The Price We Pay
-Hog’s Head Pub, Hogsmead Village-
Not too many people even recalled that Albus Dumbledore had a brother, even fewer knew that Aberforth was the barman of the rundown inn, the Hog’s Head. He had once made himself infamous for supposedly experimenting with charms on goats; but other than that, Abe was not a very noticeable man. Aberforth was not overly fond of his brother, mostly because of the past that they shared. As such, it was a surprise to see Albus come into his bar on a nonholiday.
There weren’t any people this evening, and Aberforth was considering of closing the bar early. So, when the door opened and his brother entered Abe was more than surprised, but he didn’t show it.
“Albus.”
“Hello Abe,” Albus said, “Could I bend your ear?”
Aberforth let out a low growl and got one of his cleaner glasses from under the counter,
“You want my ear you’ve got ‘a pay for it.”
Albus nodded and sat down at the counter, letting out a long sigh as he settled into the stool.
“So, what brings the great and mighty Albus Dumbledore to a hole in the wall like this?” Aberforth asked filling a glass of firewhisky for his brother.
“Have you seen the papers Abe?”
“Albus, you know I don’t read the Prophet, not anything worth reading.”
“The ICW has launched an official Inquiry into my recent actions.”
“Do my ears deceive me? Other people are seeing through your machinations?”
Albus took a sip out of the glass,
“I made choices Abe, then I made choices to hide my previous decisions; now, things are going to be unraveled.”
“So, you’re here to drink yourself into a stupor? How unlike you.”
Shaking his head, Albus explained,
“No, I’m here to talk to someone with more wisdom than I do right now.”
Aberforth needless to say, had no words at that moment. His brother was coming to him for “wisdom.” That was unheard of.
“And why come to me?” Abe finally asked.
“Because I trust you to be perfectly honest with me.”
Aberforth looked at his older brother with no small amount of scrutiny,
“You mean you want me to point out every flaw I’ve seen you guilty of? Quite possibly blow it out of proportion?”
To that, Albus simply nodded. The older wizard seemed to be past all hope of recovering from what was going to happen to him. All that Abe could perceive was that Albus was simply wanting someone to grind him further into the ground. In that moment of realization, Abe felt something he hadn’t felt towards his brother in living memory, he felt sympathy. His brother had been on the highest of high, now was plunging himself to the lowest of lows. He had seen it in other men and women that had walked through the pub door, ready to dive off the deep end into a glass of whatever intoxicating substance they could get their hands on.
Aberforth cursed his new-found bleeding heart. Here his brother was presenting him with the opportunity he had been wanting ever since their life in Godric’s Hollow. True, Abe had expressed his dislike of Albus as often as occasion had permitted; but, now that Albus was setting himself up as an open target, Abe couldn’t find it in himself to do it. Abe’s spiteful mind wanted to so badly, but he just couldn’t let out the words in his head.
“So… Where do you think you went wrong, Albus?” Abe finally asked.
Albus let out another tired sigh and closed his eyes in thought.
“I can’t point at any one place.” Albus admitted.
“I’d say you went wrong by trying to cover your actions with further deceptions.”
“I have never lied to anyone in the course of my carrier, Abe.”
“Oh really? You may not have outright lied to anyone, stretching the truth aside, but you certainly withheld plenty. Lies of omission are still lies in the grand scheme of things.” Aberforth picked up a glass and started scrubbing it with his dirty rag, “You played your cards too close to your hand. You felt the need to hold everything in and not trust people enough to give them information.”
Albus thought about what Abe had just told him. He did withhold information from many people, and that tendency lead to his failure to appraise the ICW of the change in location of the Stone.
“On top of that Albus, you see only one path and believe that is it. Experience clouds your sight.”
Albus also reflected on this. He didn’t fully agree with that statement, but he recognized the truth behind it. He tried to plan out the best course of action, but once he had an idea in mind he had a hard time considering other options, seeing it as the only way to go. He hadn’t sought other courses of actions in many things in recent years, now he wondered how things may have been different if he had earnestly sought a different way.
The Headmaster placed the glass of whiskey down on the counter and let his head come to rest between his hands,
“Oh Abe, why did it take something like this to make me think about my actions?”
To this, the younger brother shrugged his shoulders,
“Can’t say, but maybe you were too proud to listen otherwise.”
Silence prevailed between the two brothers. Abe wanted to keep informing his brother about the many faults that could be seen, but this surprising wellspring of compassion towards his only other living family kept him from laying into the broken man.
