Harry nodded to the witch and stepped back into the corridor proper. He closed his eyes for a moment. He knew the spell, he had used it too many times to count. But he usually had a good idea of what he wanted. It would be taxing — very taxing — to use it like this. But he couldn’t not help the girl, having been in her position, himself, a long time ago. Well, at least he had recovered somewhat from his magic use earlier.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, clearing his mind. He carefully built the matrix. It would be important to get every part of it correct, especially with such a vague description. He poured magic into it, as much as he dared to spare — he didn’t want to fall asleep on the floor in the middle of the corridor!
He loosed it. He almost fell down as a wave of fatigue shot through him. He dropped to all fours instead in reaction.
He heard her stirring behind him, and coming closer. She had heard him clop to the floor. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” he said tiredly.
Nothing happened for a moment. Then there was a flash of bright light in front of him. A pile of six shoes appeared.
He turned and looked up at her. “Are these yours?” He had overdone it a bit, he could hear himself slurring his words a bit.
She gasped. “Thank you,” she said dropped down to her knees and hugged him.
The first hug since he had arrived. It felt . . . nice. He hadn’t realized he’d been missing such shows of affection and gratitude. He leaned into her.
She let go and slipped on one set of shoes, and shoved the other two pairs into her pockets.
She looked down on him a moment. “I tried summoning them myself, but they never came.”
He looked up at her and smiled tiredly. “My magic is different from yours.” He blinked tiredly. “Would you like company back to your dorm?”
She shrugged. “The eagle doesn’t like my answers to its riddles, so I can’t get in.”
Harry sighed tiredly. “Then let’s see if it likes mine.”
She nodded and started off down the corridor. He noticed that her hair was waist-length, quite impressive considering most of the girls he had seen, so far, had hair shorter than his.
He slowly walked beside her. He really appreciated Madam Malkin’s tailoring. The robes felt natural as they draped over his quadruped form, and didn’t trip his rear hooves at all. Rarity would have been impressed. If they ever met, they’d probably lock themselves into a room and not come out for days.
They walked in silence, which Harry found unusual. So far, every student had taken the opportunity to question him ceaselessly when they could. Harry, himself, was too tired to carry on a conversation. Just making sure he didn’t trip on the stairs was taxing.
They ended up going down several stairs before going up a tight, dizzying spiral staircase. Are all the dorms in a tower? he wondered. She stopped in front of a plain wooden door without a doorknob or keyhole. It did have a bronze door-knocker in the shape of an eagle.
She reached out and knocked. The beak of the eagle opened and a voice said, “What kind of corn starts with the letter A?”
“Acorn,” said Luna.
Nothing happened. She shrugged. “See?”
Harry looked at her, muzzily.
“The door to the Ravenclaw Common Room only opens if you answer its riddle correctly,” she explained. “If you get it wrong, you must wait for someone else to answer it, correctly. That way you learn.”
“Oh.” Harry frowned, and knocked. The question was repeated. Thinking maybe her answer had been disqualified, he carefully enunciated, “Alicorn.”
Again, nothing happened.
He sighed and sat, took off his helmet, and rubbed his head with a hoof. Luna reached down and started scratching behind his ear. He leaned into her hand. It always felt good when somepony did that. Pegasi were so lucky they could use their feathers like fingers while the rest had to make do with the less delicate hooves. And magic? Well, it just wasn’t the same in his opinion. Fingers though? They were his new favourite.
He stared up at the doorknocker, then squinted. There seemed to be a faint something around the knocker. He cast a detection spell. Then sighed. “There is a silencing spell on the knocker,” he said, and sighed. “I don’t think I can undo it.” He looked up at her and smiled sadly. “I’m too tired.”
The witch nodded, then pulled her wand from behind her ear. She pointed it at the knocker and firmly said, “Finite incantatem!”
Harry could still detect the spell. Maybe two had cast it together and made it hard to dispel? Or, if they were older, they had more power available.
Luna resumed scratching his ear.
Harry reluctantly opened his eyes. “Scriffy?” he said.
Luna looked at him quizzically.
“Scriffy,” he repeated, more firmly.
There was a soft POP. “Scriffy be here.” He looked at the pony and witch. “Scriffy can no take orders from students.”
