//------------------------------//
// 123 — Opportunities 
// Story: If Wishes were Ponies . . . . 
// by tkepner 
//------------------------------//

Princess Sparkle and Headmaster Dumbledore both stared at the cube on his desk.

“We can’t destroy it,” Albus said heavily and slowly. “As long as he has at least one horcrux left, he will survive. And come back.” It was as if he measured and weighed each word before saying it.

After a pause, Twilight said, just as heavily, “And we know that he has at least one left — Hufflepuff’s Cup.” She looked up at him.

“Yes,” he said after a moment. He returned her gaze steadily.

“But we don’t know where it is. Not even a suspicion,” she continued, slowly, thoughtfully.

“True.”

“Will the cube . . . contain him?”

“In his present state? Yes. He is cut off from the world. The runes won’t allow any magic past them, in either direction. He will exist just as he was when we captured him.”

They resumed staring at the cube. They shifted in their respective chairs as they thought.

“And, as I told Harry, we can’t just hide it. Things like that always get found and released.”

Dumbledore had to agree with her. Horrid items like this did tend to resurface in time.

“Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place in England,” she said, thoughtfully.

“It is,” Albus said with conviction.

“And yet, he hid a horcrux here.”

He sighed and deflated slightly. “Yes, that is true,” he said glumly.

“And he managed to sneak past all of our defences.”

He shrunk back into his chair. “That, too, is true,” he murmured, even more dejected.

She looked up at him. “Gringotts is supposed to be the most secure place in England.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Yes, most consider it so. The break-in last summer has shaken that confidence, some, though.”

She shook her head. “But that is only recently. Ten years ago? Gringotts was considered impregnable.

“That is true.”

“So, if he hid one here, the tiara, would it not make sense to hide one there?”

He nodded slowly. “There are tens of thousands of vaults.”

“He would only trust something of this importance to one of his most loyal lieutenants.”

“Most are in Azkaban.”

“Doesn’t Gringotts have a rule about storing dangerous objects in a vault?”

He slowly smiled. “Why, yes, they do, I believe.” He sat up straight. “If we brought to their attention the explosive abilities of these things, they would be very interested.” He leaned across his desk and swept the cube up in his hand. Opening his fidelius-ed drawer, he dropped the cube in it.

Twilight shuddered. “That is so weird.” She rubbed her head with her right hand. “We are so fortunate he never thought to do anything like that.” She shuddered. Then she frowned. “Although, once he was bodily destroyed, the secret would be revealed, wouldn’t it?” She looked at him.

“Perhaps.” He said softly. “Can a ghost be a fidelius secret-keeper?” He looked back at her. “I suppose it depends upon how much of a soul the ghost has.”

A slow grin crept across her face. “An experiment!” She started to wriggle in place.

Dumbledore hid a smile of his own behind his hand. He cleared his throat. “I think I shall visit Gringotts after dinner, tonight.”

She sighed, and nodded. After a moment’s contemplation, she said, “The Guards will stay here until the students leave. Any changes, now, would cause talk. The rumours in the castle are bad enough as it is. Also, there might be other followers of his, nearby, that will notice when he fails to contact them.”

He nodded. “Thank you. The less attention we bring to this problem, the better.”

After a few moments contemplation, she looked up. “Could you show me the spell you used to alter the Mirror?” she said hopefully.

He stood. “Now is as good a time as any,” he said smiling.

Not even half-a-minute later he apparated back into the room. He took the miniature Mirror out of his pocket, placed it on the floor, and restored it.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said as a parchment and feather floated off his desk. 

He smiled indulgently. “I think I can manage.”

“A moment, please,” the Princess said. She transformed into an alicorn and walked around the Mirror. The quill scribbled and diagrammed almost non-stop on the parchment as it floated beside her. She carefully studied the magic that encompassed the Mirror. And how it focused on the area in front of it. Finally, she sat to one side. She looked over at him. “Can you cast it now?”

“Easily,” he said. He took a galleon out of his pocket and pointed his wand at it. He cast a spell. The coin began to glow brightly. Then he started another spell. 

Twilight watched closely, switching back and forth between the Mirror and the galleon. The ink feather was almost a blur.

This one was more complex. Part way through, the galleon began to float. At the end, it disappeared.

“There,” he said. “The galleon will remain in the Mirror until someone wants it, but not to use it to light up the dark.” He returned to his desk chair.

She nodded, still focused on the Mirror. She began to frown. “Is this the exact same spell?” She looked over her shoulder at him.

