Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Humankind cannot gain anything without losing something first.

To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

That’s the law of equivalent exchange

In search of immortality and recognition, one loses their country.

In search of her child, a mother loses fertility.

In search of love, a child pays his dues by losing his brother.

In search of integrity and justice, a man will lose his sight to protect those who he loves.

Truth is inevitable.

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There was nothing.

The familiar white space surrounded him, bringing a faint reminder of what was about to come.

“Hello Little Alchemist”

Edward sighed at the disembodied voice, concluding what happened just a few moments ago, partly grateful for this asshole to save him before he could die from blood loss.

“Alright, what do you want” Ed frowns, while checking his body for any leftover injuries despite the fact that the main problem, a huge hole in his stomach, was long gone.

“Not even a thank you considering I saved your life from dying from being impaled?” Truth grinned at him “I merely wanted to offer you something, a mission, that could somewhat help you and your brother get your original bodies back”

Ed stared with a dumbfounded expression on his face “What?!”

“There’s not much I can tell you, but this world differs from yours.” Truth continued “In the other world alchemy is considered dead arts and was replaced by a much easier form, magic”

“What do you mean the other world? There are multiple dimensions?” Ed asked with wide eyes. He figured there was more to the universe, it was always an interesting topic for him but hearing it in person made it so much more intriguing. The idea of other dimensions just- existing there sent a shiver down his spine. “Why should I trust you? How do I know you’re not just bullshitting me into something”

Truth laughed “I figured you would ask that. Well, Little Alchemist, we’ve come a long way together so I thought I would give you a friendly discount” Ed rolled his eyes at that “There’s something I want you to do, a man who wanted to play God and cheat death seems to be making quite a mess in the other world. He split his soul into multiple pieces, attaching them into things: living beings and inanimate objects to grant himself immortality” Ed’s eyes widen “I want you to show him where his place belongs” Truth grinned

“If you succeed to bring him back to me, you will gain your brother's body back, but if you fail, I’ll just throw you back into your timeline with a few years taken off your lifespan. Well? How’s that sound?” Truth asks playfully as if they already know the answer.

His head already starts hurting as he thinks of dealing with another homunculus-like fucker.

“Alright, I can’t believe I’m doing this” Ed grumbled after a moment of consideration, hiding his face in his hands “Will you tell me anything more about this world, so I won’t stick out like a sore thumb?”

“You will be attending a school for wizards” the boy creased his brows “rest assured, you’ll adjust just fine”

“Wait, what?! You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” at that Truth laughed and his world changed to black.

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He woke to the familiar sound of a moving train. Opening his eyes, he noticed he was in a big train compartment, much fancier than he was used to. Shooting a glance at the window on his left, he saw a scenery straight out of a book. Green pastures painted in a slight golden hue by sunlight, gave a feeling of peace and reminder of his hometown. Ed smiled slightly at the thought and reeled back to figuring out his shit. Noticing a suitcase, he opened it and sighed in relief as he grabbed a hold of a notebook laying on a bunch of books and clothes. Opening it he noticed a letter.

“Hello Little Alchemist,

I thought you would appreciate my gift; I left you some things that will help you survive in this world” Great

“Your suitcase contains a wand; eleven inches, ebony wood with a core of Thestral Tail hair; a creature seen only by those who witnessed death (fitting isn’t it?)

I also provided you with a bunch of books that will guide you through the origin of this world (Including your school supplies). No need to thank me” Ed groans “I wish you luck"

As he finished reading, he angrily shoves the letter in the depths of his suitcase. Ed looked at the title of one of the books ”Hogwarts: A History” That must be the name of the school. ‘Well, I’ve got time, let’s see what they wrote here.’

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And so, three hours passed.

Ed went through every book Truth had left him and figured out most of the things that would help him in the near future. What ticked him off was a mention of a very eerie artifact in one of the books- a horcrux. He reminiscences to his talk with Truth.

‘Detaching a fragment of the soul, that must be painful as hell... Who in their right mind would split their soul in half let alone multiple pieces’ he groaned putting down the last book back into the suitcase.

Standing up he flexed his muscles, getting rid of all the strains after sitting down for so long in the same position. He stood by the window; noting it was almost evening. The sky shone a bright orange, painting the hills in warm orange given by the slanted rays of the setting sun.

He noticed the window had become very cold, almost freezing to the point where fog started to appear on its surface. Aware of the fact that something was wrong he backed up and transmuted his arm into a blade. He shuddered; a weird feeling went down his spine. Ed turned to the door and heard a weird sweeping like noise. Something was coming. He took his fighting stance and focused when the door went ajar, revealing a figure in a ragged cloak. The ominous feeling of its presence choked him up, unable to move he stared with widened eyes at the stretched, almost decaying hand in front of him.

“Edward...”

A small, mutant voice echoes in his mind. He feels something crawling up his throat, threatening to choke him. He stares at the hand, its long nails nearing up, almost pressing against his skin. His heart is beating like crazy, making it seem like it would jump out of his ribcage. The sense of panic strikes, tears well up in the corner of his eyes.

“Nina...”

He can almost see the creatures face before his sight blurs and the last thing he sees before he passes out is a small source of light in the corridor.

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Coming to his senses he realizes he’s laying down. Ed tried to sit up when a hand came up onto his shoulder stopping him.

“Ugh my head hurts like a bitch...” he groans putting his head on his palm and hears the man huff out a laugh “What was that?” Ed asked.

“That was a Dementor, a creature meant for guiding Azkaban, but it seems the Ministry has other ideas for them. They’re in search of a criminal who fled from the prison” the man stood up and looked out the window. Ed noticed he was dressed in a suit, probably one of the professors at Hogwarts.

“Want some?” The man asked holding up a bar of dark chocolate. Ed nodded and took a piece. A rich flavor spread through his tastebuds “How did you find me?”

“Neville found you” he nodded towards the door and Ed realized there stood a boy, most likely younger than him, swaying on his feet looking a bit shy “You weren’t the only person that was affected, Harry had the same reaction as you”

While Ed was wondering who on earth Harry was, the man quickly bid his goodbyes and left him and the other boy alone.

“Are you alright?” the other asked cautiously sitting down on the couch in front of him.

“Yeah, just peachy” he sighed as he recalled the weird, cloaked creature “They have some guts to put these guys on a train with school kids inside” he rubbed his temples “Do you know this Harry guy?”

“Yeah” Neville exclaimed “He’s my friend, we’re in the same house. Speaking of... I’ve never seen you before, are you new?”

“I’m a transfer” Neville widened his eyes “Wow... Hogwarts hasn’t had those in like two hundred years! Do you know what house you want to go to?” the boy asked curiously.

“I don’t really care, to be honest this house rivalry you have going on is a bit weird. Wouldn’t it be better to just you know- unite?” Ed quirked an eyebrow

“I never understood this either...but that’s just how it’s done here...” Neville explained “So uhm..what’s your name? I forgot to ask...”

Ed smiled slightly “I’m Edward, you can call me Ed though”

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He stood before the lake basking in the view of the castle.

“You mean to tell me THIS is a school?! Ed stared at the massive architectural form in the distance “Holy fuck” he muttered, still in shock. Neville chuckled “Alright Ed.... I’ve got to go. Have fun riding in the boat with the first years!” he waved and strolled down the path with other students.

He stared at the children in front of him and groaned.

‘This is gonna be a long night...’

Chapter Text

Stepping through the castle’s threshold he found himself looking in awe at the interior of it. The Entrance Hall was just the beginning of the shitload of stairs and corridors the castle had. The flagstone floor, even though old, gave the place a thrill of enchantment and secrecy making him curious about the rest of the building.

Having heard a cough, he and the children dressed in cloaks turned toward the stairs. There stood an older woman dressed in a dark robe and a hat that reminded him of all those times he and Al read those fantasy books. Her expression left little to mind, furrowed brows and a stoic, almost impassive look gave a sense of wisdom and authority. ’She reminds me of Hawkeye, I bet she would kick Colonel’s ass without a blink’ Ed smirked at the thought.

“Welcome to Hogwarts” she started “I’m Minerva McGonagall and I’m the Headmistress of this school. Before the start of the banquet, you will be sorted into your house. The Sorting is very important because your house will become something like your new family. You will share dormitories, classes and spent free time with your house mates” she explained looking at the wide-eyed children. “Each house has its own noble story, each one takes pride in different individualities. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while making trouble will lose them. At the end of the year, the house which holds the most points wins a House Cup.” The witch ended her speech “Please wait here for me, I shall return when the Ceremony is bound to take place.” her eyes lingered for a bit on him before leaving the chamber. Ed was about to continue eyeing up the place when several people let out pitched screams.

“What’s that?!” one of the girls gasped, and so did he because about twenty ghosts had just streamed through the thick wall. Slightly transparent and greyish, they glided through the air, leaving a chilly presence behind them. They seemed to be arguing about something, their squabble disrupting the quietness left by the terrified children.

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The teachers’ table is unusually loud, even Severus, though he doesn’t want to admit it, is betrayed by his own curiousness. Albus can’t really blame them. Transfer students are really rare in Hogwarts and for as long as he can remember, they were always a fun experience for the other students as well as his staff.

