[FMA/HP] "Endless Moment" 06/??
Title: Endless Moment (06/??)
Rating: PG13
Archived @ Master List
Summary: [Sequel to 'Mr. Elric'] It's obvious now that the community of Hogwarts wants a piece of Mr Elric, be it knowledge or attention. Ed's privacy is further invaded when forces beyond his control insist on contact with The Boy Who Lived.
Chapter 06: Unintentional Intrusion
Trying to keep silent while sneaking around a library at the dead of night was a surprisingly difficult task, as Harry soon found out. Who knew books (of all things) could be so noisy?
Nevertheless, Mr. Elric slept on, disturbingly quiet, disturbingly dead.
Despite his previous concerns, Harry managed to complete most of the paper in two of the three hours. Of course, he'd needed more than just the bare facts to obtain a decent grade, but what he had was more than enough to scrap by on. Somewhere between writing how to theoretically overcome the irresistible sleeping curse and researching the magical properties of the higher-leveled Shield Charm, Mr. Elric woke up.
There was a soft shuffling noise and then the lantern’s light shifted, moving closer to the aisle where Harry was. A moment later, Mr. Elric walked past, yawning, shoulders hunched, books in hand, and looking like he hasn't slept in an extremely long time; quite discerning considering that he just woke up.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and Mr. Elric's head came back into view, squinting at him like he was seeing Harry for the first time. Then, he raised a finger, pointed it, and asked:
"Are you supposed to be here?"
"Uh, yes," replied Harry, reaching for his pocket. "I have a pass from Professor Edinburgh."
Mr. Elric waved it aside without bothering to take a look. He made a step, as if to leave, but stopped and turned back.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm writing a paper for Defense Against the Dark Arts- 'How to Theoretically Counter Higher Leveled Jinxes and Curses'?"
"Ah, yes, I noticed a lot of people coming in here for that." He was telling the truth. There had been a swell in the number of sixth-years since Professor Edinburgh had announced the series of long-term essays that, when totaled up, would count for 51% of the final written examination.
Mr. Elric moved to leave again, just as Harry's eyes drew over to the hand holding the lantern. "Sir, if I may be so bold.. if I may ask- never mind."
"Nein. Go ahead."
"I.. your arm. If I may ask, what happened to your arm?"
Whatever question he'd been expecting, it surely wasn't that.
"What happened to my arm?" Mr. Elric repeated slowly, unconsciously reaching for and gripping the mentioned object. He took a deep breath and for a moment, it looked as if he was going to say something. But when he exhaled, he said only: "Some things are better left to the imagination. Good night, mister...?"
"Potter."
"Potter." Then, with a slight nod of the head, Mr. Elric left.
He isn't really much older than the rest of us.
---
The next day (after turning in his three-hour-essay), Harry decided to pay a visit to the Headmaster. Usually, he preferred to dig for information on his own terms, but Dumbledore had told him explicitly, at the beginning of the term, to come to him before he did any 'research' and Harry decided to honor it, at least once.
Just as Harry opened his mouth to say the password, the gargoyle sprang aside and Mr. Elric stepped out of the Headmaster's office, looking more frazzled than ever before. There was an awkward moment of silence before Mr. Elric bowed slightly and walked off.
Funny, those were his exact actions from the night before.
Harry walked into Dumbledore's office to find that the headmaster wasn't in- yet again. He did notice, however an eerie glow emitting from behind the desk. One step further revealed that it was a pensieve, just recently activated.
Was it his...?
There was only one course of action from that point on.
---
The second he regained his balance from diving in headfirst, an ear-splitting scream pierced his ears.
What in the world?
Two boys, one easily presumed to be the child Mr. Elric, was kneeled on the ground, reaching for the arm of the other. To Harry's utmost horror, it seemed as if the body of the child-who-was-not-Mr. Elric was being ripped apart millions of little hands extending from a floating doorway.
"ARUUUUUU! ARUUUU!"
Thunder crackled overhead and whether it was the lightning from the outside or the radiance from the inside, a sudden, brilliant whiteness caused it so that keeping his eyes open was an exceedingly painful task. When Harry's temporary blindness wore off, the child Mr. Elric was missing a leg. A leg? No, it should have been his arm, shouldn't it? The child crawled over to a great suit of armor, mumbling to himself in some foreign language, dipped a finger in his own blood and drew something on the back of the armor.
There was another flash of light, though nothing as extreme as the previous. The armor twitched. No, it was his eyes playing tricks on him. Wait, the armor did- it was moving! And the child's arm; it was nothing but a bleeding stump! When did that happen?
Harry had never seen magic like that. What was this place?
