Hermione's POV

"Bloody hell," Ron groaned as he leaned back in one of the plush couches in the Gryffindor common room. "That new alchemy professor has gone mad," he said, his eyes wide.

"He's not that bad, Ron," I commented as I started flipping through the alchemy book. We had only gotten it today, so I hadn't had the time to read through it like I did with every other book we were assigned for the year. I liked to have a little background knowledge before we got started. "He just has," I paused for a moment, not really sure how to put it at first. "He just has a unique teaching style," I finally settled on.

"Yeah, well you're only defending him because you totally fancy him," Ron said, causing a hot blush to rise to my cheeks.

"I do not!" I exclaimed. "And how about you, staring in awe at the girl's from France," I countered. Ron immediately started to sputter about how it was different, but I wasn't going to listen to his poor excuses. There was no denying that the young professor was good looking, but he was just that, our professor.

"He is a little crazy, Hermione," Harry said from his spot on another chair. "And this quiz? The one that if we fail were removed from the class? Even you have to see the absurdness in that," Harry reasoned. I nodded slowly, knowing it was a little strange. "And why would Dumbledore start a class that is so dangerous?" the boy asked again. I sighed.

"Do I really need to bring up the past few years?" I asked, referring to every other dangerous thing we had gotten ourselves into the past three years. The dark haired boy was quiet after that.

For a few minutes, we remained quiet as we worked on the homework we already had assigned when I came across something peculiar. A section of pages from my alchemy book had been ripped out. Thinking it was just a bad copy, I asked for Harry's book. He offered it up, but I found the exact same set ripped out of his book too. After snatching Ron's from where it lay unopened on the table, I found it to be the same as the previous two. There was no way this was a coincidence.

"There's pages ripped out of these books," I said, showing the books to the boys. They both looked up. "It's the same set of pages in every book," I explained when they didn't look very interested. Harry's brows furrowed as he sat up a little straighter in his seat. Ron put his homework down for a moment, no doubt this was more interesting than whatever homework he was currently working on. Harry reached for the book, looking at it for himself as I stood from my seat.

"Going to the library?" he asked. "You know, maybe you should just leave it be. Maybe the professor doesn't want us learning it; it could be dangerous," he pointed out

"I just don't like it. Something isn't sitting right," I said. "I'm just going to go see if the library has a fresh copy. I'll let you know if I find anything," I called before sweeping out of the room as I headed down to the library, taking my copy of the book with me.

"Good evening, Madam Pince," I said as I approached the librarian's desk. "I was wondering if you had another copy of this book," I said, placing it out the counter. "It's missing a few pages." The librarian adjusted her glasses as she took the book from my hands. She pointed me in the right direction, and I was quick to grab the book off the shelf. I flipped to the missing set of pages to find that they were intact in this particular copy as I sat at a nearby table.

Human Transmutation. What is Human Transmutation? And why didn't the professor want us to learn about it? I quickly read through the excerpt. It was only a few short pages, and the whole thing was very vague. I understood that it was a taboo amongst alchemists by reading, but it didn't go into much more description. I didn't understand why he wouldn't want us to learn about it, so we would know better. It was very open what the Unforgivable Curses were, and they were unforgivable. A simple explanation was enough to keep people from wanting to learn about it. To me, it wasn't making much sense. Well, there was only one way to find out the truth.

Only a few minutes later, I found myself in front of Professor Elric's door, the new copy of the book held tightly to my chest. I knocked on it confidently. After a moment, I heard a crash followed by a curse. A moment more, and the door was flying open to reveal to the professor. He looked me up and down for a moment before leaning against the doorframe. I could feel myself blanch as my eyes caught sight of a huge scar on his right shoulder. I had never seen a scar that large. It had to have hurt like hell.

"What do you need Miss. Granger," the professor said. "And at a late hour. If I'm not mistaken, curfew is in half an hour," he commented.

"Yes, sir," I said with a nod. "I am aware, but I had a question about the book you handed out in class today. I noticed there was a section of pages ripped out of every book. I went to the library and -"

"Stop," he said, his voice hard. I looked up from the book to find his piercing gold eyes glaring down at me.

"But I didn't-" I started to say, very confused, but he cut me off again.