“The boy is almost sixteen, right?” Poppy Pomfrey inquires “It’s another thing to be a transfer, but to put him in the third year without testing his capabilities is quite unfair for him considering the fact he was homeschooled”

“I do wonder what house he’ll end up in” Flitwick mutters “Late sortings have always been rather interesting”

“Remus” Dumbledore turned to the man sitting next to Severus “I’ve heard you met him already”

“Yes, he passed out during an encounter with the Dementor” the man explained “He and Harry seem to be unusually sensitive to them”

“I see”

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“Move along.” a sharp voice interrupted “The House Sorting Ceremony’s about to start, form a line and follow me to the Great Hall.” McGonagall commanded and started walking towards the big double doors on the right.

To say the least, the Great Hall was splendid. Thousands of candles floating in the air over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting, lit up the whole place. At the top of the Hall was another long table occupied by teachers and the Headmaster.

Ed and the first years came to a halt in line facing towards a strange hat seated on a stool. It was really old and reminded him of the raggedy cloak the dementor from the train had. The thought of the creature made him shudder.

Looking around he saw Neville looking at him so he waved. He noticed that the tables had been layed, golden cutlery in front of each student, making it seem like a feast was coming. And maybe it was, Ed wasn’t against the idea. He was starving.

Noticing how the Hall had grown even more quiet, Ed saw the Headmaster standing up from his seat in the middle of the teachers’ table. Dumbledore, or so how Ed had recalled his name from the books he read just a few hours prior, was just how he had imagined him. He had a long, almost silver beard and his whole persona screamed wise and powerful, even though he might not show it.

“I would like to announce a few start-of-term notices for our first years and all the other students that may have forgotten it” Dumbledore quirked his mouth up playfully “The Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students. I hope you will obey my prohibition. And the other thing, Hogwarts will receive a transfer student- the first in almost two hundred years!” at that gasps could be heard from the students “I hope you will try your best to make him feel welcome and help him accustom to our ways. I’m sure that some of you know how it feels to be abroad, culture shock can be quite difficult to overcome” he stops for second to let the students absorb the information “Now! Let us start the Sorting Ceremony!”

“I will now read your names, if you hear yours come up to me and you will be sorted into your house” McGonagall said holding a long parchment. “Edward Elric!” she called out.

‘Great I’m first?’ Ed groans as he strides towards the woman. He can feel the gazes of the other students on him, but he ignores them and continues walking. When he sits on the stool, the creepy hat, that was laying on it just a few moments later, is put on his head.

“Well, well, well what do we have here” Ed almost yanked the rag off but stopped himself in the last second ‘How are you in my head?’ the hat laughed “Such curiosity, something that could be seen as childish, yet so mature. You’ve gone through a lot” at that Ed closed his eyes “You’re set in your ways, aren’t you? Fullmetal Alchemist” he widened his eyes ‘How do you know’ Ed asked warily as if afraid of the answer “I know a lot of things, some of them are better off not known by others” the hat responds to his question “Such loyalty, you are a delight to work with” the hat goes on “Cunning, but not too full of pride. Reckless with your actions but always set on to helping others, even if it means endangering yourself” the hat wondered aloud “You’re a mystery Edward, even to me. Who knows what the future will bring for you. Despite that, I wish you luck on your mission” the hat exclaimed before shouting.

“SLYTHERIN!”

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“How do you know him Neville?” a girl in lush curly hair asked her friend sitting in front of them. The boy had a quite striking appearance, his long yellow, almost golden hair shone in the crowd of smaller children, making her want to ask him what shampoo he uses. And his eyes. They were golden, just like his hair.

“That’s Ed. I met him on the train, he passed out just like Harry” Neville glanced at the said boy “He was really nice” He smiled.

“I still can’t believe the Ministry for the dementors. Mate I thought you were done for!” the boy with ginger hair said to him, muttering loudly his disapproval.

“I agree” the girl nodded “The Ministry was totally out of their mind to let them parade around the train and the school. Who knows what would have happened if Professor Lupin hadn’t been there to help!” she groaned hiding her face in her hands.

“But can you blame them though? I would be cautious as heck too if I knew a murderer had fled from Azkaban” Harry pointed out “I’m okay so yeah, don’t worry guys” he assured his friends.

After what almost felt like an eternity the hat exclaimed loudly.

“SLYTHERIN!”

“Welp, I guess we lost him” Ron said with a sour expression on his face watching as the Slytherin table erupted in cheers, welcoming a new member.

Neville shifts in his seat uneasily, hoping that this won’t be the reason, why Ed stops talking to him. ‘He seemed really nice...’

“He’s probably an asshole anyway. Do you know any snake that isn’t a stuck-up?” the ginger boy said, rolling his eyes.

And at that neither of them can answer because they can’t think of anyone.

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As Ed sat down with his other housemates, he was quickly swarmed with questions that left him rethinking his life choices. If these people take this house sorting thingy so seriously, he wonders what they would feel and act like in his world.

“Hi, I’m Pansy!” a girly voice interrupts his thoughts. He glances at the girl holding the arm of another boy. “What year will you be in?”

“Third. I was homeschooled, but the Ministry said ‘fuck you’ and put me two years lower, even though I’m fifteen” Ed responded in annoyance.

“Damn that sucks, but don’t worry. We’re third years also” said the boy with dark skin on his right. “By the way, I’m Blaise” the boy introduced himself.

“Edward, though you probably heard that already” Ed responded in the same carefree demeanor. If he’s supposed to act like a teenager, he might aswell start now.

“So... Where are you from?” The blond guy started. Ed noticed he was holding himself up like politicians always do to give signs of seriousness and dignity. ‘Probably some kid from a rich family’ “It’s a niche country, you wouldn’t have heard of it. We’re pretty rural, I was really surprised when I found out about you guys being so isolated” that earned him a couple of wide eyes staring at him. He’s interrupted by cheering from his house, welcoming yet another student. “We just- mix I guess.”

“So, are you... muggleborn?” the blond boy hesitantly said with an almost disgusted expression on his face. He looked like he wanted to add something else but caught himself in the last second. Ed sighed “What’s your name?” he asked.

“I’m Draco Malfoy.”

“Well, Draco no, I’m a pureblood” Ed responds lazily “My friend is a muggle though. She works as a mechanic”

“Really?” Blaise asks surprised. Ed really can’t understand these people. He nods hoping his silence will stop the conversation from going forward.

Luckily for him the conversation is postponed by the Headmaster, standing up and clapping his hands for quiet. “Before we dig in, I would like to say some things. The Ministry decided to post Azkaban’s Dementors around the school as guards, due to a recent accident. The escape of Sirius Black” at that a couple of students look at each other “I advise you all to keep your distance, for your own safety”

“Some staff changes were also made” at that Dumbledore’s expression changes to a lighter tone “The position of the professor for the Care of Magical Creatures will be taken over by none other than our groundskeeper- Rubeus Hagrid!” Gryffindor claps loudly at that, Ed notices, hearing a couple of whistles as well. “For Defense Against the Dark Arts, Remus Lupin has agreed to take over the previous professor’s position” Ed sees a man dressed in black, looking like death swarmed over, rolling his eyes at that. ‘That must the previous teacher’ he concludes.

“Well then! Enough of this talk, let us eat!” a loud voice echoes and Ed almost jumps in his seat when all of a sudden, the table in front of him is filled with all kinds of food and drinks. ‘What the hell? This magic bullshit is seriously starting to piss me off’

Despite his annoyance he feels his stomach grumble.

‘Whatever, I’m hungry’

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After they’ve had their fill, he follows the other students to where he assumes their dorms are.

“Speaking of, why did you wave at Longbottom before?” Ed hears Draco’s voice behind him “Who?” he asks.

“Neville, that Gryffindor” Ed hums “You could say we shared a compartment on the train. He seemed nice”

“But he’s in Gryffindor!” Pansy counters and Ed can already feel his headache growing “Okay? Why should I care” he shrugs raising an eyebrow “You guys act like you’re the best. I thought the hat said you were supposed to be cunning and all about ambition. It seems really short-sighted that you guys will even disregard potential allies, just because of their house or blood status” he walks faster after that, letting them process his words.

‘Is that a basement?’ he asks himself when he sees the others going down the stairs, leading down a dimly lit hallway ‘This school is nuts. I can understand self-serving food but a basement? Really?’

“So, what you’re saying is even if I can’t stand somebody, I should be nice to them because they could be my last resort down the line?” Draco hedges from behind him, his group catching up to him.

Ed thinks and hums “You could say that. Your father works in politics, right?” he receives a nod “Well, I can bet my left leg that everyone he works with is a complete moron” he receives a poorly disguised cough like snort from Blaise “Tell me, if they just all started arguing, no one would be able to come to terms with each other. It would be a massive catastrophe and the Ministry would fall” Ed can see the hogs turning in Malfoy’s head ‘Maybe all is not lost yet’

He almost jumps again (seriously he needs to focus because what the fuck) when a giant portrait moves after the prefect- or whatever that kid’s called, tells it the password. ‘This is getting weirder and weirder’ Ed thinks as he steps into the dormitories with the rest of the students.

