//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirty Two // Story: Sweetie Belle and the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry // by AnnonyMouse //------------------------------// Disclaimer: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic belongs to Hasbro. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. This is a free fiction, not to be sold or traded for any money, services or goods. Please refrain from commenting on any spelling and / or grammatical errors. Rather, PM me and I will see to fixing them in due time, thank you. For more information, see my profile. Sweetie Belle and the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 32 Monday classes had been, as Sweetie Belle put it, a bit boring, but a lot of fun. First year Herbology was interesting, and she had noted a few soil filled boxes with the label 'Zap Apple Tree' on them, each with tiny seedlings growing, and a little electrical hazard sign. Because Zap Apples. Sweetie Belle had been zapped once before, so she was wary of these trees. Other than that, the class went smoothly, though her partner was Adalade Crouch from Ravenclaw. She was not a very friendly sort, seemingly more focused on her education than making friends. Adalade refused any form of small talk. If it wasn't related directly to the lesson, she would have none of it, and on more than one occasion, she would give a quick little verbal snap at the tiny pony. Sweetie Belle, basically, got the distinct feeling that Adalade Crouch didn't have very many friends, if any. The unicorn wasn't like Pinkie Pie, so she chose not to try to befriend the studious girl, but did her best to stick to the lessons. Though she did slip up from time to time. Only to receive a mild shushing. After Herbology, Sweetie Belle had Defense against the dark arts. She hurried along to her next class, mainly because she actually enjoyed it, and today, the class was going to be learning a new spell. She just hoped that she could handle it, even though her selection of wizarding spells was considerably more expansive than most others of her age, thanks to needing them to make her Cloud Skimmer. Approaching the class, she caught sight of Prof. Heart. "Professor?" Sweetie Belle called out. "Are you attending this class today?" Radiant Heart turned her head and smiled sweetly at the unicorn filly. "Yes, I decided that even though I am a Professor here, I should at least learn all that I can about how magic works here. This is the first year's class I hope." Sweetie Belle nodded her head vigorously, her mane bouncing and covering her face. She pushed it out of her way with a tiny hoof and beamed a smile. "It's a lot of fun. Sometimes we learn things like how to deal with all sorts of critters. Other times, we learn about methods to counter incoming or already active spells. Today we're learning our first combat spell." The Pegasus covered her mouth with a wing as she gasped. "A combat spell? At your young age? Are you sure that's such a good idea?" "Well, I doubt it's anything like a fireball or lightening bolt." The filly looked up at the slenderly built mare. "Besides, this school has been teaching here for over a thousand years. They know what they're doing." Sweetie Belle spotted the Slytherin first years, and focused her attention now on Phineas. "Phin!" She waved. Phineas hopped up and spread his wings to quickly glide the distance, landing smoothly. "Hi Sweetie. Hello Prof. Heart." He bowed his head politely. "Hello Phineas. You are the one that Sweetie Belle accidentally transformed, correct?" Sweetie blushed and looked away as Phin nodded. "Yes, she did, and I think it was for the best. I was a total jerk before then. After she changed me into a Pegasus, she really opened my eyes. I'd felt that ponies were, and I am sorry about this, useless, dumb, barn animals... I know better now." The mare blinked, then looked down at the embarrassed filly and smiled. "Well, I'm glad for that, though the transformation part, that must have been hard on you." The colt chuckled, rubbing back of his head with a hoof. "Yea, the hardest part to be honest, was getting used to no longer wearing pants." Radiant Heart looked back over herself, then at the students. "Ah, I believe I understand. Humans wear clothes at nearly all times from what I have observed, and we ponies are more lax concerning garments. Perhaps I should look into something to wear so I don't make anyone here uncomfortable." Sweetie Belle snorted lightly. "Clothes are dumb." "But necessary Sweetie Belle." Radiant Heart pointed out. "When in Canterlot, do as the Canterlotians do." Sweetie Belle nodded. "I know they're