"You know what you have to help me do?"

"What is it? I-if I can help I will."

"There is someone who I think is causing these incidents. Would you allow me to do something about it?"


Talk was that Hermione had been attacked by the beast and students returning from their holiday break swarmed the hospital wing to try and catch a sight of her. Of course Madam Pomfrey had the curtains closed so that they were unable to see her. Nonetheless, the hype and worry from the students quickly waned because there were not major announcements of injury.

Although, if she was hurt, it'd be easier to pinpoint who the possible suspects are- many students left for the holiday season.

Ed sighed deeply- disregarding the murmur of students gossiping about the Chamber of Secrets surrounding him. He knew on Christmas night, it was not Crabbe and Goyle that visited them but what he did not understand was how they had done it. There were no spells known to him that would allow someone to disguise as another. However, if there were really such spells then that meant someone outside of the school could enter pretending to be someone they were truly not.

'But that had to be how it was done. It was not Crabbe and Goyle. Which means that there is indeed a way to become someone else using magic.'

The alchemist stood up as the class came to an end, pulled his bag over his shoulder, and walked towards the library to once again reignite his research- but this time he had to consult Dumbledore for access to the Restricted Section.

From the corner of golden orbs, he glanced past his parted bangs to see the sharp gaze of Severus Snape.

The dark professor gave off an air of boredom often but what Ed saw underneath was a warning look- a look that warns him that he has to be careful. Of what, Ed was unable to tell as he was pushed easily from behind by students rushing to hang out with their friends.

After Ed vanished from his sight, Snape snapped his head back from the door to back down at his own desk. Flipping the potions book open and using his nimble fingers, he retrieved a notecard that was hidden.

"Edward Elric, I'd advise you to not snoop around too much."


"Hey can I help you?" Al kindly reached out his hand to a student in the library that was struggling. Seeing as how they both had the Gryffindor robe, Al thought that he would gladly take the help but instead the boy quickly panicked.

"N-no, I'm good, thank you Alphonse," he stuttered and started to quickly pack his stuff up.

Al frowned and pulled his hand back before mentally giving himself a slap on the face.

"Why is it that I've noticed people avoiding me?"

The boy looked up to Al with disbelief written over his face. "Are you really asking me? Your brother is a Slytherin and how do we know you are not trying to just cleanse all of the muggle-borns!" The boy shook before quickly adding afterwards, "I-I am pure-blood though so there isn't a need for you to attack me!" He quickly made a move to leave with all his books before Al stood in front of him with his arm raised to the side.

"Please, I do not understand," his golden eyes turned down in sadness.

"Please, just let me go," the boy begged and feeling guilt, Al lowered his arms and let the Gryffindor quickly race back to his friends.


Ed grumbled under his breath. Of course he was unable to meet Dumbledore when he was looking for the old headmaster. That man was like everywhere all the time except when Ed actually needed him! Noticing the presence of someone standing before him, Ed tilted his head upwards but then quickly jerked them back down. It was not just a person. From the quick peek he had gotten of the form in front of him, he quickly realized what the beast was.

His left arm instinctively reached for his right forearm. He grasped tightly and reached within his robe with his right arm for his wand.

"Well well. Edward Elric. Don't you think you've done enough snooping?"

"And who are you to tell me that?" Ed taunted and cautiously peeked through his bangs- as long as he didn't look at the creature in the eyes- as long as he was careful- he would be fine.

"I would think you already know me. As a matter of fact, I think I should remove you from here. And then your brother, and then I would finally have Harry Potter under me!"

Ed clenched his teeth- furious at the threat- and launched off his left leg before thrusting his arm towards the student in front of him. Quickly, he grabbed them by their robe and thrust them towards the hard cement of the school. After taking a good look at the face of the student he had underneath him he couldn't help but gasp.

"Are you surprised?"


Al sat straight up. Sweat broke out across his forehead and his hands shook when he lifted them. However, he could not think of a single reason for his distress. He quickly glanced around before quickly changing into his school robes. Tiredly he threw his bag over his shoulders. For some reason, his body really ached but he shrugged it off and walked towards Professor Sprout's greenhouses. Maybe he could check up on the status of the mandrakes after meeting with Myrtle again.

However, he did not get far before he saw the concerned expressions of Ron and Harry. They both were out of breath with faces as pale as sheets.

"A-Al, y-your brother, E-ed was petrified!"

Al felt his blood run cold. His bag slipped from his shoulder and hit the ground with a clang- creating a mess of books and papers. Taken aback, Ron and Harry watched as Al's face fell and his arms shook.

"Al you're bleeding!" Ron shouted after realizing that the younger boy had cut his palms open from clenching his fists so hard.

"Where."

"What?" Confused, Ron looked back into the fiery pierce of Al.

"Where is my brother?"

"He's in the infirmary! Let's go!" Harry quickly shouted and Al immediately pivoted and dashed back to the hospital wing.

The terrified students quickly ran into the infirmary- word was still getting around that the older Elric had been caught in an accident. Harry noted as they rushed to the infirmary that Al's face had contorted with worry. And that was in fact true. The younger Elric had not yet found a lead for the beast that was going around causing havoc. Due to the unknown nature of the beast, he worried about the fate of his older brother.

'Is it possible that it may trigger other side effects?'

Al quickly dashed in front of the others as they rounded the corner to the infirmary. He briskly walked into the room where Madam Pomfry was situated. She took once glance at Al's face and grimaced. She got up and gestured for Al to take a seat.