“So, what happens now?” Aberforth asked.
“The ICW and the Wizengamot have put me on suspension for the course of the Inquiry. They may take up to a year to investigate, but that is more than enough time for them to uncover enough to make sure I never sit in an official government position ever again."
Aberforth nodded his understanding,
“Well, maybe it is time to retire anyway?”
Albus let out the smallest of chuckles and spun his drink in its glass,
“I don’t think I am ready to fully retire yet. There is still much I would like to try and do before I vanish completely. So many lives I’ve managed to ruin that I would like to make right.”
Albus downed the last of the burning beverage and put a few coins on the counter,
“Thanks Abe, you’ve helped.”
Not another word was said as the elder brother left, leaving a very befuddled Aberforth behind.
-Faust Residence, Canterlot-
Harry was seated in front of the TV with his “sister,” Sunset Shimmer. The other girls had business to attend to elsewhere, so it was just the two. Harry held the remote in one hand and his wand in another. With the tip of his wand he would punch buttons on the remote, muttering under his breath. The stupid remote wasn’t cooperating.
He was attempting to access the Wizard Broadcasting Company. He got a text message from Aunt Celestia to tune in the station that afternoon, there was going to be a press conference that he was going to want to watch. However, the remote was proving to be stubborn.
“Careful Harry, poke the poor remote any harder and you might just blow it up.” Sunset teased.
“I’ll have you know Sunset, that I’ve never blown up anything with my magic.” Shot back, still probing the remote with his wand.
“There’s always a first time for everything.” Sunset grinned remembering her own blunders and accidents with magic.
Irony didn’t come knocking today however, because the next moment Harry let out a triumphant cheer. The tv display came up with the call letters WBC and an advertisement for the Salem Institute came on screen.
“Ha! Told you I’d get it!”
Any further teasing from Sunset was silenced at the success. She just leaned back into the sofa, Harry was quick to join her. Sunset grinned and pulled Harry in closer,
“Come here wiz-kid.” She said, letting Harry’s smaller frame get close to hers.
“Wiz-kid?” Harry asked.
“Rainbow’s idea.”
“Of course, it was.”
The two pseudo-siblings traded idle chatter until they noticed Secretary Saunders on screen. She was standing at a podium that bore the seal of America’s Department of Magic. Behind her there were a number of people standing there. The only ones they recognized in the group were Celestia and Luna. The subtext on the screen read, “Live from Washington DC.”
“Ladies and gentlemen of the American Magical Community, one hour ago I left a meeting with national leaders. We discussed an idea that will not only affect our community but eventually the entire world. Over the past few years, we have been developing a potential program that would make formal magical education more readily available to all citizens of the American Community. Recent events have presented the opportunity to make this dream a reality. With the president’s permission, and a majority vote from Congress, we are pleased to announce that starting this September, Canterlot High School will become the first ever integrated magical and normal public school in the history of the world.”
Sunset Shimmer and Harry gave a triumphant cheer and high-fived each other. Their jubilations drowned out the Secretary of Magic for a few minutes. The rest of the press conference became unimportant to them while different heads of departments gave details of how the program would work, which laws they were invoking to establish a new magical community in the town of Canterlot and what not.
The doorbell suddenly rang. Out of reflex Sunset hit the mute button on the remote before standing up and heading for the front door. Sunset looked through the peep hole and saw two people standing there, one slightly hiding behind the other. Sunset opened the door when she recognized the man standing in front,
“Professor Smith, what are you doing here? I thought you would have been at the press conference.”
The professor of magical theory shook his head,
“No, they don’t need me there. Besides, I have more important matters to attend to.”
Professor Smith stood to the side, allowing Sunset a better view of the woman standing behind him,
“This is Madam Zecora. She is an expert on the development of young magicals, among other things. She’s graciously agreed to take on Harry’s unusual case of blended magics.”
Taking the lead, Zecora stepped closer and shook Sunset’s hand,
“A pleasure to you, my dear young miss. I can see, you are of a world other than this.”
Sunset was not sure which confused her more, the rhyming or the uncertainty of being called out so quickly on being from another world. Apparently, this confusion showed on her face because Zecora gave a gentle laugh and explained,
“You wonder why I talk in verse? That is easy, I am under a curse.”
“Madam Zecora’s mother was hit by a curse while she was pregnant. They were able to break the spell on the mother but failed to consider that the unborn child was also under the spell’s influence. By the time she was talking the curse had taken root and could not be undone.”
