Albus’ first thought on seeing the article in The Daily Prophet was, “Oh dear.” He knew the rest of his day, if not the week, was going to be engaged in damage control.
It was actually a rather fair article for the Equestrians, considering the author. She called them polite, nice, and simple. Her comments on watching the pegasi move clouds for weather were pretty entertaining, as were her remarks to their disbelieving reactions that weather on the wizard-side of the portal was all left to chance.
Her only real complaint was that they kept referring to their homeland as Equestria and not Atlantis. Her comment that they obviously kept the night-sky behind a façade so no one could find them struck a chord with him. If they were going to hide their true location from the muggles, it only made sense to do the same for wizardkind. They wouldn’t want to leave clues for any dark wizards to use to find them.
It would take a great deal of magic to do it, but he had a feeling that Discord was more than up to the task, if he wanted. Considering the charms used on the ceiling of the Great Hall, it wouldn’t be that much of a change to get them to display whatever one wanted instead of merely the sky. And a mild notice-me-not would prevent anyone from examining what was happening any too closely.
And now that he thought about it, if Atlantis was actually underground, their “sky” could be the charmed rock ceiling! That would explain how the Princesses could fool the muggles so easily! They were manipulating images of the sun, moon, and stars on the roof of their cavern. It would still take a great deal of magical power to control and move the facsimiles of the sun and moon, but it was possible, in theory. One would have to have a viewing station on the surface to capture the sun’s rays and heat, but that would be a trivial thing to hide. If one had enough magic, it could even be high in the sky, above interference from clouds that might block the sun or moon.
Their raising and lowering of the relevant bodies was simply using magic to reveal and hide the reflected celestial body in question. Once the object was hidden from view, they could shuttle it to the other side of the cavern for the next day or night.
And being underground would certainly explain why they had to control the weather. In a cave, the weather would be static and unchanging, otherwise.
He looked out the window and wondered how hard it would be to fake the sun in the sky. He took out his wand and considered what he knew of remote viewing. He summoned a hand-sized crystal from his shelf. He studied it for several moments. It was a trinket whose function was no longer needed. He closed his eyes and concentrated. With a swish, he swung his wand and the crystal shot out of the room into the sky, using the Owl Mail port.
He summoned another crystal, only a tad smaller than the first. He held his wand over it and murmured a spell. The room was suddenly flooded with light, blinding him at first, as if he were looking directly at the sun. Which, he was.
Well. That proved the concept.
But the light would fail as soon as the sun crested the horizon. Not a useful replacement for a candle at night. But an excellent way to illuminate the rooms and dungeons during the day, even if it was cloudy outside.
But he could feel the pull on his magic as the crystal globe went ever higher. Holding it steady hundreds of yards straight up would be strenuous after several hours. One or two of those would be quite taxing for the average wizard.
But runes might be able to fix that.
He would need to mention this to Filius, Bathsheda, and Septima. Between the three of them, they should be able to come with a workable solution. If they could, then Hogwarts could use the galleons freed for supplies other than candles.
He went back to The Daily Prophet.
The next article in the newspaper was a problem, however. She dealt a lot of criticism towards the Ministry for allowing the Atlanteans to come out in such a huge manner — an Embassy! — to the muggles. And they considered the muggles just as important as wizardkind? The very idea! Muggles as good as wizards? Nonsense! The Atlanteans should be devoting their trade efforts to the wizards! Wizardkind had far more to offer than mere, insignificant muggles.
As he had feared, she was fanning the flames of alarm, as she went on to claim that the Atlanteans were clearly violating the Statute of Secrecy, and violating it on a huge scale. Not that she blamed them, oh, no. It wasn’t their fault that the Ministry was ignoring them. That fault she laid at the feet of the Ministry. And she didn’t mind naming names, of which Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge was frequently featured.
What was worse, at least to Rita, was that the Equestrians were implying that many of wizardkind’s advances were their very own. Not that they had a choice. They couldn’t say they had received those things from the wizards. If they did, that would have also violated the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy, and revealed wizardkind. Which they were trying to obey, now that they knew of it.
