/AN/ PLEASE READ okay now I have your attention just a small note to say that if you have been following this story and have not seen my previous notes, as of 14.01.18 I have made some changes to the plot of this story. None of them are so major that you'd have to reread the whole fic, but just in case you wanted to get a general idea of what changed I would recommend re-reading chaps 4 and 5 (or just the rest of this note). If you'd prefer not to, here's a quick run down of what changed: 1. Ed did not receive an ominous letter from Dumbledore telling him of a meeting. 2. Ed found out about Hogwarts rather than ~mysterious random wizards~on his own and he has chosen to try to get into the school- instead of being blackmailed into attending 3. He met with McGonagall who doesn't know anything about him other than that he wants to enroll in Hogwarts and he is now waiting for a letter telling him whether or not he has been accepted into the school. Sorry this is a bit of a long AN. I will probably delete most of it later but I just wanted to make sure any previous readers were not confused by the sudden change. Thanksss :)

Three months. Three months since Alphonse had watched his brother get dragged, screaming and yelling into a dark swirling pit. Three months since he had fought the alchemists in Zone 12, shouting for Ed to hold on because he was coming for him. Three months since Edward Eric, the Fullmetal Alchemist had been declared MIA.

Alphonse took a shuddering breath. Or at least what sounded like one to anyone outside the suit of armour. That was one of the strange things Al had noticed about the suit recently. Somehow, despite the fact that he had no need to breathe it would still make the low, raspy noise that rattled through the helmet as if breathing for him.

Across from Al sat Roy Mustang who was nursing a glass of cheap whisky as he looked over Ed's file. Ever since the young alchemist's disappearance, the colonel had spent an alarming amount of time on the case even at the expense of neglecting his other duties, as if he had convinced himself that it was his fault that the teen had gone missing. Despite Alphonse's constant reassurances that Colonel there was nothing anyone could have done, the man still managed to blame himself.

If only I had sent more men.

If only I hadn't underestimated the alchemists in the warehouse.

If only I had made sure Ed had read the entire file before leaving.

If only I had gone with him.

It was no secret in the military that Roy was Ed's main handler. With that came the theories and accusations that he had planned this, or had deliberately withheld information about the case from Ed or had knowingly sent the boy on a mission above his skill set. Even the public had an opinion on the matter which had somehow made its way to national news.

It was only Alphonse who had managed to save Roy from the potential media storm that threatened to descend upon him. Really, Roy owed him his career.

In the weeks after the incident, it had been 14 year old Al who had answered every question, every accusation, every interrogation regarding that day, even though he was still recovering from the shock of losing Ed so suddenly.

It was a small miracle that reporters decided to overlook the fact that a non-military personnell had been allowed to accompany Ed on a high security mission, even more so that the military themselves had also ignored that small detail. No, the big story here was that Ed, the golden boy, the Fullmetal Alchemist was missing and there were absolutely zero leads on how to find him.

Roy dragged a weary hand over his face, reading the tiny file for what must have been the thousandth time.

Zone 12 was a dead end. Everything had been destroyed in a mysterious fire that had been set off the minute the extraction team set foot in the place. Any books or documents that may have helped them in their search were all scorched beyond recovery. Similarly, every research lab in the site was also destroyed, either by the fire or independent explosions that had been set off.

The four alchemists were useless too. After the transmutation, Al had managed to apprehend all of them, knocking them out and handing them over to the extraction team when they eventually found him.

They lasted two days of questioning before they were found dead in their cells, cyanide still fresh on their lips. None of them had talked.

That just left Al, who was the only person who had seen the inside the building before the whole place had gone up in flames. He could recall everything he had seen but unfortunately that was very little. All they knew was that the facility had had labs dedicated to the research of soul transmutation, chimeras and no doubt human transmutation too. And that was it. Nothing more had been found in he three month long search for Ed.

