Chapter 1: Where it Ends and Begins

"Nicolas, I understand that you have your reasons... But it's about time we talked. This has to end."

Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, an old wizard who had seen and experienced many things in his lifetime, was piercing the man in front of him with a glare. The wise headmaster's blue eyes, usually filled with a cheerful twinkle, were now very serious, giving the other no doubt that he was speaking of a matter of utmost importance.

On the other side of the office, currently occupying a comfortable armchair, sat Nicolas Flamel. The famed creator of the only existing Philosopher's Stone (also known as the Sorcerer's Stone) and the greatest alchemist ever known among wizards. The man, although centuries older than Professor Dumbledore, seemed much younger that he did. In fact, he looked incredibly, deceivingly young. Even with his short brown beard, which matched the color of his ruffled hair, he appeared to be in his twenties at most. But Nicolas' hazel eyes weren't meeting Dumbledore's glare at the moment. Instead, they focused on the floor, as if their owner was lost deep in thought.

"I promised you I would keep the Stone safe, and I did," the Professor continued with a stern tone. "However, someone managed to get passed the protection spells that I and the rest of Hogwarts' staff had casted. Also, he was working for... or should I say, with... Voldemort himself."

Nicolas immediately snapped his head to the straight position.

"The Dark Lord?" he asked roughly, looking at Dumbledore's with anxiety. This was definitely not what the alchemist had hoped to hear tonight.

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "Voldemort was planning to use the Stone to regain his body, without a doubt. And he came close, too."

Flamel cursed quietly, bowing his head down, trying to hide his expression. But for Albus Dumbledore, his face was like an open book, with worry clearly written on it.

"You do realize that you can't protect the Stone from him forever, right? Sooner or later, Voldemort is going to get ahold of it and use it. And after he returns, another war will begin, perhaps even worse than the last time."

"It's not going to happen..." said Nicolas with conviction in his voice. "We're not going to let this happen, Albus. He will never get the Stone."

"I'm sorry to say this, but... aren't you fooling yourself?"

Flamel frowned, not really offended, but confused what the old wizard was getting at.

"How long will it take, before Voldemort tracks the Stone down again? It could be weeks. It could be months. Years, even. For either of us, that's not a long time."

"But for him it is. He's impatient!" Nicolas responded, trying to convince his friend. "He wants to restore his power as soon as possible. Seeing how much trouble the Stone caused him already, I doubt he'll try this again. Not to mention," he stopped Dumbledore before he got a chance to speak "This plan of his is terribly flawed anyway, he has to realize that. Once you start using the Elixir of Life, you have to keep using it, in order to sustain the effects. If the Dark Lord really did steal the Stone and used it to create a new body for himself, he would become entirely dependent on it. I don't think he'd want such an inconvenient arrangement for the rest of his-"

"You underestimate how desperate he is at the moment" the Professor finally interrupted him. "He's on the brink of life and death! He'll do anything to survive and gain power! Merlin's Beard, Nicolas, he's been killing unicorns around Hogwarts for months!"

"U-unicorn blood...?" Nicolas gaped with horror. "Are you serious, Albus?! Who in the right mind would...?"

"It should have been obvious Voldemort isn't in the right mind, the moment he started a war in order to 'purify the wizard's race'."

"So he willingly put the Unicorn blood's Curse on himself?" Nicolas Flamel was still shocked, but he seemed more thoughtful now. "Shouldn't have done that. You're an expert in magical animals' blood properties. We could use that in the future, Albus."

"Actually, yes, I considered this myself... But we're not talking about that right now, so don't change the subject."

The alchemist slumped and sighed like a scolded child. He looked down on the hands folded on his lap. "You said it was Harry Potter who protected the Stone from him, right?"

"Yes, with the help of his friends." Despite the fact that they were having a serious discussion, Dumbledore couldn't stop a fond smile from appearing on his lips. "He's quite an extraordinary young man. Although, not for the reasons most wizards believe."

"So young Mr. Potter survived a second encounter with the Dark Lord... I hope he's unharmed this time...?" Nicolas looked at Albus with concern. Every wizard knew about the lighting-shaped scare Harry received eleven years ago. Such a mark must have been a heavy burden on a young, innocent boy, who was so young at the time that he probably couldn't remember the day he got it.

