If Wishes Were Ponies, Book II

by tkepner


Ch. 09. More Surprises

“Be vewy, vewy quiet,” said Lockhart in a half-whisper, holding a vertical finger to his lips. “We don’t want to upset them.” He gave a small self-satisfied laugh, “Heh-heh-heh-heh!”

No one dared to breathe as Lockhart whipped off the cover off the cage in a single, smooth action.

“Yes!” he said theatrically, waving the hand without the cover. “Freshly caught Cornish Pixies!”

Harry was unsure of how to take the man’s odd pronouncement. Harry had the inane thought of, “Was he a pegasus fish-hawker?” cross his mind. Still, they didn’t look all that dangerous, and the encyclopaedia on creatures that his mum had bought referred to them as pests that were easily handled.

The pixies were small, only about eight inches high. They were electric blue and had pointed faces. Their voices were shrill and unpleasant. They were like human versions of the breezies back home, except . . . violent and menacing. As soon as they saw the class, they started chattering and zooming around their cage. They rattled the metal door and made scary faces at everyone who looked at them.

Seamus Finnigan, who should have known better, let out a snort of laughter.

“Yes?” Lockhart turned and smiled at Seamus.

There was something a bit sinister about the smile, Harry thought. What does he know that we don’t?

“Well, they’re not — they’re not very — dangerous, are they?” Seamus managed to choke out between snickers.

“Are you sure?” said Lockhart, waggling a finger, his other hand on his waist. “Appearances can be deceiving, after all!” he said, nodding his head slightly as he spoke.

Harry remembered the story his mum had told him about the parasprites that had eaten Ponyville — they had looked harmless, and ponies had even wanted to make them pets! These pixies did not look harmless. Anything but harmless, actually. He was starting to get nervous, and his herd-mates were echoing his anxiety, he could see. He palmed his wand in his lap, and nudged his herd-mates to either side. He made a point of looking down at his wand when they looked at him.

“Ready?” Lockhart said loudly, smirking. “Let’s see what you make of these not very dangerous creatures!” He yanked open the cage with a flourish, and stepped back against the wall. Harry immediately cast the strongest protection shield he could between the oncoming pixies and himself and his herd-mates. Sweetie Belle cast hers a moment later, covering their heads. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were a bit slower, but seeing what their herd-mates had done, they quickly covered their sides. Hermione beat Ginny to covering their backs. Then they took a moment to survey the classroom.

Chaos. Sheer chaos. Discord would have loved it. In fact, Harry had a feeling he might be watching right now, with popcorn. Heh, he had probably been watching every class with the pixies. He might even have invited Pinkie Pie.

The pixies were everywhere, moving so rapidly they were almost blurs. Several had seized Neville by the ears and his robes and were hoisting him up. Several were floating, dazed, by the back window. The windows had clearly been reinforced to prevent their escape. The rest were trying, and succeeding, at wrecking the classroom. Ink bottles were flying, spraying the class with their contents; pages from shredded books and parchments were drifting like giant snowflakes; pictures from the wall were flying like Frisbees; one student was wearing the up-ended waste basket; and rucksacks, their contents, and books flew everywhere. Half the class was unsuccessfully trying to hide under their desks while the others were huddled together in corners. Poor Neville was clutching desperately to the swinging iron chandelier in the ceiling. It was creaking ominously.

Professor Lockhart had his back to the wall at the front of the room, and used his wand to swat any pixies that came close, flinging the pests across the room. “Come now — they aren’t dangerous, are they?” he taunted. “Round them up, they’re only harmless pixies,” Lockhart gleefully shouted.

The man was a bit sadistic, Harry thought approvingly. The DADA professor should be scaring the pants off his students.

Hermione nodded to Ginny, dropped her shield, and began sniping the little monsters with a freezing spell as Ginny did the same to any pixie that approached Hermione. Following her lead, the other four crowded closer together and dropped their shields. Then they started sweeping the pixies out of the air, and banishing their frozen or stunned victims into the cage.

The rest of the class, seeing what they were doing, pitched in, and soon they were pixie-free.

“So,” Professor Lockhart said into the silent room full of panting, shocked students, and grinned broadly. “Still think pixies are not very dangerous?” He paused a second. “For harmless creatures, they sure routed you bunch, didn’t they?” He said, gloating a little.