Predictably, the media hype over the issue had died down weeks ago. With no fresh information coming up, what was the point of recycling old news? As media attention dwindled, so did the search team. Slowly, their squad of fifteen investigators had reduced to twelve, then to ten, then five and now three as commanders had pulled their soldiers out of the team as it became apparent that the investigation was going nowhere fast.

And that was how Roy, Riza and Al had ended up sitting together, huddled away in the back of a bar in Central brooding over their missing alchemist.

"Perhaps we missed something at Zone 12?" Alphonse offered. Roy dismissed the notion with the wave of a hand.

"Both myself and Lieutenant Hawkeye have visited the site numerous times. There's nothing but rubble left."

"But I haven't gone sir. I can check places that are too dangerous for you, I heard that nobody has even been down to the basement yet!"

"Alphonse," Riza gently chimed in, "I was there just yesterday with Black Hayate. We went down to the basement and it's completely...empty. I don't think-" her breath hitched slightly, "-there was nothing Al. No evidence of anything ever being down there."

"Then... What about the other gang members? Surely there were more! You'd been planning this infiltration for weeks before me and Ed were sent in there. You must have some external information."

Roy hesitated for a moment before he replied. He could tell Alphonse was getting desperate, they all were really. It had been a difficult past few months and it was especially at times like these that Roy missed Hughes that much more. Had he been alive still, the Major would have been at the forefront of the investigation and may have even found a solid lead by now.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple Alphonse. Everything we knew about Zone 12 and that gang had been collected over weeks of anonymous tip offs, civilian statements and rumours. I only even picked up the case because I heard that some sort of shady alchemy was involved and knew that was right up your street. Other than a couple of anomalous statements, we really do have nothing."

As Mustang was talking, Riza had handed Alphonse two scraps of paper which were covered in sprawling writing. They were the two statements that had only been brought out again due to the incident at the warehouse. For a moment the table was silent whilst Al scanned the two notes, Roy ready to take them back and place them into the file as yet another inconsequential piece of evidence. That was until Al stiffened slightly and visibly gripped the two scraps tighter, bringing them both closer to the eyes of his helmet as if squinting.

Riza was suddenly attentive.

"What is it Al? Did you see-"

"I think I've got us a lead."

/London/

For Ed, waiting was possibly the worst form of torture anyone could inflict upon him. In the two hours after he had met with the professor from Hogwarts, he had managed to read every one of the books that cluttered his room, come up with three new theories about magic that he needed to test, and had become thoroughly bored.

Now that something had finally happened to kick start his research for his return to Amestris, the young alchemist could hardly sit still. Every so often he would glance out of his window or wander down into the bar, hoping that a letter had come through from the lady even though he knew that it was impossible. By the third hour, Ed knew that he was being irrationally jittery so he got up and grabbed his cloak.

It was gone midnight and the bar was quiet as Ed crept out of the inn. There were only a couple of old men sitting in a far corner by a small gas lamp, grumbling over a game of cards and beer and he was able to sneak out unnoticed. A strange tightness had formed in the pit of Ed's stomach and although he would be the last to admit it out loud, he knew that he was nervous. Nervous for what exactly? School. A place Edward hadn't been to for over four years. Ever since he and Al had started their training with Izumi, he really had thought that he had left it behind for good, and now here he was.

Ed started walking down the street towards the park. It was dark and the streetlamps were dim.

Ed wasn't sure exactly why he was nervous; sure the idea of school itself was pretty mundane and he had never had any particularly awful experiences during the time he had attended the local primary in Resembool, so...why did the thought of going to Hogwarts make his stomach twist so painfully?

Was it the prospect of classwork? No, he had plenty of paperwork assignments that he completed with no difficulty at the military.

The teachers? No way, the only authority figures that truly terrified Ed were ones like Izumi, Olivier Armstrong and now that Professor McGonagall. The rest just happened to be people that he was supposed to kiss up to.

