DISCLAIMER: I OWN NEITHER HARRY POTTER NOR FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST!

Chapter Thirty-Nine

As Harry lay face down on the grass clutching Cedric and the Triwizard Cup, Winry ran down the stands to get to them. Meanwhile, Dumbledore turned Harry over.

"Harry!" Dumbledore said. "Harry!"

Harry looked up at Dumbledore. Harry could feel the vibrations in the ground from everybody running. He could see that he had come back to the edge of the maze; he could see the stands rising above him, the shapes of people moving in them, the stars above. He let go of the cup, but he clutched Cedric to him even more tightly. He raised his free hand and seized Dumbledore's wrist, while Dumbledore's face swam in and out of focus.

"He's back," Harry whispered. "He's back…Voldemort."

"What's going on?" the voice of Cornelius Fudge asked. "What's happened?"

He looked appalled at Harry and Cedric.

"My God - Diggory!" Fudge whispered. "Dumbledore - he's dead!"

"Edward!" Winry cried as she came running over. "Edward!"

Fudge caught hold of Winry before she could see Harry and Cedric. She struggled.

"Let me go!" Winry shouted.

"Edward isn't here!" Fudge said. "He's not here! Only Harry and Diggory are here!"

Winry stopped struggling.

"Then where's Edward?!" Winry demanded.

Fudge looked at Dumbledore.

"Harry," Dumbledore said after making Harry let go of Cedric, "where is Edward?"

"Don't know," Harry answered. "Gone…"

"Gone where, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Don't know," Harry said again.

"Harry, stay here," Dumbledore said.

Then Moody came.

"I'll take Harry, Dumbledore," Moody said. "I'll take him."

"No, I want him here," Dumbledore said.

"I need you to tell me where Edward is!" Winry demanded.

As Dumbledore and Fudge tried to console Winry and Amos, Moody took Harry to his office. Izumi, Sig, and Roy also came to the maze side.

"Where's Edward?" Roy asked.

"I don't know," Dumbledore said. "Harry said -."

"Where is he, Dumbledore?" Fudge asked.

Then Dumbledore signaled for McGonagall and Snape to follow him back to the castle.

"The Dark Lord and I," Moody said to Harry, looking insane, "have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers…very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Harry, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure…the very great pleasure…of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!"

"You're mad!" Harry exclaimed. "You're mad!"

"Mad, am I?" Moody asked. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him - and now - I conquer you!"

Moody raised his wand but wasn't able to do anything to Harry as Dumbledore had stunned him. Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall came into the office. McGonagall went to Harry as Dumbledore and Snape went to Moody.

"Come along, Potter," McGonagall whispered. "Come along…hospital wing…"

"No," Dumbledore said sharply.

"Dumbledore, he ought to - look at him - he's been through enough tonight!" said McGonagall.

"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand," Dumbledore explained. "That is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why."

"Moody," Harry said. "How can it have been Moody?"

Dumbledore explained that it wasn't Moody because Moody didn't ever disobey him.

Dumbledore got the flask and keys from Moody's robes and told Snape to get the strongest Truth Potion and Winky the house-elf and told McGonagall to get the black dog in Hagrid's pumpkin patch and bring him to Dumbledore's office. Snape and McGonagall went to do as told.

"What about Ed?" Harry asked. "Do you think he's…?"

"Brother isn't dead," Al said from the doorway.

Harry looked at the doorway as did Dumbledore.

"What did you say, Alphonse?" Dumbledore asked.

"Brother isn't dead," Al repeated. "He's in the hospital wing. I told Professor McGonagall to tell everyone. How is Cedric?"

Harry looked down.

"Oh," Al said before Dumbledore could say anything. "I'm sorry. Excuse me."

Then Al bowed and left back to the Hospital Wing. About twenty minutes later, Harry, Sirius, and Dumbledore were in Dumbledore's office as Harry explained what had happened in the graveyard and talked about the Priori Incantatem and Harry and Voldemort's wands and the echoes that had come out of Voldemort's wands.

"That foolish boy," Sirius said, referring to Ed. "But what could have caused him to disappear like that? I don't know of any magic like that."