He stroked his beard. “Yes, it is.” He watched her curiously. “It is actually quite simple. Only one who wants to find the item — find it, but not use it — will be able to get it, otherwise they’d just see themselves using it.”*

She turned and stared at him. “It is a bit more complex than that, though, or Quirrell would have had the Stone. He didn’t want to use it, according to Harry, only to give it to his Master.”

“Well, yes. I suppose I should say the spell is such that only one who didn’t want the Stone to be used, either by themselves or another, could get it.”

“How did you intend to retrieve the Stone?” She said, eyebrows raised.

He stroked his beard, “Simple. I don’t want to use the Stone, merely give it back to the owner, Nicolas Flamel.”

She tilted her head. “Who you know is going to use it. Thus the Mirror won’t give it to you.”

He sat there a moment. “Ah, yes, that is a bit of a conundrum, isn’t it?” He thought a moment. “I suppose I would ask a muggle-born for help to finish one of my experiments. To . . . retrieve a gem from the Mirror, so that I might return it to a friend.”

She nodded. “That would work. It would have worked for Tom, too. It’s what he tried to do with Harry, except Harry knew about the Stone’s properties.” She sighed. “Harry probably didn’t get it because deep inside he knows that if he had it he could use it to save someone’s life, so he would use it.”

Albus had to agree with her.

“But that’s not the only problem with this spell.”

“Oh?” He tilted his head inquiringly.

“Well, your spell is actually fine. It starts with ‘does the one reflected want to find and use the item?’ If the intent is ‘to use the item,’ then the Mirror locks to seeing the item in use in the Mirror and the rest of the spell is ignored.

“If the first part isn’t triggered, then it falls through to the second part. The spell checks to see if the one reflected wants to find and give the item to someone else, who they know intends to use it. If the final intent is ‘to use the item,’ then the Mirror locks to seeing the item in the Mirror, and, again, the rest of the spell is ignored.”

She glanced down at her notes. “If the first two parts aren’t triggered, then the spell checks to see if the one reflected wants to find but does not intend to use the item. If the intent is ‘not to use the item,’ then it gives them the item. But if it does give up the item, then the next time someone steps in front of the mirror the spell runs its course, displaying the item as necessary, even though the item isn’t there anymore.” She looked back up. “But you plan to remove the spell afterwards, so that’s not a problem, not really.”

“And if someone just walks in front of the Mirror, and doesn’t think of the item, nothing is supposed to happen. They never even see it.”

She looked at her notes, and sighed.

“Except something does happen.” She turned and looked at the Mirror.

He straightened up. Any unintended consequence could be a disaster in a spell.

“The problem comes up in the interaction between your spell and the Mirror.” She looked into her notes, flipping rapidly back and forth. “Here,” she looked back up, briefly. “Your spell is interfering with the main function of the Mirror, to display one’s deepest desire. In the case of someone searching for the item you put in the Mirror, your spell forces the Mirror to use their surface desires of what they want, to find and use the item. Your spell prevents — subverts — the Mirror’s only function from displaying their deepest desire! And that creates a conflict of functions. And the magic in the Mirror will try to resolve this conflict so that it can function properly, once again.”

She circled the Mirror. “This is about a hundred years old, right?”

Albus nodded.

“It has to be very powerful to slip into our minds and ferret out our desires. And it is very complex to be able to differentiate between immediate wants, mere dreams, and deep desires. Not only that, but it doesn’t alert or damage anyone in the process of getting that information.” She stopped, staring at it. “It truly is a wonderful, delicate, and seductive piece of work. With potentially nasty outcomes.” She looked at him, clearly expecting a response.

He nodded again

“Harry and the fillies told me what they saw in it. They did not see mere reflections.” She looked back at the Mirror. “They saw people moving, talking, and interacting like they were real, not static or stiff images. To be able to do that, it almost certainly has to have some form of sentience granted to it by magic, to fulfil its function. That would explain why the reflections in the Mirror can cry, laugh, and react to each other in such a life-like manner.” She circled the Mirror, again. 

“Otherwise, the images would just stand there, static and unmoving. Which would hamper a major part of the Mirror’s function, to pull people into staring into its depths.” She glanced back at him.

“But your spell forces it to show only the main reflection, and maybe the image of the one they wish to give the item to. It supresses the deepest-desire image, unless finding the item is truly their deepest desire. For example, they want to use the item, but their deepest desire is to rule the world.”

She looked up at him. “Do you understand? If I don’t know about the item and stand in front of the Mirror, I see only myself. My deepest desires are not shown. But if I know what the Mirror of Erised is, I’ll be puzzled at what I don’t see. I will want to find out what is wrong with the Mirror. I want to find what is causing the problem. Which is the item and your spell. So, if I want to find the problem, I must want to find your spell, which means I want to find the item, because your spell contains the item!” 

