In mid-December a notice appeared about a duelling club, with the initial set-up being in the Great Hall. Intrigued, practically the entire school showed up on the evening it was scheduled. Everyone’s expectations plummeted on seeing just who it was that planned to be the advisor — Lockhart. Professors Snape and Flitwick being involved, at least this time, did bring up their hopes.
It wasn’t quite an unmitigated disaster, there were some grudges that managed to work themselves out before the Professors and the Equestrian aides brought things back under control.
Draco earned a detention and lost a few points for summoning a possibly venomous snake instead of sticking to the spells taught so far in school. Flitwick had immobilized the snake immediately, then sent it back to wherever it came from.
The twins rated the odds of there being a second duelling club activity at somewhere between vanishingly small and none.
^·_·^
The Hogwarts Express had left the station less than an hour ago and now it was time for the End of Term Staff Meeting.
Headmaster Dumbledore looked around the Staff Room. “Well, we seem to have survived another interesting term,” he said, eyes twinkling, as he took his seat. “Rather more crowded than we’ve seen in several decades, I imagine.”
From Argus’ expression, he probably considered it more distressing than interesting, despite his two new aides. Getting hoofprints off the ceiling had been an exercise in time-consuming, non-magical ingenuity. Despite Rule Fourteen, they still found ponies exploring a wall or ceiling — or sneaking around. They usually covered their hooves with make-shift cloth slippers, so hoof-prints weren’t as noticeable. That the earth ponies managed to grip the ceiling through the slippers, because the slippers clearly weren’t up to holding a pony, was truly impressive!
Minerva shook her ruefully. “I don’t know what we would do without the Professorial Aides, Just the assignments alone are a full-time effort, never mind the increase in classes.” She looked over to him. “On the other hand, you were correct in your assessment that the Atlanteans would quickly move to the top of the classes. In almost every subject the top ten students are Atlanteans, with the next ten having only a few of our other students.”
While the other professors nodding agreement, Pomona said, “I must say, that the ones who call themselves earth ponies excel in Herbology, just as Apple Bloom and Ron Weasley did last year. The plants just love them. All seventeen are at the top of the class, the other Atlanteans are scattered through list, with the thirteen pegasi performing noticeably worse, almost all in the bottom quarter with regards to hands-on work. In theory, though? They’re almost all in the top half.”
Flitwick laughed. “For charms, I would say I have similar results on the practicals, only it’s the nine Atlanteans from the unicorn tribe at the top. The others are scattered through the list, nearly at random, with several in a clump at the bottom from both the pegasi and earth tribes. For the theoretical? Just as you said, almost all are in the top half, with only a few of our students joining them.” He grinned. “They have an unparalleled focus on their studies.”
Septima, the Arithmancy professor, nodded. “My Equestrian Aide has picked up Arithmancy rather quickly. She’s already mastered the third year and started on fourth. She should be well into her N.E.W.T. by the time this group of first years hit third.”
Bathsheba, the Runes professor, agreed with a soft, “Mine, too.”
Horace nodded solemnly. “It’s clear that the Atlanteans sent us only their best students, while our students run the gamut from barely above Troll to Outstanding. Their quickness at learning and overall enthusiasm has shifted the grade average much higher, discouraging even our best students. Students I would have given high marks to in previous years are now scoring average by comparison. I fear we shall have to consider separating them, making a class for Atlanteans and a class for our students.”
It was not a welcome suggestion to the Headmaster. He wanted as much intermingling between the two groups as possible. Separating them would prevent the children from forming attachments and finding possible friendships, future spouses, and business partners. They needed the new blood, both literally and figuratively, that these powerful Atlanteans could provide for England to continue to dominate the world.
Gilderoy glanced around, then, looking pleased with himself, said, “Why not institute a Pass/Fail system for the Atlanteans, such as I use for my apprentices? Coming from a completely different society, we could justify it as it being unfair to compare them to English students. They haven’t much of the cultural background that forms the underpinnings of our society.”
That was an interesting approach.
