//------------------------------// // The Canine Conundrum // Story: Scoti 2: Muggles and Mudbloods // by SamuelK28 //------------------------------// Sunday August 2nd 1992, 7:30am, The Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole, Devon Arthur sat at the kitchen table reading the Sunday Prophet whilst enjoying his breakfast. He had a long day and night ahead of him at work so it was nice to just be able to relax and have a bit of peace and quiet before he inevitably had to return to the Ministry. With eight children currently occupying his home, such moments were few and far between. In fact, over the past month he had actually been quite glad for all the overtime work he had been provided. It had certainly proven to be more peaceful than his homelife right now! Currently, only one of the eight children occupied the breakfast table with him and to no real surprise it was Apple Bloom. Having been raised on a farm, the girl was used to getting up early and helping with chores before heading to school, which had proven to be a great help to Molly with so many mouths to feed! It was also clever of the girl as, in return for her help, she received the largest breakfast of any of the children and got first choice on whatever was on the menu that day. In fact, it had become so normal seeing the girl already seated at the table eating her breakfast as he came down the stairs over the past month, that he’d been more surprised not to see her on the one or two occasions when she had overslept. They’d also had some delightfully interesting discussions during that time about her home world and life as a pony and, seeing as the Sunday Prophet once more had little within it to interest him aside the crossword, he decided that now would be a great time to start one of those conversations. “So, any plans for today?” he asked the other occupant of the breakfast table closing his newspaper and placing it down upon the table. “Actually, yes. Molly told me she wants to show and teach me something after breakfast outside in the garden. No idea what, all she told me was to bring Wallace,” Apple Bloom replied whilst polishing off her full English. “Hmm,” Arthur pondered whilst munching a bit of toast himself. “You are the one with an apple wand like Molly’s, correct?” “I think that’s obvious considering her name,” Sweetie replied groggily from atop of Wallace in the kitchen doorway. She was still wearing her pyjamas and looked like a total train wreck, as if Wallace had just dragged her out of bed, which, it turned out, had been the case. “Sweetie? Where did you come from?” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “You look a mess!” she added. “You think?” Sweetie grumbled testily. “Someone couldn’t wait for breakfast,” she growled as she toppled off Wallace’s back and onto the floor. Her mammoth dog proceeded to give her face a massive lick, adding even more to Sweetie’s dishevelled look, before letting out a loud bark. “Oh, I think I can get you a piece of bacon for providing me with this wonderful bit of entertainment this morning,” Apple Bloom barked in reply rising from her chair. She stopped in the middle of rising from her seat as the realisation of what she’d just done dawned on her. “Ah, so you’ve acquired the same peculiar side effect as Molly. I’ll leave her to explain everything to you. I should probably be heading to work,” Arthur stated, swiftly finishing of the rest of his morning tea and rising from his chair. A loud scream from upstairs followed by an equally loud explosion hastened his movements. “I’ll see both of you girls tomorrow and send my love to Molly for me,” Arthur yelled to Apple Bloom and Sweetie before he threw the floo powder in his right hand onto the floor of the fireplace and disappeared in a puff of green flames. For a minute or maybe more Apple Bloom just stood where she was with a distant look upon her face. Then, finally, she said to Sweetie, “Did I just understand and reply to your dog?” “Yes, you did. And the dog does have a name you know. More importantly, where’s that bacon you promised me? I’m famished,” Wallace barked in reply. Apple Bloom fainted. * An hour later and, after being revived by one of Wallace’s famous slobbery kisses and then finishing off the remnants of her breakfast, Apple Bloom found herself stood out in the garden at the back of the Burrow alongside Molly and Wallace. Molly let out a heavy sigh. “So, I’m guessing you want an explanation as to how you are able to talk to Wallace?” “That would be nice, yes,” Apple Bloom replied in a snarky tone, her arms placed across her chest. “The last thing I expected to be doing this morning was taking breakfast orders from Wallace.” Molly released yet another heavy sigh. “I apologise, I should have had this talk with you sooner. I guess I was just putting it off hoping you would be an anomaly. This morning’s events though have confirmed what I feared. You see, it has been well documented that for some unknown reason apple wand owners seem to possess an uncanny ability to converse with other magical beings in their native tongues along with being able to understand them. Through my own experiences I have found this extends to all