Fullmetal Wizard | Chapter 35

Ed cleared his throat, looked up a the upper bench, and set his jaw in a stubborn line. "I couldzn't breathe. Then." Ed's face changed in that moment. It was mostly his eyes. The molten fire that was usually there was suddenly gone, dulling his golden eyes to a kind of bronze-brown. Fine lines appeared around them, like he was strained by the bearing of an enormous weight. By his eyes alone, Ed looked like something impossibly ancient.

"..I saw...my vorst memzory. vReal as you people are being before me now. I vas vreaching out..to. To zomevone in zit, and mys handz brushed againzt zomezthing zolid that I couldn't zee. KOLD to touch. Tch. Damn it! Kold iz in vrite vord..!"

Ed fisted his gloved hands on his thighs, eyes flicked down. He then frowned, then looked back up to the bench. The fire in his eyes returned in that glare, eyes once again that brilliant gold.

"But ...I hadz target from zat touch, zo ztruck az hardz az I kould. It vasn't done with vreal thought... and it vasn't enough...! I just knowz it vasn't. I don'tz remembers the hit against alleyvall I took. I vas out for..mebe few zecondz? Minute? I voke vith dis lady here beside me helping me to my feet from vere I landed on ground. Dis...burn..at my neck. And I found vas very ill."

"Burn...you say?" Madam Bones said loudly.

"We shall present it to you now." Dumbledore said. "It should leave you no doubt as to what was in Little Whinging that night. Edward?"

"If I am vone taking it off, I am knowing I will be scratching it bloody....Tch. Could you...?"

"Of course." Dumbledore said.

Ed nodded and looked down, then stood. He tilted his chin back so that it looked as though he were looking fully at the ceiling. In clear view, just above the sweater collar, was the white bandage, taped in place at the front of Ed's neck. Ed's gloved left hand rose nearly to the bandage, fingers flexing. Ed made a fist instead, and with effort, lowered the hand back to his side.

"TcheeaH!!!...Be quick." Ed said, clencing his teeth, squinting his eyes shut.

Dumbledore stood and walked in front Ed a moment. He flicked his wand in a offhand gesture, one that could be mistaken for any number of things by Muggle eyes. He then pocketed the wand, and reached for the tape at Ed's neck. It took but a moment to remove, and the noise sounded much like the tearing of crisp paper. Then Dumbledore stood back and to the side, white bandage held lightly in one hand.

The muttering began in the bench above, like several furious whispered arguements all at once.

Curious, Harry looked at the burn himself, as he really hadn't seen it much at all.

Overall, the burn was an angry red-brown color at its edges, looking like what Harry remembered an infected cut would. White, spider web-like lines crisscrossed their way over the top of it, nearly forming something like a thin crust, and Harry could see many small, yellowish blisters beneath that. There were splashes of purples, greens, and even a few deep blues. The thing that stood out the most for Harry, however, was its overall shape.

It looked exactly like the thin, emancipated hand of a dementor, as if it were still gripping Ed by the throat. Harry could clearly make out all of the thin digits etched in Ed's tender skin.

Harry rubbed his own throat, remembering well that he too, was being held firm in the air by the same creature that had held Ed. As he watched, Ed's hands shook slightly, fingers flexing. He heard Ed say something in that language of his, loudly, and with venom through his gritted teeth. Dumbledore replied in that same language in gentle tones, and replaced the bandage with a quick effiency that Harry hadn't seen him perform before.

Once he was finished, the wand flicked out and was replaced back into his robes. Ed sighed and lowered his chin, rubbing the bandage once more with his gloved left hand, relief showing clearly on his face. He closed his eyes a moment, then sat down once again. When Ed looked up at the bench above, the expression on his face looked to Harry as if he were daring them to say something, anything, to give him the excuse to pound the lot of them to the dirt.

"Thank you, Mr. Elric." Madam Bones said in her loud voice. "For your testimony."

Ed nodded slightly. Dumbledore handed him the blindfold and earmuffs. Ed looked to them, sighed, and rolled his eyes. He then dutifully put them on, and Dumbledore replaced the dark bag over his head.

Mrs. Figg, the forgotten, fearfully glanced first at Fudge, then to Dumbledore.

She then nervously grabbed for Ed's gloved right hand, but he quickly exchanged it with his gloved left. Now firmly holding her elbow, Ed got up from the chair. The two of them then shuffled out of the courtroom; the door closing behind them both with a loud boom.

Harry heard someone above him in the bench whisper "oblivate at once"...But couldn't catch sight of who had said it. He found himself worried. For the first time that day, it was not for himself.

If there was one thing Ed knew he hated, it was when he smelled a rat. Blind folded, he let himself be lead by the kind, but frumpy-looking lady that had lead him to the safety of the Dursleys; however, he did not relax. He thought of the mockery of a hearing he had just seen...and smelled a rat.

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