“We can say that, given the results of the first term, we felt this is a fairer approach,” he continued. “That way we can grade our students without the Atlanteans disturbing the others.”
“An excellent suggestion,” Dumbledore said happily. “We can consider the problem over the holidays, and make a decision when the new term starts.” He looked at each of the professors with a raised eyebrow. They all nodded their agreement.
“Now, then, are there any other issues that have come up?”
^·_·^
The staff meeting broke up shortly before noon. That gave the Headmaster time to reflect on his next meeting during the staff’s leisurely lunch.
He had just settled himself in his office and gathered his notes when his floo turned green and Princess Twilight’s head appeared.
“Headmaster? Are you there?”
“Yes, Yes, Twilight!” he jovially called out, “I cleared my calendar for you for the rest of the afternoon. Come right through, I’ve already cleared you.”
A few moments later, she was sitting opposite him.
“Everything alright?” she asked, “No problems?”
He stroked his beard as he said, “No, everything is proceeding precisely as we expected. The train left right on schedule, and there haven’t been any unusual incidents involving Mr. Potter-Sparkle since the Gryffindor Quidditch match with Slytherin, I’m happy to report.” He paused a second. “With few exceptions, all the Equestrians are fitting in seamlessly with the school. However, we do have a minor issue that is a bit vexing.”
Then he explained the detention issue where the ponies seemed to regard the punishments as simply one-on-one time with their teachers. They’d happily, cheerfully, even, do the assigned chores, then spend the rest of the detention asking questions. As a result, they weren’t deterred from doing things that would earn them a detention. “As a result, poor Hagrid is running himself ragged trying to keep them out of the forest,” he concluded.
“A bit of a quandary, don’t you agree?” He raised his eyebrows at her. “We don’t want to discourage such eager students, yet we need a way to maintain order and discipline.”
She frowned and nodded her head. “Yes, I had the same issue with Harry.”
“Is that so?”
She sighed. “He and the fillies were constantly getting in trouble in Ponyville. When they weren’t sneaking into the Everfree Forest, they were causing other mayhem. But he seemed quite happy when I told him he couldn’t go out to play. He’d just curl up with a book by the fireplace and read for hours.” She shook her head. “When I tried forbidding him books, he just played with his magic until he fell asleep, exhausted. He actually told me he enjoyed playing with the fillies, but sometimes he just wanted to be alone with me and Spike. And being restricted to the house did that for him without hurting their feelings.” She looked up at him. “I mean, how do you handle that!?”
They both lapsed into silence.
Twilight sighed. “The only suggestion I can make is to give them detentions doing things they find boring — such as your history or astronomy. They have little interest in that, so being forced to write an assignment on how the Greeks regarded the stars would fit the bill for punishment, I would think.”
He nodded sagely and stroked his beard. “A good suggestion. I’ll speak with the Professors to see what we can come up with.”
“There is another issue that the Professors have brought to my attention.” He paused and gave her a solemn look. “The Equestrians are throwing off our grading system.”
Then he explained how the exceptional Equestrian students were accidentally discouraging the average English students, using the examples he had been given by the other professors.
“So, we’re contemplating switching the Equestrians to a simpler Pass-Fail system,” he concluded. He smiled. “As of this moment, none will fail.”
“I’ll ask Celestia and Luna what they think, but I don’t have a problem with that, in theory. It is unfair to compare a small group of top students with a range of random students.” She pursed her lips in thought.
He nodded his agreement. “We’ll be discussing it and give you a final decision before the New Year.”
He pulled over a scroll and took a quick look at his notes. “The Professorial Aides have been a resounding success, if I do say so. Without them, the large First Year class would have overwhelmed my professors. I thank you both for the idea and the aides you so generously provided. Please convey my gratitude to the Princesses.”
She nodded.
“At the rate the aides are progressing, you should have fully qualified professors in each field in under three years.” He shook his head. “They won’t be trained in anything outside their expertise, but they will be well accomplished in their chosen subjects.” He paused. “To further your goals of opening a series of schools in Equestria, I would suggest that for the next several years you add another group of aides, each year for the new incoming class. That way you can have a continual supply of new Professors as the current group finishes their education and their aides move to the new year with them.” He smiled. “At least until the current First Years get their N.E.W.T.s and can add their more complete expertise to your resources.”
