Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, was quite looking forward to the coming school year. His scheme to get Harry Potter — the Boy-Who-Lived, Vanquisher of Voldemort, adopted child of Princess Sparkle of Equestria — to return to Hogwarts for a second year had worked like a charm. Pun intended. He grinned happily.
That he would be accompanied by thirty-nine additional students, not including his three “herd-mates,” was like having his cake and eating it, too! That there were only nine boys in the bunch was just icing layered on the proverbial cake. The additional ten unicorns, six pegasi, six earth-ponies, and a Zebrican who would accompany them to be teaching aides to the staff was like getting ice cream with hot fudge on top of the cake!
He wouldn’t have believed it possible to get that many new students and aides if not for the squibs he had contacted. All were acquaintances of Argus Filch, the school caretaker, or Arabella Figg, the squib woman he had had watching Harry at Privet Drive. He had relayed to them the Princesses’ offer of a job in a land where they could do magic. He had actually been surprised at the number of squibs who had enthusiastically responded! Apparently, those unfortunates kept a loose connection with each other via owl-post, or even muggle-post! It must be due to shared tragedy, he decided, the desire for someone who understood what they were going through.
Mr. Filch had taken his suggestion of a summer working-holiday there. That had worked a bit too well, however. He had had to convince the man to return! Emphasizing that he only had two more years before he could take a complete retirement after twenty-five years of service hadn’t completely persuaded the man. It had taken three letters — plus the promise of two assistants — before Argus had finally agreed.
The squib quite enjoyed flying under his own power, never having been able to get a broom to accommodate him. Not being singled out as the “different” one in a crowd was a unique experience for him, too, after his treatment by the students in Hogwarts.
The ponies had accepted and welcomed him as one of their own — someone lost who had finally returned to the herd. He was no longer an outsider. Even Mrs. Norris seemed to like it better; the two of them, he had said, had an even better rapport than before.
He had also mentioned being astonished at the number of mares who seemed interested in meeting him! Him! He had never had any girl or woman interested in him because of his squib status. In Equestria, they simply hadn’t cared.
But, in the end, he had been persuaded to return to Hogwarts for the next two school years until his full retirement. He would definitely be spending his summer hols in Equestria, though.
The Headmaster knew many of the old families had tried to track down their cast-out squibs, with varying degrees of success. Several of the neutral and light families had been successful in “re-establishing” those connections. He suspected that they hadn’t “lost” the connection as much as they had pretended to do so to their fellow wizards — to escape censure by other wizards.
The dark families had had the least success. Their tradition of killing the squibs or obliviating them had come back to hurt them. While a sad situation for the squibs, it did make it easier for Albus to act as a gateway to Equestria for their families. All the families wanted that family connection to Atlantis.
In any event, for the galleons the Headmaster had provided, the squib had returned a remarkable number of books about the place and its recorded history. Those were galleons well spent, in Dumbledore’s opinion, and a decent exchange for the future loss of his caretaker. Unhappily, though, there were many duties in the castle that required non-magical solutions — solutions that wizards tended to use magic for instead. Which led to problems as the assorted, layered magics conflicted with each other.
Should he consider hiring two muggle-borns’ parents as a replacement? Or, perhaps, a brother or sister? That way, he needn’t worry about his squib workers being poached by Equestria’s friendlier magical environment. Or their families offering them inducements to move there.
He would need to consult at length with Severus and Minerva, he decided.
۸-_-۸
He was most surprised to discover, on returning to his office from lunch, that there was a new door beside the gargoyle guarding his door. A quick look inside revealed the school map that had been on one wall of his office was now on an entire wall here — floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall. Opposite it were a table and four chairs facing the map. The wall behind the chairs was filled with filing cabinets that he recognized used to be in Filch’s office — they were used to hold reports and banned items.
Going to his office, he saw that the escalator steps were unchanged, and a smaller version of the school map still resided on one wall as it had been previously, he was relieved to see.
