Authors Note: Wow I haven't written on FF for a while but I'm way too lazy to format this on AO3. Anyway's I wrote this thing in two weeks and the entire thing's done. The time in between chapters is however long it takes to copy and paste it because I have no self control. Enjoy!

Edward Elric was tired of the Truth. He'd been prepared to give up his alchemy to get his brother back, ready to face the static white demon that resided in the gate, but instead he seemed to bypass the gate entirely, and instead was suddenly falling, heading towards a grimy dirt path a few meters off the ground.

He bounced off the ground, noting the audible metal clank as he landed on his right arm, or as it seemed, his automail fully restored, so quickly returned after having his arm back for only a few pitiful moments. He heard another loud crackle of alchemy, and barely had time to reach up and catch Alphonse. He was going to bruise from catching the boney boy but it was worth it.

Golden eyes met each other before Alphonse quickly wrapped his arms around his body, knocking them both over.

"You okay Al?" Ed asked in a hushed tone, ignoring the rocks digging into his back.

"I'm fine brother- your arm!" Al shouted, trying to push himself up, only to collapse back down on Ed's chest. Ed ended up sitting up for both of them, arms still wrapped around each other. "It didn't work!"

"It did… I went to the gate to bring you back… something happened, but I'm not sure what."

"I… he looked like he was ready for you, but then he disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"I don't know… but normally your arm wouldn't be enough, especially since you got the automail back…" Alphonse frowned into Ed's shoulder. "Brother, where are we?"

Ed took the chance to look around, seeing nothing but grasslands and trees, apart from a few small houses in the distance and the long path they seemed to have landed.

"I'm not sure," Ed said hesitating as he looked at his brother. They couldn't travel like this, him with minor blood loss, and Al, horrifically atrophied and nothing on his body. He slowly put his hands together, hoping for the reassuring crackles of alchemy. He had intended to trade it away, but he wasn't even sure what had happened.

He did end up feeling the assuring flow of energy through his body, and pressed his hands to himself, taking his shirt and half of his pants, and transmuting them into something for Al to wear.

It took both of them to get the clothes on, Ed with shakey new automail and Al without enough muscles to hold his arms over his head. They were both underdressed for the chill air, but it was better than nothing.

They looked a bit like a circus freak show as they walked, Ed still exhausted from the promised day, still covered in blood, couldn't carry Al in his arms, so instead Al's feet were on top of Ed's, with Ed holding his upper body up as he walked.

They kept walking past the point Al was exhausted, farther past the point Ed was exhausted, and quite literally until Ed's flesh leg gave out, and they toppled backwards, Al landing on top of him again. Neither brother even tried getting up, instead just shifting to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Ed woke up in a more comfortable place than he'd fallen asleep in, laid across something on his stomach. It took a moment to realize that whatever it was, was moving, and he opened his eyes to realize he was in fact, draped over a very large man's shoulder. He could just see Al on the other shoulder behind the man's rather large hair.

He relaxed slightly after that, making sure not to move so whoever it was didn't realize he was awake. The man was probably friendly considering they hadn't been tossed in a car, being dragged through the dirt, or been killed. Ed realized he seemed to have pretty low standards.

They were being carried through a small village, not that Ed could see much with his head down and eyes half lidded. The fashion seemed a bit odd, halfway between old fashioned and over-dressed. If he wore a more muted color scheme with his normal clothes he actually might've blended in.

The man stopped and Ed made sure not to freeze by accident as the man lightly pushed him closer to his head to keep him from sliding off.

"They was right where you'd said they'd be," the man grumbled in a moderately happy tone, "thank's fer tellin' me, poor kid's musta passed right out on the way."

"Are you sure they were heading here? I mean, those limbs," a woman hissed quietly.

"There be nothin' else round to go ta, could ya send an owl up ta Dumbledore, tell him to get Madame Pomfrey ready fer 'em?" He asked, with a brief pause following.

"Sure Hagrid… Be safe."

"You too, Puddifoot," the man replied, waving and jostling him slightly. Ed grabbed onto the man's thick coat to avoid tumbling off, getting the man's attention. "Oh sorry bou't tha, didn' realize you were awake. Name's Hagrid."

