//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Harry Potter and the Six Odd Witches // by Rainbow Sparkle //------------------------------// Twilight was still trying to wrap her head around everything, and was having some difficulty doing so. Given her head seemed to be missing some things, namely memories, that was certainly understandable, but nevertheless annoying. For a start, she herself could remember her name, remember she was a unicorn, and she could remember her friends' names and what kind of Ponies they’d been. She also knew that a short time ago, they hadn’t been… whatever they were now. But a great many things were lost to her. She knew only the vaguest of details about each of her friends, and she couldn’t recall what it was they’d been doing before they were… wherever here was.  That long bearded stallion had used that piece of wood, she wanted to call it a twig, to communicate things to them, and she’d gotten a general gist. They were in a castle, and had just ‘appeared’ there out of nowhere, prompting the stallion and another, the foal off to the side with the glasses, to bring them to what Twilight could only assume was a place of healing.  The strange old stallion, whom they had learned was called “Dumble Dore”, had then left, leaving the older mare and three foals in the room while she and her friends looked over the strange pieces of jewelry they had each been wearing. Something told her it was very important… that it was almost like a part of her very being. And that the gemstone set in the top being dull and dim wasn’t a good thing. But she couldn’t figure out why she felt that way. And the fact she couldn’t figure it out was so… so intensely frustrating! Maddening even! “Twilight?” Spike asked as he reached over and gently petted at her arm. “You gonna be okay?” “Huh?” Twilight asked, looking down to Spike and smiling at him as she reached up with her… arm? Yes, arm, not a fore-leg, and used her… hand to pet the baby dragon. The fact he was a dragon still brought her some comfort, even if something in her mind said he looked a little different. “I don’t know Spike. But I do know that I’m glad I have you and my friends here with me.” She glanced up to the others, meeting each of their eyes as they looked towards her. “I might not remember much, but I know that with all of you here with me, we’ll get through this.” “Darn tootin we will!” Applejack said with a smile, only to frown as she asked, “Though uh, what exactly is ‘this’?” “I believe Twilight is referring to us being here, like this, and not what we are supposed to be.” Rarity remarked, putting her necklace back on before looking down at her form again. “Hmm, was I wearing this before I got here?” Fluttershy looked to her own outfit, then over to Rarity. “Uhm… I’m not sure? I… I think we were wearing these accessories…” “And such beautiful accessories they are, even if the gemstones could use some work!” Rarity interjected, earning a soft smile and a nod from Fluttershy. “Y~Yes, they are very pretty. But uh, I don’t think they’re just accessories.” Fluttershy continued as she picked hers up and started looking at it from every angle. “They’ve got to be something more than just accessories. I’m not the kind of mare to wear lots of jewelry.” Rainbow Dash remarked, before tapping the gem on hers as she said, “Or well, any for that matter.” “Heeeey, I got an idea~!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she stood up on her bed, rocking back and forth on her feet. “Maybe these things brought us to wherever here is!” “” The older mare called out, frowning and shooting Pinkie Pie a bit of a glare. Pinkie Pie blinked, then gave a shy smile and sat back down on the bed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. The older mare rolled her eyes, muttered something, then moved to shoo away the two foals standing over a red headed one. The girls all snickered a bit at that, Spike joining in a bit before he looked to all of them. “Uh, so did any of you understand what she said? I mean, didn’t really need to understand what she was saying, but you know…” Everypony shook their heads. Spike sighed, looking to Twilight as he asked, “So uh, how are we going to communicate with these uh, people?” “W-Well, uh, those magic images Twilight conjured seemed to work a bit…” Fluttershy remarked. Twilight nodded her head, but sighed all the same as she said, “Yes, but that’ll only work for some things. And I had trouble doing that. If I still had my horn…”  She brought a hand up to her head, rubbing at it, then blinked as she felt something there. “Huh? What’s this?” She murmured softly, moving her hair aside and glancing up, but that accomplished all of… well, nothing. Spike seemed to notice though, and came around in front of her to take a look. “Hey Twi, there’s a mark that looks like a horn on your head!” Twilight frowned at that, rubbing at the slightly raised marking. She focused some magic into it, and felt the tingle of it against