And she used what she had seen in a hospital near the portal to support her outrage. A hospital treating muggles! She had seen skele-gro and other potions in use, as well as recognized some of the spells.
Not that the muggles had realized it was magic in action. Which was almost lost in the article.
He sighed and stroked his beard. He had had a long talk with Cornelius about the Atlanteans, and how their contact with the muggles was a blessing in disguise.
All for naught, it seemed. The gormless wizard would quickly give in to the storm of protest this article would foster.
Right on cue, his floo lit up and he heard the Minister’s voice, “Are you there, Headmaster? You must come to my office immediately!”
He sighed. “Yes, I hear you, Cornelius. Give me a moment to advise Minerva.”
“Excellent!”
He sent off his patronus to his Deputy, then floo’d to the Ministry.
While a very few selected floo’s in the Ministry allowed outgoing calls and transport, incoming messages and visitors had to go through the main entrance. A mild inconvenience that delayed the Headmaster’s arrival.
The secretary greeted Albus as he came into her office on the first level, “Oh, Headmaster! Go right in, they’re waiting for you.”
He nodded an acknowledgement and opened the inside office’s door. Of course they were waiting for him, the Minister had just floo’d him. As soon as the wizard entered the room, Cornelius turned to him and started complaining.
“Can you believe those foreigners!” he shouted, brandishing a copy of The Daily Prophet. “They’re ignoring us! They aren’t telling us anything! And they’re breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy!”
Beside his desk was Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and the detestable Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge. Dolores, in pink, naturally, bore a look of professional indignation while the wizard merely looked on approvingly. Whatever was going on, he had obviously been an architect of it.
To one side, and calmly watching, were Aurors John Dawlish and Rufus Scrimgeour.
“Now Cornelius,” Albus started calmingly, as the door closed automatically behind him, “we discussed this last week. The Equestrians are doing magic in plain view, yes, but they have disguised it as ‘advanced technology.’ Which, surprisingly, the muggles have accepted without question. There isn’t a single muggle who suspects that what the Equestrians are doing is magic and that there must be wizards and witches hiding in England who can do it, too. And, therefore, they are not in violation of the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy,”
“But they are conducting muggles through the portal! Muggles! And curing them with magic! We can’t have that! The muggles are clever, they’ll figure it out. Then where will we be?” He slammed the newspaper onto his desk, knocking some papers on the floor.
Albus had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He stroked his beard, instead.
Lucius had a small sympathetic smile while Umbridge turned a deeper shade of red. She shared his outrage, and nodded in agreement with her superior.
“And they’re working with the muggle government. They aren’t working with us at all. And we’re in the dark! We won’t know anything is going wrong until it is too late!” He took a breath. “They don’t understand how cunning the muggles can be. If we aren’t helping them handle the muggles, they’ll make mistakes and reveal us! The Atlanteans don’t understand! We must be there to guide them.”
The Minister was becoming involved in his wobbly. If it continued, next he would start stomping his feet for emphasis.
“We need the muggle in charge, the, the . . . Prim?” he glanced at Malfoy who gave a subtle nod, “. . . Minister to turn things over to us. The Atlantean’s must go through us first before they do any more damage,” he concluded indignantly, huffing.
He turned to Malfoy. “Uh, right?” he asked timidly.
Albus had to admire how Malfoy resisted face-palming. It was clear who had orchestrated this meeting and anxiety in the Minister.
“I’m sure,” the Headmaster said soothingly, “that things are nowhere near as dire as you think.” He gestured at the paper. “Even Rita admits the muggles suspect nothing.”
“AHEM!” interrupted the Senior Undersecretary. “Which is why we need to act now, before anything does go wrong!” she said stiffly, her face lost some of its redness. She glared at him, daring him to contradict her.
Lucius looked on, his languid posture demonstrated his approval.