Ed readjusted now that the man knew he was awake, slowly turning around to see the man's face. His right shoulder and left arm throbbed with the movement, but he did his best to ignore it while he did his best not to kick the man. "I'm Ed… That's my little brother Al," He mumbled, coming to a rest.

The man, despite his bushy hair and beard had kind eyes that put Ed at ease. "'s he sick?"

"Was for a long time… finally coming out of it I think…" Ed lied easily, not that he'd ever really told anyone the truth. His arms throbbed as the man walked out of the village.

"And you?"

"'m just an idiot," Ed mumbled, and the man chuckled lightly.

"Well, lucky for you, Madame Pomfrey should fix ya righ' up," Hagrid announced.

"Doctor?"

"Nah, she's the nurse a' Hogwarts, one of th' finest around."

"Right," Ed sighed, not bothering to ask what the hell Hogwarts was.

Ed was pretty sure he'd passed out again at one point, since when he opened his eyes again he was inside a large castle. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but upon further inspection there seemed to be people wandering through the paintings, some looking perfectly at home while others looked like they were in the wrong place.

Maybe he had lost more blood than he'd thought. He didn't remember bandaging his left arm after all, although he'd feel a bit guilty if he'd been bleeding all over Hagrid.

Several moving staircases, and a 'fight' with a painted knight, who didn't seem to realize that fact, later, they arrived at the hospital wing.

Ed was glad to note the lack of white walls and ceiling, instead the room was structured much like the rest of the castle, with only white metal beds with curtains along the side to make it look professional. Ed couldn't see much equipment, but since they'd run into no one on the way up, he wasn't surprised at the vacancy.

"Dumbledore, Pomfrey, you in here?" Hagrid bellowed, leaning over one of the beds and carefully putting Al down on top of it. Ed slid off his shoulder to the ground, landing with a semi-audible clank. His legs started complaining as his arms stopped throbbing, but he stood next to his brother and Hagrid, who looked tempted to pick him up and put him on a bed as well.

An elderly man and woman walked out of the small side office, both dressed in long robes. The man looked a little surprised at their condition, but the nurse looked absolutely horrified at both of them. Madam Pomfrey quickly got to work, noting Ed's glare and instead starting on Alphonse.

The old man, or Dumbledore, as he seemed to be called, was curiously glaring at his automail limbs with an odd twinkle in his eyes. Hagrid managed to make him sit on the bed next to Al's, and they all watched as she worked.

Ed checked his automail while the nurse went to get someone called Snape, picking rocks and gravel out of the plates on his leg. It would've been easier to take the damn thing off and do it, but it was a bit awkward to do it in mixed company. The ports on his arm were bleeding a bit, probably from the temporary appearance of his real arm, and the blood was congealing inside the arm, and would need a cleanup later whenever he got a chance.

Pomfrey eventually came back with a greasy haired man, dressed in all black and looking like he'd rather be hiding in a shadowy corner somewhere else. The two whispered to each other, both frowning when she lifted up Al's shirt to reveal the sharp jut of his ribs and hipbones. They murmured to each other for a few more minutes until the man eventually stalked away with an apparent purpose.

"Now let's take a look at you," Madam Pomfrey said, finally turning to him.

She ignored his automail for the most part, except for where it attached, instead mostly focusing on the rather impressive wound through his upper left arm. He was given several disgusting things to drink, but he was honestly dehydrated enough to gulp them right down to the nurse's surprise.

"So mister…" The old man started talking while his arm was cleaned, either trying to distract him or just now finally finding the right time.

"Elric."

"-Elric, you didn't go to school here, did you?" Dumbledore asked.

"We didn't go to school anywhere really, had private lessons when we were younger but…"

"Strange, just muggle studies or?" The man drifted off.

"Alchemy actually," Ed mumbled. Dumbledore stepped back surprised.