The iron chandelier crashed to the ground in front of his desk, with Neville landing beside it.

“That was . . . pitiful,” the professor said, shaking his head. “Start putting things to right!” He ordered and waved his wand at the chandelier, saying loudly, “reparo!” It rose up to the ceiling and reattached itself. That left Neville on the floor, groaning and rubbing his head. Lockhart looked at the rest of the class. “Well?” he said, hands on his waist.

Five minutes later, the damage was repaired and the students were once more taking their seats.

“Right,” Lockhart said firmly, leaning back against his table. “First, five points to each of the animagi for reacting first and quickest.” The girls all blushed. “Second, what did you all do wrong?”

What followed was a discussion on how they had underestimated the swarm of pixies. Yes, one pixie wasn’t much of an issue, but thirty? They discussed how they could have done things differently, how they should have reacted, and what might have been good tactics to use.

As they were leaving the classroom after the bell, Lockhart added, “Remember, don’t tell anyone what happened! We wouldn’t want to give an advantage to the others, now would we?”

Harry could hear the enthusiasm in his voice at the prospect of humiliating more students who thought the pixies offered no challenge. His concluding laugh was disturbingly evil sounding.

He had an almost grudging admiration for the wizard’s antics.

It was, without a doubt, the most interesting and informative class they had ever had. There were no doubts that they all would remember that lesson: just because a creature doesn’t look dangerous doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you, now does it?

However, that was their last class of the day, they had the rest free until tea, and they took advantage of it.

They headed out to the lawn. It was a wonderful late afternoon in the sun, and fit their desire to ignore assignments. They could easily handle those, after tea, with a little Book-walking for refresh their memories, and then writing out the results of that. They would finish before lights-out without difficulties.

In the meantime, they would bask in the warmth while it was still available. It wasn’t long before Ginny and Scootaloo noticed several pegasi swooping overhead, and shot up to join them. The trebuchets were making a steady swoosh as they flung students out over the lake — all the firsties were enthralled at that new recreation. The giant squid was fishing them out of the water and flinging them back towards land —making sure they hit the water and not the shore, of course. Several of the pegasi were transforming while in the air and performing loops, stoops, and spirals.

They could see Colin by the large crowd that had gathered around him. This time he was doing his shooting where the castle was in the background, not just the entrance courtyard. Harry was amused to see several students wanting repeats, with their friends in the picture, too. The little wizard was going to be making some serious money with his little hobby. Not to mention the connections he was making. Not that he would realize that for a few years.

Then Luna came over, having finally found them. Someone had given her sunglasses which was probably the only reason why she was outside. Otherwise, it would have been painfully bright for her nocturnally-adapted eyes.

They took turns, and the rest of the afternoon, teaching her how to initiate her animagus form and return. Once she succeeded, she was again swarmed by ponies and people admiring her crystal-appearing fur and skin, and the way she glittered and shone, especially when flying.

Then it was back to the Gryffindor dorm to freshen up for dinner.

As Harry had suspected, there were two new rules* posted beside the entrance, on the inside.

12. All students are to remain fully clothed outside of their dorms.
..a) and outside of the bathrooms in their own dorms.
..b) and said clothing is to include underwear.
..c) Students are not allowed to attend class in animagus forms to get around the requirement to be dressed.

13. Students are not allowed to summon the Equestrian Royal Guard to detain the inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest.
..a) The Centaurs are not going to drain anybody’s magic.
..b) YES! WE ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN CENTAURS DO NOT STEAL PEOPLE’S MAGIC
..c) OR PONIES’ MAGIC.
..d) No pony, person, or other creature is allowed to approach any of the Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest for any reason whatsoever on penalty of being suspended from Hogwarts and sent home for one week.
..e) Yes, we know there are unicorns in the forest. No, they do not need the Equestrian Royal Guard to protect them from the Centaurs.

They were not long into their evening meal when the Headmaster and his mum came through the open Great Hall doors. He had expected her to show up today; after all he had sent Hedwyg off with a letter last night before curfew. He knew she would want to know right away about Discord’s mischief. His only surprise was in that she hadn’t immediately shown up this morning!