“It won’t be that difficult,” she unctuously continued, glancing at the minister. “A few compulsions charms, a few obliviates, and we can still make things right. We can regain control.”
She gestured to the paper. “It’s clear from Miss Skeeter’s article that the Atlanteans are nothing more than especially clever unicorns and pegasi. They might even be as smart as house-elves. We’ll just put them under the control of Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.” She smiled at her cleverness. “And then we’ll be able to control the gems and gold that go through the portal,” she concluded, smiling contentedly, convinced her arguments had to have persuaded him.
For a moment, Albus had a horrible vision of how Princess Luna might react on meeting Dolores and hearing her plans. And her opinions. And what Discord might do?
He sighed, and conjured up an armchair. “We need to carefully consider the issues at hand.” He made ready to sit down. “There are things of which you do not know.”
“There’s really nothing to discuss,” said Dolores primly. “We need to be . . . involved. We are the Ministry of Magic, after all.”
Cornelius turned to the floo. “I’ve already told the muggle minister we were meeting him today about the Atlanteans.” He turned to Rufus and gestured hurriedly. “Which is why I asked you to join us.”
Clearly, he thought the Headmaster supported him.
Auror Rufus turned and grabbed some floo powder, threw it into the floo. “Prime Minister’s Office,” he barked. He stepped into the green flames and disappeared. Auror Dawlish followed him. He had his wand out, but they were visiting a muggle. His relaxed attitude showed that he didn’t expect any problems.
Resigned, Albus sighed and vanished his chair.
Lucius stood. “Well, this is ministry business and I have other things I must attend to.” He nodded to the Minister. “Good day, Cornelius, Dolores, Albus,” he said as he headed for the door.
Cornelius nodded back and gave a distracted, “good bye,” before he exited through the floo.
The office door closed behind Malfoy.
Albus shook his head as he quietly followed Dolores. Perhaps he could ease things, keep everyone calm, and prevent a total disaster.
The Prime Minister’s office wasn’t a large room, but it was large enough for the six newcomers.
He was at first startled to see Ambassador Blueblood was present, seated, with another man standing in the corner behind him. But then he realized it made sense. Of course the Prime Minister would notify the Equestrians. Especially if he had had any advance warning. Telly phones made it a simple matter. And with teleportation, it wouldn’t have taken long for the Equestrian to arrive.
Blueblood had probably had as much warning as had Albus. With a lot less walking.
Cornelius and Dolores were staring at the two strangers in surprise.
Albus quickly moved to take control. “Ambassador Blueblood,” he said moving forward to shake hands.
The Ambassador looked at him quizzically, but stood. “Chief Warlock Dumbledore!” he said warmly. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon after the Ball.” They shook hands. “Is something wrong?” he asked, glancing at the others.
The Prime Minister remained seated.
“No, no,” said Albus, stepping back. “Just a bit of a misunderstanding by Cornelius.” He took a quick look around.
The two Aurors had moved into the corners of the room, making themselves inconspicuous and yet able to watch everything. Just as the man he didn’t know was doing. The three were watching each other closely.
His glasses let him see that there was someone, no, a pony, standing quite still under an invisibility cloak on top of the credenza at the back of the room. And there was a charm on the rug that covered the floor. He blinked. The other wizards would be caught flat-footed if things went pear-shaped.
“Ah,” the Ambassador said, and turned to the man seated at the desk, “Prime Minister, I don’t know if you’ve met Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore, the head of the Wizaengamot, the wizarding equivalent of parliament.” He turned back to the wizard. “Albus, I’d like to introduce you to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Major.” The man behind the desk stood and held out his hand.
Albus stepped forward again and they shook hands, exchanging pleasantries.
An annoyed, “AHEM!” came from behind them.
The Headmaster smiled and said, “Ambassador Blueblood, Prime Minister Major, I’d like to introduce Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge and his Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge,” he said, introducing them. Cornelius and Dolores merely frowned.
“Although,” he said to Major, “I’m sure you already know Minister Fudge.”
