a moment and Harry could see Malfoy's thoughts for a second: he was not allowed to kill Harry Potter because the Dark Lord had strictly forbidden it, saying that only he should kill him. But at the same time, his plans were about to be discovered so he had no choice. He was definitely in a dead end and the blond reacted like any trapped animal with no place to flee: he chose to attack.
"Crucio!" Exclaimed Malfoy without taking any time to think.
Harry retaliated with disarming and stunning charms as Edward grabbed a Goblin-made dagger, using it to deflect the Dark spells cast at him while hoping to get close enough to Malfoy to disarm him. Unfortunately, he had to do this while avoiding the crossfire of curses that the two opponents were throwing at each other. At the moment Harry was still trying to disarm or incapacitate his opponent without doing too much harm other than a few injuries… Just spells to preserve himself. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Malfoy who was aiming to injure and incapacitate permanently.
Deciding on a new strategy, the two former leaders of the Support Course rushed down the aisles, parting ways so as not to be Malfoy's range together. The latter was a mess and thinking quickly, he ran for the door with the intention of preventing the two friends from leaving- at least not before Obliviating them to make them forget having ever seen him here. It was the best solution to prevent his plan from failing and saving his family; his only solution to avoid ending up in Azkaban for having cast an Unforgivable and several other Dark spells.
Suddenly, hearing a noise, he quickly threw a silent Obliviate in the direction of the noise but at that moment he saw a shadow above him and could not avoid Edward's left metal foot which sent him to dreamland. Harry, who had played the bait, now stood over the unconscious Malfoy heir wondering what the hell they could do with him. If they took him to Dumbledore, what would Dumbledore do? Would he insist on keeping him protected at Hogwarts? Would he expel him for the use of Unforgivables on Harry? Neither of them really knew what was going to happen with Dumbledore and it worried them. Technically, other than the curses cast by Malfoy, they had no real evidence that Malfoy was up to something and they knew Malfoy would deny everything and claim to have been attacked. Definitely, having discovered the place where Malfoy was plotting his plans had not helped the situation…
It was then that Edward had an idea:
"Since the problem is with a Slytherin, let's get a Slytherin to sort it out. Let's get Snape here and explain the situation to him and most importantly, find out more about what the Unbreakable Oath asks of him."
"Snape? Are you crazy?! He's going to make potions out of us for touching one of his precious Slytherins! I want to believe that he is in our camp but there are limits! I don't want to be in detention on the day of the Quidditch Finals!"
"If we explain ourselves to him honestly, everything should be fine." Edward stated.
"Don't think I didn't notice you said 'if'..." Harry grumbled before focusing on a happy memory to cast a Patronus.
As was the case since his wandless magic training, it was not his usual stag that came out but the female of its kind: a silvery doe, who seemed to quietly await his orders. Harry was still wondering what had happened to his patronus but decided to put it off until later. In a hesitant voice, he asked if Professor Snape could join him on the seventh floor. Then they waited in the huge room, Harry's gaze falling on the multiple objects in the room. He was staring at an old tiara when he heard Professor Snape arrive behind the door. Thinking very hard of the appearance of a door, it opened and Professor Snape appeared, panting, in front of them and looking deeply disturbed.
Professor Snape had almost had a heart attack when he saw a silver doe, Lily Evans' Patronus, appear in his office. However, he had very much recovered when he heard Potter's voice and thought that the world must be ending if Potter asked for his help. Nevertheless, he rushed to the seventh floor and to his surprise, he saw a door appear leading to a room he had never seen before.
"Is this patronus yours, Potter?" He asked, although he already seemed to know the answer to his question.
"Yes... Its shape has changed over the year." Potter replied.
"Well, could either of you explain to me what happened in this strange room?" Severus Snape asked, gazing at the unconscious body of Malfoy.
Painfully swallowing, Harry and Edward recounted how they had learned that Malfoy was planning something at Borgin and Burkes and that it was a mission given by Voldemort himself. Edward yelped when he got a slap on the back of the head by Professor Snape for risking his life climbing on the roof of the train. Then they had to explain how they overheard the conversation between Snape and Malfoy and there the two each got a slap on the head for spying on a private conversation.
Harry then narrated how he and Edward found out that Malfoy was hiding in the Room of Requirement to plan his murder and they ended their story of how they had surprised him in the room and how everything had escalated into a fight with Unforgivables cast by Malfoy and the decision was finally made to call him in to sort it out.
