DISCLAIMER: I OWN NEITHER HARRY POTTER NOR FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST!
Chapter Fourteen
On a wild, blustery evening at the end of September, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ed, Al, and Winry were all in the library. While Winry was working on sixth year homework from McGonagall, the others were looking up potion ingredients for Snape. Ed had wanted to copy his homework from the year before, but Hermione and Winry ganged up on him on not copying, threatening Ed that he'd get detention or expelled if he did.
"I was wondering," Hermione said, suddenly, "whether you'd though any more about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry."
"'Course I have," Harry said grumpily. "Can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us -."
"She meant about that idea she had about you teaching us," Ed interrupted.
"Well…," Harry said a few moments later, "yeah, I - I've thought about it a bit."
"And?" Hermione asked, eagerly.
"I dunno," Harry said.
"I think it's a good idea," Al said, before Ron could answer.
"But you said that you wanted to focus on your O.W.L. exams," Harry said.
"I do, but I also want to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts properly," Al said. "And Big Brother doesn't have the patience to teach other people."
"Thanks a lot, Al," Ed remarked.
"Well, it is true, Edward," Winry agreed with Al.
"Well, it was just a load of luck," Harry said.
"But, Harry, besides Ed and Winry, you were the only one to completely throw off the Imperius Curse last year," Hermione said. "You can produce a Patronus, and you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can't. Viktor always said -."
"Yeah, what did Vicky say?" Ron asked, rubbing his neck.
Ed snickered.
"Ho ho," Hermione said in a bored voice. "He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn't, and he was in the final year at Durmstrang."
"You're not still in contact with him, are you?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"So what if I am?" Hermione said coolly, blushing lightly. "I can have a pen pal if I -."
"He didn't only want to be a pen pal," Ron accused.
"Well, what do you think, Harry?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron. "Will you teach us?"
"Just you, Ron, Ed, Al, and Winry, yeah?" Harry asked.
"No, not only us," Ed said. "Anyone who wants to defend themselves against Bodel-butt since it wouldn't be fair to teach anyone else."
"Yeah, but I don't think anyone except you five would want to be taught by me," Harry said. "I'm a nutter, remember?"
"Some people think I'm a puppet for the military, but I'm okay with it," Ed said.
"Ed, please," Winry scowled. "You're known as the 'Hero of the People' and 'Alchemist of the People', 'Hero from the East', shall I go on?"
Ed laughed.
"I guess I forgot!" Ed said, laughing while scratching the back of his head. "It's been so long since I've been on a mission that I've forgotten what it's like and what I'm called!"
"Look, Harry," Hermione said, looking at Harry, "you might be surprised how many people would be interested in hearing what you've got to say. The first weekend in October is a Hogsmeade weekend. How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?"
"Why do we have to do it outside school?" Ron asked.
"Because Umbridge wouldn't like it if she knew what we were up to," Al answered.
When Hogsmeade weekend finally came, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ed, Al, and Winry went out on the grounds and left the castle grounds together.
"So, are you going to come with us to the meeting?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," Ed said.
"Where is it going to be?" Al asked. "The Three Broomsticks?"
"Oh - no," Hermione said, "no, it's always packed and really noisy. I've told the others to meet us in the Hog's Head, that other pub, you know the one, Edward, it's not on the main road. I think it's a bit…you know…dodgy…but students don't normally go in there, so I don't think we'll be overheard."
"Well, that's not the logical way of thinking," Winry said.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked.
"If you don't want to be overheard, you'd have to be in a noisy place like The Three Broomsticks," Winry pointed out. "You don't want to go somewhere 'dodgy' or where no one goes. If I'm right, then Umbridge will already know."
"Don't be thick," Hermione said. "Umbridge won't know."
"Don't go cryin' around when it turns out I'm right," Winry threatened.
"Well, you were wrong about Hagrid last year and about Umbridge being a horrible teacher, so you're going to be wrong about this as well," Hermione said.
Winry suddenly took on the aura of Izumi.
"Let's go to The Three Broomsticks, Winry," Ed said. "Then we can go to Honeydukes."
Winry glared at Hermione and left with Ed and Al to The Three Broomsticks.
"You might want to be careful, Hermione," Ron warned.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Winry is a scary person," Ron said.
"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione said. "I'm not scared of her. Let's go."
Then they went to the Hog's Head. In The Three Broomsticks, Ed, Al, and Winry were sitting at a table as they each had a bottle of butterbeer.
"I can't believe her!" Winry raged.
"Well, believe it, Win," Ed said. "Hermione can be a bitch."
"But I thought that she's a friend?" Al asked.
"She is, sort of," Ed said.
"Who says I'll talk to her anymore?" Winry asked.
"What do you mean, sort of?" Al asked.
"Hermione can't take that Winry has different views than her," Ed said.