The Prime Minister and Ambassador nodded to each of the wizard and witch as they were mentioned.
Major and Blueblood sat back down. The Prime Minister gestured at the chairs in the room. “Please, be seated.” There were already two chairs in front of the Prime Minister’s desk, but another slid into place beside them. The two Ministry of Magic officials looked surprized at the movement. They slowly sat down, wondering who had cast the magic without them seeing a wand.
Cornelius looked discomfited, unsure of how he had lost control of the situation.
“Now, then,” continued Prime Minister Major, “What seems to be the problem?”
Minister Fudge looked uncomfortable and glanced at Albus, then his Undersecretary. “It’s about the Atlanteans.” He hesitated at Blueblood’s bored stare.
After a moment’s silence, Dolores plunged in, “You shouldn’t be dealing with the Atlanteans,” she sternly reprimanded the muggle. “They are magical creatures and as such are our area of interest.” She glanced at the Equestrian. “They made a mistake in approaching you, the poor dears. They approached you in ignorance. They didn’t know any better, how could they?” she said disparagingly, “Can’t really blame them for that, they are ponies and not people, after all.” She glanced dismissively at the Ambassador, whose eyebrows had steadily climbed as she spoke.
“It was a clear violation of the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy,” she lectured. “We should have been involved from the beginning. We are here to correct that.” She smirked. “If you would provide us with a list of the officials the Atlanteans have approached, we’ll take care of everything for you. Then you can go back to your little problems. You won’t have to worry about magic or the Atlanteans at all.” She waved a hand contemptuously. She smiled at him as would a parent at an errant child they wanted to cooperate, glancing at Cornelius for his approval to her statements.
He nodded, once more reassured of his mission.
Albus sighed and shook his head.
Blueblood and Major exchanged glances.
“Excuse me,” the Ambassador said frostily, and sat up straight. “But when we first came through the portal, you were nowhere in evidence. We did not see a wizard or witch anywhere in sight. Nor did any wizard or witch approach us. That was not our fault, but yours. You should have come to investigate the magic immediately, when you first detected it.” He gave the wizards and witch a disapproving look.
“What we did see, however, were the people who lived around the portal — and none of them knew of people who could do magic. Magic users, as far as we could tell, did not exist. So, we started doing business with the people we had met. We started buying land and buildings with the intent to establish an embassy. And you were still nowhere in evidence. Perhaps someone was not doing their job at your Ministry.”
He glared at them down his nose. “To us,” he said snobbishly, “this was a unique opportunity. A whole civilization to explore. One completely unlike our own. We rapidly discovered there were many things that were common here that we had never thought of.” He glanced at Major. “And there were many things we could do that they could not. It only seemed natural to trade. We developed an entire strategy on what we wanted to do, to trade for useful science, art, and technology. Hundreds of our best people were involved in that planning.”
Dolores was turning red. The Ambassador’s tone was clearly not to her liking.
Blueblood narrowed his eyes, slightly, still glaring at them.
“And then we received a visitor.” He sniffed his disdainfully. “A woman arrived at the door of the home we had purchased, and claimed to be a witch. She said she was the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. She had letters for three children living in our home.” Which meant that they must have been there for quite some time.
Cornelius looked at the Headmaster. He nodded genially. Dolores continued to glare at Blueblood balefully. She had crossed her arms and stared at him through narrowed eyes.
“She told us of this International Statute of Secrecy.” He said scornfully. “And how we were expected to comply with it.” He gave them a condescending smile.
“We had already bought thousands of books about this new world, and had quickly read them. Nowhere, in any of them, had there been mention of a society of wizards and witches. Although we had looked for such. We couldn’t believe there was a magic world where people could not manipulate the magic. We did read, however, what the people here thought of magic in general, and of what happened to people who were accused of commanding it.” He frowned darkly.
“We found those accounts deeply unsettling. So, we took great care to hide what magic we did. But we continued to pursue our trade goals. Magic did not need to be mentioned or used in that effort, so it wasn’t. Which, it so happened, was in accordance with your . . . Statute . . . we later discovered.”
