Lesson no. 3
Hours later, the kitchen table was set. Pies, stews, pasty’s, strange drinks, and puddings covered the wooden surface. Ed shook his head as he set another bowl of bread on the table. Just how many people were in this ‘Order of the Phoenix’? Sirius showed Ed around the rest of the house. It was strange. Five different things have tried to bite him so far. Then there was the chicken in the attic. Ed took one look at it and promptly backed out of the room. It was too similar to a chimera. He could sense that there were no human souls were bound to the animal, but it still gave him the creeps.
Ed was given a room on the second floor to stay in until it was time to depart to Hogwarts. As of that moment, only Sirius, Ed, and Sirius’s sus house elf would be living at 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius mentioned that a family and a few kids would be staying there as well until the school year began. People would also be constantly in and out of 12 Grimmauld Place. Ed would have to be extremely careful when coming and going from the house. Although it was already hidden under loads of protection charms and spells, there was a spell that only the members of the Order knew. It allows them to pass on the address of the house, making it visible to new recipients. Ed had been given it without a second thought from Sirius. That was another thing.
Trust appeared to come very easily for the two wizards he had met so far. He could sense Dumbledore wasn’t sure what to make of him yet, but was likely just going off of whatever Truth had told him. Sirius just seemed glad to have another ally. From what Ed had gathered in his couple hours there, both sides were struggling for numbers. But it didn’t excuse the blatant lack of suspicion. It was war. They couldn’t afford to let in possible spies. Ed found himself confronting Sirius about this moments before the other members would begin to show up.
“You’re quite right,” Sirius said, seemingly pleased with Ed’s question, “but I knew right off the bat that you were a foreigner, automatically meaning you weren’t part of the war whatsoever. Ministry? Possibly, but not for working for Voldemort ”
“How?”
Sirius shrugged. “Dumbledore’s letter.”
Ed just grunted. He didn’t like how much this whole operation was going to rely on Dumbledore’s word, but as of right now, trust was his only choice.
“Also you were speaking some absolute rubbish with that language of yours when you came barging in here, so it was safe to assume you weren’t from these parts,” Sirius said, smirking down at Ed.
Ed cracked a small smile.
Not long after, Sirius dropped a stack of well-worn magic textbooks in his arms, topics ranging from transfiguration to care of magical creatures, which sounded terrible to Ed. Ed had naturally looked at them with interest when he was first handed them, but had to put them in his room for the time being since the members were beginning to arrive.
Someone knocked on the front door. As Sirius ran to get it, he called over his shoulder, “Hey Ed, I forgot to get the strudel from the oven. Can you get it for me please?“
Ed was just setting the pan on the already full table when a tall, shabbily dressed man walked into the kitchen. He looked to be around Sirius’s age, but already had streaks of gray in his mousy brown hair. What interested Ed the most was the map of scares that littered parts of the man’s body, especially the one that cut directly across his still-somehow-charming face. He looked like he had more than Ed himself.
“Ed, I’d like you to meet Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Lieutenant Edward Elric. Ed, as of a couple hours ago, is going to be teaching alchemy at Hogwarts this year.” Sirius said. The two shook hands.
“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Elric.” Lupin said kindly.
“Ed, please.” Ed said.
After talking for a while, Ed decided he also liked Lupin. The man didn’t ask too many questions and was polite. He was also very clever, despite his scruffy appearance. Sirius was evidently very fond of the man as well, always making sure he was comfortable and had enough food. Lupin turned out to be a werewolf, which explained all the scars. Ed found himself only mildly surprised at this discovery. He had been in this world for less than a day and had already grown pretty accustomed to its strange ways. He could thank all his days in the military for that. Although he’s been out for years, the muscle memories, adaptability, and mannerisms have stuck with him up until now and most likely until the day he finally kicks the bucket.
Not even ten minutes later the next few members arrived. Two men moved quietly into the kitchen, followed by a platinum blonde woman who knocked over the umbrella stand with a yell.
“Every time!” She huffed, her hair morphing from pale white to a glaring red as she righted the stand.
“Dora! What did we just talk about?” The shorter of the two men growled. “Constant vigilance!”
The woman with the hair-on-cocaine, Dora, rolled her eyes as they crowded around the table. “Yeah yeah.” She muttered.
“Moody, Kingsley.” Sirius greeted, moving past Ed to give each man a firm shake. He turned to Dora then, smiling and saying, “little cousin.” She pulled him in for a hug.
A couple more wizards and witches came not long after, including a whole family with flaming red hair and two other kids. Ed found himself leaning against the sink, trying to take in every ounce of information he possibly could about these strangers and magic.