"He had several bruises and cuts, and he passed out after everything that happened, but otherwise he's fine."

It didn't ease Flamel's conscience in the slightest, though. He gulped with a guilty expression on his face. Dumbledore saw his opening in the argument and decided to use it.

"The Sorcerer's Stone, Nicolas... is more trouble that it is worth. You two should have realized that a long time ago." He was talking about his wife, too. The only people using the Elixir of Life were Nicolas Flamel and his beloved Perenelle, both over six hundred years old by now.

"I... I know." He responded softly. "We know. I spoke about this with Perenelle... many times. She knows, too. She said she trusts my judgement."

"Then you know what must be done, right?"

Once again Nicolas Flamel looked away from stern eyes of his friend.

"I understand what you're telling me, Albus... but it's not an easy decision."

"You're not afraid to die."

It wasn't a question, but a statement of a fact. Nicolas lifted his eyes to meet the wizard and nodded. No, Flamel wasn't scared to die. He never had been. He had always been curious, about the world beyond death, he wanted to move forward to explore the mysteries of afterlife, to be finally free from the misfortunes of this world.

However, as he had told Professor Dumbledore, he had reasons to keep the Stone and prolong his life for so long. Some may be critical of this decision, but Albus had always been an understanding friend and never pressed the subject. But things had changed. Because the Stone still existed, Hogwarts and its students had been put in danger. Either they found a permanent way to hide the powerful artifact from the Dark Lord's reach, or they would have to dispose of it for good. It was a difficult choice that Flamel was facing. But it wasn't concern about his own life that kept him hesitating.

"When the Stone is destroyed..." he began, causing Albus to raise his eyebrows in surprise, mostly because he said 'when' instead of 'if', "...it will have consequences. I have a theory, but it's never been proven, and I always hoped I could avoid finding out."

"But you know how to do it, correct?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Yes, it's going to be difficult. As difficult as destroying a Horcrux, I believe."

"So you'll do it...?"

"Albus... Could you... could you do it for me, instead?" Nicolas asked humbly. "I know I've asked so much of you already, but I don't think I can do it on my own. Not only you're a better sorcerer," he said sincerely, "but I have a promise to keep. I'm already breaking one by agreeing to this. I don't want to break another, if I can help it."

"Of course," Dumbledore agreed. It was better that way. He trusted Nicolas, but he preferred to do it with his own wand, to make sure it was really gone and it wasn't just a trick. He had expected the alchemist to be much more resistant to the idea, to be honest. He had the Sorcerer's Stone in his possession for six hundred years, after all. Albus never doubted that Nicolas had a selfless, noble heart, but it would be understandable to get attached to the Stone, if not completely obsessed by it… And yet, here they were. "...you spoke of consequences, though. Could you explain what do you mean?"

Him and Flamel worked together for some years, but Nicolas was always very secretive about the creation of the Stone. He spared even the slightest hints about how he'd made it. No matter how many times he'd asked, Albus never found out anything, even the ingredients of the powerful object. He had seen it, he had held the crimson gem in his hand, but its magic was nothing like he had even seen. It was a masterful craftsmanship, ingenious beyond his abilities.

Naturally, as he could never find out what magic created the Stone, he had no idea how to destroy it, either. Which was why Dumbledore couldn't have made the decision himself. Now his long-buried curiosity peaked again. If Nicolas told him how to take it apart, perhaps he would get a better idea how the powerful object had been made.

"You remember the most important rule of alchemy, Albus?"

"Ah, yes… Equivalent Exchange."

"Correct!" For the first time in their meeting Flamel smiled, proud of his student. It was good to see that Albus still remembered some of the alchemy Nicolas had taught him. Not many wizards were capable of comprehending even the basics of alchemy, which was why this art wasn't popular in practice. "The Stone still contains an enormous amount of energy. So, when it's released, that can't just vanish into thin air… I honestly don't know what will become of it, but the potential reaction might be extremely dangerous."

"Is it one of the reasons why you haven't done it before?"

"One of them, yes."

"By energy, do you mean dark magic, or just overall magic power?"

"I'm afraid this is something I cannot answer."

