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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or Full Metal Alchemist (wish I did though... Ed's so kawaii!)
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A/N: Yeah, another crossover... But it's not another, "OMG! Ed's an exchange student!" story. Those are old...
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Prologue
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A dark night, clouds looming low and ominously as they drifted in the skies above. The twinkles of the stars were covered by the blanket of black velvet, the moon, although covered, still set off a soft white glow that pierced the gloom.
Some four hundred meters away from a familiar stone castle limped a huddled figure. Dirt was streaked across the stranger, rags were worn haphazardly, his shoulder-length hair was matted with dirt, sweat, and something that resembled the smell, color, and consistency of blood.
As the man limped across the dirt floor, roads and pavement nowhere in immediate sight, he leaned against a highly polished mahogany cane with silver tips at the ends that greatly contrasted the rest of his apparel. On the said cane were snakes engraved in an intricate pattern, looking as if they were twisting themselves around the wood as they climbed higher and higher. Deep green emeralds were encrusted where the eyes of the snakes should have been placed, and they gave off a surprisingly alive and almost... evil aura. On top of it all, at the very tip of the cane were a pair of twin wings, sitting on the sides of where the handle rested.
When the man came within a two hundred meter radius of the magnificent stone castle, complete with it's high towers, murky and foul-smelling moat, and grotesque gargoyles in the shape of boars, he felt some sort of force blocking his path. Immediately, he placed the hand, that wasn't tightly clutching the cane, inside of the sleeve of the opposite arm. He withdrew a 'wooden stick' to some, but to other's a wand that was splattered with blood and pulsated power.
With a swift flick of his wrist and the murmuring of the words that vaguely sounded like, "Decom Scercia," a sort of dome-shaped shell giving off a smoldering radiance appeared to his eyes that would not be seen by other mortal men. Within seconds, a small hole about six yards in diameter began to dissolve in the shield, near where the man stood hunched over. Without wasting any more time, he stepped through the tear and continued walking towards the stony architecture. Behind him, the screen sealed itself back up again, and faded from sight.
When the man finally approached the main entrance to the castle, a stern-looking woman stood by the doors, with a fierce glint in her eyes, lips pressed into a thin line. When the man saw her, he removed his tattered top hat, and swept himself into an elegant bow with the agility of a much younger man (or perhaps one more refined in appearance) than he was.
The sign of courtesy almost seemed to be mocking, but if the woman noticed she made no comment to it as she ushered the man through the doors, and quickly scanned the outer area before she firmly shut the large wooden door behind herself.
She then began to walk briskly up several flights of stairs (being sure on the third one to skip the 27th step) and the man followed in the same hurried pace. She then came to an abrupt stop in front of a large stone gargoyle before whispering the words, "sugar quill". At first it seemed as though her words had done nothing, but in the matter of seconds the gargoyle seemed to have 'jumped' out of the way and revealed yet another set of stairs, although this particular flight seemed to have curled itself into a spiraling fashion before it reached the room that it lead to.
The old woman then continued up the twisting stairs, the man but two steps behind. Finally they reached a door that opened itself to reveal a circular room with a variety of rare objects and oddities sitting along shelves. An infamous and tattered old pointed hat sat atop a proper hat stand, and portraits of headmasters of the past were lined across the walls, the newest edition (A certain Albus Dumbledore) was busying himself with counting the number of vivid yellow stars embroidered on his bright purple robes.
After entering the room, the woman sat down on a grand chair with lavender cushioning, and a star and moon perched on the top. The man stayed standing (albeit hunched over) in front of the woman, under her watchful gaze.
The man was the first to speak.
"McGonagall, I have heard from my sources that your previous headmaster has recently passed away?" the man stated with a questioning tone lurking in his voice.
The woman looked down and a glint of distress crossed her eyes for a fleeting moment. She then laced her fingers together and placed her elbows on the desk in front of her that was covered in stacks and stacks of papers.
Hesitantly, she began speaking, "Yes, I'm afraid it's true..."
"Ah, such a shame. Dumbledore was a great man; he even helped old Flamel (bless his soul) with his research on..." but the man trailed off before his sentence was finished.
A moment of silence hovered though the office.
"Well, let's cut the chase and get straight to business before we start reminiscing about the past, shall we?" the man said, breaking the ice.
"Of course," McGonagall replied curtly, having snapped out of her dazed state.
"First off, why have you called me here tonight? I am a very busy person you know, I had to shift some appointments around in order to be present here at such short notice."
"Yes, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but the Aurors found a note on his desk when they were searching this room for a will or something of the sort. It had a rather long list of To-Do's, and I thought I'd do him a favor by helping complete it, but I digress. You see, in that list, it said to give you this letter."
As McGonagall said that, she had opened a desk drawer and took out a yellowed envelope. A royal purple seal closed it, and the crest of Hogwarts was stamped into the wax. The edges were worn and no longer held a sharp crease and the seal was off center, but all in all it carried an air of importance.
After she revealed, she handed it to the man who gave a nod of thanks before he opened it and began reading quickly.
As the man read the letter, a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, and his eyes widened. He then blinked and folded the parchment and placed it in the envelope once more (which he tucked into a pocket on the inside of his long trench coat).
"Ah, of course..." he muttered to himself before turning to McGonagall, "Have you read this letter?"
"No, I assumed that the contents were confidential."
"Yes, yes, of course..." he said before trailing off again, a glazed look in his eyes. Soon enough he snapped back into reality.
"But the thing is, you as the new headmistress will need to be informed of parts of this letter, after all it has to do with a new subject in Hogwart's curriculum, and a new teacher. All from Munich of course... Yes, Hogwarts is going to have an interesting year with him around..."
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Somewhere in Germany...
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"ACHOO!" a blonde sneezed, before proceeding to have a violent fit of more sneezes.
"Bless you, Ed"
"Thanks Dad"
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A/N: Sorry, this one is short. Just a prologue though... Don't worry, the chapters will get longer...
Don't forget to Review! If you want to see my reasons, go to my other fic, Finding What is Lost, and read the Author's Note at the end. It'll be enlightening.
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