“But a rhyming curse? Seems a bit silly.”
“It does, at first; but, it becomes rather difficult to chain spells together if you can’t say anything that doesn’t rhyme with the last incantation you used.”
“Oh,” Was all Sunset said when realization hit her.
Sunset became aware of someone standing behind her and turned her head slightly to confirm who it was,
“Hey Harry.”
“Mr. Potter, you seem to be in good health.” Professor Smith greeted.
“Thank you, sir.”
“The Professor has brought someone who can help us understand how Equestrian magic is going to affect you.” Sunset explained.
“You mean besides having to wear a bracelet for the rest of my life?” Harry asked holding the piece of magical jewelry up for all to see.
“I will see what I can do. Hopefully our options are not a few.” Zecora explained.
At the suggestion of Professor Smith, the group moved to the privacy of the fenced in back yard of the Faust home. Once back there, Smith started waving his wand around and saying some soft-spoken spells. The more he did, the more the perimeter of the property was clouded with the same sort of haze that Sunset had seen hanging around the school.
“What is that haze Professor? I saw it hanging about CHS a few weeks ago.” Sunset asked.
To the younger two’s surprise, it was Zecora who answered,
“As seen by those without Earth’s defection, that is a wizard’s form of protection.”
“Wizard’s protection… Oh! You mean a barrier, right?” Sunset asked excitedly.
“To give us a kind of privacy, wizards put up what you see. Human eyes see not a wit, but your eyes in this world do not fit.”
“But you know what I’m talking about right?”
“Madam Zecora is a practitioner of a naturalistic form of magic.” Professor Smith commented, his work finished, “It gives her a kind of insight that the rest of us don’t have.”
“Oh Colton, you are too kind. Now, come Mr. Potter, let us see what we can find.”
Zecora had Harry sit on a chair before she asked him to take off the bracelet that siphoned off his extra magic. She took a few minutes to take in the changes before she began applying some kind of crushed plant material to the boy’s face and exposed arms and hands. All the while, the ‘expert,’ in magical child development was singing softly in a foreign language. Sunset Shimmer stood by, unsure of the point of this exercise but trusted that this woman was on the level and meant no harm to her pseudo- brother. Either seeing or feeling her distress, Professor Smith decided to comment,
“Have no worry Ms. Shimmer. Madam Zecora is highly respected in all her fields of study. She is applying a particular mixture of plants that will help Madam Z see things that we cannot going on inside of Harry’s magical core. I’ve done study on the process in the past.” He said in hushed tones.
“Is that how you know her? You’ve studied her magic?”
“Well… one of the ways.”
Smith didn’t comment any further but focused on the ritual going on in front of them. Zecora had set a terracotta bowl in between her and Harry and added different bits of wood and crushed leaves. With a few hushed words, the contents of the bowl burst into blue fire. The dark skin woman breathed deep the fumes of the burning mixture before turning her gaze fully on Harry. Zecora’s eyes had dilated and her face lost expression. Sunset felt really disturbed at the sight, especially seeing Harry in the same hypnotic state that Zecora seemed to be in.
Sunset took a step forward, ready to break up the ritual. A sudden burst of polychromatic energy erupted from the bowl. The burst of energy carried a significant amount of force behind it. The wave of power nocked over a number of potted plants on the Faust’s back porch and sent Zecora stumbling back. The woman’s feet tripped over each other and the woman fell to the ground.
The observers hurried forward to check on the two, Colton to Zecora and Sunset to Harry.
“Harry? Harry are you alright?”
“Madam Z?”
The dark-skinned woman let out a groan and pushed herself up,
“I cannot believe what I have seen, I never thought it could have been.”
Harry came out of his comatose state at that moment.
“Sunset, what happened?”
“I’d like to know that myself.”
Zecora rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head,
“Strange things I saw in the fire, a minute to process is what I require.”
With some help, they got Zecora up into a nearby patio chair. Sunset got some water for the two exhausted persons and everyone waited for Madam Z to speak. When she did, she seemed to be struggling against the nature of her speech curse to get the words she wanted, but she still spoke in rhyme.
“Understanding is hard to do, even harder is to tell it to you.”
“Just do your best, please.” Smith requested.
“In the flames I saw many things, among them a unicorn with wings.”
“Sounds like an alicorn.” Sunset commented.
