Lesson no. 6
The Great Hall was crowded and noisy, and Harry’s head thumped dully at the impending noise. He had tripped over a few stray limbs on the way to Gryffindor table, pointedly ignoring the sneers and glares shooting his way as he made to sit besides Ron, Neville, and Hermoine. Harry wasn’t an idiot. He knew that many people in the wizarding world were going to deny Voldemort’s return as long as they possibly could, and he knew the repercussions of claiming that he had in fact, returned. Not that he cared. Let them talk.
The Great Hall quieted as the Sorting Hat began its song (it sounded more like a warning to Harry), and the sorting commenced.
Hagrid, Harry noted, was not present at the staff table. Hermoine seemed to have had the same thought, turning to face Ron and Harry with a look on her face. Harry suggested the idea that their friend could still be on the mission Dumbledore gave him that summer. Ron visibly relaxed at this possibility, yet Hermoine still looked doubtful.
“Say, anyone seen Ed either?” Ron asked just as Dumbledore stood up right as the last student was sorted, presumably to announce the beginning of the feast.
Ed chose that moment to enter, almost as if Ron had summoned him, the giant doors slamming shut behind him, drawing the attention of those closest to the back. Murmurs and whispering broke out across the Great Hall as he began to stride up the center aisle, all eyes now trained on him. He looked wildly out of place having seemingly forgone the required wizard robes, his white t-shirt, glinting piercings and leather pants getting many curious looks, especially from the pure bloods. As Harry watched that long blond hair swish back and forth, he began to understand why the man held the rank of Lieutenant. From the way he carried his broad shoulders to how it was impossible to ignore his presence. The picture of the unkempt bookworm who hadn’t left his room for weeks was completely erased from his mind. The rest of the hall seemed to have reached the same conclusion that Harry did, having quieted down enough that one could hear every step his boots made as he worked his way up through the Hall to where the staff sat. Everyone watched as Ed gave Dumbledore a slight tilt of his head in acknowledgement as he passed the headmaster and found a seat next to Professor Snape, his face as impassive as it had looked the moment he had entered.
Immediately the Hall broke out in a loud chatter at the Ed’s grand entrance, students standing up on benches and leaning into the halls to get a better view of the newcomer. Ron had been staring at Ed in disbelief before turning to Hermoine and Harry.
“Well, I guess we found Ed.”
Hermoine nodded to show she heard, mouth still hanging open. Harry looked back at Ed who was now having a seemingly serious whisper-conversation with Snape. Harry hadn’t missed the way Ed’s gait had been slightly off-balanced as he walked otherwise very surely through the Great Hall. Harry wracked his brain back to earlier that day to see if he remembered Ed walking strangely, but nothing stood out to him. Perhaps he had been hurt sometime after arriving at Hogwarts? But how?
Dumbeldore regathered everyone’s attention and announced the beginning of the feast. As food began appearing in front of him, Harry suddenly felt ravenous and grabbed the closest dish to him—a steak pie, and began dishing heaps onto his plate.
After Harry ate enough to keep him full for the next two weeks, food started to disappear from the tables and it became noisy once again, Dumbledore rose to begin his speech.
It contained much of the usual reminders and warnings as previous speeches had, and Harry felt himself beginning to nod off.
“We have had three changes in staffing this year,” the words barely registered faintly in Harry’s head, and he lifted his head only when Hermoine nudged him with her shoulder. First, Hagrid was being replaced as the Care of Magical Creatures teacher at least temporarily. Secondly, much to Harry’s dismay, the squat woman from his hearing was apparently joining the Hogwarts staff for the school year. His displeasure only grew when Dumbledore continued to announce she would be taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts, his favorite subject. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, the toad lady, Professor Umbridge, interrupted Dumbeldore’s speech to make a speech of her own. Harry couldn’t bring it upon himself to listen, but Hermoine seemed to be hanging off of every word said. Finally, Dumbledore waited patiently for her to take her seat again before continuing. Hermoine told Harry and Ron what she gathered from Umbridge’s speech when she noticed the glazed looks on their faces.
“Third and finally, I am pleased to announce that Hogwarts will once again be offering the ancient art of Alchemy to those in fifth year or above. This class will be taught by Lieutenant Edward Elric.” Students perked up at the mention of the mysterious new subject and the even more mysterious newcomer, whispering once again spreading across the room.
“Lieutenant Elric is so hot, no way he’s actually gonna be a teacher?!” Lavender Brown whisper-yelled to the girl next to her. Hermoine rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were tinted pink.
Ed, alongside Professor Grubbly-Plank and the newly minted Professor Umbridge, waved to the students before Dumbeldore dismissed the school, raucous noises filling the Great Hall. Harry found himself alone in a sea of students, Hermoine and Ron having gone off to herd the new Gryffindors to the dorm room. Sensing dirty looks shooting his way once again, Harry felt the same irritation rise in him, so he forced his way through the crowd, exiting the Great Hall alone and angry.
***
Just Ed’s fucking luck. He should’ve seen it coming. The whole plan, the last few weeks, everything had been too easy so far. Things were bound to go south at some point.
After being dropped off at his new classroom, Ed had been exploring his new rooms when he began to notice the familiar dull throbbing in his leg, like an old enemy knocking on his door. Ed ensured the door was shut before dropping into one of the desk chairs, groaning and clawing at his pant leg. In all his excitement to get to the school, he had forgotten one important thing Sirius had told him before he left--technology and anything that ran on electricity didn’t work within Hogwart’s grounds. There were wards surrounding the school that prohibited many things from getting in as well as certain things from functioning properly, one of which being anything that ran off of electricity. At the time, Ed had just nodded and told himself not to forget, since no-technology would mean big trouble for his automail leg. But his mind had been on a million other things, and now he was reaping the effects of his stupidity.
