//------------------------------// // Complete Discovery // Story: Harry Potter and the Crystal Empire // by Damaged //------------------------------// It was insane to think I was in a student council with her. Gemma Farley had been pretty nasty so far as I knew her, but this was completely different. She was obviously up to something. When all the cheering settled down, she turned to the three of us (Heidi, Eddie, and me), and smiled as happy as you please. I guess a Slytherin getting their own way would be happy. "Well, that went over well. I need some volunteers to cover the quidditch side of things. I'll talk to Hooch to organize the umpiring, but we need to organize a tournament for them, and I was thinking about something extra special," Gemma said. "I don't think Potter or Macavoy should do it, they're biased." Eddie Carmichael had an odd way of talking—really fast, almost like he was trying to convince even himself that what he was saying was true. "So either you 'andle it, or I do." For a moment I wondered if Gemma was going to fall for it, but she beamed a smile at Eddie. "Well, that's why a good leader delegates. Since the two people least likely to know about quidditch should be the ones to oversee it, I'll find—oh drat, what was his name? Young boy who calls out the games." "Lee Jordan?" I asked. "That's the one. Do you think he would be able to organize a game?" Gemma was looking right at me, and I could swear that she was trying to tell me that she saw Eddie's idea for what it was. "I-I'll ask him." I started to turn only for Gemma's hand to touch my back. I froze, unsure what she wanted. "Great! I know I can trust you to find him and send him over. I hardly think anyone would suspect a Gryffindor student of fixing a quidditch game," Gemma said, then let me go. I was glad I had four legs. The daze of seeing a Slytherin student be nice was not a horror I'd soon forget. I walked down the Gryffindor table until I saw Lee. "L-Lee! Gemma wants you to help run the quidditch tournament. You okay for that?" By Lee's expression of shock and joy, I hardly need have bothered with the last bit. He jumped up from his seat. "You bet! I've got a great idea for a round-robin—" his voice was drowned out as he turned and practically ran to the front of the room. Still in shock, I climbed up on the bench and then onto Addera's coil. I sat there a moment, confused at what I'd just seen. "Are you alright, Harry Potter?" Addera shifted her coil, but as she did her tail-tip hooked around me and pulled me closer to her. "Do I need to bite her this time?" "No! I mean, I don't know. She was acting nice, and when Eddie—I don't know what Eddie was trying to do, but he was talking really fast to do it. She cut him off as if she'd planned to do it." Addera had pulled me close enough that I was against her side, and it didn't take much effort for me to lean a little more against her. I repeated what happened to Addera, and it wasn't until the end of telling her everything that I realized Ron and Hermione were leaning forward to hear too. "That, Harry Potter, is what is called politics. It's a dirty sport—I wouldn't recommend it." Addera put one of her legs around me. It felt like—well—like I was safe. Ron used his fork to gather up the last piece of sausage off his plate. "Well, whatever that viper wants, she can wait until tomorrow for it. Harry still has his date." The fork's contents disappeared into his mouth. Oh, why not. If Gemma Farley wouldn't save me, I would have to—Staring at the things on the table, an idea started to form. There was still a sizable pile of candied bacon strips, and one of the plates had a large square of waxed paper on it. "Loh-koh-mot-tor!" Magic poured—well, trickled—through me to energize the spell. With the wax paper now under my control, I floated it across and started using it to scoop a good sized pile of the bacon into the middle of it. "Are you seriously going to save a pile of bacon for later?" Hermione sounded incredulous. "Honestly. Just looking at the stuff makes me feel a little queasy." When the pack of bacon was right at my limit to lift with the spell, I floated it over and tucked it into Addera's schoolbag (still my schoolbag) for later. "Ah! There you are, Harry." Gemma's voice cut through the air like a knife. Everyone went quiet. "I completely didn't realize you had your first date tonight or I wouldn't have asked for your help. Take the night off from any council business—have fun. That's an order." I should have known a Slytherin wouldn't help me. "Y-Yeah. Thanks, Gemma." What else could I say? "Our first proper meeting will be tomorrow at lunch. I'm sure we can get a bite to eat and borrow the prefect hall. I'll see you then, Harry Potter." Gemma, with a carefree