Zecora started and stopped several times, each time failing to form a satisfactory sentence. Finally, she looked at Professor Smith in defeat,
“I can’t form what I want to say, the potion if you may.”
“Madam Z… you are certain?”
She nodded her head in response. Smith quickly went to Zecora’s bag and started fishing around through the contents inside. Sunset just about commented about not being able to find whatever this potion was when Smith’s arm went deeper into the bag. To the onlooker, the entirety of Professor Smith’s arm had been swallowed by a bag that could not have possibly held the volume need for such an act.
“Undetectable expansion charm, both a blessing and a bane.” The academic said to the two youngsters.
He fished out a glass bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid,
“Are you sure you want this Madam Z? The after effect…”
“I don’t care my friend; the means is justified by the end.”
The professor of magical theory shook the contents of the bottle and handed it to the rhymer. The woman unstopped it and drank down the entirety of the liquid within. She grimaced as the last of the potion slid down her throat.
“I hate that stuff, but it clears up my speech.” Zecora said clearly and without rhyme.
“How…” Harry started to asked confused.
“I’ll let Colton explain it later. Right now, I only have a limited time to tell you what I saw.” Zecora cut off before launching into her explanation,
“I understand that a part of your soul is the recipient of a graft of magic? Well, that graft is taking a larger on you than what previously was understood. The most notable effect on you is the appearance of your pony features.”
Sunset took a quick moment to scratch behind her pseudo-brother’s pony ears, the action merited a moment of bliss followed by a playful smack to drive the embarrassing sibling away.
“The other most notable effect from this grafting is a resonance that you have with those whose magic are a part of you. You probably will feel comfort and calm when in the presence of those that contributed to the graft.”
Harry thought back to just before his aunts had left for DC and realized that the moment of calm that overcame his frustration happened right before the girls had walked in the front door.
“There is more that I need to reflect on. For now, though, I recommend that you wear your suppressor only in public, let the magic in you grow unhindered because there will… be… a…”
Zecora choked on her breath and her eyes widened. Professor Smith quickly grabbed the glass that Sunset had brought out, magically filled it with water, and handed it to Zecora.
“Take it easy Madam Z. Write it down for us later, just rest for now.”
“Professor? Will Madam Zecora be alright?” Harry asked with rising concern for her.
“It’s simply the after effect of the potion she drank. She’ll not be able to talk for a week though.”
“Something to do with her curse?” Sunset concluded.
“Smartly deducted Ms. Shimmer. Yes, the potion is able to suppress the compulsion to rhyme for a short time, we never know how long it will be, but as a result for superseding a part of her that is so integrated into her she loses all powers of speech for the next seven days.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.” Harry protested.
From the chair she rested in, Zecora tapped Smith’s arm and, when he looked at her, raised one finger.
“Right, rule number one.”
“Rule one?” Sunset asked.
“There are certain rules about handling magic. Wisdom passed through the ages. Gathered over generations of mistakes and failures. Madam Z wants me to convey the universally accepted first rule, ‘Remember this, that magic is seldom nice, for all magic comes at a price.’”
“At a price?” The young wizard asked.
“When you learn a spell, you devote time and effort that you could have been spent doing something else to learn how to perform it. Time in study, time in practice, it comes together to pay the ‘toll,’ of being able to cast the spell. Paying time of your life, that is the price for most spells accepted by the world wide magical community. When you make a potion, you are sacrificing the existence of the plant you are chopping up, or the life of the snake whose fangs you’ve ground up to remove a boil. Wands use cores from living creatures; you think that the dragons with heartstrings missing are still living? Then you move into more powerful arts like invocations, rituals, enchanting, things that take up more time to learn, takes greater resources to cast, sometimes even requiring human life to pay the price of the spell. Bottom line Mr. Potter, we all pay a price for the power of magic.”
The two adults didn’t stay long after. Professor Smith wanted to get the drained Madam Z to rest and it was about time to start fixing dinner anyways. Sunset tried engaging Harry with what was in the fridge but her ‘little brother,’ seemed to have a lot on his mind. Not wanting to let the issue fester, she confronted the problem.
“Alright Harry spill.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been in the dumps since Professor Smith and Madam Zecora left. I am not letting the most important boy in my life right now sulk. So, are you going to tell me or am I going to have to do some mind delving?”
The threat at the end was mostly hollow, Sunset didn’t want to invade Harry’s privacy like that. Fortunately, the bluff needn’t be called.