Professor Dumbledore decided not to show his annoyance with the man's constant secrecy. It wasn't the right time for it, and besides – Dumbledore had more than a few secrets as well, so it was only fair.

"You'll need both magic and alchemy to decompose the Stone." Nicolas stood up and walked to the headmaster's desk and took a piece of parchment. "You'll need a very, very complex array if it's going to work. The good news is, you don't need to be worried about the aftermath of a failure, because in worst case, nothing will happen. I should warn you though, each attempt is going to leave you drained."

"No worries, Nicolas," Dumbledore chuckled. "As the young ones would say, this old man still is kicking and stoked."

"Oh, I believe you, Albus," Flamel grinned at his friend, adding: "Crazy old geezer..." under his breath, "But you shouldn't abandon safety precautions. The reaction in most probability is going to be violent. Also, I wouldn't advise you to do it outside Hogwarts."

"Why would you say that?"

"The energy burst will most likely cause condensed magic to appear on the radar, and I don't want to alert the Ministry and have them sticking their noses into this." He frowned in displeasure. He was never happy with the government, which was why he never got involved into political manners, unlike Albus. He continued writing and drawing while explaining: "Hogwarts has already strong magical residue, significant enough to cause electrical devises to malfunction in this area. If you do it here, it won't gather much attention."

"I see." Dumbledore nodded, stroking his beard. "So, when it's going to be ready?" He asked, looking at the transmutation circle on the parchment. It was strange, much different from the ones Nicolas showed him in the past. It would appear that there were many secrets of alchemy that even the great headmaster of Hogwarts didn't know.

"I need to fetch some materials from my laboratory, I'll be back soon..."

The alchemist hurried to the other side of the office and grabbed an old, dirty shoe. Of course, it only looked like it was an ordinary object, for it was a Portkey he previously used to get into the school (after all, as one Hermione Granger always had to remind everyone, "You cannot apparate inside Hogwarts!"). Nicolas instantly disappeared, leaving Dumbledore alone in the room.

Professor Dumbledore sighed. A quiet tweet caused him to direct his eyes to a fiery-golden colored bird, sitting on one of the shelves.

"I know, Fawkes," he said as if the phoenix just shared a profound thought with him. "I'm glad this is going to be over soon. The Philosopher's Stone is simply too dangerous to exist any longer. However..." Albus closed his eyes and smiled, but his expression bore a trace of sadness. Fawkes flew off his shelf and landed gracefully on headmaster's shoulder. Albus petted him absentmindedly. "...he will be sorely missed."

The phoenix tweeted again and rubbed it's beak against his master's cheek in a comforting gesture. The man suddenly felt something wet on his face. Dumbledore looked at Fawkes. There were shining tears falling from the birds eyes.

"Oh, don't be sad, friend..." The wizard told him gently, reaching a phial from his pocket and collecting the precious liquid. Phoenix tears were the most powerful healing elixir and couldn't be wasted, but Albus Dumbledore cared about Fawkes' feelings as well. "You should know well that to such an organized mind like his, death is but the next great adventure."

The next day, Professor Dumbledore stood in his office, alone with the exception of his companion Fawkes, standing next to a huge transmutation circle drawn with chalk on the floor. Nicolas said he didn't want to be present for the final stage and insisted for Albus to carry on without him.

Dumbledore, suspecting he would never see his mentor, research parter and dear friend again, at least not in this world, offered him the warmest farewell and words of gratitude. However Flamel, acting like he was leaving for a happy field trip, merely shrugged and handed him the crimson Stone, saying:

"I made enough Elixir of Life for me and Perenelle to last for two months. After we're done with all the unfinished business, we're ready to go… Honestly, I can't wait. Funny, isn't it? I should be terrified, but I'm kind of relieved, dare I say excited. In the past I used to travel a lot, I wanted to find out about all the secrets of the universe. Now, we can both continue our journey, to see what lies beyond, to never again be held back."

After that, we just waved and left. Nicolas Flamel, Dumbledore thought with fondness, had always been an unusual man, almost as odd as himself.

The headmaster focused now on the task at hand. With precision, he carefully placed the Sorcerer's Stone in the middle of the circle. Next, he drew his wand. Before he began, he cast a few protection spells, as well as temporary silencing spells at the door. He didn't want anybody to interfere, in case the process of destroying the Stone was too noisy and attention-seeking.

