Further discussions on the subject of house-elves were interrupted by the arrival of Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Flitwick. Once introductions were completed, they started on their planning.
Princess Sparkle spoke first. “Princess Luna, Prince Armor, and I will teleport to the chamber and put up a strong shield. Then I will return for the rest of you. Once we are all in the Chamber, and safe behind Shiny’s shield, Fluttershy will fly up to the basilisk’s lair and try to talk the basilisk into coming with us.”
“She’s a parselmouth?” came the Headmaster’s surprised question.
“Parselmouth?” Twilight repeated.
“She can talk with snakes,” supplied Severus dryly.
The Princess shook her head. “Oh, no. One of her talents is to communicate with and understand what non-speaking animals are saying.”
That got her a few disbelieving stares, which she ignored.
“If the monster refuses reasoning, then we will use force to pull it out of its lair.”
Princess Luna smiled broadly, “If it be a battle the monster desires, then a battle it shall receive!” She shimmied in anticipation. The Headmaster had the impression that the princess almost wanted the basilisk to be obstinate.
“I believe I should go with you, Princess Sparkle. I am rather powerful, from what others have told me,” he said, eyes twinkling.
She nodded. “That’s acceptable. Are you ready?” She tilted her head slightly.
Almost before he finished nodding, he found himself in the darkened chamber. It was the smoothest apparition he had ever experienced. And she had moved three other people without any of them even being close to her, much less actually holding on as normal wizards had to do. As a side-along apparition, it put her into a class all her own.
He quickly cast a lumos and lit up the area around them. He watched as Princess Luna transformed into a horse, a large winged horse with a horn. She was clearly almost double the size of Princess Twilight when she was in pony-form. And her crown was just as noticeable. It had somehow managed to remain in place, and even adjust to a new position, during the transformation. She was also wearing an armoured peytral, chanfron, helmet, criniere, croupiere, and metal shoes with guards to cover her legs. Painted onto the petral and croupiere was a symbol of a crescent-moon against a black night sky. She was clearly ready to do battle. And from the dents and scratches on the armour, she had clearly gone to battle in it in the past.
Which was quite a contrast to Princess Sparkle’s lack of anything protective.
And her animagus form was an alicorn. Were equines the default animagus forms for all the Atlanteans? He filed that thought away for study later. In any case, Princess Luna’s black armour made her difficult to see with the limited light in the Chamber. Her dark-purple mane floated around her head as if it were in a mild breeze. Had she, herself, supplied the hair in Harry’s wand?
Her scabbarded sword was across her barrel, tucked under her closed wing.
Simultaneously, a glowing pink shield appeared around them, created by the well-muscled white unicorn with a multi-coloured-blue mane and tail standing where Prince Shining Armour had been. More evidence that all Atlanteans had equines as their animagus. His sword was strapped high up on his side, as well. He, too, wore armour, painted gold and purple. His petral and shorter croupiere bore a purple shield embossed with a pink six-pointed star, with three stars above it. His helmet bore a romanesque crest in shades of blue, like his hair.
Both of them had spears. Luna's under her opposite wing and his was secured to his side with straps on the armour.
The Headmaster had never seen such fit and trim horses.
Twilight shot him a fast grin, “We unicorns find it so much easier to cast magic as ponies.” She transformed as well, into her purple alicorn form he had seen yesterday. She was as fit and trim a pony as the others — and, as he had thought, she was just over half as tall as Princess Luna. Princess Luna, though, had a more horse-like build with thinner and longer legs, with body to match. The other animagi ponies appeared a bit chunky by comparison, and much more adorable and cute. Princess Luna, for a horse, was beautiful.
Now that he could see them all side-by-side, it was clear that Princess Sparkle wasn’t as delicate in appearance as the other Princess, and slightly taller and thinner in the legs than the other ponies.
She turned to her brother, “Okay, start expanding the shield.”
The pink glow slowly receded from them until it met the walls. Then it simply moulded its shape to them. The snake statues lining the Chamber stood in stark relief to the pink-coated walls behind them. He turned to look behind him, and saw the doors to the chamber similarly coated. The princesses, and prince, started a slow walk forward to the other end of the Chamber, the shield expanding in front of them. It was a truly remarkable display of talent and power.
“How long can he keep this up,” Dumbledore asked.
