WOOOW this came late. I'm sorry. I am being bombarded with work and responsibilities, but I'm trying! A bit more of Harry's POV, and Ed will start recovering from his shock.
It's taking a lot longer than I expected to actually reach Hogwarts, I mean really? This is my 7th chapter at Grimmauld Place! Oh well, plot goes the way it goes, and takes up as much space as it wants. This story probably will be pretty long, so there's that.
Thank you all for the support for this story! This story's followers are growing almost every day, and I have almost 100 followers now! I didn't want to keep you people waiting any longer than I already did working on this, which is why this chapter is dedicated to the 100 point. Anyway, that's still awesome for my standards, and as my first story to be posted, that means a lot to me. You are all absolutely amazing. In honor of this, a longer chapter than usual, in which quite a bit happens. Thank you all so much!
Moving on!
I DO NOT OWN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD, OR ANY PART OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES!
"I just really can't say anything. For your sake, mine, and a bunch of other people's."
What on earth did he mean by that? Who is Edward Elric, really?
Chapter 8- Naturally Unnatural
"Really? He said that?" Ginny said in an awed voice.
"That sounds.." One twin said.
"Very suspicious" The other finished.
"Why does he tell you this but just give the rest of us attitude?" Ron grumbled, only loud enough for Harry to hear. Harry decided to ignore this comment and said instead "do you think someone is threatening him to keep quiet?" like Voldemort.
"Dumbledore trusts Ed, Harry. I don't think he's a Death Eater." Hermione said, understanding his train of thought immediately. "Besides, I doubt You-Know-Who would have any allegiance whatsoever to a muggle, no matter how odd the muggle is"
"But then there's this letter he left from his brother! It mentions the Philosophers Stone, and when I asked Ed-"
"You asked him about it?!" Ron said incredulously.
"Yeah, in the library. You know what he told me? The cost to make a Philosophers Stone is human life. How would he know something like that?" Harry pressed.
"Human life?!" The twins said, shocked. Hermione looked pale, and Ron appeared to have suddenly found a need to fiddle with his shirt. Ginny, apart from being shocked, was quite calm, contradicting what Harry would have expected. I suppose being the only girl out of 7 kids toughened her up.
Harry nodded at the twin's exclamation, saying "Yeah, but he also said that Dumbledore wasn't involved in the creation of a real one. The one I saved was incomplete"
"How did he know about that?" Ron asked. Hermione rolled her eyes at this.
"Don't you remember Ron? He was there when Harry mentioned it on the first night" she said. Harry shifted his feet at this, remembering his outburst, and how Ed had practically scolded him.
"He also said that Dumbledore told him" Harry mentioned.
"Dumbledore? When? He hasn't come to Grimmauld place for a while now has he?" Ginny said.
"We heard that he came a few times while we were asleep" the twins chimed in.
Harry couldn't believe this. Had Dumbledore purposely come to Headquarters while they were asleep to avoid questioning? Why had he talked to Ed but not Harry? What was it that Ed knew that made Dumbledore trust him with so much information? He's a muggle for pete's sake!
"To talk with Ed?" Ginny wondered aloud.
"Perhaps" one twin started
"Eddie is a bit more important than we thought" the other finished.
"Well, his father was famous wasn't he? He worked with Dumbledore! Maybe that's why Dumbleore trusts Ed so much?" Hermione suggested.
"But you have to admit, what he said about not telling me, and it being for the sake of him, us, and others, that's strange!" Harry said, desperate for his suspicion to be recognized. Hermione sighed. "Yes, Harry, we've already agreed it was suspicious. When we get to Hogwarts I'm going to try and find some information on Amestris. Until then I don't think there is anything we can do"
"Kids! Come down for dinner!" came Mrs Weasly's voice from below, abruptly drawing the conversation to a close.
When they arrived in the kitchen, Harry was surprised to see Ed had seated himself by Sirius and Lupin at the table. Granted, he looked slightly bored and annoyed, but this one of the few times he had come to dinner without being dragged there by someone, or simply coming, scarfing down a meal, and leaving. There was also a large banner, sporting the words "CONGRADULATIONS RON AND HERMIONE" as well as much larger amount of people than usual. He saw Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Tonks, Hestia Jones, as well as many others sitting at the table, or standing around it.
