//------------------------------//
// 60 — A Knut for Your Thoughts 
// Story: If Wishes were Ponies . . . . 
// by tkepner 
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There was a bright flash of light and a phoenix’s trill. Dumbledore stood beside his desk, wand in hand, and blinking at the brighter light in his office. Fawkes flew back over to his perch where Philomena greeted him with a soft trill.

Albus looked at his wand, said, “nox,” and moved over to sit in his desk chair. He slumped, head on his hand and elbow on the desk, thinking deeply.

Twilight stopped her spell casting and turned to look at him. “Well, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore . . . ,”

He looked up at her voice, then down to see she was in pony form.

“. . . Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorcerer; Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards; and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry . . . ,”

At first, he was puzzled at why she wasn’t in human form. And why she was reciting all his titles.

“. . . do you still think it is not possible to find Salazar Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets without a great deal of time and effort?” she said sarcastically.

She didn’t wait for his response.

“Clearly,” she continued, “you aren’t as clever as you think you are if you haven’t thought of asking your friend, Fawkes, to assist you in finding this ‘lost’ chamber.” She tilted her head, “And you’ve been looking for this Chamber for how many decades?”

Dumbledore flushed with embarrassment, and his eyes were most assuredly not twinkling.

“According to Hogwarts: A History, you are the first Headmaster to have a Phoenix as a familiar. So, at least, the previous Headmasters and searchers had an excuse for not finding it.” She paused a beat.

He saw that Professor McGonagall was about to blow up at Twilight. Her face had turned red in colour and her lips were pressed tightly together. 

“Because Fawkes did not return you as a statue,” Twilight continued, “can I assume that the basilisk is gone? Or is it still there and just sleeping?”

Dumbledore sighed tiredly. “The basilisk is still there, sleeping.”  He rubbed his forehead with one hand, thinking.

It appeared he had made a series of errors a long time ago. He knew he had searched thoroughly for the Chamber of Secrets, both during his tenure as a student in the 1890’s, and then as a professor starting in the 1900’s. So, when he made the acquaintance of Fawkes in 1938, he had never thought to use the phoenix’s special talents in the endeavour. Like house-elves, they could go anywhere. 

His eyes widened in shock. Did the house-elves know about the Chamber but no one had ever asked them? Or had Salazar specifically spelled the Chamber to be inaccessible to them? He shuddered to think that finding the Chamber could have been as easy as asking a house-elf if they could go there!

Unfortunately, most wizards and witches considered house-elves to be little more than furniture, and gave them about as much thought. He knew they seriously underestimated what house-elves were truly capable of doing. And, it appeared, so had he.

In any case, when Headmaster Dippet had retired, he had made a thorough search with the castle’s enchantments, to no avail.

“I did not approach the creature as it is behind a door in the main chamber.” He paused and stared out the window a moment. “Fascinating, just fascinating. Who knows what treasures of knowledge are hidden down there?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “What do you intend to do?”

He turned and looked at her, his eyes twinkling, “Nothing at the moment. Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus, never tickle a sleeping dragon. Or basilisk, in this case. With Fawkes’ assistance, I shall explore the Chamber and place a few alert charms on the exits and serpent. Then we can set up a plan to deal with the basilisk at our leisure. Perhaps next summer hols when the school is empty.” He smiled at them.

Twilight rolled her eyes again. “And if it should wake in the meantime?”

“I’m sure we will be able to handle it.”

She stared at him. “It can freely move in the walls of the castle where you can’t reach it. Because it was put in place by a founder, I assume none of the castle defences will stop it — I am sure that Headmaster Dippet attempted to find the creature with Hogwarts’ enchantments, but failed. I doubt you will do better. So, just how will you handle it? Without endangering the lives of an entire generation of wizards and witches?”

He looked back at her. “We are not entirely defenceless.”

“Based on what happened to Myrtle Warren and the other victims from that time, and how helpless Headmaster Dippet was in doing anything, I would say you are.”

They stared at each other. Finally, he said, “What would you have me do? I haven’t the wizards to attack such a creature in its lair without great loss of life. It will take time to arrange such an expedition and plan how to keep everyone safe. Leaving it be while we organize and can lure it into the open is our only option.”

Twilight shook her head. “You could simply say that something dangerous has been discovered in the castle and order all the children home for two days, starting tomorrow morning. Make the announcement at breakfast. As soon as they are gone, I and my friends will deal with the basilisk. When we are finished with the basilisk, we can deal with the other hateful artefacts I’ve discovered in the school, and the children can return to a truly safe castle the day after.”