her finger as the mark began to glow softly. “Well… that explains why it felt so hard to use my magic…” The girls were watching this, and after a moment Rarity felt around her forehead. “I have one as well… feels quite strange, now that I’m aware of it.” “Yeah…” Twilight murmured. “Now that I know it's there, I can feel the magical pathways. It's like I do, and don’t have a horn. Kind of feels like my horn is still there if I focus on it, but if I stop… it's almost as if it's not there.” That got Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash curious. They had already noticed they didn’t seem to have their wings, which was part of their original freakout. But, as they both closed their eyes and focused on where their wings normally were… “” Twilight, who had been focusing on the marking that was all she seemed to have left of her horn in this form, blinked at the surprised shout from the foal a few beds down from them. Then she heard the awed gasps of AJ, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike, and looked up. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had both slid out of their beds, and were now looking at the pairs of magically conjured wings they were both sporting. Rainbow’s cyan hued wings had a soft chromatic aura surrounding them, while Fluttershy’s own yellow ones had a gentle pink one. Twilight watched as they both stretched them out a bit revealing they were just a bit longer than their fore-arms. “Rainbow, Fluttershy, your wings… they look absolutely beautiful!” Rarity remarked finally, earning nods from the others. Rainbow Dash grinned at that, then squirmed as she looked behind her shoulder to see where they seemed to have appeared from. “Hehe, yeah, they do look pretty awesome… though uh, man this feels weird.”  Fluttershy nodded. “I-I can see them… b-but it kind of feels like they’re not there.” She ran a hand over one, shivering a bit. “Kind of tingles to touch them, but not like when I’d preen my wings at home.” “Wonder if they still work.” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud, only to hear AJ clearing her throat. “Can understand the desire Rainbow, but uh, how about doing so when we get a chance to be outside? And won’t accidentally make a mess iffin ya find that you’re gonna need to get used to using them again?” Rainbow Dash glanced over towards where the two people, the older mare and the foal, were watching them. A wary look was on the mare’s face, even as the foal was now more awed by the sight of their wings then surprised. “Oh yeah… right. That’s a good idea.” Rainbow Dash said, the wings folding back behind her and then vanishing after a moment. “D-Do uh, do ya think it’ll take long to get used to all these changes?” Fluttershy asked as she did the same, settling back down on the bed. Twilight spent a moment thinking about that. She thought about the ease Pinkie had stood up, the same as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy not a moment before. Now curious, she swung her legs over the bed and slowly got to her feet. Even though she knew she’d always walked on four legs before… standing here like this felt surprisingly natural. She took a few experimental steps, and nearly stumbled on the fifth as she thought about how she had walked before she woke up with this body. Thankfully, she caught the edge of the bed and just sat back down, sighing as she said,  “Well, as long as I didn’t think about walking on all fours, it seems I’m fine.” She shrugged a bit as she kicked her legs a bit, glancing at them as she admitted, “Not sure how easy it’ll be to not think like that.” “Shouldn’t be too hard sugarcube.”AJ remarked, sitting up a bit more in her bed as she looked at the boots she was sporting at the end of her legs. “I don’t remember much from before we woke up here, but I do remember working on a farm. And sometimes we had to do stuff while standing on our hind legs. Just takes some getting used to.” “A-And these b-bodies do seem built for walking on two legs…” Fluttershy noted, glancing towards the other two people who were sending glances their way every so often. “T-They don’t have any trouble with it.” “Darling, they’ve probably been doing it their whole lives.” Rarity commented drly, earning a soft squeak from the shy pegasus. Pinkie Pie skipped over from her bed, wrapping Fluttershy in a big hug before flashing the rest of them a wide smile. “Hey hey hey, we’ll figure it out one way or another! We’ll figure out how to walk the walk, talk the talk, magic the magic and whatever else there is so we can figure out how we got here and what we were doing before we got here!” Rainbow Dash pumped a fist in the air at that, a cocky smile spreading across her face as Pinkie’s cheer proved quite infectious. “Heck yeah we will! Long as we’ve got each other, nothing can stop us.” Twilight felt the fires of hope and friendship rising in her heart, even as she took hold of the crown she’d woken up wearing and gazed at the dull, dead