necessary... and we better get into class before we're late." Her eyes went wide as she realized that only the three ponies were standing in the hall. Radiant Heart followed the younger ponies into the classroom. She nodded politely to Valery Blackwood, who nodded back and gestured to an available seat at the front of the class. "Class, today we have Prof. Radiant Heart joining us. She's very knowledgeable in her own field of magic, but her fellow professors have all been enlightened about her lack of our brand of magic. Prof. Heart, you do have a wand, yes?" The mare nodded and plucked it from her perfectly styled mane. "Yes, I do have one, though it is just a training wand. What spells I know are already enchanted into it." Blackwood smirked. "Well, a training wand will not help you at all here. We'll have to see about getting you a proper wand as soon as possible. Now, class, open your books to page one hundred and forty two." ... Adalade Crouch sat in the furthest corner of the library that first years were permitted. She really didn't like anyone. Well, she didn't dislike anyone. Everypony on the other hand, she couldn't stand. She knew that the law pertaining to the allowance of non-humans to be taught magic at Hogwarts had been removed some eight years ago. This did nothing to quell her dislike of non-humans in general. She couldn't stand the big hairy half giant beast, nor the diminutive runt who taught charms. Not there was not only a non-humanoid student, but she had seemingly permanently transmogrified another student, who seemed to be perfectly fine with the curse he'd been, pardon the pun, saddled with. And now... and this infuriated her the most... now there was a winged equine teaching magic. Not proper magic, no. She was teaching magic from another world entirely. It broke so many rules of known magic that it was a severe threat to everything the girl had known her whole life. The girl refused to attend this new class, thankful that it was optional and would not be counting toward her final grade. Adalaed reached into her pocket and pulled out a small crystal ball, about the size of a golf-ball and tapped it a few times in sequence. What she was doing was not something very many wizards knew, but she'd been instructed in its use. -. . .-- .--. --- -. -.-- .- - .... --- --. .-- .- .-. - ... .- -.. ..- .-.. - .--. . --. .- ... ..- ... .- -.-. - .. -. --. .- ... - . .- -.-. .... . .-. .- -.- Adalaed pocketed the sphere and got back to her studies. She hoped that her message reached whoever it was that normally received them. She'd not heard from them in weeks, and was concerned that they may no longer be getting her information. Still, she shrugged that off and got back to her homework. ... For the rest of the day, Sweetie Belle and Phineas shared classes, and they were more than happy to escort Radiant Heart around to the various classes. The mare was grateful for the help, as she often had issues with finding her way around the school for the most part. "And next we have potions." Phineas frowned. "It's my least favorite class." "Why would that be?" Radiant Heart asked as she was lead down into the dungeons. Phineas stopped, sat down, and held up his little hoofsies, wigging them. "Unlike Sweetie Belle, I still have trouble with manipulating things with these." Radiant Heart giggled. "Come now Phineas. Certainly you've learned how to use your hooves." She glanced at Sweetie Belle. "Have you not explained how we do things?" Sweetie Belle blushed. "Um, well, I'm a unicorn. Before we learn to use magic, we use our mouths for nearly anything." She then tapped her horn. "Unicorns actually don't have the same ability to manipulate things as Pegasus and Earth Ponies do with our hooves. Basically, even the best of us at using our hooves are really bad compared to anypony else." "Ah, yes, I should have remembered that." The Professor's cheeks tinted pink, ever so slightly. "I have been teaching Unicorn youth for some years now. I tend to use my wing tips more often than most Pegasus do." She drew her wand from her mane. Phineas blinked and stretched his wing out and tried to move it like Radiant Heart. "Huh..." He pulled his wand from his own mane, where he too had kept it hidden. "This is a lot easier than hooves..." The mare blinked. "That's pretty good Phineas. Normally it takes years to use ones feather tips to handle things." Sweetie Belle giggled at the display. "Don't feel bad Prof. Heart. Phineas used to have hands." The colt nodded vigorously. "It's sorta like using my fingers. I can't believe I never thought about this before. I wonder if I can use my wingtips to hold my quill instead of