No longer would the prefects and professors have to use his office to watch for out-of-bound students at night — and he could still track people from his office.
How convenient.
He would have to reward the house-elves for their unusual initiative.
۸-_-۸
The three changelings were astounded at this new world they found themselves. They had managed to learn a lot about this new world by “casually” meeting pony workers in the local bars and restaurants in Ponyville. They even had acquired a few of the imported books, which had provided more information.
Still, there was always the bit of doubt about what they had heard. Surely, the ponies and books were exaggerating, right? The humans they had cautiously approached had to have been exaggerating a little bit, too. Who didn’t exaggerate the good things about their homes?
The sheer size of everything in London left them silent. London, alone, dwarfed the population of Equestria. Never mind how small that made the lings’ hive appear.
That size, however, worked in their favour. If it was difficult to find one ling in a hundred ponies, it became much more difficult to find one hiding among a thousand!
It was apparent that they could probably hide among the humans without too much of a struggle. The emotional food they could collect from locations like parks and restaurants, or replacing someone for a night, would barely suffice for their needs. Without the presence of a hive to back them, it would be a long slog before they were comfortable.
Which was why they had originally decided to explore the magical world.
Finding The Leaky Cauldron took a day — London was huge! But once they found it, they studied it for another day. There no signs that it was under surveillance, but their few contacts with the humans in Equestria led them to believe it probably was. They could feel the changeling detection spell on the street door to the pub when they walked close enough under illusions.
It was with some anxiety that they entered the pub on the fourth day. Earl went first while the other two followed at a greater distance. If he fell, they planned on seizing him with their magic and fleeing. When he came back out a moment later, they hurried in after him.
They closely watched the patrons arriving by floo as they stood to the side of the street door and pretended to discuss something. They soon established what they needed to do. They slowly headed for the back door by bar, and timed it so that they followed a witch into the small, walled space just in time to go through the gateway to the Alley.
It was a stunning dichotomy to the London they had just spent three days exploring. It was like a totally different society from a completely different time.
They barely managed to keep their faces straight as they slowly made their way down the street towards their objective. A giant white building that looked . . . off. Lines weren’t parallel to either each other, or the buildings around them. Watching the magic casually being wielded with wands was another shock.
But they had a mission. While they had gems that were valuable, they had no money for either this weird magical world or the more pedestrian world of London outside the pub. Hence, Gringotts.
The goblins in Gringotts were a surprise to the three changelings. The goblins their instructors had taught them about were not this advanced. Equestrian goblins were still in the tribal stage, in small and hidden enclaves. On the other hoof, nothing from the Equestrian side of the portal came close to degree of sophistication of human technology. The three refugees would have to be very careful.
But it was puzzling that the witches and wizards ignored so much of that technology. Didn’t they realize how much better everything would be if they blended magic and technology? Ignoring that technology almost put their society behind the Equestrians. Plus, while the witches here seemed to have a far, far, greater selection of spells, they didn’t seem to accomplish that much more than what the Equestrian unicorns had mastered.
But those few that did excel, were in areas the Equestrians had never dreamed existed! The floo and the expansion spells were incredible in their societal impact. Instant transport to almost anywhere! Storage space no longer a problem.
The impact of the non-magical devices was just as far reaching — telephones, television, and gunnery were going to revolutionize the Equestrians. With their new industrial base, no single other race on Equestria would dare to annoy the princesses! The lings had gotten out just barely in time. They shuddered to think how the other Hives would survive with those improvements in place among the ponies.
Plus, the three could not begin to imagine how deeply the introduction of those concepts and items would affect their old world.
After briefly examining the bank’s lobby, they headed for a goblin teller.
Essie started off. “Excuse me, we would like to exchange some gems for . . . galleons? And pounds?” She waited patiently for the goblin to respond.
After slowly finishing whatever it was he was doing, he looked up at her and said, “Well?”
