Disclaimer: I do now own FMA or HP

Chapter Six: No More Wondering

The next two days seemed to be the longest in Edward's young life.

Between cramming as much about magic into his head via textbooks and conversing with Al to hiding from the caretakers and other children of the orphanage, Edward was sick of the tiny room he was forced to stay in. The sunlight filtered through the window and it took all of his power to not jump through it multiple times a day.

Edward sighed as he slid one of Al's second year books away from him. So far, everything he had read had been too simple or just… seemingly impossible.

Levitating objects. Turning matchsticks into needles. Hexes that could conjure rope. Spells that could freeze someone where they stood… the list of seemingly impossibilities was endless.

Too restless to read more, Edward instead cracked open his travel log, which thankfully passed through the Gate with him, and began sketching out various theories about the strange alchemy he found himself surrounded by.

Wait. Not alchemy. Magic. Edward snorted at the thought. Until he saw some magic with his own eyes, he'd keep his doubts aligned.

"-other?" A hand shook his shoulder. Blinking, Edward peeled his attention away from his log. Al stood over him, a plate of food sneaked from downstairs in his hand. Al's lips were twitched into a smile.

"Working?" he guessed, setting the plate aside on the desk and sitting besides him on the bed.

Edward sighed. "Yeah. Trying to figure out this- this magic thing is all. I know what you said, about the energy and field that supposedly surrounds us, but if magic really is just an energy field, shouldn't we be able to feel its presence? And how did that field come to be?" Edward scratched his cheek with the end of his pen. "I dunno, Al…."

Al sighed. "I don't have all the answers for you, brother. But between the two of us, I'm sure we can figure out a better explanation."

Edward nodded. "I'm guessing you haven't really been researching much about the theories of magic, have you?"

Shooting him a sheepish smile, Al shook his head. "No, not really. I've mainly been studying the brain and memories. Occlumency and Legilimency too. I think I've gotten quite good at the former too." A thoughtful look crossed his face before it disappeared as he shrugged.

"You'll have to tell me about your research later, then." Edward bookmarked the page of his book and set it to the side before grabbing the plate of food to inhale.

Al chuckled as Edward scarfed down his food. "Well, tomorrow the representative from Hogwarts is coming, brother. You can ask them all the questions I couldn't answer."

Edward grunted. "Do ya think I could join you to this warty hog place?"

"Brother! Don't talk with your mouth full!" Al said.

Edward chewed harder and swallowed thickly. "Well?"

"I don't know. Since you don't have grades to prove how much you know as a student, you'll probably have to take an entrance exam…."

Edward scrunched his nose up at that. "An entrance exam? But I just got to this crazy world!"

"I know, brother! But if anyone can do it, it's you. Besides… I know we didn't go to school as kids together… but it'd still be fun, you know?" Al stared down into his lap, at his loose hands. A soft, sad smile crossed his lips. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a sibling…."

Edward sighed. Setting his now empty plate to the side, he punched Al's shoulder.

"Well, you don't have to wonder anymore."

~~0~~0~~0~~

The early morning of August 18th found both Elric brothers slipping from the orphanage. The sunny tendrils of dawn barely crept across the firmament. Heavy clouds, wrung with water, hung low under the sky.

The day, dreary and damp, pierced Edward's ports. He rolled his shoulder, stretching out his automail arm as his face twisted in irritance.

"Are you okay?" Al whispered to him. Worry glimmered in his eyes.

"I'm fine. The rain and cold makes my ports ache, is all."

The worry refused to die in Al's eyes. "If you say so…."

Edward shot a reassuring smile at Al. He trailed after him, stomping through mud as they circled the orphanage, diving down between several alleyways until windows no longer hung above them. Not a single soul joined them as they stood facing a dead-end.

"This is where the representative should be appearing," Al said as Edward leaned against the brick wall.

Edward peered down the only entrance, an eyebrow cocked. "So who is this representative anyways?"

"I'm not so sure. They're from Hogwarts, however."

Edward snorted at the school's name again. "Alright." He shivered again and drew his red coat around him tighter.

Al rocked on his toes while he waited. The sky, rather than lighten with the morning's rays, darkened as more clouds gathered above them. Edward bent down to rub where his flesh leg met metal, massaging the cramps slowly creeping in. He hissed a curse.

As Edward straightened back up to ask Al how much longer they would have to wait, a popping sound broke his eardrums. Edward jumped back. Without thinking, he clapped his hands together, and pressed his left hand against his right arm.

Rather than pull a blade from his automail, nothing happened. No energy circulated through him, sparking at his fingertips. No alchemy burned through him.

However, an instinctual spark did singe him, right in the pit of his belly. Edward stiffened in surprise. Alchemy.

No alchemy circulated through Edward, no energy sung within his blood. Although the equation for his blade balanced in his mind, no power sparked it to life.

Except, energy did course through him. However, it didn't circulate through his whole body, as Edward was used to. No, instead, the energy sat like a rock at his center.

With adrenaline coursing through him, and his need to pull a weapon out of anything, Edward realized with horror and fascination at what he almost did.

