The beginning to a fine school year

(Hello Just letting you know that Winry is upset and is refusing to let me have Fullmetal Alchemist brotherhood and Molly Weasley will not give up Harry Potter *cry's*)

Every one in this world is born with a gate, the gate is the power source for our lives and in some cases the reason behind the thing known in the Wizarding world as magic. It has been theorized that the gate has the ability to open itself, (if only slightly) to enable "wizards" to access it's amazing power, now there are some who's gate will never open on it's own, these people are commonly known as "muggles," though there is a way for these people (who's gates are closed) to be able to access it's power. That is Alchemy, the power of understanding something, breaking it down and building it into something else. This power does not rely solely on the power of the gate but on the tectonic energy flowing in the earth. Using this the gate can be opened. No one is born without a gate. For a gate is the place where a soul will reside after it has left the earth, some say that if one can live without a gate and then gain a gate through sacrifice then one would be infinitely stronger than those who've had gates to begin with.

The Strengths and Differences of Magic and Alchemy

Chapter 6 a knowledge of the gate and it's structure

By Hughes .A. Elric

Despite what most people tend to believe Edward Elric is actually very aware of his surroundings when he is enthralled in his books. (of course sleeping is an entirely different matter)Unless he feels completely safe, like with Alphonse for instance. And so, of course, he noticed the man take a seat on the train seat across from him, he also realized just who the man was and therefor he promptly ignored him. Then again if the man made a crack about his height he was going to throw the book at him... literally. It was the slight cough that made Edward sigh in irritation and snapped his book shut.

"What do you want Colonel?" Ed's irritation rose just a bit when the man before him gained an amused smile.

"Colonel?" the man asked "I seem to remember being promoted" Ed rolled his eyes

"Fine what do you want fuhrer" Roy Mustang's smirk was truly annoying.

"I was hoping to find you here actually" His face turned serious "I need your help" Ed's eyebrow rose a notch "I've been having some trouble-" Ed quickly interrupted

"If your asking me to help catch a serial killer or something then no... I'd rather save my head from my wife's wrath and doing something dangerous is completely out of the question" Roy coughed

"That's not it" he said

"Then what is it?" Mustang scratched his head and Ed could of sworn he heard him mumble "your gonna think I'm insane when I say this" finally after a few mute moments the fuhrer stared at his ex-subordinate and posed the question

"Do you know anything about magic?" if anything, the tense silence was not what Roy was expecting. After a deaf moment Edward finally spoke.

"Magic?" he said with an air of disbelief, though it seemed decidedly fake,"did someone pull a prank on you?" dismissing Eds suddenly odd behavior Mustang pulled out a large envelope and handed it to the former Alchemist

"I don't know but it would have to be pretty elaborate if it was" as soon as Ed took the envelope Roy continued "we've received at least a thousand of these over the course of the last month" Ed's eyes skimmed the front which read.

Mr. M. Mustang

Fuhrers home

Third floor, second bedroom on the left

Roy could have sworn he heard Ed mumble something along the lines of "that old jerk I told him that writing them that way was creepy" before he looked back at Roy and said

"I didn't know your son was eleven"

"He's not" the fuhrer replied "at least not until September... why does his age matter" the blond man made a face like he had been caught, there was a short pregnant pause before he sighed and said

"Why did it have to be you of all people" Roy gave him a confused look, so he said rather bluntly "magic is real" the blank look on Eds face wasn't helping matters

"That's the last thing I expected to hear from you Fullmetal"

"Whether you expected to hear it or not it's true" the alchemist said and then mumbled "as much as it is hard to believe"

"But it's impossible"

"Not if you factor in the Gate" Mustang stared at the younger man in shock

"How does the gate fit into all this?"

"Everyone has a gate" Ed started, Roy raised an eyebrow "okay almost everyone... anyway the point is the gate is actually the main power source for alchemy"

"The main power source for alchemy is the tectonic energy in the earth" Roy said confused

"No that's only a part of it" Ed waited a moment before he continued "when you saw the gate for the first time it was closed right?" Roy nodded "what if it was slightly open?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if the alchemy we know is only the tip of the metaphorical ice burg?" Edward aloud a pause to let it sink in. finally Mustang huffed and leaned back in his seat

"I'm not following" he said decidedly

"When you activate a human transmutation you open the gate and see the truth and it hurts" Roy nodded at this "what if every time you activate a circle you open the gate, not very wide" Ed hurried as Roy began to protest "just enough for you to understand the transmutation... and then you forget"

"How does this theory pertain to this magic of yours?"

"I was just getting to that" Ed took a deep breath and began his theory "what if some people are born with gates that are already open? What if those gates have always been open for every day of these peoples lives"

"Are you saying there are a whole bunch of people out there that can preform alchemy without a transmutation circle?" Roy asked

"Not quite" Ed replied "like I said before, my theory is that alchemy's main power source is the gate and I think the same is true for magic" there it was, the connection, however small it was.

"But this doesn't make sense how does tectonic energy come into all this if the gate is our power source?"

"That's because of what the source provides power too. Alchemy is about conservation of mass, breaking something down and rebuilding it into something else"

"I know what alchemy is Fullmetal or did you forget that I am a state alchemist as well?"

"Magic is just the opposite, it has no rules like pulling things out of thin air or transforming something into something else completely different than alchemy"

"I thought you were trying to prove to me that magic is real?"

"What happens when you put too much power into a light bulb?"

"It explodes"

"What happens when you have unlimited power pouring into your subconscious?"

"It explodes..."

"Tell me, what has been happening around your son lately?" Roy nodded slowly

"There have been some odd occurrences"

"Like suddenly appearing on a rooftop?"

