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// 9 - Levity 
// Story: You're Being Hugged, Harry 
// by David Silver 
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School was not just a time for study and discipline, though there was no shortage of that. It was an evening of celebration. Great pumpkins hovered in the air, the students laughed and roamed without fear of teachers or lectures. The muggles called it Halloween, and the holiday was shared with the wizarding world. It was Hallowe'en, and not a sad face could be seen.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry looked about, but could not see one of his two best gained friends. "She's missing the fun."

"Knowing her, probably has her face in a book," laughed out Ron. "Relaxing isn't one of her specialties, let's be real 'bout it."

"It's a school event." Harry started away, hooves clopping against the floor. "She wouldn't miss one for the world."

"I saw her." Another student, a girl, was pointing away. "Got in a fight with some folks."

Harry came to an abrupt halt, ears pricked tall. "Is she alright?"

"Not that kind of fight." The girl laughed at Harry's confusion. "They called her 'Miss Perfect' and a bunch of mean things and sent her crying." She shook her head softly. "For all her superiority, she has a thin skin."

Ron gestured a bit aimlessly before he spread his fingers wide. "So where is she?"

"The bathroom, last I looked." The girl shrugged. "The witches' one, of course." She was peering at Ron as if he were lech enough to go chasing someone into such a place.

Harry took an awkward step away. "Well, um... We'll talk to her after she comes out."

"'Bout the best you can do, I reckon." Ron shrugged softly. "Good looking out."

"You'd do the same for me, right?" Harry went off with Ron to return to the festivities, unable to do much for Hermione just that moment.

Bursting onto the scene, a wizard, out of breathe, rushed towards the center of things. "Troll!" That got people looking his way. "The troll in the basement, it got loose!"

His panic spread easily to the students in the air, the entire crowd becoming a furor of concern. A troll? What did one do when one of those was on the loose?

The headmaster tried to calm the panic-ridden student body, but they weren't even listening. With a sweep of his wand, loud purple pops and bangs of fireworks drew attention his way. "Let us remain calm," he insisted to the suddenly quiet room. "Prefects, take the students to their dormitories. Teachers, with me. We'll take care of the troll."

Dumbledore led the charge of the teachers, leaving the prefects to begin nudging the students back towards their dorms. Harry was at Ron's side. "This got real exciting all of a sudden."

"Not in a good way. Trolls are dangerous." They kept moving as they did so. "This is your first, isn't it?"

"First what? Oh, this holiday? Yeah." The Equestrian equivalent came to mind, similar, and yet different. "I've been to something... Hey wait."

"What?" Ron could see the sudden concern on Harry's fuzzy face. "You forget something back in the hall?"

"Hermione--"

"Oh, shoot," cut in Ron with a sudden frown. "She don't know what's going on, does she?"

Harry broke away from the stream. "We have to get her!"

"Where are you going?" called out a prefect to Ron and Harry. "That isn't the right way."

Ron held up a finger to his lips. "We'll be right back, just fetchin' someone who didn't come this way." With the crowd as it was, the prefect let them go. They had many other students to keep on the right track.

As they ran through the halls, they saw two teachers, Severus Snape and Quirrell, the one who had delivered the news of the troll getting lose. They were lost to sight almost as quickly, ascending some stairs on their own business. "Woah!" Ron thrust out an arm in Harry's way. "It's right there!"

They danced out of sight as the troll emerged from just being a shadow to being a huge hulking figure, dragging its club slowly behind it. It lumbers across the hall, right into the door across from where it had entered. "That's the..."

"Girls' bathroom," completed both of them at once with horror. They hurried towards the danger instead of away from it, knowing what the troll was approaching. The sound of splintering wood greeted them as they rushed inside just in time to see the troll smash the tops off an entire row of bathroom stalls, roaring in fury.

Ron grabbed some of the splinters of wood and began hurling it at the troll, but Harry had another way, lowering his horn, the built-in model, and unleashing painful jolts that got the thing's attention as it exploded in fits of his magic.

"Not sure that's a good thing. Go go!" Ron gestured for Hermione, who had just peeked free of the debris, to run, but her movement drew the troll's attention back towards her, smashing the sink she had just hid under moments before.

Harry lowered his aim, directing a potent arcane thump against its belly. "You leave her alone!" he commanded over her desperate cry. The troll was on him all too quickly, grabbing  him up, but Harry's furry form was more slippery than the troll had figured as he popped free and scrambled atop the troll awkwardly. "Go away!" He stomped on its head as he drew his wand free.

The victory was short lived, the troll grabbing Harry off its head and sending him hurling through the air to land roughly among the debris and clutter with its roar of fury.

Ron hurried up next to Harry, but he couldn't lift a horse. They were heavy, as it turned out. So he raised his wand defensively as the troll came closer, raising its club even higher, ready to smash something. Something Ron was sure he rather valued.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" It was a spell he had only recently learned, and about the only thing that came to Ron's mind in that moment of panic. His wand began to glow, as did the troll's massive club.