She shrugged and started pulling the gems she had out of her clothes’ pockets and piling them on the desk. The other two quickly followed her lead.
The goblin watched expressionlessly until they finished. He picked up the largest gem and studied it closely with a magnifying loupe. He licked it once, studied it under the loupe again, and then stared at them. He sighed in disappointment, then pulled out a bag and swept all the gems into it.
“Snaggle-tooth,” he called out. A goblin hurried over from a line of waiting goblins. He handed the bag to the goblin.
In short order, the three were led to a Master Knifethrower’s office.
He studied the gems they had given the clerk in the front lobby carefully, separating them into two piles. Then he leaned back in his chair and studied them. None of them had taken the three chairs offered and stood in a loose line in front of his desk. Earl was staring around the room, bored. The infiltrators would handle everything for him. Emmie and Essie, however, stood in a warrior’s stance, slightly angled so they could keep an eye on the four guards in his office as well as the goblin behind the desk. They were prepared to fight, if they had to.
“You will remove the glamours,” he snarled at Earl, getting his surprised attention. “Or leave.”
After a moment’s hesitation, as they debated the demand, Earl lifted his wand and quickly cancelled the first layer of illusions on himself and his sisters.
Not that they knew it at the time, but even if the gems hadn’t given them away, their attitudes did. They reacted differently from the British that the goblins routinely engaged. They were not gawking, hesitant, or afraid as most muggles — and they couldn’t be wizards wearing those clothes. They were wary, but not intimidated. They seemed to know little of the bank, like muggles, yet they were not awed by magic as muggles were. They had no accents, but acted as if they didn’t know goblins. There was only one group that fit those parameters — Equestrians.
They didn’t have the outrageous hair colours that the other Equestrians all sported, but they looked to be brother and sisters — and they bore a more than passing resemblance to someone that Knifethrower knew. A certain Equestrian witch. The four were close enough in appearance for the three in the room to be siblings, and her, their older aunt.
“You have recently arrived from Equestria,” he stated. His gaze flickered to the gems. “These are distinctive to that locale.”
Earl gave the goblin an alarmed look, but before he could do more, Emmie ordered, via their mind link, “Don’t move!” There was a good helping of fury at his nymphish failure to maintain his composure.
Until then, the four guards had been radiating only an alert boredom.
He slumped a little bit, “Sorry.” Then he added defensively, “I don’t have your training.”
But the damage was done. The guards were no longer bored.
She relayed to him exactly what she wanted him to do if everything went to tartarus.
This took place in a mere instant. Essie, like Emmie, hadn’t reacted by moving so much as a muscle.
Knifethrower was radiating amusement at successfully surprising them.
“We know Equestrians have another form. Before we continue, you must show us your true forms.”
They were silent a brief moment as they furiously debated what to do. Above all, they were not going to reveal Changelings to this world! One by one, they changed into disguises of ponies they had seen — a unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony.
No colour was repeated between the three of them. While the colours were fairly ordinary by Equestrian standards, the combinations on each pony would give the goblins headaches for several days as they remembered them. Certain colours just should not be placed side-by-side, even if they are pastels.
That they no longer looked like siblings merely mirrored what the goblins had seen of the Equestrians so far.
They held their pony forms long enough for the goblin to note them down. He didn’t remark on the green-fire that accompanied their changes to and from their pony forms.
He again gave them an evaluating look.
“What is your relationship with the other Equestrians?”
They stared at him, unsure of what he meant.
He gave an exasperated sigh. “You arrived without the escort that the Equestrian Princesses usually send, one who is familiar with the bank’s procedures — as your use of the glamours and method of delivering the gems shows. Therefore, you don’t wish them to know of this. Why?”
After another frantic exchange, Emmie said, speaking carefully, “Our relationship with the Equestrians is complicated. Suffice to say, if they knew we were here, they would be extremely upset and begin hunting us. That said, they don’t know what we look like, so we can easily evade them.”