The room itself is pretty good. It’s pretty stylish, a couple fireplaces are scattered around to ensure that the place is not as cold as it looks, the windows lead to out to what Ed thinks is a lake. ‘Maybe this school isn’t that bad’ The whole room is lit up by a faint green light, matching the rest of the rooms interior design.

The prefect walks up to him and tells him he’s rooming with the rest of the third years, so he just follows Blaise and Draco to the bedroom. The room isn’t too different. The beds seem comfortable, equipped with curtains to add some privacy.

Sitting down he’s aware of the blond staring at him “What?”

“Nothing” Draco murmurs “I’m just thinking about what you told me earlier” Ed hums “Welp I’m gonna go to sleep, I don’t know about you, but I’m beat” he bids his goodbyes as he draws his curtains closed and drifts to sleep.

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Draco is confused.

The new kid is something else, let alone his appearance, he’s weird (like in a good way weird, but still).

On the first glance he looks almost ready to kill you if you even look at him askance, but the second he speaks, it’s like talking to an adult. Seriously how does he know so much about politics, wasn’t he born in a rural country?

“Don’t worry about him” Blaise interrupts his thought process “Although I somewhat agree with him. Trying to be even a little more social with each other across our houses I mean.” he wonders

“My mother had the same reasoning as Ed does” he hums.

“Yeah, but she poisons them right after the ink dries on the wedding paper and I don’t think that’s the case here” Draco mocks teasingly.

“Who knows...” Blaise murmurs glancing at the drawn curtains of their new companion’s bed.

Chapter Text

[Thursday, 2 September 1993]

Ed wakes up groggily to a hand shaking him. He groans and turns on his other side, feeling his hand go numb from sleeping on it the whole night. The shaking doesn’t stop though.

“Jeez, what the fuck do you want” he barks out and hears Blaise laugh.

“Well, I had to wake the sleeping princess, we’ve got classes to go to” he grins.

“You call me that again and my fist will meet your face” he threatens without bite, burying his face in the soft pillows. ‘This was the best sleep I’ve had since like- ever. I’m totally not going to be missing the Briggs trunks soon.’

After he feels Blaise walk away from the edge of his bed, he throws the covers off his body and sits up. He stretches his arms and stands up, making his way to his suitcase.

“Oh wow, your hair’s a mess” the other boy points out. Fearing Blaise’s actually right, Ed lets down his hair, threading through it with his fingers, wincing as they catch on a few knots. When he finishes smoothing it down, he quickly braids it into his symbolic hairstyle. He ties it with a simple black elastic he found in his suitcase.

“I’m going to the Great Hall, do you want me to wait for you?” Blaise asks opening their dorm door. Ed shrugs “Nah, you can go without me”

“Alright, try not to fall asleep in the meanwhile though” he grins shutting the door.

“Oh, piss off prick” Ed yells after him.

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He makes his way to the Great Hall, dressed almost properly (if you don’t count the leather pants and combat boots, but in no way is he changing them). Wearing a uniform feels out of the ordinary, he never bothered to wear his military one. It pissed the other officers off, but after some time they just stopped caring, seeing that their complaints go in one ear and out the other.

He opens the door and makes his way to the Slytherin table, ignoring the glances sent his way.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” he asks sitting down with the others.

“We’ve got double History of Magic first, followed by double Defense Against the Dark Arts, lunch and Astronomy at Midnight” Draco says sipping on something in his cup.

“What have you got here?” Ed asks pointing at his drink. “Pumpkin juice, want some?” Ed nods.

He thanks the other “You guys got classes at midnight? That’s rough” Although he can’t really know how school works because he had never been there in the first place.

“Astronomy’s quite chill so it’s fine” Pansy chimes in.

Ed hums as he starts sipping on his drink, staring off into the distance.

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[History of Magic class]

Noticing that the seats are almost all full he chooses to sit with the Gryffindors. He picks the row where he spots Neville, and waves to him.

As he sits and starts unpacking his books and notebooks, he feels suspicious glares on his back. He turns back and the students behind him quickly avert their eyes, poorly hiding their interest. Sighing he turns back and is met with Neville’s confused face.

“What?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh... Nothing” he blinks awkwardly “Hi Ed.” he smiles. He ignores the stares of several other students from different houses.

“Do we know each other...?” a guy with glasses seated next to Neville asks him.

“Should we?” Ed asks back.

The guy blushes from embarrassment “Uh... I don’t think so” he blurts out “I’m Harry” four eyes introduces himself.

‘Ah so that’s the one’

“Oh, you’re the one Neville told me about yesterday” the boy changes his expression to confusion “I’m Ed, nice to meet you”

“You guys talked about me? Huh...?” Ed snorts at his confused face, explaining “I fainted because of the Dementor, and the conversation led off to you because you did too, or so I’ve heard”

“See? I wasn’t the only one” Harry says to his friends before being interrupted by a cough.

Ed turns his attention to the middle of the classroom and that's when he sees a fucking ghost making his way to the cathedral in the middle of the classroom.

‘Oh, that’s going to be interesting’

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It wasn’t.

Ed can’t think of another situation when he was that bored in life (although Mustang bragging about miniskirts comes very close). Despite the fact that all the material taught in the class had already been absorbed by him (thanks to the free time he had on the train), he was one hundred percent sure he wasn’t the only one dozing off.

As he follows his friends to the next class, he hopes it will wake him up.

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[Defense Against the Dark Arts class]

This class has already piqued his interest from the start.

Hearing the name for the first time left him waiting with anticipation for it. He’s familiar with getting the job done, fucking up the bad guys or whatever.

“Hello, everyone” Lupin starts “Knowing that your last two years weren’t exactly- ideal" he smiles tiredly “I decided to use this lesson to judge your capabilities” he starts waving his wand, bringing a wardrobe and placing it on the floor with a thud. He turns to the class again.

“Who can tell me what a boggart is?”

Ed raises his hand (he still doesn’t know why he needs to do that) and as Lupin chooses him, he starts explaining “Well, it’s an amortal shape-shifting non-being that takes on a form of whatever the observer fears the worst. His appearance when it’s alone is not known, for it changes shape when encountering someone” Ed recites, earning himself a couple of wide eyes, and Blaise’s smug smile.

“Perfect, thank you Edward, five points to Slytherin” Lupin smiles “Yes, although boggarts imitate your fears, they’re much weaker magically and physically than the real thing” he continues, explaining the logistics of the spell he wants them to use

“If I deem the situation to be too dangerous, I will step in” he assures the hesitant students.

He walks up to the closet “Well, who wants to go first?” he asks and huffs out a laugh when everyone suddenly takes interest in either looking at their shoes or avoiding his eye contact by observing the walls. “Alright... Form a line after Ron” the ginger falters at his words. “Why me?!” he wails earning a glare from the girl on his right “Just go” she pushes him forward. Ed can’t really blame him, he wouldn’t want to go first as well. At the thought of facing the creature, he wonders what form it will take, silently dreading the moment.

He ends up standing five people behind ‘Ron’.

Lupin opens the doors and the boggart jumps out, taking a form of a giant spider making the ginger boy jump.

“Remember the spell Ron” Lupin reminds him. The ginger boy nods and shakily lifts up his wand muttering the spell, making only a few sparkles from his wand.

“Have some confidence!” Lupin insists.

Ron says the spell louder “Riddikulus!”

That seems to work because the spider dissolves into a mass of butterflies making the boy sigh in relief.

Two people pass and Ed starts dreading his turn even more. Will he make a fool out of himself in front of everyone?

Deep in his thoughts he snaps out of them when he realizes that the last person in front of him had already finished.

He stands stiffly infront of the thing, which is still lingering in the previous persons spelled form.

It changes.

The classroom darkens, a big white transmutation circle appears on the floor in front of him.

He thinks he hears someone yell out “What is that?!” but he doesn’t know exactly who it is, his brain almost immediately shuts off all the voices around him, leaving him and his thoughts alone.

He knows what’s going on and he’s sick of it. He can feel a bile pile up in his throat, threatening to spill out any moment as he looks at the creature which he once deemed his mother.

The blackened mass of flesh wheezes, saliva pooling between its rotten teeth. Its long frail limbs begin pulling the creature closer to him, as if crawling.

Its eyes look at him, begging to let it out of its misery.

It’s too much like that day.

[Resembool, Elric Brothers’ Home]

“You ready Al?” Ed asks his younger brother. They’ve been preparing for this moment, months of research will not disappoint them. He knows it.

“Yes brother!” Alphonse enthusiastically answers.

“35 liters of water” he starts listing off the ingredients “20 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia, 1.5 kilograms of lime, 800 grams of phosphorus, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of saltpeter, 80 grams of sulfur, 7.5 grams of fluorine, 5 grams of iron, 3 grams of silicon”

They put the ingredients into the previously drawn circle. The faint smell of chemicals fills the basement.

The two brothers kneel on the ground, share a hopeful look between each other before slamming their hands down on the transmutation circle.

Blue light fills the previously dimly lit place, the whole array glows brightly.

“Brother look!” Al yells as a massive eye appears in the middle.

Something is wrong.

Black tentacles tear through the ground, thrashing around.

Ed screams as the shadow arm takes ahold of his leg, ripping it clean off.

