~Chapter Eleven: Dark Secrets Within~

A/N: Here it is; the beginning of the end. T.T This chapter is more so setting up for the next one, which is gonna be big. Still action-y, this one is, but not nearly as much as Chapter 12 shall be. :D I'm sad to say that I've just about reached the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, though *sob*

'Tis ok, though; after all of the feedback I got from you wonderful readers Ima thinking I better do a sequel after all. :)) Thank so much, as usual for reading, but thanks even more to everyone who gave their opinions about the idea of a sequel! That really helped me shape exactly how I was going to end "Entwined Sorcery," and now I'm super pumped to start planning "Entwined Sorcery: YEAR TWO!" ^_^

all things Harry Potter (c) J.K. Rowling

all things Fullmetal Alchemist (c) Hiromu Arakawa

Nova was not a happy little owl.

Not only was she rudely awakened by the rustling of robes just as she had drifted into her much-needed beauty sleep, but she was completely snubbed by the intruder as well. The teacher which the students called 'Professor McGonagall' bore three letters in her worn hands and upon a little extra peering over on her part, Nova could see her master's name written across the front of one of them. After reading this she immediately perked up, feeling less bemused at the thought of getting to see Edward, and maybe she can get a tasty bite or two off of his breakfast plate in the process. HOWEVER, the Professor was impertinent enough to take one look at the tiny owl and deem her incompetent for the task! The nerve and audacity of some people! Instead she passed right by the pissed little barn owl and strapped the letters onto Hedwig's talons. As McGonagall exited the owlery, Nova fixed her most vile, most unnervingly evil glare upon the snobbish snowy owl, who made it a point to smirk at Nova before taking off towards the castle. Nova gaped after her for a short moment of stunned silence, then shot after her, the fury of a thousand suns evident in the speed of her flapping.

She arrived less than four seconds after Hedwig did, though her landing more of a hard tumult into the unsuspecting snowy owl. After a brief pecking battle that ended in the two puffed-up fowls having to be pulled apart by Harry and Ed, Nova sat back up, straight and regal as any queen, the look she gave Hedwig clearly threatening the offender. Just try that again, I dare you.

"You just had to come yourself, didn't you?" Ed snapped at the small barn owl. She turned her head to face him; she started it!

"Here," Harry said, tossing one of the letters over to Ed, who opened it only after shooting his bratty owl one last look of reprimand.

Your detention will take place at eleven o' clock tonight.

Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.

Professor M. McGonagall

Ed blinked; he had forgotten about the detentions he, Harry, Neville and Hermione still had to serve. He glanced across at Hermione, half-expecting her to go into a furor over a whole night of studying lost, but she didn't say a word. Like him and Harry, she felt they deserved what they got. The young Elric sighed, half-heartedly ruffling Nova's feathers as she helped herself to some of his scramble eggs. My first year here, and I've already got two detentions under my belt.

Eleven o' clock came far too soon for the four detention-bound Gryffindors; they said goodbye to Ron in the common room and went down to the entrance hall in silence. Filch was already there—and so was Malfoy. Ed narrowed his eyes in disgust; he had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes…hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me….It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out…hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well-oiled in case they're ever needed…"

This guy's a completely twisted sicko…Edward thought to himself as they all marched across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing, obviously trying not to look too afraid in front of the crabby, old caretaker. The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them in and out of darkness. Ahead, Harry and Ed could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout:

"It that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Ed had to keep from laughing out loud; this is what they were going to do as a detention? Spend the night with Hagrid? Some punishment, Ed thought as he remembered his last detention he had to serve with Professor McGonagall and how much more harsh that punishment was.

Filch caught the relief showing upon the four student's faces and his frown deepened:

"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again—it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in once piece."

At this Neville let out a wimpy little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual, his voice jacking up to about three decibels about its normal timbre. "We can't go in there at night—there's all sorts of things in there—werewolves, I heard!"

Ed rolled his eyes; "No such thing," he muttered scathingly.

Filch raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"You better believe they exists, 'cause there's more then werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that."

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I've bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right there Harry, Ed, Hermione?"

Ed opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a grimy hand placed roughly upon his head.

"Shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldy, patting Ed none-too-gently. "They're here to be punished, after all."

Hagrid pulled a rather annoyed Edward away from the creepy caretaker. "That's why yer late, is it?" he said with a frown. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done your bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness. Malfoy watched him leave and then turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going in that forest," he said, and Harry and Ed smiled at each other, both pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want to stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay for it."