languages, human and animal.” “Okay. That sounds cool. So, it doesn’t just apply to dogs then? Because, no offense, but the only things Wallace seems to be interested in are food and how chaseable everything is.” “HEY, I’m a highly intelligent connoisseur of fine foods and have many delightful topics within my…” Wallace began to interject before he saw a rabbit appear from a nearby hedge. “Ooo, rabbit, must chase.” And just like that all chaos broke loose in 3… “Yes, our ability, as I previously stated, applies to all languages but there are a couple of drawbacks,” Molly replied to Apple Bloom’s earlier query ignoring the overly excitable hound that was barking madly as he pursued the rabbit he’d spotted across the yard. “Ah, I was waiting for that but,” Apple Bloom responded with a sigh of her own. “Go on, lay them on me.” 2… “Well, firstly, as you’ve already witnessed, said languages are usually learnt unconsciously through constant exposure. Over time, they just become second nature and we often don’t even realise whether we are talking to our friends or a pack of bloodthirsty wolves,” Molly explained. “This is why I want to help you control your ability and it seems I was just in time. I’m impressed with how quickly you seem to have picked up canine, although they are not the brightest animals to talk to and often easily distracted, as you’ve also quickly come to realise. That’s the second drawback. A large proportion of animals have limited intelligence and thus often solely want to talk about only one or two things. Often food, teasing other animals and mating. This is another reason why I want to help you as if you don’t learn to control your power it often can become a little overwhelming as rather than hearing the birds outside chirping you hear two males having an argument over a female.” 1… Apple Bloom groaned as her face went bright red and her forehead hit her right hand. “Great, so what you are politely telling me is that sooner rather than later I’m going to be hearing birds mating with each other outside my window. And wait, what was that about bloodthirsty wolves?” 0… “Hey everyone, you miss…” A voice suddenly interrupted before Molly had a chance to reply. “Wallace, LOOK OUT!” Apple Bloom and Molly turned to see Wallace cannonballing into Scootaloo who had just stepped out of a portal. As fate would have it, she had come out right in front of the pond. “YELP! Rabbit turn to quick!” Molly and Apple Bloom heard the dog exclaim before there was a loud thump followed by a loud splash and Discord’s trademark cackle. “Wet pussy! Wet pussy!” Wally cawed, momentarily appearing out of the void and adding to the chaos, only for Molly’s stern gaze to send him hastily retreating there once more after a hasty caw of, “Psycho ginger, I’m out of here!” Apple Bloom meanwhile was, like Discord, in utter hysterics. “I’m happy to see you too, Wallace but next time could you please tone the enthusiasm down just a tad?” Scootaloo stated emotionlessly from the pond totally soaked through from her head to her tail. “Not my fault, it was the barking rabbit’s!” Wallace barked in reply giving the girl’s face an apologetic lick. “Eeeeewww, dog slobber,” Scotaloo groused as she pushed Wallace away from her and rose to her feet in the respectably shallow pond that came up to her waist. “Now, if anyone needs me, I’ll be in the shower,” she grumbled wading to the edge of the pond and lifting herself out. * As Scootaloo basked in the pleasant sensation of warm water falling over her head and shoulders washing all the dirt and grime from her skin, her mind started to wander over just how she was going to spend the rest of her Sunday. After such an exhilarating and adrenalin fuelled Saturday with Rainbow Dash, along with the gorgeous summer weather they were continuing to have, nothing sounded better than a relaxing Sunday under a shady tree in the garden reading up on her new found draconequus heritage and xylomancy with a cool drink. Yes, that sounded perfect. No possible chance of getting into any more trouble or… A loud knock sounded on the bathroom door. “Occupied,” Scootaloo yelled in reply. “Ahh, so you are back. We thought that was you we saw out our window taking an early morning bath in the pond just now,” George’s or was it Fred’s voice chuckled from the other side of the bathroom door. “Anyway, once you are done, could you come knock on our door, we need your help with something urgent.” And just like that Scootaloo’s chances of staying out of trouble for even a day turned to steam faster than the shower water. * Half an hour later and, after a mammoth struggle with one very troublesome tail that simply refused to cooperate and be properly groomed, Scootaloo now stood outside the twins’ bedroom door. Slowly and reluctantly, she knocked. “Enter,” they cried simultaneously from within. “You wanted something from me urgently?” Scootaloo enquired with a heavy sigh pushing the door open. “Oh, hey Ron, what are you doing here?” she quickly added unable to hide her surprise at seeing the other boy in the room. It was he who replied to Scootaloo. “Scootaloo, we were starting to wonder if you were coming.” “Yeah, sorry about that. I quickly