He sat thinking, regarding them with narrowed eyes and furrowed brow. Finally, he said, “The bank will pay twenty-five thousand galleons for these nine gems, and a thousand for the others, total. You will need a vault for the funds as you will be incapable of carrying the galleons. Do you wish one vault for the three of you, or one each?” He opened a drawer and tossed three folded items onto his desk. Earl wrinkled his nose at the leather, but said nothing.
“One vault will do,” Emmie said.
“What name do you want on the vault?”
The three didn’t know exactly what to do. They hadn’t expected the goblins to recognize the gems’ origin, or to offer so much for them. Certainly not so much that they couldn’t carry it with them.
“The name on the vault will not be disclosed to anyone in Gringotts who doesn’t need to know. Most transactions are done by vault number.”
Those were reassuring statements, but what name could they use that wouldn’t tip off the Equestrians that lings were here, and also conceal them from the humans? After all, only lings would be named 370,456ME, 370,456SE, or URL370,456.
Annoyed at their silence, the goblin Knifethrower said, “Do you want Gringotts to reactivate a name from a deceased lineage? There will be a small fee if you do.” He gave them a smile that showed many teeth.
Emmie, still consulting with her companions, asked, “How much?”
The goblin leaned forward intently. “I will waive that charge if you will tell me about the political situation in Equestria. We have already had this discussion with another and wish to verify a few facts.”
Emmie could feel that the goblin was taking advantage of their ignorance. “What other fees are we charged?”
It was a quick discussion before Emmie agreed to the goblin’s trade. As long as they didn’t betray anything about the lings in Equestria, the three didn’t see a problem. In the meantime, they were not charged for their wallets or vault fees for a year.
Knifethrower brusquely explained that the wizards and witches organized by family, like the equestrians. However, unlike the equestrians, human families shared a last name, a surname. Thus, it was that Emmie, Essie, and Earl became the Pauncefoots, a family only recently returned from overseas. The goblin was uninterested in their relationship, whether as siblings, a couple with a sister, or a husband with two wives.
“The wallets will be linked to your vault, number seven thirteen.” he said as pulled out a small stack of parchments and started scribbling. “When you are down to a hundred galleons in your vault, the wallets turn green inside; at fifty galleons, they turn orange; at ten, black. At zero, they don’t open. A drop of blood on each wallet will seal it to you. You may each blood all three wallets. You must do that now.” He paused, then added, “There is a fee for their replacement.”
He stopped his scribbling to pull out a silver knife and set it beside the wallets.
“Your disputes with others stop at the steps of Gringotts,” he said, resuming filling out the forms. “In Gringotts, only Goblin laws matters. Breaking a Goblin law is usually fatal. Attacking a Goblin is rarely not fatal. Attacking anyone in Gringotts is against our laws. Using wands inside Gringotts without permission is against our laws.” He finished writing and dropped the papers in a drawer.
He glared at them as he folded his hands together on his desk and leaned forward on his elbows. “Other infractions have punishments from fines, seizure of your vault, to death. Is that clear?”
They nodded in unison.
There was a thump from the desk. He opened a drawer and took out a pamphlet and three keys. “These are the keys to your vault. Do not misplace them, there is a fee for replacements. Blood them as you do the wallets.” He slid the wallets, keys, and pamphlet to the edge of the desk, and then clearly waited for them to do what he had told them.
It did not take long. As soon as Essie placed the knife back on his desk, the goblin grinned nastily — at least, to them, the display of teeth was nasty — and started asking questions. He carefully noted down the answers Emmie supplied.
It was several hours before they finished and left the bank. Knifethrower allowed them to renew their “adult” illusions before they left his office.
They sat outside at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour drinking some sort of fizzy drinks, and tried to determine what to do next. This society was vastly more complex than they had anticipated. Without the resources of the hive to back them, they felt even more exposed than they had been in Equestria.
“We desperately need information,” stated Emmie via the mind-link as she looked out into the Alley. It was mid-afternoon.