my mouth." Radiant Heart nodded. "Quite easily, and should you ever break a pen, should you have a loose feather, you can make use of that in a pinch." His eyes went wide. "Does that mean I'll never have to pay for another quill pen in my life?" "I suggest you keep any feathers that fall out from now on." "I'll make sure I do that Prof. Heart." He spotted the door to the potions classroom. "And we're here. Maybe I can finally bring up my grades in potions. I've been doing really bad." Radiant Heart's smile never faded, at least till she entered the room and flinched. "H-hurricane?" She looked around almost frantically. "No, wait, it only smells like one... There's no way there can be a hurricane in a small room like this, this deep underground." "Says you Prof. Heart." Another student chuckled. "You've yet to see what Phineas and Sweetie can do when they work together." Phineas grinned and blushed. "Hey, it's not like I planned on filling the classroom with custard last week." Sweetie was hiding her face in her robes, blushing as well. "Yes..." Rettimus Snape trod into the room. "And I still have yet to figure out exactly how the two of you created custard, when you were supposed to be making a potion for removing warts." He spotted the third pony. "Prof. Heart, I assume you wish to sit in and observe?" The mare nodded her head. "I would like to, but only if my presence does not interrupt your class." "I don't have an issue. Seeing as you do not have your own equipment, you may join..." He looked over the class, noting that for once not a single student was missing. "You may join me up at the front of the class. I would appreciate a second opinion on some methods concerning basic alchemy." "Oh." Radiant blinked. "As much as I would enjoy that, I am afraid potions are far from my own expertise. Your own students are more proficient than I." "Ah, well then. You may join up with Fray Brooks and Janna Brewers. Janna is remarkably competent when it comes to brewing potions." "Thank you." Radiant Heart trotted over to the pair of girls. She knew them from her own class. They got along really well, even if they did have a friendly competitive streak going between the pair of them. Radiant Heart taught Heart Magic, not the Magic of Friendship, after all. That was Princess Twilight Sparkles specialty. ... After potions, which for once went off without much more than a couple students overcooking their brews, the whole class made their way to the great hall for lunch. Radiant Heart sat at the teacher's table, enjoying a lovely tuna salad while Sweetie Belle dug into a lush garden salad. Phineas chowed down on a hay burger and French fries. "So." Deuce joined the Griffindor table, sitting next to Phineas and across from Sweetie Belle. "I heard that Prof. Heart has been following you around all day and joining your classes." Sweetie Belle nodded, swallowing her mouthful. "Yea. She's really nice, really smart, and you should have seen her cast the expelliarmus spell. She missed the target every time." The filly giggled. Phineas nearly choked on his burger trying not to laugh. After forcing down his food, he nodded. "That was hilarious. The first three tries, she disarmed herself." "Unlike Phineas, who couldn't even cast the spell to begin with." Frey said as she walked past. "It was so cute, trying to cast spells with the wand in your mouth." She ruffled Phin's mane before heading on over to join some of her friends at another table. "You try casting spells with a stick in your mouth... But now that I know about the wing thing..." He so wanted to test it out, but knew better than to try anything without a teacher watching to make sure nothing bad happened. "Keep that a secret till our next class." Sweetie whispered across the table. Chuckling and giggles came from the small group. "Oh yea." Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up, almost sparkling. "Speaking of spells. When my sister and her friends visited, they brought all the things I need to make another cloud skimmer for Scootaloo. She's been waiting forever for me to make her one." "I bet she'll love that." Phineas nodded sagely. "She got her cutie mark when she got to fly yours for the first time." He glanced toward his own hindquarters. "I wonder if I can even get one myself. I'm a human after all, just in pony form." "I bet it will be a snake." "No way, a feather?" "Cloud." "Wand." "Sweetie Belle." "Book." "Wait, what? Why would he have me as his special talent?" "Because the two of you are so adorable together." Every student in the great hall chimed out, all in unison. Two ponies went bright pink and sunk below the tabletop. To Be Continued...