realised that my tail likes being washed as much as Wallace does,” Scootaloo replied as said tail proceeded to jab her in the ribs once more. “Yowch, see what I mean?” Scootaloo added with a wince as she rubbed her now tender left side and navigated the numerous obstacles on the floor to make her way into the room proper after closing the door behind her. Fred and George, sat on one of their beds with Ron, let out chuckles of amusement at Scootaloo’s tail’s antics. “Yeah, yeah, snigger at the poor girl and her unruly new limb,” Scootaloo responded as her tail began to tickle her nose. She immediately grasped it in both her hands and growled menacingly, “Any more nonsense from you, and I don’t care how much it hurts me I’ll set you on fire with my right hand, understood?” Her tail proceeded to slip through her hands and poke the bridge of her nose before making a hasty retreat under Scootaloo’s t-shirt. “Ouch and good riddance. I suggest you stay under there for the rest of the day. If you even dare to show yourself once more its roast leopard tail for dinner. And don’t even think for a moment I won’t do it. It might be extremely painful for me but I’m sure the long-term benefit would more than make up for it,” Scootaloo stated, sternly admonishing her tail. Fred and George were now laying back on the bed laughing their heads off as Ron looked at Scootaloo with clear concern etched across his face. “You’re talking…to your tail,” Ron finally uttered. “You do realise it’s…” he stopped mid-sentence as he remembered the whole draconequus speech from Scootaloo’s birthday the other day. “You know what never mind. Harry is in serious trouble and we need your help to free him from his aunt and uncle!” Scootaloo face palmed with her right hand. In one sentence she had already worked out that whatever Ron and the twins were planning to get Harry out of serious trouble, it was going to result in her getting into serious trouble. “Okay, against my better judgement I’ll bite. Why does Harry need rescuing from his aunt and uncle?” Scootaloo sighed not lifting her head from her hand. “He hasn’t been replying to any of my letters and then the other day I overheard dad say to mum he’d received an official warning from the Ministry for using magic in front of Muggles,” Ron blurted unable to contain himself any longer. “I see,” Scootaloo replied stroking her chin deep in thought. “So that explains why Uncle Arthur was asking if I could use my crystal ball to check up on him before I left yesterday morning. Unfortunately, the result was hazy at best. Something to do with a house elf, a cake and iron bars. My eye also couldn’t provide any further details, simply stating reply hazy, try again to all my questions. As I’ve told you previously, although I can usually find the answers you seek, often they require time and some deciphering to become clear and make sense. In this case I’d say it was more than likely Harry didn’t cast the magic but is being wrongly blamed and punished because of it. But before you tell me what you have planned and how I fit into it all, I want to know if I should be concerned that the floor of your room is covered in fireworks and smells strongly of gunpowder?” Scootaloo finished lifting her head from her hand with an inquisitive gaze at the twins as they finally recovered from laughing at her tail troubles. “I’m afraid that answer is strictly confidential,” one of the twins replied, tapping his nose. “All we can say at this time is that the money you have invested with us is being wisely spent, we can promise you that,” the other twin commented cryptically. Even after a full year, Scootaloo still had difficulty telling them apart. “Okay fine. I trust you won’t blow up the Burrow,” Scootaloo began only to be interrupted by the first twin. “We’ll try,” he commented with a giggle. Scootaloo, wisely, chose to ignore him. “So, before Molly gets suspicious on where I’ve disappeared to, what’s the plan and how do I fit into it?” “Well,” the second twin replied. “What you have told us confirms our suspicions and that’s why we’re rescuing him tonight,” the other twin stated. “Dad’s having to do an all-nighter at work,” Ron explained. “He works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office at the Ministry and they are doing a number of raids tonight. His job is to try and ensure any bewitched muggle items don’t end up back into muggle hands or if they do, dealing with the fallout and minimising the impact. All rather boring in our eyes. Anyway, despite his job, he’s the worst when it comes to bewitching muggle items.” “Yeah, if he raided our house, he’d have to arrest himself!” one of the twins chuckled interrupting Ron. “Anyway, you remember the car Discord borrowed from our father to take you to Camelot for your birthday?” “Yes,” Scootaloo prompted not liking where this was going. “It’s enchanted to fly. Some loophole in the law that allows him to do so as long as he doesn’t intend to actually fly it. We’re going to borrow it from the garage after it gets dark and everyone’s gone to bed to rescue Harry,” the twin explained. Scootaloo rubbed her temple some more fearing a headache coming along. She should have taken