He leaned forward slightly. “But the booklet Deputy Headmistress McGonagall left us, put us in a peculiar position.” He looked up at the invisible person at the back of the room. “The booklet said we could not tell non-magicals — muggles, I believe you call them — about magic, because every wizarding nation in the world had signed onto this . . . Statute of Secrecy.”
His expression hardened. “But Equestria,” he emphasized that word heavily, “has never signed that agreement. Nor is there anything like it in Equestria. The very idea of penalizing people for using magic in the open is incomprehensible to us, there. You might as well pass a law punishing people for breathing. And it would accomplish just as much.
“But we could understand why it existed, in view of the books we had read.
“And while the Statute says that every country is responsible for the magic inside its borders, the portal is now on embassy grounds. And, as such, it is no longer considered a legal part of England. Which removes it from your jurisdiction. By your own laws.”
He continued icily. “As to us including you in our negotiations with the non-magicals, your International Code of Wizarding Secrecy has nothing to say on that if the negotiations do not involve discussions of magic. In addition, in a contract negotiation between a magical and a non-magical where magic is not discussed, involving the Ministry is not required by English Ministry of Magic laws.” He smirked. “Otherwise a Ministry official would have to be present every time a wizard, witch, squib, or Hogwarts student bought groceries, clothes, or anything else outside of Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. And you would have to fine or jail them if the official was absent. On the other hand, your laws specifically exempt non-magicals who have already been introduced to magic.” He smiled genially.
“Such as the non-magical parents of magical students.”
He leaned back into his chair with a bored expression. “We have not displayed or used magic in front of any . . . muggle . . . who did not already know about magic.” He nodded at John Major, “Such as the Prime Minister, who mentioned wizards when he met with Princess Celestia. And then he told selected members of his Ministry about magic.”
He smiled widely. “And that does not break your Statute, either. As a non-magical, he is free to tell whomever he wants about magic, without penalty. Once he tells someone about it, your laws allow us to freely to discuss magic with them. The International Code of Wizarding Secrecy says so, too. The Statutes only concern with muggles is if, on meeting a wizard or witch, they attempt to reveal your hidden society. As long as they do not endanger the Statute, they are left alone.
“Penalties are imposed only if a magical person discusses magic with a non-magical person who did not already know about it. Except under special circumstances, of course.”
Cornelius was listening, shocked that the Ministry’s prepared arguments were so thoroughly being destroyed. Dolores was red with rage, but listening closely, waiting for her chance at a rebuttal.
“You might not appreciate us trading with the non-magicals, but we have done nothing to breach the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy, nor break any of your laws.”
“And, for your information, since you seem to not know it, in the last six months, we have had two separate interactions with your Ministry of Magic. The first was to have a floo connection established in August. The second was with the Department of Magical Accidents, also in August, when they finally noticed all the magical activity at the house we owned. And they merely warned us to make sure no one unauthorized ever saw us do magic there, and said they would revise their records to say our home, and the land we had purchased, was a magical estate.”
He shrugged. “The Ministry of Magic has clearly known about us, and our magic, for at least six months. And ignored us completely beyond those two incidents. We assumed you were not interested in us at all. So, we concentrated our efforts on the non-magicals for trade. They, at least, were eager to know about our world.”
He glared at them, “To now suggest that we have somehow impugned your honour by ignoring you, or your laws, is beyond the pale.”
Dolores stared at him for several moments. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous! You are magical creatures, you are in England, and therefore you are under our jurisdiction. And he is a muggle. You will do as you are told by the Ministry, or suffer the consequences. Aurors, stun them,” she ordered.
Albus, alarmed at her tone, had already shot his wand into his hand. He turned to the Aurors, who were bringing up their wands. He intended to stun them before something happened that they would all regret.
The charm in the rug flashed. Suddenly, he couldn’t move. He felt both disapparition and anti-portkey wards flare up. No one could move, not even the wizard in the portrait on the wall beside the Prime Minister’s desk, who was listening and watching with alarm evident in his expression.