Harry nodded. “We don’t have an order for you, but we need your assistance.”
The elf looked at him silently.
“Someone has cast a spell on the door-knocker and locked Luna Lovegood, here,” he nodded at the witch, “out of her dormitory. Would you please notify the appropriate Professor that one of his students is being bullied?”
The house-elf looked at the door, then gasped. He disappeared immediately.
Harry started leaning against Luna, eyes closed. He was so very tired, now.
Someone coming quickly up the stairs woke Harry. They were sitting on the floor. Well, Luna was sitting, he was lying half in her lap as she stroked his head and played with his ears. She was humming quite happily. In truth, he could get used to this.
“What’s this about the eagle being silenced?” said the diminutive Professor Flitwick as he puffed up beside them. He pulled out his wand and cast a spell. He scowled, and cast another.
The eagle knocker blinked, but said nothing.
“That should fix it,” he said grimly.
Harry reluctantly pushed himself to his hooves. “You have a problem with bullying in your House, Sir,” Harry said slowly. “Someone took all of Miss Luna Lovegood’s shoes, hid them around the castle, and then they silenced the eagle to not respond to anyone’s answers when she left to go searching for them.”
The professor turned to the witch. “Is that true?”
Harry gestured at the back of a shoe protruding from one of her robe’s pockets.
She shrugged. “It was the nargles, Professor Flitwick. They like to lie and steal. They usually return my things before we leave at the end of the year, though.”
Harry sighed and rubbed his closed eyes with a hoof, tiredly. “I think she sees magic, Professor. Some of the twists in a pony’s magic look as if they are alive to the untrained, my mum told me.”
The professor gave the two of them a long look. Then sadly shook his head.
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Mr Sparkle. I shall make sure those responsible are suitably punished.” He looked at Luna. “Come, Miss Lovegood, I think we’re going to be having a late-night House meeting.”
He glanced at the door, which quickly opened. He gestured that Luna should precede him into the room.
Harry sighed as the door closed. He briefly considered finding a corner to curl up in, but decided that would be a very bad idea in a castle full of strangers, many of whom he would suspect to be hostile.
This time, the stairs in the Central Stairway remained stationary, but it still took him another half hour of slow meandering to make it back to his room in Gryffindor Tower.
۸-_-۸
Harry was up before the others, as he had been yesterday. He had no idea what to expect today. He had skipped a shower yesterday, and, fortunately, no one had noticed. The toilets, unfortunately, had been just as he remembered from when he was at the Dursleys, and totally awkward for him to use as a pony, requiring great care to avoid a mess. Having tediously to remove the appropriate armour didn’t help.
Thus it was he was completely surprised when he trotted into the communal bathroom for the Fourth Years. Unlike yesterday, there was a larger stall at the end of the room. When he looked at it closer, he saw a toilet that could accommodate his new form. As he stared at it, there was a soft POP beside him. A house-elf, not Scriffy, but dressed in a Hogwarts pillowcase, stood there.
“Is this being better, sir?” the creature asked hesitantly.
From the sound of its voice, Harry guessed it was a male.
“Oh, much better. This is completely unexpected. Did you do this?” He waved a hoof to indicate the changed toilet stall.
The house-elf nodded. “Scriffy says I should makes Princey feel at home, sir.”
Harry gave him a perplexed look, but nodded. “I hope it didn’t take too much work,” he said
The creature beamed happily and giggled. “It was a snap,” he said. “Is there’s something I’s can do to make it even better for Princey, sir?”
“Actually, there are a few changes I’d like.” By the time Harry had finished with the suggestions, the toilet was indistinguishable from the ones he used at home. And far more comfortable to use than the other ones here.
“Perfect,” Harry said, just as happy as the house-elf. “Thank you so much!” Harry said. “What is your name?”
“Bit, sir” the little creature said cheerily.
Harry gave him a long look. “Bit,” he finally said, “Could you alter a shower stall to be a bit longer and the spray a bit wider to accommodate my quadruped form?”
“Bits can do, sir!” he cried out happily. Bit stared at him critically and walked around him once. Then he turned to the closest shower stall. He snapped his fingers once, twice, then a third time. The stall slowly became deeper, the shower head separated into two, and the controls dropped to a much more comfortable height for someone of his stature, either standing or on all-fours.