gem in its center. When she’d first looked at it, she’d almost felt like a part of her had been lost, yet she didn’t know why. She still got that impression looking at it now. But, for a small moment, she thought she saw a brief flicker of light in it as she too felt her mouth shifting into a soft smile. Pinkie’s right. As long as we’re together, no challenge is impossible. Strange bodies and missing memory won’t keep us from figuring out how and why we’re here… and it won’t keep us from figuring out how to get back home. As she glanced up, she found herself looking at the foal who was lying in the bed nearby. He smiled and gave a wave, which made Twilight return both as she added to her thoughts, And if I have anything to say about it, neither will this language barrier. -*- As it would turn out, Twilight was not the only one contemplating the matter of language. In fact, aside from the floo call to the Ministry to speak with Madame Bones, it had been what Dumbledore had devoted the rest of the day towards. It was the reason he had five books open and two scrolls unfurrowed across his desk. His eyes scanned over three of them while he let his magic sift through the lines of text in the other four, giving him a soft nudge anytime it found something that might be useful. He had two promising leads, but they were both short term and one of them was… clunky, to say the least. Still, if he couldn’t manage to find anything else, one of them would certainly work and offer a starting point from which to build upon. There was a spark from the fireplace, and a moment later the flames turned green. A familiar voice called out, “Headmaster? May I come through?” Dumbledore looked up from the books, and smiled. That hadn’t taken as long as he had been told it would. “Yes Amelia, you may. I hope my summons didn’t interrupt anything important.” The fireplace blazed with green flame as an older witch strolled on out of it. She whisked away the bit of soot clinging to her robes and turned to face Dumbledore. “I was told there was a matter here at the school that required my attention as soon as possible. What’s going on Albus?” Sparing a final glance at one of the books as he stood up, Dumbledore came around to stand by her. He glanced towards the door as he said, “It is a bit of a story. Would you prefer to hear it all here, or along the way to the Infirmary where we have Professor Quirrell under guard?” Her eyebrows shot up at that. After a moment to consider, she asked, “Is there any rush? I’d prefer to know what I’m walking into, even if your staff have things in hand at the moment.” “Well then, take a seat and I shall explain. Would you care for any tea?” At the shake of her head, Dumbledore nodded and began to pace about slightly as he told her of how his friend Nicholas Flamel had contacted him. About the fear that someone was after the Philosopher’s Stone and wished to use it for dark ends…  Of how he had come to suspect that Lord Voldemort was the one seeking the stone so that he could return, and that after some time he had reason to believe Quirrell was the one working on Voldemort’s behalf. And then, of course, of the attempt to steal it the previous night. Amelia was holding her head in her hands, skin pale as she gazed at nothing for a long moment after he finished. Finally, she said, “That’s… a lot to take in Albus.” “If you need a moment…” Dumbledore offers as he moves back behind his desk, giving the books and scrolls a brief glance. “I’d prefer we hurry and retrieve Quirrel before anything else happens, but we can spare a moment.” Amelia shook her head. “No, if it’s true… if it is, then we need to move quickly.” She sat up, straightened her robe, and then said, “I’ll need to confirm it before I bring in more Auror’s.” Dumbledore was saddened by that, but not surprised. Few would wish to believe after all this time that the Dark Lord still existed. He wasn’t quite sure ‘alive’ or ‘living’ worked as descriptors for Voldemort at this time. Nevertheless, he nodded and made for the door, gesturing to Amelia. “Of course. Then to the infirmary we go.” Amelia nodded and the pair headed off. They were silent as they walked through the halls, Amelia looking off into the distance while Dumbledore went over the spell he had memorized before leaving the office. Since he would be back in the infirmary, there was no reason not to go ahead and make use of it to get some answers to the newer mystery. Arriving at the Infirmary, Dumbledore spared a quick glance towards the occupied beds. He noticed the bed with the youngest of the Weasleys was no longer occupied… the boy must have been given a clean bill of health. Nearby, the strange guests were awake and softly chattering to each other, now gathered together on the edge of two of the infirmary beds. He was not surprised that Amelia noticed them. Given the practical rainbow of colors their hair possessed, it would be rather difficult to not notice them. And the lyrical nature of their