Four: Discoveries and Surprises

"One more inch. That's all I need."

"One? I still have six! I don't understand any of this!"

"None of us do, Ron."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ed sat at a table in the library, trying to finish their essays that were due within the next two hours.

Ed sighed. "I guess I'll have to add more on the unicorns…there's more information on them then there is on those stupid kelpies."

Within the next half hour, the four had finished their essays, and were grateful for it.

Suddenly, Ed smacked himself on the head. "We are such idiots."

"What? Are you calling us idiots?" Harry asked, tired from all the research he had done in the past five hours.

"What am I an expert in?"

"Alchemy?"

"And what are you experts in?"

"Magic and…oh."

"Yeah."

It had just dawned on the group that they could have written each other's essays for the other—Ed knew all about human transmutation and Hermione knew the most about unicorns and kelpies.

Ed sighed. "Oh, well. We'll have to just keep it in mind for next time this happens."

"Next time?" Ron asked. "There shouldn't be a next time. It was your fault that we got into this mess in the first place! Accusing a teacher of being something that doesn't even exist…"

"Ron…" Harry said, a warning in his voice.

"You and your stupid homunculus thing. We should've never listened to you! You're just a…short, blond foreigner with a bad temper!"

Ed's eye twitched. "Short…?"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP?" Ed yelled, jumping up to punch Ron.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him cold in his tracks. "Might I suggest first quieting down then refraining from harming your friend?"

It was Aileen, holding a basket of cookies in one hand, the other outstretched still resting on Ed's shoulder.

"Madame Pince will be furious if she heard this." She tapped Ed on the nose, smiling. Her hands no longer shook, and her eyes were a calming green, though Ed took no notice. He still held his suspicions and wouldn't let go.

Aileen turned and walked out of the library, her black, layered skirt flowing behind her.

He returned his research materials to the shelves and headed towards the exit. Before he reached the door, though, he realized something.

Running up the spiral staircase to the second floor of the library, Ed grabbed the book he had seen earlier.

…the legendary eighth homunculus. I found it while traveling in the east, in a country called Amestris…it is female in appearance and looks surprisingly like a Veela…

Treachery is its name.

…no known witch or wizard has ever seen such a creature, wild silver hair glowing like the moon and eerie green eyes that seem so sad. They resemble a cat's, with vertical slits instead of pupils…reflecting not yourself, but something I cannot identify…something vaguely resembling a pair of scales…the scales I later saw held in the creature's hand, balanced perfectly, but shifted suddenly to one side…nothing moved it…it hardly seems possible to move the scales without anything on them…

…be wary of her calm demeanor, for it is that with which she tricks people into doing what she wants…surprisingly, she does not seek what the others do. Instead, she seems to retain her human features more so than any I have seen before…her mood changes drastically each moment…friendly one minute, smiling…furious the next, tearing at your throat…I was lucky to escape with my life…

"AH-HA!" Ed cried, unaware that Madame Pince was standing right behind him. She reached into the stack of books in her hands and whacked him several times, chasing him down the stairs and out of the library, Ed still clutching the book, unknown by the woman with a hand on her hip, the other resting on a stack of books.

"Magical Creatures and Where To Find Them Part II: A Wizard's Guide to Recently Discovered Outside Creatures of the Dark Magics?" Hermione said, flipping through the book. It held information on creatures even she didn't know existed.

"Yeah! It has all this information on homunculi! I even found an entry that sounds like they're talking about Aileen! Look!" Ed whispered, pointing to a section called "The Eight Homunculus: Fact or Fiction?"

Hermione read it over once. "I don't know. It does sound like Professor Kita, but I don't think Ron would let me do this. It goes against my own morals as well."

"Fine," Ed huffed. "I'll do it myself."

"Professor Kita?" Ed called, unsure if she was there or not.

"Oh, Edward. Have you finished your essay for me?" She held a vial of a reddish liquid. Where she got it, Ed didn't know. Nor did he care.

Ed frowned. "Enough of the chit-chat. I know you're a homunculus, Treachery. I saw your Oroborus and there's a description of you right here in this book. I didn't imagine it that night."

Aileen took a long look at the chapter on homunculi. Students began walking in from lunch.

"So sorry, Edward. Maybe we can do lunch sometime?" Aileen said, pushing Ed out the door.

"Hey! My book!" Ed said, but his voice was lost in the sea of students entering the classroom. He backed away, stumbling out into the gardens. It was all he could do from getting crushed.

Ed returned to the Gryffindor tower, where he pulled out his research notes. A whole class period passed before he realized what he had missed. The red liquid.

The stone.

"Damn!"