He winces at the blood pooling underneath his body but then he hears an agonizing scream.

His heart stops.

The black arms bind his brother’s body, Al strains against them but fails.

That’s when Ed's world shatters.

The thing takes his brother and-

-----------------------------------------------------

He can’t breathe, his stomach is tying itself in knots.

He can’t move, his wand is long forgotten, laying on the wooden floor next to his feet.

His ports ache impossibly, gnawing at the flesh, making him relieve the pain from his arm being torn apart from his body.

But he saved Al, didn’t he?

Bullshit.

Before he can register that the boggart is gone, he falls on his knees puking his guts out.

His ears are ringing, his sight is blurry, and his heart is galloping in his chest. He feels a hand on his back, probably Lupin’s.

“I’m fine” he mutters quietly, slowly calming himself down.

“Ed? Can you hear me?” Lupin’s calm voice comes out from behind him.

“I’m fine.... I just need a minute”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remus likes to think he’s seen almost everything in his life. The fears of his students are mostly normal, some fearing spiders, some fear other things that can still be considered relatively normal.

But this...

Edward had piqued his interest from the beginning.

Starting with the fact that he showed up out of nowhere, enrolling into Hogwarts’ third year despite being older by two years (though he supposes it’s generally the Ministry’s fault).

The boy has almost no respect for the rules, wearing his uniform in the way which reminds Remus of Sirius. He’s got leather pants and combat boots under his green cloak (it’s a shock he even bothers with it).

He absolutely doesn’t mind the house rivalry, sitting and talking with Neville. Remus also thinks he said something to Draco because the blond didn’t voice out his usual remarks about other students. That’s good.

When awaiting the yellow haired boy turn, he didn’t know what to expect of his boggart, but it certainly wasn’t.... this.

The creature changed into something straight out of hell. A terrifying, black mass of decaying flesh seated upon a what Remus thinks is a transmutation circle.

He had stumbled upon only a few mentions of alchemy in books before, but he had just the general idea of what it was.

Human Transmutation.

A topic of taboo for all the alchemists. It is said to be the most vile array there is.

He doesn't hesitate to draw his wand yelling out the spell when the boggart changes and takes on a form of a full moon.

The teenager doubles over, his knees hitting the ground painfully and gasping out before vomiting.

It takes a few minutes for the boy to calm and although he reassured Lupin he was fine, Remus sent him and Harry to The Hospital Wing. Harry looked at him hesitantly, hearing the other refusing to go, Remus just nodded and the two left the classroom full of wide-eyed students.

“Alright... you can go now, we’ll continue our lesson on Tuesday” he rushes the children out of his office before sighing and cleaning up the place with his wand.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[The Hospital Wing]

Ed can’t believe he just got dragged to the infirmary by a stubborn thirteen-year-old. Though he can’t really blame Lupin for making him go because of the way he reacted.

The way to The Hospital Wing is quite simple as it is on the first floor of the castle. The room itself is nothing special, a couple of white beds stacked next to each other with curtains around each bed.

While Ed isn’t entirely fond of hospitals, he fears he will be spending most of his time here.

“The first day has yet to end and I already have two patients, what happened here?” they hear an exasperated voice of the matron, rushing to their side.

“It’s only Ed this time Madam, not me” Harry explains pointing at him. That makes the woman look at him with calculating eyes.

“Well then? Shoo! I’ve got a patient to take care of” she turns to Harry, rushing him out of the Hospital Wing. She closes the door “Alright deary, what happened?” she closes in, drawing the curtains closed and waving her wand around them, mumbling some kind of spell. “Nothing you say will leave this room, as a doctor it’s not my business to speak to others about my patient's health problems” she assures him.

“To be honest I just got a panic attack after an encounter with a boggart” Ed shrugs off.

The matron hums “Does that happen every time?” he shakes his head “That was my first time ever seeing one” he explains seeing the woman rummaging through the cabinet full of different kinds of potions in bottles and phials.

“Do you get panic attacks often?” she asks whipping out a beaker with brown liquid inside. Ed averts his eyes “Sometimes...”

She hands him the potion “Drink, it’s Calming Draught against traumatic shocks”.

“I’m not-” he shuts up when the woman glares daggers at him.

Ed eyes the bottle before cracking it open and taking a swing, downing it in one go.

It has a nice peppermint flavor to it which Ed finds he doesn’t mind.

“Soo... can I leave now?” he asks with a raised eyebrow. “Absolutely not” he groans and hangs his head “You are going to stay here until lunch so I can monitor you”

“I hope I’m clear Mister Elric.” the matron deadpans and Ed nods knowing he has nothing to say in this matter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Lunch, The Great Hall]

He almost turns back when opening the doors to The Main Hall.

It becomes dead-fucking-silent and to make matters worse, every student turns their attention on him.

Great.

He sits at the Slytherin table and pours himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

“How do they know already...” he asks Blaise who is staring at him funny.

“I mean there was almost everyone from the third year in the class and you know how it is” he points out at which Ed bangs his head on the table, laying there as Pansy pets his hair.

“Don’t worry, they will probably forget about it in a few days” Draco reassures him, pouring him another glass of juice.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Hogwarts Library]

After asking Blaise about the library, he almost runs to the place after the boy tells him about its location in the castle. Seriously, dealing with people can be so tiring sometimes.

The first thing he notices when he enters the library is the shit ton of books it has. Rows of shelves full of different kinds of books; starting from Herbology, Transfiguration and ending on Curses. While he doesn’t think he’ll end up getting a clear answer from those books about horcruxes, maybe he will find something even remotely close, to figure it out on his own.

He isn’t a State Alchemist for no reason.

“Curses......Magical Artifacts...... How to break Curses......” he mumbles to himself, stacking the books on his table. When he hits twenty, he decides to stop and make his way into actually reading them and making notes.

As the first two books don’t include anything worth noting he opens the third book.

“How to break Curses” he reads aloud. Opening the first page he is hit with an image of a compass.

‘Salazar Slytherin’s compass’ he looks at the thing suspiciously. Nothing out of the ordinary, seems like just a regular compass. ‘This artifact was made by Salazar Slytherin. It was cursed with a unique curse created by Salazar Slytherin himself, which caused snakes to attack the owner of the compass and those around them’ Ed hums ‘The compass itself didn’t point north, but it could be used to locate two keys which unlocked a scroll case. When the incantation on the scroll was read, the curse would break’

‘That’s fucked up’

“I knew I would find you here, seriously, the hat should’ve sorted you into Ravenclaw" Ed hears a familiar voice sounding behind him “What have you got here sweetheart?” He splutters.

“What?? I didn’t know we were that close.” The other boy just shrugs, pulling out a chair and sitting on it next to him.

“Well?” Blaise points to the book he’s currently reading.

“I'm reading about breaking curses, it seemed like an interesting topic so I took it from the shelf"

“And…. The other twenty books?” Ed rolls his eyes “It’s to better understand the topic dumbass" the other boy snorts at his response.

“Sure”

After a minute of silence Blaise breaks it.

“You okay?” he asks softly.

Ed doesn’t answer right after, but when he does, he smiles.

“Yeah... don’t worry”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Slytherin Common Room, after midnight]

Ed is interrupted while reading his book by no one other but Lupin. The other hands him his wand, (which he totally forgot about by the way) and asks him to meet him in his office on Friday before leaving.

‘Okay, that was weird’ he thinks before going back to his book.

He figures it would be best to practice this magic shit, reading he can do, but it would do good to have some practical experience.

He closes his book, puts it on the table and whips out his wand. The stick is nothing special, at the first glance it looks like a normal twig from a tree.

He waves it and mumbles the spell, pointing the stick at the book.

“Wingardium Leviosa” to his shock the book starts slowly levitating in the air.

Okay that’s…. certainly different.

He practices until dawn and ends up being interrupted by Draco who steps into the room.

They both stare at each other before the blond boy scoffs.

“You’re such a nerd”

“Hello to you too grumpy" Ed greets the other, finally putting his wand back into his cloak. He figures he should clean up before starting his day so without wasting time he rushes to the showers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Friday, 3 September 1993, Lupin’s office]

A knock to the door disrupts the silence in his office.

“Come in”

He smiles to himself when he sees the distinctive yellow strand of hair, followed by its owner. “Good morning Edward, I was wondering when you would come. Sit.” he gestures to the chair in front of him.

The teenager crosses the room, sitting in the designated place.

“Soo...” he starts “Why did you want me here?”

“I just wanted to talk to you about yesterday. You needn’t tell me anything, but if you need my help, I’m always here to listen Edward” Lupin says “Your boggart-”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t see how this is any of your business professor” he retorts offensively.

Lupin sighs. He knew the boy was going to be secretive about the whole situation.

“Edward, I just need to know. Are you safe?” he meets the boy’s confused face “I think I know what your boggart represented, but I just need to know if you’re okay”

Ed widens his eyes “How do you know what it was?” he asks genuinely.

“I’ve read about alchemy in a couple of books before, though I know just the basics of it. The array... was it human transmutation?”

The boy stays silent before nodding “We.... we were trying to bring our mom back”

“’We’?” Remus asks quietly.

“Me and my brother. His name is Alphonse” Ed smiles at the mention of his brother.