"Ah! Good, you're all here. First thing tomorrow morning we will head to Diagon Alley for your school things. Ed, dear, we need to get you all your things as well" Mrs. Weasly said, and Ed nodded in response.
"It was quite a surprise that you were actually a wizard, Ed! It explains a lot though" Tonks said, leaning over the table to see him. Harry noticed that Mad-Eye had been staring at Ed, more like a glare, really, the whole time. Ed, who occasionally glared back, though only huffed afterword, turning away. Still mad about the interrogation I see..
Ed was furious. He had been ever since THAT man had entered the room.
Ed trudged to the kitchen, half hoping no one would be around when he went in. he didn't want to face anybody, and he didn't want to be near any more of the nosy people. But he was hungry, no, he was starving.
He walked into a room full of people, whose gaze had become fixed on him as he entered the kitchen. There were a bit more people than usual, and a large banner saying "CONGRADULATIONS RON AND HERMIONE", most likely for some achievement they had both gotten. Though Ed found it rather hard to imagine Ron getting some type of award in anything.
There was a long moment of silence before Ed spoke up. "What are you all staring at? Is it that surprising that I got hungry?"
Molly shook her head, hastily putting on a forced smile. "Of course not Edward! We were just surprised, you don't come to eat often these days, you really should eat more, and as a growing boy you need you proper nutrients" She said, adopting her overly caring tone.
"Is it true you got accepted to Hogwarts?" Sirius said, bringing up the subject that was probably bugging them all. Ed nodded, internally ready to punch something if he had to continuously answer these questions. "But I thought you were a muggle" Arthur said, seeming slightly off put. 'Him and his normal people obsession' Ed thought.
"I don't know. Ask the old man, or your government" Ed shrugged, heading for the table. As he dropped into his seat between Sirius and Remus, he took a large bite out of a piece of bread lying on the table. He absorbed himself in his meal, until the door opened once again. He looked up from the plate of various foods provided by Molly.
And fury filled his body. He shot up, saying loudly "You!"
Mad-Eye moody glared back at him saying "so you're still here, eh boy?"
"You're the man who spiked my drink!" Ed growled, fists clenching. He hated this man's guts, he hated how he thought it was OK to just spike a person's drink and ask about their personal life, hiding behind the excuse of precaution.
"So what if I am? What are you going to do about it, boy? You're just a muggle" Moody said, a gleam in his real eye.
"Watch me do something about it!" Ed said, attempting to charge at him, only to find himself being restrained. He gave a glace backwards, to see Sirius and Remus holding him back. "Ed! Calm down!"
"How the hell am I supposed to calm down?!"
"Just sit back down! You don't want to challenge him" Remus reasoned, in an attempt at a soothing voice. It had little to no effect. "But he-"
"you'd do best to listen to him boy. Unless you want to be further maimed?" Moody said, in a threatening tone. Ed wanted to punch him so badly. 'Who does he think he is?! It's like he wants to provoke me!' And then Ed froze.
'That's it. He's trying to get something out of provoking me. Is he trying to get me to say something? Or does he think I'll show off my Alchemy? Either way, I'm not giving him what he wants'
Ed relaxed, and huffed. 'I'm not giving that man any information whatsoever. He won't get me' He took his seat in between Sirius and Remus and huffed.
Ed gritted his teeth at the memory. He thinks he can get the better of me? I'll show him.
Harry and the rest of them stood awkwardly in the entrance, and Ed was tempted to make a comment, before Molly said "Ah! Good, you're all here. First thing tomorrow morning we will head to Diagon Alley for your school things. Ed, dear, we need to get you all your things as well" Mrs. Weasly said, and Ed nodded in response. Buying freakishly odd supplies to go to a ridiculously old fashioned school where they teach some psychotic, distorted version of alchemy, and considers alchemy itself a lost art. That's one thing to take off my bucket list, right below getting killed by Teacher and right above becoming one of Mustang's paperwork trash bins.
"it was quite a surprise that you were actually a wizard, Ed! It explains a lot though" Tonks said, leaning over the table to face him. "like what?" Ed asked.
"Like how you got past anti-muggle enchantments" She replied, seeming surprised, as if Ed was supposed to know that. Ed was about to respond, when more people began to trickle in. As they continued to bombard Ron and Hermione with congratulations, and sometimes Harry about the hearing and such. Occasionally they would try to engage in a conversation with Ed, saying something like "So YOU'RE the muggle then?" or "You're a lot younger than I expected. I heard you were 15 years old!" which was answered by a "yeah so what?" or an "I AM 15 dammit!" or even possibly an "I don't know" depending on his mood.