language, even hushed as it had been, would have drawn anyone’s ears to them. They were too absorbed into their own conversation to notice their arrival, so Dumbledore simply tapped Amelia on the arm as he pointed to the door where Snape was now standing guard outside. “He’s being held in here. I’ve had a professor guarding both inside and outside since he was subdued.” She nodded, turning her attention back to the reason they were here. “Good. I wouldn’t expect anything less if what you have said is-” Madame Bones didn’t get to finish that statement. There was suddenly a scream of agony from behind the door, and the door was flung open, nearly smacking into Snape as Professor McGonagall stuck her head out. The screaming continued as a she gestured to them “Headmaster! Severus! Hurry!” Dumbledore swept forward, wand out and ready, Snape doing just the same as they all rushed into the room. A sickening feeling was forming in Dumbledore’s gut, a suspicion that he knew what was happening even before he saw it. That suspicion was confirmed as he saw the writhing body of Quirrell on the bed, struggling against the magical bindings they had placed upon him as his body began to turn an ashen color and crack. Dumbledore held his hands out, holding the others at bay, though from the looks of shock and how they seemed frozen in place… “Quirinus…” Quirrell’s eyes shot open, locking briefly with Dumbledore’s. There was pain, anger, fury, fear, a maelstrom of emotions flashing by at lightning speed. No sign however, of regret for the choices he had made that was leading to this consequence… A screech of fury and torment was loosed, but then it was cut off as Quirrell’s entire body began to crumble before their very eyes. And rising out from it was a smoke like, ghostly image of Voldemort’s very own visage. The four of them watched as the ghostly visage of the Dark Lord screeched and writhed in the air, before rushing for one of the windows. It phased through the glass and raced off into the distance, quickly fading from sight. They were silent for a full minute, staring at the pile of ash and now empty clothes where Quirrell had lain. It was only when the sound of rushing footsteps, and Madame Pomfrey exclaiming, “What in bloody hell’s going on?! What was that screaming?” That roused them from their stupor, and Dumbledore sighed. He rubbed at his forehead briefly as he remarked, “Quirrell has… expired. And our foe has withdrawn.” “Expired!?” Pomfrey squeaked, pushing past the others and then stopping two steps past the Headmaster once Quirrell’s bed came into view. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, lips soon pursing before she managed to get anything out. “Oh… ooohh… yes, well then.” Shaking his head, Dumbledore turned to his professors and said, “Thank you for helping to keep him under a watchful eye Severus, Minerva. There is no longer a need to do so. Madame Bones…” He sighed as he looked to Amelia, whose face was even more pale now as she stared out the windows.  She didn’t seem to hear him, so Dumbledore reached over and gave her shoulder a soft shake. “Amelia?” “T-This… this is bad.” She finally said, shivering a bit before managing to pull her gaze from the window. “I… I need to speak with the Minister immediately.” Dumbledore was not entirely sure if that was the best course of action yet… he needed to take a moment to ponder it. For the time being… “Relax a moment Madame Bones… Minerva, will you take her back to my office? I should be there before too long.” McGonagall nodded, coming over and gesturing for Amelia to follow her. It took a moment of prodding before Amelia went along. Pomfrey sighed and shook her head, looking to the Headmaster as she asked, “I’ll give you time to… study the remains. I’ll clean the mess up that’s been left behind once you’re done.” “That won’t be necessary.” Dumbledore remarked. “I do not think I will be able to determine much now that Voldemort’s spirit has left him.” He waved his wand, the ashes vanishing away, as did the robes. He then glanced at Snape and added, “We can discuss our next steps tomorrow morning, Severus.” Snape gave a curt nod, “Of course Headmaster.” before turning and striding out. Pomfrey shook her head, and then headed back into the infirmary, calling out,  “Our guests seem to be a bit disturbed from what just happened, Headmaster. Might need your help calming them down.” Dumbledore felt the ghost of a smile returning to his face. “Coming Poppy.” He said as he turned and strode out of the room. This turn of events may have been unfortunate… but perhaps with the spell he had found, he could get some answers from their guests. -*- “C’mon, let me go see what's going on in there!” “Rainbow Dash, sit down.” AJ replied, pulling the pegasus down and back onto the ground. Rainbow squirmed and struggled a bit, while Rarity worked to console Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie seemed a bit more mellow than usual, her hair not quite as poofy as it had been as she looked towards the door where that scream had come from. And Twilight herself was up on her feet, a sharp frown stretched across her face as she stared at the door with a mixture of curiosity and worry in equal measure. “I sensed some kind of magic from that room… but the nature of it…” She mumbled aloud, shivering to herself. She wasn’t sure what precisely had happened, but something very dark and malevolent had sprouted into being… and then left.  