"It's not a view!" Winry said. "It's a fact, and you know it, Edward! By Monday, there will be a new decree banning sports and groups because Hermione doesn't think that they'll be overheard in the Hog's Head!"
"I know, Winry," Ed said.
Then, Ed grinned. Al groaned.
"What are you thinking about, Brother?" Al asked.
"I'm just going to prove how easy it would be to eavesdrop into their little conversation, that's all," Ed grinned.
"How?" Winry asked.
"Al, gimme your coat," Ed said.
"Why?" Al asked. "You've got your own coat. And, I'm a good two inches taller than you!"
"That doesn't matter!" Ed said. "Just gimme your coat!"
Al rolled his eyes and shrugged off his brown coat. Ed stood and took his red trademark coat off and sat it down onto his seat. He was wearing a pair of black jeans with a blue long-sleeved shirt and sneakers. Izumi had made him leave his trademark black outfit and combat boots behind in Amestris. Ed put on the brown coat.
"That won't do as a disguise, Edward," Winry said. "You need to change your eye and hair color."
"That's right," Ed said. "And I need to put my hair into a ponytail."
Ed put his hair up into a ponytail and let Winry change his eye and hair color.
"What makes you think it'll work?" Al asked.
A blue-eyed, black-haired Ed looked at Al.
"You don't think this is enough?" Ed asked.
Al conjured up a pair of glasses.
"Here," Al said.
"Glasses?" Ed asked, taking the glasses from Al. "Why? I'll look like that bastard."
"A little, but your eye and hair color is different," Al pointed out.
"I thought you didn't approve?" Ed asked.
"It doesn't mean I don't want to help," Al said.
Ed grinned and put on the glasses. He unclipped his pocket watch from his jeans and put it down onto the table.
"Take care of it, will ya?" Ed asked. "See you."
Then Ed walked out of The Three Broomsticks. A few moments later, Ed arrived at the Hog's Head and grimaced at the sign above the door of a severed hog's head with blood.
'Gross,' Ed thought.
He opened the door and went in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned to look at Ed as he went up to the bar and sat down. Besides Ed, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, there were only a few people in the bar. There was the bartender, the two people in hoods talking with heavy Yorkshire accents while sitting at a table by one of the grimy windows, a man at the bar whose whole head was wrapped in dirty gray bandages, and a witch sitting in a shadowy corner by the fireplace with a thick, black veil that fell to her toes. Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned away.
The barman went to Ed.
"What?" the barman grunted.
"Butterbeer," Ed answered, in a deep voice.
"Two Sickles," the barman said.
Ed took out two Sickles, and the barman gave Ed the bottle of butterbeer.
"Do you think that could be Ed?" Ron asked.
"No," Hermione said. "There are a lot of guys who wear their hair back, and that one has black hair. Edward doesn't wear glasses either."
A moment later, the door opened again. Ed looked to the corner of his eye to see that it was Neville, Dean, and Lavender followed by Parvati, Padma, Cho and one of her usually giggly friends, Luna, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbot, and a Hufflepuff girl with a long braid. Then came three Ravenclaw boys by the names of Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot. Ginny came in with a skinny, blond stuck up looking boy and finally Fred, George, and Lee.
'Quite a bit of people,' Ed thought.
Fred ordered the butterbeers and a few moments later, the large group was by the table that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were at. A few moments later, Hermione greeted the crowd and told them about the reason why she had wanted them all there. As Ed listened to the meeting progress, he got very bored.
'How boring,' Ed thought.
Then he heard Luna's claims of Fudge having an army of 'heliopaths'.
"No, he hasn't," Hermione snapped.
"Yes, he has," Luna said.
"What are heliopaths?" Neville asked.
"They're spirits of fire," Luna described. "Great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of -."
"They don't exist, Neville," Hermione said tartly.
"Oh, yes they do!" Luna said angrily.
"I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?" Hermione snapped.
"There are plenty of eyewitness accounts!" Luna snapped. "Just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you -!"
Ginny broke up the argument as Ed tried not to snicker. He shook his empty bottle at the barman, and the barman came with another bottle of butterbeer. Ed paid the barman as he took the empty bottle. Ed took a swig of the butterbeer. A few minutes later, after all the group signed Hermione's parchment, the group left. Harry, Ron, and Hermione left a moment later. Ed finished off his butterbeer and got off the stool.
"Thanks, Abe," Ed said.
Then Ed left. Al and Winry met up with Ed outside the Hog's Head.
"Well?" Al asked.
"It was all boring," Ed answered, charming his hair and eyes back to normal. "You would have gotten aggravated in just ten seconds, Al. Five for you, Winry."
Ed took off his glasses and gave it back to Al. Ed also took off the coat and gave it back to Al as Al gave Ed his red coat back. Ed put on his red coat.
"Let's go get some candy," Ed said. "We can talk about it on the way back to prison."
"School, Ed," Winry corrected.
"Whatever, same thing," Ed brushed off.