The controls being higher wouldn’t have bothered him, he had magic, after all. But the rest?
“Thank you, this is wonderful,” Harry said ecstatically. Now he wouldn’t have to stand with his head or tail outside the curtain. Or do everything on two hooves. He could foresee, already, that being on two hooves so much would cause him aches and pains. Ponies weren’t meant always to stand on two hooves.
The house-elf seemed almost giddy with joy, jumping from foot to foot.
He quickly stripped off his armour and piled it to one side as he stepped inside and turned on the water. With a slight magical assist, he was soon lathered up, rinsed off, and directing his armour under the sprays to rinse it clean, as well. The water-proof runes were doing their part!
Part way through, a shelf grew out of the wall as the stall grew wider to adjust for it. He now had a convenient shelf for his armour.
By the time he had finished, his armour was as gleaming clean as he was. He shut off the water and cast a drying spell on both himself and the armour. Bit was nowhere in sight as he left the stall, so he gave a heart-felt, “Thank you, again, Bit,” to the air.
When he trotted back into the room, he felt completely refreshed. The others were beginning to stir, and Neville passed him on the way to the showers, Seamus wasn’t far behind him.
Harry wasn’t sure what to expect, today, so he loaded his rucksack with all his fourth-year schoolbooks and supplies. Then sat and patiently waited for the others. He still wasn’t positive of the way to the Great Hall. He didn’t want to get lost and miss breakfast entirely. And waiting here prevented him from being mobbed in the Common Room.
Stupid wizards. Why didn’t they put up signs at the intersections pointing to the different parts of the castle? They had magic to make sure the signs always were correct!
Ron was the last to rise. Harry was beginning to suspect this was a normal thing for him.
Unlike the previous morning, their entry into the Great Hall was not noticed by the student body at large. The new robes did well to hide his shape and not instantly give away that he was present. And his short stature — he was barely as tall as most First Year students — made it easy for others to overlook him. Unless someone looked closely, they wouldn’t notice it was him.
Those closest to the doors heard the clopping of his shoes. When they looked, they could see his head and realized he was the pony Champion. They started to stare and nudged their friends to get their attention. Maybe he should ink silencing runes into his armour’s hoofwraps?
However, what had more people buzzing today was the fact that the Ravenclaw points counter was far less than it had been the day before. And their table was currently occupied only by the students in blue from Beauxbatons.
Neville saw Harry’s puzzled expression at everyone else’s focus on the four tall hour glasses above the Great Hall doors. He explained, “Each House is represented by an hourglass of gems. Professors award and remove points from students in each House depending on things they do. Get the best score in a test? You get points and House gems drop from the top to the bottom of the hourglass. Know the answer to a question? Get points. Get caught doing something wrong? Lose points, and House gems go back to the top. Whichever House at the end of the year has the most points wins the House Cup. It’s rubies for Gryffindor, blue sapphires for Ravenclaw, green emeralds for Slytherin, and yellow diamonds for Hufflepuff.”
And the sapphires were almost completely gone from the bottom of their hourglass.
Harry nodded. The school used peer-pressure, not competition and the sheer desire to learn, to keep the students in line. Considering it was a standard school where everypony went, it was to be expected that some students were there because they had to be there, not because they wanted to be there, unlike Princess Celestia’s school. Unmotivated students, as his mum had explained, were always a disciplinary problem. Peer-pressure could accomplish a lot in keeping things under control.
“Yeah,” said Ron, glancing at the tubes, “something dreadful must have happened last night.”
Harry had a good idea of what the reason was, and hoped it wouldn’t draw more attention to him when it came out. He sighed. Not with his luck.
When he looked at the front of the hall, he noticed that Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout, and Snape and the Headmaster were all absent. He nodded to himself. That made sense in view of what had happened to Luna. The other three House Heads would be need to be warned of the problem and told to look into their own Houses for similar issues.
He was in the middle of enjoying his sugar and pastry filled breakfast, and trying to ignore the ham slices and bangers on nearby platters, when the Ravenclaw House members all came in. They were in two columns, and separated one to each side of their table as they reached it. They were in Year-groups, and had clearly waited until they were all ready before embarking to the Great Hall. They were just as clearly all upset and unhappy, even sullen. Professor Flitwick followed them with a stern expression, and went to the Head Table.