"It is Alchemy," Dumbledore said. "Cedric was good in saving Edward's life."

"But we don't know - !" Sirius started.

"Ed is alive," Harry said. "Alphonse said so."

Dumbledore turned to Harry.

"I will say it again," Dumbledore said. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight, Harry. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it - and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace…Sirius, would you like to stay with him?"

Sirius nodded and turned back into a big black dog and walked with Harry and Dumbledore to the hospital wing. When Dumbledore pushed open the door, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione could be seen grouped around a harassed looking Madam Pomfrey demanding to know about what had happened to Harry. They all whipped around once Harry, Dumbledore, and Sirius entered.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley cried. "Oh, Harry!"

Dumbledore came in between Harry and Mrs. Weasley.

"Molly," Dumbledore said, holding a hand up, "please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him, you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."

"Did you hear?" Mrs. Weasley hissed at Bill, Hermione, and Ron. "He needs quiet!"

"Poppy," Dumbledore said before she could ask about Sirius, "how is Edward doing?"

"He will be fine," Pomfrey said. "He's resting right now."

They all looked to Ed, whose screens were no longer drawn around him, and saw Ed sleeping peacefully with Al, Winry, Roy, Izumi, and Sig around him. Dumbledore told Harry that he'd be back as soon as he had met up with Fudge.

"I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school," said Dumbledore, then leaving.

As Madam Pomfrey led Harry to a nearby bed, he saw the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. His wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedside table.

"Is he okay?" Harry asked.

"He'll be fine," Pomfrey said, giving Harry some pajamas and pulling screens around him.

Harry undressed and then dressed into the pajamas and got into bed. A few minutes later, he was asleep. An hour later, Ed woke up. He bolted up in bed, but grunted in pain as he clutched his chest.

"Edward!" Winry said. "You're awake!"

Everyone, except for Sirius, in the room went to Ed.

"How are you feeling?" Izumi asked.

"Where am I?" Ed asked. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you would tell us," Roy said.

Ed looked down and then at everyone.

"How did I get here?" Ed asked. "Where's the graveyard?"

"You don't know how you got here, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No," Ed answered. "I just remember trying to fight Mal-fart's daddy and then a bright light."

Before anything else could be said, Fudge and McGonagall could be heard arguing at each other.

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva," Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.

Harry woke up and pushed his screens aside and put his glasses back on.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said, going to Harry.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"You should have never brought it inside the castle!" yelled McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out - !"

The doors burst open and everyone stared at the door. Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.

"He's not here, Minister," Izumi said, her arms crossed over her chest as Fudge looked at her. "This is a hospital. You should be more quiet."

Before Fudge could say anything, Dumbledore opened the door and came sweeping up the ward.

"What has happened?" Dumbledore asked, looking from Fudge to McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch."

"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" McGonagall shouted, angrily. "The Minister has seen to that!"

"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," Snape said, in a low voice, "he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch - ."

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" McGonagall fumed. "I told him that you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but - !"

"GET TO THE POINT!" Ed shouted.

Everyone started and looked at him. McGonagall flushed and continued.

"It performed the Kiss on Barty Crouch!" McGonagall said, trembling all over.

"What does that mean?" Al asked. "Is it bad?"

"Yes, it's bad, Al," Ed said. "The dementor clenches its teeth on the victim's mouth and sucks out their soul. It leaves the body as a lifeless shell."

"They eat it?" Al squeaked.

"Something like that," Ed said.

"By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"

"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," Dumbledore reasoned. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."

"Why he killed them?" Fudge blustered again. "Well, that's no mystery, is it? He's a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"

"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."

Fudge tried to deny that Voldemort wasn't back, but Dumbledore told Fudge about what Barty Crouch had said. Fudge ridiculed the words from Barty.

"When Harry and Edward touched the Triwizard Cup, they were both teleported straight to Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "I will explain it all to you in my office, but I cannot permit you to question Harry or Edward."

"You believe those boys?" Cornelius asked.

"Of course I do," Dumbledore said.

"I know what's wrong," Ed said. "You've been reading that hack job, Rita Skeeter."

Everyone looked at Ed again.

