*

DO YOU ENVY US? OR PITY US?

*

September 1st is approaching, Ed right now was writing to Richard and Daphne to inform them that he won’t go to Hogwarts this semester, warned them about Lockhart, and told them to train together, and maybe add Hermione, Harry, and Ron to the mix as well if they want. He gave the letter to Ophelia, told her to send it to them, and ordered her to go to Hermione after that for safekeeping, the owl flew off and Ed just sat on his desk in the study room for a minute, doing nothing.

He looked at the suitcase in the corner of the room and decided to enter it. He climbed down the ladder and sat in front of the fireplace. He pondered a while, and he examined the circle on the back of his hand.

“Gilligan…” Ed called softly. The owl appeared and looked at the circle as well.

“You want to know what that is?” asked the owl.

Ed nodded weakly, not breaking eye contact with the circle.

“It’s a symbol of the heir, simple as that.” Said the Owl. “But…”

“But what?” Ed asked.

“Because you got the gift, it’s more than that.” Gilligan said while moving away from Ed. “Follow me.” The owl continued.

Ed stood up and followed the owl to the training room. Gilligan then points at a dummy.

“Attack it with your elemental spell.” Gilligan ordered.

Ed just shrugged and did what Gilligan ordered, he cast a silent ice spike spell and shoot it to the dummy, but to Ed’s surprise, a bright glyph appeared in the middle of the circle on the back of his hand, and the spell’s power almost doubled, resulting the destruction of the dummy.

“W-What happened?” Ed stammered.

“It’s the gift, every element you got when you did the initiation have a specific glyph in that circle, if you activate one of the elements, the glyph will also activate, and it will bring better control and power to your spell.” Gilligan explained.

Ed nodded, “That’s quite good.” Then Ed told Gilligan to leave, and he trained the glyphs power. After Diagon Alley, Ed hadn’t trained anything except sensing his own blood, so he really needs to blow some steam right now, he used the lightning element, the white fire, the ice, he blinked everywhere he could until he’s exhausted. After that he took a shower and prepared for the trip tomorrow to the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.

The next day, he woke up early because Dumbledore sent a letter to him that he will pick Ed up in his home early in the morning, because he needs to go to the Ministry of Magic first to register the exchange.

Ed was wearing his Hogwarts robe, waiting in front of the garage, suitcase in his left hand, and plain bread in his right hand to be eaten. He stood there for a while while eating his bread, he looked at the still dark sky and sighed, “Where the hell is that old man?” murmured Ed.

“I’m here Ed.” Sounded a voice beside Ed.

Ed turned to the source of the voice, and saw the old man he was cursing, Dumbledore, he was smiling at Ed.

“Finally! What took you so long?” Ed protested.

Dumbledore sighed at Ed’s behaviour, “Apologies Ed, I believe you know how a man such as myself is busy these days.” Answered Dumbledore.

Ed just shook his head and said, “Right, sorry, I’m just quite impatient lately.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve heard about your impulsiveness that day when you threatened Lucius Ed, he complained to me how Hogwarts is really bad at educating students in terms of manners.”

Ed snorted in dissatisfaction, “Manners? Is he talking about education when he was in Hogwarts? Because he’s the one that lacks manners that day.”

“In all honesty Ed,” Dumbledore said sharply, “You should control yourself of bringing up the past, the you now is not strong enough to face the entire pureblood families, the only thing that’s keeping you from dying is your family name Ed, otherwise, you’d already be dead.”

“I know, I know Professor, I know what I’ve done all right? I shouldn’t have said what I said back then, usually I can think clearly, but hearing Lucius was about to insult Hermione’s parents, my reflex kicked in.” relented Ed.

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes because of Ed’s description of the ruckus, and looked at the owl tattoo, and there he saw it, the circle. Ed, seeing this, instantly hides his hand.

“You chose family Ed?” asked Dumbledore softly.

“How do you know everything!?” questioned Ed roughly, “And well, yes, but actually no.”

“What do you mean?” asked Dumbledore, his eyes narrowed even more. He ignored the first question entirely.

“You won’t answer my question so I won’t answer yours,” Ed grumbled in dissatisfaction, “Now, can we go or not, you said you’re a busy man right?”

Dumbledore frowned, and stretched his hand to Ed, “Take my hand.” He spoke.

Ed took the old man’s hand and they instantly apparated to an alleyway, there, Dumbledore told Ed to follow him to a red telephone box nearby. The two entered the box, and Dumbledore pressed the buttons on the telephone.

“I never used this way to enter the ministry before.” Commented Dumbledore, “Should be fun.”

“Why not use a floo powder or something?” asked Ed curiously.

