Tom was beyond furious. Fortunately, he was in the Room of Lost and Hidden things, so he could blast the walls to his heart’s content, safe in the knowledge no one would ever know.
It had taken him a month to get to the Room.
He had been gobsmacked to discover on his first weekend at Hogwarts that the room he had discovered that no one else knew about when he was a student, was now being used by the upper-years for special classes, and as a recreation room on the weekends.
He had finally managed to find a time when it wasn’t in use and he could manage to escape his friends. That marvellous room packed with the debris of ages, stuffed with hidden treasures, had been thoroughly looted. It was now a nearly empty room, barely double the size of a classroom, and filled with stored furniture.
Thank Merlin, he had never put anything valuable in the room!
He had been intending to use it as a resource, to mine it, as it were, for items he could sell to secure some extra coin to facilitate his plans. It was what he had done the last time.
It was amazing what the Prefects would overlook for the right compensation. That he planned to obliviated them while they were distracted, and recover his money, was irrelevant if he didn’t have the galleons to show them in the first place.
And while his host came from a pure-blood family, they hadn’t provided their off-spring with more than the bare minimum he might need in school.
More of his plans ruined by those ponies!
^-_-^
At their next Double-potions class, Slughorn intercepted Sweetie Belle and directed her to a workstation separate from the others and at the back of the classroom. Once she was seated, he cast an air-purifying charm — like the bubble-head charm, but on an area instead of a person. Then he cast a shield-charm around her.
He smiled broadly. “There, that should keep you safe,” he said.
Sweetie Belle gave him a sour look. She didn’t like being singled-out like this. But, on the other hoof, considering the calamities inflicted on the class last year, and last week, perhaps she didn’t have a good reason to complain.
The rest of the herd gave her sympathetic looks, but they, like the rest of the class, were relieved that someone was finally taking precautions.
There were no explosions, melted cauldrons, or any other unusual accidents. There were potions that bubbled when they shouldn’t, and didn’t when they should. Others turned colours that were not mentioned in the instructions for this potion.
In short, it was what would be considered a normal class for any other group.
For this group of Slytherins and Gryffindors, it was a unique experience, eerily like their previous potion-brewing class, but not the same.
The only thing that might have been considered unusual was that Sweetie Belle’s potion was among the first finished. She bottled it in a vial, and carefully ensured that her station was safe to leave.
Smiles broke out and heads nodded happily as they saw her headed towards the Professor’s desk to hand it in. Everyone quietly congratulated themselves on having escaped another “Sweetie Belle incident.” A few of the more exuberant ones were exchanging high-fives or slaps on the backs.
Harry saw her swat at a fly as she passed him. Dean Thomas, a table away from away, was giving his thick, green, soupy mixture a worried, puzzled look. It was supposed to be blue and thin.
Harry heard a tiny ting as the insect hit the inside edge of Dean’s cauldron, followed by a just-as-tiny plop as it fell inside the potion.
Dean’s frown deepened. He had seen something fall inside his cauldron.
The potion turned silvery, Harry saw, and he heard a faint hiss.
Dean grabbed his wand in a panic to turn off the flame, but instead hit the cauldron with it. Abruptly, there was a tremendous WHOOSH! A cloud of orangish . . . something . . . exploded across the room.
Whatever had been in the cauldron was now blown throughout the class — no one was spared. Everyone was splashed with at least a little bit.
There was a complete, stunned silence. Even Slughorn just stood there, blinking. Then the swearing began — mostly under their breaths so they wouldn’t get in trouble. Except Apple Bloom.
“Oh, ponyfeathers!” she exclaimed loudly. She had just been about to decant her potion into a vial. Dean’s inadvertent dispersal of his cauldron’s contents had contaminated everyone else’s potion, except for the very few who had already sealed their vials.
That woke Slughorn out of his shock. “I don’t know what you said, young lady,” scolded the professor, “but judging from your tone, it’s something you shouldn’t have said, Two points!”