Finally, Professor Dumbledore, steadying his wand and directing all of his attention to the circle… pronounced the spell out loud.

At first, it seemed like nothing happened. But before he could start to doubt, the Stone began to glow. The red light was ghostly and spooky, casting dark shadows around the circle. At first it wasn't very strong, but it quickly became brighter and brighter, till the point when it was almost blinding. In that moment, Albus kneeled on the floor and pressed his left hand to the transmutation circle, activating it.

Blue lightning bursted from the array, the energy flowed around the stone, appearing to be fighting the red glow. There was a loud 'ZAP!' when the lightning finally reached the stone, suddenly turing purple. The light became immediately darker, but the reaction was steadily growing.

Dumbledore casted the spell again, and the Stone began to vibrate. Sensing the climax, the wizard focused again on the circle, causing the lightning to burst again, even more powerful, but still purple in coloring. The old Professor breathed with difficulty, hoping it would be over soon, because his body began to feel heavy with exhaustion. It was hard to be focusing on a spell and an alchemical transmutation at the same time.

After what felt like an eternity, a small crack appeared on the surface of the Stone. It was followed by another, and another, all slowly but continuously expanding. Finally when it was all covered in cracks, the Philosopher's Stone shattered loudly, but what followed next, was nothing like Albus Dumbledore expected.

Something exploded from the center of the Stone, like a stream floating to the sky instead of the ground. It looked like smoke, but at the same time, not like smoke at all. It was red and oozing, almost like blood, yet somewhat intangible. It filled him with horror for some reason, and it was before he heard the scream.

It wasn't just any scream. It was the most terrifying, horrible sound a human could ever hear. Like an animal being ripped to shreds, like a person losing someone they loved most, like a madman in an uncontrollable rage: deep and high, loud and muffled, everything at once.

This awful sound made Dumbledore stumble backwards, causing him to bump into the wall. Pressed against it, the Professor watched with pure fear the final stage of the reaction that he was warned about, but couldn't have possibly predicted.

The substance, whatever it was, whirled around the room like a hurricane, smashing into the walls, as if searching for an escape. Then it began to concentrate again, right above the pieces of the Stone, spinning like a red glowing orb. Sparks appeared out of nowhere, similar to an alchemical reaction. The light wasn't blue though, it was astonishingly white. The scream intensified, and suddenly, there was a burst of brightness, coming from the center of the orb. It grew wider and when it became about three feet wide in radius, there was a sudden:

'BAM!'

Dumbledore gaped when two people fell out of it and crashed down onto the circle. At the same time, all the red substance was devoured by the light, disappearing along with the scream. For a moment there was utter silence and nothing moved. Then, the white light, which looked suspiciously like a portal, retracted swiftly and was suddenly gone, leaving everything back to normal like nothing had happened.

The Professor stared, for the first time in a long time completely dumbfounded. His eyes glanced at the shards of the Sorcerer's Stone. It had been, indeed, successfully destroyed. But Nicolas never mentioned anything about portals opening or people falling out of them! What was going on!?

Dumbledore finally turned to his unexpected guests, if they could be called that. They appeared to be teenage boys, both with golden blond hair. One of them had a brown trench coat and wore a long ponytail, the other had a grey suit and his hair were cut short, with some longer bangs obscuring his forehead. They were lying with their backs up, so he couldn't tell more details. From the way they were dressed, they had to be Muggles. But what were two Muggles doing here? Why would they be falling out of a magical/alchemical reaction? It made absolutely no sense! And Albus was usually good at finding sense in things other people considered total rubbish!

Before he could make any rational decision about what to do, one of the boys – or should he say men? – coughed, and supporting himself with his hands, slowly stood up. Dumbledore immediately composed himself and made a step forward, with his hand cautiously grasping his wand. He shouldn't be scared of those strangers, what harm could two Muggle boys do? But he was still quite shaken after the hell he just witnessed. For the first time he was glad he didn't know how Nicolas created the Stone, because if he had had to go through a similar procedure, Albus didn't envy him. Was this what Flamel was experiencing when he got close to a Dementor…? Whatever the substance which came out of the Stone was, Dumbledore hoped to never see it again.