The only ones who could move were the Prime Minister, who leaned forward, and the Ambassador, who leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. Albus concentrated hard, and felt the charm give way. He slowly turned back to the Prime Minister. The man in the corner was pointing a pistol and a wand at him. He was sure the pony behind him was a unicorn and prepared for a magical fight.
The Prime Minister shook his head. “That was monumentally stupid,” he said, drily. Blueblood just sighed and looked out the window.
The pony on the credenza had apparently climbed down. Now a man, he was collecting wands. He did not approach the Headmaster for his wand. Nor did he move between Albus and the man with the wand and gun. In fact, even as he removed the others’ wands, he kept his eyes on the old wizard.
A commendable and prudent action, Albus thought, even if it was inconvenient for the Headmaster.
۸-_-۸
Dolores...YOu done Bucked up
did they just attempt to attack a member of equestria royalty/ an ambassador wow the stupidity here is fucking majestic such a rare breed of stupidity and something i could see dolores doing the moron
Whelp, Dalores you have now fucked up.
So is umbridge going to be arrested now and charged with attacking a foreign ambassador by the equestrians now
Perhaps she could be issued a ban from all equestrian soil for her attack including the embassy so if she decides to be an idiot again she gets extradited and sent to the dungeons
Plus the leaps of logic Dumbledore is grasping thinking that equestria sin still on earth
I believe this is warranted:
I have no amount of love for Blueblood but i have even less for Dolores Jane Umbrage. And they way Blueballs deconstructed Dolores argument was both epic and thoroughly researched. If Umbrage ever turns up in Equestria for any reason, she is bound to be in for a culture shock. (I'm hoping it gives her a rather fatal cardiac infarction.)
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Blueblood's not actual royalty, but I think that hardly matters in this case.
On top of that, they initiated hostilities within Britain's government building in presence (and against) the Prime Minister as well. At the behest of wizarding Britain's "government".
This is, frankly, easily an act of war if either Equestria or Britain decide to press it as such.
There is no describing the colossal amounts of fuckup that was just committed by the wizards. I mean, it was practically a given the toad known as Umbridge would make a mess of things when she showed up, but I don't think anyone could have predicted just how enormous and potentially far-reaching that mess would be.
It's good for us readers though. Not so much for the Ministry ... who are now, frankly, at the complete mercy of whatever Equestrians and Britain decide is the appropriate response.
I can't wait for the next chapter!
I'm thinking Lucius used Dolores and the minister as sacrificial goats. Stake them out and see what eats them and if it's something that can be dealt with, or if it would be better to pretend that he is "I am shocked. Shocked, I say, that the minister could be so racist and arrogant."
Not as much as you might think, considering the Princess of Books has already acquired every book she can get her hooves on.
Oh my god, when you had Fudge and Umbridge floo to the Prime Minister's office with the intent to to mind wipe the mundanes and seize control of the ponies, it was like watching a train head full speed into a wall. I love your use of Blueblood here, by the way. I'm not exactly a fan of the character in general, but your use of him as a shrewd, if somewhat standoff-ish diplomat is immensely entertaining. Especially this scene. We need to get Luna on the scene to exert some not-so-subtle pressure/posturing here. Something needs to demonstrate why this happening again would be incredibly unwise. Excellent chapter!
Whelp, it looks like the Canterlot Gardens might get a couple of new statues.
Welp, Umbridge is going to get it now. The only question is how bad.
The first part of this chapter reminds me, once again, of what I've found to be a common HP trope, namely that wizards trade common sense for that wand. Albus keeps going to every more fantastical reasons why Equestria is really a concealed Atlantis, because anything else is clearly just a comforting lie to feed those poor, ignorant muggles. I can't wait for that moment when folks like Dumbledore finally realize that they were the ones who didn't get it
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I would like to revive an old albeit distasteful ritual from Salem just for her. I think we all agree that this would be one instance where it'd be jolly good fun for many.