“I was thinking about what Professor Smith said, about magic having a price to pay.”
“Figures. You know Harry, if you think about what your little levitation spell is costing you, you won’t be able to cast it.” Sunset reasoned.
“I guess, but I can’t help but worry about what it costs now that I have Equestrian magic. What if it is sucking away at my life? Or sucking away someone else’s? What if…”
“I’m going to cut you off right there Harry, before you become a worry-wort cross between Twilight and Pinkie Pie.” Sunset intervened, “Smith might be an expert in human magic but he doesn’t really understand the extent of Equestrian magic. I wouldn’t worry about it right now little bro. Not until we understand if there really is a price to pay with your Equestrian side. Besides the obvious.”
There Sunset did the ultimate distracter, rubbed the pony ears that sat on Harry’s head,
“Hey!”
“Isn’t all that bad as a matter of fact.”
The tension dissolved quickly and all thought was dismissed for the rest of the night. After Harry went to bed however, Sunset thought back on her little brother’s concern. When it came to Equestrian magic, there was only one person she could count on for knowledge like this. So, with a special book and a pen, she set out to get a resolution to Harry’s dilemma,
“Dear Princess Twilight…”
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Sparky Brony · 104k words · 261 17 · 7.1k views
- Ocerra · 28k words · 272 4 · 5.2k views
- ratedoni · 7.4k words · 233 17 · 5.8k views
- gerandakis · 34k words · 329 8 · 4.6k views
- computerneek · 159k words · 229 32 · 4k views
- aliengirlguy · 67k words · 181 14 · 5.2k views
- aliengirlguy · 17k words · 207 7 · 4.1k views
- Maelaeran · 48k words · 173 4 · 4.4k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.16 seconds
Total duration
1,039 users online
197,357 hits today, 2,167,270 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I'm glad to see you're still here. I was just wondering whether one of my favorite fics was dead in the water. Welcome back, and I hope your writing goes smother from here on.
As for the chapter itself, I mentioned in previous chapter responses my distaste for Albus Dumbledore. I've never agreed with the portrays of him as a secret dark lord, or a heartless manipulator that many other authors have written of him, but I do agree with your version. He's an arrogant old fool, but a good man at heart. He made a great many mistakes, and caused a lot of pain, but I don't believe he ever acted out of malice or heartlessness. He had his plan that he was dead set on, and the rest of wizarding Britain was so used to blindly obeying him that they never questioned anything he did.
Now, however, his plan has come unraveled he's forced to confront all his mistakes. I've read many HP fics where at this point Dumbledore would double down on his arrogance and wilful blindness and try to force his plans back on track "for the greater good". I hate those. You have him questioning his decisions and realizing how badly he made a mess of things. That, I think, is much more in line with Dumbledore's character. As infuriating as he could be he never hid from his mistakes. I especially love that you brought Aberforth into this. I always thought he was a criminally underused character, and he is the perfect person to give ol' Albus the kick in the pants he needs to make sure he doesn't backslide into his old ways.
Dumbledore pathos aside, I am intrigued to see where the stuff with Harry's magic goes. I'm especially curious too see what Twilight makes of things. Especially after Zecora's detecting alicorn magic in him. I would think the magic of an alien pony god would definitely qualify as "Power The Dark Lord Knows Not" wouldn't you?
Well, I think i've rambled enough. Welcome back Ranoa, I can't wait to read more of your excellent work!
I'm starting to read this and it kinda feels like two worlds were slapped together.
(as in half of the Earth with a different half)
career.
It's bigger on the inside! Dr. Z!
Someone's been reading their Full Metal Alchemist.
8848693
Actually, I know very little about FMA.
Basically FMA is the trope namer for what Harry's dealing with now. The fact his magic is coming at a price.
Yeah! Twilight is on the job!
Potterverse magic runs on equivalent exchange? I did not know, but it does make a lotta sense.
8849333
Canonically, it really doesn't. At least not all of it. The more primal ancient magics do, but trying to tie the time spent learning a spell to some form of equivalent exchange is a huge stretch. If it was true there'd be no difference between how long it'd take to learn a spell between people.
Things like Seamus's spells always blowing up in his face would be the result of him trying to cast the spell too soon rather than him casting them wrong. They also wouldn't teach spells by having students casting them repeatedly cause they'd only be able to cast them right after a predetermined set of study.