Remus hums “Do you want to tell me anything about him? I’ll listen”

Ed looks at him and snorts “Sure, I’ve got many stories”

After that, when Ed leaves the office, he feels lighter than usual.

Chapter Text

And so, the first week passes by.

Ed can humbly say that he perfected this shit. The daily visits to the library and lonely sessions with his wand and books under the covers of his bed yielded promising results, making him able to perform nonverbal magic.

The spiritual transformation during magic is something that Ed took time in researching. Although alchemy would seem like a more complex but equally mystical version of magic to a normal wizard, the latter is irrefutably interesting. The sheer act of performing acts beyond scientific understanding baffled Ed the first time he reached for his wand.

Every little spark of energy, channeling through his body. Each tingle, forcing its way through his skin was enchanting.

He would be lying if he said it wasn’t challenging for him. The general idea of receiving something out of thin air was and still is a little unbelievable, but he figured he has to accustom to the differences. There is no way of knowing for how long he will be staying in this world, he might as well lay-back and enjoy his time while he still can.

He came here for a reason after all.

The only thing that he didn’t think he would warm up to is McGonagall turning into a cat. The first time that happened he almost shattered the desk with how hard he’d been gripping it. He asked the witch after the class had ended to explain the process of the Transfiguration to him. He sighed in relief when she told him no animal suffers when performing transfiguration on it. It still was a little weird to imagine someone turning into an animal and not suffering after, but hey we learn something every day.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Monday, 6 September 1993]

After the totally not abnormal amount of free time Ed had, he speculates that he has read almost every book in the library on the topic (excluding the forbidden section ‘cos he’s not exactly keen on letting Dumbledore in on his weird “fascination” with magical cursed objects). That would raise too much suspicion, and Ed isn’t in the mood of dealing with that at the moment if you ask him.

The lack of information on the subject is pissing him off, but he decided to try his hand at making a way to destroy these horcruxes.

The books’ information had consisted of two facts, one is that horcruxes are made from shattering a piece of the caster’s soul after previously murdering someone, and the second one is that the most effective method to destroy a horcrux is Basilisk venom.

So, he found himself once again in the library.

‘Basilisks...... snakes.... giant snakes...’ he mutters while verting through the shelves full of books. ‘C’mon there’s gotta be something about these fuckass creatures’ he frowns.

He sighs after five minutes of rummaging through the tomes and decides to try his shot at asking the librarian for help. This might be the worst option he could think of, but you won’t know until you try it yourself.

He makes his way to the desk next to the door. His approach made the witch look up at him through her small reading glasses, a practiced frown painting her face upon making eye contact with him.

‘Oh well, she looks ready to murder me if I breathe funny’ Ed smiles politely at the woman, putting on the most cheerful and polite expression he can manage.

“Excuse me, I had trouble finding a book about a topic that intrigued me. Could you help me, Madam Pince?”

The woman continues glaring at him for a couple of seconds before nodding her head lightly.

“What do you need Mister Elric?” she asks, her tone still a little rough.

“I was looking for books about snakes. Is there something like that here?”

“Second row on the right" the woman answers him, her glare softening slightly.

Ed smiles once again “Thank you"

Once the awkward talk finished, he made his way to the place.

‘Seriously? I could swear I searched here' he thinks as he approaches the volumes on the wooden shelf. Colorful books with mostly green and red covers lay stacked tightly next to each other.

He looks through the tomes, pulling them out before stacking them back on the shelf.

After some time, Ed takes a hold of one of the thicker books, carefully turning it over to see the title.

“‘Most Macabre Monstrosities' well won’t you look at that" he mutters to himself taking the book with him and sitting down. He opens the first page and sighs in relief when he sees a table of contents.

“Chapter one…. three…six” he starts looking through the chapters, searching for anything close to what he has in mind.

“Chapter 12! ‘Basilisks and other large serpents'” Ed quickly verts through the pages of the book.

“722,723…. Thank fuck" he sighs in relief as he flips to the next page.

The book itself shows signs of frequent use, the paper is quite wrinkled and frail, possibly caused by its old age.

He starts to read, propping his elbow comfortably on the desk.

“Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, also known as the King of Serpents.” He quirks his eyebrow as he stares at the picture of the giant snake “This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.”

He stops reading processing the information in his head before jumping to the next paragraph.

“Basilisks could live a natural lifespan of at least nine hundred years. This was accomplished by using Parseltongue to put the creature into a deep sleep that prevented it from ageing, similar to suspended animation.”

‘Parseltongue? They can speak to snakes?’ Ed widened his eyes at the new information. ‘Maybe I can find something else about this’ he thinks standing up and once again he makes his way to the aisle of books.

“Magical Creatures, Ancient Magic, Languages and culture of Merpeople..” he dwells as he looks at the shelves towering over him.

‘Well, that’s going to be fun’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After almost twenty minutes of searching, he stumbles upon the desired book. “Hogwarts: A history”

To say the least, he has already read that book, but he figured it will do good to take some notes if he finds anything that he had missed the last time.

“Salazar Slytherin was a pure-blood wizard, Noted for his scanning and determination. He was regarded as one of the greatest wizards of the age, known for his abilities as a Parselmouth and a skilled Legilimens. Slytherin was one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry, along with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. He was also the namesake of Slytherin House”

“He mistrusted muggle-born students to the point of proposing that they should not be accepted at Hogwarts. When he expressed his opinion to the other Hogwarts founders they did not agree with him. In response, he left the school, never to return, and constructed the Chamber of Secrets to house a beast, so that one day the heir of Slytherin could purge the school of muggle-born's in his name and fulfill his long lasting wish of having only students with at least one wizarding relative.”

‘Is this where this purity crap came from? If their founder was so stuck up on his beliefs, no wonder the students act like total crackheads to other people.’

After a while of noting and reading he figured out pretty much everything he wanted to know. First of all, Salazar Slytherin was the first ever recorded Parselmouth, which sums up the serpent as a symbol for Slytherin. The second thing is that ‘probably’ there is, or there was (Ed hopes it’s the latter) a fucking basilisk in Hogwarts.

‘I mean it all adds up’ Ed thought ‘Slytherin was a Parselmouth, there’s no way the beast isn’t a Basilisk. The guy founded the Chamber of Secrets where he stored the creature, letting it parade in the underground.’ Fucking fantastic if you ask him.

He can ask Blaise and the others, maybe they will know something more.

Ed stood up once again and put back the books in the right places on the shelves. Before leaving he quickly bid farewell to the woman sitting at the desk, at which she sent him an almost polite glare.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Slytherin Common Room]

Walking into the room he is met with Blaise’s cheerful voice. “Well, well, well look who finally decided to show up. Did you find out everything?”

Ed groans as he plops on the couch next to Draco, who’s busy doing his homework.

“Yeah, Madam Pince helped me, so it took less time” as he says that Pansy who was previously drinking from a cup, splutters the drink on the floor.

“She what?” Draco asks with shock, pausing his brainstorming.

“I mean she did look like she just finished eating a lemon, but she wasn’t bitchy about me asking for help” Ed rolls his eyes at the dumbfounded expression on Malfoy’s face.

“Damn, you’re gonna end up sweet talking every person in this school” Pansy chokes out.

He snorts “Sure I will”

“Anyways, do you know anything about the basilisk?” he asks and quirks an eyebrow as his friends share a look with each other.

Blaise starts “Yeah, last year the Chamber of Secrets opened, stuff happened, and the Basilisk was slain by Potter”

“Wait what?” So he was right! “First of all, why him?”

“Well, he is said to be the chosen one or whatever” Draco mutters, his tone annoyed by the mention of the boy.

“Wait, tell me everything that happened last year” Ed curls his legs to his body propping his chin on his knees.

“To start with, weird things started happening. People started getting petrified, and one day a writing on the wall appeared, it looked like it was written in blood, so people started freaking out even more.” Blaise explained “Oh! And at the start of the term a duel between Draco and Potter happened. Draco used a Serpensortia spell and unleashed a snake. We found out that Potter can speak to them”

Ed is silent for a moment before bursting out “Harry is a Parselmouth??”

“How does one speak to snakes?” he asks genuinely curious. The others shrug their shoulders “You can’t learn it, only the descendants speak it”

He groans, figuring out his chance to learn the language probably crumbled to the pieces in this moment.

“Maybe you can speak it, but you don’t know it yet?” Blaise adds, grinning from ear to ear, and shoves him playfully.

“How do you expect me to check that?” he deadpans before widening his eyes “I can try to catch a snake outside, I’ll be right back!” he yells as jumps from the couch and runs out the room.

“And he’s gone again” the girl sums up, reaching for the fruit bowl on the table.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After some time, he returns to the dorm one snake richer. He grins at the weary expressions on the trio’s faces. Fiddling in his pocket he catches the beast holding him up gently by his tail.

“Well then, let’s see” he stares at the snake before finally laying him on the table in front of him.

“Hey, you hear me?”

“Yes, I do” the snake hisses back, his small black eyes calmly staring at Ed.

He glances at his equally shocked friends, before grinning.

“Hell yeah!” he exclaims as he sits on the carpet, his gaze meeting the snake’s.