“You’re a guest Ed, so I can’t bring you using the worker route.” Explained the old man.

Ed just nodded, then Dumbledore spoke to the robotic voice that came out of the telephone, and the box moved down to the ground.

The box moved for a couple of minutes, then, they heard another robotic voice that said, 

"Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats."

Dumbledore got out of the lift, and said to Ed, “Come on Ed, follow me.”, he then followed the old man to an office, inside there’s a rather young woman that’s seating in front of the desk.

“Good morning.” Said Dumbledore while smiling.

“Good morning, reason for visit?” asked the young woman.

Dumbledore then gets out of Ed’s way and refers to him, “This young man here will be an exchange student to Beauxbatons, I already finished the administration, we’re just here to confirm it.”, the old man then gave the young woman some papers. She scanned the paper and stamped it.

“Very well, it has been verified, have a nice day.” Said the young woman while giving back the papers.

Dumbledore nodded to the young woman and the two got out of the office, after that, they walked to a rather spacious room with empty fireplaces. There’s a man guarding the room, when he saw Dumbledore and Ed, he instantly questioned them.

“State your business.” Said the man coldly.

“We’re here for an exchange program.” Said Dumbledore while handing the papers.

The man looked at the papers for a few minutes and confirmed the content of it, after that, he nodded to the two and led them to a specific fireplace.

“Go ahead.” The man said.

Dumbledore nodded and turned to Ed, “Ed, take the floo powder and say, ‘Beauxbatons’, understood?”

Ed nodded and grabbed a handful of the powder, he went inside the fireplace, he said the school’s name out loud, and threw the powder to his legs. The ground then sprouted green fire, enveloping Ed, but he didn’t feel anything, no burning sensation, no boiling pain, nothing, instead, when he collected his consciousness, he was greeted by a tall woman, as tall as Hagrid, if not taller than him and a couple of students with blue uniforms.

“Um, hello…” Ed greeted the woman timidly.

“Hello,” said the woman in a thick French accent “You must be the student that Master Flamel is dying to see.”

“Yes he is my dear Madam Maxine.” Said a voice behind Ed. He turned and saw Dumbledore smiling at the woman.

‘So this is Madam Maxine.’ Ed thought, ‘One big woman indeed…’

“Dumbledore.” Greeted Madam Maxine, she walked closer to Dumbledore and hugged her. “I hope you’re well?”

“I'm as healthy as your Abraxans Madam.” Answered the old man with a smile on his face.

“That’s good, let’s get the boy settled in, we will welcome you with a feast this evening.”

“Wow, I get welcomed with a feast?” asked Ed with amazement.

“Of course, you’re the first exchange student here in the 20th century, it is a feat that needs to be celebrated.” Said the woman proudly.

“Talk about French hospitality…” Ed mumbled to himself.

“Very well Ed, Madam Maxine, I need to go back to deal with the new students that will come to Hogwarts this evening.” Said Dumbledore apologetically. “I will come back after the feast at Hogwarts finishes, it should be faster there than here.”

“All right Dumbledore, see you this evening.” Said Madam Maxine while smiling.

Dumbledore nodded, and he suddenly brought out a small necklace and touched it, transporting him directly to Hogwarts.

“Why didn’t we use that to come here instead of using the ministry way?” complained Ed quietly.

“Let’s go, Ed is it?” Madam Maxine said.

Ed nodded and followed the woman through the corridors, the school was empty now except the students that escorted him, the rest haven’t come yet, it’s still morning after all.

All of them then stopped at a door laced with gold, there’s a sign beside the door that reads, ‘Nicolas Flamel’. Madam Maxine then knocked the door.

“Master Flamel, the boy is here.” Madam Maxine informed.

“Come in.” said an old muffled voice from inside.

Madam Maxine then opened the door, and Ed smelled peculiar things from inside the room, it was like the smell of a potions room, but more… nice he should say, there’s a smell of the usual ingredients of potions, but there’s also a smell of perfume and flowers, making it a bizarre combination.

He looked inside, the room was quite spacy, it is filled with interesting items, he can even see a pensieve in the corner of the room, which Ed was quite surprised of.

“Welcome,” said an old and frail voice, “You look similar to Darius, a handsome boy, with a touch of your mother’s elegance of course.”

“Um, thank you, Mr. Flamel…” said Ed awkwardly.

“You can leave us Olympe. We’ll be the one who will give him the tour.” Said another old and frail voice, this time it was a feminine voice.

Madam Maxine just nodded and exited the room with her pupils. Then Ed looked at the Flamel couple, they looked old, really old, Ed could even faintly smell the stench of death coming from them, even though he never really smelled the smell of death. The room was quiet, the three just stared at each other for a few minutes.