Rainbow Dash up on her offer to stay with her and Applejack for the week. “By 'we’re', I guess that means me, too?” she sighed. “Bingo. You see we’ve worked it all out. Not only will your wings come in handy but we also overheard our father state that you are technically one of Equestria’s three ambassadors for the Ministry of Magic. This means that not only do you have diplomatic immunity when it comes to using underage magic in case we need it, but you also have the power to grant Equestrian citizenship to any witch or wizard you wish. This means that you can grant citizenship to Harry and as a member of your country we can class it as an illegal imprisonment when we are inevitably caught. Totally foolproof plan!” Scootaloo rubbed her temple some more. She really should have stayed with Rainbow Dash. This had to be the most stupid and reckless idea she’d heard, well, only since Hogwarts, but it was still totally idiotic and insane. And then, suddenly, memories of her Cutie Mark Crusades flooded across her mind and a devious smile slowly crossed her lips. Of course they would be caught but a nighttime rescue mission and fly would be totally epic. “When do we leave?” Scootaloo asked just as a desk came crashing through the floor and wiped her out. “Hmm, looks like Ginny’s tutelage is going well,” both twins said in unison as Ron stared at the new acquisition to the room mouth agape. Scootaloo groaned from atop the desk. She definitely should have stayed with Rainbow Dash for the week. * 113 seconds earlier… “All right, now you need to really swish and flick that wand,” Sweetie instructed demonstrating with her own wand. “We actually learnt very few charms in our first year, it was more about learning correct wand movement and spell pronunciation.” She was sitting in a chair next to Ginny at a desk in the other girl’s small room on the first floor. Posters of pop bands and quidditch players adorned three walls while the fourth, where the desk was located, had a window that looked out upon the garden and orchard where Molly and Apple Bloom seemed to be having a rather interesting time with Wallace. In the past half an hour alone since Scootaloo had pulled herself from the pond Sweetie had seen the dog get stuck down rabbit holes three times and jump in the pond twice more, these times deliberately whilst chasing after frogs. Ginny herself was not particularly enjoying the personal tutoring session her mother had arranged for her to help give her a head start on the first-year Hogwarts curriculum and let her feelings be known with a disgruntled groan as she attempted to copy Sweetie. “This is boring. When mum said you’d be teaching me some of the first-year course during the second half of the summer holidays I thought I’d finally get to learn some real magic but you’re just repeating the same boring stuff mum’s been drilling into me for the past year. I’m sure it wouldn’t be that bad if you taught me Wingardium Leviosa,” Ginny argued not realising she was still unconsciously swishing and flicking her wand. Sweetie had to take desperate action to get out the way as the desk shot into the air and broke through the ceiling with a mighty crash. “Cool!” Ginny exclaimed with a giggle. Sweetie watched through the window as a burly brown owl appeared out of nowhere in the orchard and deposited a letter with Molly before disappearing once more. The face that looked up at the window after reading the letter filled Sweetie with dread. “We’re in so much trouble,” she groaned. “Don’t worry; the twins are always receiving those letters and nothing ever comes of them. We might be best hiding though until Mum’s calmed down a bit,” Ginny explained. “Good plan,” Sweetie agreed. “The attic?” “The attic,” Ginny replied with a nod of her head before both girls raced to the door of Ginny’s room. * “But Muuuuuuuuum,” Ginny whined as Molly confiscated her wand and frogmarched her and Sweetie out of the attic nearly an hour later. “Don’t you 'but Mum' me,” Molly growled angrily. “Or I’ll snap it in two and you can totally forget about going to Hogwarts.” This immediately silenced Ginny. For much of the past hour she and Sweetie had been hiding in the attic, having great fun joining in with the ghoul in making as much noise as possible in a desperate attempt to avoid detection from an irate Molly. It hadn’t worked. “A letter from the Ministry before you have even started Hogwarts for improper magic use, how embarrassing. I’ve come to expect it from the twins but you Ginerva, I expected better,” Molly chastised. As soon as Ginny heard her full name she knew there was no point in arguing. Her head slumped and eyes stared morosely at the floor as she mumbled, “I’m sorry Mum. It was an accident honest but still all my fault. Sweetie was just showing me proper wand movement and I shouldn’t have argued with her or been so unappreciative of all the hard work and time she’s putting in to help me. I was just too impatient at wanting to cast actual magic. I really am sorry Mum.” Molly let out a sigh and the stern look slowly disintegrated from her face as she reached out and lifted her daughter’s chin with her right hand. “Now that’s the daughter I brought up,” she