smile on her face, turned and made her way over to the Slytherin table. She sat opposite Draco. "She sounds, uh, nice," Hermione said. "I don't mean nice-nice, but she wasn't as aggressive as yesterday." I looked up at Addera just in time for her to gently nudge my snout with a hoof. "Hey!" "If we're done eating, Harry Potter, it is time to go wait for your secret admirer." She slithered and shifted, setting me on the bench as she got her coils under her. "I just need to see one friend before we do." Without another word, I struck my hooves and leapt forward into a run! This plan was foolproof, but I just needed to convince my one friend who could save me. Addera moved faster than Ron, Hermione, Fred, or George. She shot forward and soon slithered quickly at my side. "Where are we going?" "Up!" I shouted with glee. "Up! Up! Up!" Up and west were the directions, and soon enough we were climbing the stairs of the west tower. I settled into a pattern. It wasn't a pronking style, but close, and all too soon I was able to poke my head into the owlery. "Hedwig?" My call provoked a surprised chirrup to my right. I stepped further into the room and called her name again. Snowy white, Hedwig swooped down from a perch and then back-winged and screeched in shock. "It's me, girl. Hedwig, It's me. Come on, you know my voice." Owls are not built for hovering, but Hedwig managed it for a good few seconds before she dropped down and landed on the floor of the owlery near to me. She made a questioning whistle. "You wouldn't believe the last few days I've had, Hedwig. You understand if it left me a little horse?" I totally deserved the peck I got, though she just pinched rather than actually doing damage. "I'm sorry I haven't been up as much lately, things have been a little odd." She stood just as tall as me, though I probably still outweighed her quite a bit. I turned toward Hedwig, and without any fear gently butted my head into the side of hers. "Addera?" I asked. "Can you get that special package out?" "You're a remarkable person, Harry Potter." I heard the shuffling of my schoolbag, but didn't hear Addera slither closer. "Here." Every other owl in the owlery let out their own version of a scream and took off out the windows. I had to lift a foreleg to cover my face from all the feathers and stuff-I'd-rather-not-think-about that got kicked up. Unlike the other owls, however, Hedwig had jumped over me to stand between me and Addera. "It's okay! She's a friend, Hedwig." At my words, Hedwig turned to look at me. "It's true. She's—You can ask Fawkes if you want. Addera was trapped underground. Besides, look what she helped me sneak out of dinner with." My spell was still active on the paper, and I managed to lift it from Addera's hoof and unfold it before Hedwig. "I might not be much chop at carrying things right now, but—" Hedwig had heard enough and pounced on the barely unwrapped bacon. She let out an excited bark and began to devour strips of bacon, rending them with her claws and beak. "Addera, can you give us some room?" I asked. "You can't hide up here all night. They'll come looking for you, Harry Potter." That said, Addera turned and slithered out the door, making absolutely no sound. Once Addera was gone, I stepped closer to Hedwig and lifted a hoof to run down her back. "Okay, now for the serious stuff." I leaned a bit closer and whispered my plan to Hedwig. It was crazy, stupid, and even Hedwig lifted her head from the pieces of bacon to whistle at me—she knew it was a wizard plan. "I know, girl, but you're the only one I can trust with this." She looked at me, a gaze that would stop even the most skeptical muggle in their tracks, and barked once. "Please?" Two barks. "I'm not going to—" Another bark cut me short. I let out a reluctant sigh. "Help me, Obi-Wan Hedwig, you're my only hope." Since we'd both sat outside Dudley's window watching Star Wars, she'd always done anything if I asked her like that. The first time had been a joke, but it was our joke. Hedwig made a little whistle and, with the bacon all gone, jumped up onto my back. Her claws closed on my thick scales, but though I could feel her tighten her grip to hold on, she didn't actually hurt me. "Just don't tell my friends I said that. Not only wouldn't they get the joke, but they'd think I'm going crazy." I walked out of the empty owlery, the only sign I'd been there the shredded scrap of wax paper. Addera had departed a good way down the stairs. I appreciated that she must have gone until she couldn't hear us anymore. She took a look at me and I saw a grin curl her lips and show off the white fangs she usually kept hidden. "Owls were common messenger birds in my time, but Slytherin didn't talk to his except to tell them who to take messages