His eyebrows rose in incredulity. “You will deal with the basilisk?” Everyone was staring at Twilight in disbelief except Harry and the fillies, who were nodding. Myrtle was watching and listening carefully. She had, after all, been told she could stay with these people at the next hols.

The Princess smiled confidently. “We’ve dealt with monsters that make a basilisk look like a garden snake. I fought to a stand-still a two-hundred-foot tall magic-stealing centaur, who had more magic than all the wizards in England. Handling a sixty-foot long basilisk won’t be that difficult.”

The Headmaster blinked. He wasn’t sure if he could believe what she had just said. If he did, then perhaps Ollivander had been correct in his assessment of her. But that was impossible. Nobody could be that powerful. She had to be exaggerating. But even if she was wildly exaggerating, that still meant she had quite a bit of power.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. For the OWL and NEWT students the upset in their class schedules and losing four days, two of which would be traveling, would set them back terribly in their studies. Plus, it would be a tremendous blow to people’s confidence for the safety of their children at Hogwarts, not to mention its reputation. And the ministry would be livid if I allowed foreigners to tackle this problem instead of informing them.”

Twilight stared at him for several moments, then sighed and shrugged. “Okay.” She turned to Harry and the fillies. “Get your things, we’re leaving. Princess Celestia would have my tail if I left you here with a basilisk loose and no adequate protection.” She turned back to the Headmaster. “Perhaps we’ll return next year when you can prove that the school is safe.” She started for the door, the students slowly turning to follow, stunned at what they had just heard.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were pulling Myrtle along by her hands.


۸- ̰ -۸


Harry saw that Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had expressions of surprise and horror. Whether that was because Twilight so readily ignored the Headmaster’s recommendation for putting off dealing with the basilisk, or that she was withdrawing them from the school, he wasn’t sure. 

The three Cutie Mark Crusaders were looking a bit surprised, as well. On the one hoof, this school was soo different from what they had expected — it was far more fun than the school back home, even with all the coursework. On the other, a basilisk was sleeping below the school and could awaken at any moment.

This was not like the Everfree Forest where danger lurked, but you never knew what was there and being alert was the key to survival. And you could easily spot, hear, or sniff out the large and dangerous monsters. Staying at Hogwarts would be like tip-hoofing around a sleeping manticore that was right beside you — you didn’t have to be careless for it to wake and eat you. Running, far and fast, was the best solution.

The Headmaster looked baffled at the turn of events. He clearly hadn’t expected Twilight to make such a decision. He was far more used to others just agreeing with him, it appeared, and trusting him to make sure everything turned out the way it was supposed to.

It gave him a feeling of satisfaction at seeing the old wizard taken to task on his failings. And to know that Twilight cared for him, unlike any of the witless wizards or useless muggles. Hermione excepted, of course.

“Please, Princess Sparkle,” Dumbledore said, “Let’s not be hasty.”

She stopped and looked at him. “Hasty? I’m not being hasty. There’s an extremely dangerous basilisk under the school that could awaken and attack at any moment — you cannot offer any guarantees that it won’t. It can freely move throughout the castle and you can neither detect nor prevent it from appearing anywhere it chooses through the pipes built into all the walls by a Founder. It has already shown it can and will kill students.” She glanced significantly at Myrtle. 

“Even with your ‘alerts’ it could still reach the castle and wreak havoc before you could remove all the students to safety. So, because you refuse to deal with the monster until next summer, it is only prudent to remove my charges from this school until the danger has been eliminated. That’s only common sense.”

The Headmaster looked at her, clearly thinking. “Perhaps, if we can come to an agreement on how to move forward that doesn’t require disrupting the school quite so much, you would reconsider?”

She arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Such as?”

“You are positive you can deal with a basilisk of this size?”

She nodded firmly.

He stared at her, stroking his beard and thinking. “And that you can gather sufficient forces to prevent the monster from escaping while you kill it?”

She stiffened slightly when he said “kill.”

“We can easily contain the basilisk and move it somewhere where it cannot harm anyone. We shall not need to kill it, not unless it is an uncontrollable predator, or unreasonable,” she said.

He studied her carefully, his eyebrows arched at her response. He glanced at Harry and the Atlantean girls, taking in their lack of surprise at her assertions that she could handle the situation. 

From the letter Princess Celestia had sent to the Headmaster, Harry knew that he knew they had seen Twilight in action against powerful creatures. And that they utterly believed her capable of handling Slytherin’s monster was based on experience. It was probably quite unsettling to him.

And, knowing the old fart, he probably thought he could handle the creature himself. Or rather, that he certainly could handle it with the Equestrians for backup. Or snake food to distract the beast. Of course, it could be that Stumbledore was finally learning that he wasn’t as perfect as he had thought. Harry snorted softly, yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.