The students? ...Possibly.

Ed kicked at a rock on the pathway. It skidded into the road then vanished among the rest of the cobbles.

It had been a long time since Ed had had to spend time with others of his age. It wasn't that he was some kind of lone-wolf who hated company, in fact he loved being around people- theatrics were his specialty! But...ever since trapping Al in that suit of armour, the two had never had time for casual socialising. Also, he had learned over the years that he wasn't an especially likable person, if Rose, Mei and Lan Fan were anything to go by. Ed really only knew how to interact with adults now.

A low growl escaped Ed's throat and he decided to put a stop to that thought where it was. It would only make him more nervous. He was coming up to the park now, it's low gate swinging slightly on its rusty hinges. Ed had discovered this place a few weeks ago and had come here a few times to jog around its perimeter. Grass running was always easier on his automail ports than pavement.

However tonight there was no light at all in the park. Apparently whoever was in charge had decided that turning on the floodlights was a waste of money. Ed groaned. Still, he had come all this way to let off some steam, so he carefully slipped through the gate and began going through some simple stretches. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the park wasn't as dark as he had initially thought, with some pale light spilling over from the streetlamps and even a faint glow from the moon. Ed could actually see pretty well, provided he didn't care about knowing what was four meters in front of him.

Deeming himself sufficiently warmed up, Ed set of jogging at a fast but steady pace, sticking to the edges of the grass where it was lightest. As he ran, the teen could feel the tension ebbing out of his body, replaced with the usual thrum of adrenaline that made his mind buzz. It was on his fifth lap of the park that Ed noticed some movement up by the gate which was on the other side of the field to him. At that moment he passed it off as a fox or another late-night wanderer- in this large city it was not uncommon for people to be out and about during the early hours of the morning.

Only once Ed was a little way off from the gate did he notice that something seemed off. The shapes by the gate were large. Much larger than any fox and larger than an average human. Well, large wasn't really the right word for these figures- they were more long, tall, almost as tall as Armstrong. And there were at least five.

Quietly, Ed slowed to a walk, trying to make his clothes rustle a little as possible as he looked for the nearest cluster of shadows to hide in. He had a bad feeling about that group of people and although he had his alchemy back, he would definitely prefer to avoid a conflict.

The nearest hiding spot Ed could see was only a little way away from him, beneath some bushes and behind a small, fallen tree. Unfortunately it was barely two meters form the group of hooded figures as well. With only a moment of hesitation, Ed ducked down and all but sprinted over to the bushes, keeping a tight grip on the back of his coat to keep it from flapping. He reached the spot in less than a second and held his breath, waiting to see if they'd investigate. Nothing. Ed dared to peek round the leaves to see that none of them had even turned his way.

Now that he was closer, Ed could just about make out their voices, rough and slightly muffled as if they were trying to be discreet. This made Ed ever more curious. A group of shady hat guys, meeting at the dead of night at a shadowy park. There had to be something juicy going on. Gradually, Ed shuffled forward so that he could pick up more of their conversation.

"-ing into place now. As soon as the boy is entered into the tournament, it will only be a matter of time until he comes back."

"How do we know he will be chosen? He is far too young to even enter!"

"We have someone...on the inside. He will enter the boy and he will be selected. The ritual must be done."

"So what are we going to do in the meantime? It's hard enough to even go out during the daytime. Ever since the World Cup we've been hunted like dogs!"

"Let me remind you of our place. We live to serve the Dark Lord and you will not blame him for your own incompetence. Anyway, there is much to do, to prepare for when he returns. We leave tomorrow for-"

CRACK

"What was that?"

All four of the men turned instantly towards Ed, wands drawn.

Fucking branch. That is so cliché, well done Ed you fucking idiot.

There was nothing else Ed could do but stand up and confront the men. They obviously had something awful planned and whether he liked it or not, they were going to find him if he just stayed where he was. Each of them had summoned some kind of light- Ed recalled reading about the spell "lumos" in one of the books he had read, and between them the light shone brighter than a searchlight.