“Well!” Said the tall red-headed man—Arthur Weasley—“I think everyone is accounted for, let’s eat!”
***Harry’s POV***
Harry was pissed. He knew that he should try and be level headed about everything, but a whole summer left in silence with no interaction whatsoever with the magic world had left him drained of all patience. No word from his friends, no sign, no message. Not even from Dumbledore. And then the whole dementor thing was the cherry on top.
And so he was pissed.
He’d had a go at Hermione and Ron, which only satisfied his anger for a moment. Not even a minute later they were called down for dinner, which he knew would only annoy him more.
“Harry dear, roast beef?” Mrs Weasley asked while going ahead and putting some on his plate before he could even respond. “We need to put some more meat on those bones of yours,” which she muttered more to herself than Harry.
While Harry sat there and peckishly ate at his food, lost in thought, the adults huddled around the far end of the table, hovering over numerous papers and maps and talking in hushed tones.
“Who do you reckon’ that man is over there?” Hermione whispered, abruptly cutting into Harry’s self-pitying thoughts.
Harry looked up and followed her gaze towards a man standing next to Sirius. He was holding a piece of parchment, apparently lost in deep thought. Sirius had only an inch or two on the man, but the newcomer was more broad. Harry noticed first that his ears were heavily studded with silver earrings, some cuffs and others more dangly. His blond hair was almost as long as Ginny’s, tied up into a ponytail, and he had on a form-fitting, ragged black tank top and leather pants. A strip of leather was slung across his chest, seemingly holding something hidden from Harry’s sight on his back.
The man suddenly looked up, eyes meeting Harry’s from across the table. They were the richest gold color Harry had ever seen, flashing bright against the dim room. They seemed to see right through Harry, sucking out every word or feeling he’s ever thought or felt. Harry quickly tore his eyes away.
“Oh bloody hell, did you see those eyes? That’s unnatural, that is.” Ron said from across the table.
“Well I thought they were a nice color!” Hermione said, her cheeks turning slightly pink. Ron snorted.
“You’re only saying that ‘cause the bloke’s handsome!” Ron said indignantly. Hermoine scowled at him.
“Well, it’s not exactly illegal for a girl to find a boy attractive, Ronald.” Just then Ginny popped by, leaning in between Harry and Hermoine.
“That’s not a boy, Hermoine, that’s a full man,” Ginny said, giggling. Hermione’s face flushed even further. Ron glared at his younger sister.
“Ginny, you’re exactly right. He’s much too old for you. Both of you.”
“Well it seems you’re out of luck then, Ron. He’s going to be teaching at Hogwarts this year.”
Ron’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he spit out his last sip of pumpkin juice. Hermoine thumped him on the back while turning to Ginny.
“What do you mean he’s teaching at Hogwarts? Is he the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?”
“No. Dora told me he’s teaching a new subject called alchemy.”
Harry, Ron, and Hermoine all exchanged looks. The word took Harry’s mind (and no doubt the others’) straight back to year one; back when his eleven year old thoughts were burdened with Nicholas Flamels and Philosophers Stones.
“Well it should be interesting. I’ve heard that it’s possible to turn lead into gold with alchemy.” Hermoine said excitedly.
“It is possible,” a thickly accented voice said over their heads. The four kids whipped around to find the new man leaning against the wall, arms crossed across his chest. “But it would come at a cost.”
“What cost?” Ron said, voice slightly higher. The man cocked a fair brow.
“A destroyed economy,“ he said, pushing off from the wall and stepping towards the kids, “Creating gold would upset the balance of the system and thus make all existing gold’s value decrease.”
“It’d become worthless.” Hermoine said tentatively. The blond man gave her a thin smile.
“Exactly right, miss…”
“Hermoine Granger.”
“Nice to meet you,” he bowed his head, “My name is Lieutenant Elric, but you can call me Ed. And you are…?” Which he directed to Ron, who quickly cleared his throat and introduced himself, Ginny, and Harry.
“So I heard you kids will be staying here until the school year starts?”
They all nodded their heads.
“Thank god. I was getting worried I’d have to be all cooped up with Sirius and Kreacher by myself,” he said, grinning. They all laughed, and even Harry found himself smiling along. Ed proved to be a good distraction from his looming hearing. The blond man was found to be incredibly smart and knowledgeable in all things math and science (much to the non-muggles’ confusion), and hit it off with Hermione instantly.
He was strange, though. At times he would find Ed just watching. It was as if he was cataloging everything that was happening around him in a file in his mind. In the Order meeting that night, it was revealed that Ed had abounding knowledge on all things military, much to Moody’s approval. They were told it was because his home country was a militarized state.
After that night, Harry and the others rarely saw the man outside his room.