"No I was thinking of the time that his first would be kidnapper was scorched nearly to death" Ed blinked

"How is that odd?"

"I promised Riza that I would never teach him fire alchemy" Ed mouthed a small 'oh' and cleared his throat

"Well anyway, be sure to let Maes see the letter" Roy stared at the younger man in shock

"how did you know he hasn't read the letter yet?"

"you said that you have been receiving multiple letters right?" again the fuhrer nodded "the letters are charmed so that the child can read it and decide whether or not he wants to go, if he doesn't read the letter then they send another one. At least that's what Minerva told me"

"Who?"

"Minerva McGonagall she the deputy headmistress of the school"

"And how exactly do you know this? You would have had to read the letter to find that out." Mustang notched a brow in inquiry. Ed rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously

"Did I mention that I work at the school?" it started as a snicker but soon turned into full blown out laughter

"Wh-what do you do there?" Roy asked almost rolling on the floor "are you a janitor or something?" Ed could feel the familiar blood vessel throbbing at his temple.

'I'm a teacher you jerk!" Roy sobered up and gave a slight cough that sounded suspiciously like another laugh.

"they let you teach?" he asked with a raised brow

"you say that like it's a bad thing" Ed observed blandly

"I'm just wondering how those kids survive" Roy replied with a shrug

"I've toned it down since I was younger" a long awkward silence ensued, Roy coughed into his hand to negate it

"My main concern is whether or not Maes will be safe at this... school"

"He'll be fine" Ed assured "I've been teaching there for twenty four years and those years have been pretty tame and uneventful"

"No offense Fullmetal but your version of uneventful usually leaves you missing an arm" Ed simply shrugged

"Hughes and Nina are going" this seemed to reassure the fuhrer.

"I guess there would be no harm in letting him go..." he trailed off as the trains whistle blew signaling the all aboard

"hmm looks like our times up" Ed commented "if your son wants to go be sure to come to my house so that you can get the supply's" Roy raised a questioning brow "I doubt you're going to find most... if any of the ingredients to a magical potion in Amestris"

…...a week later

Looking at the older man before him Maes Mustang couldn't help but wonder if he was fully there.

Apparently his father was wondering the same thing.

"This better not be some kind of joke Fullmetal" his father said with that serious look he always had when asking his subordinates why they were disobeying a direct order "why exactly are you showing us this?..."they were standing in a room adjacent to Mr. Elric's house. The room was new and sparsely furnished with a small chair in one corner and a small table to the side; sitting on the little table was a small broken comb (Maes could only assume it was there to be repaired) a lamp and a newspaper, Maes had to blink, for a second he could have sworn that one of the pictures had moved; but that was impossible of course. Turning his attention back to the matter at hand he focused on the main piece on display; a large old looking fire place that could easily fit a full grown man. On the mantle just within reach stood a large jar.

"It's a Floo" Ed stated simply

"A what?" Riza Mustang asked slightly curious, the ex-alchemist cleared his throat.

"A Floo" he replied "it's transportation" it was Roy's turn for throat clearing

"Transportation?" he laughed "And how is this going to get us anywhere?"

"it will get us there faster than the three weeks on the boat that I took getting there"

"Okay how does it work?" Maes asked his curiosity coming to light.

"You tell the green powder where to go and it shoots you out the chimney" okay it was official Mr. Elric had flipped his lid.

"well there is a little more involved than that, the magic in the powder guides you and as long as you pay attention you should make your destination."

"Should?" Roy said in alarm

"I'm not exactly sure myself I usually don't get farther then the top of the chimney"

"Oh that makes me feel completely safe" Roy said sarcastically

"You want a demonstration?" it was at that moment the rest of the Elric family came in.

"Can I do it dad please please can I go first" the youngest Elric boy (Maes couldn't remember his name) asked overly exited

"alright Van but be careful" Ed said after a look at his wife. Van nodded his head fast enough to give himself whiplash and ran straight into the fireplace. Ed grabbed the lid of the jar and taking a handful of the stuff inside he handed it to his son, with a grin Van threw the handful of what turned out to be green powder on the floor and shouted

"DIAGON ALLY!" and he was gone with a flash... a really big flash. Meanwhile Roy was contemplating something and finally decided to speak

"you know something Fullmetal... I remember a time when you couldn't even reach the bottom of the mantle" Ed suddenly became rim-rod straight "that wasn't too long ago"

Ed started muttering quietly, things like "not short" "not a flea" and something that sounded like "a lot longer than you think egotistical jerk " but of course that was all cut off by his wife clearing her thought and raising her eyebrow "Hughes go in after him I don't want him to be alone to long he's not old enough for that" he said to his elder son, the blonde haired boy nodded and walked into the fireplace recited the same words, albeit a lot quieter and disappeared in much the same way as his brother. "so..." Ed said grabbing another handful of the green dust "who's next"

(Mwahahahaha another one over you thought I died didn't you? Well if you didn't you were probably planing on killing me yourself hahahhehe *cough* =^-^= so anyway wow it has been a looonngg time since I updated anything so I'm going to congratulate Dgtnsl, AnimeInTheBasement you get cybercookies, RinzlerIsTron123 you get half a cookie cauz you got half the answers it was Nina Alicia Hughes and Alexander the dog! yayayay okay I don't know how you guys got Edward out of that, but that was a good guess,now a little something the last chapter was a prologue... mainly because I couldn't start this from movie 2 it didn't seem to feel right... but I am boring you so here is the last thing I have to say... my review box is crying give it some review make it happy...)