Ed grunted as he struggled to shuck off his boots and pants, hissing when the tender, swollen flesh of the port was hit by the crisp air. The leg was emitting tiny bits of electricity, probably trying to kick-start itself back to one-hundred percent working-efficiency. Ed presumed the only reason it had made it that far without electricity was the fail-safe battery Winry had included last time he was home.
“It will only power on if it’s an emergency, Ed,” she had said. If he remembered correctly, the battery had three hours worth of power in it, so he would have at least two hours left before it would give out entirely. How the battery wasn’t affected by the wards, Ed didn’t know, but he made a mental promise to thank Winry profusely when he got home. Ed gripped the prosthetic as another jolt went through it, biting his bottom lip hard. He just needed to suck it up for the duration of the damned feast until he could find a solution.
Heaving himself out of his chair, he took the next ten minutes to wrestle himself back into his trousers and boots, perspiration now dripping down his brow. Once he managed to hobble out of his new classroom, bracing himself heavily on the cobblestone wall next to him, he began to trudge back the way Snape had led him earlier, which had led past the Great Hall. Or the way he had thought Snape had led him. Apparently the potions master had not been jesting when he said the castle sometimes had a mind of its own.
Twenty minutes later he was completely and utterly lost. The long, twisting corridors and stairs gave him no indication of where he was. All he figured was that he was somewhere on the South end of the castle.
“Shit,” Ed grumbled under his breath. Suddenly, to Ed’s right, a great door swung open and a tall, aged woman who Ed assumed was a nurse stepped out, the scowl on her face deepening when she spotted Ed, who had quickly straightened his posture when he heard the door opening.
“That is hardly school appropriate language, young man!” She said, crossing her arms. “Not a very good way to start off the new year. Now, why are you not at the feast?”
Ed was starting to regret his decision to let go of the wall as flares of pain were going up his leg. “Ergh, listen lady, I’m not a student here, I’m a teacher-”
Ed didn't think that he had made a face at the pain or shown any sign of discomfort, but slowly the woman’s scowl softened and was replaced with a look of concern.
“Oh dear, are you hurt? Would you like me to take a look?”
“No, thanks, I’m fine-”
“Nonsense, let me help. I know what it looks like when someone’s hiding pain. Come this way.” The lady said, cutting Ed’s protest off as she ushered him through the big door.
The room must have been the school’s infirmary. There were rows and rows of curtained beds pushed up against floor to ceiling gothic windows. The smell of medicine and disinfectant flooded his nose.
“Lieutenant Elric, I presume?” The woman questioned from where she was reaching into a large cabinet, her back turned to Ed. Ed’s eyebrows’ quirked. How’d she?- “Your accent is very telling, dearie. Here, sit. ” She turned and patted the corner of the nearest bed with her free hand. In her other hand she held a large bottle of a salve of sorts.
Ed stayed rooted by his spot near the door, weighing the chances in his mind of whether or not he could make a run for it. In his current state, he would probably make it ten steps before he was caught by the old lady.
“Sit, Lieutenant, I will not ask again, and neither of us are in shape for a chase.” The woman snapped, the scowl returning to her face. Something about this woman reminded him strongly of Teacher, and he found himself walking over to sit gingerly on the edge of the bed.
“Listen lady, I’m fine, really, it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” Ed told her, jumping slightly when she placed a hand on his forehead as a clipboard suddenly conjured next to her midair, a quill furiously scribbling on its own.
“Playing ‘tough guy’ does not work on me, dearie. I can tell that leg of yours is bothering you, and if it is acting up when you have only just gotten here, you are gonna be in a world of pain when the bad weather starts rolling in.” She said, voice stern. “My name is Madam Pomfrey, but you may call me Poppy. I am the nurse here at Hogwarts. Now here is how this is going to work, I will permit you to hide whatever injury it is that you are hiding beneath those atrocious leather pants of yours-,”
Ed opened his mouth to protest, but Madam Pomfrey, Poppy, ignored him. “But you must promise me this--that you will re-apply this ointment every night as well as notify me when you have run out. Additionally, if you find yourself unable to walk, or even feel a slight impediment to your walking abilities, you will come find me. Do I make myself clear?”
“...Sure, yeah.” Ed grumbled, and then a little more gratefully, “Thank you, Madam Pomfrey.”
“Just Poppy, dear, and apply that ointment to your leg and then get down to the feast. I am sure they will be announcing the changes in staff soon.” Poppy tugged the curtain close around Ed’s bed after setting the ointment down on the table next to him. Ed wasted no time tugging down his pants and smothering the area around his port in the salve. Immediate relief flooded him and he sighed in contentment. He supposed he should have been a bit more grateful to the medic, especially since she had not forced him to reveal his secret. He was concerned however, about the comment she made about the weather. Growing up, bad weather had meant sleepless, pain-filled nights for Ed. From what he’s heard so far, it sounded like Hogwarts had its fair share of bad weather year round. At least he’d be keeping his promise to Poppy--he was going to be a regular visitor of her’s.
Pants on and bottle tucked under his arm, Ed stepped out from behind the curtain, his leg pleasantly numb. Poppy was waiting for him by the door, two more jars of that life-saving ointment in her arms. She snapped her fingers and with a loud CRACK a house elf appeared and took the bottles from Ed and Poppy, promising to put them in Ed’s quarters for him after taking him down to the Great Hall. With a more genuine smile, Ed bid the medic goodbye and followed the house elf out the door.