---
In the next moment, there was pain; excruciating, unimaginable pain. It felt worse than even the Cruciatus Curse because the pain wasn't bodily, it was all in his head, like someone had split it open and was hacking away incessantly at the remains. Events flashed through his head, historical events. He was seeing the universe's birth from the beginning to the end, living the life of every last person on the planet in an incomprehensible speed. A true out of body experience; he couldn't even hear his own screams of pain.
When he came to, a decidedly older Mr. Elric was on the floor of the ballroom, now panting heavily. Even Harry himself was breathless on the floor. That last experience was agonizing, and he was only a mere observer. Why was Mr. Elric so intent on dwelling over that memory?
Harry lifted his head only when movement occurred. Mr. Elric had taken off, hurling himself at a skimpily-dressed woman (was it a man?) in dreadlocks. She- no, he- no, it merely laughed and avoided his every kick and punch with ease. Suddenly, it changed its form, again and again, using a very advanced transformation that put Tonk's to shame.
Somehow, Mr. Elric ended up on the creature's stomach, punching it in the face repeatedly as its face changed, yelling out something, yet again, in that strange foreign language. In a pause, the creature's face became a man, tanned face with blond hair. Nothing extraordinary, but something about this particular form caused Mr. Elric to rear back in horror.
A malicious smile crossed the shape-shifter's face.
'NO! Look out!'
And in the next instant, he was hurtling back through that place again, screaming silently as mounds and heaps of everything was shoved mercilessly in his head. He felt like he was going to die, he felt like his brain slowly seperating from his spine, and he was going to-
Suddenly, a hand clamped around his shoulder and he was pulled back, out of the pensieve, and onto the hard floor.
"It is not wise, nor is it very polite to enter one's pensieve without permission, Mr. Potter."
It was Dumbledore, and he was smiling.
"Sir!" Harry swallowed. "I'm sorry, but there wasn't anyone in here and... and I, I didn't mean to-"
"It's quite alright." Dumbledore said genially. "I'm not the one you need to explain your actions to." Harry opened his mouth, but Dumbledore went on. "However, I am leaving it up to you whether or not you wish to reveal to Mr. Elric the effects of your- shall we say, curiosity? Otherwise, I trust you received the answers you were looking for, correct?"
"Y-yes sir."
"Wonderful." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"
"No, sir." Harry replied quietly. "Nothing."
T . B . C
Rating: PG13
Archived @ Master List
Summary: [Sequel to 'Mr. Elric'] It's obvious now that the community of Hogwarts wants a piece of Mr Elric, be it knowledge or attention. Ed's privacy is further invaded when forces beyond his control insist on contact with The Boy Who Lived.
Chapter 06: Unintentional Intrusion
Trying to keep silent while sneaking around a library at the dead of night was a surprisingly difficult task, as Harry soon found out. Who knew books (of all things) could be so noisy?
Nevertheless, Mr. Elric slept on, disturbingly quiet, disturbingly dead.
Despite his previous concerns, Harry managed to complete most of the paper in two of the three hours. Of course, he'd needed more than just the bare facts to obtain a decent grade, but what he had was more than enough to scrap by on. Somewhere between writing how to theoretically overcome the irresistible sleeping curse and researching the magical properties of the higher-leveled Shield Charm, Mr. Elric woke up.
There was a soft shuffling noise and then the lantern’s light shifted, moving closer to the aisle where Harry was. A moment later, Mr. Elric walked past, yawning, shoulders hunched, books in hand, and looking like he hasn't slept in an extremely long time; quite discerning considering that he just woke up.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and Mr. Elric's head came back into view, squinting at him like he was seeing Harry for the first time. Then, he raised a finger, pointed it, and asked:
"Are you supposed to be here?"
"Uh, yes," replied Harry, reaching for his pocket. "I have a pass from Professor Edinburgh."
Mr. Elric waved it aside without bothering to take a look. He made a step, as if to leave, but stopped and turned back.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm writing a paper for Defense Against the Dark Arts- 'How to Theoretically Counter Higher Leveled Jinxes and Curses'?"
"Ah, yes, I noticed a lot of people coming in here for that." He was telling the truth. There had been a swell in the number of sixth-years since Professor Edinburgh had announced the series of long-term essays that, when totaled up, would count for 51% of the final written examination.
Mr. Elric moved to leave again, just as Harry's eyes drew over to the hand holding the lantern. "Sir, if I may be so bold.. if I may ask- never mind."
"Nein. Go ahead."
"I.. your arm. If I may ask, what happened to your arm?"
Whatever question he'd been expecting, it surely wasn't that.