He stood and waved when she started looking around the hall to find him. While she knew which table belonged to Gryffindor, she didn’t know exactly where he was at the table. That, and she could no longer just look for the bright hair colours of his herd-mates as distinguishing features, considering all the other Equestrians at all the tables.

All the new Equestrians sort of interfered with that.

Smiling broadly, she headed for him, the Headmaster only a step behind. The moment she was close enough, they hugged. The three fillies quickly joined them. More hesitantly, so did Hermione and Ginny.

After exchanging greetings, his mum leaned back. “So, Discord?” she said, pulling her mouth to the side unhappily.

He grimaced, and turned to Luna, who was watching with wide eyes only a few seats away. “Mum, I’d like to introduce Luna Lovegood,” he said stepping over to her and uncurling his arm to present her to his mum. “Luna Lovegood, this is my mum, her Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, Mistress of Magic, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Saviour of Equestria, Liberator of the Crystal Empire, Biggest Egghead Ever.”**

His mum glared at him, her hands on her hips.

He smirked. “Prince Blueblood says that proper etiquette must be followed for all introductions regarding royalty . . . and those are your titles, mum.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. With Princess Celestia making that last one part of her Royal title, there really wasn’t anything she could do about it — except complain. Rainbow still went into giggles every time she heard it. Then the Royal turned her attention to Luna. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Lovegood.”

Luna blinked owlishly, then quickly scrambled from the bench and curtsied as she said, “The pleasure is all mine, your royal highness.” She straightened and nervously glance at Harry, and the Headmaster who was behind them all.

He grinned at her. “I sent an owl last night explaining how you got your animagus form.”

“Yes,” interrupted his mum, moving over to inspect Luna, craning her neck side to side. “Would you mind showing me? The Headmaster said we can use a room just down the hall from the Great Hall, here.”

Luna glanced at her plate, “Of course, your highness.”

“Excellent!” cried his mum. She glanced at the girl’s plate. The portions on the plate were quickly doubled from the nearby platters, then the plate and her juice goblet floated up. She turned, nodded to the Headmaster, and they started back towards the doors, the plate and glass floating over her head.

Harry quickly grabbed his own plate, scooped up a few extra helpings and his goblet, before following them. The girls were not far behind him. Just before they reached the doors, Myrtle joined them.

She was a part of the family, now, even if it wasn’t official. Seeing everyone else in the family was there, except Spike, she didn’t want to miss anything. If nothing else, it gave her some wonderful gossip — if it wasn’t private.

Almost at the same time, another person came trotting in — literally.

“Luna!” exclaimed his mum in surprise.

“Yes,” said the little Lovegood girl, looking over from the imposing visage that had just come in.

“You couldn’t have waited five minutes?” Princess Luna said, staring disapprovingly at Twilight, eye-to-eye. She was in her alicorn form, a deep-blue coat with a quarter-moon emblem on the black peytral on her chest. Her mane was a lighter blue, but sparkled and glittered as if tiny stars were embedded in it. Her crown was black as night.

The Hall behind them gasped at her appearance, but went silent.

His mum rolled her eyes. “Discord,” she said by way of explanation.

“Yes,” Luna said reflectively. “That would imply a bit of haste, We suppose,” she mused. “Is this the little witch with Our name?” she asked imperiously, looking at the only person in the group she hadn’t met.

Luna, the girl, stared at the giant pony with wide eyes.

Harry sighed. “This is Luna Lovegood,” again gently lifting uncurling his arm to indicate her with a sweeping gesture. “Luna Lovegood, this is Her Eternal Majesty, Princess Luna, Mistress of the Stars and Moon, Bringer of the Night, Guardian of Dreams and Destroyer of Nightmares, Bane of Evil, Defender and Grand General of the Realm, Matriarch of the Night Ponies, Monarch of Unicorns, Councillor of Earth Ponies, Commander of the Pegasi, and Co-ruler of Equestria and all Their Other Realms and Territories.”***

He was getting quite good at this sort of thing, he thought wryly. Blueblood would be pleased — and would still critique his stance and presentation.

Luna-the-girl stared a second, then shook herself. She curtsied once more. “A pleasure to meet you, your Majesty.”

Good, Harry thought, she had picked up on the “co-ruler” in the introduction.

