//------------------------------//
// [RVS]22 - Opportunity 
// Story: A Phoenix Beyond the Veil - The Philospher's Stone 
// by gerandakis 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Twenty-Two

Opportunity






Once he had managed to reign in his curiosity, Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As intriguing as this light magic may be – and I'm certain that those present here will only be the first that will want to learn from you – I do have another matter to discuss."

He turned to Ginny. "Mister Ollivander informed you, didn't he?" Ginny simply nodded. "Did you tell your parents yet?"

She smiled sheepishly. "No, we forgot about that."

"Very well, then I shall." He turned to the adult Weasleys. "As it happens, your daughter is ready to attend Hogwarts this year rather than next. I've made sure that the Ministry won't make a fuss because of it. The school is ready to admit her."

While the Weasley parents were stunned, Sunset spoke up from behind Dumbledore. "Professor? You might want to take a look at Luna as well." She pointed to girl sitting beside Ginny, watching the conversation carefully. "I took the liberty of scanning her, and I'm pretty sure she's ready too."

Dumbledore drew his wand and scanned Luna with it. "Yes, Miss Shimmer, I believe you may be correct. Give me a moment, I shall consult the book of attendance. Fawkes?"

The phoenix on his shoulder spread his wings, gave a triumphant trill and vanished in a flash of golden fire.

Molly and Arthur looked at one another, both seeing their own thoughts reflected in their partner's eyes. 'How are we going to afford that?' They would both love to see their daughter go to Hogwarts all the sooner. They suddenly understood why Sunset and Hermione had been teaching her along with Harry and Ron ever since they had gone to fetch Sunset's wand. Ginny wasn't doing any worse than the boys once the fact that she had started practice two days later was considered, so they had no doubt that she could handle the curriculum.

Still, their budget was always tight. They had given Bill's old wand to Ron, but they didn't have another spare. That alone was a problematic impact on their finances.

Sunset walked over to the two. She had not missed the Weasleys' generally rather cheap or second-hand-looking possessions. She had heard what Ron and Ginny had said back at Ollivander's. Their expressions now only confirmed her suspicions. "Don't worry," she started, as Hermione walked up beside her. "We talked this over with Emma and Dan. We can help you."

The two looked up. After sharing a glance, Mr. Weasley was the one to speak. "Oh no. That's fine. No need really. We couldn't accept that."

Sunset looked at him with a stern expression that would not have been out of place on Professor McGonagall's face. "Yes you can. I'm not blind. I am well aware that you are not exactly a wealthy family. I know you did what you could with what you had up 'till now, but that is no longer necessary."

While Sunset was speaking in an entirely calm tone, Mr. Weasley was getting rather heated. "That may be so, but Weasleys don't take charity."

Sunset looked at him. The fire in her eyes a stark contrast to the frigid tone of her voice. "Under normal circumstances that might be an admirable position to hold, but not now. If Ginny is ready to go to school now, then she should. And if Ron has a wand that doesn't allow him to reach his full potential, he should rightly get another."

Arthur and Molly looked at each other, startled at the revelation. Sunset noticed their expressions immediately. "Yes. Mister Ollivander was quite clear on that. With another wand, handing it down to him might work decently well. But wands of ash bond very strongly with their first wielder. They lose much of their power and skill when handed on. A core of unicorn hair only exacerbates that problem. In another case I might not care much, but with this combination of circumstances, I cannot let this go."

Even Sunset herself wasn't entirely sure where this sudden confidence was coming from, but she had seen Princess Celestia act exactly like this on more than one occasion. In fact, even her manner of speaking had shifted slightly to mimic that of the princess. She wasn't sure why this was happening, but, for the moment, she didn't care. She had to do what she knew was right.

She looked at the Weasley parents in turn, her eyes both alight with determination and cold with disappointment. "I can see that you hold your children dear. And I can also see that you have pride as a family. I ask only that you consider which of those is more important to you. I respect your integrity, but I will not stand idly by and let you squander your children's potential out of some misguided sense of pride. Not when there is another option. Think on that."

Without another word, she walked over to the wall, leaning against it. Hermione right behind her, looking back at the two with an expression somewhere between hope and disappointment.

The entire room was stunned for several moments. Even the professors from Hogwarts were surprised to say the least. They could now all see the same thing Minerva had seen before. In just that short conversation, Sunset had displayed the quick wit of a Ravenclaw, the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, the cunning of a Slytherin and the willingness to stand for what she considered to be right that was so typical of a Gryffindor. In fact, Minerva seemed to be the only one other than Miss Granger to not be surprised in the slightest. She had simply observed the entire exchange with a calculating expression, almost as thought she had expected such a thing to happen.

The Weasley children were looking back between Sunset and their parents for several moments, even Bill and Charlie had never heard anyone speak to their parents like that. Sunset hadn't been impolite, she hadn't lost her composure, she hadn't even raised her voice. But she had made her opinions clear in a way that brooked no argument.