The club lifted away from the troll's hand, to the troll's confusion. All eyes were on it as it lifted higher and higher until Ron let the spell go. Gravity made a swift return, the club plummeting towards the still amazed troll, crashing against its thick skull with enough force to send it to the ground, unconscious and still.

Hermione scrambled to her feet, heaving for breath. "Is it...? You?" She let out a mildly panicked laugh, eyes on Ron. "You're a hero."

Harry struggled to his feet, shaking off the dust. "You're welcome."

"You too." She circled the troll and pat Harry lightly more as one would a horse than a fellow magician. "Thank you, both of you... How... did you even know I was here?" It hit her. "And why are you in the girl's bathroom?"

Ron thrust up his hands. "We heard you were in here and we didn't want you to get eaten by no troll!"

Harry bobbed his head with that. "We came to save you, nothing else, promise."

"Well... thank you... for that." She took a slow breath. "We really should report this." She waved lightly at the sleeping troll. "Before it wakes up and starts making more trouble."

Teachers suddenly swarmed into the room, summoned by the noise of the conflict. The celebration was quite over. Hermione took the blame for the boys being there in the first place, losing a few points, which were earned by the boys for the sheer luck of winning out against a troll with how little training they had. Nobody was punished at least, aside the point loss.





What Harry did not expect when he arrived back at his room was for more things to be floating in there than the main hallway. Quills, pillows, and books swirled around with Arnavon standing at the center with a serene smile of joy as he danced and capered, the floating things seeming to follow along with the rhythm he was setting. 

Ron gestured at the floating bits. "Alright, this is new. Owl, this is not what owls do."

"I'm a special owl," proclaimed Arnavon, turning to face them properly. Focused, the floating things stopped bobbing and dancing, instead hovering in place with as much focus as Arnavon had on Ron and Harry. "Welcome back! I learned how to do magic my way." He held up his hands. "Look, no wand!"

Harry could see no wand. A glance at Arnavon's horn showed no glowing. Instead his fur was speckled with light in each direction of a floating thing. "Arnie, you're going to have to explain what you're doing. Congratulations, to start. This is quite the achievement."

"Thank you!" Arnavon grabbed Harry up in a warm hug. Distracted by affection, his many things flopped to the ground lifelessly. 

Ron stepped over some of the clutter. "Not to be a downer or nothing, but you are gonna have to clean this up."

The living arrangement had shuffled since Harry's first arrival. With his joining Gryffindor, he had moved to their dorms, but he was still, well, a pony with specific needs. They had given him a larger room with a bed suited for him. Not to make him too special, they insisted he share with at least one other student. Picking Ron came easily.

Harry wriggled free of Arnavon's grip. "He's not wrong. Let's clean up and you can tell me what's going on." His horn began to glow as he picked things up, getting right to cleaning. "You wouldn't believe what happened to us today, so I guess we both have news to share."

"Ooo!" Arnavon got to cleaning diligently. "Now I'm not sure if I want to hear or share first. I'll go ahead." He reached up with a free hand and tapped at his horn. "Did you know only humans are allowed to use wands? Not fair, but that's alright. Hagrid taught me something obvious." He tapped the horn all the more firmly. "I have two right here. I had to learn magic my way."

Ron flopped onto his bed. "And what way is 'your' way, Arnie?"

"Tsuki don't make magic." He made a gesture as if wagging a wand. "That's where I was messing up. I was making magic, which is not the tsuki way." He directed up at his horns with both hands. "I move magic. I change magic. The hows are still important, but I was starting on the wrong step." He fell to all fours and hopped over to one of the room lights. "We're lucky. This place is full of magic." He reared up tall, not that tsuki were good at not being tall. "So I can borrow magic from here."

He began tapping at the light, tinking a claw against it. "Then I can change it and direct it. I can do magic. Not make it! Change it. Almost as good." He began to clap his paws eagerly. "I just need something to start from."

Harry stepped up onto his bed and sank down on it. "What do you do if there isn't something magic around?"

Arnavon frowned at the idea. "Um... Well...." He began to thump the ground with a powerful hindleg. "That'd be a problem... Oh! But I could get something. Something portable! If I carry magic with me, then I'll always have magic to use."

Harry rubbed at his cheek. "I'll have a--"

"Give me permission," cut in Arnavon, bouncing just a little in place. "Send me to buy something, and I'll buy it. I have coins, but an owl shopping without permission..."

"Would be bad," agreed Harry. "Alright, if you're sure you can do it. Arnavon, fetch me something magical and easy to carry."

"With pleasure!" Arnavon began to clap with new joy. "So what happened to you two? Did you wrestle?"

Ron laughed at the idea. "Sort of, but no. Wait 'till you get a load of this." And he began to explain the battle they had rescuing a friend from a troll.