While the students were watching the unusual parade, the missing professors and Headmaster had taken their seats. Professor Flitwick, however, did not. Instead he conjured a platform in front of the table and ascended the small spiral staircase. Everyone in the room could easily see him.
The Ravenclaws kept their gazes strictly on the table in front of them.
Without preamble, Flitwick started speaking, his voice magically amplified so all could clearly hear him. “It was brought to my attention last evening by Mr. Sparkle,” he said — the whispering quickly died away and almost everyone turned to look at him — “that one of the members of my House has been bullied ever since she came to Hogwarts, by almost every member of the House, with the exception of this year’s First Years and a few other students. This abuse was a fundamental betrayal of the most basic of House expectations and standards, not to mention a betrayal of Hogwarts’ and the students’ parents expectations of their children’s conduct.” He glared at his table. “This gentle witch’s only fault was to be different. She never complained, blaming her misfortunes on what everyone else called ‘imaginary creatures.’ Out of the entire House, not one person called her a friend.”
The students in the Great Hall stared at the Ravenclaws, and Professor Flitwick. Most were stunned at the very thought that you could be at Hogwarts and not have a single friend. The Slytherins were stone-faced, except the First Years who all looked worried.
Harry heard one of the girls a bit further down the table from him snort, one with bushy brown-hair. A red-headed girl — a Weasley? — leaned close to her and whispered something.
“After careful examination by Madam Pomfrey, it seems the young witch has natural mage-sight. For those of you who haven’t run into that term, it means she can see magic the rest of us cannot.” He took a moment to regard the room at large as it broke into excited chatter. He waited for the noise to die down.
“My prefects not only did not report this abuse to me, some of them participated in it. As a result, all Ravenclaw prefects have been stripped of their ranks. All Ravenclaws are restricted to the House or school library when not in class, except the First Years and a few others, until further notice.” He sighed.
“To my everlasting shame, Miss Luna Lovegood, given the choice, has decided to be re-sorted.” He again glared at his House table. “Not that I can blame her.”
The Hall broke into astonished chatter. Most had never heard of a student being resorted, Harry gathered from those around him.
Professor McGonagall stood and opened the Professors’ door behind the Head Table. She retrieved a small stool with a hat on it, and started around to the front of the table. The girl Harry had helped last night came through the same door and followed the professor.
Luna seemed both sad and excited as she sat on the stool and slipped the sorting hat Harry had seen Saturday night onto her head.
The hat squirmed and wriggled in place a couple of times. The crowd waited breathlessly, with many whispering to their neighbours.
Abruptly, the hat split open along a horizontal seam and shouted, “Gryffindor!” While Harry was startled at the hat’s ability to speak, no one else seemed perturbed. He had wondered the other night how it informed the Headmaster of its decisions, however.
The students at the Gryffindor table started clapping, politely.
He’d had a feeling that would be the result when he heard the professor say she was to be resorted. He watched as Professor McGonagall took the hat and stool and returned them to the room behind the Head Table.
Professor Flitwick looked at the girl sadly, “I apologize for the way my House treated you. And I apologize for not noticing the issue long ago. I promise you I will be taking a more hands-on approach to my House than I had before.” He turned slightly and gave his House’s table a stern look. Then turned back to her. “I wish you the best in your new one. And I, for one, am sorry to see you leave,” he said sincerely.
She smiled back at him and nodded. Whatever she said was too soft for Harry to hear.
Ron, beside Harry, sighed and threw his head back to stare at the ceiling. “Oh, great,” he said disparagingly, “We got Looney Luna.”
Seamus elbowed him, hard, in the side, getting an “Oof!” It was followed by an upset, “Hey!” as Ron rubbed his side, and an angry expression as he looked at the other wizard.
Dean, on the other side of Seamus, said sharply, “Pay attention! We don’t want to lose any points just because you don’t like her!”
“Hey,” Ron protested louder, and looked at Dean. “I don’t dislike her! She’s Ginny’s friend!” He looked across the table at this sister. “It’s just that she’s soo weird!” he murmured.
The red-headed girl seated a few positions down and opposite them stared daggers at her brother. The bushy-haired girl beside her glared even harder. Harry had the feeling that if the second girl could have she would have actually sent daggers at the boy. Just from her vicious look, he decided not to get on her bad side, if he could help it. And wondered what the boy had done to be the recipient.
