Sadly enough, I do have points of view in these next few chapters. I apologise in advance.
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Chapter 7: Secrets of Newcomers
Wizards' POV:
Tonks tapped the bricks on Diagon Alley's back wall, and then led the group to Gringotts.
Harry kept up with her, keeping as far away from the explosive guy (His name's Edward right?) as possible. He could hear slight bits of their conversation.
"This is amazing," exclaimed the girl. He heard faint agreement from the other three. Harry's head twitched as he strained to hear what the older woman was saying.
"Now, Ed tell no one about Al's…or your…Wear gloves all the time."
"I know. I know that much from watching people actually used to the concept of blood seals…don't know alchemy…probably forbidden."
"Big Brother don't show off too much okay."
"Ed, try not to overreact to people saying your short. Once you get…. you'll be shooting up. You're already taller than me, and I'm not…. two bodies."
"I am aren't I. Still. What if Envy, or the Führer, or Li…here? Then what? What if they do…5th laboratory…. Briggs…"
"Big Brother a homuncu…London…far away…what use…Can't do anything…you're a sacrifice…important to them, and so they won't be able to do an…winter holidays."
What the hell? Thought Harry, and he brought his attention back to the present. Two bodies? Blood seal? Forbidden alchemy? Homuncu? Sacrifice? Briggs? Envy? Führer? What's with these people? There's something they aren't telling us.
Tonks brought them inside the huge bank, the newcomers marveling at the outside, and glancing confusedly at the goblins. Harry thought he heard the word chimera used once, so he dropped back to where they were, ignoring their surprised looks.
"They're goblins. I know most Muggles think they're myths, but actually most magical creatures are real. There's even a class about taking care of them," Harry said, simultaneously smiling and shuddering inwardly when he mentioned Hagrid's class. The light in Al's eyeholes (of the armor) got brighter at the subject.
"Really? That's amazing! What oth-" Al was cut off by Winry asking,
"What are Muggles?" at the same time Ed said, "Why do the goblins work in the bank instead of with the rest of the wizards?"
Harry could hear odd concern in his voice.
"Are they only allowed to work here? Do they choose it?" Ed continued.
Harry shrugged, "I don't really know. Ask Hermione, she'll probably know," he turned to face Winry, "and Muggles are non-magic people. Normal people," he ended bitterly, using one of the Dursleys' phrases. Ed's eyes widened.
"What, it's not normal for people here to use magic? In Amestris alchemy is common. Anyone can use it if they know the formulas."
It was now Harry's turn to look confused. Tonks turned around, about to tell them that they were ready to go into the vaults (she had been talking to the goblins at the counter while Harry was speaking to the newcomers) when she heard what Edward said.
"What!" they both cried. Tonks recovered first.
"But don't the Muggles always bug you to help you fix stuff, and give you miracles?" she asked. Izumi shook her head.
"Only if the alchemist has offered or if the alchemists have done some damage to something. Otherwise, alchemy is so common that only small children see it as magic."
The wizards absorbed this, nodded, and proceeded to bring the Amestrians to a cart.
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A goblin, Fullsteel, (Ed had almost jumped to the ceiling in amazement, upon hearing the name. Harry couldn't guess why. Al just laughed heartily at some inside irony) drove them down to the Hogwarts vault. While going down, Harry chatted some with those his age, and the scary looking woman talked with Tonks. While talking to them, Harry found out about Resembool, and Rush Valley, and Pinako, and Garfiel. He heard about Mustang and Hawkeye (but wasn't told much about any of them besides that they existed, and were their friends/Ed's boss).
The descriptions were cut off by the arrival at the Hogwarts vault, number 667. Winry nudged Ed and pointed to the vault next door. Ed cracked up.
"So Hogwarts keeps it's money by the devil's eh? Pity I'm not religious. If I was I'd be hanging up crosses and muttering prayers," he laughed. Harry joined in. It was nice that the transfer was someone he could laugh with.
Fullsteel opened the vault with a collection of exactly 37 keys and a "Mundanilator". The door swung open. Winry's eyes instantly lit up.
"How does that work? Huh huh? How? How'd you get the timing on the key turn to be so perfect?" she started ranting, eyes filled with fire. Fullsteel laughed.
"Many people are surprised at our tools, but few express the same interest you do. It is interesting. Normal wizards generally take our craft for granted, and dismiss it as the way of the world. They forget that we have no magic, while you seem like one who would appreciate the time put into making these vaults."
Harry squirmed guiltily. He had never given the enchantments and craft of the bank much thought before. Fullsteel was exactly right.
"I'm a mechanic myself. I make, uh," Winry glanced at Ed unsure of what say. He gave her a nod so small, Harry could barely pick up on it. "I make automail, a type of prosthetic! I love machines in general. That tool looked very complex! How does it work?"