He had no alchemy. Him, the "Hero of the People," a prodigy, the youngest to ever pass the State Alchemist Exam, had no alchemy.

Edward, however, did possess something special. Something he had nearly forgotten in the wake of seeing his brother again for the first time in four years.

He had a product of alchemy, the Philosopher's Stone. A source of energy with countless human lives condensed in a single, small point. A source of energy only he, at the moment, could control.

A nearly impossible Stone doing the impossible by stubbornly existing in a world without alchemy.

Both joy and confusion ran through Edward. No alchemy really existed in this world, just magic. So, how did the Stone still exist within him? Furthermore, how did he feel it?

Even as Edward pondered the question for a half second, the initial spark of energy drained from him. Though the Stone still remained at his center, without the effort of keeping a grip on that energy and power, it slipped through Edward's grasp like sand. He gritted his teeth hard, locking his jaw up.

As his battle stance fell lax, and his hand dropped from his arm, the energy threatening to crack him open dissipated.

However, even with the heavy burden of his sin resting on his shoulders and the oddly dressed woman staring at him with hard eyes, Edward couldn't rid himself of his wild, toothy grin.

He still had alchemy. Not his own alchemy, not really. But still.

Edward wrote himself a mental note to test how the Stone worked later.

"-brother?" Al said, snapping Edward from his thoughts. "Are you alright?"

"I- I'm fine. Wait, what just happened?"

Al chuckled while the oddly dressed woman released a long sigh through her nostrils.

Edward's grin melted into a smirk. It seemed even in this world, he graced stiff adults with headaches.

"I suppose I shall repeat myself. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress to Hogwarts. I had been expecting only one of you here this morning."

Al winced at that. "I apologize, professor. My name is Alphonse Elric." Al, always the gentleman, held his hand out for McGonagall to shake. "Not long after you sent your response to my transcript, my, uh, long-lost brother happened to track me down."

McGonagall blinked slowly at that. She raised a single brow, but her expression remained just as stern as before. "I see." Her eyes darted back to Edward. "So you are Mr. Elric as well?"

Brushing imaginary dust off his legs, Edward swaggered over to McGonagall. "Sure. Edward Elric here, older brother to Al over there." He proffered her his left hand. After a beat of hesitation, she shook his hand all the same.

"Well, then. Although it is… a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Elric," McGonagall began, peering down her pointed nose at him, "I am afraid you will have to stay-"

"Like hell I'm staying here!" Edward cut in. "I just found my brother again. I'm not going anywhere. Besides, he was telling me there's entrance exams to this pig school, isn't there?"

"Brother! Hogwarts."

Edward waved a lackadaisical hand at Al.

McGonagall openly stared at Edward. Her shrewd eyes struggled to pick him apart.

Edward grimaced right back. He doubted she'd be able to guess that he came from an entirely different world. After all, the thought of alternate dimensions didn't just cross people's minds like that. Right?

Still, he held himself straight, shoulders back, arms crossed, with a defiant tilt to his chin.

"It is true that there are indeed entrance exams to get into Hogwarts for older students," McGonagall said. "However, there are other matters that need to be attended to first. We will be needing identification, Mr. Elric, to test your magicality, and then you must fill out several forms for us."

McGonagall didn't notice Al pale at the word identification. Edward, however, relaxed. A lazy grin stretched his cheeks.

"That will be no problem at all… professor," he said. "Just let me know what exactly you need and I promise I'll get it to ya."

If McGonagall seemed bothered by his lack of care she didn't show it. Instead, she nodded stiffly at him.

"There is one… test… you can take right now," she said. "It is merely for formality. Since I assume you, like Mr. Alphonse Elric, are an orphan, I will be needing to check to make sure you have the gift of magic."

Edward's eyes glimmered with intensity as she withdrew her wand. His eyes never left that rather underwhelming stick.

As Edward catalogued an adept enough description for the magic stick she held, McGonagall bopped it once on the very top of his head.

"Hey!" Edward cried, covering his head with both hands. Although it hardly hurt, it did give him a surprise. The sensation of an egg being cracked on top of his head ran through him. Shivers danced down his spine. Edward shuddered.

Al and McGonagall watched as a brilliant, incandescent golden light envelop all of Edward save for his right arm and left leg.

McGonagall tilted her head to the side at the odd display, her mouth pursed in a tight line and her eyes narrowed. Nevertheless, she said, "Congratulations, Mr. Elric. You are indeed proven to be a wizard."

~~0~~0~~0~~

Next Chapter: Don't Tell Him He's in a Different Country

~~0~~0~~0~~

Huge thanks to Meiiii, Caibb, Lover of Emotions, and .9279 for the reviews on chapter five! And thanks to any newcomers who have left comments on previous chapters as well!

This one took a while since school is... really ramping up. I got finals in a couple of weeks and plan on working two jobs during the summer so ouch. I'll try and work on this fic when I can, but my original fiction must always come first. This is merely a retreat from that!

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I promise there will be wand-trying-and-buying in the next chapter. A scene where Ed gets his wand is pretty much mandatory in all FMA/HP crossovers, no?

Thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated and don't forget to leave a favorite and/or a follow if it so pleases you~