“What’s your name?” Ed asks excitedly.

“I do not have one, I am merely a garden snake” the snake hisses back.

Ed thinks, it might do him good to have some kind of pet that he can talk to. He remembered Al begging him for a cat, the wish became only a small matter in the load of missions they both had, unable to settle down and relax made it impossible to have any kind of animal with them.

“Your name will be Al from now on”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Charms classroom]

He makes his way to his usual spot within the Gryffindor students. Their hushed voices picking up, excitement clearly shown in their tone.

“Hi, what are you talking about?” He asks as he plops down on the bench next to Neville. The trio turns to him, still a little startled about this ordeal of not sitting with his house. “The Quidditch match is next Sunday and we’re wondering who will become the new seeker for the Slytherins” Harry explains, fixing the glasses on his head.

“Okay, so what’s this Qui- something about?” Ed asks not understanding the hype. The teenagers look at themselves with bafflement before Ron bursts out.

“You mean to tell me, you don’t know what Quidditch is? Have you been living under a rock?” he hysterically yelps.

Ed notices that the whole class has become quiet. The hushed voices stopped, the students now listening to their conversation.

He hears footsteps nearing him, he glances back and sees Draco and Blaise coming towards him with equally shocked expressions.

“How have you not heard of Quidditch, like genuinely?” Blaise says slack jawed.

“I told you I grew up in a pretty rural country, this stuff isn’t popular where I live” He shrugs.

The teenagers look at him before Draco finally cuts the silence. “We’re going to teach you about it, and you won’t say no, got it?” at that Ed gives in and nods.

“Alright then let's meet outside after class”

“Us too?” Harry asks unsure of the answer.

Draco stays silent for a moment before muttering. “Yeah, you can come” He quickly walks off to his desk leaving them behind.

Blaise raises his eyebrows and smiles at Ed before turning around and walking away.

“Did he just agree?” Hermione whispers with wide eyes.

Ed nods, thinking that maybe Draco started to see the world differently after their talk on the first day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They meet exactly where they established.

As they approached the benches, they sat him down.

“Alright” Harry starts “So Quidditch is a wizarding sport played on broomsticks. The game is played by two teams with seven members each. One team needs to score more than the opposing team to win” Ed nods.

“There are seven members in the team: three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and one Seeker. The game is played with four balls: two Bludgers, one Quaffle and a Golden Snitch that scores the most points. Each other goal scores 10 points.”

“What about the Snitch do you like throw them or what?” Ed asks genuinely interested. To be honest this game is not so bad, the rules aren't really complex. He was never a fan of sports, to begin with. He preferred sparring with Al. But he knew a lot of children his age played football or other games that consisted of throwing or kicking the ball.

Blaise chimes in, munching on grapes which he found in The Great Hall “The Golden Snitch is a special present for the team’s seeker. They fight over who is faster to catch it. You need to be swift and have good reflexes because the ball is fast as hell”

“Okay so like other players don’t bother with the golden ball? Got you” he stays silent for a moment before asking once again.

“So how do you fly on the broom?”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That’s how he finds himself on the Quidditch court holding a broom in his hand.

“Okay so you just need to mount it, push yourself up with your legs and you’re good” Draco explains swiftly as if in hurry.

“I’ll figure it out” Ed assures them as he mounts the broom, sitting on it for a couple of minutes and slowly pushing himself up. When he starts levitating, the feeling is really bizarre. There is no floor to ground yourself and you feel as if a supernatural force was holding you up in the air.

He decides to take a step further and leans forward on the broom to go ahead. It really feels like a bike with no pedals.

“I’m good, it’s easy to control!” he yells to the others as he glides through the air on the arena.

“Come back down!” He hears Blaise yell back to him.

He flies over to them, wondering what they wanted to say to him.

“You wanna try catching a Golden Snitch?” Draco asks, holding a golden ball in a brown container.

“Sure” Ed shrugs.

“Ready? Three.... Two..... One!” he yells as he unlocks the golden ball, and it strikes into the air like a bullet.

Ed speeds after it, his sight never leaving the Snitch. After one lap of flying after the ball he catches it and goes back to his waiting friends.

“I’ve got it” he holds the ball in his palm.

“What?” he asks when he sees weird expressions on their faces.

“How did you do it that fast, that was like twenty seconds dude” Ron inquires staring at him in shock.

Ed shrugs again.

“I think I just got us a new seeker Blaise” Draco grins to the boy on his right. “And a pretty damn good one at that”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They go back to the castle after that, Harry and his friends say goodbye to the Slytherins and head towards the Gryffindor Tower.

“Harry we might be baked” Ron exclaims behind his back, “This guy is too good for our own sake" he wails.

“We’ll manage" Harry assures the other, although he also dreads the next weekend. How is he supposed to win against Ed? Harry sighs as he feels his friends' eyes bore into his back.

“We’ll be fine" he repeats.

“I still can’t believe that Malfoy, out of all people invited us” Hermione added.

“Do you think Ed had a hand in this?” Harry asks.

“Obviously" Ron says “I bet he’s leading Malfoy and the rest on a leash, keeping them in check" he murmurs.

The trio chuckles at that as they step into the dorm. As they close the door behind themselves, they are met with the curious eyes of the Weasley twins.

Fred- or was it George? (He still can’t tell them apart, even after three years of knowing them), shows them a playful smile and wiggles his eyebrows “A little birdie told us that you three had a pleasant conversation with the Slytherins this afternoon"

“And we wanted to know-" the other chimes in.

“Who the handsome young man was” the twins chorus.

“Handsome.. wait are you talking about Ed?” Ron asks his brothers, noticing the spark in their eyes.

“Exactly him Ronniekins" one of the twins ruffle Ron’s hair, who grimaces at the gesture and tries to slap his hand away, failing miserably.

“What did you want with him?” Harry asks curious. Whenever the twins plan something, it doesn’t exactly end in the favor of other people, but to be honest who is he to judge.

“Well you see-" one of them starts.

“We absolutely need to add him to our elite friend group” the other finishes, theatrically waving his hand towards his brother.

“Your elite group consists of you two” Ron deadpans, tired of his brothers' antics.

“That’s why it’s elite” they smirk at the trio.

“He’s probably in the library” Harry tells the twin, at which they give each other a look before grinning.

They make their way to the door, waving before quickly shutting it close.

The trio stays quiet for a couple of seconds before Harry breaks the silence “That was weird"

“Let them be” Hermione says “Maybe something will bloom because of this friendship" she chuckles.

“The only thing that will bloom is the number of rules in this school. I can bet my hand that Dumbledore will have to add more rules to the Code of Conduct after they hang out a few times” Ron retorts rolling his eyes, which makes Harry snort.

“We’ll see" he calms his friend down, patting his back.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed walks down the corridor leading to the Transfiguration classroom, before feeling someone watching him. Out of the corner of his eye he sees two ginger heads peeking out the wall. He stops in his tracks and turns around, facing them. For a second he thinks that they look like Ron.

“What do you want, why are you following me" he asks them.

“Well, you see-" one of the twins says (and holy shit do they look alike).

“Ronniekins and his friends told us about you-" the other chimes in.

“And we desperately wanted to introduce ourselves” they both say at the same time.

“Wait what did you call him?” Ed asks before laughing out loud. “I’m so calling him that when I see him next time"

“Alright then" Ed smiles at them still thinking about the dumb nickname. One of them, with a hand around his brother’s shoulder, introduces himself “I’m Fred and he’s George" he points to his brother.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Edward” he says back. They remind him of Ling and despite the fact that they weren’t really what you would call normal friends back home, he still finds himself missing the prince.

‘Maybe homesickness is finally catching up to me' he thinks before snapping back to reality.

“Well, that sums it up- “Fred breaks the silence.

“You’re now part of our elite friend group” George continues after his brother, shooting Ed a wink.

Ed rolls his eyes at the theatrics, but smiles nonetheless.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Transfiguration classroom]

He almost doesn’t make it to class after the encounter with the Weasley twins.

He sits down at his usual spot in the first desk. This spot was unoccupied by anyone because for some reason, the whole class fears McGonagall. Ed gets that she’s scary and all but he practically grew up in the military so he’s used to seeing furious and downright murderous glares sent his way.

He took Al with him today. To be honest Al had taken himself with him, but that’s a detail. The snake had told him he was bored, constantly laying on his bed back in the dorm room. So, Ed agreed.

After a few minutes a cat circles around the front desk before changing into a woman.

“Settle down everyone" the witch stood tall and stern, her eyes scanning the classroom. “Today we’ll be attempting a basic animal-to-object Transfiguration. Take out your notebooks, so that you can use them as a guide in a while" she told the students. “We will be turning this cup into a mouse and vice versa"

A ripple of excitement ran through the classroom, the students exchanging hushed whispers between each other.

“This will need your utmost focus and imagination. You must visualize the object you want to create in detail. The texture, size, color" she explained to them before taking out her wand and pointing it at the cup laying on her desk. “The spell is Vermiculus Callix” she flicked her wand, waved it clockwise and finally tapped the cup, causing it to transform into a grey mouse. Gasps could be heard through the class.

“If your imagination strains towards something else, your cup will be deformed with some rodent-like characteristics. A tail, whiskers or even movement" Neville gulped at that.