Ed sighed, choosing to tune out the rest of the conversation and instead observed the ominous-looking wood stretched out before them. He felt no fear towards what may lie within, even if Filch was right and werewolves truly did live in there. Most likely the old man was lying just to scare them anyway. All of what he saw was nothing compared to the island his and his brother's alchemy teacher had abandoned them on for training. It was darker, far more fearsome, and had someone who made it their point to try and kill or at least maim them on it. It was much more threatening than the forbidden forest…unless of course that was just his tainted childhood horror being made out to be something much more frightening than it actually was.

"Right then," said Hagrid after he managed to shut Malfoy up at last. "Now listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me for a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood."

"Unicorn blood?" Ed remarked, mouth agape at what his ears had just heard. Seriously? What's next, vampires?

Hagrid nodded somberly, unknowing of the reason behind Ed's exclamation.

"There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in this forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path; we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"How awful," Hermione said faintly, sadness for the poor beast evident in her shining eyes.

"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a bloody coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, Hermione and Ed'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now—that's it—an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks—no, Ed, not gold, fix it—there ya go—so be careful. Let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Ed, Hermione and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville and Fang took the right. They walked in silence, their eyes to the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.

Ed and Harry noted Hagrid's very worried expression.

"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.

"Not fast enough," said Hagrid. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."

"How powerful could a horse with a horn really be," said Ed, puffing a stray piece of hair out of his face as he maneuvered over the winding tree roots.

"Ye have no idea, do yeh? Why, their hair alone is very powerful stuff, yeh've used it in Potions class for sure. No' only that but their blood is very precious as well."

"Why, what is it used for?" Harry inquired. Hagrid rubbed the back of his neck:

"Well, yeh see, the blood of a unicorn will keep a feller alive, even if he is but an inch from death, but at a terrible price. Tah have killed somethin' so pure and defenseless to save himself he'd have to lead a cursed life in return, from the moment the blood touches his lips."

"Equivalent exchange…" Ed muttered. Harry and Hermione turned to him in curiousity.

"What did you say, Ed?" said Hermione. Ed shook his head:

"I said how awful…so you think that someone, rather than something is killing the horses?"

"Aye, that's what I'm afraid of," Hagrid said darkly.

"But who'd be that desperate?" Harry wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"

"One would think so, wouldn' they, Harry," Hagrid agreed.

"What does it matter if they're already cursed?" said Ed, the ominous tone in his voice causing the other three to look curiously at him.

They walked past a mossy tree stump. Ed listened carefully to the sounds of the forest; he could hear running water and figured there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.

"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter—GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Hagrid seized the three students and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out on arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The four of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.

"I knew it," the half-giant murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.

"Will you stop with the damn werewolves already?" Ed hissed annoyedly, earning himself a look of slight disdain from the lightning-scarred boy.

"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself—I'm armed!"

No answer; whatever was before them refused to reveal its identity to the small group. After a longer bit of a moment's pause Hagrid finally lowered his bow but did not sheath his arrow.

"…Best keep movin', then," Hagrid said, motioning for them to follow him deeper into the forest.

As they continued on walking through the dense, dark trees, Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder. He tapped on Ed's shoulder and whispered:

"Do you have the nasty feeling that we're being watched, or is it only me?"

Ed blinked, glancing quickly over his shoulder, then looked back at the dark-haired boy and nodded once.

"It's like we're being followed by the shadows; we can't see them, but they can sense our every move."

"Exactly!" Harry agreed. "I'm glad we've got Hagrid and his crossbow with us."

Suddenly, Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm and pointed.

"Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!"

"You three wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"

They huddled closer together as they listened to their big friend crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very nervous now, until they could no longer hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.

"You don't think they're been hurt, do you?" whispered Hermione.

"I don't care if Malfoy has," said Ed.

"But if something's got Neville…" Harry sighed. "It's our fault he's here in the first place."

The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Ed found his heart jumping slightly at every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig.

What was going on? Where were the others?

At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Neville, and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked, of course, and sent up the sparks.

"You just couldn't wait to be an ass until we got out of the forest, could you?" Ed growled at the idiotic white-blonde, who simply stuck his tongue out at the alchemist in response.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'!" Hagrid said, looking around him as he decided upon what to do next. "Right, we're changin' groups—Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione; Harry, Ed, you go with Fang an' this idiot. I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to the boys, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."

"Please!" Ed said scathingly. "As is this weak dumbass could scare me."