to." "Well, Hedwig's my friend," I said. "Besides, I don't think you should judge all wizards based off Salazar Slytherin." "Wise beyond your years, Harry Potter. So you're taking your friend to meet your admirer?" Addera took the lead, slithering down the staircase with more grace than anything with two legs could muster. "Something like that. Hermione thinks it's a guy." "You sound unsure about that, Harry Potter. Hermione shared that information with me, too. Would that make it more or less awkward?" The words were laden with curiosity. When I didn't respond, Addera turned to look at me. "Well?" "Yes," I said. "Just, yes." We made our way down to the ground floor together without anymore words. It was a companionable silence broken only by Hedwig's occasional commentary on how steady I was taking the stairs. "There you are!" Ron turned and cupped his hands to his mouth. "Harry's over here!" "See what I have to put up with, Hedwig?" I asked, and got a soft whistle in reply. "Yeah. You said it. Did you have to call them, Ron?" "Do you honestly think either of my brothers would give me a moment's peace if I let them miss this? To say nothin' of Hermione." Ron walked up and offered his hand for Hedwig's inspection before offering her a pet. "Haven't seen you with Hedwig for a while. Was she still miffed about the car ride—OW!" "That serves you right." I stepped a little away from Ron, more for his sake than Hedwig's. "Well, I guess we'd better get this over with. Oh, look, here comes the cavalry." Fred, George, Hermione, and (to my surprise) Alicia approached us, and while George and Hermione walked companionable side by side, Fred and Alicia looked a lot more—friendly. "Ready to find out who your one true love is, Harry?" George asked. Muttering something to Alicia I didn't hear, Fred gestured at Hedwig. "I'd say he already has his first girlfriend. She upset you didn't grow wings like Hooch?" "Hi, Harry." Alicia, unsurprisingly, sported a pair of pony ears atop her head. "Does anyone know who it actually is?" "Well," Hermione said, "I've deduced it's a boy from Ravenclaw." "We should go, Harry Potter, before he gets cold feet and we never find out who it is." Addera looked at Hedwig on my back. "Guard him well." To my surprise, Hedwig let out a little whistle and shuffled her talons on my scales. I led the way, fearing we resembled a funeral procession. As I neared the main greenhouse, I could see movement at the front door. "Okay, everyone wait here. If I shout, come running with your wands and bats out." "Bats?" Alicia asked. Ron reached under his robe and lifted out the beater bat. "You'd be surprised how effective this is when applied to a skull." Fred and George Weasley looked pleased as punch. "That seems a little barbaric. Why don't you use—Oh, magic." Alicia reached up and ran a hand through her hair, even my terrible eyesight could see her rubbing her own pony ears. "Fair enough, I suppose." I ignored their discussion of the finer points of thuggery and approached the stranger. The boy was wearing a robe over his uniform, but had blonde hair trailing down his back all the way to his waist, and as I got closer he turned and curtsied. "Lord Qilin! It is finally my—is that an owl?" he asked. "This is Hedwig, and I'm Harry," I said. "What's your name?" "Luna." He looked intently at Hedwig and reached one hand out to tickle her under a wing. "She's very happy about something." The way he spoke made him sound almost feminine. "She's a good friend." Luna turned to look at me as if I'd said something amazing. It was then I noticed the two pony ears on his head, and my angle let me see the tip of his tail poking under his robes. Given how much magic he'd used to get the notes to me, it didn't surprise me he had more than the average amount of pony changes. "Now where was I?" He seemed confused, then smiled and curtsied again. "Lord Qilin! It is—You are a qilin? Or maybe a kirin?" "Hold on. You know what I am?" I reared up and put my forelegs on his leg. "What did you say I am?" "Well, that depends. Are you from China, Japan, Korea, or maybe—" "What? I'm from England…" Despite my suspecting Luna wasn't all there, he seemed to have the best knowledge on what I might be. But despite everything, there was something that stung more than the need to know who I am. "Luna, you've been casting a lot of spells." "Oh no. They are just little tricks father taught me. I've never heard of an English qilin before. I wonder if I should have waited for a different astrological sign?" He lifted a hand that glittered to his chin and tapped it. "Is there a sign for pork sausages in Yorkshire pudding?" "Frog in the Hole?" I asked. His face lit up, and Luna reached out to touch my horn. A shiver ran down my back at the