At the same time, the young man started turning around, probably assessing his surroundings. What caught the Professor's attention was that there was no surprise in his expression, nor fear, just circumspection. He brushed some dust off his coat (now that Dumbledore noticed it, he was all covered in it) and looked at the Headmaster. He began talking.

Professor Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise. It sounded completely foreign, he could not comprehend a single word. He didn't recognize the language at all, and Albus spoke many different languages. There was something eerily familiar about the pronunciations, thought…

The boy must have guessed that he had a problem understanding him and switched to English. He spoke with such thick accent and his speech was so crude, that the wizard almost didn't understand his words at first.

"Hey, old man, you talk English language? Did you see a man running, maybe?"

Dumbledore cocked his head and looked at the stranger curiously.

"A man running?"

"Yes." He nodded with a very serious expression. "I need to find him. Now."

"Who are you looking for? What does he looks like?" Dumbledore asked, hoping that perhaps through those answers he was going to find out something about those people and what they were doing here.

"Ugh… He have a coat, black, and hair brown, and eyes brown..." He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he described him. Apparently, speaking English was difficult for him. "He be… ugh, is… about my age. The name is Nicolas, or Flamel, or so he say."

The wizard gawked. Two people fall out of a portal that opened while Flamel's Stone was being destroyed. At least one of them is looking for Flamel. This couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

The man frowned with confusion at Dumbledore's bewildered expression and opened his mouth to ask something, when another person decided to interrupt. The second stranger coughed, just like the first did, and stirred in an attempt to sit up. The standing man looked in his direction and froze.

"AL!" He shouted with distress and hurried to his side. He grabbed him under his armpits, helped him to sit, and started rambling in that strange language again. Dumbledore watched the exchange with utmost attention, trying to figure out what they could be talking about.

Both looked like they were in late teens, perhaps seventeen or eighteen years old? Now that they were awake, he could see that aside the hair, they also shared identical amber-like golden eye color. Well, perhaps the one with short hair (what did the other called him? 'Al'?) had a little darker shade of gold in his eyes, but it was still almost the same. Their facial features were pretty similar too… they had to be related, and seeing how much concerned one seemed about the other, it was only logical to deduce that they were brothers.

So two brothers fell out of a white portal, and one was looking for Nicolas for some reason. It was curious, however, how the ancient alchemist had been described. "A man running, about my age, black coat." The comment about Flamel's age wasn't that strange – after all, he did appear very young. But it sounded like the boy had just seen him a moment ago. Also, he said that he "needs to find him now." Why was he so eager to find him? Why the rush?

While the wizard pondered the brothers were engrossed in their own discussion. The one with a ponytail looked rather upset. Dumbledore could have sworn he was scolding the other, the way he was waving his hands and shouting with irritation. But Al – Albus decided to stick with the name his brother had inadvertently provided a moment ago – didn't back down, he stood up and started saying something with determination in his voice. Al's brother rubbed his forehead and sighed loudly, but finally calmed down. It was then when Al started to look around with confusion, apparently just noticing that he doesn't recognize his environment. His golden eyes met Dumbledore's and he gasped in surprise. The Professor was still disorientated himself (which was strange, as he usually knew what he was doing and rarely felt so off-balance) but decided to try for good impression. He smiled in a way a grandfather would at his grandson.

"Hello. My name is Albus Dumbledore. What are your names?"

Al looked at him with bewilderment like he just pulled a pumpkin out of his ear. He turned to his brother and asked something in the foreign language they were both using.

The brother also looked surprised, but for a different reason. "'Albus Double Door'? That is your name?"

"Yes." Dumbledore ignored the mispronunciation, but being a man with a great sense of humor, he couldn't help but smile at the way his name sounded in the stranger's mouth.

The young man blinked twice, then… started laughing.

"Bhuahahahahaha! Huahahahahaha!" He bent and had to grab his stomach from laughing to hard. "S-sorry, old man, but… Ghahahahaha!"

Al asked something in their language, sounding confused, probably because he didn't know why the other was laughing.

"Hahahahaha!" The boy finally calmed down a bit and whipped away tears of laughter. "Sorry for that, old man. Your name is just so hilarious!"