Princess Sparkle kept her eyes on the area in front of them. “He kept a city-wide shield over Canterlot for several days, and held back an attack by several thousand Changelings for almost an hour.”
Dumbledore stopped walking for a moment. Just how powerful was this Prince? He, himself, would be sorely taxed to cast a shield over an entire city. And then to be the only one supporting the shield with over a thousand attacking wizards? He regarded Prince Armor in a new light.
She glanced over at her brother, a proud smile on her face. “Only my brother can cast a shield that big for that long! Most unicorns can hold up a shield for only an hour or less. And against the Changelings, most would have collapsed in a few moments. Shielding, protecting others, is his special talent after all.”
That was a relief. He had been beginning to think that the Atlanteans would simply walk all over the English wizards and witches. It seemed that certain individuals were incredibly powerful, but only in sharply defined disciplines. Otherwise their powers were average. Or maybe above-average compared to English wizards. He hoped that the witches, and wizard, he had met so far were the exceptionally powerful ones.
And he would have to circumspectly inquire about what Changelings were.
Misses Bloom, Belle, and Scootaloo, so far, didn’t seem any more powerful than the other students. A bit faster in their mastering their practicals, maybe. So, perhaps, these eight were the exceptions. He certainly hoped so.
He could only imagine what effect the Atlanteans would have on English wizard families when they began to intermarry.
They had finally reached the end of the Chamber. It was much damper here, with a small channel of water running in front of the tall statue. They stared up at huge wizard with the monkey-like face; it was easily ten yards tall.
Salazar Slytherin certainly hadn’t been humble, nor would he have won any of the Handsomest Wizard contests that appeared in Teen Witch, that was for sure. It was too bad the portrait animating spell hadn’t existed back then, his portrait would have been highly sought after, regardless of the wizard’s physical appearance.
The two Princesses took flight and hovered in front of the mouth of the statue, which was the entrance to the basilisk’s lair.
Princess Luna laughed. Twilight looked at her curiously, “Princess Luna? Is something wrong?”
The larger alicorn smirked at her. “Neigh. Just considering the image of the snake using this as the access to its lair. This Salazar Slytherin was a naughty, naughty colt.”
The Headmaster blinked in surprise as he watched the other princess blush right through her fur.
Yes, it was a rather suggestive image, wasn’t it?
She laughed again, “I suppose we’re lucky he didn’t choose the other end.”
Princess Sparkle was face-palming . . . hoofing, he guessed it should be called.
The two Princesses hovered for a moment, then landed beside him, the larger one still snickering.
“Yes,” Princess Sparkle nodded, “the basilisk is still there. From its breathing, it seems to be deeply asleep.”
She disappeared with a flash of light and the faint sound of bells. Then reappeared almost as quickly, this time with the rest of their party from his office.
Yes, the Headmaster thought, her speciality had to be apparition, to move so many so fast, and still be able to apparate . . . no, teleport . . . with no signs of strain or fatigue.
“My word!” exclaimed Professor McGonagall, startled at the rapid transport, and the fact that the witch who did it had done it as a winged unicorn without needing to touch any of them.
Dash looked around and said, “Yep, just as much a dump in real life as in the memory.”
Princess Sparkle frowned at the rainbow-haired witch before turning and prompting, “Fluttershy?”
With an inaudible sigh, the pink-haired witch turned into a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail. She slowly, almost reluctantly, flew up to the mouth of the statue and hovered there.
“. . . .”
Rainbow Dash, now a blue pegasus with a rainbow-coloured mane and tail, flew up beside her friend. They heard her as she said, “Uh, Fluttershy, you’ll have to speak louder than that because the door is closed.”
“-----------”
“Louder than that, Fluttershy,” the other pegasus coaxed.
“Hello Mr. Basilisk! Can we talk?”
“Perhaps I could cast a sonorous on her for you?” suggested Dumbledore.
“That’s a good idea,” said Princess Sparkle. Her horn glowed briefly as she stared up at the yellow pegasus.
“HELLO MR. BASILISK! CAN WE TALK?”
The yellow pegasus apparently startled herself so badly that she was a blur as she hid herself behind Rainbow Dash, as Dash herself winced at the volume.
There was the sound of something stirring, then a hissing.
She slowly moved from behind the blue pegasus.
“NO, MR. BASILISK, I AM NOT A SPEAKER, AS YOU CALL IT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOU.”
Dash was holding her hooves over her ears.
There was more hissing.