Speaking slowly as he obviously put his thoughts into words, Dumbledore said, “We could say that we have discovered what we believe is the legendary Chamber of Secrets, and that we are going to open it.” He paused, then continued, “But in the interests of safety, in deference to the rumours that there is some sort of monster ensorcelled in it, we are declaring a ‘Hogsmeade Holiday’ for all students so that the castle will be empty while we examine the Chamber.”

Twilight slowly nodded.

“Afterwards, we can tell the Ministry that the evacuation was merely a precaution while I and a few select professors explored the Chamber.” He smiled wryly. “They will be most upset at not being present, but Hogwarts is independent from the Ministry and they currently have no authority to trespass on the grounds without invitation. And once the students have left the grounds, we can set the protection charms to keep everyone out until we are finished.

“That we are confronting a basilisk isn’t something they need to know. Nor that you loaned us your assistance. As far as they will be concerned, it was just a case of me being overly-cautious in exploring the Chamber.”

“And who will guard the students while we are dealing with the basilisk?”

“I will take Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Snape with us, and assign the remaining professors to guard the children.”

“With all due respect, we don’t need the other professors with us in the Chamber.” She glanced apologetically at the two standing beside the Headmasters desk. “The girls and I will easily handle the basilisk.”

“Hm. Yes,” Dumbledore said. “However, not taking any professors with me would raise questions you might not want asked.” He was obviously playing on their desire not to let everyone know, just yet, their true origins. “It would certainly draw more scrutiny to where you come from.”

Harry almost giggled at that thought. If the Headmaster knew they came from another world entirely and not mythical Atlantis, the old wizard would probably faint in shock.

Twilight pursed her lips and nodded. “Shall we meet you tomorrow morning before breakfast?”

“Saturday?” countered the Headmaster.

Twilight shook her head firmly. “I will not gamble with the lives of children. Even waiting until tomorrow is stretching my patience. Only the fact that I have to inform the Princesses of what I am doing and gather my friends is making me wait until tomorrow. If the basilisk were awake and moving, I’d have them here in minutes with Philomena’s help.”

Dumbledore sighed. “Tomorrow,” he capitulated. “Minerva will instruct the Prefects tonight to have all students attend breakfast at eight. I will inform the professors just before then, and then the rest of the school during it. The school should be empty by nine, at the latest.”

Twilight nodded. “Excellent. I will get the girls together and meet you here in your office at seven so we can discuss strategies. I’ll do a little research tonight on spells effective against a basilisk.” She started to turn to leave, but then turned back. “It’s possible that either Princess Celestia or Luna might accompany us. Just so you know.”

The Headmaster raised his eyebrows and nodded, eyes sparkling. “I’ll be sure to be prepared.” He looked at the six students, “Do not discuss anything regarding the basilisk or our plans with your classmates — it could cause a panic. And someone might inform their parents, which could lead to the Ministry interfering tomorrow and causing difficulties.”

They all nodded.

He took two pieces of paper out of a drawer and quickly wrote something.

“And here are curfew passes, as it is past time for that for First Years,” he said handing the Gryffindors one and the other to Myrtle. He looked up at the two professors. “We have a late night ahead, I fear.” They both nodded and settled back into their chairs. 

As they left the room, Harry heard, “Skiffy? Would you tell Severus to come to my office as soon as he can?”

On their way back to Gryffindor Tower, Twilight said, “That was very odd.”

Harry nodded. He had to agree. The fillies were frowning as well. Why did he have the feeling that he was somehow involved in the old fart's decision?

“He really planned on waiting until summer. Yet, when I said we were leaving, he immediately changed his mind. I wonder why that is?” She looked at the five students inquiringly.

They all shrugged.

“Maybe he just really thinks having us here is important,” Sweetie Belle tentatively suggested. “We are the only foreign students in the school.”


۸- ̬ -۸


The Headmaster walked into his office to find a hot cup of tea on his desk, with several fruit slices on a plate beside it. He smiled appreciatively, “Thank you, Skiffy,” he said settling down behind his desk to wait for his visitors. It would be a most informative day. He would be able to see for himself just how powerful these witches were. And meeting one of their rulers would be very enlightening, too. If one chose to come, that is.

“Skiffy?” he said, after sitting and taking a sip of his tea.

“Skiffy be here,” answered the little house-elf, appearing in front of his desk.

Dumbledore couldn’t help but smile at the little creature’s enthusiasm. “Are all the house-elves prepared to evacuate as soon as the students leave?”

The house-elf frowned unhappily, “Yes, Master Dumbles. But we’s thinks we’s should be heres to help!”