"Who are you calling weak, runt?" Malfoy shouted in reply. Ed's fist shot out and grabbed at the cowardly Slytherin's robes, his gold eyes shining in pure hatred.

"Who're you calling so small that he has to be looked through a magnifying glass to actually be seen, you pale-faced moron?"

"Calm down, Ed, he didn't say all that!" Hermione squeaked, pulling the enraged pipsqueak away from the smirking Malfoy.

Harry, Malfoy, Ed and Fang walked for nearly half an hour after finally splitting up with the rest of the group, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Ed thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker as opposed to lessening up as expected. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

"Look—"he murmured, holding his arm out to stop Malfoy and Edward.

Something bright was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer; it was the unicorn, no doubt about it, and it was dead. Ed and Harry looked at each other; they're sorrow echoed in each other's faces. Never had they ever seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves. Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered….Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Ed, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted—so did Fang. Ed furiously gaped at the running figures.

"What a cowardly—!"

But the final words of his insult were cut off by a giant hand rapidly clasping onto his mouth. Harry spun around to help his friend, wand extracted and at the ready, but it was far too late. Edward had already been yanked away from the scene and dragged into the darkness by his mysterious attacker—whatever that thing was. Harry raised his wand up over his head, but before he could manage to produce the intended red sparks signaling an emergency, a pain he'd never felt before pierced his head. It was if his scar was on fire, as if a dagger were being continuously jabbed into his face. He collapsed to his knees, dropping his wand in the process; when he feebly lifted his head back towards the shadowy figure drinking the slaughtered unicorn's blood, he realized that it was coming swiftly toward him…

"…Well done, Gluttony. You managed to get me the right person. At least, I rather hope you did."

The woman walked over and lifted Ed's right sleeve, smiling with satisfaction once she looked upon the moonlit gleam of his steel prosthetic. Ed gasped and leapt to his feet once the big, chubby hand was removed from his face. He extracted his wand and shouted, "The hell was that? who are you?"

"Put the wand away," the long-haired woman leaning against the oak tree in front of Edward said, swiping a piece of hair from her face. "It's not like you can do anything with it yet."

Ed considered this, and then made a move to bolt away from the two of them. Unfortunately enough for him, though, the lady's companion actually moved pretty fast for a fat guy. He gritted his teeth angrily as the black-dressed fat-ass stalked towards him.

"He looks chewy, Lust, can I eat him?"

"Gross!" Ed exclaimed, immediately jumping away from the hungry brute. Lust pinched the brim of her nose in annoyance.

"No, Gluttony; he's important."

"The hell is going on here?"

"You certainly have a colorful vocabulary for an eleven-year-old," Lust commented, brushing off the blonde's anger:

"Calm down, we just want to talk; we have a bit of a problem with you being here, at this school."

Ed blinked, then raised a confused eyebrow at her.

"Why would you two have a problem with me? I don't even know you!"

"You're more important than we'd care to let you know," she said, shrugging nonchalantly in response to Ed's tenseness. "Which is why we need you back in Amestris, back with your brother and all of our other sacrifices."

"Other sacrifices?"

"Yes!" Gluttony piped up, licking his lips again, as if the thought of sacrificing people was just as appetizing as Edward.

"So we need for you to rejoin your brother soon, and to stay in Amestris—"

"How do you know my brother?"

"You ask too many questions," Lust remarked boredly. "That has nothing to do with the matter at hand."

"Yes it does," Ed said, crossing his arms defiantly. "If you don't tell me at least that then what makes you think I'd listen to anything of your requests?"

"Oh, but we're not asking, Edward Elric…"

Edward's eyes widened as Lust's gloved fingers suddenly extended out, sharpening to the acuteness of a double-edged sword. The tips punctured the bark of the tree behind Edward, his neck caught between two of the inhumane, dangerous fingers.

"We're telling. And if you choose to be stupid enough to disobey, I promise, you will lose the one thing that still matters in your poor, pathetic life."

Ed stared her down, not allowing any bit of his expression to reveal the fear and panic he was most definitely feeling on the inside.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Don't be stupid; we know all about why Alphonse Elric is the way he is. We know all about that little blood seal of his, and we won't hesitate to destroy it if you don't cooperate."

The young Elric's eyes widened in horror at this threat, his heart dropping into his stomach.

"No…Al…don't you dare touch him! You stay away from my brother, you monsters!"

Lust smiled at his screams:

"What are you going to do about it?"