“And now we know why, don’t we?” Seamus said harshly, glaring at Ron. “So be nice!”
Meanwhile, Luna Lovegood was skipping — he had to stop and think, Yes, that was what it was called — skipping to the Gryffindor House. She made a beeline for Harry and stopped behind him, waved happily at the Ginny, and said, “Hi Ron, Hi Harry!”
Ron gave her small sick smile while Ginny waved back happily. The bushy-haired girl nodded and welcomed her, as did several others close by.
After a moment’s surprise, Harry shoved his side against Ron, making room between himself and Neville. Neville got the hint and moved in the other direction, opening up more space. Their neighbours all readjusted as well.
“Thank you, Harry,” she said, stepping gracefully over the bench and into position. An empty plate appeared in front of her and she began heaping it with a pudding with a crispy top. She took a big spoonful and moaned. “So good,” she said. “Try this,” she said dropping a large dollop on his plate. “Apple Crumble.”
He dug in.
That was when the owls came flying in and delivered the mail.
“Ah, Harry, look,” Neville said a few minutes later, showing Harry the newspaper dropped to him by an owl, something called the Daily Prophet.
Harry sighed. The headline blared, “FOUR TRI-WIZARD CHAMPIONS!” in large type in two lines across the top. Harry leaned closer, read the lead two paragraphs, and sat back. That was all he needed to do to confirm his opinion of the newspaper. It was a gossip rag, not a newspaper, proper. Instead of simply reporting the facts, the author of the article insisted on inserting herself into the news, sensationalizing the events, and substituting suppositions as if they were facts.
If the paper were like its cousins back in Equestria, most of the article would be filled with innuendo and lies, with just enough true facts to fool the average pony into not realizing just how much was made up.
Well, at least, they got the name of the Princess’ school correct.
Harry finished eating, looked around, and wondered what he should do next.
Others were also finished, or about to, and spent more time talking to their neighbours than they did eating. The bushy-haired girl was engrossed in a book, which was what he should probably do.
Professor McGonagall was working her way down the table. She stopped periodically to say something, then continued on. Finally she reached them.
“There will be a House meeting tonight,” she said, eyeing them all equally, to make sure they were listening. “It’s to welcome and introduce Miss Lovegood,” she glanced at the girl and smiled. “Mr Sparkle, you are invited, as you are currently residing with us.” She paused a moment, then added. “Mr. Sparkle, until we arrange tutors, why don’t you accompany the Gryffindors today, to see what our school is like?”
He nodded. That was why he had packed those books, after all. He had intended to trail the other Gryffindor boys just to look around the castle and get a feel for what the classes were like. It would give him some idea of the things they studied, and where he might place in their ranking. And what he needed to study for that stupid tournament. Having her make the suggestion meant it was far more likely that the other students wouldn’t object too strenuously.
“Miss Lovegood,” she said, pulling a paper out of her pocket and handing it to the witch. “Your things have already been moved to Gryffindor Tower. I’m sure Miss Weasley, or one of the other Third-year witches, will be happy to show you where it is. For today, you can share her books.”
“Thank you, Professor McGonagall,” the girl said dreamily.
Ginny nodded, smiling agreeably. The bushy-haired girl watched Luna closely.
Professor McGonagall moved on.
The bushy-haired girl looked at her watch and sighed. “We should head for class,” she said curtly. She looked over at Harry. “Our first class is Herbology, with the Hufflepuffs. It’s about an hour and a half long. Then we have Care of Magical Creatures. And then lunch.” She packed away her book, said goodbye to Ginny, and set out for the doors, rucksack over her shoulder.
Harry looked at the others, shrugged, and followed suit, albeit a bit slower as he waited for his new friends.
Herbology was just as boring as he had expected. Professor Sprout greeted him as they entered the greenhouse. “Mr. Sparkle, would you please observe and assist Mr. Longbottom for this lesson? That’s only until I can assess your proper placement in the class.” She nodded, smiling at him.
They spent the time repotting something called Bouncing Bulbs. It would have been easy and simple for him, using magic. And was deucedly difficult using only his hooves as the professor insisted. Using magic would upset the plants, somehow. Apple Bloom would have been more at home doing this. But, thank Celestia, she wasn’t a part of this madness.