“The basilisk is far too dangerous for any of you to be of assistance. Many of you might die, and I can’t have that happen.”

Tears appeared at the corners of Skiffy’s eyes, “Youse cares so much for us’es!” he declared with a hitch in his voice.

“And why wouldn’t I?” asked Dumbledore rhetorically, “You are all vital to the smooth running of the Castle.”

Skiffy wiped his eyes, “Youse is too kind,” he said, “Yes, youse is.”

There was flare of green flames from the floo, and Princess Twilight’s voce came from it, “Headmaster Dumbledore? May we come through?”

Skiffy disappeared

Moments later, the Headmaster was staring at the assortment of people in his office. Six he had met at The Leaky Cauldron, but the other two were new to him. And, for the first time, he met an Atlantean wizard.

Albus would have spent more time examining this wizard if it were not for the striking witch that preceded him. She was tall, easily eight feet, with a flawlessly proportioned generous figure in a form-fitting dress that would, in no way, hamper her movements.

Her hair was a range of colours, from deep midnight-blue to a dark cornflower-blue, colours the dress complimented perfectly. Interestingly, her hair seemed to shimmer as bright-white points winked from within, almost like stars winking in the night sky. That would have been captivating in and of itself, but her hair seemed to float around her head and body as if in a light breeze that no one else could feel. 

She had a regal bearing, but the way she rapidly took in his office had all the marks of a seasoned duellist. Her bare-armed musculature helped with that impression.

She made no attempt to hide her magic as it flowed into and around his office. He didn’t need his glasses to see her magic. Reflexively, he released the hold he had on his magic. He had learned long ago that if he didn’t keep a rein on his magic, he tended to scare the students. And attract unwanted attention from older witches.

In here, right now, his magic was barely noticeable, but at least it pushed the foreign witch’s magic back a bit and gave him room to relax. She would not be using her magic to subtly influence him. The crown on her head, however, did exert a subtle influence by its mere presence, reminding him of the political clout the wearer had available in her homeland. If he wanted to see more students from Atlantis coming to Hogwarts, he would need her support.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness,” Princess Sparkle said, bowing to each in turn, “This is Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbldore; Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorcerer; Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards; and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“Headmaster Dumbledore, this is Her Eternal Majesty, Princess Luna, Mistress of the Stars and Moon, Bringer of the Night, Guardian of Dreams and Destroyer of Nightmares, Bane of Evil, Defender and Grand General of the Realm, Monarch of the Unicorn Tribe, Councillor of the Earth Tribe, Commander of the Pegasi Tribe, Matriarch of the Night Tribe, and, with Her Sister, Co-ruler of Equestria and Their other Realms and Territories.”

Dumbledore stood up and bowed to the powerful witch. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.”

She nodded to him regally, “We are pleased to meet the Headmaster of this school.” She then resumed her inspection of his office — except he had the uncomfortable feeling she wasn’t stopping at the walls. “’Tis a most interesting school, too.”

Princess Twilight continued, “And this is Prince Shining Armor, co-ruler of the Crystal Empire.” She grinned happily, “And my brother.” She looked at him proudly.

He could barely drag his eyes from the Amazonian figure before him to the rather non-descript, by comparison, wizard at her side. The wizard was of slightly above-average height, compared to the Atlantean witches, handsome, and his hair colour was sky-blue, with wide stripes of dark-blue and an even darker blue. He had muscles like Dumbledore had never seen before — they were well defined and clearly marked him as a soldier who took his business seriously. If not for Princess Luna, he would have dominated the room with his presence. The witches, and a few wizards, would be on him like bees on pollen as soon as they saw him.

It was only then that he realized the prince, and the princess, had a sword in a sheath on their backs, the pommels nearly hidden in their hair. Similarly, he now realized, so did Princess Sparkle and Rarity. He was momentarily nonplussed, were they really considering taking the basilisk on with mere swords? And Princess Sparkle was also carrying a soft briefcase, which he found very odd. What could she possibly have in it that would assist them?

Dumbledore nodded to the wizard, noting he didn’t offer to shake hands. “And I’m pleased to meet you, your Highness.”

The wizard gave him a small smile. “Just Shining will do. Like Twilight, I’m not very big on titles and formality.”

The Headmaster nodded again, “Thank you. You may call me Albus.” He glanced up at the tall princess, who was watching with him with her blue-green eyes. He smiled up at her, “And it would be an honour for you to call me Albus, your Majesty,” he looked over at the Twilight, “Princess Sparkle.”

They both smiled back at him, nodding.