said with a smile. “Accidents happen and luckily on this occasion, aside from a few cuts and bruises for Scoti and some damage to Fred and George’s bedroom floor, there was no real harm done. What is most important is that you have learnt your lesson as next time the consequences could be a lot more serious, which, I’m guessing you have?” Ginny nodded her head soberly. “Magic is not a toy.” “Precisely,” Molly replied with a motherly smile. “Still, as punishment I shall be confiscating your wand until school starts, expect you to apologise to your cousin and this afternoon Sweetie can assist you in writing a thousand-word essay minimum on everything you’ve learnt this morning on the dangers of misusing magic, understood?” “Hang on, why am I being punished?” Sweetie interjected. “Because firstly I entrusted you to watch over my daughter and ensure no accidents like this occurred. Secondly, rather than bring her to me when said accident occurred you chose to help her hide from me for a good hour meaning I’m now going to be well behind on lunch preparations. As such, the both of you can also help with that. I’m sure even you can manage to make some sandwiches Sweetie,” Molly said firmly giving Sweetie a look that instantly told the unicorn girl that any further dissent would result in her spending the rest of this nice summer day in her bedroom. “Any further questions?” Molly asked directing the question to both girls. “No,” both Sweetie and Ginny replied simultaneously feeling they’d both gotten off fairly for the latter’s misdemeanour. “Good. Now come along, we’ve lunch to start getting ready.” And, not waiting for another response, Molly turned and began the descent back downstairs to the kitchen. * Scootaloo sat down gingerly for lunch coated in all manner of plasters and bandages that Apple Bloom had applied to her. Most of them Apple Bloom had informed her had been necessary. Scootaloo also hadn’t realised until she sat down just how hungry she was as her stomach gave a loud growl. Before she’d even realised what she was doing she’d grabbed a sandwich and was taking a massive bite. And then another and another until she’d eaten it all. It was only once her sandwich was finished that she looked up and saw the concerned looks upon the faces of Fred and George opposite her. “What?” Scootaloo queried as she picked up another sandwich. “Sweetie Belle made those,” one of the twins deadpanned. “She and Ginny had to help make lunch as part of their punishment for the desk incident. We’ve already witnessed Ron make the same critical error as you.” “Except he immediately ran outside and threw it back up in the pig pen,” the other twin finished as he took a rather normal looking sandwich from a different plate that Ginny must have made. “Ah,” Scootaloo replied. “I was wondering why the bread was burnt to a crisp and the filling tasted like marmite mixed with honey, anchovies, cheese, banana and... HICCUP!” some bubbles escaped from Scootaloo’s mouth. “Washing up liquid?” she said with surprise as the two boys opposite her continued to stare at her mouths agape as she started eating a second sandwich. “How are you able to eat that? I mean, there are literally live fungi growing and moaning on it!” Fred or George enquired. “Draconequus genes,” Scootaloo deadpanned finishing off her second sandwich and taking a third. “I’ve learnt from Discord our tastes are quite unique and that the more chaotic and bizarre our food is the better it tastes. These sandwiches to me are probably the best thing I’ve eaten all week! Wait, did I just say that about something Sweetie made in the kitchen?” The twins turned and stared at each other eyes wide for a moment before they broke down in all out laughter at the fact that the universe had finally found a creature able to stomach Sweetie Belle’s kitchen monstrosities. * Thankfully for Molly the remainder of the day passed quietly enough and nothing else unexpected occurred. The majority of the children had headed up to the orchard for a game of quidditch after lunch which had provided her with a few hours of peace and quiet to get some housework done. It wasn’t easy keeping her home tidy with eight children constantly getting under her feet every five minutes! To her relief they had returned with nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises from their game, although her niece was starting to look like she’d just returned home from fighting in a war. Whilst they were gone, Molly had also managed in between her never ending list of chores to have a number of pleasant conversations with Apple Bloom. The girl, under her watchful eye so as to prevent any repeats from the previous year, had acquired the use of her kitchen for the afternoon in her attempt to brew numerous highly advanced N.E.W.T potions that constantly left Molly speechless at Apple Bloom’s level of proficiency, especially when considering how young she was. After Apple Bloom had finished her potions practice and Molly had made a dent in her never-ending list of chores, they’d gone apple picking in the orchard while watching the other three girls lazing on the grass. Sweetie and Ginny had been immersed in a mass of books as they