"I haven't met anyone versed in alchemy for many years, I thought it might be a lost art for your generation," the man pondered, Ed was just glad that the man seemed to know what he was talking about, "If I got you something to draw with could you perhaps-"

Ed had already clapped his hands together, slapping them down on the metal rail at the end of the bed. The white metal swirled up in the blue energy, shifting into a miniature statue of Hagrid, bushy hair and large coat in full detail.

Dumbledore easily snapped the statue off the railing, holding it close to his face, "marvelous, simply wonderful." He stared at the statue for another moment before putting it back on the edge of the railing, and Ed transmuted it back into the metal bar. "I hope you don't mind if I inquire about your age?"

"I'm sixteen, Al's fifteen," Ed mumbled, taking another peek at his resting brother.

The man hummed, thinking for a moment, "You wouldn't happen to have a job Mr. Elric?"

Ed thought back to home, a place he wasn't even sure existed where he was, "No, not anymore, I've just been trying to take care of Al…"

"You wouldn't happen to have any experience with teaching, would you?" Dumbledore asked suddenly. Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes as she finished wrapping Ed's arm.

"Before our teacher I helped Al learn alchemy… why?"

"Well, as I said before, I thought alchemy was lost to this generation, I was wondering if you would want to teach it here, the students are from ages eleven to seventeen, they wouldn't be much younger or older than you, especially if you thought the seventh years wouldn't be able to learn it in a year."

"Wait, but you met me like five minutes ago, I could be dangerous-"

"I can bet that you are, any talented wizard is, but I can see it in your eyes that you wouldn't hurt any of my students, not with the way you look at your brother. It would be a very exceptional learning opportunity."

"Won't I be younger than some of the students?"

"You could lie, tell them you're eighteen if you wanted…"

Ed stored away the whole wizard thing to think about later. He and Al needed income and a place to stay until either the Truth pulled them back, or they figured out what they were supposed to be doing or how to get back. Teaching Alchemy to a bunch of kids might not sound fun, but neither had joining the military and he'd done that for Al.

"You guys have a library?" Ed asked, and Dumbledore smiled.

"One of the largest in all of Britain," he replied, and Ed stored that in his memory too.

"I'll do it then," Ed grinned. Dumbledore gave him an odd smile, eyes twinkling with mischief. Madam Pomfrey just looked tired.

Ed woke up from his nap when Snape came back into the wing, carrying several flasks of strange liquid. Hagrid and Dumbledore had left at some point, and the room felt rather ominous as Ed watched the man. Snape caught Ed looking at him as he put them down on his brother's bedside table. Al still hadn't woken up yet, not that Ed blamed him. Even with the sleep that had been acquired through their bond, he had about seven years to catch up on.

"They're to help your brother put on weight faster," the man explained somewhat grumpily.

"Right, thanks," Ed sighed, stretching out his limbs, automail still fully exposed. The man frowned slightly at him before turning towards Pomfrey's office.

"A house elf will be up soon to bring you dinner, it's up to Poppy whether or not she thinks he can eat anything," he announced stalking off to the side room. Ed wasn't sure if the man was being dramatic on purpose or not, but he reminded him a bit of Olivier and Mustang. He also wasn't sure what the hell a house elf was, but at this point he's questioned so little that he's pretty sure some brain cells were lost.

The man eventually stalked back out of the room eyeing him suspiciously, "I don't trust you."

"Why should you?" Ed admitted.

The man hmphed loudly as Poppy came out of her office, strange stick in hand.

"I was hoping he'd wake up on his own, but he really needs to start drinking those," she sighed, muttering something under her breath and waving the stick.

Al's eyes shot open, and he tried to sit up, but ended up back on the bed. "Brother?"

Ed slid off the bed despite Poppy's glares, leaning over his brother's face.

"We're fine Al, we're in a magic school, don't worry about it," Ed said quietly before moving out of Poppy's way and sitting back on the edge of his bed.

"I'm Madame Pomfrey, the nurse at Hogwarts," she introduced herself, picking up one of the flasks. "Now, this will probably taste bad, but it will help you put on weight faster," she apologized, putting the flask down for a moment to get Al sitting up. Al braced his arms against his chest as he was handed the flask, taking a large gulp of the liquid.