Snape looked at them for a long time and finally asked the question that bothered him:
"Why did you decide to defer to me and not Professor Dumbledore?" Snape asked.
Even though he knew that his relationship with Potter had improved, he would never have believed that Potter trusted him enough to agree to have him solve a problem instead of the Headmaster. Somehow it warmed his heart to see that confidence in Lily's eyes because he had always wished he could see the conviction again in those special eyes. It was deeply disturbing that it was also the eyes of the son of his worst enemy staring at him like that.
Even more disturbing was the thought that the boy was going to have to die to save the wizarding world. Life was truly deeply unfair to him: the moment he finally began to realize that the boy had Lily in common with him, Dumbledore announced to him that the one he had so long protected in Lily's memory had to die! Not to mention that soon those eyes that belonged to Lily would look at him again with contempt and hatred for killing Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards of all time. The world must really hate him.
But in the meantime, distracting him from his dark thoughts, Elric's voice answered his previous question:
"We figured because of the Unbreakable Oath, you were the first concerned to solve the problem. If we told Dumbledore, knowing that Malfoy had cast several Unforgivables, the Headmaster would be forced to kick him out and it could conflict with your unbreakable oath and result in your inadvertent death. Plus, if Malfoy were kicked out, it could also result in his death via Vol- I mean You Know Who."
At least the two boys understood the complexity of the problem. If Draco were kicked out of Hogwarts, he would certainly be sent to Azkaban for casting an Unforgivable, especially since the victim would have been the Chosen One of the wizarding community ...And that was the outcome that was most favorable to the young Slytherin even though he himself would undoubtedly be killed by the Unbreakable Oath. In the worst case scenario, Draco would be killed by the Dark Lord for failing in his task and he himself would die for breaking his oath to Narcissa Malfoy. In almost any case, he would die, he mused bitterly. But luckily the two boys had come to him first instead of going to Dumbledore and forcing him to kick Draco Malfoy out. It was the first time he had thanked luck for something Potter had done.
Now it remained to be seen what he was going to be able to do with what he knew about the situation. The easy way out, casting an Obliviate on everyone and damn the consequences, would only work with Draco who was unconscious at the moment. The other two now had Occlumency protections and he was never going to risk erasing both of them because there was a good chance they needed it… So the only solution left was to give them an explanation so that they would agree to drop the charges against Draco and let him continue with his task. It was next to impossible to do unless he told them the truth, at least in part. But, he had been sworn to secrecy... All his past and present oaths contradicted each other and threatened to drive him mad, but there was only one that mattered: the one given to Lily that in the end he couldn't keep. So he replied:
"You did well to come and talk to me about it. If Draco were kicked out of Hogwarts and sent to Azkaban, then, under the terms of the Unbreakable Oath, I would die. Draco Malfoy must therefore remain at Hogwarts and be able to continue his task."
"But what about who Malfoy is targeting? If whoever it is dies because of Malfoy, we would lose someone important!" Potter exclaimed annoyedly.
"This person has already been warned that he is in danger of death and is more than capable of defending himself against the attempts of young Malfoy." Snape replied, feeling himself to be on the razor's edge.
"But Ron told me the Unbreakable Oath may very well require you to take over for Malfoy! What will you do in that case?!" Potter asked again.
Damn. He would do well to watch young Weasley: he finally seemed able to develop a working brain since he was dating young Miss Granger. At the same time, he was a boy who understood chess well, so maybe he had managed to instill in Potter the notions of the game- and in particular the purpose of a sacrifice. Potter had seemed to have understood his explanations in the alchemy class. He replied, remaining deliberately vague:
"As you have no doubt learned by now, Mr. Potter, sometimes sacrifices have to be made."
He hoped Potter and Elric would believe the sacrifice he was talking about was himself until he killed Dumbledore. There Potter and Elric would most certainly feel betrayed and would no doubt blame themselves for trusting him so easily, which would facilitate his role as a spy firmly entrenched in Voldemort's ranks. But there was something Snape hadn't foreseen- Harry's response:
"Swear to me, on my mother's immortal soul, that Dumbledore and the person concerned know what is going on against them and I will agree not to say anything about what happened in this Room even knowing that I may endanger Malfoy's future victim. I don't want to be responsible for any deaths this year."
Professor Snape stood still, touched to the heart by the words Potter had just said. He found exactly the right words to which he could never commit perjury. He glanced at Edward, but Edward made it clear to him that it had nothing to do with the way Potter had learned the truth about his feelings for his mother.