“WELL, YOU SEE, THE HEADMASTER OF THE SCHOOL WANTS YOU TO LEAVE HERE. IT’S SO DARK AND COLD. YOU’D BE HAPPIER OUT IN THE FOREST, WOULDN’T YOU?”
The hissing from inside the statue continued.
She turned and looked down at them, “He says the last Speaker, um, commanded him to stay here to, um, clean up the muggle-born filth and their, those, who would help them. To fulfil his destiny, as Master Slytherin had commanded him.” She turned back to the statue. “BUT THE MUGGLE-BORN STUDENTS ARE HERE WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE HEADMASTER AND THE MINISTRY,“AND IT IS WRONG TO HURT PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T HURT YOU.”
A short hiss.
“PLEASE, MR. BASILISK, THE LAST SPEAKER WAS WRONG TO COMMAND YOU TO DO THAT.”
A longer series of hisses.
She looked down at them. “He says he will protect the school, he will do as commanded. To, um, cleanse the school of those unworthy.” She sighed.
“PLEASE, MR. BASILISK, WE DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU.”
More hissing. Fluttershy started to translate as the basilisk continued to hiss. “He says, he’s had enough talking. We’re obviously here to make him disobey the Speaker, if we don’t leave he will eat us. He hasn’t eaten in a long time and is very hungry.” The mouth of the statue began to open as the hissing grew louder. “He says, leave or die!”
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash darted back from the opening door.
“Huzzah!” cried Princess Luna happily, as she took to the air, again. “It is a battle!” The scabbarded sword and spear he had seen before were now floating on either side of her, as Princess Sparkle’s and Rarity’s swords were floating beside them.
Fluttershy continued her retreat, not stopping until she was all the way back to the Chamber doors. The Atlanteans who had not yet transformed into ponies did so now. From somewhere, Rainbow Dash produced a set of goggles that flashed like mirrors. He noticed similar goggles being floated to everyone else, including himself and the professors. Those had probably been what Princess Sparkle had had in her briefcase in addition to the coins. The Atlanteans quickly put on their goggles, which were designed for their equine forms.
The wizards and witch followed suit as Princess Sparkle said, “These will protect us from the basilisk’s gaze. After my run-in with a cockatrice I did some research and came up with these. They tested out just fine,” she said smugly.
Dumbledore slipped his on and immediately noticed how everything around them changed. Gone were the colours he was used to seeing. Everything appeared in shades of orange.
“They work by converting heat energy into light we can use, and showing that in the goggles in orange. They completely block the light the basilisk uses to turn you to stone or kill you.”
At the top of the Chamber, affixed to the ceiling, a brilliant ball of light appeared. It seemed as if the entire Chamber were sunlit. Dumbledore could feel a warm heat on his exposed skin.
He slipped his goggles down and the Chamber appeared as dark as it had been before. He looked up at the ceiling and saw a large dull-red sphere of some kind. He could feel heat on his face coming from it. He put his goggles back on and marvelled at how well defined everything was in the Chamber. The pink shield, now a faint shimmer over the things not inside it, suddenly retreated from the statue, leaving a space of several yards in front of the shallow-angled magical field that left most of the ceiling uncovered.
Meanwhile, hissing like a steam-engine, the giant basilisk slid out of its lair. It landed on the floor of the Chamber with a tremendous thud that shook the floor and walls and threw water from the water-trough it had partially landed in.
It was, as Princess Twilight had estimated, a giant snake of at least sixty feet in length, perhaps even seventy feet.
The Headmaster couldn’t help but be worried. He had thought Princess Sparkle had been severely over-estimating the size of the beast. He had thought it might be twenty or thirty feet, maybe. He certainly hadn’t expected anything double that length.
Its head was large enough to eat a wizard or witch whole — it was at least a yard and a half wide— what had it been eating to get so large? With its jaw wide-open, as it was at the moment, its mouth was taller than any of them in the Chamber. Dumbledore was pleased to see that it was effectively trapped between the shield being maintained by Prince Armor, who was frowning, and the statue behind it.
He began mentally reviewing his spell repertoire in anticipation that the snake’s hide would be exceedingly thick and extremely resistant to most magics. Even a skilled team of dragon-handlers would find this monster a challenge.
He was distracted from his study of the enormous beast as he heard Princess Luna scream like a banshee. She dove at it, sword and spear extended in front of her, her four hooves angled forward.