"I understand," Dumbledore smirked, not offended. He had countless people, many of which were teenagers, making fun of him and his name before, so it hardly bothered him. The old wizard was far too eccentric to care about it anyway. Who else wore purple robes in the middle of London, offered everyone lemon drops and shamelessly enjoyed Muggle embroidery magazines? "What's your name?"

"My name? Edward… hihi… Elric." Edward couldn't help but giggle for the last time. "This is my brother, Alphonse Elric. Sorry, but he not talk English language. I can only little."

"It is alright." Dumbledore assured, speaking slowly so the young man, whose name was apparently Edward, would understand him. "You say you are looking for Nicolas Flamel?"

In an instant, Edward Elric became serious. He nodded.

"You did see him? He just did running away."

"Really?" The wizard was only getting more and more curious. "Why are you looking for him?"

Edward narrowed his eyes and looked hard at the Professor.

"He did take something." He explained. "Something that is not his. We need to get it back."

"Oh, he took something? What did he take?" Now that was surprising. Are these boys accusing Nicolas of theft? Albus had never imagined the kind-hearted, a tad eccentric and very secretive alchemist would do something like that. But he needed to find out more to completely rule it out and decide that they were lying.

"Not important. You did… ugh, did you… see him? He did running away, just now, it should be easy to see him."

"You're chasing him?" Asked Professor Dumbledore for clarification. "He took something from you and you are going after him?"

"Right."

"I cannot help you." He decided to cover for Flamel, at least for now, until he got a clearer explanation. "He was not here."

Edward's face twisted in anger and disappointment. He swore loudly looked down for the nearest object to kick in his frustration. By doing so, something else came to his attention.

Both brothers noticed now the transmutation circle on the floor, and they appeared quite shocked. Alphonse crouched to take a closer look while Edward stepped into the center (Albus noticed how deliberate and calculated his steps were, to avoid smudging the chalk) and inspected the shards of the Philosopher's Stone.

"Hey, Al..." He called his brother who immediately joined his side. Alphonse gasped and took a piece into his hand.

"Brother…?"

They exchanged anxious looks while Dumbledore slowly stepped closer. The brothers obviously recognized what they were looking at, or at least they thought they did, because both of them looked at the Professor at the same time, with identical faces of distrust.

"What is this, Double Door?" Edward growled angrily. Dumbledore stopped and looked at them with a soft expression, in order to reassure them that they had nothing to be afraid of. He asked politely:

"What's wrong?"

"What is this?" The man pointed at the circle. Then he picked up one of the pieces of the Stone and showed to him, almost shoving it into his face. "This is human alchemy."

"What do you mean?"

"You pretend to not know!? Human alchemy!" Edward shouted, stepping forward with fury. "How dare you! Did you kill people to make it?"

"What…?" Dumbledore was now thoroughly confused. What was the boy talking about? Human alchemy? Killing? As far as he knew, this was a transmutation circle which had the purpose of destroying the Philosopher's Stone, and just that. Were they mistaking it for something else?

And most importantly, how did two teenage boys know about alchemy?

Edward's patience had run out. He grabbed the Professor and pushed him against the wall. His brother called out, probably for him to stop, but he was ignored.

"Talk the truth. What did you do here? What is the meaning of this?" The fierce golden eyes were piercing into the blue ones, scrutinizing and full of fury. Dumbledore stared into those eyes thoughtfully. He was not afraid, because he still had a wand in his hand and could use a disarming charm on the Muggle any time, he was intrigued by what he saw in those eyes. Despite being so young, there was maturity Edward's eyes, traces of hurt, pain, great loss, but also strength, determination, purpose in life, and bravery. The wizard knew instantly that this young man had gone through a lot in his childhood and it affected him greatly, but he could also sense that most of those experiences resulted in him becoming stronger and smarter. Those weren't eyes of a child… no, they were eyes of an old, wise man.

"What do you think I did?" Dumbledore asked gently and this response surprised Edward. Slowly, the man let go of his robe and took a step back, but his glare didn't lessen and his pose was still full of distrust.