“Mr. Elric, may I ask why you’re not noting anything down?” she fixed him with a stern gaze.

“It didn’t seem difficult enough for me to take notes. I have it all in my head Professor” he took out his wand and imitated the witches moves from before. He gently touched the mouse with the tip of his wand, changing it into a perfectly portioned silver cup.

The witch widened her eyes and he gave her a cheeky smile in return.

“Very well Mr. Elric” she gave him a strange look and left his desk to watch other students fail miserably in their attempts.

Ed turned to his side, noticing Hermione looking at her notes before waving her wand and muttering the spell. The animal changed. She smiled to herself before noticing Ed looking at her. She gave him a smile which he returned.

He felt something moving in his sleeve before a small reptile head peeked out from it.

Ed stared at the snake before grinning.

“Hey, can I practice on you?” he hissed to the snake quietly.

The snake gave him a strange look, (which in Ed’s opinion was hilarious) but nodded with his head in the end.

“Okay what shall I turn you into..” he pondered before snorting and waving his wand. The previous snake’s body changed into a miniature cat. Its tongue flicked out in sharp movements and his pupils were dilated. Ed snorted at the sight before hissing to the snake.

“Can you still hear me?”

The cat- or the snake? purred. Ed widened his eyes, because even though the sound was unfamiliar he understood it.

‘That’s interesting' he thought before deciding to stop annoying the snake, turning it back into the original form.

He grinned at the almost deadpan expression of the reptile (can snakes even show facial expressions?) before the snake slithered onto his arm, wrapping itself around it.

The trio watched the exchanged before glancing at each other.

“I didn’t know he had a snake" Harry whispered to Ron. The other nodded.

“The only thing that I can’t fathom is how the hell he’s so good at everything he does" he grimaced at his own poorly deformed mouse-cup. The cup had porcelain ears, it’s tail was wiggling around and the whole thing was covered in mouse fur. Harry, too, glanced at his own twitching cup before averting his gaze back to his best friend.

“You know Ron, maybe this subject isn’t for us"

They both sighed in resignation, before the bell rang.

“Hey, Ed!” Harry shouted after the Slytherin. He glanced back and waited for them to catch up to him.

“How did you manage to do that so effortlessly? Is it the proportions you need to be thinking about? Or the object itself? How do you turn a snake into some other animal?” Hermione gasped out, words flowing out of her mouth in impossible speed. The other two stared at her with mixed emotions.

“Fucking hell, slow down” Ed told the girl, who was practically burning with curiosity. “You just need to know what the object consists of, imagine the thing you want to turn it into and voila" he explained shrugging.

“What do you mean consists of?” Ron interrupted, making Hermione shut up.

“Exactly what you’ve heard Ronniekins" Ed smirked at him before waving and leaving them.

Harry snorted at the baffled expression on his best friend's face.

“What did he just call me?”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Classes were done for the day and Ed decided to go on a walk. It wasn’t loud outside, probably because the other students had homework to worry about. Ed couldn’t care less if you ask him though, he’ll do it when he feels like it.

And so, he found himself walking near the Forbidden Forest.

The trees gave an ominous feeling, as if someone was watching you, lurking before deciding to attack in the most unexpected moment. The shadows cast by the trees, seemed to be moving in the wind.

That’s when he saw it.

A massive black dog, slipped between the trees like a shadow given form. Its fur was shaggy, eyes sharp and far too intelligent for a normal animal.

Sensing Ed the creature met his eyes. It bared its teeth, showing the canines, not exactly in a snarl- more like a warning.

For a moment neither of them moved, Ed’s breath caught, tension coiled tight in his chest.

“Yeah, you’re no ordinary mutt” Ed muttered to himself before transmuting his arm into a blade with a clang. He remembered the chimeras, his gut immediately screamed fight. The twisted mixtures of man and beast, hollow eyes filled with silent agony-

The dog flicked back its ears, before storming into the forest.

“Hey! Come back here you-” Ed swore tearing after it.

The inside of the forest was as ominous as the outside. But here the feeling of being watched was even stronger. He ran through the forest, branches whipped past his face as he sprinted after the creature.

The dog was fast, weaving through the trees like a shadow.

“Come on I know you’re not normal! What the hell are you?!” Ed snarled at the beast.

The creature stopped, glanced back, its eerie eyes sending a look at Ed which sent a chill down his spine.

The animal growled before jumping in his direction. Ed stepped back, the animal’s fangs, luckily for him, bit into the hard metal of Ed’s arm. The dog made a sound that could be interpreted as confusion.

Not wasting any time Ed dived into the hard ground, pressing the blade into the creature’s throat.

“Either you’re gonna change forms and talk or I’m going to gut you” Ed snarled at the beast, a frown on his face.

The dog looked as if it was pondering its options before deciding to give up.

Before his eyes the fur seemed to melt away, bones twisting and reshaping with a series of sickening cracks. Ed let go off the creature and staggered back looking at the situation with wide eyes.

The creature grew taller, reshaping into a human body within seconds. In the place of the monstrous dog, there laid a ragged-looking man.

Ed not believing his eyes loomed over the man, searching for anything, any other tricks that the man may have.

“What the fuck are you?” he asked finally.

The man grunted in response before sitting up and massaging his throat. “I thought I was a goner, you’re incredible kid” The man grinned before standing up and his clothes of dirt and leaves. “You’re persistent, most people would just run the other way”

“Nice party trick you got there by the way” he added point at Ed’s transmuted arm.

“It’s not your business bastard” Ed snapped back, hiding his arm behind his back.

“What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be worrying about homework and girls and not catching a killer on the run?” the man mocked.

“Wha- Black?!” Ed shouted, shock painting his features.

“Louder will you? All I need right now is dementors catching me” Sirius snapped.

“Fine, but you have thirty seconds to convince me not to drag your ass back to the castle” Ed growled. “Why are you here? Have you hurt anyone?”

“Of course not! What type of person do you think I am” he rolls his eyes at Ed’s deadpan expression. “Listen I know that sound wrong and you think I’m probably lying through my teeth” he starts “But it wasn’t me”

“What are you talking about, old man” Ed blinked, confusion written on his face. He knew about the man’s case. He was arrested after causing an explosion, killing muggles and his friend Peter Pettigrew. He was promptly thrown in prison by Barty Crouch Sr. without receiving a trail, which in Ed’s opinion was shady as fuck.

“Hey! I’m not old.” Sirius interrupted with a scowl. “To let you know I’m a charming thirty-three-year-old-”

“Suree” Ed snorts before tightening his expression. “Do tell me though what you’re doing here”

The man stayed silent for a second before starting. “I was framed, that rat bastard fled after killing these people” he muttered.

“Wait, hold on- who?” Ed asked confusedly.

“Pettigrew, he was a traitor” Sirius’ jaw clenched. “He betrayed Harry’s parents, selling their location to Voldemort”

Ed widened his eyes. He studied the man for any signs of hesitation, unable to find any he shifted his stance and transmuted his arm back.

“So, you’ve been hiding here and turning into that dog to avoid recognition?” Edward guessed.

“Precisely” Sirius nodded “I know that bastard is in the castle with the Weasley kid. I've seen them on the newspaper, that brat was holding the traitor with his own two hands” he snarled.

“How do you know it’s him?” Ed asked.

“It’s no common that rats get their toes cut off, isn’t it? Pettigrew sliced his finger clean off, it was the only sign of him being there twelve years ago”

Ed hummed. He hadn’t read the file, it was twelve years old so he couldn’t get it anywhere. Now everything made sense and the details that Black had given him put it all together.

He had been in a quite few explosions himself. Hell, he had seen the post-explosion sites, bodies burned to the crisp, torn apart beyond recognition. How did they know Pettigrew was there if his body was practically dust! There was no way that a finger was left, untouched by the sudden explosion.

The whole situation reeked of lies and a setup. Did no one else figure it out? Or were they too scared to speak up against The Ministry.

“Alright”

“Alright? You believe me?” the man asked with a surprised expression.

“Don’t be so happy, I just connected one fact with the other. It wasn’t exactly difficult to deduct” Ed sighed but relaxed.

“Listen I know your ass is probably starving, you smell too by the way” He silenced the man with a glare “I can try to sneak you some food”

“You would do that?” the man asked widening his eyes. "You're a god-send kid” Sirius whole-heartedly chuckled.

“Okay enough of that crap, I need to go back. See ya soon” he rolled his eyes and turned around, making his way back to the castle.

On the way back he pondered about the weird encounter, smiling to himself that maybe the man’s future is not in shambles anymore.

Chapter Text

He hasn’t told anyone about his encounter with Black. Ed thinks he made a good decision, it wouldn’t do him good if anyone were to find out about his secret meeting with a serial killer. Let alone if they knew that he’d been providing him food. He didn’t exactly steal it, he just politely asked the kitchen elves for snacks because ‘he’ was hungry.

They don’t ask questions, so Ed thinks it's a fair deal. At least on his part.

And there was this rat.