His face screwed up from the taste, but instead of spitting it out he broke out into a wide smile, "It's absolutely disgusting!" he announced before downing the whole thing in less than ten seconds. While Ed wished that the first thing Al was able to eat was something from his list, he was just glad Al was even able to keep something down.

Snape frowned at Al's behavior while Pomfrey seemed amused by the strange exchange. "I'd give it a few days before eating solids, but I'll ask the elves to make some broth and soup until then. Start with small frequent servings and work your way up to full meals…" Poppy instructed, putting the empty flask down on the side table. "Once you've worked up to enough calories we can start building up your muscles again. I'm guessing he can't walk on his own?"

"Yeah," Ed sighed.

"Well, it'll take a short while to get a room ready anyway. Hagrid's going into Diagon Alley tomorrow, if you want to get anything from the library to hold yourself over til then you can bring them up here. Madam Pince is still home so make sure to keep track of the books, you won't want to make her angry."

"Get me something?" Al asked.

"Of course I will," Ed grinned, "Uh, how do I get to the library?"

"Severus?" Pomfrey asked. The man looked annoyed, but softened under the woman's eyes.

"Fine, I'll lead the way," the man quickly turned around in another flurry of robes, speed-walking towards the wing exit, "keep up Elric."

Ed quickly hopped off the bed and ran after him, ignoring Pomfrey's cry to be careful. The man was already on a staircase heading up, and he quickly made chase. The man didn't seem to care about slowing down his long strides, and Ed figured he was probably smirking at his inability to keep up. It eventually got to the point where one of the staircases had started moving away from the platform, and rather than admitting defeat as the man glared down at him with a smirk, he launched himself off the edge of the platform, catching himself on the railing with his automail arm, and climbing over onto the staircase.

"I thought Poppy told you to be careful," he sneered.

"I thought you said you'd bring me to the library," Ed sneered back. The man smirked as the staircase stopped again, and they continued back up to the library, with Snape thankfully reducing his speed.

Several staircases later, and several awkward minutes as they had to wait for a staircase to move, they arrived at the library. Snape let him inside, only warning him to stay away from the restricted section before promptly stalking off, leaving Ed to his own devices in the massive library.

Ed quickly got to work trying to find anything to do with the things he'd heard, stacking books up under his automail arm. History of Magic, Hogwarts a History, the Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and pretty much anything else that looked like an important textbook. He grabbed a book about "fantastic beasts" for Alphonse to read due to his fascination of animals.

All in all the stack ended up tall enough to block his vision, and he nearly tumbled off the edge of a staircase heading back to the hospital wing. A woman with a literal witch-hat stared at him curiously as he walked past an open classroom, but didn't leave the room as he opened the hospital wing with his leg.

He had to have been in the library than previously thought, and Al was once again asleep, although looking much more peaceful and content then before. Ed quietly placed the book for Al on his nightstand before picking the first book off the stack and immersing himself inside.

Dumbledore entered the hospital wing the next morning expecting to see both boys still asleep, and instead found both boys intently reading, with Ed sitting on the end of his brother's bed, while Al was laying on his side, with the book propped up by the mattress.

Neither of them looked up when he stopped by them, and found a large stack of books on the nightstand, and an even larger pile on the other bed.

"Alphonse just woke up, but Edwards's been at it for hours," Pomfrey announced, walking out of her office. "I'm not even sure he snaps out of it when he switches books," she joked as a house elf apparated in with a plate of sandwiches and a cup of broth. The plate was placed on the bed and the cup was put on the nightstand.

Both brothers started eating without looking up at all, completely oblivious to the house elf as it apparated away.

"Lockhart's coming later tonight, isn't he?" Poppy asked.

"I believe he's coming after his book signing at Flourish and Blotts, although I wouldn't be surprised if he delayed again. I do have to go to the ministry and inform them of our new class today…"

"Are you sure they'll allow it?"

