Chapter Five

From the Platform!

Aka: The Dream!

Perfect Partner!

Not a Good Night for Swimming!

Alphonse opened the package cautiously, his hair turning a light lavendar. He yelped as two blurs of gold shot out, zooming around the friends rapidly. A Snitch and something that resembled a Snitch with fur, settled on Al's head, which was now a dull green.

"What are they?" he asked, plucking the fuzzy thing off and holding it in his palm. The Pygmy Puff trilled, ruffling its golden fur as its silver wings fluttered happily.

"A Snitch?" Ginny asked, catching the little ball. It stilled and fell open in her hand, a rolled up piece of parchment flying out of its magically extended mouth. "I think this is for you." Ginny said, handing it to him.

Hey Al, it read

This is a gift from us. Knowing that you're going back to Hogwarts, we've decided to give you a little help in wreaking havoc on the school. Don't do anything too bad. The castle's already taken enough damage.

You'll find the Maurader's map in there, Harry told us to give it to you. You'll need it more than any of us do, seeing as we're no longer students.

Don't let Hermione see you with them, she'll confiscate them. Then she'll write us a letter, telling us about 'how we shouldn't encourage rule breaking' or 'don't corrupt Alphonse'. Stuff like that, y'know?

Anyways, have fun. The Pygmy Puff's yours, his name's Snitch, but he comes to Itchy, too.

Mischevously yours,

Fred and George

Al smiled as he finished the note. Suddenly, he felt very tired, as if he hadn't slept in a while.

"You okay Al?" Ginny said, looking at him worriedly.

"Tired," he yawned, slumping in his seat. The red head smiled.

"Go ahead, take a nap. We'll wake you before we get there." Al smiled sleepily and leaned against the window, drifting off. . .

"Where am I?" the Elric boy asked, blinking in the sudden whitespace.

"Back at the Gate," a lazy voice drawled. Al spun around to find Truth sitting behind him, dressed in a black tuxedo, still sitting in his throne-like chair. "How's the mortal relm treating you, little alchemist. Of course, I already know, so there's no point in answering, really."

"What do you want?" Al sighed, wishing he never fell asleep in the first place.

"I figured since you were heading off to school and all, you'd like some starting advice." Truth raised a hand and three blurry figures floated around him. "First thing you should know, is that there are three worlds. The first being this. Inside the Gate, all sorts of demons and creatures that shouldn't exsist roam around in there. Your job is to stop them once they get out and return them to me. The second world is the Alchemists' Relm. It's the world you were born in. There, alchemists reign over everything, making most of the scientifical advancements. The world you're currently living in is the Magician's Land. Witches and wizards hide themselves from the less able, protecting their little community. However, with all the magic running rampant in there, it's the perfect place for demons to sneak into unnoticed.

"Now that you've started a life there, you've got to know a few things. First thing, mirrored souls. Think of it this way, the Gate is a big glass that reflects the worlds to each other. People in the Magician's Land have a 'twin' or copy in the Alchemists' Relm. While their backgrounds are somewhat similar, they won't be exactly the same. First example, Winry Rockbell and Wendy Rockafeller." One of the images cleared, revealing a young girl with platinum blond hair and blank cerulean eyes.

"Winry!" Al exclaimed, staring at her.

"Wrong, little alchemist," Truth said. "This is Wendy Rockafeller. You'll be meeting her soon enough. She's this world's version of the little mechanic. Another thing you should know, is that even if someone dies in one world, it doesn't nessicarily mean they have to die in the other. Second example, Nina Tucker and Naomi Tuck."

Another image cleared, showing a girl about the same age as Wendy. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and her blue eyes were blank like Wendy's.

"Nina," Al whispered sadly, but happy this version got to live longer.

"Naomi," Truth corrected, then looked to the last image. "The last thing you should know about, is soul splitting. This applies directly to you. Your soul has been spilt into two halves. There's the one traveling with your brother in a suit of amour, and then there's you. While it's not affecting you now, when you're finally complete, you'll have both of the expierences the pieces of your soul have gone through. This also applies to Homunculi and the people that were failed in being reborn." This time, when the image cleared, the body fell to the ground, hitting the floor with a thud, the figure's long hair hiding its face.

"Couldn't be a bit more gentle?" it asked sarcastically. Truth merely smiled. "How's it going, Tincan?"

Alphonse merely stared at Envy.

"Envy here, or as he'll be known in the Magician's Land, William, is going to Hogwarts with you. He's going to make sure you don't skimp out on your part of the deal." Al opened his mouth to protest, but he was fading . . . fading . . fading . . .

"Al. Al! Alphonse!" Ginny said, shaking him gently. "You need to change." Al jumped as he woke, looking around with startled grey eyes.

"Wuz going on?" he asked sleepily, looking at the red head blankly.

"We're going to be at Hogwarts in a few minutes. You need to change into your robes."

Al blinked and stood sluggishly, stretching and wincing as his bones popped. He looked around and realized he was alone in the compartment aside from Ginny.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, pulling out his robes.

"Neville and Luna went to wait down the train with Hermione," Ginny said, stepping out. "I'll wait for you outside." Al nodded and she shut the door. He struggled with his robes for a moment, but managed to get them on and straightened out. He reached up to touch his hair, turning it hot pink and his eyes lime green.

If Fred and George really wanted him to be like them, he needed to make an entrance. He ran a hand through his pink hair and caused it to spike up everywhere. Yup, an entrance it would be.

He stepped out of the compartment and met Ginny's startled eyes. Then she grinned, pushing him lightly down the train.

"Don't start too early," she snorted. Al grinned embarrasedly. He really hoped he didn't mess this up. Maybe he should act more like Edward. Then again, he really didn't want to beat people up for calling him short. He wasn't a very violent person.