Twilight grinned back. “The Princesses are looking forward to that. They’ve already started searching for the best locations for the first schools.”
He nodded wisely. “Do convey to the Princesses that if they need to consult on planning the school, I would be very happy to oblige.”
She tilted her head slightly. “Would you have time for that? I imagine your current jobs here, in the Wizengamot, and in the ICW give you a rather full schedule.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “With the aides you’ve provided, the school is well in hand. The ICW takes little time in and of itself, and then only in the summer hols if there’s an emergency that needs tending to immediately. The Wizengamot does take its toll, but nothing excessive. Fortunately, it only meets in regular session once a month unless there are special circumstances.”
“Speaking of the Wizengamot,” Twilight said, straightening, “How have they been reacting? Based on what I’ve read, I would have expected more outcry at the presence of so many ponies at Hogwarts, and our impact both on your society and Diagon Alley. The Daily Prophet has been surprisingly upbeat towards us, lately.”
Albus frowned. “Yes, it is incongruous. The Wizengamot has been surprisingly cooperative for the last several months to some of the measures my allies and I have introduced. Quite unlike last year, you know. Usually, the worst opposition in the Ministry has been from the more conservative members, led by Mr. Malfoy and Senior Undersecretary Umbridge. Peculiarly, both of them have been rather quiet lately. Several of the darker families have actually voted for loosening, or even removing, some of the more onerous laws. Very Unusual.” He paused. “quite remarkable, actually.” His brow wrinkled in thought as he considered how things had changed over the summer.
“And, you are right, the Daily Prophet has been extraordinarily positive towards Equestrians in its coverage, lately. Their articles have been a good deal less shrill, in general, about my proposals in the Wizengamot, too. They are certainly less slanderous than they have been in the past.”
He sighed. “But I’m not going to look a gift . . .,” He suddenly stopped and coughed several times. “Sorry,” he said looking back up, and clearing his throat, “. . . askance.”
Twilight nodded understandingly, seemingly oblivious to the faux pas he had been about to make using the old proverb.
“Getting the werewolf laws amended to just require werewolves to stay in Equestria during a full moon was shockingly easy. The penalties for failure to do so, and harming anyone as a result, are rather stiffer than I would like, though. On the other hand, we should see the elimination of the werewolf curse in England by Spring. Maybe even on the continent, too. Which renders the severity of the punishments for violating the new law moot.” He smiled happily.
“The other species’ laws have also been extensively amended, especially those regarding muggles. It is no longer legal for the laws to discriminate against anyone based solely on their blood status. Any wizard or witch harming a muggle will be charged as if they had attacked a magical pure-blood, and the punishments applied just as impartially.” He gave a small smile, then added. “One unforeseen result is that the pure-blood discount in markets has been declared illegal.” He shook his head. “It was a close vote. I honestly didn’t expect it to pass. I had proposed it simply to show the muggle government I was trying to implement change.” He sighed. “Quite frankly, I expected the more conservative families to vociferously oppose the measure.
“Something is going on behind the scenes, I fear. The Wizengamot barely had enough votes for a quorum when court resumed after lunch that day, with many of the most hard-line conservatives not returning until after the extended voting period had ended.” He frowned lightly. “They said they were in discussions during lunch and lost track of the time. While they bitterly complained at missing the vote, most seemed rather relieved the changes had passed.”
“That is odd,” Twilight said. “It sounds like some of the manoeuvres the Canterlot nobles have pulled. You should take a close look at that law to see if you can find a hidden ‘gotcha!’”
“Hmm, yes, most certainly,” Albus mused out loud.
“Or if they are planning a new law that will ‘accidentally’ gut this one,” she said disdainfully.