If what Sirius said was true, there was something else at stake. Something that could turn the entire world upside down if it was to be revealed. Ed is sure that despite it all, The Ministry must have had their grabby hands in this. These fuckers are too lustful for power, salivating at every situation, trying to make it their way. He knows how they work.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Days seemed to pass by, classes started and ended. It honestly bored him to the core. He missed his missions back home. Hell, he missed annoying Mustang, pranking him with the team.

He’s been paying a visit to Sirius every night since then. If any of his friends noticed his slip outs in the middle of the night, they haven’t told him so.

Carrying a bunch of snacks from the castle’s kitchen, he walked towards their nightly spot in the Forbidden Forest. The place has yet to stop giving him creeps every time he crosses its threshold though.

“Come on out doggie, I’ve got food for your scrawny ass” Ed exclaimed holding out a sandwich.

Ed almost doubled over when the said man slammed into him from behind.

“Ed, I almost thought you left me to rot in this place forever, do you know how much I’ve waited for you?” Sirius cheekily said, grabbing the food from his hand and diving into it with fervor.

“Yeah, full fifteen minutes”

“Exactly!” The man voiced, his words mumbled by the munching on the sandwich. “I can’t fathom how you even make it to your lessons if you can’t meet up with a friend on time” Black gave him a look and swallowed a full bite of the sandwich, eating it whole.

“Who said you were my friend old man” Ed rolled his eyes.

“Again with this old stuff, I already told you what I think about your opinion of me” He scoffed.

Ed snorted, finding a broken log and sitting on it.

“Well, what are you up to?” He asked the man.

Sirius looked at him, he as well was sitting on a log. “Nothing much, no one apart from you decided that it was a great idea to visit the forest, so I’ve been lonely these days. No visitors fortunately” he added after a while “And you? Have you had any secret meetups with the Weasley kid?”

“I can’t just ask him to give me his rat, can I? I need to approach him with a plan. Besides I still think he’s a bit suspicious of me” Ed says, resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

The other stays silent before Ed interrupts.

“Well anyways, I’ll figure something out. If the situation deems it necessary, I’ll just borrow the rat"

Sirius snorts “I guess sneaking up is easy for you huh? I wish I was your height..” the man huffs.

“Who are you calling a tiny pipsqueak you fucking bastard-Hey! You get back here-“ he runs after the snickering man.

When he makes it back to the castle it’s late into the night. The moon shines dimly from beneath the fogged air and clouds. Soft hues of moonlight paint the grass beneath his boots.

He silently opens the front door and takes the way to the Slytherin Common Room.

When he says the password to the painting the Lady gives him a side look before letting him in.

The room would be almost dead silent if it wasn’t for the soft shuffle of pages.

“Where were you?” Malfoy turns to him, looking up from his book.

Ed shrugs “On a walk, I have trouble sleeping if I don’t stretch my legs before hand"

Draco nods and hangs his head, giving his full attention back to the book.

Ed resumes walking to his dorm room, glancing briefly at the boy.

He makes it up the stairs, almost tripping because it’s so fucking dark, but he makes it nonetheless.

Fortunately for him the others are sound asleep, some muttering can be heard from Nott's bed.

He sits on his bed, deciding that he will shower in the morning. Unbothering with changing his clothes he lays on his bed, takes off his boots and draws the curtains closed. He mutters ‘Lumos’ and the wand in his cloak starts shining. He takes it out, as well as his watch, checking the time.

‘1:06'

“If it weren’t for the bastard suddenly starting playing hide and seek I would’ve gotten my precious six hours sleep" he groans, silently cursing the man.

He slips the watch under the pillow and gets into a comfortable position before closing his eyes.

[Thursday, 9 September 1993, Great Hall]

He eyes the ginger sitting with the Gryffindors , the voices of his friends becoming a blurry noise in his ears.

‘How can I convince Ron to give me his rat. It would be too suspicious to just tell him. How would I explain everything’ Ed thinks.

His head already hurts, why did he decide to take up this job. He could be beating someone’s ass right now in his universe, but no, he’s stuck on how to deal with a transformed rat.

He doesn’t realize when the voices around him stop until Pansy shakes his shoulder. He averts his eyes from the ginger and looks at the black haired girl.

“What"

“Who are you checking out? I can assure you won’t get anyone if you continue glaring daggers at them" she pats him on the shoulder “Unless they’re a masochist” she adds.

“Wha- What are you talking about? What checking out?” Ed asks dumbfounded.

“Don’t worry I won’t tell, although I think you have a chance with like half a school Eddie" she says dramatically.

“Oh fuck off, I wasn’t checking anyone out” He rolls his eyes.

“She’s just messing with you” Blaise snorts at his grimace.

Ed pours himself a glass of pumpkin juice, sipping on it, resuming his brainstorm.

He guesses he could befriend Harry, if he was close with the boy he would have the whole Gryffindor wrapped around his finger.

He spends the rest of the breakfast thinking about it.

“Wanna come to Hogsmeade with us on Saturday?” Blaise asks him on their way to the Charms classroom.

“Sure, I've got nothing special to do" Ed nods, flexing his hand. The village next to the school is where the students usually come to relax with their friends after classes. He never really got a chance to visit it himself, being wired up in all sorts of weird situations left him focused only on his mission and not pleasantries.

They walked into the class, a little early though because only some of the students managed to get there before them. Blaise walked Edward to his seat and surprisingly sat with him.

After unpacking Ed glanced at the door, seeing Neville already staring back at him. Ed sent him a cheeky grin and gestured for him to come.

The other boy quickly took his usual place next to him, poorly hiding his interest at why Blaise sat with them.

“Uhmm… hi" Neville started awkwardly.

“Hi" Blaise grinned.

The two boys stared at each other, expecting one another to start talking.

Ed looked at both of them before sighing “Oh my fucking god are you two unable of making any conversation between each other ?”

Neville flushed from embarrassment and turned his head to the side.

“Oh come on Honey, cut us some slack" Blaise teased.

“Since when are you a thing?!” a sudden voice from the side beamed. The three turned their heads and saw Harry and his friends heading towards the desk.

Obviously the voice came from the ginger, his expression stuck on a funny emotion, Ed can’t really put a finger on what it means though.

“Don’t worry about it Ronniekins”

“Quit it! Why are you calling me that." Ron raged.

“C’mon let’s sit" Hermione rolled her eyes snatching the ginger by the arm and dragging him to their seat.

The three of the boys stared at them before Harry awkwardly greeted them before taking after his friends.

“Why do you all behave like that" Ed scoffed looking at the back of the retreating boy. “It’s not that hard to maintain a casual conversation"

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it” Blaise patted him on the shoulder.

“You call me that again and my fist will jam your face so hard your teeth will fall out" He bit back.

“Feisty" Blaised grinned like a cat.

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[Saturday, 11 September 1993, Hogsmeade]

“Do you have anything else to wear or are you going to be wearing these shitty pants all year round?” Draco grimaced pointing to Ed's leather pants.

Ed rolled his eyes. Everyone in some part of his life eventually pointed out his said ‘obnoxious’ way of dressing. He doesn’t know why though. Why would he wear some expensive pants or a coat that will get torn up in a matter of seconds (knowing his luck). Blood is also a pain in the ass to clean.

“Oh fuck off, they’re practical” Ed rolled his eyes.

“In what Universe..” the blond boy asks resigned.

“Well, what if I need to punch some fucker in the face? Will you clean my clothes for me?”

"Is your life so shitty or is this just you making fake scenarios in your head to seem badass?” Blaise chimes in.

“Hey! To let you know I’m a ‘here-and-now' type of person. You never know when you need to pull out your best moves from the sleeve. I would rather be prepared than unprepared”

“Wow” the trio deadpans.

They continue walking until they reach the inn. It’s chilly outside so walking into a warmer place immediately felt better. They find an empty table and sit.

The Three Broomsticks was packed with students so it was quite loud. Ed was glad though. No students before third year could access the village so it saved him from hearing cries of brats who were unable to keep it down.

“Want something?” Pansy's voice rips him from his thoughts.

He looks at the menu before choosing a simple Butterbeer.

It takes awhile to get their drinks but they eventually come.

“Say.. are you ready to win next Saturday?” Blaise hits his shoulder playfully.

Ed shrugs “I guess” he takes a sip “although you guys tricked me into this shit" he sends an annoyed look at the two of his friends.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about" Draco averts his gaze.

Pansy looks at them before snorting “Don’t worry I’m sure you’re going to be wonderful as always, right Eddie?”

“I hope?” Ed answers awkwardly.

“Although, I hope someday I'll catch you on practice. You’ve been avoiding it ever since we recruited you into the team” Draco glances at him.

“Oh, come on! I’ll figure something out. This shit can’t be so confusing that you guys need practice every two days” Ed hides his face in his glove covered hands “And besides, it’s just a game, why are you guys taking it so seriously?”

“Don’t you dare that as if you were talking about a mere thing. It’s tradition! What do you not get??” Ed shrugs “Do you want us to give you a book about the whole history of Quidditch?” Draco rebuked.

“There exists something like that, really?” Ed asked “You guys are really crazy in the head about this stuff.”

“I think it should be in our dorm room. I remember writing an essay about it a year ago” Pansy stated interrupting their little argument.

‘Honestly why do I even bother..’ Ed thinks taking a swing of the beverage in the cup, emptying it.