Harry could see Apple Bloom’s lips moving as she swore some more, but this time quietly and to herself.
Then the effects started to make themselves evident. It appeared rather mild, at first — their skin slowly became rougher, more rigid. Within five minutes their skins had transformed into scales — almost like fish, but appearing more textured and dragon-like.
Seamus, a daring and stupid student that day, by Harry’s reckoning, grabbed his silver knife and stabbed his arm. The scales didn’t scratch.
Scales that were quite tough, it seemed.
They were also rather slippery, as everyone discovered when they went to pick something up only to drop it almost immediately. They had to grip things tightly. Quite a few students shattered their vials before someone got smart and started casting the impervious on their tools before picking them up.
Apparently, their strength went up, too.
Still, at dinner time, there were a lot of dropped utensils and goblets. There were just as many that were mangled, twisted, or crushed before people got the hang of balancing their grip with not leaving fingerprints in the metal.
Professor Snape looked inordinately pleased at having missed out on this particular incident. He had also made it a point to acquire the memories of both Dean and Sweetie as they left the classroom.
The twins were obviously impressed and had managed to talk Dean into sharing his memory with them. Galleons may have changed hands.
It would be a race between the twins and Snape as to who would decipher it first.
Harry was betting on the twins; they didn’t have papers to grade and weren’t shy about skipping classes if need be. They were also more willing to experiment with spells and potions, a risk most adult wizards would abhor.
This time, the potion didn’t start to wear off until the next morning. Quantity of exposure didn’t have that great an effect.
^·_·^
“Your Queen would be willing to let changelings cross over?” Applejack said incredulously, pushing her Stetson back on her head.
“You did warn her how dangerous they are, right?” Rarity said as she shivered.
Rainbow Dash stared and shook her head in disbelief. “But, why?” she said plaintively.
Twilight was frowning, deep in thought after reading the proposed oath.
“As I said, Twilight,” Castor said confidently, “This has the possibility of being greatly helpful to Her Majesty’s government, and the United Kingdom. Plus, it would have a direct and immediate benefit to Equestria by decreasing the number of changelings your Guards have to worry about harming your citizens.”
“But they’re dangerous,” Fluttershy whispered, hiding behind Rainbow Dash.
Castor nodded. “Yes, they are,” he said agreeably. “However, based on what I’ve read, they are downright mediocre compared to some of the creatures in the wizarding world — such as lethifolds, dementors, and vampires.”
The mares all shuddered. They had all seen the Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find Them book. They were extremely pleased that none of those creatures existed in their world
“Yes, compared to . . . those . . . monsters,” Twilight said coming out of her thoughts with another full-body shiver, “I suppose changelings are rather pedestrian.”
He shrugged his wings, “They are certainly more intelligent and easier to bargain with in most cases. Besides, as long as a queen or proto-queen doesn’t go through the portal, there isn’t the opportunity for them to become a long-term problem even if they manage to find a loophole in the oath. And we can screen the changelings as they go through to prevent that occurrence.”
Twilight stared down at the Friendship Map Table, her brow furrowed, obviously back in deep thought. Finally, several minutes later, she looked back up. “Alright, I’ll back your plan to the Princesses.” She sighed. “It isn’t fair to condemn them to a slow death because their own queen has abandoned them and ponies are afraid of them,” she added softly. She glanced at the paper on the map table in front of her. “And this oath seems rather comprehensive and should protect you quite well.”
Then she grinned. “Plus, think of everything we’ll learn by having a cooperative pair of changelings to examine and question!”
^-~-^
Harry stopped just down the corridor from the Gryffindor entrance. He had noticed his shoelace was untied. He moved to the wall and lifted his foot to put it against that wall so he could re-tie the shoelace. When his foot went through the wall, instead, to say that he was startled would be an understatement. He tumbled, foot and face first into a void. There’s nothing like tumbling down a dark chute to get the old adrenalin going, as he discovered.
Afterwards, he insisted he did not scream like a little filly on helium, it was a very stallionly scream of sheer terror.