touch. "Just one." He looked at my hooves on his leg. "Definitely a kirin then." "Kirin?" Despite the word sounding odd, at least it wasn't not-unicorn. "Look, forget that for a moment. Aren't you worried about turning into a pony?" I looked up at him. Luna smiled almost serenely. "Are you?" This was not going in any way, shape, or form how I'd expected it. "Hasn't anyone else in Ravenclaw said anything? You're not supposed to use magic or you'll turn into a pony." I dropped down to all fours again, with left Hedwig a much easier perch. "You're casting spells all the time, and you aren't turning into a pony." Despite being completely wrong, he was absolutely right. Luna, I realized, was a grade-A wizard. "Hedwig," I said, "I don't think we need to put the plan into effect at all. This isn't how I expected things to go." With a short whistle, Hedwig spread her wings and jumped off my back. "What? Of course you could have lifted me. It would have been perfect!" I turned and glared at Hedwig, but she stared me down. "You could have at least tried." "I've never met a kirin who argues with an owl. You understand each other perfectly, don't you?" Luna was pale as could be, almost completely white, but a little blush came to his cheeks. "I'm glad things are going differently now." Absolute. Wizard. "Why don't we go back inside?" Despite the oddity of the situation, and how strange Luna seemed, I found myself liking him. He had a way of looking at the world that was both real and surreal at the same time. It was then that the hedge beside us opened up to disgorge five Gryffindor students onto the ground beside us. Ron, Hermione, George, Fred, and Alicia had all apparently been leaning on the hedge to get a better listen. I rolled my eyes. At least Addera had been sitting back, though with her hearing she didn't need to be leaning on the hedge to hear us. "Luna, let's go—" "Luna?" Hermione might be on the ground, but she was the first to jump back to her feet—err, hooves. Wait, are hooves feet? "Luna Lovegood?" I looked at Hermione. "You know each other?" "Yes—well, no. But I remember the new student sorting at the start of the year. There was a Luna Lovegood sorted into Ravenclaw." Hermione looked at Luna intently. "But that was a girl." "I am a girl," Luna said. "At least, last time I thought about it—oh!" Everyone waited for him to say more, but Luna just looked a little spaced out. "You're not a girl," Addera said as she slithered through the gap in the hedge and circled around Luna once. "You're a boy." "Am I? I hadn't noticed." Luna looked down at himself. "How can you tell?" "You smell like a boy," Addera said, flicking her tongue a few times for emphasis. Was it odd that I hadn't noticed her do that? It might be, but I had an dogpile going on, and it was getting stacked quite high. "We should go to Headmistress McGonagall with this. Changing from a girl into a boy definitely isn't something that should happen. I—" Hermione seemed to catch a glimpse of the dogpile, or so I liked to imagine. Her mouth worked a few times, but no sound came out. "Well, this got boring. I 'eard there was meant to be snogging." For a few moments it seemed like George was expecting something, or rather someone to do something. He looked left, right, then behind him. "Where's Fred and Alicia?" Ron asked. George let out a long, slow whistle. "Well, Ron, I guess it's about time you learned about cooties. You see, when a guy and girl dislike each other enough, they become oppositely charged—like a magnet." Ron rolled his eyes and looked at me, but to my surprised it was Luna who paid George the most attention. When he didn't say anything else, Luna blinked a few times. "What happens next?" "Snogging," George said. "And I shan't tell you anyfin about that." I turned my head to look back at Hedwig. "Sorry, girl. I thought there'd be more—well, strange stuff. I didn't know what to expect, and figured you'd be the best to have on my side in this." "You trusted Hedwig over us?" Ron sounded mildly upset. "Hedwig and I have a deep understanding, Ron." "And he bribed her with bacon," Addera said. "That wasn't a bribe." Walking away from the greenhouse, I couldn't help but feel a sense of— Whatever my thoughts had been, they changed in an instant. In the dim evening light I looked up and saw (albeit fuzzily) the stars above, and a huge moon. There was a sense of oddness, of something missing that had always been there—at least since we'd wound up here. "The barrier's gone. The wards!" Hermione's voice sounded panicked. Everyone (when I glanced back) was looking up. Even without my glasses the night sky looked strange—different. A strange strength and goodness seemed to well up inside me. I felt like I wanted to sing and dance and hug someone and