Now things were getting more and more complicated and it would all depend on Potter's attitude following his murder of Dumbledore: either he would think he had perjured himself, or he would guess the truth and then it would all depend on his ability to play a role. Oddly enough, this latter option neither enchanted nor reassured Snape…
But he had to swear because he'd only be telling the truth anyway, after which Potter was free to believe it or not. And it was better that he did not believe him because otherwise his role as a spy could very well come to an end. He was definitely taking a very big risk by entrusting his destiny to these two children. But at the same time, Elric had taught Potter to hide his thoughts, so he might have a chance… So he swore:
"I swear on the immortal soul of Lily Evans Potter that Dumbledore and the named victim know what to expect from Draco Malfoy and that these people are also aware of the Unbreakable Oath I have entered into for the safety of Draco Malfoy."
"Well, I accept this oath. What are you going to do with Malfoy now?" Potter asked, sounding more reassured but in a less confident tone.
"I'm going to make him believe he's had detention with me all this time by Obliviating his memories. Elric, I will ask you to proceed with me to make sure the erasure is perfect so that no... misfortune befalls us."
"Alright, professor."
The professor cast Legilimens and managed to find then remove the memory of the last hour of Malfoy before replacing it with that of a detention given by order of McGonagall. Edward Elric then checked Malfoy's thoughts to make sure that neither the Dark Lord nor Malfoy himself discovered the deception. With that part done, Snape took the still unconscious Slytherin and set him down near his desk and created a scene that would make the blond believe he had been knocked out by a chandelier unhooked from the ceiling by Peeves. Then he sent Potter and Elric back to their common rooms, advising them not to tell anyone about it and reminding them that the next Alchemy class would be tomorrow night after dinner.
The following evening, the alchemy class remained extremely attentive to Professor Snape's words. The number of students was smaller than ever because some had dropped out of a subject which seemed to them more in the domain of philosophy than magic. Only those remained who had understood that magic drew its foundations from alchemy to the point that these two matters had once been intertwined. These more persistent students had learned how to create a spell by combining imagination, knowledge and magic. The homework Professor Snape gave was complex and required immense amounts of knowledge and creativity, but it made the students think about how the world and therefore magic worked.
They learned the why of the universal magic laws, which was at the origin of the creation of the rules which framed the Magic and the Universe. They memorized all the Muggle laws in physics, chemistry, biology, astrophysics and they saw the way in which magic bypassed these laws without breaking them completely, just by following different laws. The ten students who persevered in this oh so complicated subject saw their efforts rewarded: they were often among the top ten in the ranking, all houses combined and very often, the border of houses was abolished by all the knowledge they shared. Thus, the three Slytherin students had been seen questioning Harry, Hermione and Edward about their Muggle knowledge and the latter gladly shared their knowledge with them, much to Ron's surprise. This group was often called, sometimes in a tone of admiration, sometimes in a tone full of derision, the "Alchemists". They weren't necessarily friends but as Snape often repeated, they were disciples of the same discipline for which the House did not matter and this very fact brought them together. Of course, everyone had been surprised to hear Snape, the teacher applying the most favoritism towards his students say this and some had even wanted to invent an antidote to Polyjuice Potion as they were sure it was not Snape in front of them.
However, Snape knew how to temper their pride with harsh sermons:
"The alchemist should not be puffed up with pride at the idea of having knowledge not known to ordinary people. If his goal is to approach perfection, he must know well that he will never be able to reach it completely because perfection is of the order of the divine. The goal of the alchemist as such is to reach the divine but not by breaking the laws that Nature has shaped but by understanding them and accepting the limits that She sets us. So, it is the same for knowledge: an old Japanese proverb describes Truth as adamant- that is to say, something impossible to reach. To reach the ancestral Truth is to know that one will never be able to obtain it."
"Professor," Hermione asked, raising her hand, "does this mean that all wizards believe in God?"
"It is as with mankind in general: we find everything. The alchemist, he believes. But only he can tell you what he believes in. But it is undoubtedly a question of a divine precept like Nature, Life, of a divine Being like God, or of Truth itself. Many have researched divine principles without ever discovering their nature, and questioning the deceased has proved futile because they never disclose the nature of this divine principle. Attempting to interrogate the deceased as ghosts or resorting to necromancy has never worked. This last act is also seriously prohibited because it breaks the laws of Nature and taints the soul of the practitioner. To comprehend this divine principle, one must have a soul as pure as that of a child and as wise as that of an old man."