When he slid to a stop, it was in a small, dimly lit room with an opening at the opposite end.
Moments later, the rest of the herd showed up one at a time. Except Hermione. She had gone off to get a Professor, or at least a Prefect.
They hadn’t tumbled, they had jumped in. Their robes were in considerable disarray, mostly wrapped around their arms and heads, leaving everything else on rather obvious display. Fortunately, it was dark enough that Harry could pretend he hadn’t seen anything he wasn’t supposed to — he did see that the Equestrians were ignoring Rule 12b and had left their underwear in their trunks. So had Ginny, to his surprise.
He knew that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, like all the Equestrian ponies-as-humans, were generously endowed for girls their age. They weren’t any match for the other, older, Equestrians at the school, but, still . . . not small by any stretch of the imagination. Plus, the fillies had never been shy about not wearing clothes around him, despite his protestations. However, seeing that Ginny was developing nicely was startling.
Still, he made sure to face the other way and examine the exit as they straightened their robes in the dimly-lit hall.
The exit passage was in the left corner of a blank wall. After he entered it, it was a couple of steps to the right to a jog back the other way with just as many steps to the left. The dim light of the hidden room behind him, he noticed, was completely blocked. Partially in front of him, on a step-high pedestal, was a suit of armour with barely enough room to slip around on its right.
He cautiously peeked out from behind the armour. He was in a corridor he had never seen, but which he had heard described. It was a broad, stone basement corridor, brightly lit, and the opposite wall was decorated with food-themed paintings. A painting of a bowl of fruit was straight across from him. The paintings and the long stack of barrels lining the wall to his side were a dead giveaway. This was the corridor to the Hufflepuff dorms, below and beside the Great Hall.
Thus, he was the first — unfortunately? fortunately? — to discover the slide that went from the seventh floor Gryffindor Tower corridor clear across the castle to Hufflepuff House. That it was only a very short distance to the Great Hall made it absolutely the best short-cut to meals that the Gryffindors could hope for. Why it was in the basement and not beside the Great Hall was a mystery — probably one they would never solve.
While they were looking around and exploring the corridor, Sally-Anne Perks came out of the Hufflepuff portal. She blinked on seeing them. “What’re you all doing here?”
After a brief explanation, they all decided to see if this was a one-time thing, or could be repeated. The trek back upstairs brought to Harry’s mind his experiences in his mum’s castle with the slides they had discovered there. He wondered if there was a hidden swimming pool, somewhere.
The entrance was just like one of those castle doors that pretended to be a wall in a wide alcove. The only marker for it was that it was beside a portrait of a woman writing at a desk. The herd also discovered that when anyone stepped into the alcove, anyone outside didn’t notice the other had disappeared unless they had been paying close attention.
It appeared to have the same kind of aversion spell that prevented muggles from noticing people disappearing, as was being used at platform Nine-and-three-quarters at King’s Cross Station. Except this one was aimed at magicals, not muggles.
It was a repeatable experience. All you had to do was jump into a wall! Using a mild sticking charm on your robes to hold them to your ankles kept them from flying up, which meant everyone was decent when they arrived in the basement. He just knew some of the Equestrians would “forget” the two charms when they were with a prospective boyfriend. He thought that there must have been a variation on the arresto momentum spell on this part of the slide, as they stopped in a ridiculously short amount of space once they reached the bottom of the slide.
Professor’s McGonagall and Flitwick showed up with Hermione as Ginny and Sally were waiting their turns. After a brief explanation, both professors took a jump.
Seeing the two professors, and Hermione, step into the Hufflepuff corridor surprised the rest of the herd. It was predictable, but still a surprise.
Their second trek upstairs made Harry wish there was a shortcut up the stairs, too. He thought about using his broom, but then he thought, “What if I met someone coming down as I was going up?”