After another rant, Ed had finally had enough. He trudged out of the crowded room and out into the hallway. He was ready to head to the library, which was becoming his one private place, besides the occasional Hermione, when he heard something odd. There were increasingly loud sobs coming from a room upstairs, as well as some thuds. More on instinct than thought, Ed rushed towards wha he thought to be the source, soon leading to the opened door of the drawing room. Here, he saw a rather confusing sight.
He saw Ronald Weasly lying in a pool of blood on the floor, and Molly Weasly crying in front of him. That's not right. Ron's downstairs talking to that tall guy, King-something, just a few seconds ago!
"Molly?" Ed said, drawing the woman's attention. She turned a tear stained face to him, opening her mouth and closing it over and over, not saying anything comprehensible. Ed looked at her, before turning back to Ron's "corpse" only to see it had disappeared, and had been replaced by something else, something Ed didn't expect to be reminded of.
"Ed" said a grave voice.
"Lieutenant colonel Hughes?" Ed muttered, barely breathing the name that had begun to haunt him.
"They're devastated you know. I can't see my family again because of you. I didn't want to get caught up in your freak show, but I was dragged in anyway, look how I am now!" He said, and he removed his uniform top, revealing a bloody hole in his heart. Then it was gone, replaced by an animal looking creature, with long brown hair sprouting from its spine.
"Big brother Ed…" It said, in that chilling voice that caused a shiver to run down Ed's now trembling spine.
"Nina.."
"Let's play…" she said, before suddenly exploding into a large bloody puddle. Ed's eyes widened in horror, as he fell to his knees. My fault..
It transformed again, the puddle was gone, but the new thing was worse. The thing was in a large bucket, it was black all over and very slimy looking. It was a mess of bones, organs, and blood, surrounded by a large circle with intricate designs in it. "Why couldn't you bring back mommy Edward? You're supposed to be a prodigy aren't you?" said another voice, one that sounded far too close to the voice of truth.
He wanted to turn away, he wanted to run away and hide. Why do so many people get hurt because of us?
The thing as gone, so was the circle, but the next sight was the most chilling.
It was a suit of armor, shattered into several pieces, but still recognizable. Of course it was, there was no way Ed could possibly forget it. "…..Al?" when there was no response, He crawled towards it. "Alphonse!"
And then he saw it.
The pieces of metal on the floor, with odd designs on them, all written in a red substance that Ed knew very well.
He remembered the dream, about the bastard.
"Had you been there this may have been avoided. But you were gone. You were off in England"
"Ed?" Said a shocked voice, shaking him from his thoughts. the shattered metal was gone, and so was any other thing that had had appeared. In the doorway, stood Remus, brandishing a stick. Behind him was Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all shocked.
"Edward! Are you alright?" Remus said sharply. In truth, Ed was shaking. He could barely think comprehensively. Only jumbled thoughts filled his mind. My fault…Hughes…Nina…Al…All my fault…I'm sorry…
Something attached itself to Ed's automail shoulder, but he wasn't paying attention. Someone said his name, but he couldn't hear. Guilt washed over him, dulling his senses. "ED!" yelled something in his ear.
He jumped, and turned. They were all staring at him in horror, confusion, or concern. This finally reminded Ed of the present company, and how many questions he would have to answer. If they find out anything, will the same happen to them?
"Ed, are you alright?" Hermione said, cautiously approaching him. "You had us really worried when you weren't responding."
Ed nodded slowly, standing up, and brushing himself off. I won't let it happen. These people won't suffer because of me.
"What was that anyway?" Ed asked. Most people had left, and the only people left were Sirius, Remus, Arthur, Molly, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and the twins. Ginny, after a long argument, was sent to bed. Ed was relieved that Mad-Eye left, he didn't feel comfortable saying anything around him.
"That, Ed, was a boggart" Remus said. Ed rolled his eyes. "That's SO helpful, Remus" He said, tone dripping sarcasm.