Gluttony giggled in delight as the young alchemist took in everything that was just thrown straight at him. Who are these people…monsters? And how do they know that Alphonse and I are alchemists, or that we've done Human Transmutation before? How do they know about Al's armor and my automail? And how did they find me? And what exactly do they mean by 'sacrifice?' This doesn't feel right; there's a lot that they're not telling me, and they're doing that on purpose…but I can't overpower them right now, not without using alchemy, and if I use alchemy, Harry might see the light from the transmutation…...

"…Fine."

This time the smile on Lust's face reached her reddened pupils: "Good boy."

She retracted her fingers and motioned for Gluttony to follow her. Before she left Edward alone at last, however, she walked over to him one last time:

"You don't belong in this school anyway. Face it; you're just trying to escape by coming here."

Ed glowered at her as she turned; he heard her call out, "By the way, say hello to that stuttering professor of yours for me," and then she and her obese counterpart finally dissipated into the shadows of the forest.

The wind picked up as the alchemist stood still, trying and failing at not thinking about what he had just been told. Was Alphonse safe in Resembool without him? He's a good fighter and an excellent alchemist himself, and he is more than capable of taking care of himself, no doubt about that, but he knows nothing about this mess awaiting him. If he had known anything about it he would've for sure warned Edward one way or another. Edward looked around the ominous environment concernedly; was he himself safe? Now every time he heard a branch creak, or heard some leaves being swept up in the nighttime air, Ed's mind tricked him into thinking it was those weird people back to threaten him again...

"Ed! Ed? Where are you?"

"Edward!"

Ed looked up as the rest of the group finally caught up with him.

"Ed! Ed, are you alright?" Hagrid asked immediately.

"We were so worried when Harry came back and told us you had been taken by something!" said Hermione.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Ed said, putting his hands behind his back just in case they were still shaking; the last thing he wanted to do was worry everyone any more than they already were, even if there really was a very good reason to distress.

~~*e.s.*~~

Exams had completely left Edward's mind with all of the new developments popping up around him, so naturally they came as a nasty shock when Hermione reminded them to study the night before. On top of that it was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox—and she made sure to take extra care when watching Ed perform the task, wary of his sneaky alchemy. She was pleased to see him not only do the transmutation without cheating, but also his snuffbox was one of the most finely crafted one out of the entire class.

"Well done," she praised the young alchemist, gracing his presence with one of her rare smiles. "You've certainly come a long way since the beginning of the year, Mr. Elric. I shall look forward to seeing your talents grow next year as well."

Snape made them all nervous during his practical exam, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion. He got especially angered when Ed was the first one done, glaring hatefully at the beaming blonde. In response to Ed's successful potion-making, Snape simply kicked him out of his class before he could annoy the hook-nosed teacher any further than he already did.

Despite his overall accomplishments with his finals, Ed's mind was most focused on his devious plans soon to take action; breaking into the third-floor corridor and stealing the Sorcerer's Stone. Though he did not by any stretch of his imagination manage to completely figure out what each of the teacher's defenses were, he had strong theories behind possible solutions. He felt like he'd be ready for anything that got thrown at him, despite only having a year of magical studies behind him. Ed wasn't the only one thinking about anything but exams during exam time, though; ever since he had seen Voldemort in the forbidden forest, Harry had been having constant stabbing pains in his forehead. Neville though it was all because Harry couldn't sleep, but Ed knew that wasn't the case.

"I keep waking up because of nightmares, and I don't know how to stop them," Harry confided in Edward one day in the Gryffindor common room. Ed looked up from his book:

"What nightmares?"

Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead as he admitted to his friend:

"I keep reliving that night, when Voldemort tried to get me…except now it's worse than ever, with more blood and more darkness."

Harry paused and looked over at Ron and Hermione, who were sitting across yet far enough away in order to not overhear their whispering.

"Ron and Hermione don't seem as worried and you and I are, Ed."

"It's because they didn't see what we saw in the forest," Ed said, shrugging. "With these kinds of things you can't understand the seriousness of the situation until you see the horror for yourself."

"That's true," Harry agreed, meeting Ed's eyes. "And you? Have you figured out what those people meant by telling you to go back to your home?"

Ed shook his head, and he didn't offer Harry up any of his hypothesis either, for that would mean revealing the entire, complete tale of that encounter. Ed had only told Harry about them demanding that he returned home and how they threatened his brother. He made sure not to say a thing about them knowing about their secret, for Harry himself still had no clue about such dark secrets hidden within Edward…

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free to plot about how to save the Sorcerer's Stone (or, in Ed's case, when to steal it). When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Ed and Harry couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"I've always heard that Hogwarts' end of the year exams were frightful, but I found that rather enjoyable," Hermione said perkily. Ron rolled his eyes:

"Speak for yourself!"