“There’s also the issue that the Ministry, itself, hasn’t been as cooperative. Old habits die hard, and there has been much dis-satisfaction and resentment among the rank and file — who are all half- and pure-bloods. They fear they will lose their jobs to more efficient or talented muggle-borns. However, the Heads of the departments have managed to keep it all under control. Which is rather unusual. I would have expected them to be the last ones to embrace the changes. I expected them to voice support for the changes while secretly pushing their departments at large to complain.” He shook his head, bewildered.
He sighed and stroked his beard again. “I fear there may be new player in the political arena, someone making moves in the background.” He paused and studied Twilight for a moment.
“Fortunately,” he continued, “A large number of the muggle-borns have decided to explore Equestria rather than settle down to a Ministry job, which has helped in greatly reducing those tensions. Balancing that, though, is that many of the businesses in the magical world are experiencing labour shortages.” He smiled and stroked his beard. “Which means many of them have raised their employees pay in order to keep them. Normally, that would be troublesome. But your unexpected purchases have boosted their sales, so the pay increases are barely being noticed in their profits. A few have even called in squibs for some of the backroom work where they won’t be seen by their customers or clients.”
Their conversation meandered for a while after that, then Twilight departed to meet the Hogwarts Express in London.
^·_·^
Harry was surprised to see his mum at the train station, but he wasn’t about to complain! Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, were equally happy to see Applejack, Rarity, Aunt Lofty, and Rainbow Dash, who had also decided to meet them at the King’s Cross Station instead of in Equestria. Hugs were exchanged all around, and Harry stayed beside Twilight as if glued.
The Weasleys were surprised that both Arthur and Molly had elected to come instead of just their mother. To everyone’s surprise, Luna’s father guided her over to join them, as did Hermione’s parents.
The group followed the other Equestrians as they headed through the station to the luxury coach rented by the Embassy. The Weasleys and Lovegoods were amazed at seeing it. They had never seen anything like it, and Arthur spent most of the ride to Little Whinging grilling Hermione’s father on the particulars and playing with the controls beside his seat.
The line to go through the portal in Little Whinging was long. After all, there were forty-eight students — including all the Weasleys, Harry’s herd, and Myrtle —then Hermione’s, Luna’s and the Weasleys’ parents, and the twenty-or-so Professorial Aides from Hogwarts in addition to the normal traffic. This being the holiday season also meant the traffic was greater than usual as many ponies working on the Earth side of the portal wanted to go home for the Hearth’s Warming holidays, too.
The Princesses were considering a second portal so they could have one for outgoing and the other for incoming traffic. They were currently debating whether they should use the backside of the same tree, or locate the second portal in a different dome, nearby. The first would be simpler, but the intermixing of coming and going traffic made things very difficult for security, and could end up in a disaster if anything went wrong. The second involved expanding the Exclusion Zone further into the Everfree, which presented its own set of problems.
Or, they could locate it on the other side of Ponyville. It would double the presence of the Guard, and the bureaucracy, but it would be safer — in more ways than one.
Fortunately, on the English side, there was plenty of room on the Embassy grounds for a second, separate portal.
At the moment, though, there was only the one.
Each individual was carefully checked to prevent contraband or anyone trying to sneak through the portal — three times. Once on entering the Embassy, once more passing through the entrance to the Portal Station, and once more just before they went through the portal. While the “leaky” side of the portal seemed to be on the Equestrian side, they weren’t taking any chances that a “dark” or “light” witch or wizard might decide to “exploit” the “naïve” or “inferior” ponies.
Fortunately, the Guard had been increased to match the anticipated crowd and things progressed quickly and smoothly.
This time, there were no surprises for Harry and his friends when they exited the portal tree into Equestria. Harry slowly let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding.
The spiralled walk, dome, and watchful guards on the Equestrian side of the Portal were the same as his last trip through. So was the carefully groomed, short-cut grassy lawn with the small hospital nestled close to the first Portal Exclusion Wall, which separated the dome from the rest of the Exclusion Zone. The visible Guard emplacements on the ground, dome, and walls had been upgraded to miniguns, he noticed.
He didn’t doubt that there were additional guards hiding under don’t-notice-me spells.