“We shall see,” the Princess replied.

That wasn’t nearly as good.

The moment they were out of sight beyond the doors, the Hall broke into an excited chatter. Professor McGonagall came hurrying out to join them not a minute later. The volume of noise from the Great Hall rose even higher.

They quickly made their way to the same meeting room they had used last year when Twilight made her first impromptu visit, curtesy of Philomena.

It didn’t take long for Luna-the-girl to repeat the story of her encounter with the God of Chaos the previous day. Both Princesses paid close attention.

His mum hung on the girl’s every word, walking back and forth in front of the girl, asking questions.

Luna-the-pony spent the time stalking around the girl, examining her from every angle, with a spell or two added.

Then it was everyone else’s turn to explain what they had seen, and what they had told the girl about ponies.

His mum stopped and stared intently at the girl. “Would you please turn into your new form? Have you learned how to change back and forth, yet?” She transformed into her alicorn form.

Luna-the-girl’s eyes darted around at everyone watching. The Headmaster was smiling lightly, his eyes sparkling. Professor McGonagall was just watching curiously. Seeing the girl’s hesitation, she gave a small nod. Luna-the-girl slowly nodded back as the students all told how they had taught her how to transform-at-will earlier in the day.

A second later, there was the beautiful pony they had seen earlier.

Both Princesses were delighted and excited, and the diagnostic spells filled the air for a few minutes.

“Amazing,” breathed his mum. “You have the wings, ears, and eyes of a Night pony, but the Crystal pony attributes that make you translucent!”

Harry jolted slightly. He had noticed her eyes were faceted like a Crystal pony, but he hadn’t noticed that the they were slitted eyes, like a Night pony. Nor had he noticed how much larger than the other ponies her ears were — which was rather remarkable as they were almost as over-sized as a fennec fox’s. Her wings and crystal coat had been too distracting.

Princess Luna muttered a soft, “Remarkable, indeed,” and nodded.

“And it goes right down to the genetics,” his mum continued as she looked into the girl’s eyes. “Your pony children will be just as healthy as you are.”

“Say what you will about Discord,” Luna-the-pony said dryly, “but he does do good work.”

His mum sat back and frowned, deep in thought, while Luna-the-pony examined Luna-the-girl’s wings. She cooed at how pretty the filly looked, the feel of her wings’ membranes, and murmured about how so much like a regular Night Pony she was in overall build, if not appearance.

Twilight suddenly stood up. “Scoots, Sweetie, Bloom, would you all stand there?” She pointed to one side. “Myrtle, would you stand there?” She pointed to where she wanted the girl to stand. “Miss Lovegood? Would you return to your normal form?” She then cast a series of spells on Myrtle, Luna-the-girl, and the CMC fillies. She chewed her lower lip as she studied the results.

She turned to where Harry, Hermione, and Ginny had grouped. “Perfect! Just stay where you are.” And they were included in the next batch of spells.

She turned to Professor McGonagall. “Would you please stand there for a moment?” She pointed to a fourth spot, and repeated her spells. She sighed deeply. “Okay. Could you all take your animagus forms?” She swept her gaze across the entire group.

It was another round of spell casting on the various ponies and cat.

Twilight sat a moment longer, then started pacing. After a few moments, she stopped. “Albus? Is there someone else in the school who learned how to be an animagus in the traditional manner?”

Eyes sparkling, he said, “Why, yes, I believe there is . . ..” A moment later there was a goat standing where he had stood.

“A Nigerian Dwarf goat,” breathed Hermione in surprise.

“Excellent!” exclaimed his mum, again, and started casting spells.

“Now, change to your animagi forms?”

The only one left as a human in the room was Myrtle.

Finally, Twilight stopped. She turned to face Myrtle. “Would you like to be a unicorn, a pegasus, or an earth pony?”

Myrtle glanced around the room at the various ponies. Scootaloo and Ginny promptly spread their wings.

“Uh, a pegasus?” she said hesitantly.

Twilight nodded firmly. “Bear with me, this should only take a moment.” She stared at the girl intently. A glow began to suffuse the entire room. Harry felt . . . something . . . inside, for a very brief moment. His connection to when they had revived Myrtle?