Fullsteel promised to have a long talk with her later, saying any owl could find him if she wanted to meet afterwards.
"Alright, alright, enough waiting outside!" called Izumi and Tonks simultaneously.
"Lets just get the gold and get back. Now Ed do you have any Muggle money?" Tonks asked.
"Um yeah, but not much. What kind of-" Ed was partially speechless, along with everyone else besides Fullsteel and Tonks. Harry had never seen the Hogwarts vault. It was amazing. Huge golden inlays held up the celing, and precious stones as well as money littered the floor.
When everyone had gotten over their awe, Fullsteel filled a metal grate to full, and tipped it inside a bag. He got slightly less than half of another grate-full
("Because you are a transfer, and you have family with you.").
Ed took the offered bag, and the group got back on the trolley. On the way back, Harry proceeded to tell them about Ron, Hermione, summer with the Dursleys, and the rest of Diagon Alley. Harry noted that in both conversations, they left out anything really important about their lives.
However, the Amestrians were enthralled, and when they got up to fresh air, Harry noticed new enthusiasm. Winry chatted with Fullsteel about the types of tools and the cart systems, while Tonks exchanged most of Ed's Amestrian money for more gold, checking out the vault key. Fullsteel bid them good-bye, and Tonks sat them down at Fortesques's Ice Cream parlor.
Once they'd all ordered, Tonks asked Ed to take out his supply list, telling Harry he'd be going shopping with the Weasleys. Harry was overjoyed, but was still attentive to Ed's list. He was curious about what it would say for the transfer student.
Uniform:
Three sets of plain black robes
One plain pointed black hat (for day wear)
One pair of protective gloves
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings
Course Books:
Standard Book of Spells Grades 1, 3, 5, and 6
A History of Magic
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration
Magical Drafts and Potions
The Dark forces: A guide to Self-Protection
Confronting the Faceless
Advanced Potion Making
Order other books as necessary for your classes
Enclosed is a sheet of electives we offer for 6th years. If interested in any, the course books are listed beside the class.
Other Supplies:
-1 wand
-1 cauldron (pewter standard size 2)
-1 set phials
-1 telescope
-1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl, a cat, a rat, or a toad
Harry and Ed stared at the list. "What the?" was all that came out of both their mouths.
Harry spoke first; saying, "You got a lot of first year's books-" at the same time Izumi, said "Dang, they're really serious about it being magical aren't they."
Tonks laughed at both. Everyone else just kind of stood there.
"C'mon, Ed, Al, Winry, Izumi. Lets get you guys to the shops."
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Amestrian POV:
The group wandered into Flourish and Blotts. They got every book on Ed's list (including the ones required for Astronomy and Arithmancy), and after getting the Standard Book of Spells year numbers getting mixed up a third time, Izumi just grabbed the books for all seven years and they bought all of them.
"He'll have something for the ride anyways," she shrugged, the clerk raising its eyebrows to an unnatural height.
Next they went to Madam Malkins for robes, and Ed was thankful that all he had to do was take off his coat and not his long sleeves or gloves. The last thing he wanted was for the entire shop to see his automail, much less anyone else.
While inside, Harry saw one of his friends and brought her over. It was a girl named Luna. She seemed very pleasant, and spoke in a high, dreamlike voice. She got along really well with Al, and though Winry held back, Ed knew it was because she would probably never see the girl again. Ed liked her though. Luna left an impression on people, a good one in his case.
After buying his uniform, they went to the apothecary for potions ingredients, and then set off to buy cauldrons. After the third store Tonks knew about was found boarded up, Ed went ahead and asking the thing that had been tugging on the back of his mind.
"Why are all the shops boarded up? Why is everyone talking in whispers? And who is this You-Know-Who?" There were several mentions of this "You-Know-Who" in the bits of newspaper Ed had been able to read, and this was beginning to annoy him.
Harry turned around slowly.
"Ed, we can't talk about this in the open. People might hear. But the shops are closed up either because people are scared, or the owners have disappeared. I promise to tell you everything else once we're at Hogwarts, okay?"
Ed nodded slowly, and then continued walking. He's hiding something. I can tell. This You-Know-Who had something to do with a bad memory, at the very least. I wonder if You-Know-Who is the reason people are getting scared… Oh well, he'll be telling me at school anyways. I shouldn't worry. Even so, Ed became slightly more guarded around Harry than before.
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I do strange things with points of view, so sorry about any confusion. As a disclaimery thing, I feel like explaination-ing myself
Unrolls scroll and proclaims Unless stated other wise, the fic shall be 3rd person from Ed. So, like in Harry Potter where tis 3rd person, but we only see Harry's thoughts. When stated otherwise, it'l be stated, so no explanation of that for you! Mehheheh….
Next chapter they shall continue the search for Ed's cauldron, but they shall meet up with dearest Draco. Yay!!