I… I feel like I’ve felt magic similar to that before… but where? When? And why? Twilight pondered, torn as she had no way at current to get any answers. If only there was a way they could communicate with these people… Her thoughts were interrupted when a pair of older mares left the room from whence the screams had come. Both wore robes, but one, the one they’d seen swap with a rather short stallion earlier, was leading the other along as they left. They were followed a moment later by the stern faced stallion who gave them all merely a passing glance before he strode purposely out after them. The last two to leave the room were the older mare who seemed to be watching over them, and the older stallion, Dumble Dore, who had used magic to try and bridge the language barrier, with some success but not nearly as much as Twilight would have preferred.  Especially given all the questions she wanted to ask. She watched the Dumble Dore exchange some words with the mare, who returned to what was either her room or an office perhaps. Then Dumble Dore made his way over to them as he offered a kind, reassuring smile. He had that stick in his hands again, and with a simple wave of it, he made a simple wooden stool appear next to where they were gathered. Once more, rather than speaking, Dumble Dore began to wave the stick about. Simple images appeared in the air. One of him, the other of them. The image of him mimed speaking, with what she could only assume were letters coming from his mouth. She didn’t recognize them, but the letters arranged themselves into what she could clearly tell were words. This was repeated with the image of her and the girls. She noticed that all the letters were the same as what the stallions image used… but rearranged in a random order. It took her only a few seconds to grasp the meaning, so she gave a nod to him. Dumble Dore smiled wider, and had his image take its own stick, tap it to its forehead, then slowly pulled it towards the image of Twilight, a line soon connecting them. An image of an hourglass appeared and poured a small amount of sand down into the lower half before disappearing and the line between both images following suit. The display was finished with both images speaking once more to each other. But this time, the order of letters for both was the same. AJ, who had managed to get Rainbow Dash to settle back down on the bed, looked from the images to Twilight as she asked, “Is uh, is he suggesting what I think he is?” Twilight hummed, tapping her chin as she mumbled to herself. If she was grasping it correctly… this Dumble Dore was wishing to use magic to share his language with her. Thinking about everything she could remember when it came to magic, there was no reason it couldn’t work… But will it work? That’s the most important question. She couldn’t recall learning any translation spells herself, but whether that was because she’d simply never needed to, or simply couldn’t remember… “Yes… yes I think he is.” She said, looking to AJ and the others. “I don’t know if it’ll necessarily work, but well, it’d certainly be faster than trying to learn their language the old fashioned way.” “And I’m sure this stallion has as many questions as we do.” Rarity remarked, a gentle smile on her face even as her eyes glinted with a hint of mischief. “Or at least, as many as Twilight has.” Twilight blushed at that, then considered the display once more as the stallion watched them patiently. She eyed the hourglass carefully, then said, “I think this spell’s going to take a short bit to be done. I’d wager… fifteen minutes or so?” She finally guessed. “So it’ll take a bit before we know if it works.” The girls all nodded, though Pinkie Pie asked, “Uhm, what kind of things could it do if it doesn’t work?” Twilight frowned at that. She considered all she could remember about mental magic. It wasn’t as much as she felt it should be, meaning some had been lost to her. Hopefully not for good. At any rate, she shrugged and said, “It depends on the sort of spell it is. And I can’t find that out without being able to communicate. It's risky… but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.” “C-Couldn’t one of us take it instead?” Fluttershy asked, prompting nods from the others, with Rainbow’s being the most vigorous. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at that as she looked to her friends, but she quickly shook her head. “I’ll go first. I’ve the most knowledge of magic amongst us… and I’ve cast spells and had spells cast at me.” Or at least I can remember that much she thought silently to herself. “I’ll be able to know better if the spell is going to do something bad, or if it's not going to work and be able to end it before it can have any lasting effect.” That seemed to reassure her friends, who didn’t raise any other objections, though she could see the concern in their eyes. She gave them a smile of her own to reassure them, then turned to Dumble Dore and pointed to the image, pointed to him and his twig, and nodded. Beaming, the stallion motioned for her to sit at the edge of one of the beds. After she did so, he moved a bit closer, then placed the tip of his own wand to his forehead. He murmured a series of words she couldn’t understand, but she could sense the magic gathering at the tip of his twig. She watched as slowly, he began to pull it away, and a line of silver energy began to stretch from the tip.  The strange piece of wood, acting much like a unicorn horn would, was brought closer to her own forehead, and she braced herself for whatever might follow. When the magical string of light reached her, she winced as she felt a slight sting in her mind… but the sensation quickly faded as she felt the spell getting to work. If this had been back home, in her normal form, she had a feeling she might have been able to take more time to truly study the spell being conducted on her. It’s intricacies and mechanics, the way it flowed or ticked, and so much more. Instead, she was a bit busy absorbing the knowledge of a language she had never spoken before, while constantly trying to remain focused enough to be ready to try and stop the spell should anything go awry.  Assuming of course, that she could even pull such off. Time slowly ticked by, with her friends doubtless watching the two. It was hard to tell, as her eyes were closed while she concentrated and focused on what was pouring into her mind. Every so often she could feel her mouth moving, forming a word here and there silently, guided more by magic than innate, true understanding.  The flow of the words at times was slow, like a softly bubbling stream. Other times it was rapid and almost headache inducing as it crashed and thundered into her mind with the raging force of a thunderstorm. But as the minutes passed, the stream of magic given knowledge slowed down to a trickle, and then finally, it came to a stop and she felt the stick being removed from her head.  In a split second, her mind came up with a new word for it, or rather, a word that the magic in her head was telling her suited the object in question. A wand, though the magic also told her that the term wasn’t for all sticks or twigs, but for specially prepared ones to be used for spellwork, almost like an artificial horn. “... am most curious if the spell has worked, for I must confess that it is the first time that I have cast one such as this.” The voice was that of Dumble Dore, but what made her eyes snap open in an instant and look at him was that she could understand what he was saying. No longer did she hear words that she had no understanding of what they meant. Now she could grasp them as if she’d spent all her life speaking… English, as the spell quickly supplied for her.  “Such a fascinating spell!” Twilight blurted out, eyes shining in excitement, her mouth moving nearly as fast as her mind. “It hasn’t just taught me the words… it's giving me the context, grammar, definitions… all I have to do is think it and the spell tells me what to say~!” She clapped her hands, then stopped when she heard the chuckles of not only her friends, but also of the old man. Man, not stallion. She’d have to try and remember that… something told her the spell might slip up if she wasn’t careful. “Well, seeing as I understood every word of that, and since I can see in your eyes that my words carry meaning to you now… perhaps we could try introductions once again?” His own eyes twinkled with mischief as he added, “I would very much prefer to call you by your proper name, rather than whatever my earlier mangling might have meant. Unless of course, you’d prefer such…?” Twilight couldn’t help but smile at that. Somehow, she got the feeling she’d get along with this Dumble Dore person. For some reason, he was reminding her somewhat of someone else… a teacher or mentor perhaps? She couldn’t recall at the moment. “Hehe, I uh, think I’d prefer you to call me Twilight Sparkle, rather than Twinkle-Toe Sparkle.” Her smile widened however as she pointed to each of her friends in kind, introducing them to him as they each tried to say their names in English, with mixed results. Smiling and nodding to each of them, and paying special attention she noted to Spike, Dumble Dore looked back to her as he stood back up, vanishing the stool with a wave of his wand. “Well Twilight Sparkle, and each of you. Allow me to share mine with you again.” “I am Albus Dumbledore. And I welcome all of you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”