discussed and wrote out the final part of their punishment while Scootaloo had been completely transfixed by a bunch of sticks. Later, dinner had been a jubilant affair with much laughing and joking. Even Percy managed to make an appearance! This time Molly had assured everyone that Sweetie had been nowhere near the kitchen when dinner had been made to a round of snickers, a relieved exhale of breath from Ron and an indignant look from Sweetie. In spite of the relaxed atmosphere though, Molly’s motherly intuition was still on high alert from that morning when she’d found her niece in her troublesome twins’ bedroom. No matter how hard she tried, she still couldn’t shake that innate feeling that they were planning something, something she most definitely would put a stop to if she found out what it was. Furthermore, her intuition was rarely ever wrong and as if to only further prove her right, almost straight after dinner, Scoti, Fred, George and Ron all retired to bed. It was barely seven o’clock in the evening. It hadn’t been long till Molly herself had retired for the evening, exhausted by yet another long day dealing with her horde of mischievous monkeys. Actually, that was probably insulting to monkeys, they were probably better behaved than the children in her care. Even though she tried desperately to stay awake just in the of chance those twins of hers were up to something, as soon as her head hit the pillow on her bed she was out like a light. It was just gone midnight when she was awoken abruptly by her motherly instincts kicking into overdrive. Something was wrong, seriously wrong. She leapt out of bed and raced out of her room and down the stairs to the floor below where Scoti and her friends slept in Bill’s old bedroom. Being careful so as not to wake them she pushed the door open slowly and silently and slipped in, immediately heading to her niece’s bed. Scoti hadn’t even attempted to fool her with a dummy, the covers to her bed had simply been thrown haphazardly to one side the girl in question gone. Checking to ensure Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were where they should be at this Merlin-forsaking hour, Molly darted back up the stairs to Ron’s small room beneath the attic. It, likewise, was empty, even if the boy had at least made a bit more of an effort at deceiving her than Scoti had. She already knew that she would find the same thing with the twins’ beds and, from previous experience, that it would simply be a waste of time to even attempt to break into the stronghold that was their bedroom. Just what were they up to? Molly thought to herself as she rushed back downstairs as quickly as she could whilst trying not to wake those who remained within the Burrow. She still hoped that at least one of the four delinquents had had enough sense to leave a note on the kitchen table before disappearing. They hadn’t. Molly’s right eye started to twitch as she opened the backdoor and headed over to the garage hoping for a miracle that her four delinquents were inside. Her hopes were briefly ignited when out of the darkness she saw the doors to the garage were open but almost instantly snuffed out when she realised they weren’t inside and what was also missing. THE CAR! Taking a deep breath Molly had returned to the kitchen and raided a secret cupboard only she knew about. Arthur had once joked that he knew when she was especially angry as it was the only time he saw her drinking alcohol outside of special occasions. As she sat at the kitchen table sipping from a glass of wine waiting for her disobedient children to return home, she mulled over just what she was going to do with those two delinquent boys of hers, especially after roping Ronald and Scoti into whatever hairbrained scheme they’d concocted this time. One thing that was clear in her mind though was that Azkaban would feel like a luxury vacation by the time she was through with them. * Meanwhile, said boys, thinking they’d got away undetected and completely oblivious to the trouble they were in, were making good time above the clouds on their way to Little Whinging, Ron and Scootaloo sitting quietly in the back. After what felt like an eternity of just staring out the window into the night sky daydreaming, Scootaloo finally spoke. “Aunt Molly’s going to be so pissed when she finds out what we’ve done,” Scootaloo said with a laugh. “This is nothing compared to what Fred and George did on their return after their first year at Hogwarts,” Ron said next to her. “I’m afraid I’ll have to stop you there, brother. For one, Molly has strictly stated that the whole bubble bath and turning the house into a giant sponge incident never be spoke about again and secondly, we’re here,” George said from the front passenger seat as the car slowed down. “Hmm, I’m guessing that's Harry’s house and his room is the only one with bars on the window. At least that has made it easier for us to find,” Fred said from the driver’s seat. “Scootaloo, you know what to do,” he added throwing Scootaloo a rope. The girl opened the passenger door and slipped silently out into the night’s sky before tying the rope around the bars. At a tug of the rope from Scootaloo, Fred put