"What happened to my arm?" Mr. Elric repeated slowly, unconsciously reaching for and gripping the mentioned object. He took a deep breath and for a moment, it looked as if he was going to say something. But when he exhaled, he said only: "Some things are better left to the imagination. Good night, mister...?"
"Potter."
"Potter." Then, with a slight nod of the head, Mr. Elric left.
He isn't really much older than the rest of us.
---
The next day (after turning in his three-hour-essay), Harry decided to pay a visit to the Headmaster. Usually, he preferred to dig for information on his own terms, but Dumbledore had told him explicitly, at the beginning of the term, to come to him before he did any 'research' and Harry decided to honor it, at least once.
Just as Harry opened his mouth to say the password, the gargoyle sprang aside and Mr. Elric stepped out of the Headmaster's office, looking more frazzled than ever before. There was an awkward moment of silence before Mr. Elric bowed slightly and walked off.
Funny, those were his exact actions from the night before.
Harry walked into Dumbledore's office to find that the headmaster wasn't in- yet again. He did notice, however an eerie glow emitting from behind the desk. One step further revealed that it was a pensieve, just recently activated.
Was it his...?
There was only one course of action from that point on.
---
The second he regained his balance from diving in headfirst, an ear-splitting scream pierced his ears.
What in the world?
Two boys, one easily presumed to be the child Mr. Elric, was kneeled on the ground, reaching for the arm of the other. To Harry's utmost horror, it seemed as if the body of the child-who-was-not-Mr. Elric was being ripped apart millions of little hands extending from a floating doorway.
"ARUUUUUU! ARUUUU!"
Thunder crackled overhead and whether it was the lightning from the outside or the radiance from the inside, a sudden, brilliant whiteness caused it so that keeping his eyes open was an exceedingly painful task. When Harry's temporary blindness wore off, the child Mr. Elric was missing a leg. A leg? No, it should have been his arm, shouldn't it? The child crawled over to a great suit of armor, mumbling to himself in some foreign language, dipped a finger in his own blood and drew something on the back of the armor.
There was another flash of light, though nothing as extreme as the previous. The armor twitched. No, it was his eyes playing tricks on him. Wait, the armor did- it was moving! And the child's arm; it was nothing but a bleeding stump! When did that happen?
Harry had never seen magic like that. What was this place?
---
In the next moment, there was pain; excruciating, unimaginable pain. It felt worse than even the Cruciatus Curse because the pain wasn't bodily, it was all in his head, like someone had split it open and was hacking away incessantly at the remains. Events flashed through his head, historical events. He was seeing the universe's birth from the beginning to the end, living the life of every last person on the planet in an incomprehensible speed. A true out of body experience; he couldn't even hear his own screams of pain.
When he came to, a decidedly older Mr. Elric was on the floor of the ballroom, now panting heavily. Even Harry himself was breathless on the floor. That last experience was agonizing, and he was only a mere observer. Why was Mr. Elric so intent on dwelling over that memory?
Harry lifted his head only when movement occurred. Mr. Elric had taken off, hurling himself at a skimpily-dressed woman (was it a man?) in dreadlocks. She- no, he- no, it merely laughed and avoided his every kick and punch with ease. Suddenly, it changed its form, again and again, using a very advanced transformation that put Tonk's to shame.
Somehow, Mr. Elric ended up on the creature's stomach, punching it in the face repeatedly as its face changed, yelling out something, yet again, in that strange foreign language. In a pause, the creature's face became a man, tanned face with blond hair. Nothing extraordinary, but something about this particular form caused Mr. Elric to rear back in horror.
A malicious smile crossed the shape-shifter's face.
'NO! Look out!'
And in the next instant, he was hurtling back through that place again, screaming silently as mounds and heaps of everything was shoved mercilessly in his head. He felt like he was going to die, he felt like his brain slowly seperating from his spine, and he was going to-
Suddenly, a hand clamped around his shoulder and he was pulled back, out of the pensieve, and onto the hard floor.
"It is not wise, nor is it very polite to enter one's pensieve without permission, Mr. Potter."
It was Dumbledore, and he was smiling.
"Sir!" Harry swallowed. "I'm sorry, but there wasn't anyone in here and... and I, I didn't mean to-"
"It's quite alright." Dumbledore said genially. "I'm not the one you need to explain your actions to." Harry opened his mouth, but Dumbledore went on. "However, I am leaving it up to you whether or not you wish to reveal to Mr. Elric the effects of your- shall we say, curiosity? Otherwise, I trust you received the answers you were looking for, correct?"
"Y-yes sir."
"Wonderful." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"
"No, sir." Harry replied quietly. "Nothing."
T . B . C