“Um,” said Ed, breaking the silence, “Dumbledore mentioned you want me to accompany you until your final rest?” he continued nervously, instantly regretting that he mentioned their inevitable death.

“Well, yes,” said the old woman, “we requested as much from Dumbledore, for him to make you some time so you can accompany us.”

Ed nodded, “Then what should I do, do you want to go somewhere? Do you want to go to the library? Dumbledore knows it so you must know it too.”

The old man smiled and shook his head, “No, Ed is it? We don’t want to go to the library, we’re past that point already.”

“Then what can I do for you?” asked Ed confusedly.

“Nothing.” The old man answered.

“Nothing? Then why am I here? Sorry if that sounds offensive.”

“It’s alright Ed, yes, nothing, but the question is, what can we do for you?”

“What?” Ed asked, a look of surprise can be seen on his face.

“You see Ed, as you know, we will die around Christmas, and we just need to sort our affairs in order.” Said the old woman.

“And one of the affairs is to your family.” Continued the old man.

“Um, my family? What does my family have to do with your affairs?”

“We owe a lot to your family Ed.” Said the old man, “We made a deal with them, if we ever die, we need to give our knowledge to the library.”

“Ah I see, in exchange for what?”

The old man just smiled, “In exchange for knowledge of course, knowledge for knowledge.”

“Knowledge?” questioned Ed, “You mean the Philosopher’s stone’s knowledge was from the library? But what about the other universes?”

“Oh no,” denied Nicolas, “I discovered that myself, I just wish to read the otherworldly knowledge from the library, in exchange, I will have to hand over the research to the family if we ever die.”

“You’re allowed to read books from other worlds books?  Damn, I’m not even allowed to read it.” Commented Ed with envy.

Perenelle chuckled, “That’s for good reason Ed, you must know your family’s situation.”

“Yes, I know, the question is, how do you know?” questioned Ed.

Nicolas sighed softly, “They came here first before exiting the world.”

“What? why?”

“Reminding us of the promise of course.” Answered Perenelle. After that, the room went silent again for a couple of minutes.

“And we will keep the promise,” said Nicolas, “But in the meantime, we will teach you the basics, but first you must ask yourself, what do you want to make using the knowledge we will give you.”

“What do I want?” asked Ed with confusion on his face.

Nicolas nodded, “Yes, what do you want to make? You don’t have to answer now but give us the answer tomorrow first thing in the morning. Now, let’s tour the grounds, this will be your home for the rest of the year after all.”

The three then toured the place, Ed went through the corridors, the palace had four floors, and the place was surrounded by gardens and lawns. And then there’s the Beauxbatons park, the middle of the park has a fountain that is gilded with gold, probably from the Flamels, he then went to the dining chamber, he can see ice-sculptures inside the chamber, ‘Is it like the soldier statue in Hogwarts? Can it be used for the school’s defence?’ Ed thought.

“It can.” Said Nicolas, as if knowing what Ed was thinking. “But it’ll probably be useless if the enemy is you, or someone that is a master at the ice element.”

Ed shook his head, “I’m not a master yet, I still can’t control the cursed-ice.”

“Well, the key is the word ‘yet’” said Nicolas, “It means you can still train it, unlike us who are on the edge of death.”

The room went quiet for a minute, the three just looked at the sculptures, admiring the craft. But Ed suddenly broke the silence with a question.

“Speaking of death,” said Ed while pondering if he should ask a question about it, but ultimately said, “Why? Why live for so long? The way I see you right now, you’re not really alive, but in a state of half-dead. frail body, slow walk, non-existent muscle. In the end, is it worth it? Living for so long?”

The old couple just smiled at the question, then Perenelle answered it, “you’re quite like your grandfather you know, instead of envying us, you pity us. And as for the question, we don’t really know what makes us think that living for this long is worth it. I suppose we want to see how we progress, from the oppressive and discriminating time we were born in, to this relatively peaceful time.”

Ed chuckled at the statement in the end, “Peace? This peace is just an illusion, a short break from another war.”

Nicolas nodded, “Yes, but it gave time for a younger generation to grow up without all the blood, it gave them a good childhood, once they have the taste of peace, they will fight like madmen to keep it.”

Perenelle sighed, and commented, “Talking with an Aldrich is always a bizarre experience, we’re talking to a twelve-year-old boy, but it felt like we’re talking to a man in his fifties.”

The three just chuckled, then the room went silent again, Ed thought about what the Flamels were saying, ‘see progress huh…’ Ed thought.