Aghast, Al pushed the curtain to the side and was caught looking down at his petrified brother. However, unlike the other students that were petrified, Ed's position suggested that he was not standing- it was clear that he was in the middle of a scuffle. His eyes were wide with shock and were directed towards his prosthetic right arm. His automail!

Hearing the sound of Harry and Ron entering- Al panicked and pulled on the arm of Ed's robe so that it covered his automail arm. Ron gasped in shock- the student that he was terrified of since the beginning of their first year had a face that expressed fury and surprise. He caught himself before he flinched in fright- he certainly would never want that expression directed at himself.

"Looked like Ed was in the middle of trying to kill someone. . . " Harry winced.

"But no one else was petrified right?" Al prompted, "That's indicative of the fact that Ed was caught in a scuffle with the perpetrator themself."

"Why was he looking towards his arm though? Is there something there?" Ron inched forward to pull on Ed's sleeve before Madam Pomfry stopped him.

"No one will be touching Elric but indeed, its quite curious why his eyes are directed there. Anyhow! Once the Mandrakes have fully matured, everyone will be cured and it'll all be alright!"

Al propped his hand underneath his chin in deep thought. Yes, it was strange that Ed was petrified in a position which he was looking at his automail arm. There must have been a reason why Ed did that- there must've been! A possible and not far-fetched reason would be that he was caught off guard when his sight was pulled to his automail intentionally rather than coincidental.

"Word got around really quickly," Ron mumbled before snagging the corner of Harry's robe and pulling on Al's. Taking a look at the door of the infirmary, they caught sight of many students that were trying to look over each other to catch a sight of Ed on the infirmary bed. Madam Pompfry shook her head and closed back up the curtain so that it hid Ed from the others' curiosities.

"That's not right," Al mumbled to himself. He had a clue to what the beast must've been like. It would have been something that could petrify someone through some sort of visual contact.

"Al, do you think you have an idea about the beast?"

"N-not exactly Harry. I was just trying to think about the origin of the beast as well, I don't think it can just move by itself- like imagine a beast without a master just roaming around the school. There must be a person commanding them of course but then the person would have to be able to command the beast."

As the three of them walked back to the Gryffindor's dorm area, they heard a flurry of whispers from students gossiping about a flooding incident outside of the female's restroom on the third floor- the one which Moaning Myrtle haunted.

"Man, Filch is out to kill- once he finds the person that caused the flooding, they're gonna be in so much trouble," a Gryffindor whispered.

"I think we should check it out. . ." Harry mused and Al nodded in agreement. Ron was still reluctant about entering the girls' restroom but seeing the determined look on Harry and Al's expression, he reluctantly sighed and followed the two of them as they quickly rushed to the restroom occupied by the moaning ghost while carefully trying to slip underneath Filch's radar.

"Why would anyone do this to me!" Myrtle wailed and the three boys winced at the loud cry and watched as she dove headfirst into one of the porcelain bowls and causing more water to pour.

"He-Hey Myrtle what happened here?" Harry inquired.

"It must have been one of those girls that bullied me!" She moaned and cried out once more.

"Myrtle, what happened?" Al softly prompted while looking the crying girl in her ghostly face.

"I was upset that someone made fun of me /again/ and I was just thinking about my death in that toilet over there," she pointed to the last stall of the restroom, "and then someone just threw a book in there! It hit me right through the chest!"

"But it wasn't like you felt it anyways. . ." Ron muttered under his breath but Myrtle still managed to catch him and she wailed in sorrow.

"Of course, Myrtle is a ghost, Myrtle can't feel pain, why don't we just throw things at Myrtle!" She cried and took another face dive in one of the stalls.

"Sheesh, girls. . ." Ron winced when Al turned his exasperated expression to him. Harry entered the last stall and fished the book out of the toilet and the three of them snuck back to the Gryffindor room.

"Harry, what's inside the book?" Al curiously looked at the dark bounded book. They had quickly poured into Harry and Ron's shared room to see if they could discover more clues concerning the beast in Hogwarts.

However, their expectations were met with disappointment as they watched The Boy Who Lived flip through empty pages after empty pages.

"There has to be a reason why someone threw away that book," Al frowned. He needed all the clues he was able to accumulate. "It might be invisible ink, hold on," the "younger" boy rolled up his sleeves and casted, "Aparecium!" But the page remained empty. The golden boy frowned and once again racked his mind for another way to reveal contents of the book.

"It might just be an empty journal afterall," Ron shrugged. "Probably a student really just wanted to chuck it at Myrtle as some sort of stress relief."

"No, no it has to have some sort of clue to how we can save my brother!" Al clenched his teeth and growled. His brother has to be ok- Ed has to be ok!

"Al, its ok, Madam Pomfrey said that once the mandrakes are fully grown they will be fine," Harry reassured the panicked boy.

"Yea but is there a guarantee that brother and everyone else will be fine until then? I still haven't been able to narrow down a beast since there are just so many that all do different things and some are quite lethal!"

"I feel like we might be missing something," Harry suggested. "We've been searching for beasts instead of thinking about how they are getting around the school. Because realistically, there are not much beasts that can get around Hogwarts without drawing attention."

"That means that it has to have a way to enter the school undetected."

"So you're saying this beast can just walk through walls like a ghost or something?" Ron frowned. He had no idea where this conversation was going but both boys seemed to be very deep in thought."

"No, but they could be traveling through the walls. . . " the younger Elric smiled.


I'm still not dead but it's taking me a while to re-sort how I want this story to go

Thank you everyone who favorited! I'll try to be organized about my thoughts and carry on. And thank you Tsukiko K for your lovely suggestion! I love suggestions and I'll take as many of them as I could get!