The train stopped with a low screeching sound and the doors throughout the train opened, new and old students pouring out of the compartments for, hopefully, a peaceful year at Hogwarts.

But then again, this was Hogwarts.

Al stuck close to Ginny as they moved through the sea of students. He noticed several of the younger students doing this as well, sticking with older family members or friends.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there you, four?" Al and the others turned to see a lamp bobbing over the crowd, a big, hairy man waving at them from the sea of people. "C'mon! Follow me! Firs' years! Firs' years follow me!"

Al looked at Ginny one last time, grinning briefly, then followed Hagrid down the steep, narrow path to the black lake. Something hit him roughly in the back and he spun around to see a familair face, glowing in the moonlight.

"How's it going, Tincan?" Envy drawled, a smirk on his face. Al scowled and turned around, stopping abruptly when he saw the castle. His gaze was pulled away from the glowing windows and many towers and turrets when Envy sighed dramatically, grabbing him by the collar and shoving him into a boat where two girls sat. "Geeze, are you stupid or what?"

"Shut up, palm tree." Al grumbled, making the Homunculus's eye twitch. His hand shot forth and popped Al in the back of the head.

"Do you mind?" one of the girls asked, making the boys look at her blankly. Wendy Rockafeller, Winry's magical double, glared at them, long blond hair pulled into a ponytail. "You're rocking the boat." Envy sneered, looking the girl down.

"So-ry," he said sarcastically. "Maybe we should flip it to make you happy." Wendy's friend, Naomi Tuck, stifled a giggle.

"He got you there Wen," she whispered to her friend, making Envy grin cockily. Al groaned and his shoulders slumped. This Envy was a lot like Ed, egotistic.

"Shut up," Wendy grumbled, crossing her arms huffily. Naomi snickered, turning to the boys once more.

"I'm Naomi," she said, pointing to herself. "And this is Wendy."

"I'm Alphonse and this is William." Al said politely.

POP!

"Who said you could go around introducing me to people?" Envy asked, raising an eyebrow. Al clutched his head, eyes watering.

"Sorry, should I have introduced you as PalmTree Head instead?" he asked, unable to leave Envy's temper alone. Was this why Mustang taunted Ed? It was pretty fun.

Envy snarled, shoving Al like a child, making the now-pinkette lose his balance and tumble into the icy lake water. He broke the surface, gasping and panting as he glared at Envy. With a growl, he swept his arm roughly, splashing Envy and by chance, the girls. Wendy shrieked in horror, while Naomi just laughed, shaking her head to get rid of the water and making it fly at Wendy.

"You idiots!" the blond screeched, scooping up water with her hands to douse all three of the others. Envy shouted, leaning back to avoid the attack, but Al grabbed him around the shoulders, dragging him into the lake too. The Homonculus yelped, grabbing the girls' sleeves and pulling them in as well.

The night was filled with shouts, screams, and laughter as Wendy chased Envy and Al, trying to dunk them beneath the lake's surface while Naomi joined in, her intentions more playful. They all let out a collective scream as something slimy wrapped around their waists and lifted them high into the air.

Hagrid sailed beneath them, trying to look stern but his eyes were sparkling with amusement. Al and Naomi shared a guilty grin while Wendy scowled at being wet and Envy struggled as the squd held him upside down. With an 'oof(!)' all four were dropped into their boat, which had been tied to Hagrid's. They went the rest of the way in silence, Al and Naomi sitting next to each other, across from the irritated Envy and Wendy. Naomi nudged him descretely, making Al believe he had just found the perfect pranking partner.

While messing around gave Al a good deal of fun during the moment, the after effects weren't as pleasant. He found this out as he, Naomi, Envy, and Wendy stood in front of the Headmaster, their arrival speech over with and their peers in the Great Hall, listening to some sort of song. Headmaster Minerva McGonagall, stood before them, nostrils flaring and intimidating with her grey streaked black bun. In a way, she reminded Al of Winry's grandmother when he and Ed had told Winry about Human Transmutation.

"Explain, Misters Elric and Tsumi." she said, looking pointedly at Al and Envy. Al rolled his eyes at Envy's name, which meant Sin.

"Pinky here pissed me off so I pushed him out of the boat," Envy said cooly, glaring at the old witch defiantly. McGonagall flicked her wand at Envy, who choked at the sudden soap suds in his mouth and turned to Alphonse.

"You would do well to watch your language," she said shortly, then looked at the Elric. "Is what he said true, Mr. Elric?" Al nodded nervously. "Then why is he wet as well as these girls?"

"I tried to splash him and accidently hit them too," he fidgeted. He always hated getting in trouble as a child, and still didn't take it well.

"In that case, you are both to blame. Ms. Rockafeller, you and Ms. Tuck will be joining Mr. Elric and Mr. Tsumi for detention with Professor Longbottom." Al blinked in surprise.

"Neville's a teacher?" he asked in confusion.

"No," McGonagall said, raising his eyebrows. "I am refering to Augusta Longbottom."

A/N: Haha, bet you weren't expecting Nev's grandmother to be the DADA Teacher, were you? By the way, we're in desperate need of a Sorting song and OCs. If you have any ideas, please, send them in a PM and not a review.

- Time Travelers, firefoxynk, and R.I.P Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan - thanks for Favoriting!
-agapplesauce and blackbassistfairy - thanks for Story Alerting!
- Arronthered - thanks for Author and Story Alerting!
- epobbp - thanks for the Review! We decided to make Al into a Metamorphagus for two reasons, A: he has two different hair colors in FMA the first version, and FMA Brotherhood and B: family trait. After all, in the first anime, Envy was Hohenheim's son too. The only person the trait skipped is Ed, though that might change later on. Hope that answered your question!