laugh and do all those things while—I just felt so happy! Percy Ignatius Weasley stared out his window. He watched as the sun almost reached the horizon (or at least the sun-shaped glow through the wards) and trembled. Fear, trepidation, and even hope gripped him. He almost missed the first touch of his master. The sun was gone. Darkness swirled through Percy's mind. Every emotion seemed to amplify infinitely so that he was ripped in a dozen directions. "Your king is back, Percy Weasley. Relax and know I'll protect you like a father." Percy's emotions eased, calmed, subdued by dark shadows and smoke. He was able to relax for the first time all day. "W-What do you want me to do?" "So very loyal. Forget your worries, Percy Weasley, and let me show you what you can do to earn a place at my side." An image flickered in Percy's head—a band of what looked like steel. The image was so detailed that Percy could even make out the writing: Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure. "Where is it? I'll get it for you." Percy stood up, his movements his own, because he knew his master would have need of him to do something right now. Why else would he even be summoned? "This is well hidden, but there was a moment earlier when it's location was revealed to me. Follow my will." Leaving Gryffindor tower, Percy did just as he was told—something that came naturally. He climbed staircases, avoided the noisy great hall, and soon found himself on the seventh floor of Hogwarts, staring at an odd tapestry. "Let me guide your steps, Percy. I promise you no harm will come to you from this." Percy didn't have a choice, not in his way of thinking. He relaxed, and his legs moved on their own. "Think of the item. Fix it in your mind. Want it." Only when his legs carried him past the entrance three times did Percy feel himself back in control of his body. He looked around and spotted an open door. The room, when Percy managed to stumble inside, was huge. It could have fit several great halls in it and still had room for Gryffindor tower. Walking among the broken furniture, Percy realized he could spend the rest of his long wizarding life and never find the hoop of metal. "Like searching for a needle in Africa." "Maybe, maybe not. I felt the darkness of it call to me through this barrier the moment the door was opened, and through you I can feel it still. This room is warded against direct location magic, but that circlet is powerful beyond measure." Closing his eyes, Percy focused on his magic. He didn't explicitly try a spell to find the item, but he closed out his senses one by one until only his sense of magic remained. He was in a minor trance when he felt his master reach through him. "There." Percy's eyes snapped open and he looked directly forward and to one side. A glint of light—or magic—shone from between two stacked chairs. The rickety piles of literal junk did nothing to distract him. Percy walked forward with confidence and tipped the chairs over to reveal the circlet. "You are a loyal servant. Don't touch it, it is tainted with spells to ward it. Bring it to me." The path Percy needed to take unraveled before him. Ripping the canvas out of a nearby painting (and ignoring the scream of whomever was the subject), Percy used the paint-covered cloth to pick up the jewelry. He wrapped it tightly and pulled it under his robe, then Percy Weasley stuffed Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem into one of his magically enlarged inner pockets. Fast. Percy didn't know if he'd thought the word or if his master had pushed it into his mind. He didn't care either way. Taking the staircases as quickly as he could, Percy practically ran down to the ground floor of Hogwarts and out of the castle. His path not stopping, Percy ran through the dark night. The ground was icy cold, and his feet started to feel a little numb, but he couldn't—wouldn't stop. The edge of the wards was in sight. It was illuminated in the dark night by the beams of helmeted ponies. They were pounding at the barrier, slamming at it. "Master? How do I get—" Power unlike anything he'd felt before rushed around Percy. It flooded his being and left him thinking of only one person: Penelope Clearwater. A silly-happy grin creased Percy's lips, and all his thoughts of his master, the horrid thing he carried, and even the crazy world Hogwarts and its students had found themselves in just faded to be replaced with her beauty. Pain that bit deep into her being threatened to rip Ginny away from her own body. She cried and fought through it—though Sombra did not fare as well. "Percy!" Ginny had no idea what had hit them, or why Sombra was now completely comatose, but while the king was away she could play. "Percy! You have to listen to me!" Ginny's