And the "Biggest fuck-up" award goes to...
That was deeply satisfying! It is only going to become more so next chapter when these idiots get their asses handed to them. Fuck Dolores and Cornelius. Both need to get forcibly retired.
Seems to me the biggest problem here (both figuratively and literally) is Umbridge. She refuses to see the Equestrians as "people" simply because their base forms are ponies, causing her to thoroughly underestimate them, and she has too much influence on Fudge.
Edit: In short,
Epic chapter. I really liked how they played out at the end. What will happen next? let's hope it is not a full war
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Her going to Equestria would turn her into an non-human, I am fairly sure she would be beyond what little rational thought she possesses at that point.
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she just insulted Blueblood, who is very proud of who he is and his species as a whole. If there's still a position for her in anything left it'll probably be in Tartarous on charges of impeding the peace, attempting to enslave pony kind and their allies, and extreme stupidity.
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Oh I'm sure a simple call of Discord. Discord. Discord! would solve that situation quite well.
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Blueblood is Prince, though his status is somewhat vague, my guess is that his title of Prince and Celestia's "nephew" is honorary titles that where given to princess Platinum descendants after realm unification.
9547096
Maybe it would. He's a friend to the ponies, sure, but he's not their attack dog. A guard dog perhaps, if the wizards somehow made serious headway into Equestria (or managed to capture ponies he is personally close to, such as Fluttershy). Then they might find themselves wishing for the end, just to escape whatever creative idea he might come up with.
Well, so nice to see how Dolores just completely screwed up. I just wish Discord had popped in and shown the toad, Malfoy, and Fudge what true power looks like. I get the feeling that the Ministry is going to be having quite the change by the end of the day.
*Slow clap* Well done! The undersecretary of a head of state (Dolores) just attacked the head of
stategovernment (English prime minister) and a visiting ambassador (Prince Blueblood) along with the attempted kidnapping of such.On English Soil.
The Wizards just committed an act of war and got caught.
I'm almost impressed with how badly they managed to buck these things up.
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9547110
I wouldn't be surprised if the 'Ministry of Magic' gets assimilated forcefully by the British Government after that stunt.
The fallout will be grand!
Edit: We'll have to see if Dumbles realizes that Malfoy sacrificed them like another user pointed out, or if he'll keep thinking that he's 'changed for good'.
Let's hope it will not began a war... "Educational Degree #ShitBrains Ponies are animals and not allowed wands, they are dangerous and should not be approached except by ministry personal"
By the way.
You have Malfoy appearing after he left
9547083
Because she is Dolores Umbridge. All of her actions and commentary so far are perfectly in canonical character for her. That, and it is AMAZINGLY cathartic for fanfic writers to place her in a situation beyond her ability to 'AHEM' out of.
I really hate how deceptive the ponies are, it's completely out of character. No matter how you look at it they have been ignoring the wizards while simply taking whatever they want from them. The proof is in how when approached by muggle authorities they immediately made their intentions clear but made no such effort with the wizards. If they weren't ignoring them they would have met with the ICW immediately and worked things out with them. Instead, they just hide behind legal loopholes and overwhelming force, clearly, they don't need to be peaceful with the wizards when they can just curb stomp them.
I thought Malfoy left Fudge's office through the front door and didn't go through the floo, he also doesn't show up again in the rest of the chapter.
What is this? A competent Blueblood? A rare and precious treat, that.
And Lucius, clever, clever Lucius. He saw the writing on the wall, he realized this meeting was going to blow up and he wisely stepped out of the blast radius.
Now, there's more to this than Dolores just attacking Blueblood. She also ordered the aurors to attack the Prime Minister, even vocally declaring he has to "do as he is told, or suffer the consequences." That's a rather cut and dry threat, basically declaring that the wizarding world rules the muggle world, which means that Dolores essentially just declared war on muggle Brittain.