With a crackle of alchemy, a pillar of dirt barreled towards the figures, taking them by surprise. All but one were hit, sending them rolling to the ground where two of them stayed.

Two down, two to go.

The remainig two had begun shouting to each other and spread out swiftly so that Ed had to constantly turn his head to keep track of them. Their outlines were hard to make out in the darkness now that they had extinguished the lights from their wands.

A sudden shout from the left was the only warning Ed had before a bright light hurtled towards him. There was no time to transmute a wall and Ed found himself leaping backwards into a handspring to evade the spell.

Definitely wizards then. Damn.

Two more spells were fired in quick succession at Ed's head, both just barely missing their targets and forcing Ed even further back. On instinct, Ed transmuted his arm blade just as his back hit a tree. His eyes went wide as another silvery spark flashed directly towards him and he ducked down with a millisecond to spare as the light shredded into the wood above him.

Kicking back against the tree, Ed used it to propel him forwards into a roll, at the same time he planted his hands against the grass sending two large fist-shaped lumps of ground towards his attackers.

Assuming that the loud thud was one of them going down, Ed focused his attention to the last remaining wizard before the others recovered.

He could see the man crouched low, almost invisible if not for a few chains that hung from his clothes that glinted in the light of a far away street lamp.

Ed let him believe he had the advantage for a moment, using his hesitation to buy him time to transmute a large shield from the small traces of metal in the ground. If he was going to get close, he needed something to deflect the spells.

Ed took barely two seconds to transmute the shield and he was only just in time to deflect a whisperd spell from behind him.

The impact was like a gun shot, but miraculously the shield remained intact.

Theory one, success.

Throwing caution to the wind, Ed began sprinting towards the cloaked wizard, arm blade raised. He was almost upon the man when there was suddenly a Lound crack and he vanished.

Ed stumbled forward, almost falling in surprise and unable to fully stop his momentum. Another crack sounded directly behind Ed and all of a sudden there was an arm around his neck and a wand pressed against his temple.

"Who are you?" a voice hissed into his ear. "Why are you here?"

"Me!" Ed shrieked back, "What the hell is a group of fully grown ass men doing playing dress up a 1am?"

The wand was pressed harder into Ed's temple, if it was any sharper it might have drawn blood.

"I will not ask again boy. Tell me who sent you!"

"Alright! Ugh just let me go first! I'll tell you everything." Ed slumped forwards in the man's arm.

"No. You tell me now and I might spare you." the wizard snarled. Ed could tell the man was wounded, his voice was breathy and shook slightly.

"Well in that case then..." Ed let out a shout as he flung his head back from where it had been slumped forwards. It collided with something behind him which he assumed was the wizard's nose from the resounding crunch that followed.

A cry tore from the man's lips as he let go of both Ed and his wand in favour of cradling his face. A swift roundhouse kick to the side of the head brought him down where he lay still, crumpled on the floor with his face resting in a slowly growing puddle of blood.

"Ah shit." Ed felt the the familiar sensation of warm blood trickle down the side of his face. He must really have filed that stick to get it so sharp. Intrigued, Ed shuffled over to where the wand was flung on the ground. He'd never seen one up close and he was pretty curious. One of the men was on the floor next to it but a shove with his boot confirmed that he was unconscious.

The alchemist crouched down to observe the stick, frowning when it failed to do anything spectacular. He reached a hand towards it and was about to touch it when his wrist was suddenly caught in the grasp of the previously unconscious.

The man was already half way through a spell word and there was nothing Ed could do to avoid the light at point blank range.

"Obliviate!"

The moment the spell hit, Ed's world exploded into white, then faded to nothing.

AN/

Sorry for taking so long to update... Again. I'm going to try to update at least once a month from now on and yall can Yell at me if I don't :)