Harry winced, earning himself three looks of concern.

"All right there, Harry?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, just my scar again…"

"Go see Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.

He looked up at his three friends:

"I'm not ill—it's happened before, but never as often as this…I think it's a warning. It means dangers coming."

"Danger? What kind of danger?" Hermione asked fearfully.

"I don't like the sounds of that," Ed muttered as they all flopped under a tree by the lake. "Hopefully it doesn't mean the Stone's about to get nabbed."

"Naw," Ron said, waving off Ed's commentary. "Remember what Hermione said the other night? The Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around."

He looked back at Harry.

"Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

"Does every point you make have to have a Quidditch reference in it?" Ed inquired sarcastically. Ron narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"Yes."

"Of course!"

Ron, Ed and Hermione all looked curiously at Harry, who had just jumped to his feet.

"What? Where are you going?"

"I've just thought of something," said Harry, who had visibly turned white. Ed also leaped to his feet at the sight of his pallid friend.

"This can't be good…"

"We've got to go see Hagrid now," Harry informed everyone as he quickly took off toward's their friend's hut.

"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and—"

"A stranger turns up who just happened to have an egg in his pocket," Ed finished for the bespectacled boy. "That is weird.."

"Exactly! How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think?"

"Why didn't we see this before?" Ed asked, obviously the only one in the group that understood where Harry was going with this.

"What are you two talking about?" said Ron, but neither Harry nor Ed answered as they sprinted across the grounds toward the forest.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was playing a lovely little tune on a small wooden flute similarly crafted as the one he gave Harry for Christmas.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes please," said Ron, but Harry cut him off.

"Sorry Hagrid but we're in a hurry; I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," Hagrid replied casually. "He wouldn' take his cloak off."

He saw the four of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head—that's the pub down in Hogsmeade, the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry sank down next to the armchair.

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah…he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here….He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after…so I told him…an' I said what I'd wanted was a dragon…an' then…I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks….Let's see…yeah, the he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted…but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home….So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy…"

Panic shot through the quartet as Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm, "And did he—did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Well—yeah—how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down; jus' play a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep—"

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey—where're yeh goin'?"

The four of them did not speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore. Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort…"

Edward didn't hear the rest of Harry's panicked words, however, for his mind was wandering upon much more important matters. Hagrid's last bit of information he gave the four of them still rang in his head; jus' play a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep. Ed now knew how to get past the first obstacle in the way of his Sorcerer's Stone. Between that knowledge and the solid, surefire theories he had drawn up within his brilliant mind about what all the other traps would most likely be, Ed couldn't stand to wait. He had to physically remind himself not to grin in front of the others, no matter how ecstatic he felt. At last, he was going to achieve his goal, was going to obtain what he had come to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to get in the first place; a way to restore his little brother's body.

"What are you four doing out here?"

Ed looked up from his deep train of thought; it was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione.

Ed raised an eyebrow; we do?

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"

"It's sort of secret," Harry said, but he wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time—"

"But this is important!"

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"

"Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor—it's about the Sorcerer's Stone—"

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms and down onto the hard floor beneath her feet. Ed mentally facepalmed, then bent down to pick up his Head of House's books.

"Leave them, Elric!"

Ed immediately snapped back up at attention.

"How do you know—?"

"Professor, I think—I know—that Sn—that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor—"

"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up her fallen books without Ed's assistance. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't.

"It's tonight," said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight."

So am I, thought Ed; he figured it'd be best to go the one night the headmaster wasn't there, regardless of the chance of running into someone else with the same idea in mind. He felt confident that he could take them down, for he had one weapon that he was no longer afraid of using in this situation, one weapon that whoever else may break into the corridor would never expect to have to come up against; alchemy.

A dark shadow loomed over the group; Ed looked up at the owner of said shadow and gulped. Speak of the devil.

"Good afternoon," Snape said smoothly.

They stared at him.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile. Ed wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"And you shouldn't do that."

Snape raised an eyebrow:

"Do what, exactly?"

"Smile. It doesn't suite you."

Snape frowned, to which Ed gave a sarcastic thumbs-up to.

"Much better."

"You want to be more careful," said Snape dangerously. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're…up to something."

Harry and Ed flushed; they turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.

