Envy woke in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. He looked around frantically, but calmed down when he realized that the Flame Alchemist was nowhere in sight. Cursing himself for his almost human stupidity, he got up and started looking for a pair of socks.

During the week he'd been here, he had discovered it was best to act like all of the other kids—except he could be mean. Apparently, that was normal for him, or whoever used to own this body. He'd come to the conclusion that he had stolen it from someone else with a similar, yet less sadistic personality, whose name was also 'Envy'; furthermore, he was unable to escape the orphanage. There was always someone patrolling the corridors and watching all of the kids, and since his abilities were lessened, he had lost his shape-shifting advantage. He was pretty sure he could give himself the appearance of an adult, but it was difficult enough that he had yet to succeed.

Envy picked a pair of socks—black—from the floor, and, just as he did so, a knock came from the door.

"Novus! A 'Minerva McGonagall' is here to see you!"

That was another thing he had discovered. His last name was 'Novus'. It sounded far too much like 'novice' for his liking.

"Okay, okay! I'm up!" Envy pulled on a sock and the door swung open. The person who stepped in was odd, to say the least.

She was tall, with black hair put up in a tight bun and wore emerald green clothes that look suspiciously like robes. A pair of square spectacles rested on the bridge of her nose, and she had a stern expression, one which looked almost as if it was engraved on her face.

The new woman turned to face Eliza. "If you could leave us for a moment, Mrs. Todd, it would be most appreciated."

The orphanage owner looked startled. "I would, but I'm afraid tha—"

Sighing, the lady pulled out a long stick. She waved it, and a slightly confused expression overcame Mrs. Todd's face. "Ah, yes, I'll be back in . . . a while . . ." She then turned and walked away, her gait a bit wobbly.

The tall woman turned back to Envy. "Mr. Novus, what you just saw was an example of magic."

Envy's eyebrows shot up. Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that. He sighed. "Listen, old lady. If you think I'm going to fall for a cheap trick like that, you're sadly mistaken."

McGonagall—at least, that's who he thought she was—looked at him over the top of her glasses. She then raised her wand, flicked it, and his bed instantly morphed into a chair.

Envy whistled. "Impressive, impressive. You have some tricks up your sleeve! Got anything else?"

McGonagall changed it back. "I see that you're still skeptical."

"Oh, no, I'm just curious." He grinned.

"Well, you can learn about it here." She reached into her robes and pulled out a letter, which she held out to him.

Envy eyed the yellow parchment disbelievingly, then took it from her. "Mr. E. Novus, Room 7, Todd Orphanage, York Way, London." He laughed. "Very specific! Are you a stalker? Hm?" He turned it over the envelope and was met with the sight of a wax seal—he didn't think they had those here—which he tore off. "Hogwarts? Seriously? Who chose a name like that for a school? Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, blah blah blah . . . Dear Mr. Novus, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, blah blah blah . . . what is this crap?"

McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "It's exactly what it looks like."

"So it's a prank?"

The witch, if the letter was anything to go by, spluttered for a moment, unable to find words, before Envy slapped her on the back. "I'm only messing with you."

She gave a small huff as she regained her composure. "Well Mr. Novus, do you want to come to the school?"

Envy shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Is it more exciting than this place?"

McGonagall surveyed his bland room for a moment before nodding. "I would think so."

"Great, I'm in."

'-'

Envy gaped at the hole that was expanding in the wall. Of course, he wasn't focusing on the gap so much as the sight beyond.

Diagon Alley.

He snorted at the thought of the name—this Wizarding World had the strangest titles. First Hogwarts, now Diagonally? Whoops, he'd meant to say 'Diagon Alley'. But back on the topic of the place itself . . .

Envy had never seen so much color in one place. He'd heard the noise, of course. The chaotic sounds of explosions and screams in Ishval had been most entertaining.

However, here in the Alley, people were chattering away, owls were hooting, and other animals shrieked to their hearts content. The sound of feet meeting the cobblestone street filled his ears. As opposed to Ishval, these happy noises were pretty annoying.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by McGonagall's crisp voice. "Robes first. Then we will get your supplies, a pet—if you would like—and your wand."

"A wand . . ." Envy muttered. "Sounds like something out of a fairy-tale."

McGonagall seemed to have heard him, because she replied, "And where do you think those fairy-tales came from?"

Robes, Envy decided, where not something he liked. More specifically, he didn't like being measured for them. The only upside to that part of their shopping trip was that he got his customary headband back.

Buying a cauldron had been a simple affair. The store seemed to have ordered the particular kind he needed in bulk for the upcoming school year. Buying the potion ingredients had not been so pleasant as the shop they'd bought them from was very smelly.

The rest of the trip was easy. The scales and such were a piece of cake, and the books took a little time, but the store was interesting. This lasted up until the wands.