She again studied the Mirror, poking it with a hoof. “The Mirror knows I want to use the Mirror for its original purpose, and your spell with the item is in the way. But if the item is removed then the Mirror can work properly.” She turned to look at him, again.

“You see? I want to find what is causing the problem, which is the item hidden by your spell, but I don’t want to use the hidden item because I don’t even know it is there.” She paused and glanced back at the Mirror.

She set the parchment down. “And the rune spell on the Mirror will see that I want to find whatever it is that is causing the problem — the item. I don’t know exactly what the item is, but I want to find the problem. And your spell will know that I don’t want to use the item. Find and don’t use. Both conditions are met. Maybe the definition of want-to-find has to be stretched, but the enchantments on this Mirror are rather flexible. They have to be, to interpret and display your desires.” She sighed softly.

“The Mirror will give me the item because both conditions of the third choice in your spell are satisfied. That adjusting the definition of what is wanted, by overriding the need for the reflected person to know precisely about the item, would correct the conflict in functions you have created is merely a detail.”

Albus leaned back in his chair, chagrined. “Oh, dear.” He looked at the Mirror. “I do believe you might be right.” He paused musing. “The reflection would probably be laughing at me, too, delighted at upsetting my plans and at the opportunity to trap whomever was standing there. Much like the Sorting Hat sometimes laughs at me when it places a student in an unexpected House.”

He looked back at her. “Then it is very good that only someone who knows what is in the Mirror, and determined enough to make it through six puzzle rooms to reach it, would ever see it.”

The Princess nodded, pressing her lips into a thin line. “Yes, indeed,” she said.


۸-_-۸


Elly looked up from her breakfast plate, startled, as one of the Hufflepuff prefects, Tim, and one of the Guards headed for her seat at the table. She tried to avoid Tim. He had a rather unhealthy tendency to set things on fire as a way of showing off. 

Being at the end of the tables nearest the Head Table, she had noticed the Headmaster’s late arrival, but hadn’t thought much about it. It clearly was related to yesterday’s events and he had been working on that. Based on his pleased and happy emotions, it had had a satisfactory ending.

Her alert yesterday had had the effect of kicking over an ant-hill, as Guards and others had sprung into action. The Thursday afternoon exams had even been postponed. She knew Harry Potter had been kidnapped, searched for, and finally found. He had been injured, but was safe and now in the Hospital Wing. The Gryffindor table was missing him and his herd-mates, as well as Bon Bon and Lyra. The Princess had probably already returned to Equestria.

Details had been vague, but it had had something to do with the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side of the castle. The one guarded by the cerberus. Supposedly, it led to other traps. With a final goal of something quite valuable. Something linked with last summer’s Gringotts robbery.

That didn’t matter, though. What did was that the Professors and Guards were all feeling much more relaxed than they had been at any time since the Guards’ arrival. Something, at the very least, had been resolved.

Tim leaned close and said, ominously, “Come with me, please.” He stared at her intently. “The Headmaster said Princess Sparkle would like to thank you.” He swept his arm to indicate she should get up and follow him. The remains of her breakfast burst into smoke and flames with a small POP. His feeling of amusement were a contradiction to his theatrics.

“Princess Sparkle?” she gasped. She hurriedly grabbed her bag and stood. 

He turned and led the way, his robes almost billowing like a certain Potion Master’s did. A few moments later, the three arrived in the small chamber off the hall the First Years had waited in back in September. Tim opened the door with an extravagant flourish. “Enter,” he intoned gravely, then chuckled in low portentous tone. Tim was more than a bit of a drama queen.

She nervously noticed that this time the chamber wasn’t empty.

Waiting for her was not only Princess Sparkle, but Harry and his herd-mates. She noted that Harry had his arm in a sling, so his injury couldn’t have been that terrible.

She barely noticed the Guards standing to one side. She did notice that Tim closed the door behind her with an unnecessarily loud bang. The Prefect remained in the main hall. Her fear that she had been discovered, unfounded as it might have been, receded as she tasted the emotions in the room. Gratitude and thankfulness filled the room. Their smiles were all genuine.

The Princess waved her closer.

Unsure of what to do, she complied, then curtsied with her head bowed.

“There is no need to do that, Miss de Rippe,” the Princess said warmly.

She straightened and just looked at the Princess.

“I want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” She suddenly stepped forward and swept the startled girl into a hug. Feelings of love, gratitude, relief, and happiness flooded through her senses. If she had been feeling peckish before, she was now approaching full!

“If not for your astute observations yesterday, and immediate reaction, I wouldn’t have my son today. For that I cannot thank you enough,” she said, not letting go of Elly. 

