"blah blah"- Speaking Greek
"blah blah"- Speaking Amestrian
'blah blah'- Thinking
***** - Begin/end flashback
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Percy Jackson. Good thing too, or they wouldn't be nearly as good as they are now. They belong to J.K. Rowling, Hiromu Arakawa, and Rick Riordan.
Edward
The first thing that Edward realized when he woke up was that he was in a bed, which he found odd considering the last thing he remembered was being on a train. Then his memories came back to him. He remembered the black cloaked figure, the terrifying coldness that came with it, and seeing – he shut his eyes tightly. No. He wasn't going to think about that. But even so, he shuddered as he remembered the cold despair that had gripped his heart. Opening his eyes, Ed heard footsteps drawing closer, and saw a woman rushing over to his bed.
"Oh thank goodness, you're awake," the woman said, obviously relieved. "You were starting to worry me. Here, eat this."
The woman held out what looked like…chocolate? Ed looked at it in confusion, and she impatiently shoved it in his mouth.
"Go on, eat!" She cried. "I haven't seen such a bad reaction to dementors in quite a while, and you need to get your strength back!"
After recovering from his near death-by-chocolate experience and swallowing the brown sweet, Ed found that he did feel much better; and managed to speak at last.
"What exactly happened?" He asked, his voice hoarse. "Are we at Hogwarts?"
"That's right dear," the woman said with a nod. "We're in the hospital wing."
Ed jolted up in realization. "Hospital wing?!" He cried. "I can't be here! I'm supposed to meet Dumbledore at the opening feast!" Ed jumped out of the bed and saw, to his relief, that he still had all his clothing on. He dashed towards the door, ignoring the nurse's protests. "Which way is it?" He asked, stopping at the door and whirling to face the nurse.
"Now you wait for one moment young man!" The nurse said angrily.
"I can't wait a moment!" Edward protested. "I'm already late! Look, I promise I'll come back after the feast, but can you please tell me where to go?"
She huffed at him, obviously not pleased, but pointed him in the right direction after making him swear to come straight back afterward. Ed yelled a quick thank you as he ran in the direction of the Great Hall. By the time he got there, he could hear someone, presumably Dumbledore, giving some sort of speech. Ed growled in frustration.
He really hadn't wanted to make a noticeable entrance, but now that couldn't be avoided. He glared up at the tall doors. That was just excessive. It's like they were trying to make him feel tiny and insignificant. Ed hated feeling tiny. Stupid doors. He kicked them open for good measure. The voice seemed to be saying something about new teachers; perfect timing.
The speaker was an old man in robes with a long white beard. He stopped his speech as the doors opened, turning to look at the intruder. Edward walked across the hall, ignoring the stares of the students, and mounted the platform where the speaker stood. The students were starting to whisper. He could see that the teachers, minus Lupin, seemed confused as well. Ed ignored them as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his introduction letter.
"Are you headmaster Dumbledore?" He queried. When the man nodded, he held out the letter. Dumbledore accepted the letter with a raised eyebrow. After quickly reading through it, he smiled and nodded, then turned back to the students.
"I apologize for the interruption," Dumbledore said, addressing the students once more, "But it was perfectly timed. As I was saying, we have introduced a new class this year at Hogwarts, and this is your professor. Allow me to introduce your Alchemy professor, Edward Elric." He turned to Ed and gestured towards the table. Ed turned and sat down at the table. The rest of the staff was staring at him in disbelief.
Lupin nodded at him. "Good to see you back on your feet, Elric," he said with a smile.
The headmaster had finished speaking and sat down at the table as well. Just as Ed was wondering where the food was, the platters on the table filled up with every kind of food imaginable. Ed nearly fell out of his seat in shock. A few of the teachers raised an eyebrow at him. He glared at them, daring them to say anything. Most of them quickly averted their gazes.
The meal finished, and there was a mass exodus of young wizards and witches as they headed to their respective house sleeping areas. Ed had barely stood up from the table before five of the teachers, the nurse from the medical ward, and Dumbledore were swarming him, all talking at once. He heard a few things like "Is this a joke?" "Why is there a child?!" and "He needs to come to the medical wing immediately!" before Dumbledore silenced them all.
"Now," Dumbledore began, clasping his hands in front of him. "I am sure that we all have questions that need to be answered. Why don't we all head to the medical wing, where Poppy can look over our young alchemist and we can get some answers." With that, the headmaster walked in the direction of the medical wing.
The nurse, who Ed now knew was named Poppy, seized Ed by the arm and practically dragged him along as if she were afraid he would run off again. The five teachers, including Lupin, followed closely behind. Upon reaching the medical wing, Poppy seated Ed firmly on a bed and began searching through several potions. Dumbledore sat down on the bed opposite Ed.
"I am sure that you all would like answers now," he said with a smile.
A severe looking woman was the first to speak. "Dumbledore, what is the meaning of this? Why has Amestris sent us a child?" She looked quite agitated, but Dumbledore didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
"I'll admit that I was unaware of Edward's age before today," Dumbledore began, casting a glance toward Ed. "Our relationship with Amestris is…unpredictable, at most times –"
Ed scoffed. "If by 'unpredictable' you mean 'barely at peace'," he muttered.
Several of the teachers raised their eyebrows. Ed glared at them. "What? It's true," he said defensively.
"As I was saying," Dumbledore continued, "the Minister decided that an 'exchange of power' would help our relations."
"An Alchemy class," one of the teachers said.
Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "Precisely. We requested that an alchemist be sent to teach our youth about alchemy, and in exchange, they would have access to the extensive magical knowledge contained in the Hogwarts library."