“Shiny will be maintaining the shield protecting us while we discuss things with the basilisk,” Princess Sparkle explained. Shining Armour rolled his eyes at her affectionate nickname for him. “Well, Fluttershy will discuss things with the basilisk.” She continued, “We will back her up.”

Dumbledore had to look carefully before he finally located the shy pink-haired witch hiding behind Miss Applejack. He had to admit to himself that he found it highly unlikely that the witch could converse with any creature without fainting, much less a monster of the proportions they expected to find in the Chamber of Secrets. But he carefully kept his doubts to himself and out of his expression.

As he looked over the people in his office, he realized that all of his visitors had striking hair colours, and they all had hair that reached most of the way to their waists. Prince Armour’s hair, while not nearly as long as the witches, was still long enough to make any pure-blood wizard proud, and the rest of them envious. Their clothes were all carefully tailored for perfect fits, with oversized-gems for buttons — and each gem would take a significant portion of his yearly salary as Headmaster, if they were real. Which, given what little he had learned from the goblins, they probably were.

The Atlanteans were not reluctant to display their wealth, he realized. And their wild hair-colours must be a trait they had developed after Atlantis had broken off contact with the rest of the world, he concluded.

“Would you like some tea?” he asked.

“We thank thee for thy courtesy, but We have already supped. And Our companions have similarly broken their fast,” said Princess Luna in a refined and regal tone.

“Oh, before we start discussing our plans for the basilisk, Princess Celestia wanted to know what the students would do while they were in Hogsmeade,” Princess Sparkle said. “Because having a huge herd of students wandering around a small village, with nothing to do, could lead some of them into mischief — especially if the villagers are caught unprepared for the onslaught. You might want to send someone over to warn the shopkeepers about the sudden holiday, give them a bit of time to prepare.”

“Yes,” he said, “That is undoubtedly true. However, I’m sure the Prefects and Professors will keep things in hand, and explain to the curious what is happening.”

The princess gave him a disbelieving look, then said, “Well, Princess Celestia suggested that we give each student a stipend for the day . . . a sickle for spending while in the village was suggested as reasonable.”

A large bag floated out of Princess Twilight’s briefcase. “One thousand sickles,” she said.

“That is most generous of you, your Majesties,” he said looking up at Princess Luna, who was staring intently at one of his magical knick-knacks. She turned to look at him and nodded.

“It is a small cost considering the disruption of their studies for the day. You may also tell the village restaurants that lunch may be charged to the Castle, and we will reimburse you,” Princess Sparkle continued. She glanced at Princess Luna. “We believe that these actions will greatly reduce the incentives for mischief. As well as prevent any resentment on the part of the village’s residents on the lack of a warning to the disturbance of what would normally be a quiet day.”

“And reduce the interest any students might have in trying to sneak back to the castle so they can try to spy what we are doing,” Rarity put in dryly.

“But where’s the fun in that?” asked Pinkie from the top of his book case where she was using a telescope as long as she was tall to look out into the forest through the window on the other side of the room. The Atlanteans all just stared at her a moment.

He wondered how she had managed to climb up there without disrupting any of his trinkets or dislodging any of his books. Did she have a pegasus animagus? And had transformed and flown up there while he was distracted? And from where had she acquired that telescope?

“I will make sure these are distributed to the students at breakfast,” he said, eyes twinkling as he again looked at the bag on his desk. He would have the house-elves distribute the sickles. Once breakfast was under way, he could have a dozen or so house-elves pop over to Hogsmeade to advise the shopkeepers of the oncoming horde. And, he would ask the house-elves if, perhaps, they wanted to help the shopkeepers and other citizens for the rest of the day. After breakfast was completed, of course. He was sure they would be delighted at the prospect of working at something new for a change. And he knew the residents would appreciate the assistance. Yes, this could be a solid boost to the relationship between the school and the village. A magnificent start to the school season for everyone.

“I took the liberty of putting my memory of my time yesterday in the Chamber into this pensieve,” he said, and pointed to the large stone bowl near the edge of his desk. “Simply dip your face into the pensieve, like so,” he demonstrated. He stood back up a moment later, “And it puts you right in the memory where you can see and hear exactly what I saw and heard. Naturally, you cannot interact with anything in the memory, but it is useful, nonetheless.”

He looked up at Princess Luna. “Your Majesty?” he said, waving his hand at the bowl.

Hesitantly, she stepped closer, but a sudden cry of “Banzai!” interrupted her and Pinkie Pie dove into the bowl. Twilight sighed deeply, shaking her head. “Allow me, Princess,” she said and leaned over the bowl, disappearing from sight. He blinked, surprised at the turn of event, but then looked at the others and smiled. “Just follow us in when you’re ready.”


۸- ̫ -۸