“I get it.” Said Ed, continuing the conversation, “I don’t fear death, but I’m always curious to see what the future will bring for the race. Muggles, wizards, magical creatures, the same thing, we live on the same planet. I want to see the planet progress, either progress to a better future, or to a darker one. Immortality is one of the ways to see that future I guess.”

Nicolas nodded to the statement, but then said, “Well, we can’t see that anymore, perhaps you can Ed.”

Ed shook his head, “While the concept of seeing what the future will bring is tempting, immortality has many flaws. If I were in your place I would’ve probably gone insane. Seeing people that I know grow old and die, and I’m alone left standing and alive, thinking about that makes me shiver.”

Perenelle sighed, “Yes, we’ve experienced that, but thankfully, we had each other.”

Ed looked at the two and smiled, “I wish I had a partner that can support each other at all times like you two.”

Nicolas just laughed, “You get your turn soon Ed,” Nicolas then signalling the other two to exit the room, “Come on, I’ll show you your room, you won’t live with the students, and we better get going now, the room will be decorated for the coming students.”

The three then exited the room, and Ed was led to a room near the Flamels’s office. The room looked normal, a bed, a drawer, a desk, a chair, and a window in front of the desk looking out to the garden. Ed put his suitcase beside the bed and just looked towards the window, admiring the view of the place.

A couple of hours went by, and the sky was already quite dark. Ed was still sitting beside the window, reading a book this time, about the Patronus charm this time. He then heard a neighing sound in the distance, he looked at the source of the sound, he saw a flying carriage, pulled by giant flying horses, nearing the palace. A couple of minutes later, the carriage landed, the horses were handled by capable handlers, and he saw that they gave the horse, Alcohol? ‘Weird horses…’ Ed thought. The carriage then opened; he saw students wearing blue silk uniforms flooded out of the carriage. While Ed was watching the students coming in, a knock can be heard from the door to his room.

“Ed, it’s me, it’s time for the feast.” Said an old man's voice, probably belonging to Dumbledore.

“Right, coming!” shouted Ed while closing the book he was holding. He walked to the door and opened it, and sure enough, it was Dumbledore.

“Hello Professor, any trouble at Hogwarts?” Ed asked while smiling.

Dumbledore sighed and said, “Your roommate Harry and Mr. Ronald Weasley flew an enchanted car to the school, and a couple of muggles saw it.”

Ed frowned, “What was his explanation?”

“They said that the platform was already closed, so they used Arthur Weasley’s car to go to school.” Dumbledore explained while walking to the dining chamber.

“So, Dobby is still trying to stop him from going to Hogwarts?” Ed mumbled to himself, but Dumbledore heard him.

“Dobby?” the old man asked.

“Hm? Oh, a house elf, you should be careful Professor, Lucius is planning something so you will be kicked out of the school.” Ed warned the white wizard.

Dumbledore smiled, “He cannot touch me Ed, as I recalled, I’m quite famous these days.” The old man said while stroking his long beard.

Ed sighed, “Anyway, you should be careful, as I recall, there’s a creature inside Hogwarts that can, in fact, kick you out of Hogwarts.”

“A creature?” Dumbledore frowned.

“A relic of the past.” Ed said vaguely, after that, they didn’t say anything anymore.

‘Dobby went against the order?’ Ed suddenly thought, ‘No, I didn’t specifically say that he shouldn’t prevent Harry from going to school did I? I just said that he shouldn’t hurt Harry, and to watch him.’ Ed sighed and gave up the thought.

A couple of minutes later, he arrived in front of the dining chamber, but he didn’t hear any noise, he only heard Madam Maxine talking in French. Dumbledore seeing Ed’s expression explained,

“This school is quite strict in terms of etiquette Ed; you should know those right? The Andrews told you I presume.”

Ed just nodded. And he heard the Madame Maxine saying in French that there’s a guest coming this semester, 

“I think that’s our cue.” Said Ed.

“You know French?” Dumbledore said, a look of surprise can be seen on his face.

“A little bit, when you said that I will be an exchange student, I started to learn the language.” Explained Ed while opening the door, he entered the room besides Dumbledore. He saw the students looking at them with curiosity, mostly at Dumbledore though, although he could see a couple of people looking at him, or rather, his glowing eyes with curiosity.

All of the students and professors are still standing, probably because of Madam Maxine, standing in the middle of everyone, Dumbledore then greeted Madam Maxine with a kiss on the hand, and Ed just bowed at the Headmistress.

“Students, please welcome the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.” Madam Maxine announced using French. The entire room clapped at the mention of Dumbledore’s name.

