Disclaimer: Anything Fullmetal Alchemist is owned by Hiromu Arakawa and anything from the Harry Potter universe is owned by JK Rowling
If Ed would have things his way, he would have waited until the last possible minute to jump on the last train to East City. Sadly, Alphonse already bought non-refundable tickets to East City on the train scheduled to leave Dublith early evening of August 30th. That train should arrive at East City about early to mid morning of the 31st.
"But brother, General Mustang said to report at his office on the 31st." Alphonse explained yet again to his brother as Edward complained for the fifth time that hour.
"But we don't have to arrive this early! You know Miss Riza does not let the General Bastard go home at least until 1900H!" Edward whined at his brother, not one bit happy with the situation.
"Sure brother, we can always take the early morning train from Dublith on the tommorow. Thing is, if we do that, we have to stay for Teacher's early morning exercises. I don't think I can do that yet."
This immediately sobered Edward up. "It was a great idea to leave before tomorrow. Glad you decided on that Al."
"Thanks, brother. Though I'm worried about what will happen to us once Teacher finds out what happened to her stove when you tried to brew a potion on her kitchen." Alphonse said.
Edward immediately went pale remembering the destruction when he tried to brew a potion in Izumi Curtis' kitchen. Alchemy repaired most of the damages but the stove was never the same. "Nah, I already left a note on the kitchen. That should take care of it." Edward said rather dismissively, but his quavering voice saying otherwise.
"I can just imagine what the note will look like, brother." Alphonse said. Then as if reading a note, he continued, "Dear Teacher. Please don't be surprised if your stove sings opera every time you turn it on. It will stop singing if you ask it nicely, though. Love, Edward."
"You know what Al? Forget I said anything!" Edward said huffily and grumbled in his seat.
Alphonse smiled at his brother's antics. Even with all that happened in their lives, at least some things didn't change. Saying goodnight to his now sleeping brother, he settled for the long trip ahead.
"Why the early visit, Fullmetal? I was not expecting you until late afternoon at the earliest." General Roy Mustang said, surprised at his subordinate's unusually early appearance.
"Well, since we arrived early, we might as well report early to make sure we don't miss anything important." Alphonse said, ignoring his brother's 'I-told-you-so' smirk.
"Good thing you did, Alphonse. I actually have additional details I have to sort out with you two." Mustang said, pulling out another folder.
It was Edward's turn to ignore his brother's 'I-told-you-so' smirk. "What is it this time, Bastard?"
"Nothing much, Fullmetal. Just some little details to be ironed out. Small stuff." Mustang answered, not looking up from his paperwork but waiting for the outburst.
Ten seconds had passed and he had yet to hear his subordinate's tirade. Looking up from his desk, he still could see Edward flailing his arms about as if yelling in his usual fashion. The only difference was that no sound is coming out.
Mustang then saw Alphonse tucking a thin polished piece of wood in his sleeves. He gave him a questioning look that Alphonse answered with "A sticking charm to keep him in place and a silencing charm to keep the peace, General." Seeing the General's look, he continued. "It is one of those magical techniques in the references provided."
Edward realizing what is happening, reached in his robes, took out a similar piece of stick, and waved it about. "I hate it when you do that, Al." he grumbled after.
"I'm sorry, brother; it was the first thing that came to mind" Alphonse replied.
"I see. Thank you for the demonstration, then. Going back, I expect monthly reports on the mission. Not only on the boy but also whatever you have picked up on that school. Anything that can be considered useful."
"Yeah, sure. Are we done here, old man?" Edward then asked, cutting Mustang on the last word.
"Very impatient, Fullmetal. Any other officer would have you court martialled with that. And to answer your question, not yet." Handing them a folder, he said "Hughes took the liberty of arranging an updated file for both of you. See what you make out of them and act accordingly. With that, both of you are dismissed."
At half past nine, Minerva McGonagall was knocking what she believes to be General Mustang's office. The door then promptly opened and she was led into the General's office by a lady officer of which the General seemed to be wary of for some reason.
"Thank you for being here, Professor McGonagall. The Elric brothers are not here yet. Would you like for me to fetch them?" General Roy Mustang said after the customary greetings.
Minerva was about to decline when the same female officer said "General, we have already received confirmation that the Elric brothers are on their way. They will arrive in a few minutes."
The General then released a sigh and said. "Very well, Captain. Thank you." Turning to Minerva, he said "We just have to wait for the brothers, then. Is there anything I can help you with for the meantime?"
"That is fine, General. There is no need to bother. I'll just wait for the brothers here. Where may I sit down?" Minerva answered
"The sofa is on your left. Please do help yourself."
A few minutes passed in when a loud bang was heard from the door. Minerva whipped her wand and pointed it to the direction of the noise where he found Edward Elric with his left leg up from apparently kicking the door open.
"You know there is no need to do that every single time, Fullmetal." General Mustang said, not moving from his desk. Was this a common occurrence? Minerva thought to herself.
"Yeah, yeah, old man." Edward Elric said dismissively
This irked the teacher in Minerva and she said before she can stop herself. "Mister Elric, I am not how your superiors deal with your discipline, but that type of behavior will not be tolerated in Hogwarts. You are to deal with all of your elders with respect that is due to them. Do we have an understanding?"
Edward Elric knew from experience that the old adage of 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' was true. So, to avoid any bodily harm, he just nodded and said "Of course, ma'am."
Minerva blinked twice, not registering the politeness of the Elder Elric boy. "Well then, I will let you go with a warning. But if that discourteous attitude of you persists, measures will be taken. Is that clear, Mister Elric?"
Seeing a nod from the elder Elric. Minverva continued. "Both of you will be taken to school by the Hogwarts Express, along with the other students. After which, you are to join the first years to wait for their sorting, after which you will be introduced to the entire student body. This should be the time both of you are sorted into houses but Professor Dumbledore has stated you are to be sorted to Gryffindor. Class schedules will be discussed tomorrow morning at breakfast. Any questions so far?"
Minerva took the brother's silence as an indication they understood. Handing out two tickets, she said. "These are the tickets for the Hogwarts express for the train leaving at eleven o'clock today. They will also serve as a portkey to take you to the platform by ten thirty." Noticing the lack of luggage, Minerva asked," Where are your trunks, have you packed them already?"
"Al took care of it. Right, Al?"
And the Elder Elric let his younger brother explain the numerous enchantments he has placed on their belongings to allow it to fit on the small case the older brother has on his right hand.
"I said we can just shrink them so they can fit in our pockets but Brother insisted to carry that case of his, just like the old days." Alphonse finished explaining to Minerva while Edward was looking very proud of his brother
"Impossible! All those are advanced charms, even for NEWT levels!" Minerva muttered a bit too loudly
"Both the boys are prodigies Professor, please to take note of that." Mustang said, taking Minerva out of her thoughts.
"Of course General. I do apologize for spacing out." Minerva told Mustang. Then, to the brothers, she said " I believe that should be it. I will be seeing you at Hogwarts." after which, she made haste on going back to Hogwarts to keep whatever left of her dignity intact.
A/N: I have a feeling this got a bit too long, my friends... I cannot, in good faith, skip over the inane parts too much (yeah, at this rate, I already tried to skip over). I promise next chapter, the brothers will be on the train already!
Again, my unending gratitude for all the support. Thanks for all the follows and faves and the reviews! Please don't forget to read, review and enjoy!
p.s. between my gramma's birthday bash, that long due arts and crafts project, and the paper pushing I've been doing (I'm trying to get back to school), I was not able to finish the chapter on schedule. sorry for the delay (but at least I made it this month)
EDIT 06 AUG 2016