That being said the first book is leterally titled the philosopher's stone (sorcerer's stone in America) and later books reveal that Harry survived the killing curse because his mother invoked an ancient magic that sacrificing her life for his gave him protection against Voldemort until his 17th (I think) birthday. Also Voldemort put one of his horcruxes in a cave that was sealed and required a sacrifice of blood to open. Also Voldemort was brought back to life using a potion that required very specifically obtained ingredients such as "bone of the father unknowingly taken", "flesh of the servant willingly given", and "blood of the enemy forcibly taken". The older magics are very symbolic.
After living with the Dursleys any actual sibling affection or love would hit the poor Harry like a nuke. Something he yearned all of his young life suddenly there. Filling a hole in his life he did not know was missing.
Good Show!
please continue <3
I seriously think that Princess Twilight and Smith will get on like a house on fire. Of course, it will also mean poor Harry being prodded, poked and tested in the innumerable ways suggested by Twi's mad SCIENCE!
8848693
Can we not give The ponies and harry even more things to play with by adding FMA to the mix... Just think of Pinkie with earth Powers or even chaos control
8873604
That was not what I was saying actually I was simply stating how the principles espoused in this fic regarding magic is similar to the concept of Equivalent Exchange in Full Metal Alchemist.
8873607
Oh I know just saying lol
I don't remember anything in comics that suggest that things in Umbrum don't age. Although I read comics a long time ago.
Never ever said that. Just pointed that some ponies live ridiculously long.
Don't change the fact that she obviously specialised in healing magic. Author most likely just copy staff from Medical Corps insignia.
And in general, author ideas that equestrian ponies grow and reach puberty at same speed as earth ponies don't support by canon.
Should be "magical and no-mag". No-mag is the term used by American witches and wizards for normal humans.
8898055
Ah, yes, I see that I missed that. My bad.
8912190
yes sorry for misspelling
8912180
So? He's no academic prodigy. He can't handle no-mag schooling three years above him, and his social life would also suffer if everyone around him considered him just a little kid, instead of a peer. Shoving Harry into Canterlot High is a terrible idea, and Celestia and Luna would know that.
8913328
Well I come into this convo late and only got the last portion.
So what about the CMC? They also appear to be at Canterlot high. Seems that Canterlot high and Canterlot middle share the same premises. Or maybe the town is small enough that 6th through 12th grades are all at one campus. So it might not be outside the realm of possibility and not put Harry to far out of the social aspect of having peers.
The CMC are probably really close to his age as well. Also, it has been shown with Twilight's tutoring that Harry has been holding back and not performing to his full level as a defense mechanism against Dudley 's bullying.
Tangent: Oh no, CMC making friends with Harry... I can see the shenanigans now! Especially at the now joint wizard and non wizard school.
The CMC in potions class...
...
The CMC will be the death of this new joint school. May the author have mercy upon their souls.
I find it ominous that the song "Gavin's Magical Rainbow Catastrophe" came on as I started reading a chapter called "The price we pay". It's probably nothing though, just a coincidence.
A both magical and muggle school? I bet this will raise dozens of interesting and potentially world ending questions such as: "Sir, if wizards can conjure matter, can they also conjure anti-matter?"
9040483
This is a more nuanced version of a common fanon trope. This Dumbledore is the manipulative version of him, but he is manipulative for reasons he believes are sound ones. The problem is, he is so certain that he is right that he hasn't listened to outside opinions, let alone seek them out. He is smart. He is clever. He is rarely wrong. And he knows it.
You can see the flaws in that beleif, I think.
He has spiritually hit rock bottom, so he goes to the one person who will tell him upfront where he went wrong, not sugar coat it, and sees him as human and flawed, his own brother. Their relationship is far from good, and with good reason. Reasons that Albus fully accepts, as their strained relationship is due to him having been blinded by his own cleverness before. So he can trust Aberforth to tell him that is the case, which he does. And he will listen.
8913454
Actually there is precedent, with some schools combining the middle school and the high school into the same institution. My own high school was one such school. So they can be students at Canterlot High and be middle school aged and in the appropriate grade.
8913328
Except, there are schools where he would be in a grade appropriate for his age, while still being in the same school as the high school students. And schools get students in an academic year whose education might have been spotty often enough that they would know how to handle his education until he is caught up. He wouldn't be the first student to enter a school with a deficient education that needs to be remedied and the faculty of Canterlot High School would have experience in that.