"Luckily today's the last day to approve curriculum. Besides, with Nicolas and Perenelle soon to pass and the stone destroyed… I would be surprised if they wouldn't take the opportunity after all the trouble they went through trying to get one…" Dumbledore rambled on, catching the look on Poppy's face, "the temptation of immortal life is quite dangerous Poppy, a man will kill thousands to save himself…"

Edward, book still in hand suddenly got up, still ignoring the pair as he walked out of the wing.

"He's done that a lot too," she explained, "I think he finds things and wants to read about them more in depth…"

"Would be a sure Ravenclaw if it weren't for all the injuries, only Gryffindor's get in that much trouble," Dumbledore added. When Ed returned with two more books than he'd left with, Dumbledore had barely been able to get his attention before he dove right back in.

"Hagrid's getting ready to head out soon Mr. Elric, if you wanted to clean up before you went to Diagon Alley, I'd do it now," Dumbledore advised. The boy looked down at himself like he just now realized he was still covered in blood and dirt.

"Right, uh, lead the way."

He spent a bit longer cleaning up than expected, honestly surprised at the amount of grime that came off, especially through his automail. He'd cleaned it out as best as he could before re-wrapping his arm, and changing into some generic clothes that had been left behind by the students, luckily both long enough to cover his arm and leg, and just thick enough for Ed to steal some fabric to make a glove to cover his right hand.

He braided his hair on the way to Hagrid's hut, which was on the edge of castle grounds towards the forbidden forest.

"I'll drop ya off at Gringott's so ya can get a vault set up, Dumbledore granted you some money til term starts though, so you don' have ta worry bout tha'," Hagrid explained. "Have ta head to Hogsmead and floo over ta Diagon Alley."

Ed understood about half of what was said, which was a major improvement over the day before. It wasn't that long of a walk to a small bar in Hogsmeade, and Hagrid showed off the floo himself, nearly giving Ed a heart attack as he entered the flaming green fireplace with no hesitation, saying "Diagon Alley," clearly before disappearing completely in a rush of flames.

Ed grabbed a small handful hesitantly before following suit, tucking his limbs in as he was shot through the floo network. He eventually stumbled out of another fireplace, Hagrid just catching him before he fell. Ed stared at the quirky alley, watching it wind around far off in the distance in both directions.

"There ya go, wasn't too bad was it?" Hagrid, dusting him off with a rather large hand patting his back. "I'll drop ya off at Gringotts, I gotta pop down to Knockturn Alley real quick, but if I'm not back when your done, I'd head over ta Ollivander's and get a new wand, that'll probably take a while," He said, pointing to a tall narrow building tucked between a few larger ones.

They headed to Gringotts first, the large building towering over everything around it. Ed did his best not to stare at the goblin's when he walked in, especially since he'd given everyone the idea that he knew about the wizarding world in the first place.

"Mr. Elric I presume?" The Goblin asked, taking a wary look at Hagrid as they stopped at one of the many tills. "Dumbledore had us get a vault ready and transferred your first month's salary a bit early," he explained, pulling a gold key out of his pocket and leading Ed into the vaults, and Hagrid left to do his business.

Ed was lead to a large cart on a track, which unfortunately reminded him of a mine cart. All comparisons were quickly dropped as the cart raced down the track, and Ed held on for dear life, laughing the whole way down, to the minor amusement of the goblin. The trip wasn't that far since it was a new vault, and Ed seemed somewhat disappointed at the short length of the journey.

"Whose got vaults all the way down there?" Ed asked, pointing to the long track that descended far below the bank.

"Older wizarding families, purebloods mostly," The goblin replied, opening his vault.

"Bet they don't even enjoy the ride," Ed huffed, opening the pocket of his borrowed robes. The Goblin gave him a snide smile as the door opened. There was a small pile of coins at the bottom of the large vault, about the size of a large textbook.

"I'd take about two-thirds of that based off of what Dumbledore explained," the Goblin said helpfully.

"Right, thanks," Ed said, grabbing two handfuls of the coins and filling his pockets. He had luckily read about the currency during his night long research session. "Are there any shops that just sell fabric?"

"Should be, I'd ask Madam Malkin," The Goblin replied, shutting the vault and handing Ed the key, "don't lose that."