۸-_-۸
“And this,” said George, or at least Harry thought it was George, “Is the Shrieking Shack, supposedly the most haunted building in all of England and Scotland.” He bowed with a flourish in front of a house that Harry could only call a dump. The building looked very old and ready to fall down at any moment — none of the walls were exactly straight anymore. They leaned and warped alarmingly.
The windows on the ground floor were all boarded up, and even the door had boards covering it. The first-floor windows had shutters on them, all of which were either closed or boarded over. Broken glass could be seen through the places where a board had come loose and hung down from one end or the other.
The brick walls were weatherworn and shabby, and many had lost most of the cement holding them in place. There were places where roof tiles were missing, and even more that looked as if the next soft breeze would carry them away. Harry wouldn’t trust that roof to keep out a sprinkle of water, much less the harsh rainstorms that drenched Scotland during the fall and spring, as he had heard on the telly from his cupboard. How the building was still standing was a miracle of construction and fate — or maybe magic. But who would waste such magic on such a wreck?
The grounds surrounding the house were wild with weeds and underbrush, with an occasional tree that looked as ancient as the house. And who knew what malign creatures were lurking in the undergrowth? Like the Everfree, just looking at it made you feel as if you were being watched by something unsavoury. Plus, climbing the decrepit fence that divided the yard from the road into the yard would be taking your life in your hands.
Sweetie Belle stared at it and said, “Wait. How is this the most haunted building in Scotland when Hogwarts itself has over a dozen ghosts wandering around?”
Harry and the other Gryffindor Firsties looked at the twins for an explanation.
George rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “Well, near as we can figure it out . . .”
“. . . it goes back to about twenty years ago,” finished his brother.
“It seems that the most horrible and terrifying screams and howls were heard . . .”
“. . . coming from this shack every month.”
“You could hear it all the way back at Hogwarts.”
“But no one ever saw anyone ever enter or leave, day or night.”
“And several wizards watched the shack very closely.”
“They didn’t see any lights, but they said it sounded like a werewolf.
“But a werewolf could easily batter his way through the windows or doors.”
“So they concluded it must be the ghost of a werewolf . . .”
“. . . hunting for other ghosts to attack and turn.”
“Some people claim you can still hear the werewolf on occasion . . .”
“. . . and his victims pleading for their lives.”
They both shrugged.
“We’ve never been outside of Hogwarts on full-moon nights,” said Fred.
“So we really don’t know anything else about the stories.”
Harry thought their explanation had been like being in the audience of a tennis match, as he had seen on the telly a couple of time — their heads going back and forth, back and forth. It almost made him dizzy.
The three fillies exchanged looks. Scootaloo leaned close to Sweetie Belle and whispered, “Put it on the list, Sweetie.” Then she transformed and quickly took off.
Harry groaned, drawing the curious attention of several of the others.
Scootaloo flew around the building, peering in through the places where the boards had fallen from the windows, even knocking one or two of the looser ones off the building. Ginny quickly joined her in exploring the abandoned building.
George and Fred laughed.
Fred said, “There’s a spot in the fence where you can wriggle through.”
“If you’re brave enough,” said George.
“We won’t tell you where it is, though.”
“That would be what Percy calls irresponsible, right?” George said glancing at his older brother who was standing nearby and frowning.
“That’s right, brother dear,” said Fred, “we won’t tell them it’s in the back.”
“Or that it’s on the south end of the property . . .”
“. . . about three yards from the corner.”
“Yes, that would be reckless of us, so our lips are sealed!”
The two nodded to each other as Percy fumed. They hadn’t actually done anything wrong for him to object to. After all, every third-year or above could have told them the same things. But the younger students would have to have known to ask about the Shrieking Shack instead of slowly learning about it from the other students over their third year.
They were just . . . priming the pump, you might say. And, Harry suspected, it really wasn’t anything the Prefect could complain to Professor McGonagall about.
Of course, the twins were only third-year students themselves. They hadn’t yet had permission to visit Hogsmeade, much less explore it thoroughly. Not knowing how they had acquired such familiarity with Hogsmeade clearly left Percy seething with frustration. How had they done it?
“Of course,” George added.
“If you can fly, that information is moot,” Fred finished, grinning as they watched Scootaloo and their sister moving from window to window, scouting out the house.