Not a nice thought, at all. Perhaps there was a slide that went in the opposite direction? Just put a reverse-gravity spell on it like mum had used in Ponyville, and it would be perfect. But he hadn’t seen a reverse-gravity spell here. Or heard of one. So, probably not. He sighed. Too bad.
Once word spread of the new shortcut, Harry started to see various students, mainly First Years, walking around leaning against walls, and climbing in behind suits of armour and statues.
The twins did not seem surprised at the shortcut, just annoyed that it had been found and made so public. Harry had commiserated with them in the common room — there was no helping it not getting out once it was discovered. Considering that it might have been dangerous, what choice did the herd have but to tell the professors?
Then he mentioned that it was too bad there wasn’t a reverse-slide with a gravity spell. Or a slide that went to a pool, besides the one in the Room of Requirement. Swimming in a warm pool in February while the Room was being used for a class would be quite a treat! Heck, even now would be a treat — the loch’s water wasn’t exactly warm, even if it was September.
The twins gave each other startled glances, then smirked.
The more experienced students in the castle all laughed. They claimed all the hidden passages had been discovered and that the new one was just a fluke. That dissuaded a lot of students, but a few stubborn souls persisted.
^-~-^
The meeting, this time, was at Number Ten, Downing. Present were the usual British attendees: The Prime Minister, the Home and Foreign Secretaries, the Directors of Military Intelligence departments five and six, First Lieutenant Searle, and Ambassador Blueblood and his secretary.
The Ambassador opened the meeting. “First, I’m sure you will be relieved to hear that there haven’t been any further incursions through the portal in Little Whinging,” he said dryly. “We have modified two of the entrances to the portal area on our side to be null-magic areas. These will cancel any cast spells, illusions, or hiding magics such as were used in the previous incursions. They also detect the presence of magics such as the so-called undetectable expansion charm without cancelling them. There will be no way to sneak something or someone through in someone else’s pocket using methods like that.” He smiled.
“And, yes, we will be happy to provide you with that detection technology,” he said in response to their raised their eyebrows at hearing that. “No one will be able to sneak past any of your checkpoints without revealing if they are using the Undetectable Expansion technology or illusions.” He pulled a thick folder from his briefcase and slid it across the table.
“Second, the Princesses agree that the technology used on the . . . infinity . . . guns, and their existence, will be a British State Secret, and we will disclose its existence to no one. We will hold it an Equestrian State Secret on developing and manufacturing them for you, if you so desire.” He drew a paper out of the briefcase and slid it over to the Prime Minister. “As far as anyone who sees the Guard using such things on our side of the portal, the Guard have been instructed to reply, ‘state secret.’ Anyone asking higher will be told the same. We are leaving hints that we are simply using the undetectable expansion charm. Anyone persisting after that point will be arrested and interrogated. We will inform you immediately should that circumstance occur.”
He paused. “Third, the actual method for making that type of combination of Special Technology work in the rifles and pistols is under fidelius technology to keep it secret. That will prevent anyone from re-discovering how to integrate and use those . . . technologies . . . to manufacture weapons. It will leave them available for other uses, such as cars, lorries, planes, power plants, and so forth. The fidelius technology is set to prevent it from occurring to anyone to use the Special Technology in that particular manner to make a weapon, ever again. The Secret Keeper is Princess Celestia.”
“Fourth,” he reached again into his briefcase and took out a small metal box about the size of a deck of cards. “As earlier agreed, in exchange for one hundred each of modified Glock Seventeen pistols and es-a-eighty-a-two rifles, you give us permission to non-destructively copy all the out-of-copyright or government sponsored sound recordings and moving images stored in the British Library.” He placed it atop several sheets of paper and slid that over to the Prime Minister.
Castor knew that there were only about three hundred Special Technology Experts in the military — a fifty-fifty split between full wizards or witches and Squibs. Half of those were in support positions.
If things ever came to a shooting war, the weapons would be passed out to high-level guards in important facilities. A review of all their current treaties and pacts would have to be undertaken, and conditions imposed before these special weapons would be considered for practical use, in any situation.
