Hello, hello my lovely readers! Thank you once more for being so patient with me. I have two of my toughest classes this semester, and I am both mentally and physically exhausted by the time I finished classes and homework for the day. Again, thank you for being so kind and patient with me as I work through the trial and tribulations in college.
Fun Fact: I wrote the first half of this chapter on an 8-hour flight on the way home from London! My marching band had the honor of playing in London's New Year's Day Parade, so I got to spend a week over there. It was lovely, and I can't wait to head back to the UK in June to see Scotland!
Anyway, enough about me, please enjoy, and please let me know what you think about this chapter!
Harry's POV
The Gryffindor common room was alive with chatter, and it was almost guaranteed that all of the other common rooms and the halls were in the same state. Students gathered in small groups around the room, all leaning over a newspaper. Well, not the entire newspaper exactly, just one article in particular. There was pointing, whispering, raised eyebrows, and wide eyes all over the room. No doubt everyone in the school had read or at least seen the most recent newspaper.
There had been rumors about Professor Elric and his date to the Yule Ball since Christmas Eve, but everything had come to a head when the article had been published in the Daily Prophet. And of course, it had been written by none other than Rita Skeeter, so the information was questionable. Well, it would have been if it weren't for the pictures accompanying the article.
I sighed and looked down at the paper on the table between Ron and me. We had been playing a round of chess, and I was losing miserably as always, but the article has quickly taken all of our attention. I propped my chin on my palm as I read through the short article again.
EDWARD ELRIC: FIANCE OR SOLDIER?
By: Rita Skeeter
The epic love story of the youngest professor in Hogwart's history continues at the long-awaited Yule Ball. It seems that Professor Elric's mighty fine looks and fiery personality have indeed worked in his favor as he was spotted at the Christmas Eve event with a beautiful young lady on his arm. Is this the infamous Winry he had mentioned before? I sure hope so. They do look like quite a lovely couple. But don't just take my word for it; take a peak at the pictures I was able to capture! But, this means the rumors are true, and any young ladies - or gentlemen for that matter - are out of luck when it comes to the Alchemy Professor.
What's more, it appears that the young couple is engaged! I was able to catch the special moment when Elric pulled the silver ring out of his pocket. I wasn't close enough to see what gem was on the ring (and I didn't want to interrupt such a special moment!), but I will be sure to inquire about it in the next interview with Professor Elric. And now that the couple is engaged, will Winry be staying with her fiance, or will she be traveling back to her home country? Hopefully, we will be lucky enough that she stays, and I can score an interview with the couple!
The question everyone is now asking is: will the couple last, or will someone swoop in and steal the young professor away from his sweetheart?
And to add another layer to the already enthralling story, Professor Elric appears to be a very decorated member of the military. But of which military you may ask? Certainly not that of the Ministry of Magic, Britain, or any other European country. In fact, the royal blue ensemble the young professor was sporting is unrecognizable! From my sources, none of the major militaries quite match Elric's uniform, though there are a few that are similar. So, is the professor faking the status for attention? Does he come from a secret and hidden country? And how does someone as young as he enters the military, to begin with?
No matter the answers to the previous questions, if the professor is truly a part of some military, he is highly decorated! Each of the ribbons adorning the chest of his uniform marks a great accomplishment in his military career. Speaking of a military career, a glance at the gold stars on his uniform's shoulders represents the colonel's status.
But, this brings us back to another pressing question: how does a man so young become so decorated and of such status?
Keep your eyes and ears out for more news on Professor Elric and all the drama he is bringing to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly!
At the bottom of the article, there were two pictures printed to accompany the story. The first was of Professor Elric slipping the silver ring onto Winry's ring finger. Both were smiling brightly as Elric completed the action, the picture moving to show the process of the placement of the ring. The other showed the couple coming together for a kiss, the professor's hands-on Winry's waist, and the girl's arms around her fiance's neck, holding him close.
I just couldn't believe everything that was happening this year. Sure, I should have been at least a little prepared given what had happened the last three years of school, but this was just getting ridiculous. It was just one thing on top of another. First, it was the new class and the two new professors, both of which I wasn't completely sure about. Then there was the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Then there was Professor Elric's collapse in the middle of class. And Winry visiting. And now this. Apparently, Professor Elric was a soldier for whatever country he came from, and a pretty important one at that given his awards and rank.
I looked up in surprise when someone was suddenly sitting next to me. I was even more surprised to find that it was Hermione who was sitting next to me. The air between the three of us, especially Ron and Hermione, was tense on a good day, so I was shocked that she had actually approached both of us on her own terms. She was fine speaking to me when I was alone but steered clear of Ron altogether if she could.
"I see you read the paper," the girl began. "Though, I should probably say the article."
"Kind of hard not to when that's all anyone has been talking about since it was published," I said through a sigh, but it wasn't sarcastic. I was just tired, and I honestly didn't need anything else on my plate at the time. But I also knew we needed to talk about this; it was a major development in this stranger than a normal school year.
"So you're talking to us again?" Ron asked, his voice unimpressed and maybe even a little icy. I winced at his voice of words and tone. This could go one of two ways, and in the past couple of weeks, this tended to go the explosive way.
"Ron, this is more important than the petty arguments between us," Hermione said diplomatically. "We can worry about everything else later, but I think we can both be mature and work through our differences." The redhead only looked at the girl for a moment before nodding. "Good," the girl said with a small smile on her face. She looked more relaxed, and the air didn't feel so thick between the three of us. It was a step in the right direction, and after how stressful the past couple of weeks had been, I would take what I could get.
"So besides the unexpected engagement that we probably weren't supposed to know about," I began, hoping to get the conversation started.