body was odd. She'd been avoiding feeling how her new form moved under Sombra's control, but now she had to own what she'd become. "G-Ginny?" The fever dream of King Sombra washed away as Percy met Ginny halfway. He staggered as she staggered, until they met just inside where the barrier had been. "Ginny! You're okay! I—" The memory of feeling Ginevra Weasley's soul within a book flickered and faded. "You're a horse!" "We might not have long. King Sombra got knocked out by whatever that was. Are you okay? You need to take the horcrux away!" Ginny tried to use her magic the way Sombra had, but it was hard to work. "We need to go to Dumbledore, he'll know what to do!" "No, Ginny, we can't. There's something really strange going on here, and I can't work out what. King Sombra wanted me to bring this circlet here, so I'm not moving until he returns to take it." As he spoke, Percy's memory and mindfulness of Sombra returned, and with it his loyalty. But though he was loyal to his king, he had someone else he was loyal to in his arms. "You'll be okay, Ginny. Master will be back soon and I'll make sure he promises to help you." Looking around, Ginny could see ponies with helmets on falling down. She felt little pulses of energy in each one, but here and there they were pulsing with something much different—the biting pain from earlier. Hissing at the touch of that odd magic, Ginny cut herself—and Sombra—loose from the ponies that were radiating it. Mi Amore Cadenza—Princess Cadance—had had enough. "Waiting will not get us in there. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't send me here to sit around on my butt and ignore the situation for days." In her own mind days felt like weeks—months—and her discontent was inflamed by the fact that while the soldiers all had schedules and watches, she just sat there watching the barrier. "So what do you want to do?" Shining Armor tried to resist the temptation to kiss his wife on the cheek, but failed (the concept of having a wife might be new to him, but Shining liked to think he was getting the hang of it). Cadance had a plan, but would need help to carry it out. "What I must do, Shiny. Spark Splash?" Cadance stood up only after she received her due kiss. "Your Highness?" Rushing to attend royalty was a Royal Guard's reason for being, and Spark was quick about doing so. Cadance looked at the magical barrier and couldn't help but admire the detail of the magic now that Spark had explained it to her. "Can you isolate and protect a piece of this magic?" "Of course I can, but the rest of the barrier will give nopony time to rush through the gap." Spark's estimation was derived from all the testing that he'd done so far. "Wait, isolate? Protect?" "I want a sample to keep after I obliterate it." Cadance waited a moment. "Well?" "I'm on it, Your Highness." Shining Armor waited until Spark began his work before turning to Cadance. "Obliterate? Last I saw you had trouble with a shield spell." "I can do a shield spell, I just can't do them how Celestia wants me to. Somepony else showed me a better way." Cadance offered her cheek again, and again got a kiss. Love empowered her magic, but Shining's love amplified it beyond all sense. "I've got it, Your Highness!" Spark said once he'd finished putting the fragment he'd just excised from the wards into a magical container. "If you're going to do something, you—" Not another word passed Spark Splash's lips before he watched Cadance turn to Shining and kiss. The kiss wasn't just magical, it was a fusion of magic that Equestria had seen just once before. The pulse of pink light radiated away from them, fading in color but not intensity. Where it struck a pony, that pony was left thinking of their special somepony—and in Keen Eyes and Flagessio's case, each other—when it struck the barrier of magic it did just as Cadance had predicted. The kiss broke, but its aftereffects continued. Shining Armor was grinning like an idiot, and the squad of Royal Guard were almost all facing back toward Canterlot. "Everypony!" Cadance had never tried to use a Royal Canterlot Voice before, but it seemed that in the wake of what she'd just done, she could do anything. "Bring your equipment and march!" Passing the former barrier, Cadance could feel the echo of its presence. She waited for all the Guards to pass her—even a dazed pegasus and unicorn—before she fed her alicorn magic to the remnants of the barrier. Her magic alone wasn't enough to give life to the wards again, but when she approached Spark and opened his magical container, it was like a flame put to black powder. The drain was huge, but Cadance could hold it. She smiled at a job well done and turned to the huge castle in the distance. "I believe it's time we made a house call."