Seeing that everyone had finished writing the lesson, he gave his class the homework "Explain how Transfiguration can be a counterpart in Alchemy and illustrate your thesis with examples" while recommending Edward Elric not to give him back a book like the last time, although the one on the Discourse on Method in Alchemy was very interesting to read and had earned him an O. Generally speaking, Edward often received this grade in Alchemy although he tried not to never give any hints from his world. However, it was rare for Snape to give this top mark in this matter, even Hermione had made up her mind about it. Snape might change his character when he taught alchemy, he was still as strict as he was in his potions or defense classes, except that the Slytherins weren't spared here. Anyway, the trio of the Circle didn't care because their results exceeded their expectations: Ed often had O's, but sometimes received an E. Hermione had an average of E with a rare O to crown her efforts and Harry had an average between A and E, which suited him perfectly because he knew he was less gifted in theory than his two friends.
Edward wrote down his Alchemy lessons in his new notebook he received at Christmas, taking care to order them well by chapter so as to make an almost understandable book. Sometimes he let Luna and more rarely Ginny and Neville take a look when they wanted to know what they were working on. The theoretical part seemed to appeal to Luna who often asked him questions on the subject and Ed had to be careful not to inadvertently reveal information about the real alchemy of this world because he would catch fire as soon as one broached his favorite subject.
A few days later, the whole of Hogwarts was on fire, but for another reason: Quidditch. Gryffindor was facing Ravenclaw and everyone agreed that the two houses had brought together the best teams for years. The experience was a bit tricky for Edward and Luna who supported both teams fairly evenly. It was undoubtedly for this reason that the Assistant Headmistress McGonagall approached him for the commentary. Needless to say, she regretted it very quickly:
"And here are the two teams rushing around like crazy, each looking for their respective ball. Uh… The Chasers are passing the Waffle- umm, no, the Quaker- oh, whatever, the red ball- to try and put it in one of the goals."
They had forgotten to tell the Transfiguration Professor that Edward, despite his magic skills, knew nothing about Quidditch… At the start of the game, the hapless woman was almost forced to comment for him and seemed to bitterly regret not keeping Luna in this position. In addition, the teen was saying a fair amount of profanity that had even educated seventh years. This was one of the reasons the students liked Edward's commentary which, once he got used to the game, included lots of snappy Snape-style remarks throughout the game, sparing no team and remaining completely impartial. Behind him, Professor Snape seemed legitimately proud of the sarcasm in Edward's words. It was as if he had taught him everything.
After two hours of play, the cup was won by Gryffindor and while a huge party was organized in Gryffindor tower, Harry and Ginny, the heroes of the victory, managed to slip away and into an empty room. Harry declared his love for Ginny, explaining to her that while it could be dangerous and short, he wanted to be with her. Deep inside, the teen felt this love invade his heart and he gently kissed his beloved while behind the door, the members of the Circle clapped discreetly and exchanged sums of gold. Even Ron seemed rather happy for his sister and his best friend despite having lost a small amount of money.
That night, when Harry went to bed, he looked in the reflection of the bathroom mirror at the reflection of his scar and closed his eyes, hoping more than anything that it was not there to cut short the happiness that he felt he could have with Ginny. Because he had finally guessed why he had two magical hearts: one was his and the other belonged to Voldemort. He knew it now, he was a Horcrux.
Original author's note: And yes, Harry has guessed for himself that he's a Horcrux: his brain's had to develop from contact with Edward, even though he had come to that conclusion on his own, for the time being.
That will have an influence on the future and a lot of things.
Translator's notes: So, it turns out France uses a slightly different scale than the UK or the US, with Gay-Lussac degrees. Fortunately, it's not all that different; 90° is pretty much equivalent to 90% ABV (alcohol by volume) or 180 proof. Two of the three alcohols listed on Wikipedia with an equal/higher ABV to this are used for industrial purposes and are not drinkable. Your typical grape-based, non-fortified wine, for comparison, is about 12% or so. The stuff Harry made is pretty much liquid alcohol poisoning, lol.
I couldn't find the saying Snape references, probably because the English word (adamant: in this case an archaic term meaning a diamond/a legendary material as hard as a diamond- this is what adamantium is named after!) also can mean unyielding or certain and thus trying to find any sayings that could possibly apply in this specific context is pretty much impossible. The French word, adamas, similarly has a ton of same-name things (including several characters in Greek mythology and other anime series), so I just decided to translate it closely and call it good.