"Be warned, Potter, Elric—any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Especially you, Elric; I dare you to make one more—just one more smart remark…Good day to you."

He strode off in the direction of the staffroom. Out on the steps, Harry turned to the others.

"Here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us had got to keep an eye on Snape—wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leave it. Hermione, you'd better do that."

"Wha-?"

"I'll search his office for any proof," Ed offered. "If this ends badly, at least we'll have something to back up our claims to Dumbledore."

"Good idea, Ed," Harry nodded. "Though I really hope Snape doesn't succeed."

"You and me both," said Ed. I'm the one that needs to succeed instead!

"Wait, hold on a second," Hermione said. "Why me, why am I the one who has to guard the staff room?"

"It's obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." He put on a high-pitched voice. "'Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong….'"

"Oh, shut up," said Hermione, but in the end she agreed to go and watch out for Snape.

"And we'd better stay outside the third floor corridor," Harry told Ron. "Come on."

Ed nodded and made to walk in the direction of the dungeons until he could no longer here his friend's footsteps echoing down the halls behind him. He then stopped, searching for the nearest staircase that will take him back up to the Gryffindor common room, back to the room he shared with Harry and Ron, where all of his notes are safely hidden, awaiting for this very moment when they would be of dire use.

~~*e.s.*~~

Edward did not meet Harry, Ron and Hermione at the table for dinner, making them increasingly nervous. The three of them sat uneasily apart from one another in the common room after dinner, and still none of them had seen head or foot of Edward Elric. Nobody bothered them as they all thought silently about what they were planning on doing; breaking into the third floor corridor themselves and stopping Snape, or Voldemort, or whoever they would find there trying to steal the Stone for themselves. The three of them also took care to mime going up to their dormitories and getting ready for bed, so as to avoid causing any sort of suspicion from their fellow Gryffindors. Once the common room had emptied and everybody had gone off to bed, they returned downstairs, Harry with his invisibility cloak in his hands.

"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us—if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own—"

"Harry! Help! Over here!" said a voice from the corner of the room. Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, and then ran over to assist the frantic voice. They found Neville, caught up in yet another Leg-Locker curse.

"What happened?" inquired Harry as Hermione quickly performed the proper counter-curse. "Who did this to you? Was it Malfoy again?"

"Never mind that—what are you all doing?"

Harry gulped, putting the cloak behind his back.

"Nothing, Neville, nothing."

"You're going out again," he said.

"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"

"Yeah," backed up Ron. "Go on, we'll be up there soon."

Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.

"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble!"

"You don't understand," said Harry, "this is important."

"Yeah, that's what Ed said, too!"

"Nevi—"

But Harry froze mid-sentence, just now taking in what Neville had just said.

"Ed?" inquired Hermione. "What about Ed, have you seen him?"

"He's the one who put me into the Leg-Locker Curse," said Neville. "He said something about going to get something, and that it was none of my business what exactly it was."

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other in horror.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Harry said. Ron nodded, and outraged look on his face.

"I can't believe this; he had us fooled, completely fooled, and now—!"

"He's off to get the Stone himself!" Hermione said with horror.

"Exactly!"

"But what on earth would Edward need it for?"

"Does it matter?" asked Harry darkly. "We have to stop him regardless of his reasons."

Hermione nodded once then turned to Neville:

"This just got very serious, Neville, you have to let us go."

"I won't! I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll—I'll fight you!"

"Neville," Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot—!"

"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you all were the ones who told me to stand up to people!"

"Yes, but not to us," said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."

He took a threatening step forward.

"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"

Hermione intervened, biting her lip.

"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."

She raised her wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing it at Neville.

The effect was immediate; Neville's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board.

Hermione ran to turn him over. Neville's jaws were jammed together so he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were moving, looking at them in horror.

"What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.

"It's the full Body-Bind," said Hermione miserably. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."

"We had to, Neville; we have to stop Ed," said Harry.

"You'll understand later, Neville," said Ron as they stepped over him and pulled on the invisibility cloak.

Once they were outside the common room and in the hallway, they looked at each other nervously.

"I still don't understand why Ed would do this to us," whispered Hermione. "I thought we were his friends…"

Harry sighed.

"So did I."

A clock struck somewhere further down the hall, sparking up their pulses and initiating their much-needed adrenaline.

"…We'd better run if we want to make it in time," Harry spoke one last time. "For all we know, Ed could already be well past Fluffy and through the trapdoor."

~~*e.s.*~~