Exiting the passage through the several-house-thick wall, however, revealed much more than simple upgrades had been done.
Instead of a brick walkway through the remainder of the Portal Exclusion Zone, there was now a wide, bricked road. At the wall where it started was a large, glass building where the parents for the arriving students waited.
Everyone could see the Guard positions mounted on this side of the wall, overlooking the road. Harry, however, could still pick out the hidden surveillance and guard positions in small bushes and rock garden arrangements beside the path and the more distant walls. If you didn’t know where to look, he knew, you’d never notice them with the chest-deep unmarked snow that seemed to coat everything not on the road.
The Princesses took the safety of the Portal very seriously.
As the students reunited with their patiently waiting parents, their numbers swelled to a veritable flood of ponies trotting down the road to the exit to the Portal Station.
Luna’s Crystal Nightpony appearance garnered quite a lot of attention and admiration. The Gryffindor ponies were very pleased to introduce her to their parents.
The walk to the exit was quite noisy as everyone talked at once. Harry enjoyed being cuddled by his mum, her wing draped over him, as they walked. Myrtle had an unusual expression as Twilight did the same to her — her face sort of vacillated between surprised, gratified, and embarrassed.
However, Harry realized that his eyes seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time staring at his herd-mates’ swaying flanks and tails as they walked ahead of him. It was rather hypnotic.
Ponyville, too, had undergone a few more changes since the summer, he saw as they streamed out of the Portal building exit. The road between the Apples’ orchard and the Everfree Forest was a lot wider, now, wide enough for four carriages easily ride side-by-side. The “Ponyville Sweet Apple Acres Portal Station” had been renamed the “Ponyville Surrey, England, Earth, Portal Station,” he noticed, looking back.
The firsties were dying to show off what more they had learned to their families, especially the non-unicorns. Harry was sure the trips home would be marked by red and green sparks flying from wands all over Equestria. Not to mention the novelty of the leg-locking charm and the levitation charms. There was more than one double-take as pegasi and earth colts and fillies exited the Portal Station Building with their saddlebags floating over their heads while they held wands in their mouths or wings.
Most of the students were already showing off how their wands worked and what they had learned so far — magic and flying had been prohibited inside the Exclusion Zone. A number of the passers-by were also closely watching the demonstrations. The unicorns, especially, were interested in seeing pegasi and earth ponies casting spells that heretofore had only been the realm of the third tribe.
Hearing about the non-unicorn Guards training with magic was one thing, but it was quite another to see non-unicorn colts and fillies freely using magic!
The building they had just passed through had been beefed up since their last transit. It was no longer wood, but heavy stone, and changed so that it now had a fortress-like appearance. The simple, but very tall, fencing that had separated the cleared land through the Everfree from Sweet Apple Acres was now a thick, stone wall with Guards stationed and patrolling its entire length. Here, too, Harry could spot minigun emplacements at regular intervals. Not even Canterlot could be so well guarded, he thought. He shuddered slightly at the thought of the mess that would result should somepony, or someone, try their patience.
Even more astonishing was the sight of a large restaurant across the road from the Station. A big sign named the place as the “Ponyville Portal Palace of Provender.” It had signs in the windows that proclaimed “Welcome to Ponyville!” “Fish and Chips” “A Full English Breakfast” “Hay Burgers, Hay Fries” “Take Out or Dine-In” “Box Meals Available” and “Human, Griffon, and Pony Chefs on staff.” It appeared that a good number of the Portal workers and visitors took advantage of the non-cafeteria menu.
A significant number of the students and their families headed into the restaurant.
Beside the restaurant was a large pavilion with dozens of carriages and their owners waiting. Prices were posted for rides to the Train/Floo Station and various locations in Ponyville. They were doing a brisk business today as those families not headed for the restaurant hurried over to the queue for a carriage.
Except the pegasi families, who took off directly for the Train/Floo Station.
They were in a hurry to get to their homes, no doubt, Harry thought, scattered all across Equestria as they were. Only Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, after all, had been from Ponyville! The amazing part, now, was knowing that by evening they would all be home. If they had been at a Ponyville boarding school just two years ago, they would have been just starting their journey at the train station! The Floo system was indeed dramatically changing Equestria.