"No!" he shouted, but then took a deep breath. "I tore those pages over for a very specific reason, and while I appreciate your dedication to the subject, when something like that is removed from a book for a reason, you should leave it be. If someone does that, they are doing it for your safety." While he was giving his small speech, he stood up straight and made small advances toward me. I had stumbled back a few steps in fright. "So I suggest you not ask me again, and you forget anything you've read in that book." He held his hand out, and I shakely put it in his hands. He was quick to snatch it back. "Let it go," he repeated. "Good night, Miss Granger," he said before slamming the door shut in my face.

For a moment, I didn't know what to do. I simply stood in shock and stared at the door in front of me. First, the pages being torn out. Then the scar. And finally, how angry he got from me asking a simple question. Well, I hadn't even gotten through my entire question before he had just exploded at me. After I regained my senses, I turned around and headed back to the common room to talk to the boys. Maybe the professor was mad.

Ed's POV

I grunted angrily as I ripped the pages from this book as well before tossing it into the fire. I stood for a few minutes, just watching the papers go up in flames. I can't believe I hadn't thought to check the library. Of course they would have at least one extra copy, it was a school for Truth's sake. How could I have been so stupid.

Running a hand through my hair, I let out a sigh. I had done what I could about it. Hopefully, she wouldn't be asking about it anymore. I didn't know what to say. It had it explicitly written that it was a taboo, but even thinking about the topic made my stomach churn. There was no good way to approach the topic. It was better just to not mention it at all. They wouldn't even get to fixing things with alchemy by the end of the year, so talking about something as complex about Human Transmutation wasn't even in the question. There was no need for it.

With yet another sigh, I tossed the book onto the table as I made a mental note to return it to the library tomorrow during my planning period. I sat down behind my desk, and situated myself to finish writing my letter to Al. I had already talked to him about my time at Hogwarts and how everything was going. I even promised to find him a book or two to send home via owl. I also told him I definitely wasn't ready for him to travel to another country and appreciated that he thought to wait.

I was debating about writing to him about the constant pain I had been feeling in my port. The area surrounding it was red and achy. So days, it was even warm to the touch, and it was definitely swollen. Normally, some warm compresses or a hot shower would help to ease the pain, but nothing was helping this time around. I was really afraid of a port infection. I knew those could be nasty, and it would result in having the whole port removed. I really hoped it wasn't going to come to that.

I sighed and just decided to ask. We had to take care of this before it got too bad. I finished up my letter to Al by telling him what had just transpired between Miss. Granger and myself. As the older brother, I felt like I had to have the answer to everything, but I didn't this time. After a few minutes of deep contemplation, I finally gave in. I asked him what he thought about the students learning about Human Transmutation. I told him I wanted his pure, unadulterated opinion on the matter, and I knew my little brother would give it to me. I couldn't possibly ask for a better brother. After I finished writing my name, I grabbed another piece of parchment and addressed it to Winry.

Dear Winry,

In regard to your previous letter, I know, I really could have handled the entire situation better. I'm sorry. Though, I can't say I'm disappointed with your answer. But yes, we will have to talk about it, and I am totally willing to do that; anything for you.

And yes, I'm taking it easy on my students. They're getting the same test Al and I did with Teacher, but I won't be stranding them out on any island with only a knife; I don't think the headmaster would approve of those methods. In fact, I already had one student answer the riddle correctly; she got it on the first day. I can already tell she's going to be a natural, maybe even better than Al and I.

On another, more serious note, I've been having some issues with my automail. I know, I know, you're going to hit me with a wrench, but it wasn't my fault. I've been oiling it, stretching, thoroughly drying it after a shower, and everything else. I even used the nice polish you shoved in my suitcase, so don't blame this one on me!

Anyway, it's been sore since I got here. Dumbledore said it might be a problem with the enchantments on the castle, but it feels more like what you said a port infection would feel like. It's red, inflamed, and hot to the touch. If it is, I don't know what we're going to do. Either I'm going to have to come home or Dumbledore's going to have to get you out here. I'm not sure how that will work with the Truth, but we'll figure it out.

Well, on that happy note, I'm going to get some sleep. Hopefully the rest will do me some good.

Love,

Ed

I leaned back in my chair with a sigh. I really didn't want to get up, especially with how my leg was feeling this evening, but I knew I'd hate myself in the morning if I slept in my chair. With yet another sigh, I forced myself from my chair and into my bed with a hope that the rest would help my leg.