"If you did not do human alchemy, then what…?" Edward turned, looking at the circle again, analyzing it once again with his gaze quickly running over it. Alphonse collected all the pieces of the Sorcerer's Stone and walked up to them. He said something in that foreign language (which, each time Dumbledore heard it, sounded more and more familiar) and showed them to his brother, how frowned and looked at them as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Is this..." Suddenly he jerked, his eyes widened and he looked back at Dumbledore, gaping in amazement. "...is this… a Philosopher's Stone?"

Albus stoke his beard and looked at the young man, rather impressed. "How did you know?"

Edward shook his head, not willing to explain. He insisted: "Is it really the Philosopher's Stone? What did you do? Did you destroy it?"

The wizard paused before replying to this question, wondering if the answer is going to anger of please the man. Eventually he nodded and answered: "Yes, I did."

Edward stared at him for a moment with a strange expression and Dumbledore tried to figure out what it meant. Was it shock? Was it sadness? Was it relief? It was hard to tell, the young man was obviously concealing his emotions, and was quite skilled at it. Dumbledore didn't dare to cast Legilimency to see his true thoughts, at least not yet. He still didn't know what he was dealing with here, so he just patiently waited.

Alphonse spoke and his brother turned to him, then said something in a soft, quiet voice. Al looked contemplative and then, he let out a deep breath in apparent relief. So, Albus concluded, they didn't want the Philosopher's Stone. They were glad it was destroyed. But why were they so mad before when they looked at the circle? Did it remind them of something? He doubted they could have seen it before, since Flamel was the best alchemist in the world and very reluctant to share his secrets (in all his long years he only shared his knowledge of alchemy with a handful of students).

"This… was his, right?" Edward asked Dumbledore and he looked at him. "Nicolas. His Stone. You did destroy his Stone. Right?"

"Yes."

"Why?" The question sounded almost like he was an Auror questioning a suspect regarding a crime. He even stood straight like a solider, Dumbledore noted. Interesting.

"Because he asked me to."

"He asked you to?" He repeated incredulously. He scowled. "No way. Talk the truth."

"I am telling you the truth, Edward Elric," Dumbledore didn't avert his eyes from the angry glare for a second, to prove he was not lying. He saw no reason to lie about it. These boys, whoever they were, had some dealings with Nicolas, and whatever they wanted good or harm, it was only fair to tell them the truth. There had only been one Sorcerer's Stone, it was now gone. There was nothing anybody could do about that fact. "The Stone was too dangerous. We decided it needed to be done."

"'We'? You know Nicolas?" Edward asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I've known him for a long time. He is a friend of mine."

This information clearly didn't win Dumbledore any trust points. Edward folded his arms and watched him with questioning look for a moment.

"I do not believe you. Nicolas would not want to destroy the Stone." He said almost smugly, like he'd caught him. "He did say so."

"Really?" Dumbledore asked, smiling good-naturedly. "Do you know Nicolas?"

Edward huffed with annoyance.

"Stupid kid. He understands nothing. I did try to tell him, but, he did not listen."

The wizard blinked in surprise. From what was said so far, it was already obvious that they knew each other, so he asked merely to find out what kind of relation these two had to Flamel and his Stone. But he didn't expect this man to be so… condescending towards one of the wisest wizards in the world. Not to mention the oldest one. And Edward called him a 'stupid kid'!

"He says he wants it to save someone," he continued, ignoring Dumbledore's reaction, "and I understand that." He glanced at his brother with protectiveness in his eyes. "But he not knows about the price. He thinks he knows, but not really. He not cares what the person he loves would feel, if they would know about the price."

"The price?"

"You did destroy the Stone." Edward looked at him with a hard expression, his lips pressed grimly. "Then you should know about the price. What is... inside the Stone."

Dumbledore then remembered the scream when the Philosopher's Stone cracked and a cold shiver went down his spine. There was something truly evil inside that Stone, something terrifying. Why Nicolas never said anything? Was that the reason why he'd been so secretive about it?

Albus couldn't allow himself to be ignorant any longer. This Stone had been in Hogwarts for several months, and because of his trust in his friend, he never considered inquiring if the Stone itself was dangerous in any way. Now, he needed to know, for the safety of his school and students. He turned to the Elric brothers and asked urgently:

"What was that? What is this 'price' you're talking about?"