I suspect there will be a lot of backtracking from the Ministry of Magic once the implications of this run down the stream and everyone rushes to distance themselves from Dolores's claims.
First: Dumbledore's conclusion of a hidden, underground chamber is actually wonderful.
Not having seen the full extent of the size of Equestria, let alone all the other nations or the whole of Equus, it makes a great conclusion from his assumption of "Hiding somewhere on earth". And if he believes, as stated, that there is no other source of magic in the universe, then that's a really good conclusion to draw. And it certainly makes the behavior of the sun/moon/stars explainable.
Next: May I propose, as Delores' punishment, 30 days of community service? So she can actually see these "dumb animals" close up? :-)
9547083
She did pretty much the same thing to Centaurs in Canon, and it didn't turn out well for her.
9547026 9547031 9547039 9547083 The ministry of Magic's reaction seem completely true to the books. By their logic Dorles is right but that doesn't count the Equestrians as anything more than animals.
Of course if they can successfully argue the Equestrians are only animals then that would destroy Blueblood's arguments, After all animals can't own property
9547139
Considering the setup we have with squibs within the British Military being identified, trained and embedded within units as "special technology experts" I can't help but think Britain is much better prepared for a magical coup than the Ministry thinks, even without Equestrian intervention.
This is probably also why wizards/witches were hunted long ago: their arrogance knows no bounds.
9547057
Agreed, takes out two morons with one stone be it for good and/or ill.
9547155
Would be a bad deal though. Cornelius was eating out of Lucius hand and
you don't sac...a smart person doesn't sacrifice a good tool like that.I am really liking this Blueblood. My favorite bluebloods are the shrewd politicians like yours and the ones that use their 'jerk' status to get away with things that most other politicians couldn't dream of since the press sees it as 'Oh blueblood is just being a jerk again, there's no news story here' when he politically destroys one of Celestia's enemies. It's rare to see him done well, and it's a mark of a good author to take the effort to make people like him into an interesting character.
In other news, Umbridge nearly causes a diplomatic incident against a country whose leaders can rearrange the map when they get into a serious fight. And Discord. Can't forget about that particular can of NOPE.
9547142
Someone has to introduce him to the hollow earth concept. ^_^
9547161
Not unless they are a complete tool. In which case it's better to just throw them under the bus.
Bitch, please. Visit Twilight's castle for yourself, and know that ALL the books in the library have been read. By her. Probably multiple times.
9547161
Stupid politicians are hardly an endangered species, and I'm sure Lucious has a suitably pliable candidate in the queue.
9547162
I'd say this goes well beyond "nearly causing a diplomatic incident" right into "children of future generations will be taught about this moment in history classrooms as an example of what a diplomatic incident is and why they are to be avoided at all costs."
This was a political coup, and a brilliant one at that. Lucius knew that Umbridge wouldn't be able to hold her tongue, and that she'd drag Fudge along into whatever disaster she caused. Now, even if Fudge doesn't end up with a muggle treason charge, he'll still return to a vote of no confidence headed by Lucius.
Then, with a generous bit of demagoguery, Lucius will be in a fine position to either take the office of minister for himself, or at least for the Dark party. This manufactured crisis is going to unravel decades of careful work by Dumbledore, everyone will rush back to medieval orthodoxy.
9547154
Don't forget about the 'muggle-born wizards' within their ranks as well.
9547128
Ponies have been communicating regularly with the cheif warlock of the wizengamot, how were they to know that head of the Wizard parliament would be keeping secrets from his own government?
9547038
That would actually be a good method for punishment. Put her through the Portal, and force her to serve some prison time as a pony.
Probably won't break her of her arrogant attitude, but you could combine it with a few genealogy spells to show she's not the Pureblood she's pretending to be, and that ought to damage her power base rather nicely.
I can perfectly see this happening in the books. Rowling's wizards are certainly stupid enough for this.
9547107
Oh, no, this was perfect just as is. She was taken down by 'muggles'. Being taken to task by a supremely powerful god-like creature would be far less humiliating for her.