the car into gear and pulled. It revved louder and louder until finally the bars flew from the window with an earth-shattering clamour. “What on Earth?” Harry exclaimed rushing to the window. "Keep it down," Scootaloo hissed hovering just outside the window. "I'm amazed that that didn't wake anyone, yet if I'd used Mjolnir it would have." She flexed her artificial arm for emphasis. "Huh?" Harry said completely confused before remembering. "Oh right, seer." "Bingo," Scootaloo replied in a hushed tone. "Now, if you'd like to be rescued, please sign on the dotted line here and here." She handed Harry two pieces of parchment along with a quill from a satchel that crossed from her left shoulder to her right hip. Harry immediately decided that nothing could be worse than starving to death at the hands of the Dursleys. Heck, Scootaloo could have made him her slave right then and there and it would still have been better than the situation he was in right now. As such, he didn’t even bother reading what he was signing before handing the pieces of parchment back to Scootaloo. “Excellent, as a newly inducted citizen of Equestria it is now my duty as an ambassador of said country to end this disgraceful and illegal imprisonment in a foreign land. Now, before you ask, where’s all your wizard stuff being kept?” Scootaloo said formally in as low a tone as possible as she silently landed in the room next to Harry. Harry just looked at her like a deer caught in headlights. He probably should have read what he had just signed. Scootaloo wasn’t paying him any attention, having already started on the lock on Harry’s door with a paper clip intent on getting out of here as quickly as possible. Soon it had clicked open just as George jumped in through what had once been a window. “Hi Harry, I know this must be confusing for you right now, but just trust us and go along with it please. Now, where’s all your wizard stuff being kept?” "Keep it down," Scootaloo hissed turning her head from where she had been working on the door. "Sorry," George mouthed turning expectantly to Harry. “It’s locked in the cupboard under the stairs,” Harry stammered. “Thanks. Me and Scootaloo will grab it. You grab anything you need from your room and pass it to Ron in the back of the car,” George instructed taking Scootaloo's advice and keeping his voice's volume to a minimum. “Watch out for the bottom stair, it creaks,” Harry hissed as Scootaloo and George disappeared out onto the dark landing. Somehow, despite all the noise they'd made so far, none of the Dursleys had woken up. Soon enough Scootaloo and George, along with Harry’s help after he’d cleared out his room, had lugged the latter’s trunk onto the landing and then finally into Harry’s room. With great effort and determination, they got it into the boot of the car. “OK, let’s go,” George whispered, climbing back out the window. He was soon followed by Harry but as the boy sat on the window-sill he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d forgotten something. That was when Hedwig landed on his shoulder and nuzzled him gently before shooting off into the night sky. “Forgetting someone?” Scootaloo said softly and all to knowingly from behind him. “Good thing you’ve a seer for a friend. Wouldn’t want your uncle and aunt waking up now, would we?” “Thanks, Scoti, for everything,” Harry said turning his head and nodding to the girl behind him who was stood next to Hedwig’s now empty cage. “Don’t mention it. School wouldn’t be half as fun without you and I’m really looking forward to our quidditch rematch,” Scootaloo responded with a smirk as Harry disappeared out the window. As the car shot off, Scootaloo took one last look into the room before she beat her wings and launched herself noiselessly into the night’s sky. It was going to be a long fly home and she already knew what would be awaiting them upon their arrival. As for the Dursley’s, it wouldn’t be until the morning when Petunia went down to make breakfast that she’d see the metal bars in the garden along with the deep ruts in the lawn and slowly piece together just what had happened during the night. Personally, she hoped her nephew never returned. * As Scootaloo came in to land after her extremely exhausting late-night flight alongside Hedwig she could already see her aunt going nuts at Fred, George and Ron and tried to divert her course. Unfortunately, she found her wings had suddenly become extremely heavy and to her utter horror she instead found herself careening out of control and heading straight for the small party that had congregated in the early morning gloom outside the back of the Burrow. “Look out! Pegasus out of control!” she yelled. The boys all took evasive action. Molly though simply stood her ground and, as Scootaloo cannoned into her, she merely plucked the Pegasus out of the air, proceeded to do a 360 turn on the spot and then came to a dead stop as she placed Scootaloo upon the ground while still gripping her niece tightly. Scootaloo chuckled nervously as her eyes locked for a moment with Molly’s. “H-hi Molly, what are you doing up this early?” Scootaloo stammered before letting out a yawn. “You, young miss, are in so much trouble