"Brother, you need to rest up," Al said. "Don't strain yourself. You're hurt."

"I'm fine, Al," Ed brushed off.

"If I have?" Cornelius asked, his face red. "If I've found out that you're a spy, that you disrespect your teachers, you have fights! And Harry can speak to snakes and having funny turns all over the place - !"

"I assume that you are referring to the pains that Harry has been experiencing in his scar?" Dumbledore said coldly.

"You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" Fudge said quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly - hallucinations?"

"Listen to me, Cornelius," Dumbledore warned. "Harry and Edward are as sane as you or I, and Edward is no spy. That scar upon Harry's forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."

Before Fudge could say anything, Ed spoke up.

"Whether you want to believe it or not, Harry and I saw Voldemort come back from whatever he was," Ed said. "He tortured me with that Cruci-whatever curse. He wanted to kill me too, so did Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew."

"Peter Pettigrew is dead!" Fudge said. "Sirius Black killed him!"

Sirius growled at Fudge.

"Cedric Diggory saved my life, Chocolate," Ed said.

"Fudge!" Cornelius corrected.

"Whatever!" Ed said. "The point is that Cedric Diggory pushed me out of the way of that rat guy's killer beam! You need to accept that Voldemort is back and probably badder than ever!"

"Edward is right, Cornelius," Dumbledore said.

A few minutes of arguing later, Cornelius Fudge stormed out after putting the winnings on Harry's bedside table. Dumbledore turned to look at the group in the room.

"There is work to be done," Dumbledore said. "Colonel Mustang, can I trust you not to tell Fuhrer Bradley? We don't need a war."

"Don't worry, Professor, I won't tell him," Roy said. "I was going to tell him that Edward is requesting another year off."

"I am?" Ed asked.

"Yes, you are, Edward," Roy said. "You like being here, and Alphonse is going to join this school. That is if Mrs. Curtis agrees to it."

"I have no choice," Izumi said. "Hogwarts is the safest place to be at."

"Good," Dumbledore said, then looking at Mrs. Weasley. "Molly…am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"

"Of course you can," Mrs. Weasley assured. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."

"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," Dumbledore said. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."

"I'll go to Dad," Bill volunteered, standing. "I'll go now."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry - ."

"Leave it to me," Bill said.

He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder, kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, and strode quickly from the room.

"Minerva," Dumbledore said, turning to McGonagall. "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also - if she will consent to come - Madame Maxime."

McGonagall nodded and left without a word.

"Poppy," Dumbledore said to Pomfrey, "would you be very kind and go to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."

"Very - very well," Pomfrey said, then leaving.

A few minutes later, Sirius turned back to himself and reluctantly shook hands with Snape. He was ordered to contact some people, and he left. Then Snape was ordered to do something and left as well.

"I must go downstairs," Dumbledore said. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry, take the rest of the potion. I will see you all later."

"Professor," Ed said.

"Yes, Edward?" Dumbledore asked.

"Will you tell them…?" Ed started, his voice trembling.

Dumbledore went to Ed and put a hand on Ed's shoulder.

"Do not worry, Edward," Dumbledore said. "I will tell them."

Then Dumbledore left the room.

"You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry," Mrs. Weasley finally said, nudging the sack of gold on his bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while…think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!"

"I don't want that gold," Harry said in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Ed can have it."

"I don't want it, either, Harry," Ed said. "I have enough money. Besides, it belongs to Cedric's family."

"It wasn't your fault, boys," Mrs. Weasley said.

"It was my idea for us all to take it," Ed said.

"Edward, stop it," Roy said. "None of you knew what was going to happen. Don't try to be a martyr, Ed."

"He's right, none of you knew what would happen," Sig said. "Just be grateful that he saved your life. Harry, you be grateful that you knew him for so long. You will have pain, but over time, you will learn to cope with it."

A few minutes later, Hermione slammed her hand down on the windowsill and got a hold of something. She apologized. Harry drank the rest of the potion and fell asleep instantly.

"Edward, go to sleep, okay?" Winry asked.

"I can't," Ed said.

Pomfrey came in a moment later and got Ed some potion and gave it to him. She ordered him to drink it and he was asleep in seconds.