“Come along,” said Fred, turning back from their detour and to the road that led to Hogsmeade.
“There is so much more to see in the village.”
The group made their way back to the main road. The rest of the school had already flooded into the village and scattered.
Scootaloo came shooting up to them. “Hay!” she said, “You left me behind.”
“Yeah,” added Ginny, coasting up to join them.
“Not a chance,” said Apple Bloom, “We knew you’d see us moving on.”
“What’d you see?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo shrugged, “Nothin’ interesting. Broken furniture, dirt, dust, cobwebs, holes in the walls and floors. A real dump. I’d be amazed it hadn’t fallen down yet if the walls weren’t so surprisingly sturdy.”
“Now,” said George, or was it Fred? “The best places are Honeydukes, the Three Broomsticks, and Zonko’s Joke Shop.”
“But they’ll be mobbed at this point,” continued his brother.
They had reached High Street from the detour that had led to the Shrieking Shack. They could see the line of students waiting to get into Honeydukes as it snaked back and forth in front of the shop. The Three Broomsticks, across the street from Honeydukes didn’t have nearly as long a line, but there was one. Harry wasn’t sure why so many students were interested in the eatery so soon after having breakfast at Hogwarts, but it was certainly popular. Honeydukes, at least, sold candies you could store for consumption later in the month.
None of the other students paid any attention to the Gryffindor First Years. However, the residents of the small village, those that were out and about and not helping their storekeeper friends inside the shops, watched, amazed, as Scootaloo and Ginny hovered over the crowd. This was their first sight of the two student pegasi, and they quickly questioned the nearby students about the small flying ponies. Harry could hear gasps as others caught their first sight of them.
Zonko’s, as they slowly made their way down the street, also had a line out the door. One thing Harry did notice was that the further into the village they went, the shorter the lines became. One shop seemed to have a much longer line than the others. Longer, even, than the one into Honeydukes. Unlike the others, that line was all couples. The boys did not seem nearly as happy about being there as did the girls at their sides.
Harry saw Myrtle nearby, snickering at the wizards and occasionally waving to one or another as she caught their eye. Several of the witches were watching her with narrowed eyes. A number of the wizards jumped slightly, and then found something else to watch besides the former ghost — like the frowning witch they were standing beside.
“That’s Madam Puddifoot’s” said one twin with a shudder.
“The witches just love the place,” said the other.
“All pink with hearts.”
“The witches think it’s romantic.”
They both mimed gagging.
Scootaloo joined the boys in shuddering. The other girls looked at it speculatively, including, Harry noticed, Sweetie Belle. Harry pitied the boy she would talk into taking her there when she was old enough to start chasing colts.
The twins led them most of the way through the village, stopping when they reached a shop with a sign that said, “Gladrag’s Wizardwear.”
“Ladies,” said one twin, “Here’s a shop I’m sure you’ll love to visit. They have all sorts of clothes and fashions.”
“They both sell and buy clothes, so if you have anything you’ve outgrown,”
“. . . and want some knuts, this is the place.”
“Now, I’m sure you ladies will want to take a look.”
“So, while you do that, we’ll take the boys . . .”
“. . . to there, Dervish and Banges,” they both pointed down the street.
“They sell and repair all sorts of magical instruments and stuff.”
Percy gave them both the evil eye, scowling.
“Don’t worry, Percy, it’s all on the up and up,” one twin hastily told him.
Percy’s look did not improve. If anything he looked even more suspicious.
The twins exchanged looks, and sighed.
“Fine,” said Fred. “I’ll stay with the ladies.”
“And I’ll go with you and the other gentlemen to Dervish and Banges,” said the other.
Suiting action to words, the other twin looped his arm through Percy’s and started down the street, looking as if he were promenading with his girlfriend. “Come along now, dear brother,” he said in a high falsetto voice.
Percy tried to jerk his arm from his brother’s grip. George, or at least Harry thought it was George, had too good of grip.
“Now, don’t be like that brother, dear.” He flashed Percy a simpering smile. “It is so unseemly.”
Percy just scowled in response, but stopped struggling as he knew his brother would not give up.
The girls started giggling at the sight, and the boys did a bit of laughing, as well. The two groups set off towards their respective destinations. One a bit closer than the other.
Harry and the fillies followed the group that wasn’t going into the clothing store. Harry was so glad that none of the fillies were clothes horses — no pun intended.
۸- ̬ -۸