The ride back up to the bank was rather boring compared to the ride down. The Goblin instructed him on the specifics of the vault before letting him go, and Ed headed towards Ollivander's. There was a young girl getting her first wand when he arrived, and he ended up having to wait a good ten minutes, since as far as he could tell, there was no one working but presumably the owner.

The man's crazy white hair and silver eyes heavily contrasted his own appearance, boney white hands putting a box back. "You're not a student are you?"

"No, I need a new wand though," Ed replied looking around the shop.

"No, I think you need your first wand," the man winked looking at his expression, "a bit old, but not the oldest person whose ever walked in," the man explained, waving his wand and muttering an incantation quietly. The blinds in front of the window dropped right before he rolled up Ed's sleeve, revealing the automail. "Fascinating… what kind of metal is it? It's an Alloy definitely, don't think it'll conduct magic very well, better stick with left handed wands," the man muttered, waving his wand again so a tape measurer floated around, taking measurements of almost every part of him it could reach.

The thing eventually flew back to Ollivander, and he observed where it had marked itself. "Hmmm.. guess you're still growing, a bit strange at your age," Ollivander handed him a wand before he could react to the comment about his height. "I'm not sure any of the common core wands will fit you though…"

"What's that mean?" Ed asked, flicking the wand lazily. Several wand boxes shot out of the wall, and he had to duck as one shot over his head.

"The wand chooses the wizard mister?"

"Elric," Ed answered, carefully handing the box back.

"Never heard it before… We'll start out of house. I have a small collection of wands made by other wand makers… some find a better match here or sell back family wands, I have a feeling we'll find more luck with those…" He disappeared into the back of the shop for a while, coming back with an armful of wands.

Ollivander ended up being right about the cores, and luckily only had to try five wands until a blue spark of alchemic energy shot through the air, although he nearly ended up causing an earthquake in the shop with the second one.

"It's an American wand, looks to be co-created from what I can tell, Thunderbird tail feather and Rougarou hair, Acacia wood, fourteen and half inches, slightly yielding… It's a powerful wand Mr. Elric, I'd be careful… It's seven galleons, I'll try and get a more in-depth history of the wand from the seller if I can just to be sure," Mr. Ollivander said, handing Ed the wand's box, Ed put the wand inside before fishing the galleons out of his pocket.

The door opened as Ollivander accepted the coins, and Hagrid ducked under the frame, "There ya are Ed! You got a new wand already?"

"Yeah," Ed replied, holding up the long box.

"Take care Mr. Elric, Hagrid," Ollivander advised as they began to exit, Ed caught the man's eyes flash red, "There are dark times ahead little alchemist… I hope you'll succeed," the man said, his eyes changing back as a blank look overtook his face. "Have a good day," he added, Hagrid having to push Ed out of the shop.

"Wha' was tha'?" Hagrid asked, watching as Ed forced himself to regain a neutral face.

"Don't worry about it," Ed said in a strange tone.

"Right… Well, should go check ou' Flourish and Blotts, and then go get some robes fer you an' Al," Hagrid decided, leading them to the book shop. One of the employees was outside the shop, directing traffic for the book signing.

"Please be careful of all the books," a wizard mumbled as more witches bustled in , arms full of books.

"Do you have any texts about alchemy?" Ed asked, Hagrid standing behind him to stop traffic from hitting them.

"Ah, only a few up the stairs, make sure they know you aren't cutting though, someone nearly lost an ear earlier," he sighed.

"I'd better stay outside, actually, with tha' large of a crowd I'd get in the way. Try not to get too absorbed ya hear?"

Ed sheepishly waved goodbye before entering the shop, quickly dashing through the line to get upstairs.

He spent a decent amount of time on the upper shop loft, scanning through the five alchemy books they had in stock. Two of them were so old they were almost completely outdated, two of them were just theory books, and the other was by someone who somehow confused transfiguration with transmutation, and still managed to get the book published.

