In Which the Elrics are Sorted

Scenario Three:

Albus Dumbledore watched closely as a boy with slightly messy golden hair approached the stool to be sorted. He wore the school uniform, but showed a disregard for the rules by leaving the tie loose and the collar of the shirt unbuttoned. At first glace it appeared as if the boy was disinterested by the on-goings of the castle, but closer inspection showed the boy's golden eyes were keenly taking in the scene around him.

The boy's appearance reminded Dumbledore of a man he once briefly met as a child. The man had appeared middle aged, with golden hair and eyes. Dumbledore had gotten the impression he was much older, however, from the weariness in his eyes and the sheer immensity of his magic.

On the occasion Dumbledore met the man, he and his brother Aberforth had been playing in the wood. They had accidentally stumbled upon a hippogriff with young and would surely have been killed had the man not been passing by. One look from the wizard had the hippogriff backing off. The man had then escorted the boys out of the wood and left them with a grin and a head pat each.

At the time, Dumbledore had been convinced the wizard was none other than Merlin himself.

As Dumbledore aged, the memory always lingered at the back of his mind. He later doubted the wizard had been Merlin, but he never forgot about him and always wondered.

This young boy sitting on the stool being sorted was the spitting image of the wizard. Although there was no evidence to suggest this boy was connected, Dumbledore had a feeling he did. Over the years, Dumbledore had learned to trust his feelings.

The Sorting Hat called out, "SLYTHERIN!"

There was polite applause as the boy hopped off the stool and made his way over to the Slytherin table. His lips quirked upward as he noticed his tie's coloring change to match Slytherin House. The boy said something then to himself, and if Dumbledore had to take a guess he would bet money it was the name of the exact spell used to change the tie.

Dumbledore did not know what was to come this year, but he sensed things would definitely be interesting. Edward Elric would most certainly be leaving his mark on Hogwarts during his stay.

Dumbledore could hardly wait to see what would happen.

Note(s): If you couldn't tell, the man who rescued Albus and Aberforth was Van Hohenheim (who is likely Merlin in this universe, along with Father/Dwarf-in-the-flask).