There was a bright flash. When it faded, his mum was panting heavily, and a bit wobbly on her hooves. “Oh, that might have been a bit too much,” she slurred.

Princess Luna was at her side, instantly, a soft glow holding the purple pony upright. She sighed, “Twi,” she said exasperatedly. “Just because you figured it out doesn’t mean you should try it immediately. Next time, just show Us the spell, and We will do it. We have the power to spare.”

“Uh huh,” Twilight said sleepily, and yawned prodigiously.

The rest of them were staring at the new pegasus. “Oh, my,” she said quietly, then grinned, delighted. “It feels exactly like when I’m in Equestria!” She glanced at her wing as she stretched it out. “Except with wings!” She started tentatively flapping them and slowly rose a short distance above the floor. She let herself drop down as the other two pegasi rushed to her.

She ecstatically cantered in place, then sighed and abruptly returned to human. She turned to the other fillies. “Okay, how do I turn back?”

Princess Luna, still propping up Twilight, who was now snoring lightly, looked over at not-Princess-Luna. “We approve whole-heartedly of your animagus form. We shall have to see if that is also your form in Equestria. We suspect it might not be, that you might still have the unicorn form you have already exhibited.” She glanced at Dumbledore. “Just as the Headmaster is a unicorn in Equestria, yet he still retains his older animagus form.” She looked back at Luna-the-girl. “You and your family are invited to visit Us at Canterlot Palace this Hearth’s Warming holiday. In the meantime, We will send a Night Pony to help you adjust to your new senses and abilities.” She paused a moment, then said, “Fare the well,” as she turned to Albus, still a demiguise. “We will see Ourselves and Twi to the gates.” She turned and left the room, his mum floating behind her, snoring.

^-~-^

Having so many Equestrians willing to transform into their “animagi” form changed the common room dynamic. Harry and his herd-mates were no longer the centres of attention, he was happy to see.

Luna, naturally, was the most popular pony. Everyone wanted to see if her coat was soft like fur or hard like crystal. It was soft like fur, but was translucent and glittered like crystal. There were dark sections scattered across her body, but her internal organs were not on display, despite being able to see the broad outlines and colours of the people, and the room’s furnishings, through her. Somehow the imagery behind her was transmitted to her other side, as if she were see-through, like a translucent window.

The “younger” ponies did seem to prefer being close to older ones, though, despite them actually being older than Harry’s herd-mates. Probably because Harry and the herd were seen as “experienced” and would protect them. That, and the fact that Harry was part of the royal family. As were his herd-mates by association, if not yet fact. Being nice to the potential royals was always a good strategy.

In the meantime, regarding safety, if Harry and the other three weren’t alarmed, then it must be okay was the consensus.

That there were also nearly equal numbers of Equestrians in the other Houses meant that this year there were no “visitors” from the other dorms, at all. Which considerably decreased the crowding in the common room.

Now that he wasn’t being singled out, it was hilarious to watch the firsties getting blissed out at all the attention they were receiving.

Actually, as Harry looked around, the common room seemed even less crowded than he had expected. Had it expanded to accommodate the increased number of students, as the firsties’ room had been expanded with extra beds and more room?

The next morning started with History of Magic, which used to be taught by a ghost. Professor Lupin had taken over the position last year.

Professor Binns, the previous Professor of Magical History, had been a ghost and taught the course for over a century. Last year, he had realized he had actually died during his tenure as a Professor, and had never noticed! The CMC had never seen a ghost until they were at Hogwarts, and under their questioning he had finally noticed his deceased state. With that discovery on his part, he had gone off to his “next great adventure,” as the Headmaster had termed it.

His replacement, Professor Remus Lupin, had periodically brought in the ghosts in the castle, and other places, to take turns speaking about their lives and the times they had lived in. It was so much more interesting to listen to someone talk about a historical incident when they had lived through it! Not to mention that some of them actually knew the villains or heroes that their textbook discussed.

Professor Lupin’s approach to teaching had been greatly appreciated, once they all got over their disappointment at losing their scheduled nap time.

It was rather ironic that their Professor was using ghosts to bring the past to life for the students in the present.

His robes were standard Professorial ones, ones in much better condition this year than they had been last year. That, no doubt, was due to Sirius’ influence.