"I'm surprised you haven't read about them, what do you do, holed up in that library? Sleep?" Ron said. Ed glared at him. It was true, he spent some time reading a book about "Magical Creatures", but his research had been primarily focused on their technique. Ed had also been vigorously studying anything he could find on 'spells', in order to be able to imitate them. He had truthfully not paid much attention to the creatures, as he could study them more effectively at Hogwarts.
"I have priorities. Creatures isn't one of them" was all Ed replied, however.
"Well, Ed, a boggart is shape-shifter. Its magic is very weak, so it's main use of shape-shifting is for defensive purposes. It will take form of the thing you fear most, and no one knows its true form." Remus summarized. Ed shivered. It knows exactly what a person's worst fear is on sight?
"Though, I haven't seen a boggart so conflicted about a person's fears before. Usually it needs some provocation to transform, but it seemed to simply shift on its own accord" Remus added, as more of an afterthought than anything else.
"I haven't seen any of those people or creatures before. Were they real? Or just things you read about?" Hermione asked. Ed tensed. Should I say anything?
"And they were saying a lot of odd things too, and one man looked like he was in a military! You called him a lieutenant or something?" Harry said.
They can't know I'm in the military. I can't tell them.
"What was that broken metal?" Ron asked. "You called it Al"
Ed sighed. I'll have to make something up. Dammit why do I have to keep lying like this? "The man was a family friend. He died recently cause of something stupid I did. The dog-like thing was a chimera. It was a little girl and her dog, they were combined into that. They were later murdered by a serial killer. The metal was a broken suit of armor. My brother always wore it. It was a…" a WHAT? A forced condition? No…
"A hobby"
"What kind of hobby is that?" the twins added.
"Yeah! Uh, we had a lot of that stuff at home…heh" Ed said awkwardly.
"What about the thing in the bucket? In the circle?" Hermione pressed. Ed clenched his teeth. How do I explain this? "It said something, about bringing someone back?" Harry said.
"It was something from a story I read once. Me and my brother heard it when we were young. It just really stuck I guess" Ed said.
They looked unconvinced, but didn't press. At least they have some boundaries. Ed thought. Before thinking, I just jinxed it didn't I?
Ed yawned loudly, stretching in his seat. "Well I'm beat. I'm gonna get some shut eye" He said standing up. "We're leaving for Diagon Alley first thing tomorrow morning. Please be ready" Molly called as he headed out of the kitchen.
As Ed lay in his bed, he surprised himself by almost immediately falling asleep. As he drifted out of consciousness, he braced himself for the nightmares sure to come.
"We're traveling by what?" Ed said, staring at the fire incredulously.
"Floo Powder. It's simple to use really. Step into the fireplace and say the name of where you're going as clearly as you can, it'll take you wherever you need to go!" Ron said. However, Ed continued to stare at the fireplace in disgust. The form of transportation reminded him far too much of a certain pyromaniac. Won't you get burned in the process? And how is some powder supposed to make you teleport?
Fred stepped into the fire, saying easily "Diagon Alley!" and he was engulfed by flames, before disappearing. Ed stared, wondering if h had missed something. As George followed his twin, Ed made sure not to blink, only to be surprised, when nothing else happens. Ed gulped, realizing he would be next. "Come on Ed, dear. We don't have all day" molly said, ushering Ed towards the flame. He took a handful of powder, and hesitantly put it in the flame. The green flame erupted in the fireplace, and Ed swallowed his remaining hesitance. He took a step forward and braced himself for the heat.
Though none came.
It was a warm, tickling sensation, though Ed knew that if he took too long with the name, he may choke on ash. He gathered his considerable amount of nerve and opened his mouth.
"Diagon Alley!"
Once again, Ed felt like he was spinning at very high speeds. Soon he was regurgitated from the fire, and his face made contact with pavement. As Ed got back to his feet, he muttered "Honestly, all of your ways of transportation are so damn uncomfortable! What is so wrong with a train? Or a car? Or walking?"
He took time to observe the place he was in. it was similar to a town, with many buildings in odd colors with odd names. The most noticeable was a large white building, not far from where he had landed.
He saw the twins, and soon the rest of them had come out as well. "Well, we should head to Gringotts first. Ed, do you know if you have a vault at Gringotts?" Molly asked. Ed nodded, holding the Key Dumbledore had given him. He had tried to throw it away in any way possible, even alchemy, but no matter how hard he tried, the Key just came back to his pocket. Ed had resigned himself to the fact he needed money to buy supplies, and this family was not going to be able to do it. If only Amestrian currency worked here.