Molly and Arthur were the most stunned of all. Had they truly been ready to place their pride as a family before the wellbeing of their children? For three generations now, their family had been rather poor, a side effect of being considered a blood traitor family. Whenever a member of one of the rich pureblood families had seen the light and fallen in love with a Weasley, they had either conformed to their family and ended the relationship or followed their heart and been promptly disowned.

Still despite that, they were a pureblood family, if one that wasn't greatly respected by most of the others, as such their word held a certain amount of political sway. Any gift from a richer family usually came with a catch. Some kind of agenda attached to it. Admittedly that had become rarer over the years, but it still happened from time to time. As such, refusing such gifts outright had become habit.

They had grown so used to having to conserve money that a sudden removal of that requirement, even a temporary one, required some time to mentally shift gears. When they truly thought about it, they could find no fault in Sunset's words. She was entirely correct. Of course the Grangers wouldn't have an agenda in wizarding politics. None of them had the first idea of the current political situation in Wizarding Britain.

As they looked over their children they realized something else. Sunset could not have chosen a better time to speak out. With all their children gathered here, they could directly see those whom their decision would impact. Their children. The ones they loved as much as they did each other. As their gazes traveled from one family member to the next, their stunned expressions gradually gave way to determination.

The silence that had taken over the living room was broken by another flash of flames. Looking around, Dumbledore smiled. "Did I miss something?" Another moment later he looked to he gathered professors. "Ah well. I'm sure my colleagues will fill me in." He took only a moment to find Sunset, nodded and turned to Luna who hadn't moved from where she had stood when he left. "I checked the book of attendance. Miss Shimmer is correct. You are ready as well. Shall we go and inform your father?" Luna nodded with a quiet smile, walking over to the headmaster. In another flash of flame, they were gone.

Shaking their heads after the surprising entrance of the headmaster, Molly and Arthur, looked at Sunset, determination shining in their eyes, and nodded. Sunset gave them a gentle smile, one of her hands glowing teal and pulling a piece of parchment and a quill from the bag. She watched the room for a moment, not bothering to look at the message she was writing. Before long, the quill returned to the bag.

She rolled up the parchment and drew her wand, tapping it onto the scroll. After a moment she put her wand away again, taking the scroll in a hand and holding it up to her shoulder. She silently nodded to the bird sitting there. Philomena stretched out a wing and calmly tapped a primary feather onto the scroll, causing it to vanish in a small flash of flames.

Having sent her message, Sunset looked at the gathered Weasleys, smirking. "Looks like another trip to Diagon Alley is in order."

Mr. Weasley nodded. "Yes. You can go there tomorrow. Now. I had the morning off, but I really need to get to work now."

Bill and Charlie nodded, denoting similar sentiments, as did the professors. Sunset simply smiled. She nodded to Philomena who flew over to Bill and Charlie. Once they had said their goodbyes, they were whisked away in a flash of flame.

Mr. Weasley excused himself and disapparated to the Ministry. The professors were about to do the same when Sunset stepped up to them, turning to McGonagall. "I know you're curious about my teleportation. Do you want me to take you back to Hogwarts? That way you could see it first hand."

After a few quiet words with her colleagues, McGonagall nodded. "Very well Miss Shimmer, go ahead."

Smiling, Sunset drew her wand. The air around the professors rippled and quickly reformed into the gates of Hogwarts and the school grounds. The professors were still for another moment, waiting for the normal sensations of apparition before realizing that they would not come and that they had, in fact, already arrived.

Professor Vector was the first to speak up. "Merlin's beard. That was the smoothest apparition I've ever had."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "That's because it wasn't apparition. This is what happens when a proper teleportation spell is used. You know, instead of the volatile mess you call apparition."

"Remarkable," Professor Flitwick breathed. "I believe we have much to learn from each other."

"Of that I am certain," McGonagall agreed. "I have already seen Miss Shimmer display feats of magic that I have never seen elsewhere. Personally I am looking forward to see what you will achieve here at Hogwarts, Miss Shimmer."

"Thank you." Sunset smiled, curtseying slightly. "Professors. I'll see you in September." With a small wave of her wand, her shape warped and rippled, disappearing without a sound.

"She's gonna throw everything into chaos, isn't she Minerva?"

"You have no idea, Pomona. You have no idea."





The five underage Weasley children stood in the now familiar warded alley near the leaky cauldron. They were not alone. Harry, Hermione and Sunset were along for the ride again, as were Emma and Molly. Rounding out the group were Luna and her father, a man that was even more eccentric than she was. He had been introduced as Xenofilius Lovegood, editor of the Quibbler, a wizarding magazine that, Molly had quietly told the children, was of rather questionable believability.

The group quickly made their way to the pub and followed the now familiar path through the wall and along the Alley to Gringotts. Despite having seen the truth in Sunset's words, Molly couldn't help feel bad about the Grangers' offer to pay for Ginny's school supplies and Ron's new wand. That feeling only went away when she saw the mountains of gold in the Vault. Both her and Xenofilius stared into the vault while Emma was inside, loading up a purse.

