//------------------------------//
// 64 - Trading Favors 
// Story: A Phoenix Beyond the Veil - The Philospher's Stone 
// by gerandakis 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Sixty-Four

Trading Favors






Finally, after months, the three friends were all back together. Sitting together, this time in the Leaky Cauldron rather than in front of Fortescue's, given the weather, Silvia, Erica and Emily had once more found their way together.

"So sorry I couldn't make it all this time, girls," Emily apologized, "between the whole situation with Black and Pettigrew and all the investigations sparked from that, the Prophet has been busy for months now."

"I'm just glad you could make it this time. You must have insane amounts of overtime at this point."

"Oh you have no idea, Silvy, you have no idea. I just hope things calm down soon."

"On that topic though," Erica chimed in, "that you remember the girl I mentioned? The friend of Granger's with the really ominous statement?"

The other two thought back to their conversation a few months back, then nodded. "What about her?"

"That was Sunset Shimmer. The one who ratted out Pettigrew."

"Really?! That was her? Come on, that can't be coincidence. Oh, and that pun was terrible."

"What pu- oh. That wasn't actually intentional. But yeah. That was her. I stitched her name tags. You'd think I'd remember."

"And that isn't even it."

"What is it, Silvy?"

"I looked her up when that article came out. She's another one of those new animagi. The first one, to be exact."

"No way."

"Yes way, Erica. And it gets better. Her file is even crazier than those of the Grangers. her date of birth doesn't match the date the file was made, but that's not really all that strange. She isn't from Britain, after all."

"Oh? Then where is she from?"

"Equestria."

"Where?"

"Equestria."

"Where on Earth is that?"

"I have no idea. I've never heard of it. But apparently she is a citizen there and a permanent resident here. And that's before you get to her guardian."

"Normal or magical?"

"Both actually. They're the same person. I actually had to write this one down because I couldn't remember it all."

Erica put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my."

"Yeah, brace yourself. Her magical guardian is 'Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia Solaris, Steward of the Sun, Princess of the Aetheris Tribe, High Admiral of the Aeolis Tribe, Warden of the Eterris Tribe, Protector of the Land, Conqueror of Chaos, Bringer of Light and Harmony and Eternal Ruler of Equestria and Its Territories'."

For a few seconds, her friends just looked at her uncomprehendingly. Finally, Emily snapped out of it, shaking her head. "Well, that's a mouthful."

"Yeah, it is. And that's not even all about this weird Equestria place."

Erica managed to snap out of her reverie. "Really? There is more?"

"There is. A few days ago, Sirius Black came by and had a second animagus form registered."

"A second- Is that even possible?"

"I asked him the same thing."

"And?"

"Sure enough. He demonstrated. He can turn into a dog and into a small green unicorn that is way more adorable than it has any right to be."

"So he has two different animagi?"

"Yes. I do."

All three of them turned around to see two men standing beside their table. They easily recognized them both. Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore. The latter of whom now spoke up, "Good morning Miss Winters. A pleasure to meet you again. Miss Anderson, Miss Hops, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. I take it you have heard of Sirius Black?"

After a moment of silence, Silvia decided to speak up. "We have, yes. Kinda hard not to. How can we help you?"

"It has come to my attention that the three of you have grown suspicious of certain parties whom, I think, you were discussing before we arrived. I would be willing to, shall we say, bring you into the loop, assuming you could keep this information confidential until the time is right. However I would expect a favor in return."

Erica was growing wary. "What kind of favor?"

"Oh, nothing difficult, I assure you. It just happens that we need some information given to certain parties without said parties suspecting that we planted it. A simple matter of saying the right things at the right time. Nothing more complicated than that."

The three looked at each other for several seconds. Finally, Emily turned back to Dumbledore. "Could we have a moment to think this over?"

"Of course, Miss Winters. Take all the time you need. When you come to a decision, we'll be at the bar."

As the two men walked off, the three huddled together, speaking quietly. "We really should have known that Dumbledore was involved."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Not really surprising in retrospect, no. But what do we do?"