Keep in mind, Twilight is tutoring him, and she has probably had to run her lesson plans by Principal Celestia, who would then almost certainly have her trim them down to tutoring him in the minimum he needs to know to keep up with his peers, not everything that he would have otherwise learned had he gone to school normally.
And you need to remember that Harry has shown himself to be quite capable of learning a lot in a short time frame when he is actually motivated to learn. And here, he is motivated. By the time school starts, he will still be behind, but at the same time, he will have a strong enough foundation to be built on. And he will be under Twilight's tutelage until he can keep up on his own.
9061672
I'll let J.K. Rowling reply:
It's also worth mentioning that while there are probably Muggle-born witches and wizards perfectly willing and able to buy themselves plane tickets, the ticket in question is being provided by the government. Which makes no sense.
The government is responsible for connecting fireplaces to the Floo Network. The government is responsible for authorizing the creation of portkeys. (Both governments, in the case of international portkeys, which is the only reason they're special at all.) Both of these options are methods of instantaneous transportation under control of the magical government that would make infinitely more sense to use when the government is sending somebody somewhere on an assignment.
Yes. In the real world, there are plenty of people who enjoy reaching their destinations via road trips, traveling at ~65mph on freeways around the country. For particularly distant destinations, such a trip might take a couple days. (And it is unclear how far from DC Canterlot is in this story.)
Most of the brooms mentioned in the books can achieve similar speeds, and they would be moving as the crow flies, rather than being forced to follow roads, and they wouldn't have to slow down for traffic or lower speed limits on city streets. The Firebolt has the highest speed specifically mentioned in any of the books, reaching 150mph.
So, yes. Brooms. It's far from the fastest method of travel available to a witch or wizard, but it certainly makes more sense than Magical Congress buying an airplane ticket.
9145400
"Albus" is Latin for 'white', while "Dumbledore" is a dialectal word for 'bumblebee'. Therefore, Albus Dumbledore is a White Bumblebee.
I got 'White Whiskered Banker' from another fanfic; the rest I just made up on the spot.
9146081
The more you know
I'm wondering if maybe Harry Needs to go see Princess Celestia?
8898066
Pinkie could do it. Cause, you know, Pinkie.
Ah HA! So you are still writing in the current year! Good, for I bring a message from the Daleks.
YOU WILL CONTINUE WRITING THIS STORY! YOU WILL OBEY THE DALEKS! OBEY! OBEY! OBEY!!!!!
9338526
my recollection is only perfect when it comes to images not words. it is possible i am remembering incorrectly but i think Doctor Who said it my way.
argh god...dammit! why am i at the end already.
good job so far. really a nice story.
[edit:] soo is the story dead now or do you plan to continue it someday? cause i really enjoyed it so far
9405431
I know. I'm stuck on Son of Neptune
Quite a compelling tale. Most excellent.
9492546
Not really.
9577865
That comment is old, and I learned to not be so critical and one-sided. JJust because JK painted him that way, doesn't mean he is entire. I get that now. But that Reddit is useful, thx!
I wonder if Sunset will be teaching Harry any Equestrian Magic and see if that has any effect on him?
Ah, it was nice to see this on user-friendly Fimfiction. I first found this story on fanfiction.net.
Update?
Damn the story seems to have died a bit.
Please update?? Please?
I have no idea if this story is going to be updated or not, I hope it's not forgotten.
I see my comment from last year and now it’s 2020 it’s sad but this seems true that the story is dead. All though o have been proven wrong once. A story that wasn’t updated since 2016 got a new chap in 2019 so I do hope to see the same here but again it was only once so I feel it is unlikely. This a very good story if I do say so. The twist of an alicorn claiming him as her own was a very large bomb and twist. I have my theories about it but I shan’t share and let others think for themselves anyways I hope to see this get updated soon but I shall have baited breath with a grin of salt.
Continue and update please soon.imagine Dumbledore race when see Harry without scar and share or Voldemort soul.maybe Harry patronus and animácie form is alicorn.and more.
And like so many other stories, it ended right when it was getting good.
The investigation done by the government is boring and unnecessary. You have 3 pov's. The faust household, the girls and the goverment. The governments side is boring and slows everything down. Ditch that, focus more on luna & celestia being thrown in to the magical community, and Harry in to a to him almost alien wod, the US and a loving household. Have twilight actually the xperiment more with her detector, instead of assuming she's not getting false positives.
10970318
Yeeeeah.... at the time I may or may not have just began reading a story with that set up and it may or may not have gotten on my nerves
still hoping for more