"Our professor is a soldier," Hermione said.
"But aren't Auror soldiers?" Ron asked out, an eyebrow raised in question.
"Well, I guess," Hermione said slowly. She then shook her head. "No, more similar to officers. Like police officers since Auoros aren't really members of a military," Hermione pointed out. Ron nodded, and I hummed in response. You couldn't blame us for not having much to say about the situation. I mean, what could you possibly say about this major turn of events?
"Anyway," Hermione broke in with a shake of her head, "I do have some knowledge of world militaries from some light reading, and Rita actually seems to be right about something for once: Professor Elric's uniform does not match any uniforms I am familiar with." I heard Ron mumble something about 'light reading,' but Hermione either didn't hear him or chose to ignore it. "I'll have to do some more digging."
"I'm just stuck on the fact that he's in the military at all," Ron pointed out, and I couldn't help but agree with the other boy. "I don't really care where he's from, that we can figure out later, but how does someone of his age become a soldier?" the redhead asked as he rubbed a hand over his forehead. "Bloody hell," he sighed.
"He's only seventeen and has the rank of," I broke off, looking back at the article in front of me to refresh my memory, "colonel. Him being a professor at seventeen was pushing it, but I've seen Dumbledore make stranger decisions. We all have in the last three and a half years," I pointed out. "But I know you don't just go into the military as a colonel. It takes years of work to get to a position that high."
"Are there even any militaries that let you join before you're an adult? In the Wizarding community, 17 is being of age, but I know in most countries you're not considered an adult until you're 18," Ron added, looking over the Hermione for confirmation.
"Right," the girl confirmed. There are some countries that allow you to join the military when you're 16, but most of those countries require parental consent. Those countries are few and far between. There's no way Professor Elric would have been able to work his way to a rank like that in a year, let alone earn that many awards."
"And most of those awards come from serving on the battlefield," I pointed out, starting now to feel a little uneasy about this whole conversation. I had felt uneasy about everything transpiring this year, but now that we were sitting down and talking about it, the reality of the situation was sitting a little too heavy on my stomach.
"Bloody hell," Ron muttered under his breath. "We gotta figure out where the hell in the world this guy is from because whatever country he came from is more than a little messed up." I nodded in agreeance with Ron. Just the thought of what country Professor Elric was from, one that allowed children into their military, made me sick to my stomach. I didn't even want to think about what Professor Elric may have had to do to get himself to the position he found himself in now. I didn't want to ponder that idea for too long.
"Being in the military would at least explain the issues with his leg and all the scars," Ron added after a moment of heavy silence. Unfortunately, Hermione and I both knew exactly what Ron was talking about. When Draco had experienced his rebound, the young Professor had revealed the plethora of scars marring his body. It had been the talk of the school for quite a while. It had made more than a few students uncomfortable to be around the blonde man. They were surely making up terrible stories about how Professor Elric had received his wounds. I had heard a few of the ideas myself, and none of them were savory depictions of the Professor. This new twist of Elric being in the military surely wasn't going to paint any brighter pictures.
"It would explain a lot," I finally muttered.
"I can't imagine what he's already faced," Hermione whispered, her voice haunted and far away. "I don't think I want to imagine it," the girl said, and I hummed and nodded in agreement. Just seeing those scars what hard enough; I didn't want to imagine what had caused them, especially the one on his back which had a twin of his stomach. The mere thought of it made my skin crawl.
"Winry seems to see enough good in him to marry him," Ron suddenly pointed out. "Professor Elric has been getting such a bad wrap from all of this, but there's no doubt that girl loves him." My eyes widened at Ron's words. He wasn't wrong, but I was surprised that he of all people was pointing out something like that. Ron must have noticed the looks Hermione and I were sending him before he leaned back and said indignantly, "just because I don't have luck with girls doesn't mean I can't see when two people are making heart eyes at each other."
"You said it, not me," Hermione said with a sly smile.
"Both Professor Elric and Fleur are out of the running now anyhow, so it seems we're both out of luck," Ron joked back. At that moment, something lifted off my shoulders. Though the two of them would probably never formally apologize to each other, those two comments were reconciliation enough.
"Ron's right though," the girl said, the mood sober once more. "For the dark light Professor Elric has been painted in, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. He clearly cares for his students and wants us to succeed. His engagement to Winry is proof enough of his character. Winry doesn't seem to be the kind of girl to put up with any man's crap," she said, a smile on her face.
"I've heard her threaten to throw a wrench at him multiple times," I admitted. Both Ron and Hermione looked at me incredulously for a few moments. After they realized I was being completely serious, they both burst into laughter. I was quick to join them. With everything going on, it was a breath of fresh air to be laughing heartily with my two best friends again.
"Well," Hermione said after we had all regained our composure. She clapped her hands on her thighs before standing up. "I'm going to head to the library and see if I can find any books on world militaries. I'm going to try and find a uniform that matches Professor Elrics, but I have a sneaking suspicion I'm not going to find anything," the brunette genius admitted, and I found myself sharing the same feeling as the witch.
"Good luck, Hermione," I said. "Let us know if you find anything."
"Of course," she said with a small smile. "See you boys at dinner tonight?" she asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. "6 o'clock?"
"We'll be there," I promised after I shot a quick glance at Ron for confirmation.
"See you later," Hermione said before leaving the common room, leaving Ron and me surrounded by the rest of the gossiping Gryffindor house that still loitered in the common room.
"Up for another round of chess, Harry?" Ron asked looking hopeful.
"Why not," I said and helped the boy reset the chess pieces, ready to lose yet another round of wizard's chess.