"That favor he's asking doesn't sound difficult," Erica chimed in.

"Well it wouldn't, would it?" Silvia pointed out, "What does he need us for?"

"The people who work for him are probably just too well known. Doesn't want to risk tipping whomever off."

"I suppose that makes sense. But what secrets could he want us to keep?"

"Think about it, Silvy," Emily chimed in, "what if our guess was right? What if the Grangers really were muggles before? If they found a way to turn muggles into wizards, how do you think the purebloods will react?"

"Oh yeah, they'd throw a fit, wouldn't they?"

"And not a small one, yeah. Not sure how he's planning to mitigate that, but he's known to be good at politics. And it would be a good way to hear all of it from the horse's mouth. I mean, if Dumbledore doesn't know all the details, who would?"

"I guess there is that. So, do we do it?"

Erica seemed to think about it for a moment. "Sure, why not?"

Emily nodded. "I'm in too, what about you, Silvy?"

"I can't shake the feeling that this'll end up in a terrible case of 'curiosity killed the cat', but sure. I'm in."

Together, the three made their way over to Dumbledore and Black, sitting at the bar with a bottle of butterbeer each. "Ah, there you are. Have you come to a decision?"

At the head of the group, Silvia nodded. "We'll do it."

Dumbledore broke into a wide smile. "Excellent. If you could meet us in the warded alleyway not far from here in a few minutes, I'd rather not too many people see us together until ... certain events have concluded. Again, things better not discussed in public."

The two men took their bottles and left out through the door to muggle London. The three young women followed some minutes later, meeting back up in the warded alleyway near the Leaky Cauldron. "Alright, we're here. Where to now?"

This time it was Black who spoke up with an amused smirk. "I think this would be best discussed back at my place."

Dumbledore nodded. "I suppose the potential to demonstrate cannot be denied. Very well. Fawkes." When the phoenix landed on his arm, he looked at the three young women. "Brace yourself. It would be difficult to explain what is about to happen and it can be quite startling if you don't know what to expect. If you could take us to Sirius new home, my friend."

Fawkes gave a quiet, proud trill and the group vanished in a flash of golden fire.

With a pop, Quirinus Quirrell appeared. He had some things that needed arranging and required his constant oversight. That was the reason he had come here during Hogwarts' lunch time. Suddenly he got the strange feeling that he had just gotten incredibly unlucky, but he couldn't for the life of him guess why.





Dumbledore had been right. Suddenly being quadrupeds was indeed quite startling. Emily and Silvia found it rather odd to suddenly have four hooves. Erica, meanwhile was dealing with two claws, two paws, and a pair of wings.

"Well, would you look at that," the deep green unicorn standing beside them chuckled, "and earth pony, a unicorn and a griffin. Don't get too many of those here."

The older-looking unicorn beside him nods with a very 'Dumbledore' smile. "Indeed, I certainly don't recall the princess mentioning them. Ladies, welcome to Equestria."

After managing to get up on her four hooves, Erica looked out the window at the small hamlet beyond before asking the question she shared with her friends, "where on Earth are we?"

The younger unicorn standing beside Dumbledore, who could only be Black, chuckled lightly. "That's kinda the thing. We're not on Earth. The planet, I think, is called Equus. We're in an entirely different dimension right now and this is where I've lived for the past few months. The lovely little town of Ponyville."

"Ponyville? Seriously?"

Erica's question prompted another laugh from Black. "If you think that's weird wait 'till you hear some of the other names places have around here. It's hilarious."

As the three of them managed to navigate their way to the couch, Dumbledore and Black easily trotting behind them and sitting down on the two armchairs, they looked at their host and the house around them with interest. "So this is where this Sunset Shimmer girl comes from?"

"This country, yes," Black confirmed, "though she actually used to live in Canterlot. That's the capital city about fifty miles north-east of here." He pointed a hoof out of the window. "See the thing attached to that mountain back there? Yeah, that's Canterlot."

Erica looked at the city for a moment. "That doesn't look structurally sound."