“And a place to stay,” put in Earl, staring off in a different direction. He was curious about the world they were in, and didn’t share his sisters’ wariness — he expected them to take care of what needed to be done.
Emmie glared at him, then looked off in a third direction. No one would sneak up on them.
“And to get our stories straight,” added Essie.
Emmie sighed and rubbed her face with a hand. How weird that felt.
Essie was staring, squinting at the bank. Her brow was furrowed. Suddenly she rose, “Wait here. I saw something.” They could feel her surprise, suspicion, and a bit of hope.
The other two watched as she walked to right-side of the steps that led up to the entrance to Gringotts, which was to their left. She crouched a moment, looking at the ground by the first step. Her surprise peaked, then hope jumped, and suspicions shot up. She glanced around the Alley sceptically. Then she went to wall on the right-side of Gringotts where it met the next shop. She stared at the shop’s window, then leaned closer while resting her hand on the bricks beside it.
Next, she walked past that shop and Madam Malkin’s, but stopped at the edge of the robes’ shop’s window and apparently looked inside for a moment. The she moved to the window of the next shop, Flourish and Blott’s.
She abruptly hurried back to them, excited, happy, and apprehensive.
“There are lings, here!” she practically shouted in their minds. “I thought I saw a sign as we went in! She’s a Chrysalis worker, too. The next sign should be between . . . ,” she glanced down the alley past the bank.
“Gambol and Jakes, and Magical Menagerie!” finished Emmie. “The third window on the other side of the bank.”
They nodded, finished their drinks, and fanned out. Emmie went to the one between the animal and joke shops, Essie headed for the gap by the Quidditch shop, and Earl headed for the magical instruments shop. They would comb the Alley carefully.
Fifteen minutes later they met back up and put together the clues the other ling had left them. “It seems we need to send an owl to el ee rip,” said Essie, and looked down the Alley towards where the message had said there was an owl-post station.
Later, as they watched the owl wing off towards the west, Earl thought out, “Do you think she’s the Elly from our crèche?”
“I wonder what the ‘rip’ means?”
“Perhaps an address. It doesn’t matter. We’ll just wait.”
“The Leaky Cauldron?”
“That’s where we said we’d be. No reason to hurry, though. I doubt she’ll be able to get here faster than an hour, anyway. We can learn a little more looking around the Alley, and then we can people-watch from a nice and dark corner in the pub.”
It would be boring. They knew that buying books to read would be a waste of time — they weren’t sure what would be useful, yet. As soon as they linked up with “Elly,” they would know whatever she knew. The fact that she had been here long enough, and felt secure enough, to leave infiltrator messages beyond, “I was here,” meant she knew far more than they did.
They began a slow stroll around Diagon Alley.
It was a relief that the owl had taken their message at the Owl Post Shop. There had been the tiny worry that maybe she wasn’t here anymore, that she was dead, now, having failed to survive longer. A risk every infiltrator took. It greatly simplified their lives that owl-post provided instant feedback on whether the recipient was available or not.
They had no idea how far away she was, so they didn’t expect a quick response. At worst, they would take a room for the night.
۸-_-۸
“That was a pleasant dinner, wasn’t it?” Princess Celestia said as she looked around the table at her family.
“Yes, indeed, ’twas a delightful repast,” her sister Princess Luna agreed.
Princess Twilight sighed and patted her stomach, nodding her agreement.
Prince Blueblood looked up from his plate with a smile. “Most assuredly, auntie. While the food at the Embassy is quite excellent, considering its sources on the other side of the portal, the food at the palace, here, simply cannot be surpassed in its excellence of appearance, execution, and taste.” He turned his head slightly to the maître d’. “Please pass to the chefs my appreciation and compliments on a well-prepared supper.”
The mare curtsied, smiling broadly. “With pleasure, Prince Blueblood,” she replied as the other wait-staff cleared the table.