Likewise, their weapons distribution would be strictly controlled — as-in almost non-existent. For emergency use only. They didn’t want to tip off anyone as to the existence of these things. Talk about destabilizing the world’s military situation . . . sheesh!
The pistols would probably be doled out to MI6 special agents — designated as Agents Double-Oh Seven-and-Three-quarters.
There had been some lobbying for Nine-and-three-quarters, but the proponents of that designation had lost out to bureaucracy. The 009 agents had an inferior skill-set compared to the 007 agents. The three-quarters designation implied a nearly identical, but slightly greater, skill-set
In the meantime, any personnel who might be equipped with the weapons in an emergency would undergo intensive training with the Special Weapons’ normal counterparts. They would have to maintain their Expert Sniper Status at all times, with regular testing.
“This box can only be opened by a Special Technology expert,” Blueblood continued. “Each weapon is inert until activated according to the instructions inside. Each weapon can only be operated by a Special Technology expert, and only after it has been ‘personalized’ to that Special Technology expert. They do not need maintenance or cleaning. Any attempt to examine the weapon beyond simple visual, or attempting to disassemble it or the magazines, will result in their melting and violent explosion. Should the user die, the weapon will have to be destroyed, it cannot be switched to someone new, for obvious security reasons. Tossing it into a smelter, expanded and with its slide locked open, will suffice.”
He patiently waited as the Prime Minister read the papers, passed them to the two Secretaries, and then slid the receipt back to the Ambassador.
“If you are interested,” he said in a tone of disinterest, “we have modified versions of the ammunition for those weapons that are Special Technology enhanced. While a typical Special Technology shield easily can stop our Special Technology ammunition, they do not last against repeated shots, especially if they are rapidly fired.
“No Special Technology shields we have experimented with can survive more than a few moments on being hit at a rate of sixteen Special Technology rounds a second. By the time the target realizes their shield is being overwhelmed, it’s gone and they are . . . not in a position to resist anymore.”
Castor’s pistol ammunition had been enhanced by a Special Technology Expert — primarily stunning hexes. A more limited number of rounds per magazine, seventeen, but capable of being used by anyone. The stunning ability of the rounds would be written off by witnesses as the target passing out from being hit. Most of the Special Technology soldiers carried similar. It was, after all, an obvious blend of Special Technology and non-magical weaponry.
Blueblood sighed. “Special Technology shielding and anti-summoning Special Technology must be added to the weapons when facing other Special Technology users, however, or the wielder is vulnerable to retaliation while exposed during firing. Or they could be ambushed. Both of those Special Technologies can be a small accessory that attaches onto the pistol or rifle. Disguising the unit as a silencer should work. Unfortunately, the shielding can only stop a limited number of rapid hits before it will be unable to recharge quickly enough to stop them. An especially powerful, single attack could also overwhelm the shield.”
He pursed his lips. “Neither weapon would be as versatile as a wand, but their high rate of fire would easily counterbalance any Special Technology defensive abilities your opponents might have or be hiding behind. Using both together would be an especially efficacious tactic. I suggest teaching your people to use the pistols in their off-hands would be the best approach.”
He paused. “It would give you almost equal footing with hostile Special Technology users, if things ever came to a confrontation, again.”
۸-_-۸
Two weeks later, Harry noticed the Weasley twins leaving the Great Hall and heading down stairs to the Hufflepuff corridor. On a whim, he decided to follow them. The herd, naturally, followed him. “There’s no reason for them to go downstairs right now,” he whispered as he waited at the top of the stairs for the two to leave the stairs, below them, for the corridor. “Maybe they found another shortcut.”
“You might be right,” muttered Hermione. “They weren’t as surprised at the new passage as I think they should have been.”
Putting silencing spells on their shoes and clothes, they darted down just in time to see the twins disappear partway down the corridor.
“That’s where the slide is,” Sweetie Belle said with a puzzled frown.
They hurried to the spot. It was the exit from the seventh-floor slide, which was confusing. Wasn’t that the down slide, only?