Black smirked in response. "Tell that to the Weasleys."

"Point."

"Now," Dumbledore interjected, "I believe you had some questions?"

"Yes," Silvia nodded, "we do. Emma and Daniel Granger?"

"Ah yes, the two elder Grangers. As I take it you have put together, Emma and Dan Granger were born muggles. As it turns out, muggles, and, to a lesser degree, squibs are afflicted with a condition the Equestrians call Null Star Syndrome. They have a treatment for it. Miss Shimmer started treating the Grangers in March. They completed the procedure and became a witch and wizard in mid August."

Emily snorted. "Oh the old families are gonna love this."

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "Undoubtedly, that is the reason we are containing this information for the time being. We have established that the treatment works on squibs and will be going public with that soon. We want to give the pureblood families some time to get used to the idea and its benefits before announcing that it works on muggles as well."

"Well that explains that, what about the sudden influx of animagi?"

"Well, Miss Hops, as I'm certain you have noticed, traveling between dimensions has certain side-effects."

"Like being turned into a tiny horse?"

"They call themselves ponies, Miss Anderson, but yes. With some effort it is possible to gain the ability to take one's local form back on Earth or one's Earthen form while here. The animagi you have registered recently, starting with Miss Shimmer, were actually Equestrian forms learned to assume in Britain in that fashion. Since Sirius here managed to gain the ability while retaining his usual animagus form we are starting to doubt whether these Equestrian forms even are actual animagi, but that is a discussion for another time."

"Yes," Sylvia agreed, "it is. What was it that you wanted our help for?"

"Ah yes, I'm afraid that will take a bit more explanation. And I must ask you to keep this strictly confidential."

The three nodded, prompting him to continue, "I take it the three of you have a loose idea of what happened on the thirty-first of October nineteen-eighty-one in the home of the Potter Family, correct?"

The three nodded somberly. Emily was the one to answer. "He-who-must-not-be-named found their house after Peter Pettigrew ratted them out to him. He came there killed both James and Lily Potter and then tried to kill Harry Potter. But he failed. His spell was bounced back at him, killing him instead?"

"And that," Dumbledore began with a sigh, "is where the official story starts to deviate from the truth. The spell did bounce back and it did hit him, but it didn't fully kill him. Lord Voldemort-" The two mares and one formel flinched at the name, but Dumbledore continued unerringly, "-often claimed he had transcended death. His claims were not entirely empty. He still exists in some fashion, but has been reduced to little more than a spirit, requiring a host to survive long term."

"He's still alive?"

"He is, but in his current state he is not a direct threat to anyone. His host is a more pressing issue at the current juncture. We have a plan to deal with both, but they need to be given information without any indication that it came from us."

"And who is that host?"

"Quirinus Quirrell. Our current professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh the irony."

"Indeed. I am not asking much, really. He is planning to steal something. He doesn't know that it is a trap. However, the thing he is trying to steal is protected by a number of defensive measures. He is likely to bypass most of them sooner or later, but the first seems to still give him trouble."

"And you want us to give him a hint."

"More or less. That first defense happens to be a large, three-headed dog. A so-called cerberus. They have a little known weakness. Music puts them right to sleep. He meets with some, shall we say, shady contacts in a small pub in muggle London, not far from Diagon Alley. All we're really asking is that the three of you go there while he is there as well and have a not-so-subtle chat about the cerberus of Greek mythology. It doesn't have that weakness, but he doesn't need to know that."

"And by making it about muggle mythology about an actual magical creature we can give him a hint without his knowledge and without breaking the Statute of Secrecy. Clever."

"Exactly, Miss Anderson, that is indeed the intention."

"What do you say girls? Think we can do that?"

The other two nodded. "Alright, you have a deal. One question though. Just what is he trying to steal?"

"I'm afraid that information is strictly confidential. Even Sirius here doesn't know."

Sirius huffed. "And I'm not happy about it."

"Indeed. I'm afraid I cannot risk telling this information to more people until the trap is sprung. After that I will let you know. You have my word."