"All of that makes sense," the other female teacher said, "but why would they send a child?"
"Stop calling me that!" Edward snapped, glaring at her. "I'm no child – and I am perfectly capable of teaching alchemy, or I wouldn't have been sent."
Dumbledore paused, looking from Edward to the professors. "The agreement was that the Amestrian military would send a state alchemist," he began slowly. "According to the letter of introduction that Edward gave me, he is, in fact, a state alchemist."
Seven sets of eyes turned to Ed, who resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his silver watch and held it out for them to see.
"I assume the letter told you that I would have a pocket watch as proof of my certification," Edward said. "Here it is. Happy now?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed it did."
"How old are you, Mr. Elric?" The severe–looking woman asked, still eyeing him warily.
"Fifteen," Ed replied, pocketing his watch. "I became a state alchemist three years ago." Sensing the oncoming question, Edward spoke again. "The State Alchemist program does not have an age limit because the test is too difficult for anyone underage to pass. Except for me, that is. I took the test and I passed. That is all that matters."
"I believe that settles everything," Dumbledore said, clasping his hands together with a smile. "Unless you had any more questions?" He turned to the professors, who shook their heads. "In that case, I recommend that we all get a good night's rest – but of course, we haven't introduced ourselves!" Dumbledore stood, and Edward followed suit. "I am headmaster Albus Dumbledore, as you know," the old man said, inclining his head towards Edward.
Edward nodded back before turning to the four teachers that he had yet to learn the names of. "Edward Elric," he said, doing his best to sound cordial. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
The first to speak was the professor who was so short that Ed almost hadn't noticed him. "Filius Flitwick, Charms professor and head of the Ravenclaw house. I look forward to working with you."
"Minerva McGonagall," the stern woman said, nodding politely. "Transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor. A pleasure to meet you."
"Severus Snape, Potions professor and head of the Slytherin house." The black-haired man was looking at Ed with an expression of disdain, and Ed got the feeling that the potions master wasn't quite sure what to think of him yet.
The last professor, a woman who looked like she belonged in a garden, stepped forward. "Pomona Sprout, head of Hufflepuff. I teach Herbology."
Dumbledore nodded approvingly. "With that all taken care of, I will ask that Minerva please show Edward to his room. Classes start tomorrow, and I am sure that we all have preparations to take care of!"
The professors and Dumbledore exited the room, murmuring polite goodnights.
The nurse, who had stayed quiet the whole time, finally spoke. "My name is Poppy Pomfrey," she introduced. "I'm the school nurse, as I'm sure you know." Leaning closer, she whispered, "if you ever have any trouble with those limbs, please let me know and I will do what I can to help. The weather gets quite cold up here, and I'm sure that will be quite a bit painful for you."
Ed opened his mouth in surprise to ask her how she knew, but she cut him off before he even started.
"I'm a nurse, dearie," she said briskly. "I noticed when professor Lupin first brought you in. I won't ask you what happened, and I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, but please do let me help you as much as I can. That is my job, after all." She smiled at him.
"Th-Thank you," Ed said. He was surprised by the nurse's words, but definitely grateful.
"Now, I'm sure you want to be getting to sleep. Go on now, but I expect you back for a check by tomorrow afternoon at the latest!"
Ed groaned internally, but he grudgingly agreed. He stepped outside the medical wing to find Professor McGonagall waiting for him.
"This way Mr. Elric," she said, beckoning for him to follow her. "I'll show you to your rooms. We put a spare portrait as you door temporarily, but if you would like you may provide a picture from home to use instead."
She had begun walking while she talked. Ed was wondering why a picture would be needed when he noticed something strange about the pictures adorning the walls. He did a double take as they passed a picture of two people having tea. Sure enough, the people in the picture…they were moving.
"What the – how –" Edward stammered, staring at the portrait on the wall, which raised its eyebrows at him. "How are your pictures moving?!" He finally forced out, still staring in shock. Professor McGonagall stopped walking and turned back towards him.
"Do keep your voice down Mr. Elric," she scolded. "All of our pictures move; it's not a very complicated procedure, I'm sure you could find a book on the subject in the library. The people in the pictures speak as well, and the one in front of your room will require a password for you to get in.
"As I was saying, if you have a personal photo that you wish to use, then please have it delivered to me and I will see to it." McGonagall calmly turned back around and continued walking down the hall, forcing Ed to stop gawking at the pictures and catch up with her. Ed shook his head. He was going to have to write a long letter to Alphonse tonight.
After a long walk up many staircases and through more than one hidden door, Ed was thoroughly and completely lost. He was immensely glad that Dumbledore had provided him with a map of the castle, because there was no way that he would ever be able to get anywhere without one. Finally, they stopped in front of a large picture of a very prim looking old woman in a dress that, in Ed's opinion, made her look like a peacock. She looked down her nose at him as he looked up at her.
"Is this the new Alchemy Professor? A child?"
McGonagall ignored the portrait and turned to Ed. "Just tell her what you want your password to her and she will remember it."
"How does that even work?" Ed asked, eyeing the portrait skeptically.
"Is this boy even a wizard?" the portrait asked disdainfully.
Ed ignored her and, after a moment of consideration, spoke his password. "Alphonse." He knew there was no way that he would ever forget that.
"What kind of password is that? Is that supposed to be a name?" The portrait said in disgust as she swung open.
Ed wrinkled his nose as he stepped through the doorway that had been revealed. He knew one thing for sure; that picture was getting discarded as soon as he could find a suitable replacement. But for now, he had a letter to write.
EDIT: This chapter was revised October of 2018