“And also, a Hogwarts student will be joining you all this year,” she said loudly once again, “He will be the last apprentice of Master Flamel, who will leave us this Christmas.” She continued, with a bit of a sad tone. Students didn’t murmur, they just showed a sad expression, and the Flamels in the Professor’s table just smiled at the scene.

“Please Welcome, Edgart Aldrich.” Said Madam Maxine, the students clapped, but it wasn’t as enthusiastic as before.

Madam Maxine then walked to Ed and whispered to him, “Monsieur Aldrich, you can sit there, beside that girl over there.” She pointed at a blond girl with green eyes, who looked at him curiously.

Ed nodded and thanked the Headmistress, “Merci Madame Maxine.” He bowed once again to the woman and walked to the table.

“Hello,” greeted Ed to the table, “Can I sit here?”

The table nodded in agreement, and Ed pulled the chair, but he was still standing, waiting for Madam Maxine to sit.

After Dumbledore and the Professors exchange pleasantries, Madame Maxine lets the students sit. She then made a speech about integrity and honesty of Witches and Wizards, which was quite boring, but everyone was listening to it attentively.

After that, just like Hogwarts, with one single word, Madame Maxine let us eat, and the food appeared on the table. The students then eat slowly and politely, unlike in Hogwarts. Ed can see the difference between the two schools, the Beauxbatons valued elegance and beauty, while Hogwarts values were… split because of the houses, on one side it valued bravery, another valued intelligence, another valued perseverance, and another valued cunningness and blood purity. In this school, they stand united instead of dividing the students.

Suddenly, a girl beside him asked in English with a thick French accent, “What year are you in?” 

Ed looked at the girl and answered in a rough French, “Oh, second year in Hogwarts.”

“Second year? Already becoming an apprentice of Master Flamel?” questioned a boy, in front of him this time, he can hear a small scoff, a scoff of envy and jealousy.

Ed just smiled at the boy, then the girl beside him suddenly released an invisible aura that seems to charm the boys around her, well, Ed blocked it using Occlumency, he looked at the girl, and he did a passive Legilimency at her, looking at her in the eyes, not breaking eye contact. He can see what she was thinking, she wants to test Ed using her ‘Aura’ and see if he really is good enough to be Flamel’s apprentice. Then he looked around and saw the boys looking at her with desire, which he just shook his head.

“Can you stop?” said Ed to the girl with a bit of annoyance in his tone, he spoke in English this time. “Look at the students around you.”

The girl realised this and stopped what she was doing, she looked around, and she saw the boys looking at her like she’s the love of their life, while the girls looked at her with contempt.

“How did you block it?” The girl asked Ed using English, “It doesn’t affect you at all, usually people with strong will resist it and you can see that they’re trying hard, but you simply acted like nothing happened.”

Ed smiled at the girl and said while gesturing a rainbow, “Magic.”

The girl scoffed and asked Ed, “What is your name?”

Ed raised his eyebrow and countered, “Isn’t it quite rude to ask someone’s name before introducing themselves?”

The girl frowned and introduced herself, “Fleur, Fleur Delacour.”

Ed hummed and introduced himself as well, “Edgart Aldrich, although I don’t know why you don’t know my name, because as I recall, Madame Maxine already introduced me in front of the people, or did you not listen to the Madame?”

Fleur answered dismissively, “I listened to Madame, your name is just too forgettable.”

“Sure, fair enough.” Said Ed, then he looked at the rest of the table to introduce himself again and asked their names. They just keep it short and simple, some even said in a bit of hostility, Ed didn’t know what’s going on, before thinking, ‘School rivalry? This is going to be a pain in the arse…’ Ed sighed.

After the feast, Ed slipped from the other students, he said goodbye to Dumbledore, and retreated to the suitcase, he sat in front of the fireplace, fidgeting his wand.

“Gilligan,” said Ed, on which the owl appeared beside him, “Do we have some sort of magic, or an artefact that can block the trace magic?”

Gilligan shook his head, “Although our Library is quite vast, we still lack a bit of stuff in there, we have a magic that can block the trace in a specific place, which is quite hard to do, but as far as I know, you just need to block yours, am I correct?”

Ed just nodded his head and questioned again, “You think Flamel can make an artefact that can block trace magic?”

“Possible, it was because of his alchemy knowledge that Edwyn made the deal after all, we lack a bit in that area.”

“Then I’ll ask him about that then.”, Ed then sighed, and slept on the sofa, since Hermione entered the suitcase, he became fond of sleeping on the sofa, although it’s quite a small space, the fireplace made it comfortable to sleep.

“All right then Gilligan, I’ll see you tomorrow.” The owl nodded and vanished.