After a quick trip to the Lovegood vault, they returned to the lobby where the kids were waiting under Percy's and Sunset's watchful eyes. Half an hour later the group left Madam Malkins with new robes for Ginny and Luna, Mister Lovegood went to get Luna's books while the rest of the group made their way to Ollivander's, Ginny didn't need books as the necessary ones hadn't changed since the twins had their first years, so the family had a second set already.

"Good Morning." Sunset actually giggled when Mr. Ollivander jumped at her greeting. While he seemed to enjoy sneaking up on customers, he clearly wasn't used to customers doing the same to him.

"Good Morning. Two more wands, I presume?"

"Three actually," Sunset pointed out with a nod to Luna.

The old wand maker looked at the girl for a moment, then nodded. "Remarkable. What are the odds? I take it it was you who spotted her potential, Miss Shimmer?" Sunset nodded. "Very well then, Mister Weasley, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, what are your wand hands?"

Ginny and Ron both held out their right hands, Luna held out her left. "Very well." He pulled out a tape measure, absently snapping his fingers to call two more to measure Ron and Ginny while he measured Luna. A few moments later he let go of the tape and let it continue on its own while he flitted off to the shelves and, once again, started drawing wands to form a stack on the counter.

None were really surprised when, almost half an hour later, Luna was still being matched. Mister Lovegood had joined them and watched with mild amusement as his daughter went through wand after wand. Finally Mr. Ollivander stroked his chin. "I wonder. Hmm. An unusual wood, but you might just have what it takes." He pulled another box from a shelf at the far corner of the shop, before coming back over. "Here, try this one. Acacia and Unicorn Hair, ten and two third inches, flexible, a wand for one of subtlety and hidden talents."

He held the wand out to her. She took it gently like all the ones before. When she took hold of it, her eyes widened. She held the wand up and twirled the tip in a small circle. Her entire form turned black and she sank into the shadowed ground. A moment later she peeked out behind a shelf at the opposite end of the shop. The moment he saw her, Mr. Ollivander began clapping.

"Bravo. Dark magic in the literal rather than traditional sense. Unlike any I've seen before."

"We're definitely gonna have to find someone to teach you shadow magic, aren't we?" Sunset chuckled as she came over.

"You are familiar with this type of magic, Miss Shimmer?" Ollivander seemed highly intrigued.

Sunset nodded. "Shadow magic, part of the innate skill set of thestrals back home. When I took Luna and Ginny to Equestria, Luna became a thestral, It's not really surprising that she'd start displaying shadow magic after a while. That's where we developed most of our illusions and arcane phase theory from."

Ollivander was listening with rapt attention. "Oh my. Had I known that before I would have tried an acacia wand sooner, is there anything I should know about Miss Weasley?"

Sunset tilted her head for a moment. "Hmm. Maybe. I need to test something." Sunset drew her wand and waved it in the air for a moment. A drop of water appeared in the air before her, quickly turning into a fluffy white cloud, with another mumbled incantation the cloud turned a deep gray and small sparks of static began flying around it.

With a smirk, Sunset floated the miniature cloud over to Ginny. "Touch that and tell me what you feel." With some trepidation, Ginny stretched out a hand and gently touched the cloud. A bit of electricity arced up her arm. She inclined her head slightly in confusion.

"Huh, I always thought that would hurt. It just tingles a little."

Sunset smiled happily. "Normally it would. She turned to Ollivander. Something to do with Lightning would work best I think." With a small swish of her wand, she let the cloud disperse. Ginny turned to look at the old wand maker.

"Hmm, lightning you say?" He inclined his head in thought for a few moments. "I have an idea." He wandered off along the shelves, stroking a finger along them for a moment. "Ah here." He came back with another wand box. "Laurel and Chinese Fireball heartstring, nine and a half inches. This wand seeks excitement."

Ginny carefully took the wand, swinging it through the air. Arcs of electricity, colored the same bright amber as her eyes, followed the tip. The moment she reached the lowest point of her swing, a large bolt of amber lightning struck the ground a few meters ahead of her with a resounding bang. Ginny's startled expression turned into a satisfied smile.

Ollivander matched her smile as he absently swished his own wand to remove the scorch marks at the point of impact and repair the small crater that had formed there. "Got it in one. Yes. Laurel. Make sure it doesn't grow bored and this wand will serve you well. It might in fact do what you just did to whomever might try to steal it."

Ginny gave him an incredulous look. "Really?"

He nodded. "An unusual quirk of laurel wands. Yes. Mister Weasley. Your turn."

It only took a few minutes before Ollivander found what he was looking for. "Willow and Unicorn Hair, fourteen inches, give it a try." Ron carefully took the wand and suddenly remembered Sunset's display of light magic the day before. Without warning, the wand flared a bright gold before dimming down again, leaving everyone in the shop surprisingly calm, but confused. "Uhh, what'd I do?"

Sunset was the one to answer. "A light magic healing spell. And quite a powerful one too. Nicely done."

"Accidental healing magic?" Ollivander watched with wide eyes. "Yes, wands of Willow do have a propensity for that. Well, Mister Weasley, I believe you have far to go." With a cryptic smile, he turned to the adults to handle payment.

After he had received fourteen galleons from Emma and seven from Xenofilius, the group left the little store.