“My son’s kidnapping was unrelated to any events in Equestria, and was, in no way, a reflection of his position there. I cannot tell you any further details on what drove the kidnapping, as those details are not mine to share at this point in time. Revealing them would provide warning to our enemies here in this world.” 

She stood back, her hands on Elly’s shoulders. “Just know that the persons responsible for it intended to kill him.”

She swallowed, and her voice thickened with emotion.

“If you had delayed even a few minutes, he might not be here with us today. And you were the only one to notice anything amiss out of everyone who went through that room.”

A cloud of depression flitted across the room at that proclamation. She looked into Elly’s eyes. Elly could feel her sincerity.

“I am an alicorn, a Princess of Equestria, and Harry Potter is my son. As such, this was a direct affront to Equestria, myself, and a Prince of Equestria. The person responsible has been captured and will be punished appropriately.” 

There was a feeling of grim satisfaction as she said that.

She smiled briefly. “And the person responsible for saving him shall be rewarded,” she said. 

The feeling segued into happiness.

“For various reasons, including state security, I cannot publicly acknowledge the true depth of how much we owe you, but know that if there is anything Equestria can do for you, we will do it, to the best of our ability.” She again pulled the ling into a hug. “Know that you forever have a friend in Twilight Sparkle.”

Elly easily picked up the feeling of deep sincerity from the Princess.

Moments later, Elly realized she was the centre of a massive hug involving the entire family. She almost passed out from the intensity of the love and friendship poured in her direction.

Slightly drunk, and wishing she could off-load what she had so she could get more, she staggered a bit as they let go of her.

“I didn’t know anything was wrong, it just didn’t feel right,” she said, dazed.

“And that’s why you have our friendship,” declared the Princess, with another flood of emotions that Elly, regretfully, had to turn aside. “You had nothing at stake, you had nothing to gain, you didn’t have to say or do anything. You could have just said to yourself, ‘that’s odd,’ and never mentioned it. But you did.”

Princess Sparkle stepped back.

“I’ve been told you are an orphan. Do you need assistance of any kind?”

Elly blinked. “No,” she said softly. “I am well-funded from my family’s vault. I’ll be spending my hols at the family estate in Scotland.”

Princess Sparkle nodded. “Good. If you need anything, just send a note to the Embassy to my attention.” She smiled. “If you wish to visit Equestria, likewise, drop me a note. You can stay at the palace, either in Ponyville or Canterlot. And I’ll cover all your expenses.”

She stared at the woman, wide-eyed. Going to Equestria would be a total disaster! This was a disaster! She had wanted to stay as far from the ponies’ attention as she could manage. And here she was, getting personal, privileged attention from a Princess. And, glancing at the smiling and glowing-with-happiness Herd, she knew they would expect her, their new friend, to spend time with them.

Mistaking her silent dismay for something else, Princess Sparkle said, “I think we’ve overwhelmed the poor girl.” She looked around at the herd. “And isn’t there an exam you all need to go to?”

There was a loud gasp and hurried checking of rucksacks. Yesterday’s incident had postponed the History of Magic exam to today! They rushed out of the room, with their Guard escort.

Despite her desire not to attract attention, her arrival in the exam room in the middle of Harry’s Herd put her front and centre of the gossip mill.

She sighed as she set down her rucksack and Professor Lupin told them to open their scrolls and begin. No doubt, by the time dinner rolled around, the gossips would have her married and with foal as the latest in the Potter herd.


۸-~-۸


Dumbledore stood and tapped his water goblet gently, the sharp ringing tone bringing the Great Hall to an inquisitive silence. They were at the official End of Year Feast, the Monday after the exams.

Elly noticed that while Bon Bon and Lyra sat bracketing the First Year animagi, the Princess was at the Head Table with the Headmaster.

“So,” Dumbledore said, “We have once more reached the conclusion of a successful year of cramming knowledge into your empty heads. No doubt, everything you have learned will quickly drain during your brilliant summer hols, leaving your heads empty, once more, for us to refill to bursting next year.”

The students smiled or chuckled at his gentle jibe.

“To our graduating Seventh Years, we offer our sincere congratulations and wish you all long, profitable, and successful careers. I have no doubt you will bring honour to Hogwarts with your accomplishments.” He smiled genially as he looked over the seats where the seventh years were congregated.

He looked out at that the red-and-gold decorations throughout the Great Hall. A distinct colour change from the previous six years of silver-and-green at the End of Year Feast. The decorations celebrating the winning House would remain until the Hogwarts’ Express left with the students after the exam results were released.