He did end up picking up several more books on magical creatures for Al, and several magazines on modern wizard fashion, just to make sure he transmuted their clothes right later on. There was a large flood of applause for something the author said as Ed checked out his books, and Hagrid ended up having to come inside after all to break up a fight between two adult wizards who had gotten into something of a fistfight.

A large group of wizards left after that, most of them related based on their hair. Hagrid stayed outside, looking somewhat annoyed.

"Darn Malfoys always startin' trouble, the Weasleys… tha ginger ones, good people, but even they gotta snap a' some point."

"Right… Is there a fabric shop around here or just the robe shop?" Ed asked, tucking the books securely under his arm.

"They sell loose fabric there too I think," Hagrid pondered as they walked towards Madam Malkins.

They did end up selling loose fabric there, and Ed got several yards of multiple neutral fabrics, along with a lot of black in different weights and textures, two shades of red, and some dark blue wool fabric that reminded him of the military uniform he'd never worn. He'd actually ended up spending the most money in the shop, also having to pick up shoes for Al.

Hagrid ended up carrying the large bag of fabric since Ed's arms were rather full.

"Do ya want to get a pet?" Hagrid asked, stopping in front of the Menagerie.

"We're allowed to have pets?" Ed asked, peering in through the window. They'd never been able to get one despite Al's desire, not with the way they traveled before.

"Dumbledore's go' a phoenix, I'm sure you can get whatever you'd like," Hagrid smiled.

"I'm not a big pet person but Al's always wanted a cat…" Ed mumbled, pushing open the door. He almost immediately laid eyes upon a large golden cat with dark blue eyes. It glared at him in a way that made him think a wrench was about to be lobbed at his head. "Oh hell…" he grumbled, turning to the closest employee, "how much for this one?"

Alphonse predictably named the cat Winry, completely contented even though it just slept in his lap. Ed was pretty sure he'd said thank you over a thousand times.

"She's part Kneazle apparently," Ed explained. Al didn't have to pretend to understand what that meant since he'd only really been reading about mythical creatures.

"She's so soft," Al gushed, pulling the cat closer. Ed smiled as he examined the robe magazines, comparing them to what he'd seen normal wizards wearing. Obviously, the outfits in the magazine were fancier, but still had generally the same build. He was glad that wizards seemed to like as many layers as he did.

The first thing he'd made was extremely similar to his normal outfit, the exact same undercoat, a long red coat, slightly duller than his old one, although the inner lining was a bright red. The sleeves were slit at the elbow like he'd seen a lot of people wearing. He'd also had normal black trousers rather than leather, although he just polished his boots. He made several pairs of gloves for himself before going back and making clothes, mostly jackets, pants, and undershirts.

Al picked things from one of the other magazines, mostly picking the neutral fabric and the thick blue wool. Ed purposefully made everything a bit too wide so when he put on weight he wouldn't have to thin the fabric too much.

Pomfrey helped Ed get Al up to the bathroom to clean him off and change his clothes, and leant Ed a pair of scissors to cut his hair short, back to where he'd worn it when he was young. After about two days of the strange potions Al, while he didn't really look much bigger, had clearly gained some weight, with the jut of his bones less graphic than before.

"Ed, what's going on?" Alphonse asked, now that they were finally alone.

"I'm not sure, this world doesn't seem to have any sense of equivalent exchange… The truth possessed a wand maker to tell me that dark times were coming… I still don't know why he sent us but… we definitely need to keep an eye out and learn everything we can, without letting anyone know that we didn't know anything in the first place. They know we didn't go to school for 'magic' but that will only cover so much."

"Do you think the kids will be able to learn alchemy?"

"Not sure, this world is connected to our world in some way… but it's definitely not the same place…"

Ed carried Al down the stairs, but helped him walk to the hospital wing. Dumbledore was talking to the witch with the hat when they finally got inside, with Winry sitting on the woman's lap.

"Edward, I would like to introduce you to Minerva McGonagall, the transfigurations professor, Minerva, this is Edward Elric, and his brother Alphonse, he's our newly approved Alchemy professor," Dumbledore introduced. Al waved for both of them since Ed was holding him up.