The blond man looked at Alphonse and asked him something, probably about his opinion, because he only nodded before Edward turned back to Dumbledore and said gloomily:

"To make a Stone like that you need human lives… and many of them."

Breath was caught in his throat for a moment as Dumbledore stared. Human lives? How could it… How could Nicolas…?

"Is it true?" He couldn't stop himself from saying that out loud, though he really didn't mean to. This revelation was simply too awful to swallow. Lives of people? This was the great secret behind the Sorcerer's Stone? This is what it took to create the Elixir of Life? It was unbelievable, but at the same time, it made revoltingly too much sense. Flamel told him many times that alchemy relied on the rule of Equivalent Exchange… and what could be equal to a prolonged lifespan?

"It is." With Edward's voice being so serious and his golden eyes so grave, the wizard couldn't doubt that he was being sincere. "I did try to tell him, that those souls are still inside, and they feel pain, but he did not listen." The young man's hands clenched into fists. "He just… He acts like his own problems only matter. I know how hard it is to see someone you love in pain, but that is no excuse. You should not use any means to do what you want."

Albus didn't respond, he was struck speechless.

"You did not know, did you?" Edward asked quietly, seeing how pale and shocked the man in front of him looked. "Well, at least you did help them." He brought a shard in closer to examine it. "They are free now."

The wizard swallowed, feeling more than slightly sick in the stomach. By "they", the boy must have meant… No, no way. Nicolas would never… How could he even consider…

"Are you certain?" He asked, carefully recollecting himself. "Are you sure Nicolas used human lives to… create a Stone?"

Much to his surprise, Edward snorted. He looked at the old Professor with amusement, like he just said something utterly ridiculous.

"You think Nicolas did make the Philosopher's Stone?" He asked, lifting his eyebrows. "Is that what he did tell you?"

"What?" Dumbledore's jaw dropped. This was the last response he expected to hear. "You're telling me Nicolas didn't create the Stone?"

"Of course not! He is pretty stupid, but not that stupid!" Edward laughed humorlessly. "If he did, I would kill him." His eyes darkened. Dumbledore knew that wasn't just an empty threat. This man looked quite dangerous when angered. The wizard discreetly tightened his hold on the wand.

"If he didn't, then who did?" He inquired. Those were some mind-blowing informations the blond was telling him. Flamel had always claimed to be the only creator of the Philosopher's Stone. He didn't mention anybody helping him, not even an assistant or a research partner. Was it all just one giant lie?

"It not matters." Edward shrugged. "The Stone is gone, and it is a good thing, believe me."

Suddenly he frowned like something just occurred to him. He turned his head around, stopped for a moment to look at his puzzled brother (who was unfortunate to not understand English), and finally directed his eyes back at Dumbledore. He scratched his head and asked with a slight frown:

"Ugh... Where are we anyway, old man?"

Author's Note:

Well, let's get this ball rolling!

This beautiful picture used as a cover was made by Irrel, and it's called "Elric Brothers". Give all credit to this wonderful artist on Deviantart.

You're probably confused when exactly this story happens. From Ed and Al's perspective, it happens a few years after the Promised Day. Edward is 21 and Alphonse 20 - Dumbledore's wrong about their ages, 'cause they look young (get ready for "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL!?" rants!), Ed is already married to Winry and they're expecting their first baby (which is going to be important in the plot), while Alphonse just proposed to May Chang (I know the series never confirmed if those two eventually got married, but I assume so, because in the manga, May is in the last family photo. Why would she be there if she didn't end up with Al? Besides, everything else points in that direction, so I treat them as canon).

From Harry Potter's world's perspective, this is right after Harry's confrontation with Quirrel (...obviously), one day before he wakes up in the hospital wing.

If you're confused as to why both of the Elrics fell out of a portal or why the portal opened in the first place… well, it's all going to be explained.

Everybody always makes it that Ed gets to another world through the Gate of Truth… well, not in this story! It's all completely unrelated to the Gate! Hah, see, I am being ORIGINAL! :D

Don't worry, it's all going to make sense. And it won't be something stupid, like "oops, I just jumped into a portal to another universe, and I'll get back by an accident too!" No no no, it was no accident, there's not going to be anything accidental. It'll all come together.

Please, read on and enjoy… because that's what creativity is all about! ;)