"Blimey Ed! I didn't think you had so much money" Ron said in awe as they walked to the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts. Ed shrugged. "You can take some. Don't know what I would do with that money"
"Really?" Ron said, but was quickly silenced by Molly hissing "Ronald!"
Ron winced, before saying "But really, you've got more gold than Harry!"
Harry nodded, though wondered why on Earth Ed had been so irritated when they entered.
"Here it is, Mr. Elric" said the goblin, before unlocking the door. A wave of gold met everyone's eyes, the entire vault was covered in gold. Ed stared for a bit, before trudging into the vault. Harry was amazed, 'so this is the kind of money a researcher makes' Harry spotted a picture inside the vault and instinctively picked it up. It showed a beautiful woman, who reminded Harry quite a bit of his own mother, holding a small child with blonde hair. Next to her was a man who was frowning, holding an older boy with gold eyes and hair, who Harry assumed was Ed. "Hey, Ed, is this your family?" Harry asked. Ed walked over to look at the picture, before his eyes dilated in anger. He scooped up a bit of money into a bag, and dragged Harry and Ron out of his vault.
"It's not my money. It's that bastard's money. I'm only taking it so I can get supplies" Ed said stubbornly. "Come now, Ed. I'm sure he must have had a good reason" Molly said, but Ed only huffed, saying "not likely."
Harry wondered why Ed would hate his father so much. What kind of situation did he leave them in to make Ed have such a fierce grudge?
They reached Flourish and Blotts, which was filled with students and parents. When they entered, Harry could have sworn Ed's eyes lit up like a child in a toy store. He ran to the nearest shelf and became absorbed in the books. Ron groaned. "We have another Hermione don't we?"
Hermione huffed, taking out her booklist and going off to pick out the required books. After a good amount of time, everyone had found what they needed. They all went to find Ed, who had most likely immersed himself in books. When Harry found him, he was putting away a book. Harry took the opportunity to run up to him. "Ed!"
He looked over and said "oh, hey Harry" Harry reached him and asked "Do you have everything you need?" Ed nodded. "I already bought my portion."
Harry nodded, noticing a small first year standing by a bookshelf. She was staring at Ed oddly, and Harry wondered if it was Ed's attire. His leather black shirt and pants, and the red coat were both quite out of the ordinary.
As Ed and Harry walked back to the group, there was a loud Thud!
Instinctively, they both whirled around, to see a large man looking horrified at the bookshelf, as it slowly tilted foreword. Harry's eyes widened in horror and was about to run foreword when he heard a loud clap.
He turned to Ed, who held his hands together, as if praying, before pressing them to the ground. What's he doing? And then the floor erupted into what looked like blue lightning, and morphed. A large portion of the floor disappeared, and a wall of wood that looked like a geometric hand rose above the small girl, who had been standing in front of the bookshelf.
There was a loud crash! And dust clouded the area.
When the smoke cleared, the bookshelf was broken, and books scattered the floor. Harry ran to where the little girl was, underneath the makeshift shield that Ed had seemingly created. Thankfully, she seemed unharmed when her mother ran to her, in hysterics.
Harry turned to Ed, who stood up, looking relieved.
"What was that?" Harry asked.
There it is! I feel really bad about the cliffhanger, but this could've gone on forever and I needed a cut off. Sorry!
I decided in Ed and Moody's second interaction Ed's rebellious tendencies would tie into his anger. As far as I've seen, I think he would have refused to give Moody any form of satisfaction over him. That's what I think at least.
I actually wasn't originally going to include the bit with the boggart, but then I thought 'Ed is already angsty, so why not?' I'm cruel, I know, but there it is. I apologize. Also, I didn't make that part in Amestrian for a reason. I figured that even though the boggart could transform and all that, It couldn't speak Amestrian. Even though it could see into his mind, it couldn't register the words being said, but it sensed the guilt and conflict Ed felt for each person. The boggart is very good at distinguishing these types of feelings, which is why it can transform into exactly what it needs to, but it was all in English.
Please check out my new poll for this story on my profile! "In which house do you think Ed belongs?" The poll may or may not affect the story, depending on how I feel, though it's primary purpose is to see what you guys think. I'm interested to see what you think, as the moment of truth is coming soon.
Thank you for reading
-SevenBlazingSkies