Harry carefully peeked behind the statue on its right side. Then he went into left-right passage behind it and peeked into the dimly-lit room at the end of the slide. There wasn’t anyone there.
He stepped back out and studied the armoured suit. “Is it my imagination,” he asked, “or is there more room on this side of the armoured suit than I remember?” He pointed to the statue’s left, opposite the exit from the slide.
“You might be right,” said Sweetie Belle.
“I think you’re right,” said Hermione at the same time.
Harry carefully stepped around that side of the armour. It had a similar right-left passage. There was another small room, barely as big as a broom-closet. The rest of the herd followed him, making it bit crowded, but not uncomfortably so. Hermione cast a quick lumos, and they spent several minutes pushing and running their hands on the walls looking for a hidden exit.
Scootaloo saw it first. “Hey, where’s the ceiling?” she said.
They looked up. There wasn’t a ceiling, just a black hole that seemed to narrow as it stretched high into the castle.
“Do you think they climbed into that?” said Ginny.
“Don’t see any hoofholds,” said Apple Bloom.
“Then how did they get up there? Fly?”
“They didn’t seem to be carrying brooms,” Harry said slowly.
“So, what did they do?” said Hermione, musing out loud, hands on her hips. “Just go . . . up?”
With a loud scream that diminished with distance, echoing eerily, Hermione shot up into the ceiling opening.
The others stared at each other, wide-eyed.
“Well,” said Apple Bloom, “it can’t be that dangerous or they wouldn’t’ve used it, right?”
They looked at each other.
Ginny quickly hopped over and grabbed Harry around the waist just before he said, “Up!” It was too late for him to stop her. Suddenly they were falling head-first into the hole underneath them. After one quick startled scream, which made his ears ring, Ginny was quiet. Harry, on the other hoof, had his wand up and glowing. They could see the sides of the tunnel flashing by, but it appeared there was a magic that kept them centred in it. The tunnel narrowed, but was more than large enough for the two of them. It probably could accommodate four or five students together, or perhaps three adults. One Hagrid . . . maybe.
They felt the tunnel twist to the side as it got a bit wider and the ceiling lower. Harry had just realized they were on their backs when they slid into another small room. Just like the other slide, they stopped in a ridiculously short amount of space. Most assuredly, it probably had an arresto momentum type spell on it, just like the other slide.
As soon as they stopped, they stood and cautiously walked on unsteady legs out of the tunnel into a small room. They immediately realized they had stepped out of a wall. There was nothing to indicate the room was anything but empty or that it led to or from anywhere. Hermione was standing in a corner, her wand in one hand and the other on her chest, catching her breath.
“Well,” she said, “That was . . . a surprise.”
Harry and Ginny nodded.
“Didn’t expect that to be voice activated,” Harry said.
“Makes sense, though,” Ginny replied.
They stood and waited for the others, which wasn’t long. As soon as they were all present, and had straightened their robes, Harry headed for the obvious exit. Like the room in the Hufflepuff corridor, this one had a zig-zag passage that left him looking into an empty corridor. He warily moved into the corridor and discovered he was around the corner from the hall to the Gryffindor entrance. When he looked back, there appeared to be a solid wall where he had exited. It was weird to watch the herd members suddenly appear, one by one. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought that they had been just down the corridor and he only now noticed them.
Notably, looking around, there were no portraits with a view of where they were.
Pressing a hand against the wall that was a door revealed it to be one-way only — out.
This slide, they decided, to keep a secret, for a while. And try to remember to cast a notice-me-not before heading downstairs from the Great Hall.
And to keep a sharp eye on the Weasley twins to see if they knew of any other shortcuts. It would be nice to have one that went to the Astronomy tower. Having to go down to the ground floor and then back up to the top of that tower was a taxing trek, especially because Gryffindor was the on opposite side of the castle, and only a little bit shorter. Why the Astronomy tower didn’t have doors on each floor was a mystery.
۸-_-۸