Envy stared up at the peeling sign—it really needed replacing—that indicated that this was a wand shop he was standing in front of. He shrugged and followed McGonagall inside. In the echoing silence that followed the ringing of the bell, he stared around the shop in unwanted curiosity.

Against the walls were stacked a lot of shelves, all containing long thin boxes that were presumably holding wands.

He reached out to take one from its place, but was interrupted by an elderly voice. "I wouldn't touch that one, if I were you."

Envy spun around and came face to face with an old man who had large, silvery eyes. He wiped the surprised expression off his face. "Are you Ollivander, old man?" he demanded.

"Yes, that would be me." Ollivander pulled a tape measure out of his pocket and set about measuring Envy.

Great, more of this.

Ollivander started searching the shelves, and Envy attempted to look up so he could watch the tape measure discover the exact length and width of his left eyebrow.

Ollivander soon returned with a few boxes, and the tape measure crumpled to the floor. "Willow and phoenix feather, nine and a half inches, fairly whippy." He shoved the pale stick into Envy's hand. "Give it a little wave."

Envy stared at the seemingly useless object he was now holding, then, feeling quite stupid, he started to lift it. He had barely begun to do so when it was snatched from him and he was given another.

"Holly and dragon heartstring, eleven inches, stiff."

Envy started to lift this one as well, but it was also snatched away. "For crying out loud! I thought you were trying to sell me a wand. And why don't I get to choose one for myself?" he added childishly.

Ollivander tutted. "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Novus."

The former Homunculus allowed himself a moment to wonder how the crazy geezer knew his name before opening his mouth to ask if the wands were sentient. Before he could, he found another one in his hand. It gave him a kind of warm feeling.

"I believe this is the one. Hawthorn and dragon heartstring, ten and a quarter inches, flexible."

Envy finally got to wave the piece of wood, and it yielded results. Red and green sparks shot out of the tip, which he found pleasing. Now this had power!

"Yes, yes, I thought so," Ollivander mumbled. He gave his own wand a flick, and the one unopened box and its two companions flew back to their shelves. "That would be seven galleons, if you please."

'-'

For the most part, McGonagall and Envy's journey back through Diagon Alley was silent, until the former asked a question. "Would you like an owl, Mr. Novus?"

Envy looked up, startled. "What?"

"I asked if you would like an owl. It's a handy way of communicating with your friends and family."

He stared at her in disbelief, then snorted. "I'm from an orphanage, you know. I don't have family, and I don't do 'friends'."

McGonagall looked down at him pityingly, and Envy inwardly fumed. He sort of understood why the Fullmetal brat felt so strongly about being short now. "It would give you a sense of companionship, at the very least.

Envy sighed. "Fine, I'll get one."

A couple of minutes later, the two of them stopped in front of Eeylops Owl Emporium and entered. The sound of squawking birds assaulted their ears at full throttle, but the aging witch didn't seem to mind. "Pick anything you like," she said to him, leaning close to his ear so that she could be heard.

Envy walked along the rows of cages, trying to figure out if he actually wanted any of the creatures they contained. He passed by a very white Snowy Owl and decided against it—too bright for his liking. Instead, he stopped in front of a different one. It seemed to be glaring at the owl next door, which was making a loud screeching noise.

This bird had a gray head and a ring of black around its face. The top of its head was black, speckled with white, and its back was brown and covered in white spots. Its downy front was white and striped horizontally with brown.

After giving the owl a bit of thought, he pointed at it with his thumb while looking McGonagall in the eye. "I'll take that one."

'-'

Envy was returned to the orphanage with instructions on how to get through to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. How to get to Kings Cross Station was not specified, but it didn't matter; the place was right across the street.

He poked his owl through the the bars of its cage, and it nipped at his fingers. Envy didn't give it the chance to bite before he pulled back. "Well," he sighed, "it's going to be an interesting year."

'-'

Full Name: Envy Novus

Birthday: 7 May 1980

Wand: Hawthorn and Dragon Heartstring, ten and a quarter inches, flexible.

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE FOLLOWS AND THE FAVORITES AND THE REVIEWS. THANK YOU. It's funny, three reviews, six favorites, and twelve follows. Doubling the number three, then doubling the number six.

I will reply via PM to any reviews I think warrant replying to, and if it's something that every reader needs to know I will reply to it in the Authors Note. Thought you ought to know. XD

Anyway, to whom it may concern: McGonagall confunded Mrs. Todd to make her go away. Let's just say she wasn't in a very good mood, but was sort of nice because Envy is apparently an orphan. Envy's owl is a Northern Hawk Owl (I became obsessed with owls at some point during my life and know some stuff about them. XD). You can find out all about what Envy's wand means at pottermore dot com (change that to proper URL) if you click the 'discover' button and look up 'Wand Lengths', 'Wand Cores', or 'Wand Woods', in case you didn't know that already. York Way is very real and it is indeed just across the street from Kings Cross Station.

Also, I decided that the summary was too vague, so I changed it.

-The Leaf on Italy's Head