“I  congratulate Gryffindor House on winning the Quidditch Cup this year. Saturday’s Quidditch match, between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor was especially close, until the snitch made its appearance.” He looked at Harry, who blushed. Scootaloo, on his left, and Apple Bloom, on his right, bumped shoulders with him, grinning.

The cheering from the Gryffindor table was thunderous, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were only a bit less so. Oliver was so happy, he had tears down his cheeks. The Slytherins were noticeably silent. Their Quidditch team members were scowling darkly.

Professor McGonagall looked especially happy, her giant grin decidedly out of place on her normally stern face. She stroked the Quidditch trophy on the table in front of her plate lovingly. Flitwick and Sprout watched and smiled approvingly. Professor Snape looked like he had bitten into something extremely sour.

“The House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thusly: In fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; in third, Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six; Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two; and Gryffindor, with four hundred and eighty points.”

Again, a storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Gryffindor table.

“Yes, yes, well done, Gryffindor,” said Dumbledore warmly, smiling, his eyes twinkling. “However, certain adjustments must be made.”

Confused mumbling broke out, and Gryffindor table went unnaturally silent.

“First, to Elly de Rippe, for acute perception and timely action to prevent a tragedy, I award twenty points.”

Elly was completely surprised and stared around at her fellow Hufflepuffs, who congratulated her. It was the first time in her life she had ever been awarded points. Or even acknowledged as anything but average.

“Second, to Mr. Harry Potter,” said Dumbledore, “for pure nerve and keeping his head in disastrous circumstances, I award Gryffindor House fifty points.”

Gryffindor table applauded and cheered, but they were a bit uncertain what all this meant.

Dumbledore smiled and gazed around the Hall. “I realize these awards did not materially change the standing of the individual Houses, but I felt it was necessary to acknowledge the accomplishments of these two unusual individuals for staying true to the high standards of their Houses.

“Therefore, it is with great delight that I award the Hogwarts’ House Cup of 1991 to Gryffindor House.” With a wave of his wand, a giant House Cup appeared on a stand behind Professor McGonagall. Once again, it was a change from the previous six years when Slytherin had won the cup.

The Gryffindor table exploded into relieved cheering, stamping, and table-pounding. Even the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw celebrated the downfall of Slytherin. Slytherin House, Elly thought, no doubt were even now scheming to win back both trophies, and put the other Houses back in their proper places — behind the pure-bloods.

The noise went on for a few moments before the Headmaster was once again tapping his water goblet.

The room’s noise slowly dropped to an acceptable level, he said, “There is one more announcement to make, this one is to our graduating class.” He turned slightly, “Princess Sparkle?”

She stood and looked across the hall before focusing on the Seventh Years. “I’m sure most of you have plans on what you want to do next in your lives. However, I have something I would like you to consider.” She glanced down a moment, as if at notes. The entire school focused on what she had to say. 

“The manner in which witches and wizards use magic is unusual to Equestrians, and many of the things you do with it are intriguing. For that reason I would like you all to consider working in Equestria as a part of your future. We have a deep need for teachers in all types of magic — transfigurations, charms, potions, runes, arithmancy . . . practically everything except history and astronomy. If you are more interested in doing instead of teaching, we have openings in all those fields I just mentioned, both here, on this side of the portal, and in Equestria. For more information, please speak with Bon Bon or Lyra.” The two transformed ponies stood and shyly waved their hands at the students.

She swept her gaze across the rest of the hall. “In fact, if any of you know of someone looking for new employment, tell them to drop by the Equestrian Embassy office in either Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. We would be happy to see them. Applicants should at least have an OWL in whatever field in which they want employment. NEWTS will only be required for teaching positions.” She stopped and scanned her audience.

“Also, if you, or your family, know of any squibs who might be interested in being pegasi, we are in desperate need to fill positions in weather manufacturing, manipulation, and management.” She paused and smirked. “And we have discovered that squibs, as pegasi, can use wands, if that makes a difference. The squibs aren’t as powerful as unicorns and other native Equestrians, but they can use the wands for minor spells. We will provide any needed wands and basic instruction. 

“The Equestrian Embassy in Little Whinging can take applications, as well, if that would be more convenient for any interested applicants.”

The students, and Professors, stared at her, stunned into complete silence. Squibs using wands in Equestria was ground-breaking news for wizards and witches, Harry realized. And it must be something fairly recent, because his mum had never mentioned it to him.

She started to sit, but then straightened as she remembered something. “Oh, and for Fifth and Sixth Years? If your parents give their approval, we would be interested in hiring for summer employment. Again, that would be on both sides of the portal.”

The Hall burst into excited chatter.

She sat back down, as did Bon Bon and Lyra.


۸-_-۸