Remus, too, introduced new Professorial Aides, except both of them were Seventh-year students. Naturally. An Equestrian would have been of no help at all in this class. Duh.

Unfortunately, the longer a werewolf had been afflicted with the curse, the more habits she, or he, had to try to correct. Even Remus — who had lived so much among muggles — had a few habits that were hard to break. His temper and lassitude during the times of a normal full moon would be a problem for him for some time to come, Sirius had told Harry.

“Pavlov’s Dogs, you know,” he had said wryly. Which had led into an explanation about how physical reactions become ingrained to visual and auditory stimuli — and very difficult to break.

The next class was Charms. It was as interesting as ever — they started with a comprehensive look at last year’s textbook. Professor Filius Flitwick, was a tiny little wizard with white hair and green robes, who could look a pony straight in the eyes. He was quite affable, and spent the entire lesson revising the previous year’s charms with them. He was more than a little surprised at just how much they did remember.

On the other hoof, Harry was gratified to hear at the end of the class, that they already had covered almost a third of the material for second year! Celestia bless book-walking! That meant that after the revising in the next two weeks, they would already be that far through this year! With luck and perseverance, they might even be able make their way through the third-year spells before they finished second year!

They would definitely be setting records when their OWLs came around.

After lunch was Potions. Which was actually had a bit of a surprise. Instead of Professor Snape, there was an enormously fat, short, bald, old man wearing a wizarding suit instead of robes. His belly was so large that the buttons on his waistcoat appeared to be ready to burst off. He had prominent, gooseberry-coloured eyes, and an enormous, silver, walrus-like moustache. He was grinning broadly as they entered the room.

Standing with him was a Ravenclaw, a blonde-haired, upper-year student, one Harry had never met. Beside him was a buxom Equestrian. An Equestrian he and his Equestrian herd-mates immediately identified. Her hair was black and white striped in a Mohawk-style. She wore two gold earrings, one in each ear, with five gold rings tight to her neck and a matching set of five on her left arm. Her face was a bit squarer than the other Equestrians Harry had seen.

It was Zecora!

All three fillies yelled her name at the same time and charged forward to hug her. After a moment, the Professor shooed them away and they quickly found seats. Apple Bloom and Ginny took one table, Harry and Hermione had the next, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were behind Harry’s table.

Harry wondered if her animagus form was a zebra, like she was in Equestria. The Zebras from Zebrica didn’t seem to have overt magic like the ponies did, relying primarily on rituals and potions. However, most wizards and witches seemed to have the capability, even if they never learned how to do it. Zecora, he thought, should be able to manage the animagus transformation. He would suggest, later, she explore that option.

Once everyone was in place, the wizard started off with, “I am Professor Horace Slughorn. I will be teaching this class, as well as the other classes leading up to your OWLs.” He turned and nodded to the wizard at his side. “This is Mr. Widdershins, and he will normally handle the Wednesday classes.” He turned to Zecora. “And this lovely witch is Zecora, an Equestrian. While she is a Potions Master in Equestria, she will be observing my classes as she learns how potions are created and used here in England. She will be helping the two of us in our classes.” He rubbed his hands together. “So,” he said jovially, “Shall we see how much you remember from last year?”

What followed was a class-long question and answer session where every student received at least some attention. It was clear from the way his expression occasionally fell that the class was not where he wanted it to be. His . . . lapses . . . were just as frequent when he was questioning the Slytherins as with the Gryffindors — neither side of the class was happy with the other hearing their faults.

The end of class came none too soon for Ron and Neville, or Goyle and Crabbe. Although both sets of boys had snickered at the others’ mistakes, all four were exchanging relieved looks as they left the classroom. Truthfully, the entire class was relieved. This was one of a mere handful of times they had left Potions without fleeing an explosion, enduring another melted cauldron from Neville, or the subjects of yet another Sweetie-Belle-potion-gone-wrong.

Not to mention their attendant ear-blistering and soul-destroying tantrums from Professor Snape. No one would miss those!

Just as relieving had been knowing they would be revising safety rules and proper cutting and stirring procedures for the next two weeks. No disasters for two weeks, guaranteed, led to quiet celebrations. Many exchanged high-fives, while looking over at Sweetie Belle, as they left the class.

^-~-^