The next class was called Care of Magical Creatures. And they shared it with the Slytherins. It was taught by Professor Rubeus Hagrid, apparently a half-giant.
“Ah, look, boys, it’s the horse,” one Slytherin boy said to his companions, the moment he got within earshot of Harry. He glanced over at the nearby hut. “Do you think he’s going to be today’s lesson?” The other Slytherins snickered.
The boy shook his head in mock sadness. “To think, there’s a school with such low standards that they would allow a horse to attend.” There was more snickering.
Harry stared at the four students. Already the idiot wizards were making themselves known. He shook his head resignedly.
“Shut it, Draco!” warned Ron, taking a step forward, and stood beside Harry.
Harry bumped him with his hip to get him to stop. “Clearly, you haven’t paid attention to your professors or you would know I am a unicorn,” he said to Draco. “My name is Prince Harry James Potter Sparkle. Before you continue speaking, you might want to stop and consider that.” He paused a beat, “If you’re as sly and cunning as Slytherins are supposed to be.”
What might have happened next was halted because a huge man, easily double or more the height of Harry’s classmates, came around the corner of the hut. He was carrying a precariously high series of crates, each containing a very unhappy creature. He was Hagrid, apparently, as that’s what Ron called out on seeing him.
And they were dealing with something straight out of the Everfree. Or tartarus, perhaps. They looked like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs — but without recognizable heads or eyes. They were over a yard long, and extremely powerful with a kind of thick, greyish, shiny armour.
They were skrewts, he quickly learned. Everyone was more than a little horrified at the giant’s instructions that they were to take those things for a walk. Hagrid thought that their cannibalistic tendencies were due to being pent up in a small space.
“Harry,” he said, “you come help me with this big ’un . . . .”
While the rest of the class quickly scattered across the lawn, each trying valiantly to control his, or her, charge, the big man led him a bit farther away from the others. Periodically, one of the skrewts’ ends would explode, with an alarming bang. It would shoot forward several yards. The person on the other end of its leash was usually dragged along on their stomach or would try desperately, without much success, to keep on their feet.
From the furtive way he watched the others, Harry got the feeling that Hagrid wanted to talk to him. He moved so that he was still in sight of the others and checked his shield.
“So,” the giant said, “Yer a pony, now.” He stared at Harry. “Heard ya were in another world.”
Harry simply nodded.
“Knew yer folks, I did.” He stared out across the lawn. “Good people, they were.” He looked down at Harry. “I found yeh, ya know. In the wreckage that night. Brought yeh to yer relatives.”
Harry felt his ears prick up. “What was it like?”
The man frowned and stared at the ground for a moment. “Well, tha house was almost destroyed.” He looked at Harry. “I got yer out o’ the wreckage, myself. It were in Godric’s Hollow. Terrible it was, terrible. Then Sirius showed up on his motorbike. Gave it to me, he did. And I took ya to yer relatives on it. I got ya out all right before the Muggles started swarmin’ around.”
“Motorbike?” Harry said. He vaguely remembered a motorbike dream.
“Yep, it were a flying motorbike.”
Harry smiled. “I had a dream about being on a flying motorbike, once,” he said reminiscing.
“Did ya now,” said Hagrid. “I didna think you’d remember that!” He smiled warmly, then said, “It’s good to have ya here.”
Harry’s smile drifted away.
“So — yer competin’, Harry. In the tournament, I mean.” Hagrid’s beetle-black eyes looked very anxious under his wild eyebrows. “Bad business, that.” He shook his head. Harry suspected he was chewing his lower lip, based on the way the man’s beard moved. Finally he said, “If’n there’s anythin’ I can do to help, just ask.”
Harry nodded.
Hagrid took a deep breath and slapped his hands together as he looked out across the lawn. “I think they’re havin’ fun, don’ you?” Hagrid said happily.
Harry wasn’t sure if Hagrid meant the skrewts or the class.
Harry stared at him disbelievingly, then back at the class, now widely scattered, and all in great difficulty. If they had been ponies, they would have cleared out long ago. Regardless of the point loss to their houses. Ponies weren’t stupid, they knew to avoid predators when they could.
۸-_-۸