Minerva eyed them curiously as Ed picked his brother up and put him down on the bed. She'd obviously seen his automail during his many trips to the library, but didn't say anything as Winry jumped off her lap, and sat right back down in Alphonse's.

"And how old are you Edward?"

"Sixteen, Al's Fifteen, Ed answered, sitting down at the edge of Al's bed.

"Might I ask about your family?" The woman asked, with a somewhat knowing look on her face.

"Mom died when we were young, same thing Al had… Dad left right before she got sick… seen him a few times since then but..." Ed shrugged, "We lived with the neighbors for a long time, ended up traveling a lot to see doctors," he added, somewhat untruthfully.

"I'm sorry about that," Minerva said with a sad smile, "did you get sick as well?"

"No, there was a bit of a civil dispute outside the small village we lived in, someone bombed the train tracks… I got caught by it," Ed said, and convincingly rubbed his stump as he lied. They both frowned in sympathy.

Snape suddenly stormed into the room, a large frown on his face. "Lockhart has come to drop off his "necessary" belongings," he sneered, sarcasm dripping off every word.

Ed was planning on carrying Al outside but didn't have to, watching the house elves struggle to carry a parade of items down the hall.

"I know we came with only the clothes from your back but that seems… excessive," Al mumbled to Ed, who nodded with agreement. The parade was eventually just pictures of the man himself, who Ed recognized from the book signing.

"I didn't think anyone could be more vain than Mustang… yet here we are," Ed grumbled, watching several elves struggle with a full wardrobe full of clothes, even with levitation charms.

"That is quite… excessive…" Minerva agreed with a frown on her face as a couch floated by.

"I suppose I never told him not to bring his entire house," Dumbledore joked.

Gilderoy Lockhart walked past before stopping and backing up, "Ah, is my welcoming party in here? A bit drab," he laughed, although Ed was pretty sure the man wasn't joking.

"I was just introducing Minerva to our new Alchemy Professor, Mr. Elric," Dumbledore explained, pointing his hand towards Ed.

The two blondes sized each other up, Gilderoy thinking he was more powerful while Ed knew that he was.

"Alchemy huh, just a theory class I presume? After all everyone knows it's become a dead art-" Gilderoy spoke smugly, pausing when Ed launched himself over the bed railing, clapping his hands in the air and slapping his hands down on the stone floor. The stone sparked before reforming into a large full scale model of Hogwarts, all the way from the forbidden forest to the lake.

"I've only seen the outside twice, but I think it's pretty accurate," Ed replied smugly, watching Lockhart's, Minerva's, and Snape's eyes widen drastically. Dumbledore and Al just looked rather amused.

"Incredible," Minerva gasped, "I've never seen Transfiguration do anything like this…"

"Alchemy is quite a wondrous thing isn't it…" Dumbledore remarked, "I'm sure it will start as a theory class at first of course, but I can't wait to see if anyone will be well versed by the end of the year." Ed clapped his hands again, smoothing the floor back to how it'd been, blending in perfectly with the rest of the floor. "Speaking of which Minerva, do you think you can help Mister Elric plan his lessons. I'm sure he knows what he's teaching, but he might need a bit help getting the pacing right for each year… How long do you think it'll take to teach them?"

"Me and my brother picked it up pretty quickly… but with other classes and trying to get them to the point where they can create their own circles over time… probably three years minimum…"

"First years through fifth years then," Dumbledore rectified, watching rather amusedly as Gilderoy dropped to his knees, feeling the floor for imperfections.

"I'd be happy to work with you Edward," Minerva smiled daintily. Ed grinned in response, sitting back on the end of Al's bed. Winry eyed Gilderoy on the ground for a moment before leaping off of Al's lap with an impressive long jump, landing directly on the man's shoulder. Gilderoy yelped as the cat dug into his back, and took off out of the Hospital Wing, following the elves, that were still carrying his belongings through the hall.

Winry strutted back in the room a minute later, hopping back on Al's bed before curling up on his lap. Ed stroked the cat with his gloved hand, feeling the cat purr happily, grins stretched out on both of their faces, "Good cat."