“Blue,” Celestia said, “Your reports on the other side of the portal make for very interesting reading, but what brings us the pleasure of your company this evening?”
“Ah. Yes,” he said quietly. He didn’t quite smirk as his diplomatic pouch, which he had brought with him, opened, and a crate was lifted out. The sight of the crate unshrinking to its normal size as it left the expanded space inside the pouch still made the mares shaking their heads. It would take a bit longer to get used to that aspect of the new magic.
The wooden crate was almost as tall as he was at his withers, with the same dimensions in width and length, when he set it on the floor. There was a fancy festive bow on top.
“I have a present for the Royal Family, but especially for Luna,” he said.
They all quirked their heads at him, then looked at the nondescript crate.
“It seems rather . . . plain,” Celesta ventured.
He snorted lightly. “Weighty objects tend to come in small packages. This one, without a featherweight charm probably weighs as much as you do, auntie,” he said, gleam in his eyes.
She raised an eyebrow. “Is that a poke at my weight, Blue?” she said sardonically.
He leaned away from her slightly, dramatically lifting a hoof to his chest, “Not in the least,” he said in an exaggerated aggrieved tone, “merely a statement of fact.”
He cleared his throat, clearly enjoying their mystification. “To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the meeting of our two worlds, the Queen of England, and the British government, wish to present to you a piece of a third world — their moon.”
The three others looked at him, astonished.
“The scientists who delivered this to me said that it is a sealed, hinged, steel case containing one-hundred-and-one pounds of dirt and rock from their moon. They thought that you, Luna,” he nodded at her, “might like some samples to compare to your moon.”
He smiled smugly. “They purchased an unused space shuttle from . . . I believe it was Russia? A few dozen reparo spells, expansion spells on the fuel tanks, and a bunch of feather-weight and impervius spells had it ready for service. The whole mission was only a day. Getting the shuttle ready took four months. They left it parked in orbit under a muggle-aversion charm with an illusion of being a small satellite, and used port-keys to get home.”
Luna reared back in surprise. All three had their eyes wide in surprise.
“They suggested that you open the crate in a sterile room where the air has been filtered. It is currently a vacuum-sealed container, and you might want to prevent any sources of contamination when you open it.”
He looked at her as she hurried around the table for a closer look, the other two quickly joining her. Twilight almost beat Luna to it, despite being closer.
“They do request that any differences you find between this set of samples and your own moon, to please advise them. They are quite curious if their theories on how their moon formed might possibly match your moon. They are also quite interested in how closely the makeup of your moon matches Equus itself, and by extensions, their own planet. There is no hurry on getting that information. It is entirely at your own discretion, of course. They are just pleased that they can provide you with this gift.”
Luna shouldered Twilight out of the way as she examined the crate from all sides.
She looked up with a sparkle in her eye. “And it’s for me?”
Blueblood nodded. “The lead scientist said he couldn’t imagine not sharing this with you, knowing your affinity for the moon. And that the timing with the anniversary of our first meeting with them was too good of an opportunity to not use it to convince his superiors to send the crate.”
There was a slight manic look in her eyes as she gazed at the crate. Abruptly, both disappeared. Twilight jolted back in surprise, then a look of concentration crossed her face. There was no way she was going to miss out on this! She disappeared a moment later.
Blueblood grinned at Celestia as she looked at where the crate had been. “Well, auntie, do you think Lulu will remember to raise the moon tonight without you nudging her?”
Tia grinned back at him. “Possibly, possibly,” she murmured.
“This calls for a celebration,” she said. She turned to the maître d’. “Another slice of cake for each of us, please. Extra-large.” She turned back to Blueblood. “And not a word to Lulu or Twilight that I’m breaking my diet.” She lifted her nose imperiously. “I am celebrating the one-year anniversary, after all.”
“I wonder what I should get the Queen,” she mused to herself as a maid hurried off to collect the extra desserts. Blueblood hid his smile at being able to surprise his aunts.
^-~-^