Scootaloo and her Aunt Lofty took off for home, and dinner, almost immediately, with Rainbow Dash accompanying her “little sister.” Harry watched Scootaloo fly off. Naturally, Applejack and Apple Bloom headed to the farmhouse when they got to an appropriate turn-off into the Orchard.
The improved road ran all the way to Ponyville, which had grown even more. The wheat field that had once been opposite Sweet Apple Acres, once they left the Everfree behind, was now filling up with houses, apartment buildings, stores and cafes. Regretfully, he saw, there would be no mud puddles on the road to splash in, anymore.
As they went through town, Rarity and Sweetie Belle turned off for the Carousel Boutique. Harry had watched Apple Bloom and Sweetie as they walked away, probably a bit more than he should have. He blushed slightly when saw that his mum had noticed him staring the second time.
Ponyville, itself, had changed, too. Where previously the houses and businesses had been spread out with empty spaces between them, there were many new houses with nary enough room between them to slip a feather. Some houses were gone completely and multi-family duplexes, triplexes, and more replaced them. Before, there were barely any buildings with more than two floors, now there were many that were three or more floors tall. From the placement of large balconies without rails, and doors with numbers on them, it was easy to see that the top floors were usually occupied by pegasi.
The streets were also much more crowded with ponies going places.
Ponyville was no longer the sleepy little town that seemed to draw disasters from the Everfree. Now it was a bustling town in the throes of growing to be a city. A lot like an adolescent — awkward at times, always seeming to be slightly off balance, yet earnestly trying their best to cope with the changes. Excited at times, depressed at others. Wanting to get back to when life was simpler, yet thrilled at what was happening, and eagerly anticipating what was coming.
It was, Harry thought, a bit like he felt, sometimes.
The castle was the same, yet different. It wasn’t much bigger in that it didn’t seem to take up more room, but it was taller. There were also four Guards in front instead of just two, with one more at each of the two corners of the building facing the street.
Before, it had been too large for them — him, his mum, Spike, Squeaker, the maids, and the hoof-stallions. There had been three or four times as many bathrooms on each floor as there were of ponies!
Now it felt like their house had been converted into an office building. The front doors were in constant motion as clerks and others continually went in and out. The doors to the sides of the entryway inside led to several large offices where ponies were busy reading, writing, asking questions, answering questions, and filing piles of paperwork. It reminded him a bit of Ponyville’s Town Hall, or Gringotts in London, but not quite as busy. One room they passed seemed to be a communications-room based on how he could only hear one side of what were obviously several different conversations.
Now that he considered it, it was not unlike the impression he had of the castle in Canterlot when he visited there with his mum — a home and business combined, with the line between the two rather blurred.
It was only when they went up the stairs and through another set of guarded and ornate double-doors that he understood. The castle had grown an entirely new floor while he was gone — the new ground floor of the castle was the administrative headquarters for the Portal. Twilight’s, Spike’s, Myrtle’s and his personal quarters had lifted up a level. No one knew where Squeaker slept, when he asked.
He wondered if the slides that had been hidden below the chairs in the “Friendship Map Room” had stretched to account for the new floor. Some wouldn’t have needed to change, but surely the one to the pool couldn’t have remained the same.
Settling in was easier than Harry expected, after seeing what had been done to the ground floor. Twilight’s library was the same — well, it was bigger, but that was to be expected from his mum — as were the sitting room, lounge areas, his room, Myrtle’s room, and the guest rooms.
Even with the Grangers, Weasleys, and Lovegoods, there were still more bathrooms than ponies.
After everyone had dropped off their saddlebags, they all met back in the main dining room for dinner. Bed was a welcome destination, afterwards. It was exhausting traveling on a train!
He woke the next morning in a pony pile with Ginny, Hermione, and Luna. He was surprised to realize just how much he had missed doing that.
He was rather concerned about Luna being in the pile, though.
^·_·^