I don’t even have any words to describe it right now,” Molly replied. Scootaloo was already snoring softly. * Scootaloo slept soundly for the majority of Monday. Molly had been lenient and let her recover considering she had just flown hundreds of miles across the country. She awoke sometime in the evening to see Mr. Weasley sitting in a chair next to her bed in a set of dusty green robes. She was guessing Molly must have taken her upstairs to her bed. “Glad to see you are awake. You and the boys gave Molly quite a scare,” he said with a smile. “Those two are utter rascals. How they managed to find out about your diplomatic immunity and ambassador status I’ll never know. Thanks for the headache by the way of giving Harry Equestrian citizenship. It also limited the amount of punishment we could give them as technically you were well within your rights to do what you did.” “You’re welcome,” Scootaloo giggled in reply pushing herself upright in her bed. “On a more serious note, I need for you to make a promise to me and not tell what I’m about to tell you to anyone,” Arthur said, his voice taking a sudden and dramatic change in tone. “Okay. Cross my heart, I can fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Scootaloo Pinkie promised somewhat concerned by the sudden shift in tone of the conversation. “Thank you,” Arthur said before taking a deep breath. “You know we never really wanted so many children and although she loves all of them equally, Molly was always desperate for a girl. She only ever saw you twice before you disappeared, but she was smitten and couldn’t wait for Ginny to be born. Then, only a few months before Ginny was supposed to be born her entire family, including you, were supposedly killed by Death Eaters. It broke her heart and her mental health spiralled out of control. She very nearly lost Ginny because of it. She was born prematurely two weeks later. Thankfully, because of Muggle technology we managed to save her.” “Huh, so I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons you are so enthralled with Muggles and their technology?” Scootaloo asked. “Yes, Muggles saved my only daughter’s life and for that I’m forever in their debt. Unfortunately, this combined with the stress of losing her entire family had a serious detriment on Molly’s mental health and it was only thanks to Ginny surviving that she was able to recover. Still, it was a long and slow process and even to this day she is exceptionally protective of her only daughter. After your return I’ve noticed the same traits and I’m guessing you must have noticed how every time you ended up in the infirmary with a serious infliction she was always there when you awoke?” “Now that you mention it, it was kind of a surprise to always see her there,” Scootaloo commented before letting Arthur go on. “Yes, she’s confided in me numerous times that she’s been blessed by a miracle and it’s like the second daughter she never had. You wouldn’t believe how stressed she’s been over the past six months after you’ve suffered one affliction after another. I’m truly afraid right now that after this latest incident if you don’t at least try and steer clear of mischief even for a little while she’ll suffer yet another mental breakdown. So please, for her sake, can you promise me right here, right now, that no matter how inviting it may be, you’ll steer clear of trouble over this next year.” Scootaloo stared at her shaking uncle for a moment before reaching out and taking his left hand in her own two. “Wow, I never knew. Trouble usually ends up finding me unfortunately, it goes with the title, Daughter of Chaos, and you know that everything that has happened these past six months wasn’t through choice? I was only doing what had to be done, including this latest incident, but I promise you that I’ll try my best to steer clear of whatever chaos heads my way next. Now I do believe I owe someone an apology,” she finished throwing off the bed covers and jumping out of her bed and running for the door. She only paused for a moment when she heard Arthur’s raspy voice choke behind her. “Thank you by the way, for everything you’ve done for Molly this past year. No matter what chaos you’ve brought to our lives, the good you’ve brought to Molly has far outweighed the bad.” And as a small tear dropped down Scootaloo’s face she bolted out of the room and down the stairs to the ground floor where Molly was just finishing serving up dinner. She had to quickly drop the pan she was holding as Scootaloo launched herself into her arms. “I’m so, so sorry Auntie Molly for being so reckless. I truly promise no more scaring you like that in future,” Scootaloo said into her aunt’s chest wrapping her arms around her as she did so. “I’m glad to see you are up and about once more. I’m guessing Arthur has had a chat with you?” Molly replied reciprocating the unexpected hug. Scootaloo nodded into her aunt’s chest enjoying the moment as her aunt leant in and whispered into her ear. “You know I’m not letting you out of my sight for the next week at least.” “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Scootaloo replied in a muffled tone, her head still buried in her aunt’s chest.